Morrow Mixes it up on Hartwell

Rogers the best of the co-anglers

Troy Morrow of Eastanollee, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Hartwell presented by Navionics. For his victory, Morrow took home $7,684.

“My original intention was to head up the river and look for bedding fish, but when I arrived at my area they were gone,” says Morrow, a four-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “I had to adjust on the fly.”

“I flipped laydowns using a plum-apple-colored Zoom Lizard and had some success,” explains Morrow. “I found that there was also a flipping bite near smaller bushes. There were a bunch of bucks in them. At some larger willow bushes, I caught one that I eventually weighed in.”

Around 1 p.m., Morrow says he ran south to a pocket where he ended up catching the heaviest bass of the tournament.

“I saw a big female in there and threw the Lizard, but she wasn’t biting,” explains Morrow. “I left her alone for a while, then went back, pitched in a green-pumpkin Lizard, and she bit.”

Morrow says his final two limit fish came on a Zoom swimbait off of docks on a nearby main-lake flat.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 17-11, $5,684 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

               2^nd:         Derek Champion, Tryon, N.C., five bass, 17-5, $2,059

               3^rd:          Matthew Roesch, Toccoa, Ga., five bass, 16-10, $1,374

               4^th:          Randy Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 15-9, $961

               5^th:          Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 15-1, $824

               6^th:          Mike Bouknight, Greenwood, S.C., five bass, 14-12, $755

               7^th:          Eddie Whiten Jr., Pickens, S.C., five bass, 14-3, $652

               8^th:          Chris Baxter, Winder, Ga., five bass, 14-3, $952

               9^th:          David Wright, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 14-2, $514

               9^th:          Michael Brehm, Rock Hill, S.C., five bass, 14-2, $514

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Morrow also caught a 7-pound, 6-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $565.

Rogers the best of the co-anglers

Jody Rogers Sr. of Clarkesville, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 12 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,059.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Jody Rogers Sr., Clarkesville, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $2,059

               2^nd:         Christopher Chavis, Rincon, Ga., five bass, 12-0, $1,030

               3^rd:          Barry Myers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 11-13, $687

               4^th:          Bill Hawkins, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 11-3, $480

               5^th:          Bobby Smith, Asheville, N.C., five bass, 10-10, $412

               6^th:          Lesley Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 10-9, $378

               7^th:          Stewart Uldrick, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 10-5, $326

               7^th:          Tony Holbrooks, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 10-5, $326

               9^th:          Keith Lewis, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 10-2, $275

               10^th:        Stephen Burress, Mills River, N.C., five bass, 9-14, $240

Ethan Monk of Long Creek, South Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 9 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $282.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 6-8 Regional Championship on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.