Blankenship Flips Bushes for W

Co-angler Whicker nets title on High Rock

James Blankenship of Siler City, North Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament of 2016 on High Rock Lake. For his victory, Blankenship took home $3,255.

“I ran up to a large bay on the Yadkin River, shut the boat off and fished there all day,” says Blankenship, who earned his fifth win in FLW competition. “I focused on shallow bushes and willow trees. The bass were in 18 inches of water, behind the bushes and into the willows. Once I realized that, it was a lot easier to catch them.”

Blankenship rotated between two jigs – one rigged with a sapphire blue-colored Zoom Super Chunk, the other with a black and blue-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw.

“I split the day between the two, but it didn’t really matter which color I used once I found the fish,” says Blankenship. “I flipped and skipped it back into the willows and caught 17 keepers.”

Blankenship caught the majority of his winning limit between 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

“I never saw another boat in my area which helped,” says Blankenship. “I had the place to myself all day and it ended up paying off.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          James Blankenship, Siler City, N.C., five bass, 19-2, $3,255

2^nd:         Rick Dunstan, Pinehurst, N.C., four bass, 15-0, $1,628

3^rd:          Brad Younts, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 14-14, $1,084

4^th:          David Wright, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 13-12, $760

5^th:          Robert Walser, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 12-9, $951

6^th:          Chadd Eriksen, Wake Forest, N.C., four bass, 12-1, $597

7^th:          Jimmy Henderson, Wake Forest, N.C., three bass, 11-7, $543

8^th:          Rodney Bell, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 10-13, $488

9^th:          Michael Bryant, Thomasville, N.C., four bass, 10-11, $434

10^th:        Mike McDonald, Randleman, N.C., four bass, 10-2, $380

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 

Michael Belter of Reidsville, North Carolina, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $400.

Whicker wins co-angler title

Landon Whicker of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, weighed in four bass totaling 14 pounds even Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $1,628.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Landon Whicker, Winston-Salem, N.C., four bass, 14-0, $1,628

2^nd:         Philip Morris Jr., Raleigh, N.C., four bass, 11-14, $814

3^rd:          Chip Crews, Trinity, N.C., five bass, 11-12, $542

4^th:          Dwayne Parton, Anderson, S.C., three bass, 9-9, $380

5^th:          Brian Transon, Sherrills Ford, N.C., five bass, 9-4, $326

6^th:          Mark Robertson, Henderson, N.C., three bass, 9-3, $298

7^th:          Derek Sewell, Forest, Va., four bass, 8-1, $271

8^th:          Nicholas Ireland, Raleigh, N.C., three bass, 6-12, $244

9^th:          Will White, Wake Forest, N.C., four bass, 6-10, $217

10^th:        Eric Jorgensen, Greensboro, N.C., three bass, 6-0, $190

Paul Foley of Mooresville, North Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South 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.