Key Largemouth Boosts Casey on Oneida

Hann wins co-angler title

Ed Casey of Whiteford, Maryland, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament of 2016 on Oneida Lake presented by Power-Pole. For his efforts, Casey took home $6,009.

Casey says he spent his day fishing mid-lake shoals that had a lot of mussels and scattered grass on them.

“The shoals were good in practice so I went back there figuring they’d still be holding fish,” says Casey, who earned his second win in BFL competition. “I threw a drop-shot rig with a baby bass-colored Jackall Crosstail Shad and dark melon goby-colored Strike King Coffee Tubes, and had a limit in the boat by 9 a.m.”

Casey says that using baits with purple-fleck coloring was a crucial part of his success.

“I stayed out deep in 7 to 8 of water and worked my way toward shallow-water markers I call ‘cans’,” says Casey. “There was a lot of goby activity. If they were eating, I knew there were a lot of smallmouth bass in the area. I actually ended up weighing in four smallmouth.”

With 25 minutes left to fish, Casey says he caught a 4-pound largemouth bass to seal the deal.

“I threw a swim jig to a grass bed and within two casts I had a 4-pounder,” says Casey. “I was fortunate to catch some nice fish.”

The top 10 boaters

            1^st:        Ed Casey, Whiteford, Md., five bass, 18-4, $4,009 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

            2^nd:       Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., five bass, 17-13, $2,205

            3^rd:        Kraig Kettelkamp, Clifton Springs, N.Y., five bass, 17-11, $1,336

            4^th:        Robert Parmer, Linden, Pa., five bass, 17-1, $935

            5^th:        Jamie Hartman, Bridgeport, N.Y., five bass, 17-0, $868

            5^th:        George Hutchinson, Mullica Hill, N.J., five bass, 17-0, $768

            7^th:        Ian Renfrew, Phoenix, N.Y., five bass, 16-7, $668

            8^th:        Mark Schafer, Williamstown, N.J., five bass, 16-4, $601

            9^th:        Joseph Amberg Jr., Hawley, Pa., five bass, 16-0, $535

            10^th:      Roy Goodwin, Macedon, N.Y., five bass, 15-10, $468

Complete results

John Lorenzo of Kane, Pennsylvania, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $550.

Hann tops co-angler field

Daniel Hann of Williamson, New York, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,005.

The top 10 co-anglers 

            1^st:        Daniel Hann, Williamson, N.Y., five bass, 16-11, $2,005

            2^nd:       John Henning, Lansdale, Pa., five bass, 14-0, $1,002

            3^rd:        Steve Cram, Williamstown, N.J., five bass, 13-6, $668

            4^th:        Griffen Hurt, Bound Brook, N.J., five bass, 13-5, $468

            5^th:        Joshua Hertzog, Lititz, Pa., five bass, 12-12, $401

            6^th:        Bill Klaips, Shavertown, Pa., five bass, 12-10, $368

            7^th:        Robert Hockley, Annville, Pa., four bass, 12-0, $317

            7^th:        Travis Craig, Fairview, Pa., five bass, 12-0, $317

            9^th:        Dylan Hartman, Lebanon, N.J., five bass, 11-12, $267

            10^th:      Rebecca Diluzio, North East, Pa., four bass, 11-4, $234

Taurean Relyea of Fairport, New York, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 3 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $275.

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.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

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