Summerlin Worked Shell Beds for Victory

Co-angler Hill nest title in Choo Choo Super Tournament

Local angler Gil Summerlin of Guntersville, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 4 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division Super Tournament on Lake Guntersville, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 14 ounces. For his victory, Summerlin earned $8,234.

“I was on the lower end of the lake targeting two different shell beds that had a little depression in them,” says Summerlin, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “The areas were about five miles apart, but identical in terms of structure. The fish were set up on the bottom between 12 to 14 feet down.

“In the morning on day one I used a Sexy Shad-colored Strike King 6XD crankbait and boated the largest bass of the event before 7 a.m.,” Summerlin continues. “After a while, I switched to a Mean Mouth Football-Head Jig rigged with a green-pumpkin Reaction Innovations soft-plastic. I dragged it slow, and then let it sit a minute. I caught seven keepers by 8 a.m. and was done.”

On Sunday, Summerlin says the lack of wind made for a tougher bite. He used the same lures as the day before to cap off the event.

“I rotated between the two beds and had a limit by 10 a.m.,” says Summerlin.  “I caught nine keepers, but spent most of the day going for a bigger bite.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Gil Summerlin, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 38-14, $8,234

2^nd:         Cody Harrison, Florence, Ala., 10 bass, 35-11, $3,375

3^rd:          Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-2, $2,217

4^th:          Curtis Merriman, Cullman, Ala., nine bass, 31-13, $1,481

5^th:          Josh Butler, Hayden, Ala., 10 bass, 31-0, $1,270

6^th:          Tracy Robinson, Gadsden, Ala., 10 bass, 30-8, $1,164

7^th:          Matt Lee, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,058

8^th:          Casey Martin, New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,252

9^th:          Freddy Palmer, Estill Springs, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-3, $847

10^th:        Clayton Joyce, Chapel Hill, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-14, $741

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 

Summerlin’s 6-pound, 10-ounce catch on Saturday earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $885.

Hill wins co-angler title

Randy Hill of Athens, Alabama, won the co-angler division and earned $3,260 with a two-day cumulative catch of eight bass weighing 23 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st”          Randy Hill, Athens, Ala., eight bass, 23-13, $3,260

2^nd:         Danny Moss, Glencoe, Ala., nine bass, 22-12, $1,530

3^rd:          Scott Bussey, Hayden, Ala., seven bass, 21-1, $1,020

4^th:          Collin Bruce, Florence, Ala., eight bass, 18-2, $764

5^th:          Josh Perrymon, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 16-6, $612

6^th:          Derek Holly, Johnson City, Tenn., six bass, 15-7, $561

7^th:          Brandon Skinner, DeArmanville, Ala., six bass, 15-5, $510

8^th:          Jody Moore, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 12-2, $459

9^th:          Trent Hoover, Huntsville, Ala., three bass, 11-6, $828

10^th:        Jared Murphree, Athens, Ala., five bass, 11-2, $357

Hoover caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounces, and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $420.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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.