Taylor Mixed it Up on Clarks Hill

Deufel nets co-angler title in Savannah River Division tournament

Brock Taylor of Pendleton, South Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division event on Clarks Hill Lake. Taylor pocketed $5,565 for his win.

“I started out fishing a brush pile in about 20 feet of water,” says Taylor, who notched his third career-win in FLW competition. “The area was within three miles of the takeoff ramp and near the dam. After about 30 minutes, I caught my biggest bass on a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Trick Worm, rigged on a shaky-head.”

According to Taylor, his other productive stop was a nearby creek channel swing that was covered with chunk rock. There he opted for an Alabama Craw-colored jig.

“The fish didn’t hit the jig until it was about 20-feet-down,” says Taylor. “Every time the jig would get caught up in the slime when I was reeling in, I’d give it a jerk and that’s when they would bite. I ended up catching two that I weighed in on that channel swing.”

Taylor was able to put eight keepers in the boat throughout the tournament.

“After a couple hours, the wind picked up so I ran along any bank that had a mud line,” says Taylor. “I used a white spinnerbait, and caught my last keeper fairly close to the takeoff ramp at 3:15 p.m. I guess it was my time to do well.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Brock Taylor, Pendleton, S.C., five bass, 22-10, $5,565

2^nd:         Chris Rodwell, Evans, Ga., five bass, 21-14, $2,783

3^rd:          Charles Doyle, Augusta, Ga., five bass, 20-8, $1,853

4^th:          Marcus Church, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 19-13, $2,199

5^th:          Franklin Ramey, Abbeville, S.C., five bass, 19-6, $1,113

6^th:          Jimmy Gooch, Jefferson, Ga., five bass, 19-0, $1,020

7^th:          Daniel Atkins, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-6, $1,428

8^th:          Hunter Eubanks, Inman, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $835

9^th:          Kevin Dearth, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 17-7, $742

10^th:        James Redd, Lincolnton, Ga., five bass, 17-3, $616

10^th:        Michael Chandler, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 17-3, $616

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Church caught a bass weighing 8 pounds even – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $900.

Deufel wins co-angler title

Matt Deufel of Grovetown, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler division and the top prize of $2,737.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Matt Deufel, Grovetown, Ga., five bass, 17-10, $2,737

2^nd:         Jimmi Leuthner, Tamassee, S.C., five bass, 15-2, $1,369

 3^rd:          Chad Hamm, Aiken, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $913

4^th:          Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $593

4^th:          Stephen Reasoner, Harlem, Ga., four bass, 14-7, $593

6^th:          Robert Gambrell, Clermont, Ga., five bass, 13-14, $502

7^th:          Eric Cerny, Alpharetta, Ga., five bass, 13-9, $456

8^th:          Stephen Burress, Mills River, N.C., five bass, 13-1, $611

9^th:          Brian Nappier, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 12-9, $392

9^th:          Brody Manley, Pickens, S.C., five bass, 12-9, $342

Renee Price of Westminster, South Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $435.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.