Spawning Smallmouths Lift Osborn to Top

Brady nets co-angler award on South Holston

Local angler Josh Osborne of Bristol, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on South Holston Reservoir. Osborne pocketed $3,766 for his efforts.

“I basically fished one spot the entire day,” says Osborne, who earned his first career-win in FLW competition. “It was a hump with isolated rock where smallmouth were bedding. I knew it was something special when I found it in practice.

“I was catching them a little deeper than most people,” continues Osborne. “I actually saw anglers fishing the area in practice, but they were at the very top of the hump. I found a 15-yard section a little deeper and that’s where the big fish were. It was a rough patch of rock and they were all around it.”

Osborne says the top of the hump was between 4 to 6 feet deep, while he sat in 16 to 18 feet of water.

“The 8- to 12-foot range was where most of my big fish were,” says Osborne. “I caught everything that I weighed on a Texas-rigged 4-inch green-pumpkin Berkley straight-tail worm.”

Osborne had most of his winning weight in the boat by 10 a.m.

“I knew the fish were there, so I slowed down and took my time,” says Osborne. “I think that helped me get the win.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Josh Osborne, Bristol, Va., five bass, 21-10, $3,766

2^nd:         Doug Austin, Bristol, Va., five bass, 21-7, $1,883

3^rd:          James Barlow, Jonesboro, Tenn., five bass, 19-7, $1,256

4^th:          Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 19-5, $879

5^th:          Jonathan Bowling , Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 17-11, $953

6^th:          Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $759

6^th:          Kevin Edwards, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $659

8^th:          Willie Browning, Saltville, Va., five bass, 17-6, $565

9^th:          Nick Tate, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-2, $502

10^th:        Brian Hollaway, Gray, Tenn., five bass, 17-0, $439

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Willie Bryan of Sevierville, Tennessee, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $500.

Brady wins co-angler title

Steven Brady of Woodlawn, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,840 Saturday after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 7 ounces to the scale.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Steven Brady, Woodlawn, Va., five bass, 17-7, $1,840

2^nd:         Donnie Holder, Mooresburg, Tenn., five bass, 16-15, $920

3^rd:          Allen Hicks, Castlewood, Va., five bass, 16-8, $612

4^th:          David Shreve, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 16-3, $429

5^th:          Richard Casey, Honaker, Va., five bass, 16-2, $368

6^th:          Matthew Rasnick, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $337

7^th:          Matt Brown, Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 15-0, $507

8^th:          Charles Roberts, Lebanon, Va., five bass, 14-11, $276

9^th:          Bill King, Maryville, Tenn., five bass, 14-10, $245

10^th:        Colton Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 14-5, $204

10^th:        Nick Coker, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 14-5, $254

Richard Pugh of Knoxville, Tennessee, caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $240.

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. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia. 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.