Small Stretch Puts Adkins Ahead

Freddy Adkins of East Bernstadt, Kentucky, brought a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 12 ounces to the scale Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. For his efforts, Adkins took home $6,559.

“I used a 1-ounce chartreuse and white-colored Booyah spinnerbait to catch my fish,” says Adkins, who logged his first career win as a boater in BFL competition. “The water was up 2 to 4 feet and the fish were at the original shoreline, so I stayed out a little a deeper. I threw to shore and worked it back slow.

“The ticket was bumping it on the bottom,” explains Adkins. “Sometimes shad would hit the blade and that’s a good sign. If you’re around shad, you’re around the fish. I kept doing the same thing all day and it worked out.”

Adkins said he worked back and forth along a 200-yard stretch in Little River, and was able to put 10 keepers in the boat throughout the event.

“I think the No. 6 willow blade matched the shad, while the No. 3 provided a little extra flash,” says Adkins. “Also, the water was the perfect color and I had just the right amount of wind – it was the right combination.”

The top 10 boaters:

 1^st: Freddy Adkins, East Bernstadt, Ky., five bass, 22-12, $4,559 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

 2^nd: Andrew Suggs, Cunningham, Tenn., five bass, 20-10, $2,804

 3^rd: Eric Snow, Clarksville, Ind., five bass, 19-6, $1,552

 4^th: Robert Linton, Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 19-0, $1,017

 5^th: Daniel Fink, Benton, Ky., five bass, 18-5, $872

 6^th: Randy Stone, Dexter, Ky., five bass, 17-11, $799

 7^th: Leon Stone, Dexter, Mo., five bass, 16-13, $726

 8^th: Tom Hill, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 16-12, $654

 9^th: David Carroll, Manitou, Ky., five bass, 16-6, $581

 10^th: Keith Monson, Burgin, Ky., five bass, 16-0, $509

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Suggs caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $625.

Ryan Dowell of Brandenburg, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $2,179 Saturday after bringing four bass totaling 15 pounds, 8 ounces to the scale.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

 1^st: Ryan Dowell, Brandenburg, Ky., four bass, 15-8, $2,179

 2^nd: Jesse Gustafson, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 15-2, $1,090

 3^rd: James Wathen, Louisville, Ky., five bass, 14-9, $925

 4^th: Mark Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 14-7, $509

 5^th: David Dieling, Eddyville, Ky., five bass, 12-8, $436

 6^th: Nathaniel Wasson, Clarksville, Tenn., three bass, 12-0, $400

 7^th: Austin Schrecker, Owensboro, Ky., four bass, 11-15, $363

 8^th: Stevie Guffey, Tompkinsville, Ky., four bass, 11-11, $327

 9^th: Taylor Genz, Indian Mound, Tenn., three bass, 11-8, $291

 10^th: Kevin Lamb, Gallatin, Tenn., four bass, 11-3, $254

Daniel Pope Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio, caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $312.

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 Barren River in Scottsville, Kentucky. 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.