Shuffield Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Arkie Division Finale on Lake Hamilton Presented by Geared
Benton’s Delaney Takes Co-angler Title
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Local angler Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, weighed a two-day cumulative of 10 bass totaling 20 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division tournament on Lake Hamilton presented by Geared. Shuffield took home $5,277 for his efforts.
According to post-tournament reports, Shuffield caught his fish on a buzzbait in less than 2 feet of water.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 20-8, $5,277
2nd: Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., 10 bass, 18-1, $2,939
3rd: Justin Swayze, Gurdon, Ark., eight bass, 17-14, $2,331
4th: Matt Wood, Jessieville, Ark., 10 bass, 17-9, $1,185
5th: Huey Applegate, Jessieville, Ark., nine bass, 17-0, $1,015
6th: Leland Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 10 bass, 16-12, $931
7th: Danny Gwinn, Mount Ida, Ark., 10 bass, 16-1, $846
8th: Jake Ormond, Sterlington, La., 10 bass, 16-1, $762
9th: Dustin Huggins, Russellville, Ark., 10 bass, 16-0, $677
10th: Jamey Black, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 15-6, $592
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Swayze caught a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the Boater Big Bass award of $637.
Trevor Delaney of Benton, Arkansas, caught a two-day total of 10 bass bass weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,539.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Trevor Delaney, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 18-7, $2,539
2nd: Steve Standridge, Conway, Ark., seven bass, 13-4, $1,269
3rd: Michael Lucas, Forrest City, Ark., seven bass, 12-5, $846
4th: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., eight bass, 11-0, $592
5th: Rod Martinez, Benton, Ark., seven bass, 10-12, $608
6th: Mark Stevens, Hot Springs, Ark., six bass, 10-8, $784
7th: Stephen Simms, Hot Springs, Ark., eight bass, 10-4, $423
8th: Jerry Tabler, Mineral Springs, Ark., seven bass, 9-15, $431
9th: Steven Sherrill, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 9-1, $339
10th: Joey Taylor, Benton, Ark., seven bass, 8-10, $296
Stevens caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 4 pounds, 11 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $319.
The T-H Marine FLW BFL Arkie Division tournament on Lake Hamilton was hosted by Visit Hot Springs.
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 the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana. 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.
The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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. The 2018 All-American will be held on Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, May 31-June 2 and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission and the Red River Waterway Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 258 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
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