Wendell’s Guins Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division Finale on Kerr Lake Presented by Navionics
Virginia’s Wright Nabs Co-angler Title
HENDERSON, N.C. – Jonathon Guins of Wendell, North Carolina, weighed a two-day cumulative of eight bass totaling 24 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament on Kerr Lake presented by Navionics. For his win, Guins earned $8,011.
Guins said he fished a 2- to 3-mile stretch midlake to catch his fish. He said he focused on points and smaller pockets, and was able to put nine keepers in his boat throughout the weekend.
“I caught the majority of my fish on a natural-colored topwater bait in 3 to 6 feet of water,” said Guins, who earned his second BFL victory on Kerr Lake. “I only caught three keepers Saturday and six keepers on Sunday. I needed to have wind on the points, and it was a little windier on Sunday.”
Guins said that he also used a Carolina-rigged Zoom Trick Worm and that the bite was best during the mid- to late-morning hours.
“The area I was fishing had quality fish, but not the quantity,” said Guins. “It was a tough tournament. I had to keep my head down and grind it out.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jonathon Guins, Wendell, N.C., eight bass, 24-13, $6,011 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Mark Inman, Greensboro, N.C., 10 bass, 22-14, $3,206
3rd: Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., 10 bass, 22-11, $2,002
4th: Jason Houchins, Clarksville, Va., eight bass, 21-1, $1,503
5th: Kay Choosakul, Lillington, N.C., nine bass, 20-2, $1,202
6th: Billy Shelton III, La Crosse, Va., seven bass, 19-13, $1,102
7th: James Wall, Greensboro, N.C., eight bass, 19-4, $1,002
8th: Scott Hamrick, Denver, N.C., nine bass, 18-14, $902
9th: Daniel Wicker, Hillsborough, N.C., nine bass, 18-9, $1,627
10th: Scooter Lilley, Williamston, N.C., eight bass, 18-5, $701
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Wicker caught a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the Big Bass award of $825.
Craig Wright of Rustburg, Virginia, caught a two-day total of eight bass weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $3,199.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Craig Wright, Rustburg, Va., eight bass, 18-10, $3,199
2nd: James Hastings, Holly Springs, N.C., six bass, 16-9, $1,499
3rd: Joe Westmoreland, Greensboro, N.C., eight bass, 16-7, $1,046
4th: Jason Hinger, Timberlake, N.C., seven bass, 14-13, $700
5th: Mark Robertson, Henderson, N.C., six bass, 14-6, $600
6th: Stacy Metz, Staley, N.C., seven bass, 14-6, $550
7th: Lenny Baird, Stafford, Va., five bass, 13-3, $500
8th: Robert Tysinger, Coats, N.C., five bass, 12-7, $450
9th: Thomas Hirsch, Powhatan, Va., six bass, 12-7, $400
10th: Randy Ruffin, Norfolk, Va., six bass, 11-15, $350
Mark Whitman of Elon, North Carolina, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $405.
The T-H Marine FLW BFL Piedmont Division tournament on Kerr Lake was hosted by the Vance County Department of Tourism.
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.
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.
# # #