Queen Tops Norman Field
Trull claims co-angler title in North Carolina Division opener
Boater Jeff Queen of Catawba, North Carolina, caught five bass weighing 22 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division opener on Lake Norman presented by Navionics. Queen earned $3,918 for his victory.
“I was fishing on the south end of the lake, targeting sandy flats and boat docks,” says Queen, who earned his third career win in BFL competition. “I like these early in the year tournaments because they fit my pattern real well.”
Queen caught his fish on two baits – a 3/8-ounce KJ Camo-colored Queen Tackle Flippin jig and a ½-ounce Greenpumpkin Green-colored Queen Tackle Hammerhead jig.
“I threw the Flippin jig around docks, and used the Hammerhead on the sandy flats,” Queen says. “The Hammerhead is a football-head jig that has a tungsten bead in the head, and it gives a crayfish clicking noise that makes the bass go crazy. I had it trailered with a Bizz Baits Cutter Craw and I was just imitating a crayfish as close as I could.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Jeff Queen, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 22-1, $3,918
2nd: Nick Miller, Terrell, N.C., five bass, 19-9, $2,344
3rd: Preston Harris, State Road, N.C., five bass, 16-6, $1,638
4th: Dylan Fulk, Concord, N.C., five bass, 15-5, $867
5th: Alvin Shaw, Roaring Gap, N.C., five bass, 14-9, $744
6th: Mark Carpenter, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 14-3, $682
7th: Rob Digh, Denver, N.C., five bass, 14-1, $620
8th: Doug Easton, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 14-0, $558
9th: Carson Orellana, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 13-15, $496
10th: Hank Cherry, Maiden, N.C., five bass, 13-13, $434
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Miller caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $485.
Trull wins co-angler title
Tristen Trull of Mount Holly, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,859 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Tristen Trull, Mount Holly, N.C., five bass, 12-8, $1,859
2nd: Cameron Baker, Monroe, N.C., five bass, 10-15, $929
3rd: Brian Souza, Cornelius, N.C., five bass, 10-13, $819
4th: Nathan Grose, Summersville, W. Va., five bass, 10-12, $484
5th: Jeff Scism, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 9-13, $372
6th: Matt Markland, Blowing Rock, N.C., five bass, 9-11, $341
7th: Brian Transon, Sherrils Ford, N.C., five bass, 9-9, $310
8th: Greg Bragg, Kings Mountain, N.C., four bass, 9-3, $279
9th: John Carroll, Galax, Va., five bass, 9-2, $248
10th: Steve Cannon, Wilkesboro, N.C., four bass, 9-0, $459
Cannon caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a 4-pound, 9-ounce fish. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $242.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division event on Lake Norman presented by Navionics was hosted by the Mooresville Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. 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.