Brennon McCord of West Frankfort, Illinois, caught five bass weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces, Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division opener on Rend Lake. For his victory, McCord earned $3,671.
According to post-tournament reports, McCord caught his fish on the southern end of the lake flipping an unamed beaver-type creature bait.
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Brennon McCord, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 16-15, $3,671
2nd: Michael Black, Toledo, Ill., three bass, 9-11, $2,035
3rd: Neil McCord, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 9-10, $1,324
4th: Darren Frazier, Anna, Ill., two bass, 8-9, $1,326
5th: Travis Wilson, La Harpe, Ill., three bass, 6-10, $734
6th: Mike Quinlan, Mooresville, Ind., three bass, 6-9, $673
7th: Derek Jenkel, Pinckneyville, Ill., two bass, 6-2, $612
8th: Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., two bass, 5-11, $851
9th: Justin Hatton, Dix, Ill., three bass, 5-5, $458
10th: Shawn Panick, New Lenox, Ill., one bass, 5-5, $458
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Frazier caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $470.
Kirby wins co-angler title
Jeff Kirby of Philo, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,170 Saturday after catching a bass weighing 4 pounds, 14 ounces. The bass also earned Kirby the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $235.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Jeff Kirby, Philo, Ill., one bass, 4-14, $2,170
2nd: Todd Blakeman, Chatham, Ill., two bass, 4-11, $918
3rd: Michael McKinley, Woodlawn, Ill., one bass, 3-11, $612
4th: Andy Paschedag, Worden, Ill., two bass, 3-9, $447
5th: Mario Rossi Jr., Granite City, Ill., one bass, 3-9, $447
6th: Jacob Bovara, Wadsworth, Ill., one bass, 2-13, $321
7th: Derwin Thomas, Little Rock, Ark., one bass, 2-13, $321
8th: Dave Dobill, Royalton, Ill., one bass, 2-11, $275
9th: Chad Jackson, Indianapolis, Ind., one bass, 2-4, $245
10th: Daniel Sutton, Cadiz, Ky., one bass, 2-3, $214
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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. 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.