Byrdstown’s Reagan Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Mountain Division Finale on Barren River
Scottsville’s Bennington Takes Co-angler Title
GLASGOW, Ky. – Boater Robert Reagan of Byrdstown, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament on the Barren River Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of nine bass weighing 30 pounds, 7 ounces. For his win, Reagan took home $7,329.
Reagan said he caught most of the fish he weighed on a homemade football-head jig with a Watermelon Meat-colored Strike King Rage Tail Craw trailer in 18 to 20 feet of water.
“I got on a shallow bite early in practice, so I went to the river Saturday but only caught one small fish by 1:30 p.m.,” said Reagan, who earned his fourth career win in BFL competition. “I ran back down to the main lake to the mid-lake area and ran some ledges. I marked fish and got four bites by the end of the day and they were the right ones.”
Reagan flipped shallow wood with a green-pumpkin Zoom Speed Craw with a 3/8-ounce weight to catch his keeper from the river.
“I returned to the same mid-lake area Sunday and caught two fish from a place I’d caught them Saturday, and the other two from ledges I hadn’t fished yet,” said Reagan. “I marked them and fished them with the same jig – I never laid it down. I lost my “fifth” a couple of times Sunday – it just didn’t get into the net.”
Reagan noted that his Lowrance electronics were essential to his win.
“I couldn’t have won without my Lowrance unit – they showed me the fish. I idled the ledges and when I‘d see them I’d stop the engine and cast in there. It seemed like I could catch them on a first or second cast.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Robert Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., nine bass , 30-7, $5,329 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Densmore Goodson, Letcher, Ky., 10 bass, 24-8, $2,664
3rd: James Copeland, Bowling Green, Ky., 10 bass, 24-8, $2,118
4th: Steve Whitaker, Scottsville, Ky., 10 bass, 23-13, $1,543
5th: Tim Akers, Richmond, Ky., 10 bass, 23-10, $1,407
6th: Mike Casada, Stearns, Ky., 10 bass, 22-7, $977
7th: Keith Monson, Burgin, Ky., 10 bass, 21-6, $888
8th: Ryan White, Lancaster, Ky., nine bass, 21-0, $799
9th: Kenneth Patterson, Knifley, Ky., eight bass, 20-9, $910
10th: Bennie Mutter, Glasgow, Ky., nine bass, 20-4, $722
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Copeland caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $341.
Ed Bennington of Scottsville, Kentucky, caught a two-day total of eight bass weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,664.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Ed Bennington, Scottsville, Ky., eight bass, 23-5, $2,664
2nd: Tommy Glass, Verona, Ky., eight bass, 16-4, $1,532
3rd: Jason Ratcliff, Eubank, Ky., seven bass, 15-12, $939
4th: Doug Adkins, Gray Hawk, Ky., eight bass, 15-8, $622
5th: Andy Spencer, Glasgow, Ky., nine bass, 13-3, $533
6th: Matt Chiodi, West Chester, Ohio, seven bass , 13-1, $488
7th: Les Reeves, Rockholds, Ky., five bass, 12-5, $444
8th: Jonathan Sydnor, Canmer, Ky., four bass, 10-4, $400
9th: Bobby Arms, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 10-3, $355
10th: Bob Wiles, Huntington, W. Va., six bass, 10-3, $311
Nick Haunert of Maineville, Ohio, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 3 pounds, 7 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $341.
The 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division finale on the Barren River was hosted by the Glasgow-Barren County Tourist & Convention Commission.
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.
The 2018 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 2019 BFL All-American will take place May 30-June 1 on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
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 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. 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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