Rampey Notches Ninth Title
Guffey wins co-angler title
Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division tournament on Lake Wylie. For his catch, Rampey earned $5,466.
“I fished the lower end of the lake, near the dam around Allison and Big Allison creeks. There was a little bit of stained water down that way,” says Rampey, who earned his ninth career win in BFL competition – tied for ninth all-time. “I caught the majority of them on a square-billed crankbait. I threw it on flat points in the pockets, which I dialed in on using my Lowrance electronics. I sat in 4- or 5-feet-of-water while most of the fish were in 1½ to 2 feet.”
Rampey says he worked through 10 or 12 pockets, and that he caught eight keepers during his day. His crankbait of choice was a Crystal Craw-colored Strike King KVD Rattling Square-Bill crankbait. He caught the heaviest fish of the event – an 8-pound, 6-ouncer – on an umbrella rig with Pearl-colored Zoom Swimmin’ Super Fluke Jr. swimbaits with white Buckeye G-Man Finesse Swimbait heads.
“I caught the big one around 9 [a.m.]. It was the first fish of the day and the only one I caught from a dock,” says Rampey. “I was throwing Hi-Seas [15-pound-test] 100-percent fluorocarbon line. It had wrapped me up on a dock post and it held up. That fish was the difference-maker.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 19-13, $5,466
2nd: Russell Winters, Rock Hill, S.C., five bass, 17-6, $1,883
3rd: Michael Stephens, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 15-15, $1,256
4th: Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., five bass, 15-0, $879
5th: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 14-15, $1,103
6th: Alvin Shaw, Roaring Gap, N.C., five bass, 14-1, $990
7th: Ryan Deal, Indian Trail, N.C., five bass, 13-9, $628
8th: Junior Allen, Biscoe, N.C., five bass, 13-6, $533
8th: Parks Jones Jr., Concord, N.C., five bass, 13-6, $533
10th: Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 13-3, $439
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Rampey’s 8-pound, 6-ounce largemouth earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $500.
Guffey wins co-angler title
Johnny Guffey of Bessemer City, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,883 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 9 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Johnny Guffey, Bessemer City, N.C., five bass, 9-15, $1,883
2nd: Dustin Dalton, Sparta, N.C., five bass, 9-6, $942
3rd: Noah Beck, Lexington, N.C., four bass, 9-3, $977
4th: Bobby Smith, Asheville, N.C., four bass, 8-15, $439
5th: John Cook, Matthews, N.C., four bass, 8-10, $377
6th: Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., five bass, 8-8, $395
7th: Tommy Swicegood, Salisbury, N.C., four bass, 7-14, $314
8th: Louis Kraft, Salisbury, N.C., four bass, 7-13, $282
9th: Bobby Henderson, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 7-12, $251
10th: Darren Marlow, Cherryville, N.C., three bass, 7-8, $470
Marlow caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $250.
The tournament was hosted by Visit York County.
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. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.