Powers Claims Fifth Title
Blakely wins co-angler title
Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tennessee, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces, to win Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on South Holston Reservoir. Powers earned $3,583 for his victory.
Powers spent his day fishing wind-blown points mid-lake, not too far from takeoff. He says the bite was tough, and that he caught just six keepers all day. He weighed in two largemouth and two spotted bass from a spinnerbait and a 3-pound smallmouth on a crankbait.
“I targeted blowdowns on the points with the spinnerbait, and when the wind quit blowing I switched to a flat-sided crankbait. It was the same deal [with the crankbait] – rocky, wind-blown points – but I stayed away from the trees,” says Powers, who earned his fifth win in FLW competition. “The crankbait has a tight wiggle and when they quit biting, I can usually catch a few on it.”
Powers says his spinnerbait was a ½-ounce, custom-made lure with willow leaf and Colorado blades and a Glimmer Blue skirt, with a Zoom Split Tail trailer of the same color. His crankbait was a Root Beer-colored CP Custom Baits Series 3 balsa crankbait. He primarily worked in 6 to 10 feet of water.
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $3,583
2nd: Kevin Powers, Unicoi, Tenn., five bass, 13-15, $1,764
3rd: Jonathan Bowling , Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $1,108
4th: Steve Coleman, Clayton, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $707
5th: Nathan Hipps, Canton, N.C., five bass, 11-7, $580
5th: Derrick Blake, Rockwood, Tenn., two bass, 11-7, $580
7th: Matt Linton, Kingston, Tenn., four bass, 10-6, $505
8th: Doug Burke, Castlewood, Va., four bass, 10-0, $454
9th: Tavin Napier, Rockwood, Tenn., three bass, 9-9, $404
10th: Wayne Coppage, Jonesboro, Tenn., four bass, 9-1, $353
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Powers also caught a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $355.
Blakely wins co-angler title
David Blakely of Kingsport, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $1,714 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: David Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 11-10, $1,714
2nd: Mark Dillard, Bluff City, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $807
3rd: Clint Dyer, Jonesborough, Tenn., four bass, 10-10, $505
4th: Joey Boling, Walland, Tenn., three bass, 9-0, $353
5th: Brian Miller, Calhoun, Ga., three bass, 8-0, $303
6th: Audie Aultman, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-5, $278
7th: Bradley Watts, Afton, Tenn., four bass, 7-3, $252
8th: Jim Neece Sr., Bristol, Va., three bass, 6-15, $214
8th: Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., two bass, 6-15, $364
10th: Robert Barch Jr., Nelsonville, Ohio, two bass, 6-13, $177
Curtis Crooke of Washburn, Tennessee, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $177.
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.