Wilson Works Slow at Barren River
James takes co-angler title
Jeffrey Wilson of Lancaster, Kentucky, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament on the Barren River Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces. For his day on the water, Wilson pocketed $3,753.
“I mainly stayed up around mid-lake and got in the back of the creeks where the bushes were flooded. There was some standing and floating timber and I threw a shaky-head in there,” says Wilson, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “Everything I caught came anywhere from 1 to 5 feet of water.”
Wilson ran his pattern in a main creek, located across from the Narrows Marina Boat Ramp, until 11 a.m. He then worked a little pocket off of a corner of Coon Creek before hitting some small main-lake pockets on the way back to the boat ramp. He added that he caught five keepers and several short fish.
“I was looking for shade on the banks once the sun got up. I believe they were trying to keep cool in it,” says Wilson. “I worked the bait slow. I would drag it instead of popping it like normal.”
Wilson's setup included a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Trick Worm with a 5/16-ounce, green-pumpkin BC Lures Round Shaky Head and a 7-foot 4-inch Phenom Titanium Gen2 Series Enigma Casting rod.
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Jeffrey Wilson, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 16-6, $3,753
2nd: William Merrick, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $1,877
3rd: John Rediess, Smiths Grove, Ky., five bass, 15-5, $1,185
4th: Aaron Singleton, La Grange, Ky., five bass, 14-6, $829
5th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 14-2, $1,011
6th: Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 13-8, $651
7th: Pat Eichmann, Nancy, Ky., five bass, 13-6, $842
8th: Jeramiah Sifers, New Albany, Ind., four bass, 12-15, $958
8th: Allen Boyd, Salem, Ind., five bass, 12-15, $503
10th: Mike Lemons, Huntington, W. Va., five bass, 12-10, $415
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Sifers caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $455.
James wins co-angler title
Ernest James of Loyall, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $1,777 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 11 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Ernest James, Loyall, Ky., four bass, 11-4, $1,777
2nd: Kenny Botts, Alvaton, Ky., three bass, 10-10, $888
3rd: Jason Barr, Woodlawn, Tenn., five bass, 10-8, $742
4th: Jarrod Conn, Burgin, Ky., five bass, 9-15, $415
5th: Joey Von Hoene, Erlanger, Ky., three bass, 8-2, $555
6th: Timothy Vaughan, Bowling Green, Ky., two bass, 7-5, $553
7th: Tracy Helton, London, Ky., four bass, 7-4, $296
8th: Shane Vickers, Tyner, Ky., three bass, 7-1, $317
9th: Lucas Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., two bass, 6-4, $210
9th: Paul Singleton, La Grange, Ky., four bass, 6-4, $210
9th: Danell McKinney, West Liberty, Ky., three bass, 6-4, $210
Vaughan caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $227.
The tournament 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. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, presented by Mercury. 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.