Lake Guntersville Bass Fishing League 16 Feb 2018

[Mike Cork]

Lake Guntersville Bass Fishing League 16 Feb 2018

TENNESSEE'S AARON WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE OPENER ON LAKE GUNTERSVILLE PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS
Co-angler Title Goes to Indiana's Lyons
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (Feb. 18, 2019) – Boater Chad Aaron of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, caught five bass Saturday weighing 25 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division season opener on Lake Guntersville presented by Navionics. For his win, Aaron earned $4,363.
"I was hitting small underwater eddies. They were specific – I had to cast within a couple of feet to get bit," said Aaron, who earned his second career victory in FLW competition. "It's something I've been doing on the Tennessee River for years – just playing the current deal. When there's heavy rain and the water is stained and muddy in the wintertime and early spring, it sets up the way I like to fish."
Aaron said he worked through eight eddies, mid-lake, and caught 12 keepers in the process. He used a ½- and ¾-ounce black jig with a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed craw and custom 4- to 6-inch shad-colored swimbaits, noting that a 5-inch swimbait did especially well throughout the day.
"I just rotated through the baits as the spots reloaded," said Aaron. "If they missed the swimbait, I'd throw the jig in there and they'd eat it – I caught three or four like that. When I'd catch one fish out of an eddy, I'd leave for 30 minutes. They were one-fish spots – they weren't schools by any means."
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
               1st:          Chad Aaron, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 25-14, $4,363
               2nd:         Kent Keys, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 25-3, $2,082
               3rd:          Aaron Stephens, Hayden, Ala., five bass, 24-14, $1,787
               4th:          Derek Remitz, Grant, Ala., five bass, 23-5, $971
               5th:          Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 21-10, $833
               6th:          Braden Marshall, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 20-9, $763
               7th:          Dennis Barnes, Boaz, Ala., five bass, 20-7, $694
               8th:          Trey Gamble, Helena, Ala., five bass, 19-4, $625
               9th:          Ricky Parpolowicz, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 19-1, $555
               10th:        Cory Mathis, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 18-13, $486
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Daniel Trevino Jr. of Langston, Alabama, caught an 8-pound, 12-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $580.
Mark Lyons of Marion, Indiana, won the Co-angler Division and $2,082 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
               1st:          Mark Lyons, Marion, Ind., five bass, 17-14, $2,082
               2nd:         David Freeman, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $1,041
               3rd:          Todd Harris, Athens, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $692
               4th:          Cody Davis, Hico, Texas, five bass, 14-1, $486
               5th:          Marcus Corbett, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 13-8, $516
               6th:          Ethan Wheeler, Mayfield, Ky., five bass, 12-14, $432
               7th:          Steven Jacques, Addison, Ala., three bass, 12-11, $347
               8th:          Charles Billingsley, Huntsville, Ala., four bass, 12-5, $312
               9th:          Justin Stringer, Hartselle, Ala., three bass, 11-15, $278
               10th:        Matt Hardy, Guntown, Miss., two bass, 11-10, $243
Tracey Gearlds of Tullahoma, Tennessee and Tyler Youngblood of Ooltewah, Tennessee, each caught a bass weighing 8 pounds even in the Co-angler Division – tying for the day's largest. As a result, the duo split the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $290.
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 Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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.
The 2019 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 be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.