Grand Lake Bass Fishing League 14 May 16

[Mike Cork]

GROVE, Okla. (May 16, 2016) – Jeffrey Smith of Knob Noster, Missouri, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division tournament on Grand Lake presented by Navionics. For his victory, Smith took home $4,235.
"In the morning I ran to a backwater pocket on the north end that was littered with riprap," said Smith, who earned the second win of his FLW career. "There was a low bridge, but with my new aluminum Ranger I was able to raise the trolling motor and get under it. No one else could get back to where the rain had pushed the fish to.
"In the backwater I caught three of my limit fish – including a 5-pounder – flipping a Black Neon-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver," Smith continued. "They were in about a foot of water along scattered wood, logs and laydowns."
At 8 a.m., Smith said he ran to his second area – a ledge off of a point in a Honey Creek cove – to focus on postspawn bass.
"I filled my limit with a shaky-head rig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Magnum Worm," said Smith. "I fished in 12 feet of water and ran the bait slow along the bottom. I ended up with five bites all day and they paid off."
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
               1st:          Jeffrey Smith, Knob Noster, Mo., five bass, 17-6, $4,235
               2nd:         Benjamin King, Garnett, Kan., five bass, 17-5, $2,118
               3rd:          Tim Fleetwood, Forsyth, Mo., five bass, 16-15, $1,713
               4th:          Matthew Roberts, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 16-12, $988
               5th:          Nick Lebrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 16-10, $847
               6th:          Brad Koehler, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 15-14, $776
               7th:          Thomas Canady, Bartlesville, Okla., five bass, 15-9, $670
               7th:          Wes Endicott, Joplin, Mo., five bass, 15-9, $670
               9th:          Ben Verhoef, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 15-7, $565
               10th:        Preston Frazell, Cleveland, Okla., five bass, 15-1, $494
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 
James Rogers of Springdale, Arkansas, caught a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $590.
Phillip Delong of Stillwater, Oklahoma, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,118.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
               1st:          Phillip Delong, Stillwater, Okla., five bass, 16-1, $2,118
               2nd:         Denise Dill, Laurie, Mo., five bass, 12-15, $1,059
               3rd:          Aaron Strohkirch, Camdenton, Mo., five bass, 12-9, $706
               4th:          Johnny Ward Jr., Waynesville, Mo., four bass, 12-3, $494
               5th:          Rich Purington, Plattsmouth, Neb., five bass, 11-2, $406
               5th:          Richard Bower III, Jefferson City, Mo., five bass, 11-2, $406
               7th:          Reggie Britt, Prairie Village, Kan., four bass, 10-3, $353
               8th:          Randy Staton, Muskogee, Okla., four bass, 9-15, $318
               9th:          Cody Millican, Highlandville, Mo., five bass, 9-13, $282
               10th:        Dan Goetz, Columbia, Ill., three bass, 9-6, $234
               10th:        Grant Nisbet, St. Louis, Mo., two bass, 9-6, $529
Nisbet caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $295.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.