Kentucky and Barkley Lakes Bass Fishing League 18 May 2019

[Mike Cork]

Kentucky and Barkley Lakes Bass Fishing League 18 May 2019

VANNERSON WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON KENTUCKY AND BARKLEY LAKES
Illinois' McBride Wins Co-Angler Title
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 20, 2019) – Boater Rob Vannerson of Benton, Kentucky, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes Saturday with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces. For his efforts, Vannerson pocketed $2,977.
Vannerson said he stayed on the north end of Kentucky Lake, fishing from Moors Marina down to Ledbetter Creek. He said he fished ledges all day, preferring a 5/8-ounce, brown D&L Tackle shaky-head jig with a Yum Dinger worm.
"I fished 20 to 25 feet down pretty much all day. We had a full moon on Saturday night and the big females that came off the beds were sitting out there recovering," said Vannerson, who earned his second career victory of 2019 on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in BFL competition. "That's why I didn't use moving baits. They weren't chasing anything, and I had to slow down.
"I just dragged the worm on the bottom on the shell beds. I probably fished 30 spots, catching one here and there," continued Vannerson. "I only caught six keepers, and weighed all largemouth."
Vannerson said he used a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy Fitzgerald Stunner HD Series Casting Rod and Lew's Tournament Pro SX 7:1 reel spooled with 17-pound-test Seaguar Red Label fluorocarbon line.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
               1st:          Rob Vannerson, Benton, Ky., five bass, 18-15, $2,977
               2nd:         Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 17-9, $1,989
               3rd:          Edward Gettys, Paris, Tenn., five bass, 16-14, $992
               4th:          Chris Hellebuyck, Waterford, Mich., five bass, 16-8, $695
               5th:          Harry Barber, Earlington, Ky., five bass, 15-6, $595
               6th:          Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 15-4, $896
               7th:          Kevin Caskey, Madisonville, Ky., five bass, 13-6, $496
               8th:          Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 13-5, $447
               9th:          John Wright, Windsor, Ill., four bass, 12-15, $397
               10th:        Larry Frasier, Owensboro, Ky., five bass, 12-9, $347
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Hunter Mills of Mayfield, Kentucky, caught a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $340.
Paul McBride of Vienna, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $1,489 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
               1st:          Paul McBride, Vienna, Ill., four bass, 12-7, $1,489
               2nd:         Ricky Boehringer, Troy, Ohio, three bass, 12-5, $1,014
               3rd:          Alan Scott, Shelbyville, Ind., four bass, 9-12, $497
               4th:          Barry Gunter, Trafalger, Ind., four bass, 8-11, $397
               5th:          Charles Richardson III, Dyersburg, Tenn., two bass, 7-4, $298
               6th:          Mike Arnold, Batavia, Ohio, three bass, 6-5, $260
               6th:          Chad Thomas, Harrodsburg, Ky., two bass, 6-5, $260
               8th:          Nathan Eubank, Mount Vernon, Ind., two bass, 6-2, $223
               9th:          Bill Wasden, Paris, Tenn., two bass, 6-1, $198
               10th:        John Morales, Tinley Park, Ill., two bass, 5-14, $174
Boehringer caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $170.
The tournament was hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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.
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.