SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (May 17, 2004) - Mark Mauldin of Cleveland, Tenn., earned $4,569 Saturday as winner of the third regular-season Bass Fishing League Mountain Division bass fishing tournament on Douglas Lake near Sevierville. He caught five bass weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces to claim the win and 200 points in the Boater Division.
Mauldin caught his bass on the lower end of the lake with a Carolina-rigged crankbait. He also earned $885 as the Boater Division big-bass winner with a 6-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught on a Mann's 30-Plus crankbait.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Guy Siler of Rutledge (five bass, 19 pounds, $2,285); Brian Holt of Newport (five bass, 16 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,554); Jim Bryant Jr. of Lancaster, Ky. (five bass, 15 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,188); and Chad Baker of Piney Flats (five bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,005).
Mark Hogue of Stanford, Ky., earned $500 from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program.
Robert Hood of Somerset, Ky., claimed $2,090 as winner of the Co-angler Division with a five-bass catch weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces that he caught on a Carolina-rigged crankbait from the back of Mauldin's boat.
Finishing second was Joe Leonard of Bristol, Va., with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces that earned him $1,045. In third was David Noe of Knoxville with a five-bass limit that weighed 10 pounds, 10 ounces worth $710. Tied for fourth were Tim Garland of London, Ky., and Matthew Reece of Irvine, Ky., with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 5 ounces that earned each of them $501.
Reece earned $393 as the co-angler big-bass winner with a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass that he caught on a Mann's 20-Plus crankbait.
The Mountain Division's next stop will be June 5 on Watts Barr Lake in Spring City, and the regular season will come to a close Oct. 2-3 with a two-day Super Tournament on Cherokee Lake in Morristown.