SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (May 1, 2006) Boater Michael Stringer of Monticello, Ky., earned $5,165 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Mountain Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Douglas. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Mountain Division events and featured 161 boaters vying for the win, which earned Stringer 200 points in the Boater Division.
Stringers winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds, 7 ounces. He threw a floating worm on shallow banks in a foot of water or less to catch his bass.
Rounding out the top five boaters were Brian Holt of Newport, Tenn. (five bass, 17 pounds, 11 ounces, $2,582); Guy Siler of Rutlegdge, Tenn. (five bass, 17 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,722); Steve Cornett of Manchester, Ky. (five bass, 15 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,205); and Buster Lilly of Bluff City, Tenn., and Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky., tied for fifth (five bass, 14 pounds, 3 ounces, $990).
Watkins won an additional $750 for being the highest-placing Ranger Cup and Yamaha contingency participant.
David Mullins of Mount Carmel, Tenn., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $805 for a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass.
Richard Wolfe of White Pine, Tenn., bested the Co-angler Division to earn $2,512 thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces that he caught while fishing a trout color deep-diving crankbait in 22 feet of water along shell banks. Wolfe earned and additional $193.50 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Herman Moore of Seymour, Tenn. (five bass, 11 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,256); Kris Kordenbrock of Covington, Ky. (five bass, 11 pounds, 12 ounces, $838); Billy Hughes of Eubank, Ky. (five bass, 9 pounds, 10 ounces, $586); and James Griffith of Harrodsburg, Ky. (five bass, 9 pounds, 1 ounce, $502).
Wolfe earned and additional $193.50 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass.
The Mountain Divisions next event will be held May 20 on Cherokee Lake near Morristown, Tenn., followed by the divisions two-day Super Tournament on the Barren River near Scottsville, Ky., Sept. 23-24.