GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. - The 2004 Bass Fishing League LBL Division season kicked off Saturday on Kentucky and Barkley lakes near Gilbertsville, and Greg McSwain of Paris, Tenn., claimed the win thanks to a five-bass catch weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces. He bested 205 Boater Division competitors to earn $5,000 and 200 points.
McSwain caught his tournament-winning bass on a crankbait. This is McSwain's first win and first top-10 finish in his second year of BFL competition.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Robert Rodgers of Kuttawa (five bass, 18 pounds, 3 ounces, $2,500); Ryan Chandler of Hobart, Ind. (five bass, 16 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,700); Craig Hipsher of Franklin, Ohio (five bass, 15 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,300); and Cory Knoke of Kuttawa (five bass, 15 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,100).
Robert Henson of Hazelwood, Mo., claimed Boater Division big-bass honors and $1,000 thanks to a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass that he caught by slow-rolling a chartreuse and white spinnerbait. Rusty Rommel of Poplar Bluff, Mo., earned $500 from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, and he earned another $250 from Yamaha because his boat was powered by a Yamaha outboard.
Brian Clark of Xenia, Ohio, earned $2,500 as the Co-angler Division winner thanks to a three-bass catch that weighed 14 pounds. He edged past 205 Co-angler Division competitors thanks to a crankbait and jerkbait he fished in Barkley Lake.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jonathan Hampton of Hollow Rock, Tenn. (two bass, 10 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,250); Terry Harris of Clarksville, Tenn. (three bass, 10 pounds, 2 ounces, $850); Jeff Faust of Trenton, Ill. (two bass, 8 pounds, 15 ounces, $650); and Adam Spalding of Louisville (four bass, 8 pounds, 14 ounces, $550).
Hampton earned $500 as the Co-angler Division big-bass winner with a 7-pound bass he caught on a Bandit crankbait.