HENDERSON, N.C. (Oct. 24, 2005) - Boater David Gnewikow of Mount Juliet, Tenn., earned a fully rigged Ranger 519VX and a new Chevy truck Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Regional bass fishing tournament on Kerr Lake. The top 40 boaters and the top 40 co-anglers from the Empire, Mountain, Northeast and Music City divisions competed in the three-day event.
Gnewikow's winning three-day catch of 15 bass weighed 37 pounds, 2 ounces. In addition to the new truck and boat, Gnewikow earned a ticket to the 2006 $1 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League All-American, where the winning boater will earn up to $140,000 and the winning co-angler will earn $70,000. Gnewikow threw a Carolina-rig and crankbaits around points in the lower end of the main channel to catch his bass.
The top six boaters and the top six co-anglers fishing the event also earned a berth into the All-American. Rounding out the top six boaters were Christopher Carmell of Stuarts Draft, Va. (15 bass, 32 pounds, 14 ounces, $6,000); Terry Steele of Sparta, Tenn. (13 bass, 32 pounds, 9 ounces, $3,000); Keith Monson of Burgin, Ky. (13 bass, 31 pounds, 8 ounces, $2,500); Robert Soley of Ewing, N.J. (12 bass, 28 pounds, $2,000); and Joe Hunt of Lincoln University, Pa. (nine bass, 21 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,800).
Monson earned an additional $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award. Lance Cahoon of Haskell, N.J., earned a new Ranger boat as the co-angler winner, thanks to a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 11 ounces that he caught on a Carolina-rigged green-pumpkin Senko.
Rounding out the top six co-anglers were Thomas Prowant of Lewisburg, Pa. (eight bass, 19 pounds, 7 ounces, $3,000); Mike Williams of Lancaster, Ky. (six bass, 16 pounds, $1,500); Gregory Mallus of Gaithersburg, Md. (seven bass, 12 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,250); Brandon Wallen of Monticello, Ky. (six bass, 12 pounds, 4 ounces, $1,000); and Dan Phillips Jr. of Aberdeen, Md. (five bass, 11 pounds, 7 ounces, $900).