“I was fishing as far back in Peter’s Creek as you could get,” said Robinson. “I was bumpin’ stumps in 3 to 5 feet of water for the entire tournament. I started flipping with an EmGem by Garneau and then changed to Strike King 1.5 crankbaits which is what I caught most of my big fish on. There were a lot of guys fishing in the creek but they were mostly using jigs and flipping soft plastics. I was the only one throwing a crankbait.
“I literally paddled my way to the championship,” Robinson continued. “On the last day I lost my trolling motor so had to use a wooden paddle to keep me in my key area. No one fished the creek on the final day with me and I knew I had a pretty good chance of winning when on my second cast I caught a 3-pounder. I knew then that the area had replenished and I had a good shot at winning.
The remaining top six boaters and also qualifying for the BFL All-American were:
2nd: John Wright, Shelbyville, Ill., 15 bass, 39-0, $1,500
3rd: Eric Snow, Clarksville, Ind., 13 bass, 33-14, $1,100
4th: Jeff Ritter, Prairie du Chien, Wis., 13 bass, 30-8, $1,000
5th: Derek Jenkel, Pinkneyville, Ill., 12 bass, 23-10, $900
6th: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, 10 bass, 23-1, $800
Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:
7th: Jimmy Johnson, La Crosse, Wis., nine bass, 22-10, $700
8th: Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., 10 bass, 22-0, $650
9th: Mike Brewington, Columbus, Ind., 10 bass, 20-15, $600
10th: Aaron McManaway, Altamont, Ill., nine bass, 20-11, $550
Aaron Arning of Walnut Hill, Ill., won the Co-angler Division on Saturday with a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces. He took home a 198VX Ranger boat including a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor along with a berth in the BFL All-American Championship tournament.
The remaining top six co-anglers and also qualifying for the BFL All-American were:
2nd: David Michaelis, Commerce, Mich., nine bass, 22-5, $750
3rd: Gary Melson, Louisville, Ky., nine bass, 19-0, $550
4th: Cody Kelley, Schoolcraft, Mich., seven bass, 17-14, $500
5th: Nathan Halliday, Morehead, Ky., nine bass, 17-4, $450
6th: Dustin Burk, Brookville, Ind., nine bass, 17-0, $400
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
7th: Joey Von Hoene, Erlanger, Ky., seven bass, 16-13, $350
8th: Robby Tufte, Fountain City, Wis., eight bass, 16-9, $325
9th: Doug Ruster, Greenfield, Ind., eight bass, 15-13, $300
10th: Scott Moon, Beech Grove, Ind., eight bass, 15-12, $275
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for one of six regional tournaments and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifes them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.