GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (Oct. 19, 2009) - Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Kentucky/Barkley Lakes Regional Bass Fishing Championship Saturday with a three-day 15-bass catch weighing 50 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned Shaffer a Ranger 198VX boat with a choice of a 200 horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha motor and a Chevrolet 1500 Silverado. The win also helped him qualify for the 2010 BFL All-American to be held in Davenport, Iowa, May 27-30, 2010, on the Mississippi River where he could ultimately win a top prize of $140,000 and a trip to the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.
"This was a great win," said Shaffer, who won the 2006 BFL Kentucky Lake Regional Championship. "In these multi-day events you have to find more fish than you do for a one-day tournament and hope the area has enough fish for all three days.
"I got in Sunday night before the tournament and started practice fishing," Shaffer added. "At noon Wednesday I was pretty depressed. I wasn't on fish. Then at one o'clock I started doing something different and caught a few fish in a 400-yard stretch. I started jumping around trying to find the same thing and was able to duplicate it in a couple of areas and kept expanding on that during the tournament."
Shaffer said he targeted gravel points with bone-colored Zara Spooks and black buzzbaits on top and Sexy Shad-colored lipless crankbaits below the surface. Shaffer said he threw the topwater baits 90 percent of the time during the tournament. Shaffer said the overcast skies present during the event were key to the topwater bite.
With 11 wins and 46 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events under his belt, Shaffer is setting his sights on his next goals.
"I've got the Stren Series Championship coming up in November, and then it's deer hunting time after that," Shaffer said.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Chris Darby of Mt. Ida, Ark. (14 bass, 43-1, $3,000); Daniel Fletcher of Drummonds, Tenn. (13 bass, 40-10, $1,500); Jesse Draime of Long Beach, Miss. (15 bass, 40-7, $1,200); and Ryan Deal of Haubstadt, Ind. (14 bass, 39-1, $1,100).
Tim Rasberry of North Little Rock, Ark., won a Ranger 198VX boat with a choice of a 200 horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha motor as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to 12 bass weighing 28 pounds, 10 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jesse Steadham of Florence, Miss. (nine bass, 22-15, $1,500); Todd Owens of Middletown, Ohio (eight bass, 20-0, $750); Jimmy Burrow of Malvern, Ark. (six bass, 18-13, $600); and Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark. (eight bass, 18-11, $550).