MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (May 12, 2008) - Boater Charlie Lane of Clinton, Tenn., won the Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division bass fishing tournament on Cherokee Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces. The victory earned Lane $3,823 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Murray Regional Championship in Columbia, S.C., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Lane caught his limit using a finesse worm in mud and pea gravel.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Burton Bryan of Sevierville, Tenn. (five bass, 15-15, $2,249); Ken Vicchio of Bluff City, Tenn. (five bass, 15-02, $1,498); Mike Casada of Pine Knot, Ky. (five bass, 14-11, $1,050) and Tony West of Somerset, Ky. (five bass, 13-15, $900).
Lane took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $645 for a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught on a Senko.
Mike Lemons of Huntington, W.Va., earned $2,249 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce that he caught fishing rocky points through grass.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Guy Sams of Elizabethtown, Tenn. (five bass, 10-12, $1,125); Bill Freeman of Knoxville, Tenn. (three bass, 9-03, $752); Steve Houser of Seymour, Tenn. (five bass, 8-15, $525) and Steve Harwood of Weaverville, N.C. (four bass, 8-13, $450).
Don Bible II of Clinton, Tenn., earned $322 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 4-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a worm.
The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on Ft. Loudoun Lake in Lenoir City, Tenn., June 28. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tenn., Sept. 6-7.