MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (June 8, 2009) - Tim Smiley of White Pine, Tenn., won the Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Cherokee Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces. The victory earned Smiley $4,000 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Norman Regional Championship in Lake Norman, N.C., Oct. 22-24, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"Winning one of these isn't easy to do," said Smiley, who has racked up 17 BFL top-10 finishes. "There's a lot of good fisherman out there."
Smiley said he caught his fish by targeting brush and points in the mid-lake area. Smiley said a jig accounted for all of his fish except for his biggest. That bass fell for a Zara Spook.
Rounding out the top five places are Randy Brown of Mosheim, Tenn., and Ricky Shepherd of Mosheim, Tenn. (five bass, 14-13, $1,667); Rex Huff of Corbin, Ky. (five bass, 13-6, $933); Brad Burkhart of Speedwell, Tenn. (five bass), Brandon Card of Caryville, Tenn. (four bass) and Larry Horton of Bluefield, W. Va. (five bass) each totaling 12-14 and earning $733.
Brown and Archie Wilson Jr. of Corryton, Tenn., shared the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $270 each for a pair of 4-pound, 7-ounce bass.
Jason Meade of Knoxville, Tenn., earned $2,000 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 12 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a soft-plastic worm.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Don Carmack of Middlesboro, Ky. (five bass, 11-5, $1,000); Gary Martin of Lenoir City, Tenn. (five bass, 10-14, $666); Delmer Wyatt of Crossville, Tenn. (four bass, 10-8, $467); and Bill Denton of Bean Station, Tenn., and Ron Nelson of Kodak, Tenn. (five bass, 10-0, $383).
Wyatt earned $270 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass.
The next Volunteer Division event will be a two-day Super Tournament held on Watts Bar Lake in Rockwood, Tenn., Sept. 26-27.