MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (Sept. 9, 2019) – Boater Bill Humbard of New Market, Tennessee, won the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament on Cherokee Lake Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 9 ounces. For his efforts on the water, Humbard took home $6,337. Humbard said he spent the tournament on the lower end of the lake, fishing around the Cherokee Dam, the islands and some secondary points.
“I concentrated on scattered brush before moving out to the islands and the deep points to fish big boulders and drops,” said Humbard, who earned his fourth win on Cherokee Lake in BFL competition. “I was sitting in 44 feet of water and throwing into 25 feet – most of them came from 25 to 34 feet this weekend.
“I started off the morning Saturday using a topwater bait and a crankbait, and then as the day went on I switched to a shaky-head rig,” said Humbard, “I finished off my limit with a keeper smallmouth on a brown ¼-ounce homemade jig with a [green pumpkin-colored] Zoom Super Chunk Jr. I ended up catching 14 keepers Saturday.”
Humbard said he used a Bone-colored Heddon Zara Spook Jr. and a ¾-ounce blue and chartreuse-colored Spro John Crews Little John DD Crankbait. On his shaky-head rig, he said he preferred a Watermelon Candy Red Zoom Mag Finesse Worm. On Sunday, Humbard said conditions changed drastically after the water level dropped 2 inches from Saturday. He still managed to weigh four largemouth and one spotted bass.
“I went down to my area and my topwater and crankbait fish weren’t there. I threw the shaky-head for about 45 minutes with no luck. Everything had changed – the shad, the fish position, everything – so I switched things up,” said Humbard. “I scanned around on my [Garmin] Panoptix and noticed the fish from Saturday were in the brush piles, but suspended up about a foot off of the bottom. I got my Carolina rig out, tied on a 4-foot leader, and put on a chartreuse and pumpkin [Zoom] Baby Brush Hog and finished out a limit. Those five keepers were all I caught Sunday.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Bill Humbard, New Market, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-9, $6,337
2nd: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., nine bass, 25-12, $2,669
3rd: Hunter Sales, Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-0, $1,712
4th: Eric Moore, Union, Ky., 10 bass, 21-11, $1,199
5th: Freddy Adkins, East Bernstadt, Ky., 10 bass, 21-0, $1,277
6th: Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., 10 bass, 20-2, $1,092
7th: Chris Gerrein, Villa Hills, Ky., nine bass, 19-14, $856
8th: Pat Eichmann, Nancy, Ky., nine bass, 19-13, $771
9th: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., 19-5, $685
10th: Kevin Edwards, Knoxville, Tenn., eight bass, 19-1, $599
Bennie Mutter of Glasgow, Kentucky, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $322. Jonathan Sydnor of Canmer, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $2,641 Sunday after catching a two-day total of four bass weighing 12 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jonathan Sydnor, Canmer, Ky., four bass, 12-14, $2,641
2nd: Tracy Helton, London, Ky., five bass, 10-12, $1,220
3rd: Brandon Lawson, Union, S.C., five bass, 10-6, $864
4th: Kevin King, Byrdstown, Tenn., six bass, 9-12, $570
5th: Allen Neal, Whitley City, Ky., three bass, 7-15, $488
6th: Audie Aultman, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-8, $597
7th: David Carey, Harrodsburg, Ky., three bass, 7-7, $407
8th: Jimmy Rhodus, Versailles, Ky., four bass, 7-3, $366
9th: Nathan Adams, Murray, Ky., three bass, 7-0, $325
10th: William Woods, Bowling Green, Ky., two bass, 6-5, $585
Woods caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $300.