APPLING, Ga. (Feb. 27, 2017) – Brock Taylor of Pendleton, South Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division tournament on Clarks Hill Lake. Taylor pocketed $5,565 for his win.
“I started out fishing a brush pile in about 20 feet of water,” said Taylor, who notched his third career-win in FLW competition. “The area was within three miles of the takeoff ramp and near the dam. After about 30 minutes, I caught my biggest bass on a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Trick Worm, rigged on a shaky-head.”
Taylor said his other productive stop was a nearby creek channel swing that was covered with chunk rock. There he opted for an Alabama Craw-colored jig.
“The fish didn’t hit the jig until it was about 20-feet-down,” said Taylor. “Every time the jig would get caught up in the slime when I was reeling in, I’d give it a jerk and that’s when they would bite. I ended up catching two that I weighed in on that channel swing.”
Taylor said he was able to put eight keepers in the boat throughout the tournament.
“After a couple hours, the wind picked up so I ran along any bank that had a mud line,” said Taylor. “I used a white spinnerbait, and caught my last keeper fairly close to the takeoff ramp at 3:15 p.m. I guess it was my time to do well.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Brock Taylor, Pendleton, S.C., five bass, 22-10, $5,565
2nd: Chris Rodwell, Evans, Ga., five bass, 21-14, $2,783
3rd: Charles Doyle, Augusta, Ga., five bass, 20-8, $1,853
4th: Marcus Church, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 19-13, $2,199
5th: Franklin Ramey, Abbeville, S.C., five bass, 19-6, $1,113
6th: Jimmy Gooch, Jefferson, Ga., five bass, 19-0, $1,020
7th: Daniel Atkins, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-6, $1,428
8th: Hunter Eubanks, Inman, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $835
9th: Kevin Dearth, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 17-7, $742
10th: James Redd, Lincolnton, Ga., five bass, 17-3, $616
10th: Michael Chandler, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 17-3, $616
Church caught a bass weighing 8 pounds even – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $900. Matt Deufel of Grovetown, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler division and the top prize of $2,737.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Matt Deufel, Grovetown, Ga., five bass, 17-10, $2,737
2nd: Jimmi Leuthner, Tamassee, S.C., five bass, 15-2, $1,369
3rd: Chad Hamm, Aiken, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $913
4th: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $593
4th: Stephen Reasoner, Harlem, Ga., four bass, 14-7, $593
6th: Robert Gambrell, Clermont, Ga., five bass, 13-14, $502
7th: Eric Cerny, Alpharetta, Ga., five bass, 13-9, $456
8th: Stephen Burress, Mills River, N.C., five bass, 13-1, $611
9th: Brian Nappier, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 12-9, $392
9th: Brody Manley, Pickens, S.C., five bass, 12-9, $342
Renee Price of Westminster, South Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $435.