APPLING, Ga. (Feb. 9, 2009) - Boater David Vaughn of Royston, Ga., won the Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division bass fishing tournament on Clarks Hill Lake Saturday with a three bass weighing 21 pounds, 7 ounces. The victory earned Vaughn $4,541 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.
"I started out fishing clear water in practice and wasn't doing any good. The weather was bad and I only caught a 3-pound bass on Friday," said Vaughn. "I didn't expect to do well at all."
Vaughn switched his technique on Saturday to fish dirty water. "I fished a ditch that was 6 to 7 feet deep and then it dropped down to 10 to 12 feet deep," Vaughn said. He caught his winning fish on a jig-and-pig in heavy brush and trees.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Michael Anders of Pelzer, S.C. (five bass, 21-4, $2,270); Jessie Fitzgerald of Martinez, Ga. (five bass, 13-2, $1,514); Darren Ashley of Calhoun Falls, S.C. (five bass, 13-1, $1,060) and Travis Adams of Danielsville, Ga. (five bass, 11-2, $908).
Vaughn took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $660 for an 8-pound, 1-ounce bass.
Lesley Childers of Anderson, S.C. and Mark Chapman of Williamston, S.C. each earned $1,677 as the co-angler winners Saturday. Childers caught one bass weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce that she caught on a Texas rig. Chapman caught two bass weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jeremy Teal of Carnesville, Ga. (three bass, 8-10, $745); Kevin Landreth of Seneca, S.C. (three bass, 8-7, $522); Glenn Browning, Jr. of Canton, N.C. (three bass, 8-3, $447).
Childers earned $325 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 9-pound, 1-ounce bass.
The next Savannah River Division event will be held on the Lake Keowee in Seneca, S.C., March 14.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL's 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American.
The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee $2.5 million Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010.
In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.