BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (Feb. 25, 2019) – Boater Adam Wagner of Cookeville, Tennessee, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds even to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament on Dale Hollow Lake. Wagner pocketed $4,363 for his efforts.
“I caught them running up to the ends of the creeks. I was targeting the last cover where the runoff was coming off the hills,” said Wagner, who earned his 11th career victory in BFL competition – tied for third most all-time. “They were in the current where the water was hitting the lake and that’s where I caught them – as shallow as I could get.”
Wagner said he caught seven keepers throughout the day. The fish he weighed came from a 5/8-ounce Missouri Craw-colored D&L Tackle flipping jig with a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Super Chunk trailer.
“I was in Eagle Creek up lake, and stayed in there, but I probably hit five different little arms off of it,” said Wagner. “It was about finding the warmest water. The water was 52 to 54 degrees where I caught them Saturday, but in practice, in those general areas, the run offs were 48 to 50 degrees and the fish weren’t there, so you had to find the warmest water.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 17-0, $4,363
2nd: Kris Kordenbrock, Covington, Ky., five bass, 16-6, $2,182
3rd: Greg Perry, Lost Creek, W. Va., five bass, 15-14, $1,387
4th: Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $971
5th: Mark Kirby, Gallatin, Tenn., four bass, 13-3, $1,123
6th: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 12-15, $763
7th: Tim Staley, Dowelltown, Tenn., five bass, 12-2, $694
8th: Tim Smiley, White Pine, Tenn., five bass, 11-8, $925
9th: Chip Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 10-9, $555
10th: Robert Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., four bass, 10-7, $486
Kirby caught a 4-pound, 10-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $290. Bobby Arms of Jamestown, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $2,078 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Bobby Arms, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 13-7, $2,078
2nd: Steve Curtsinger, Buffalo, Ky., three bass, 8-13, $1,039
3rd: Jeff Pergram, Richmond, Ky., three bass, 8-9, $791
4th: Joey Von Hoene, Erlanger, Ky., one bass, 5-2, $642
4th: Garrett Turner, Sparta, Tenn., one bass, 5-2, $592
6th: Jimmy Rhodus, Versailles, Ky., two bass, 5-1, $381
7th: Jason Rueger, Lexington, Ky., two bass, 4-14, $329
7th: Blake Miller, St. Albans, W. Va., one bass, 4-14, $329
9th: Matt Chiodi, West Chester, Ohio, one bass, 4-9, $259
9th: Barry King, Liberty, Ky., two bass, 4-9, $259
Von Hoene caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $142.