EUFAULA, Okla. (April 29, 2019) – Boater Justin Lillie of Edmond, Oklahoma, won the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Okie Division tournament on Eufaula Lake Sunday with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces. Lillie earned $4,259 for his day on the water.
“I basically fished around the dam on the upper side of the lake 20 miles from takeoff and caught five keepers,” said Lillie, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I focused on postspawn bass around rock ledges. I had five locations I caught fish at, just running different little rock ledges and outcroppings.
“I worked in 6 to 10 feet of water,” continued Lillie. “I caught the biggest fish – my first – about 10 minutes in, and then one keeper every two hours after that.”
Lillie said he used a ¾- or 1-ounce white and chartreuse-colored Nichols Pulsator Metal Flake Double Willow spinnerbait with a chartreuse Zoom Fat Albert Grub trailer on 20-pound-test P-Line Tactical Fluorocarbon line, and a 7-foot, 5-inch Halo TI Series heavy-action rod with an Ardent C-Force 7:1 reel. He also weighed one on a shaky-head rig with a darker-colored Zoom Magnum Trick Worm.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Justin Lillie, Edmond, Okla., five bass, 18-8, $4,259
2nd: Nick Kincaid, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 16-15, $2,205
3rd: James Marsh, Thomas, Okla., five bass, 16-12, $1,336
4th: John Soukup, Agra, Okla., five bass, 16-8, $1,035
5th: Roger Hughes, Bartlesville, Okla., five bass, 15-6, $802
6th: Jeremy Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., five bass, 15-5, $735
7th: Sean McAllister, Checotah, Okla., five bass, 14-13, $634
7th: Mike Michelson, Altus, Okla., five bass, 14-13, $784
9th: Josh Poirop, Canadian, Okla., five bass, 14-11, $535
10th: Shonn Goodwin, Moore, Okla., five bass, 14-2, $468
Matthew Palesano of Chickasha, Oklahoma, caught a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $550. Dusty Duvall of Checotah, Oklahoma, won the Co-angler Division and $2,019 Sunday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Dusty Duvall, Checotah, Okla., five bass, 16-15, $2,019
2nd: Jackie Copeland, Sallisaw, Okla., five bass, 16-3, $842
2nd: Kenny Howard, Watts, Okla., five bass, 16-3, $842
4th: Blayke Haggard, Gans, Okla., five bass, 14-9, $671
5th: Nic Conger, Fort Smith, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $454
6th: Hank Williams, Claremore, Okla., four bass, 14-0, $370
7th: Clint Symes, Yukon, Okla., five bass, 11-4, $336
8th: Joseph Morenzoni, Beggs, Okla., four bass, 11-0, $303
9th: Steve Bradfield, Claremore, Okla., five bass, 10-14, $269
10th: Kole Poindexter, Eufaula, Okla., three bass, 10-13, $235
Jase Morris of Edmond, Oklahoma, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $272.