BRACEY, Va. (May 2, 2016) – Scott Mooneyham of Fayetteville, North Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament on Lake Gaston. For his victory, Mooneyham took home $2,977. Mooneyham said he concentrated on stumps and small patches of grass on the upper end of the lake.
“I grinded through three different areas to catch my limit,” said Mooneyham, who earned the first win of his FLW career. “There were hard stems on the grass and the fish were right on the edge of them. At the first stop, I boated around ten keepers before 11 a.m.
“Every fish I caught was on a green-pumpkin Yamamoto Senko,” said Mooneyham. “I’d cast it out there, let it fall straight down on the slackline and pull it in after a few seconds. I tried throwing a few other things but the Senko is what they wanted.”
Mooneyham said he finished his day navigating two areas, which included a nearby stump field and a spawning pocket.
“I caught a 3-pounder in the field and upgraded with one more in the pocket,” said Mooneyham. “I actually lost a 6-pounder in the pocket right at the end of the day. Luckily it didn’t cost me the tournament.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Scott Mooneyham, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 16-2, $2,977
2nd: Danny Moss Jr., Norlina, N.C., five bass, 16-1, $1,489
3rd: Michael Law, Arab, Ala., five bass, 15-2, $992
4th: Ryan Reynolds, Danville, Va., five bass, 14-6, $695
5th: Sean Lewis, Baskerville, Va., five bass, 13-14, $595
6th: Shawn Hammack, Gasburg, Va., five bass, 13-11, $546
7th: D. Keith Joyce, Apex, N.C., five bass, 13-6, $471
7th: Flash Butts, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., five bass, 13-6, $471
9th: Wally Szuba, Cary, N.C., five bass, 12-14, $397
10th: Raymond Jones III, Statesville, N.C., five bass, 12-7, $347
Chris Baldwin of Lexington, North Carolina, caught a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $340. Larry Freeman, Jr., of La Crosse, Virginia, weighed in four bass totaling 9 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $1,489.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Larry Freeman Jr., La Crosse, Va., four bass, 9-14, $1,489
2nd: Dekle Taylor, Monroe, N.C., five bass, 9-10, $744
3rd: Dexter Andrews, Louisburg, N.C., five bass, 9-9, $497
4th: Conner Davis, Bear Creek, N.C., five bass, 8-11, $347
5th: Bill Naron, Beaverdam, Va., four bass, 8-10, $298
6th: Frank White, Marion, N.C., three bass, 8-9, $443
7th: Jerry Taylor, N. Prince George, Va., three bass, 8-2, $248
8th: Jerry Neuner, Rutherfordton, N.C., three bass, 7-12, $223
9th: Mark Davis, Bear Creek, N.C., three bass, 7-1, $198
10th: Douglas Washburn, Bracey, Va., two bass, 6-14, $174
White caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $170.