GROVE, Okla. (March 19, 2018) – Boater Nathan Asbill of Poteau, Oklahoma, caught five bass Saturday weighing a total of 18 pounds, 8 ounces, to take top honors at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Okie Division tournament on Grand Lake. Asbill earned $6,000 for his win. Asbill said he fished a quarter-mile stretch of water in a mid-lake area, toward the dam, and caught eight keepers throughout the day.
“I had four stops that I would check every 30 minutes – It was a good little milk run,” said Asbill who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “In practice I was only catching 2- to 4-pounders from the stretch, but Saturday there was 5s and 6s which told me big ones were moving in.”
Asbill said he slowly fished a custom ½-ounce jig with a twin tail craw trailer to get his limit.
“They were coming into the pockets with small pea gravel and schooling in certain places,” said Asbill.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Nathan Asbill, Poteau, Okla., five bass, 18-8, $6,000
2nd: Jason Beem, Gravette, Ark., five bass, 18-6, $3,000
3rd: Jason Sandidge, Centerton, Ark., five bass, 17-12, $2,000
4th: Ryan Wilbanks, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 17-10, $1,400
5th: Ed Barton, Vian, Okla., five bass, 17-7, $1,200
6th: Larry Crouch, Carthage, Mo., five bass, 17-3, $1,100
7th: Joel Baker, Talala, Okla., five bass, 17-2, $1,200
8th: Richard Bower III, Westphalia, Mo., five bass, 16-14, $900
9th: Josh Hilton, Clarksville, Ark., five bass, 16-13, $900
10th: Mark Johnson, Weleetka, Okla., five bass, 16-12, $665
10th: Cade Alsbury, Gentry, Ark., five bass, 16-12, $665
John Pilcher of Kansas, Oklahoma, weighed a 7-pound, 12-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000. Damon Duncan of Kansas, Oklahoma, won the Co-angler Division and $3,200 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Damon Duncan, Kansas, Okla., four bass, 14-9, $3,200
2nd: Dalton Fulps, Broken Arrow, Okla., four bass, 10-15, $1,500
3rd: Patrick Weir, Broken Arrow, Okla., two bass, 8-15, $1,500
4th: Scott Shell, Vian, Okla., three bass, 8-12, $700
5th: Blayke Haggard, Gans, Okla., three bass, 8-3, $600
6th: David Lansford, Muskogee, Okla., four bass, 7-12, $550
7th: Gary White, Lamar, Mo., two bass, 7-10, $500
8th: Tyler Williams, Bunch, Okla., two bass, 7-8, $450
9th: Mike Hubbard, Loveland, Colo., two bass, 7-4, $400
10th: Bill Black, McAlester, Okla., three bass 7-1, $350
Weir caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 12 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.