SENECA, S.C. (Oct. 7, 2019) – Boater Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 43 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the BFL Regional Championship tournament on Lake Hartwell Saturday. For the win, Rampey earned $70,000, including a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard and automatic entry into the 2020 BFL All-American Championship, April 30-May 2 – also at Lake Hartwell.
With the win, the Liberty angler earned his 11th career BFL victory and moved into a tie for No. 3 all-time for most BFL Boater wins – remarkable considering Rampey is just 33 years old. Five of his 11 wins have come on Lake Hartwell, including one just 2½ weeks ago.
“I caught them doing pretty much the same thing that I did just a few weeks ago,” said Rampey. “I’d start shallow every morning throwing a Zoom Horny Toad. I’d fish that until 11 (a.m.) or so, then I’d run to the lower end of the lake and fish purely topwater baits. I was throwing at isolated targets – timber, cane piles and rock piles – in 20 feet of water.”
Rampey’s first day limit Thursday consisted of five largemouth bass. On day two, his limit consisted of a mix of largemouth and spotted bass, and on the third and final day his limit was five spotted bass.
“I think it was due to the wind and the conditions – it was really blowing on day two – and it had the largemouth held real tight to the cover,” Rampey said. “I caught around 15 fish each day, and it was a good mix. I caught one or two shallow and the rest offshore on Thursday. Friday, I caught all of them offshore. Saturday I only caught one offshore and the rest were shallow.”
Rampey said his two main baits were a Ima Little Stik topwater bait, rigged with 30-pound-test Hi-Seas Grand Slam braided line, and a Zoom Horny Toad (green-pumpkin- and watermelon-colored) rigged with 65-pound Hi-Seas Grand Slam braid with a 6/0 Owner Twistlock Flipping Hook.
“The shallow fish were biting really well in practice, but it seemed to get worse and worse each day,” Rampey went on to say. “I think the difference was making the right decision to go offshore at the right time each day.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:
1st: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 43-12, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Ryan Deal, Marshville, N.C., 15 bass, 42-14, $10,000
3rd: Mike Miller, Trinity, N.C., 14 bass, 37-6, $5,000
4th: Wesley Sandifer, Chapin, S.C., 15 bass, 36-6, $3,000
5th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 15 bass, 35-0, $2,200
6th: Todd Goade, Suwanee, Ga., 15 bass, 33-6, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Conrad Bolt, Seneca, S.C., 15 bass, 33-6, $1,700
8th: Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., 15 bass, 33-4, $1,400
9th: Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., 15 bass, 33-2, $1,200
10th: Joseph Marks, Duncan, S.C., 15 bass, 32-12, $1,000
Justin Kimmel of Athens, Georgia, weighed in 15 bass over three days totaling 27 pounds, 10 ounces to win the top prize package of $50,000, including a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard. The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:
1st: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., 15 bass, 27-10, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Nick Coker, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 27-2, $5,200
3rd: Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., 15 bass, 24-14, $2,550
4th: Costas Melendez, Shenandoah, Va., 14 bass, 24-13, $1,500
5th: Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 19-10, $1,000
6th: James Roten, West Jefferson, N.C., 14 bass, 19-9, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Matt Langley, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 18-7, $800
8th: Sam Loveless, Somerset, Ky., nine bass, 18-6, $700
9th: Trace Bigelow, Salisbury, N.C., 11 bass, 17-8, $600
10th: Maverick Canipe, Kings Mountain, N.C., 10 bass, 16-11, $500