GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (March 4, 2013) – Craig Dowling of Franklin, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League LBL Division tournament on Kentucky/Barkley lakes. For his victory, Dowling earned $4,981.
“I ended up running 50 miles or so down the lake through some pretty nasty weather,” said Dowling. “My plan was to fish several spots on the way back, but I actually went straight to the creek where I had caught them in practice and just stayed there throughout the entire day. I was basically forced to stay in that area because of the weather, and ended up picking up a good fish every couple of hours.
“They weren’t biting as well as I wanted,” Dowling continued. “But because of the weather and the wind I didn’t want to be running around a lot, so I just camped out in an area where I knew there were fish. Thankfully, it ended up working to my advantage. Instead of running around, I found some new spots and caught three of my five fish in an area that I had never found in practice.
“Mainly I was using an Alabama rig,” Dowling went on to say. “I also caught a few on a jerkbait. The key that I found was that the boat needed to be sitting in about 20 feet of water and I needed to be throwing into about 10 feet of water. The bass were sitting somewhere in between. Most of my bites came near the end of the day, and I left them biting because I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get back. I ended up coming in a half hour early.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Eric Sanders, Lexington, Ky., four bass, 22-8, $2,490
3rd: David Young, Mayfield, Ky., five bass, 22-2, $1,662
4th: Sam Boss, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 21-1, $1,162
5th: Scott Brummett, Brentwood, Tenn., five bass, 20-5, $996
6th: Matt Robertson, Central City, Ky., five bass, 20-4, $913
7th: Austin Brown, Calvert City, Ky., five bass, 19-10, $830
8th: Ben Helmerich, Calvert City, Ky., five bass, 18-14, $747
9th: Keith White, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 17-15, $664
10th: Will Yelverton, Hazel Green, Ala., five bass, 17-7, $581
Bryan Rupe of Mayfield, Ky., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds even Saturday to win $2,490 in the co-angler division. Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Dickey Reece, LaFayette, Ky., five bass, 19-9, $1,245
3rd: James Lee, Ledbetter, Ky., four bass, 16-15, $829
4th: Brady Kendall, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 14-6, $581
5th: Greg Hollingsworth, Sullivan, Ind., four bass, 12-8, $498
6th: Mike Mueller, Union, Ky., two bass, 11-2, $457
7th: David Bunton, Iuka, Ill., four bass, 10-15, $394
7th: Bryan Henry, Lexington, Ky., three bass, 10-15, $394
9th: Kevin Hancock, Madisonville, Ky., four bass, 10-13, $332
10th: Kyle Ekstrom, Poplar Grove, Ill., three bass, 10-11, $291
The next BFL LBL Division tournament is scheduled for April 20 on Kentucky/Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Ky. After that last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 3–5 Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Ala. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.