GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 23, 2016) – Ron Smith of Walton, Kentucky, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. For his victory, Smith took home $5,394.
“It feels great to get the win, but I was definitely very lucky,” said Smith, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I thought I was going to catch one 4- or 5-pounder in my area, but I ended up catching four.”
Smith said that he caught 12 keepers throughout the day on just one bait – a shaky-head jig rigged with a green-pumpkin Z-Man Finesse Wormz.
“I was fishing transitions and channel creek swings on Kentucky Lake, catching fish in 7 to 9 feet of water,” Smith said. “I only fished in two different areas all day long.
“I’d finished in every place from second to last,” Smith went on to say. “I’m shocked that I won by the margin that I did, but it feels great to finally get a win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Ron Smith, Walton, Ky., five bass, 22-4, $5,394
2nd: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 17-13, $2,197
3rd: Bobby McMullin, Pevely, Mo., five bass, 17-11, $1,464
4th: Roger Smith, Auburn, Ind., five bass, 17-6, $1,025
5th: Kelly Noonan, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 16-3, $879
6th: Craig Hipsher, Benton, Ky., five bass, 15-11, $805
7th: Scott McGlinchey, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 15-9, $695
7th: Roger Hensley, Jonesboro, Ind., five bass, 15-9, $695
9th: Mike Saleeba, Manitou, Ky., five bass, 15-6, $586
10th: Bob Drake, Noblesville, Ind., five bass, 15-0, $513
Daniel Maiden of McHenry, Kentucky, caught a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the boater division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $630. Jeremy Jones of Gallatin, Tennessee, weighed in five bass totaling 17 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to earn $2,197 and win the co-angler division. The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jeremy Jones, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 17-2, $2,197
2nd: John Wilkerson, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 15-13, $1,413
3rd: Reid Kesel, Bonnots Mill, Mo., four bass, 15-0, $733
4th: Donald Oksanen, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 14-11, $513
5th: Dean Dearwester, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 14-3, $439
6th: Joe Long, Moscow, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $403
7th: Gabe Montgomery, Jackson, Mo., five bass, 13-3, $366
8th: Calvin Fitch, Kokomo, Ind., five bass, 12-14, $330
9th: Joe James, Jackson, Mo., five bass, 12-9, $293
10th: Benton Peoples, Bardstown, Ky., five bass, 12-3, $243
Wilkerson caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $315.