SENECA, S.C. (Feb. 11, 2019) – Boater Joe Anders of Easley, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 14 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River division tournament on Lake Keowee. Anders earned $4,164 for his efforts.
“I caught the majority of my fish in the mid-lake area, feeding on shad,” said Anders, who also had a tournament win as a co-angler at the FLW Tour at Lake Lanier last season. ”I’ve fished Keowee as much as anybody, and this year the water never got as cold as it usually does. So the fish weren’t deep, they were already in more of a prespawn mode. Feeding on shad instead of the crawfish like normal.”
Anders said that most of his fish came on an EverGreen JT 95 topwater bait in his mid-lake areas, but he also caught a couple of key fish skipping docks in 40 feet-of-water with a bait fish-colored Zoom Swimmin’ Super Fluke Jr. along with a late-day keeper on a drop-shot rig.
“I only caught around 10 keepers, and I really struggled the last 3 to 4 hours of the tournament,” Ander said. “I caught my last one late in the day drop-shotting a 6-inch, straight-tail Roboworm, 35-feet-deep, and was able to cull up 4 ounces. I ended up winning by 3 ounces, so that fish was the difference maker.
“The key for me was not fishing history, and sticking to the pattern that I figured out in practice,” Anders went on to say. “They were not anywhere that I normally catch them on this time of year. I’m also fishing well and still rolling from the momentum of my co-angler win at the FLW Tour event last March at Lake Lanier. I’ve got a great support group around me and I’m in a really great place in my life. I can’t wait to get back out there.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Joe Anders, Easley, S.C., five bass, 14-11, $4,164
2nd: Shane Peck, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 14-8, $1,857
3rd: Jerry Morgan, Inman, S.C., five bass, 14-2, $1,172
4th: Ronnie Wald, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 14-1, $820
5th: Vince Smith, Westminster, S.C., five bass, 13-6, $703
6th: Edwin Pabon, Toccoa, Ga., five bass, 12-14, $644
7th: Michael Mengeling, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 12-12, $586
8th: Todd Goade, Suwanee, Ga., five bass, 12-9, $798
9th: Marcus Church, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 12-9, $498
10th: Mark Gibson, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 12-7, $410
Anders’ big fish of the day was a 6-pound, 3-ounce largemouth bass, which also was the tournament’s biggest bass of the day and earned Anders the Boater Big Bass award of $450. Nathan McClure of Hiawassee, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,957 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Nathan McClure, Hiawassee, Ga., five bass, 12-7, $1,957
2nd: Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., five bass, 11-8, $879
3rd: Charles Ellington, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 11-7, $585
4th: James South, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 11-5, $430
4th: Donnie Davis, Greer, S.C., five bass, 11-5, $430
6th: Vern Schmucker, Westminster, S.C., five bass, 9-14, $322
7th: Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., five bass, 9-3, $293
8th: Tucker Souther, Brevard, N.C., four bass, 9-0, $264
9th: Joseph Thomasson, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 8-14, $234
10th: Westley Denny, Westminster, S.C., five bass, 8-8, $205
Nathaniel Moore of Fairview, North Carolina, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $225.