GADSDEN, Ala. (July 1, 2019) – Boater Andy Kilgore of Kingston, Georgia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Neely Henry. Kilgore pocketed $4,426 for his win in the event and earned 250 points in the Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) standings. The winner of the division’s AOY title after five tournaments will win $3,000.
“Everything that I caught on Saturday came flipping,” said Kilgore, who earned his first career BFL victory. “I was fishing grass in the lower lake in around 2-feet of water. I threw a frog around a little bit, but I never did have any blowups. I caught them flipping a beaver-style bait in black and blue and green pumpkin.”
Kilgore said he caught eight fish throughout the day, including a spotted bass that Kilgore joked, “was lost.” He described his key area as a shallow grass flat with a ditch in front of it. He had his boat sitting in four feet of water and was flipping into two feet of water.
“I think the key was the precise location,” he said. “There were other boats fishing around and I guess I just got lucky.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Andy Kilgore, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 19-7, $4,426
2nd: Terry Fisher, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 15-15, $1,427
2nd: Kris Colley, Ragland, Ala., five bass, 15-15, $1,427
4th: Adam Brown, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 15-14, $799
5th: Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 14-7, $685
6th: Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 13-4, $828
6th: Mark McCaig, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 13-0, $571
8th: Kenny Pannell, Springville, Ala., five bass, 12-12, $514
9th: Brent Reaves, Alexander City, Ala., five bass, 12-11, $457
10th: Jeff Kitchens, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 12-10, $500
Scott Daughtry of Abbeville, Alabama, caught a 6-pound bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $430. Cameron Isbell of Ashville, Alabama, won the Co-angler Division and $1,713 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Cameron Isbell, Ashville, Ala., five bass, 10-1, $1,713
2nd: Gary Marlowe, Montgomery, Ala., four bass, 10-0, $1,056
3rd: Roman Robinson, Steele, Ala., five bass, 9-10, $571
4th: Marcus Corbett, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 9-9, $571
4th: Matthew Haizel, Dallas, Ga., five bass, 9-9, $371
6th: Lew Moore, Roanoke, Ala., five bass, 9-8, $314
7th: Jacob Davis, Talladega, Ala., five bass, 9-6, $285
8th: Jeremy Carter, Harpersville, Ala., four bass, 9-5, $257
9th: Michael Corbett, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 8-12, $328
10th: Ty Story, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 8-9, $200
Sean Allen of Phenix City, Alabama caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $215.