MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 26, 2018) – Boater Jeff Queen of Catawba, North Carolina, caught five bass weighing 22 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division tournament on Lake Norman. Queen earned $3,918 for his victory.
“I was fishing on the south end of the lake, targeting sandy flats and boat docks,” said Queen, who earned his third career win in BFL competition. “I like these early in the year tournaments because they fit my pattern real well.”
Queen said that he caught his fish on two baits – a 3/8-ounce KJ Camo-colored Queen Tackle Flippin jig and a ½-ounce Greenpumpkin Green-colored Queen Tackle Hammerhead jig.
“I threw the Flippin jig around docks, and used the Hammerhead on the sandy flats,” Queen said. “The Hammerhead is a football-head jig that has a tungsten bead in the head, and it gives a crayfish clicking noise that makes the bass go crazy. I had it trailered with a Bizz Baits Cutter Craw and I was just imitating a crayfish as close as I could.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jeff Queen, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 22-1, $3,918
2nd: Nick Miller, Terrell, N.C., five bass, 19-9, $2,344
3rd: Preston Harris, State Road, N.C., five bass, 16-6, $1,638
4th: Dylan Fulk, Concord, N.C., five bass, 15-5, $867
5th: Alvin Shaw, Roaring Gap, N.C., five bass, 14-9, $744
6th: Mark Carpenter, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 14-3, $682
7th: Rob Digh, Denver, N.C., five bass, 14-1, $620
8th: Doug Easton, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 14-0, $558
9th: Carson Orellana, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 13-15, $496
10th: Hank Cherry, Maiden, N.C., five bass, 13-13, $434
Miller caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $485. Tristen Trull of Mount Holly, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,859 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Tristen Trull, Mount Holly, N.C., five bass, 12-8, $1,859
2nd: Cameron Baker, Monroe, N.C., five bass, 10-15, $929
3rd: Brian Souza, Cornelius, N.C., five bass, 10-13, $819
4th: Nathan Grose, Summersville, W. Va., five bass, 10-12, $484
5th: Jeff Scism, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 9-13, $372
6th: Matt Markland, Blowing Rock, N.C., five bass, 9-11, $341
7th: Brian Transon, Sherrils Ford, N.C., five bass, 9-9, $310
8th: Greg Bragg, Kings Mountain, N.C., four bass, 9-3, $279
9th: John Carroll, Galax, Va., five bass, 9-2, $248
10th: Steve Cannon, Wilkesboro, N.C., four bass, 9-0, $459
Cannon caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a 4-pound, 9-ounce fish. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $242.