BUCKHEAD, Ga. (March 19, 2018) – Boater Tim Vanegmond of Gay, Georgia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces, to take top honors at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament on Lake Oconee. Vanegmond earned $4,806 for his win.
“I caught everything flipping a green-pumpkin-colored (Reaction Innovations) Sweet Beaver and (Strike King) Structure Bug under docks,” said Vanegmond, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I had to skip the bait all the way to the center, that’s the only way I could get a bite.”
Vanegmond said he spent his time fishing 15 docks, in sight of the takeoff ramp in Sugar Creek. He said once he figured out the fish weren’t on the dock’s edges, the bite improved dramatically.
“It took me about two hours to get my first bite, but after that I really started catching them,” said Vanegmond. “I probably had 18 fish throughout the rest of the day including my biggest at 4½ pounds.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Tim Vanegmond, Gay, Ga., five bass, 18-11, $4,806
2nd: Terry Adams, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 15-9, $2,403
3rd: Matt Henry, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 14-4, $1,605
4th: Joe Jackson, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $1,121
5th: Frank Kitchens III, Oxford, Ga., five bass, 13-0, $1,461
6th: Stacy Adams, Hazlehurst, Ga., five bass, 12-7, $981
7th: Mark Svendsen, Doraville, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $801
8th: Pat Fisher, Colbert, Ga., five bass, 12-0, $721
9th: David Pettis, Tifton, Ga., five bass, 11-10, $641
10th: Tony Couch, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 11-9, $561
Girard Jones of Macon, Georgia, weighed a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $725. Adam Slupczynski of Marietta, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,403 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Adam Slupczynski, Marietta, Ga., four bass, 8-1, $2,403
2nd: Scott Sayasing, Grantville, Ga., two bass, 7-13, $1,563
3rd: Donald Peppers, Good Hope, Ga., four bass, 7-10, $806
4th: Thom Dickson, Cartersville, Ga., two bass, 7-8, $561
5th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., two bass, 7-1, $581
6th: Ariska Savior, Atlanta, Ga., three bass, 6-12, $441
7th: Steve Garrett, Bishop, Ga., three bass, 6-11, $400
8th: Frank Godwin Jr., Bainbridge, Ga., four bass, 6-9, $410
9th: James South, Dawsonville, Ga., two bass, 6-4, $300
9th: Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., four bass, 6-4, $300
Sayasing caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $362.