GALLATIN, Tenn. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Adam Wagner of Cookeville, Tennessee, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale Sunday weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division super-tournament on Old Hickory Lake. Wagner earned $4,949 for his efforts.
“I caught all of my fish up the lake – in Bledsoe and Bartons Creeks – on both days,” said Wagner, who earned his 13th career win as a boater in BFL competition. “I caught around eight keepers each day, flipping a green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver to scattered wood on flats in the backs of the creeks.”
Wagner managed to get a big kicker bite each day – a 4-pounder on day one, and a 5-pounder on day two – that helped pad his weight.
“There were a couple of boats around me, but I think I was just hitting spots that were tough to hit,” Wagner said. “There would be one little piece of wood on a 3-acre flat, and most people would run right by it. But I would work hard to find these little pieces of wood and there was usually a fish on it.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-8, $4,949
2nd: Mark Condron, Winchester, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-7, $2,915
3rd: Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-4, $1,400
4th: Barry Whitaker, Hartsville, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-0, $875
5th: Mickey Beck, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-9, $750
6th: Jason Dies, Lebanon, Tenn., seven bass, 23-3, $687
7th: Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-12, $625
8th: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-10, $562
9th: Joel Trevino, Mount Juliet, Tenn., 10 bass, 20-3, $500
10th: Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., seven bass, 16-6, $437
Condron caught a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $390. Sparta, Tennessee’s Ricky England won the Co-angler Division and $2,075 Sunday after catching a two-day total of six bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Ricky England, Sparta, Tenn., six bass, 12-6, $2,075
2nd: Teddy Baggett, Nashville, Tenn., eight bass, 12-2, $937
3rd: Rene Gonzalez, Smyrna, Tenn., five bass, 11-0, $675
4th: Donnie Rogers, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 10-2, $437
5th: Darryl Humphrey, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 9-2, $375
6th: Scott Marshall, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 9-1, $539
7th: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., four bass, 7-13, $462
8th: Scott Smith, Crossville, Tenn., five bass, 7-12, $281
9th: Robert Henze, La Vergne, Tenn., three bass, 6-6, $250
10th: Jason Barr, Woodlawn, Tenn., three bass, 4-12, $319
Marshall caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $195.