BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Oct. 17, 2016) – Marshall Deakins of Dunlap, Tennessee, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to take top honors at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional tournament on Lake Seminole, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 1 ounce. For his win, Deakins took home $66,000, including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard, and a berth into the 2017 BFL All-American Championship.
Deakins said he spent his entire tournament targeting suspended fish near standing timber in the Spring Creek area of Lake Seminole. For the first two days, he said he threw an electric shiner-colored Zoom Z Craw rigged with a 1/8-ounce weight.
“My practice partner actually figured out how to get them biting initially,” said Deakins, who notched his fifth win in FLW competition. “He let the lure slowly fall down the trunks of the timber, and the fish would eat it on the way down. That worked for two days, but eventually I had to change it up.”
After catching nearly 30 keepers in two days, Deakins said strong winds forced him to adjust his pattern on Day Three.
“I had a tougher time because the light sinker was hard to control in the wind,” said Deakins. “I switched things up around 10:30 a.m. and went with an umbrella rig to get bites.”
Deakins said he rigged his umbrella rig with two dummy baits and three ¼-ounce heads paired with 4-inch natural light-colored Scottsboro Tackle Company Swimbaits. He said he targeted a group of fish that he had located during the first two days of the event.
“That’s the first place I went to, and they were deep,” said Deakins. “I caught some keepers almost immediately. I’m really glad I threw to them.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2017 BFL All-American were:
1st: Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-1, $66,000
2nd: Steve Phillips, Douglas, Ga., 15 bass, 47-5, $10,200
3rd: Mike Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., 14 bass, 42-14, $5,000
4th: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., 14 bass, 42-9, $3,100
5th: Chris Kirksey, Fairmount, Ga., 14 bass, 41-12, $2,000
6th: Tyler Morgan, Columbus, Ga., 15 bass, 41-7, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Rodger Beaver, Dawson, Ga., 12 bass, 40-12, $1,600
8th: Clabion Johns, Covington, Ga., 14 bass, 38-7, $1,400
9th: Dustin Royer, Davie, Fla., 13 bass, 33-7, $1,200
10th: Nathan Thomas, Weirsdale, Fla., 13 bass, 32-6, $1,000
Jessey Rudolph of Deltona, Florida, won the co-angler division and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard with a three-day cumulative catch of 15 bass weighing 36 pounds, 2 ounces. The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2017 BFL All-American were:
1st: Jessey Rudolph, Deltona, Fla., 15 bass, 36-2, $45,200
2nd: John Trudel, Lighthouse Point, Fla., 12 bass, 31-4, $5,000
3rd: David Bozeman, Ocala, Fla., nine bass, 26-4, $2,500
4th: Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., 15 bass, 25-5, $1,500
5th: Tony Dimauro, Watkinsville, Ga., eight bass, 22-13, $1,050
6th: Stanley Shaw, Dunnellon, Fla., seven bass, 20-5, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., seven bass, 20-4, $800
8th: Richard Mongiovi, Indian Lake Estates, Fla., seven bass, 19-15, $700
9th: Johnny Pittman, Albertville, Ala., eight bass, 19-15, $600
10th: Isaac Clemmons, Fitzgerald, Ga., eight bass, 17-9, $500