Powers Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on South Holston Reservoir

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BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 1, 2019) – Boater Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tennessee, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces, to win Saturday’s Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on South Holston Reservoir. Powers earned $3,583 for his victory. Powers spent his day fishing wind-blown points mid-lake, not too far from takeoff. He said the bite was tough, and that he caught just six keepers all day. He weighed in two largemouth and two spotted bass from a spinnerbait and a 3-pound smallmouth on a crankbait.

  

“I targeted blowdowns on the points with the spinnerbait, and when the wind quit blowing I switched to a flat-sided crankbait. It was the same deal [with the crankbait] – rocky, wind-blown points – but I stayed away from the trees,” said Powers, who earned his fifth win in FLW competition. “The crankbait has a tight wiggle and when they quit biting, I can usually catch a few on it.

  

Powers said his spinnerbait was a ½-ounce, custom-made lure with Willow Leaf and Colorado blades and a Glimmer Blue skirt, with a Zoom Split Tail trailer of the same color. His crankbait was a Root Beer-colored CP Custom Baits Series 3 balsa crankbait. He said he primarily worked in 6 to 10 feet of water.

  

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $3,583

               2nd:         Kevin Powers, Unicoi, Tenn., five bass, 13-15, $1,764

               3rd:          Jonathan Bowling , Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $1,108

               4th:          Steve Coleman, Clayton, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $707

               5th:          Nathan Hipps, Canton, N.C., five bass, 11-7, $580

               5th:          Derrick Blake, Rockwood, Tenn., two bass, 11-7, $580

               7th:          Matt Linton, Kingston, Tenn., four bass, 10-6, $505

               8th:          Doug Burke, Castlewood, Va., four bass, 10-0, $454

               9th:          Tavin Napier, Rockwood, Tenn., three bass, 9-9, $404

               10th:        Wayne Coppage, Jonesboro, Tenn., four bass, 9-1, $353

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Powers also caught a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $355. David Blakely of Kingsport, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $1,714 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces.

  

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          David Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 11-10, $1,714

               2nd:         Mark Dillard, Bluff City, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $807

               3rd:          Clint Dyer, Jonesborough, Tenn., four bass, 10-10, $505

               4th:          Joey Boling, Walland, Tenn., three bass, 9-0, $353

               5th:          Brian Miller, Calhoun, Ga., three bass, 8-0, $303

               6th:          Audie Aultman, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-5, $278

               7th:          Bradley Watts, Afton, Tenn., four bass, 7-3, $252

               8th:          Jim Neece Sr., Bristol, Va., three bass, 6-15, $214

               8th:          Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., two bass, 6-15, $364

               10th:        Robert Barch Jr., Nelsonville, Ohio, two bass, 6-13, $177

Curtis Crooke of Washburn, Tennessee, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $177.