CHAPEL HILL’S JOYCE WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE CHOO CHOO DIVISION EVENT ON LAKE GUNTERSVILLE PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

CHAPEL HILL’S JOYCE WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE CHOO CHOO DIVISION EVENT ON LAKE GUNTERSVILLE PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

Hand wins co-angler title

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SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (May 2, 2016) – Clayton Joyce of Chapel Hill, Tennessee, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 29 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division tournament on Lake Guntersville presented by Navionics. For his victory, Joyce took home $4,359.

“I’ve never caught that kind of weight on this lake,” said Joyce, who earned his first win in BFL competition. “I’ve had several 20-pound limits out there, but nothing like this.

“I caught 6-pounder within the first 15 minutes,” continued Joyce. “I caught a 4-pounder and three smaller ones before the bite died. I really needed the wind to blow, but it was a calm day.”

Joyce said he targeted two stumps on the end of a creek point between Waterfront Bay and Goose Pond. He said he caught his fish throwing a Carolina-rigged, pumpkin-colored stick bait.

“After three hours, the wind picked up and I was able to catch more bass and cull,” said Joyce. “I worked the stumps from all angles to try and dial in on where they were setting up. If I could get the bait hung up under the stump, I’d yank it out, stop it and that would trigger a bite.”

Joyce finished by saying that he caught his largest fish with only minutes to spare.

“It was one of those special days of fishing that I’ll remember for a long time,” said Joyce.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Clayton Joyce, Chapel Hill, Tenn., five bass, 29-2, $4,359

2^nd:         Freddy Palmer, Estill Springs, Tenn., five bass, 23-8, $2,179

3^rd:          Jim Leary, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 21-15, $1,452

4^th:          Cameron Gautney, Muscle Shoals, Ala., five bass, 20-6, $1,017

5^th:          Blake Hall, Hartselle, Ala., five bass, 19-3, $872

6^th:          Josh Butler, Athens, Ala., five bass, 18-15, $1,099

7^th:          Wayne Christopher, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 18-11, $726

8^th:          Eric Foister, Clarksville, Tenn., five bass, 18-10, $1,242

8^th:          Brad Harmon, Ringgold, Ga., five bass, 18-10, $617

10^th:        Tim Hurst, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 17-0, $483

10^th:        Joe Thompson, Grant, Ala., five bass, 17-0, $483

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Foister caught a 9-pound, 1-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $625.

Nathan Hand of Madison, Alabama, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,179.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Nathan Hand, Madison, Ala., five bass, 16-1, $2,179

2^nd:         Michael Corbett, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 16-0, $1,090

3^rd:          Jacob Feltman, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 15-2, $725

4^th:          Rodney Bolte, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 15-0, $509

5^th:          Daniel Crockett, Old Hickory, Tenn., five bass, 13-9, $436

6^th:          Ron Lee, Lilburn, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $400

7^th:          Trent Wright, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 12-15, $363

8^th:          Tom Pearson, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 12-7, $327

9^th:          Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., five bass, 12-2, $291

10^th:        Robert Barnett, Flintstone, Ga., four bass, 11-15, $254

Daniel Davis of Albertville, Alabama, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $312.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.