TENNESSEE’S DEAKINS WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT ON LAKE SEMINOLE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

TENNESSEE’S DEAKINS WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT ON LAKE SEMINOLE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

Rudolph wins co-angler title

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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 FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional event on Lake Seminole presented by Mercury, 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:

1^st:          Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-1, $66,000

2^nd:         Steve Phillips, Douglas, Ga., 15 bass, 47-5, $10,200

3^rd:          Mike Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., 14 bass, 42-14, $5,000

4^th:          Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., 14 bass, 42-9, $3,100

5^th:          Chris Kirksey, Fairmount, Ga., 14 bass, 41-12, $2,000

6^th:          Tyler Morgan, Columbus, Ga., 15 bass, 41-7, $1,800

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

7^th:          Rodger Beaver, Dawson, Ga., 12 bass, 40-12, $1,600

8^th:          Clabion Johns, Covington, Ga., 14 bass, 38-7, $1,400

9^th:          Dustin Royer, Davie, Fla., 13 bass, 33-7, $1,200

10^th:        Nathan Thomas, Weirsdale, Fla., 13 bass, 32-6, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

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:

1^st:          Jessey Rudolph, Deltona, Fla., 15 bass, 36-2, $45,200

2^nd:         John Trudel, Lighthouse Point, Fla., 12 bass, 31-4, $5,000

3^rd:          David Bozeman, Ocala, Fla., nine bass, 26-4, $2,500

4^th:          Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., 15 bass, 25-5, $1,500

5^th:          Tony Dimauro, Watkinsville, Ga., eight bass, 22-13, $1,050

6^th:          Stanley Shaw, Dunnellon, Fla., seven bass, 20-5, $900

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

7^th:          Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., seven bass, 20-4, $800

8^th:          Richard Mongiovi, Indian Lake Estates, Fla., seven bass, 19-15, $700

9^th:          Johnny Pittman, Albertville, Ala., eight bass, 19-15, $600

10^th:        Isaac Clemmons, Fitzgerald, Ga., eight bass, 17-9, $500

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. The 2017 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 3 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama. 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.