BRISTOL’S OSBORNE WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE VOLUNTEER DIVISION EVENT ON SOUTH HOLSTON RESERVOIR
Virginia’s Brady Claims Co-angler Title
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BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 24, 2017) – Local angler Josh Osborne of Bristol, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on South Holston Reservoir. Osborne pocketed $3,766 for his efforts.
“I basically fished one spot the entire day,” said Osborne, who earned his first career-win in FLW competition. “It was a hump with isolated rock where smallmouth were bedding. I knew it was something special when I found it in practice.
“I was catching them a little deeper than most people,” continued Osborne. “I actually saw anglers fishing the area in practice, but they were at the very top of the hump. I found a 15-yard section a little deeper and that’s where the big fish were. It was a rough patch of rock and they were all around it.”
Osborne said the top of the hump was between 4 to 6 feet deep, while he sat in 16 to 18 feet of water.
“The 8- to 12-foot range was where most of my big fish were,” said Osborne. “I caught everything that I weighed on a Texas-rigged 4-inch green-pumpkin Berkley Straight-Tail Worm.”
Osborne said he had most of his winning weight in the boat by 10 a.m.
“I knew the fish were there, so I slowed down and took my time,” said Osborne. “I think that helped me get the win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Josh Osborne, Bristol, Va., five bass, 21-10, $3,766
2nd: Doug Austin, Bristol, Va., five bass, 21-7, $1,883
3rd: James Barlow, Jonesboro, Tenn., five bass, 19-7, $1,256
4th: Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 19-5, $879
5th: Jonathan Bowling , Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 17-11, $953
6th: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $759
6th: Kevin Edwards, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $659
8th: Willie Browning, Saltville, Va., five bass, 17-6, $565
9th: Nick Tate, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-2, $502
10th: Brian Hollaway, Gray, Tenn., five bass, 17-0, $439
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Willie Bryan of Sevierville, Tennessee, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $500.
Steven Brady of Woodlawn, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,840 Saturday after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 7 ounces to the scale.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Steven Brady, Woodlawn, Va., five bass, 17-7, $1,840
2nd: Donnie Holder, Mooresburg, Tenn., five bass, 16-15, $920
3rd: Allen Hicks, Castlewood, Va., five bass, 16-8, $612
4th: David Shreve, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 16-3, $429
5th: Richard Casey, Honaker, Va., five bass, 16-2, $368
6th: Matthew Rasnick, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $337
7th: Matt Brown, Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 15-0, $507
8th: Charles Roberts, Lebanon, Va., five bass, 14-11, $276
9th: Bill King, Maryville, Tenn., five bass, 14-10, $245
10th: Colton Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 14-5, $204
10th: Nick Coker, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 14-5, $254
Richard Pugh of Knoxville, Tennessee, caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $240.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the 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.