NORTH CAROLINA’S MARSHALL WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE SOUTH CAROLINA DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON CLARKS HILL LAKE
Columbia’s Jeffcoat Claims Co-angler Title
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MCCORMICK, S.C. (April 24, 2017) – Chris Marshall of Forest City, North Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division event Saturday on Clarks Hill Lake. Marshall pocketed $6,038 for his victory.
“I caught everything I weighed in using a 7-foot, 2-inch medium-heavy Denali Kovert Lite rod and a craw-colored Lucky Craft Gunfish topwater,” said Marshall, who earned his second BFL win in 2017 – fourth of his FLW career. “I was down on the lower end of the lake hitting main-lake and secondary points and ended up rotating through 15 different spots.”
Marshall said he targeted largemouth bass that were feeding on blueback herring during their spawn.
“I had one primary point that four or five of my biggest fish came from,” said Marshall. “I caught about 12 keepers throughout the day, but that particular area had the biggest bass on it.”
Marshall said he thought the bass were most active from 9 a.m. to noon.
“In addition to the Gunfish, I also used a Catch ‘Em Lures jig which really got the fish fired up,” said Marshall.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Chris Marshall, Forest City, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $4,038 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Zachary Bennett, Loganville, Ga., five bass, 17-8, $1,809
3rd: Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 16-1, $1,138
4th: Paul Ham, West Columbia, S.C., five bass, 15-5, $741
4th: Wendell Causey Jr., Irmo, S.C., five bass, 15-5, $1,041
6th: Tom Rubbo, Lexington, S.C., five bass, 15-0, $627
7th: Christopher Chavis, Rincon, Ga., five bass, 14-11, $570
8th: Daniel Howell, Prosperity, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $513
9th: Joey Spradley, Gloverville, S.C., five bass, 14-1, $456
10th: Joseph Marks, Duncan, S.C., five bass, 13-15, $399
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Marshall also caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $420.
Brandon Jeffcoat of Columbia, South Carolina, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division and the top prize of $1,709.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Brandon Jeffcoat, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 16-3, $1,709
2nd: Jeremy Bouldin, Kings Mountain, N.C., five bass, 14-4, $855
3rd: Jack Daniel Hoy, Hollywood, S.C., five bass, 11-6, $770
4th: Robert Goodman, Gilbert, S.C., five bass, 10-15, $399
5th: Donnie Stouffer, Rock Hill, S.C., four bass, 10-8, $552
6th: Wesley Mullins, Bloomingdale, Ga., five bass, 10-5, $313
7th: Charles Dickens, Appling, Ga., five bass, 10-1, $285
8th: Mark Lynch, Goose Creek, S.C., five bass, 9-7, $256
9th: Ronald Harrell, Mitchell, Ga., five bass, 9-4, $278
10th: James Meadows, Goose Creek, S.C., five bass, 9-2, $199
Stouffer caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $210.
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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. 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.