LIBERTY’S RAMPEY WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE SOUTH CAROLINA DIVISION OPENER ON LAKE HARTWELL
Edgefield’s Carroll Earns Co-angler Title
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ANDERSON, S.C. (Feb. 12, 2018) – Boater Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, caught five bass weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division opener on Lake Hartwell. Rampey pocketed $5,886 for his win.
Rampey said he utilized much of the lake, from the boat ramp down to the dam, to catch his fish. He said his goal was to stay mobile throwing his super-light 6-pound-test Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon line.
“I pretty much fished ditches all day. We’ve had a lot of rain and new freshwater coming in, and the herring were in the ditches,” said Rampey, who earned his eighth career win in BFL competition – his fourth in the past year. “A lot of the lake was blown out so I looked for water that was just a little off-color. I stayed mobile – I didn’t get want to get hung up on anything.”
Rampey said his he employed a one-two punch of baits in the morning – a Buckeye Lures Su-Spin Blade with a white Zoom Super Fluke Jr. and a Buckeye Lures G-Man Finesse Swimbait Jighead with the same Zoom fluke as a trailer. He said he also worked in a jerkbait after the wind picked up later in the day.
“I caught about 10 keepers throughout the event, with two of my biggest coming on the finesse jighead,” said Rampey.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 18-14, $5,886
2nd: Scott Allgood, Westminster, S.C., four bass, 16-10, $2,343
3rd: Derek Lehtonen, Woodruff, S.C., five bass, 15-11, $1,562
4th: Adam Beckum, Martinez, Ga., five bass, 15-2, $1,193
5th: Joey Sabbagha, Prosperity, S.C., five bass, 14-0, $1,237
6th: Ron Farrow, Rock Hill, S.C., five bass, 13-14, $859
7th: Randy Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 13-7, $781
8th: Dustin Henson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 12-10, $703
9th: Bryce Matthews, Olanta, S.C., five bass, 12-8, $625
10th: Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 12-6, $547
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Coy Watts of Conway, South Carolina, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $690.
Keith Carroll of Edgefield, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $2,343 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Keith Carroll, Edgefield, S.C., five bass, 11-1, $2,343
2nd: Wesley Lewis, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 10-11, $1,172
3rd: Michael Miller, Greenville, S.C., five bass, 10-4, $981
4th: Neal Shade, Greenville, S.C., four bass, 10-3, $597
5th: Sam Spencer, Hudson, N.C., four bass, 9-14, $469
6th: Tracy Harrington, Bonnie, Ill., five bass, 9-6, $430
7th: Joel Cerv, North Wilkesboro, N.C., four bass, 8-11, $391
8th: Michael Smith, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 8-8, $351
9th: Sandon Wilson, Laurens, S.C., three bass, 8-7, $312
10th: Bobby Henderson, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 7-11, $259
10th: Najee McClinton, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 7-11, $259
Jeremy Winn of Seneca, South Carolina, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a 4-pound, 1-ounce fish. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $345.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division opener on Lake Hartwell was hosted by the Anderson Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. 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 2018 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. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagra