Ashley Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Chevy Wild Card
OutdoorHub 10.29.12
Darren Ashley of Calhoun Falls, S.C., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Chevy Wild Card on Lake Guntersville with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 39 pounds, 11 ounces. For his victory, Ashley won $4,112 and entry into the BFL All-American presented by Chevy. The Chevy Wild Card tournament is a last-chance effort for BFL anglers to qualify for the BFL All-American, the longest running championship in competitive bass fishing. This tournament featured 136 BFL anglers from around the country who had entered all five BFL tournaments in any one division this season, paid their entry fees but did not qualify for a regional event.
Boater Darren Ashley of Calhoun Falls, S.C., won the Walmart BFL Wild Card on Lake Guntersville with 10 bass that weighed 39 pounds, 11 ounces and earned him $4,112 plus a berth in the BFL All-American
“My main goal was to qualify for the All-American,” said Ashley, who will be making his first trip to the All-American in 2013. “It wasn’t about the win or even the money. It was about making the All-American, and I accomplished that goal.
“From all the dock talk I had heard going into the tournament everyone thought it was going to be a slugfest around the bridges using the Alabama rig. So I headed to Guntersville with a boat load of Alabama Rigs and frogs and hit every bridge I could find during practice. I caught one tiny fish. I was heartbroken. The two things I knew how to do weren’t working.”
After throwing the frog with little success during practice, Ashley went back to the Alabama rig and found three areas away from bridges that were productive for him. He was targeting scattered grass in 12 to 14 feet of water. Ashley said that if it was going to happen for him, it was going to happen with one bait (the Alabama rig) and in three places. The key for Ashley was holding his boat in 15 feet of water while casting to slightly shallower areas. Ashley said the bass were chasing white perch and had positioned themselves underneath the perch.
“I don’t care what anybody says,” Ashley went on to say. “The Alabama rig is an awesome bait. It triggers the suspended bass into biting, which is an incredibly hard thing to do. The schooling mentality is a heck of a concept. Guntersville is an unreal lake. I have never seen so many schools of large bass in all my life. I didn’t want to come off the water.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the BFL All-American are:
- 1st: Darren Ashley, Calhoun Falls, S.C., 10 bass, 39-11, $4,112
- 2nd: Mike Harris, Watkinsville, Ga., 10 bass, 34-1
- 3rd: Kerry Milner, Bono, Ark., 10 bass, 32-9, $2,056
- 4th: Corey Bradley, McDonald, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-10, $1,553
- 5th: Lionel Botha, Okeechobee, Fla., eight bass, 29-2, $1,097
- 6th: Gary Isgrigg, Mt. Washington, Ky., 10 bass, 28-10
Rounding out the top 10 boaters:
- 7th: Jody Hughes, Baldwin, Ga., 10 bass, 27-10, $868
- 8th: Stacey Edwards, Milton, Ky., 10 bass, 27-9, $777
- 9th: Tyler Matlock, Omaha, Ark., 10 bass, 25-6, $685
- 10th: Dustin McKinney, Glasgow, Ky., eight bass, 25-1, $617
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Ernest Stephens of Orrum, N.C., won the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass totaling 29 pounds, 12 ounces. Stephens won $2,346 plus a berth in the BFL All-American.
The top six co-anglers that qualified for the BFL All-American are:
- 1st: Ernest Stephens, Orrum, N.C., 10 bass, 29-12, $2,346
- 2nd: Josh Fordham, Glencoe, Ala., nine bass, 25-1, $1,173
- 3rd: Marcus Dudley, Twinsburg, Ohio, five bass, 15-5, $886
- 4th: Mitchell Staples Sr., Colonial Beach, Va., five bass, 15-2, $626
- 5th: Bob Brown, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 15-1
- 6th: Katie Jackson, High Springs, Fla., six bass, 14-0, $495
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:
- 7th: Jerry Armstrong, Shelbyville, Tenn., five bass, 13-1, $443
- 8th: W.K. Luckett Jr., Ridgeland, Miss., four bass, 12-0, $391
- 9th: John Davis, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., four bass, 11-15, $352
- 10th: Morgan McLain, Lenexa, Kan., four bass, 11-14
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
