Lowery Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division On Lake Lanier, Georgia
OutdoorHub 02.25.13
David Lowery of Milledgeville, Ga., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division event on Lake Lanier. For his victory, Lowery earned $4,981.
“All day I thought that I needed one bigger largemouth to push me over the top,” said Lowery. “When I brought my bag to the scales I didn’t think I had enough to win. I fish Lake Lanier three to four times throughout the year and generally in February it takes somewhere between 19 and 20 pounds to win.
“I had a really good practice on Thursday, but because of the brutal weather on Friday, I didn’t even go out,” Lowery continued. “On the tournament day I flipped a brown All-Terrain jig all day around boat docks in the mid-lake area. The water temperature was high 40s, and the fish were caught close to spawning areas. The largemouth came out of water shallower than 10 feet and the spotted bass came out of water a little deeper around 15 to 16 feet.
“The key to my pattern was finding the boat docks with the black floating sections underneath,” Lowery went on to say. “Even though it was cloudy and cold, I found that the black sections helped warm the water up a little more when the sun came out. This attracted the bigger fish and I caught them as they suspended underneath.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Bo Talley, Columbus, Ga., five bass, 16-11, $2,490
3rd: Mark Holloway, Madison, Ga., five bass, 16-6, $1,662
4th: Jimmy Trotter, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 15-10, $1,162
5th: Kim Carver, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 15-6, $996 + Evinrude Bonus: $300
6th: Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 14-14, $913
7th: Lee Boyd, Fortson, Ga., five bass, 14-13, $788
7th: Matt Green, Cartersville, Ga., four bass, 14-13, $788
9th: Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 14-12, $664
10th: Michael Welch, Douglasville, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $581
Mic Miller of Buena Vista, Ga., and Jerry Seabolt of Murrayville, Ga., both weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to tie for first and win $1,867 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
3rd: Jesse Dellinger, Bogart, Ga., five bass, 13-10, $829
4th: Michael Cragg, Alto, Ga., four bass, 13-0, $581
5th: Gwyn Cantrell, Cleveland, Ga., five bass, 12-11, $498
6th: Zachary Dixon, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 12-0, $457
7th: Tyler Morgan, Columbus, Ga., three bass, 11-15, $394
7th: Brandon Truelove, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 11-15, $394
9th: Justin Nunley, Acworth, Ga., five bass, 11-12, $332
10th: Jason Williams, Winder, Ga., five bass, 11-6, $291
The next BFL Bulldog Division tournament is scheduled for March 16 on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Ga. After the last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 17-19 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Lavonia, Ga. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. The 2013 BFL All-American is being held June 27–29 on the Nickajack Lake in Chattanooga, Tenn. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
