Lilly Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division on Tennessee’s Douglas Lake
OutdoorHub 05.21.13
Travis Lilly of Bluff City, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 24 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division event on Douglas Lake. For his victory, Lilly earned $3,545.
“It was one of those days when everything fell in place,” said Lilly. “I didn’t lose any fish and things went right. I bounced around the lake a little bit but all of the fish that I brought to the scale came from the same area. I started the day and finished the day in the same place.”
Lilly indicated that he was targeting post-spawn bass that had moved out on to points. He was primarily using swimbaits indicating that color really wasn’t a factor in catching his bass.
“It was actually kind of funny,” Lilly went on to say. “When I went back to the area I started in there was a boat sitting on that point. I asked him if he would mind if I fished the spot and he said no that he had already fished it. A couple of casts later I landed my biggest fish of the day, a 6 ½-pounder.
“This is the first time that I have committed to fishing off-shore and it actually went well.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Sam McCowan, Pounding Mill, Va., five bass, 22-7, $1,773
3rd: Bobby Ferguson, Chuckey, Tenn., four bass, 21-13, $1,181
4th: Nick Meadows, Cedar Bluff, Va., five bass, 20-8, $827
5th: Gary Pilkenton, Morristown, Tenn., five bass, 19-15, $709
6th: Tim Saylor, Johnson City, Tenn., five bass, 19-12, $650
7th: Derrick Snavely, Rogersville, Tenn., five bass, 18-11, $591
8th: Guy Sams, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 18-7, $532
9th: Ken Vicchio, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 17-12, $473 plus $300 Evinrude bonus
10th: Daniel Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 17-6, $414
Justin McGaha of Knoxville, Tenn., weighed five bass totaling 14 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division. McGaha earned $1,773 for his victory.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Dennis Lewis, Powell, Tenn., five bass, 14-0, $886
3rd: Jason Yates, Dandridge, Tenn., five bass, 12-14, $591
4th: Bud McKelvey, Lenoir City, Tenn., five bass, 12-6, $384
4th: Sam Overton, Heiskell, Tenn., five bass, 12-6, $384
6th: Jonathan Saddler, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $325
7th: Matt Brown, Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 11-7, $295
8th: Eric Topole, Corryton, Tenn., five bass, 10-12, $266
9th: Chris Seese, Lenoir City, Tenn., three bass, 10-11, $236
10th: Rob Linkous, Rogersville, Tenn., five bass, 10-6, $207
The next BFL Volunteer Division tournament is scheduled for June 8 on Lake Cherokee in Morristown, Tenn. 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.
