Yelverton Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division On Lake Guntersville
OutdoorHub 04.02.12
Will Yelverton of Hazel Green, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 28 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division event on Lake Guntersville. For his victory, Yelverton earned $5,963.
“I knew I was getting real close,” said Yelverton. “I’ve been fishing the EverStart series this year as well, and I knew that I just needed some things to come together for me to get a win. I had a real good day, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to have enough weight to win the tournament. I had a battery problem scare about an hour before I had to check-in, but I kept calm and used my trolling motor battery to get my boat started. I made it in time, and it ended up working out real nicely for me.
“I was fishing a Yellow Hammer Alabama rig,” Yelverton went on to say. “I had it rigged up with Strike King Shad-A-Licious swimbaits and Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers, and was fishing it in the mid-lake area, about 8 feet deep. I had used my electronics to target small clumps of scattered grass, and I could tell that there was a lot of bait fish around it. The fish were in there during practice on Thursday, and were still there when I went back on Saturday. I had my two kickers, a 6-8 and a 6-4 right away in the morning, within about 45 minutes of each other. That allowed me to settle down and just find some solid keepers.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Kenneth Kay, Hazel Green, Ala., five bass, 25-0, $1,981
3rd: Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., five bass, 20-4, $1,322
4th: Randall Allen, Brownsboro, Ala., five bass, 18-14, $925
5th: Corey Bradley, McDonald, Tenn., five bass, 18-12, $793
6th: Aaron Erwine, Jasper, Ala., five bass, 18-10, $727
7th: Chad Jones, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 18-8, $660
8th: Gil Summerlin, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-7, $594
9th: Luke Kyle, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 17-14, $528
10th: Jason Grape, Attalla, Ala., five bass, 17-13, $462
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Andrew Clayton of Westpoint, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 26 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win $1,981 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Curtis Merriman II, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 21-5, $991
3rd: Dan Basham, Louisville, Ky., five bass, 17-15, $662
4th: Trent Wright, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 17-9, $462
5th: Dean McDonald, Greer, S.C., five bass, 16-10, $396
6th: David Ashley, Estill Springs, Tenn., five bass, 16-8, $363
7th: J.R. Boatwright Jr., Trafford, Ala., five bass, 16-1, $330
8th: Jerry Nydam, Arab, Ala.., five bass, 15-13, $297
9th: Michael Broach, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 15-8, $264
10th: Allen Bishop, Albertville, Ala., five bass, 14-14, $231
The next BFL Choo Choo Division tournament is scheduled for April 28 on Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, Ala. After the fifth Choo Choo Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 4-6 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, 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 2012 BFL All-American is being held May 17 – 19 on the Potomac River in National Harbor, Md. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
