“I have been fishing Lake Sinclair for several years, but a lot of the guys in this tournament have much more experience than I do,” says Lanier, who earned his first career victory in BFL competition. “The key for me was making the right decisions as far as where I was fishing and my timing.”

Although Lanier wanted to remain tight-lipped about the specifics of his win, he did say that he was fishing mid-lake, targeting docks and seawalls with a spinnerbait.

“I was keying in on the baitfish – shad,” Lanier says. “The bite was a little better in the morning, but I ended up with nine or 10 keepers throughout the day.”

Lanier threw his spinnerbait on a custom spinnerbait rod with an Abu Garcia REVO reel and 17-pound-test monofilament line.

The top 10 boaters:

1st: Justin Lanier, Macon, Ga., five bass, 18-1, $4,399

2nd: Kip Carter, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 17-13, $2,750

3rd: Jason Smith, Dawson, Ga., five bass, 15-12, $1,398

4th: John Duvall, Madison, Ga., five bass, 15-9, $980

5th: Clabion Johns, Covington, Ga., five bass, 15-3, $840

6th: Matt Baty, Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 14-8, $770

7th: Max Gresham, Valdosta, Ga., five bass, 13-3, $665

7th: Mike Cleveland, Monticello, Ga., five bass, 13-3, $957

9th: Justin Durham, Bishop, Ga., five bass, 13-1, $560

10th: Lee Nunnally, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 12-14, $490

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Cleveland and Michael Meason of Senoia, Georgia both caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces, so both split the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $585.

Co-angler Dax Liner

Liner wins co-angler title

Dax Liner of Mineral Bluff, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,119 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1st: Dax Liner, Mineral Bluff, Ga., five bass, 11-7, $2,119

2nd: Early Whitaker, Iron City, Ga., five bass, 9-13, $1,009

3rd: Spencer Sato, Warner Robins, Ga., five bass, 9-11, $675

4th: March Glenn, Decatur, Ga., four bass, 9-0, $793

5th: Marty Everson, Leesburg, Ga., four bass, 8-12, $404

6th: Blake Yarbrough, Fitzgerald, Ga., five bass, 8-6, $370

7th: Wesley Bennett, Monroe, Ga., five bass, 7-14, $336

8th: Mark Denney, Bonaire, Ga., five bass, 7-12, $303

9th: Jody Ward, Dothan, Ala., three bass, 7-9, $252

9th: Kenneth Cash, Jefferson, Ga., five bass, 7-9, $252

Glenn caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $272.

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. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.