Long Adjusts for Lake Wateree Victory

Mel Long of Hampton, South Carolina, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division tournament on Lake Wateree presented by Navionics Saturday with five bass totaling 15 pounds, 7 ounces. For his victory, Long earned $3,466.

“I was originally going to target bream beds in pockets, but the visibility was terrible so I had to adjust,” says Long, who earned his first career win in BFL competition. “I decided to hit main-lake points, especially ones right inside of pockets. It all connected pretty quickly after that. I just went looking and was able to put something together.”

Long used two baits to craft his limit – a ½-ounce swimjig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer, and a green-pumpkin Zoom Magnum Trick Worm, on a Texas rig or a shaky-head rig.

“I only had one bass in the boat by 10:30 (a.m.),” says Long. “I had enough confidence in my areas to run back through them again and around 11 the fish really turned on.”

Long said he preferred points that were flatter than others.

“Flat points without the steep drops seemed to do better for me,” says Long. “I couldn’t get bites if they had deep water close by.”

The top 10 boaters:

               1^st:          Mel Long, Hampton, S.C., five bass, 15-7, $3,466

               2^nd:         Dustin Henson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 15-3, $1,733

               3^rd:          Matt Bickley, North Augusta, S.C., five bass, 15-2, $1,355

               4^th:          Michael Richardson, Elgin, S.C., five bass, 14-11, $909

               5^th:          Christopher Chavis, Rincon, Ga., four bass, 14-7, $1,128

               6^th:          Matthew Mollohan, Prosperity, S.C., five bass, 14-4, $635

               7^th:          Bobby Purvis, Eastover, S.C., three bass, 13-15, $578

               8^th:          Donald Hinson, Lugoff, S.C., five bass, 13-12, $520

               9^th:          Steve Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., five bass, 12-7, $462

               10^th:        Woody Parks, Lincolnton, Ga., four bass, 11-14, $404

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Chavis caught a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $435.

Greg Atkinson of Ridgeway, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,693 Saturday after weighing a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

               1^st:          Greg Atkinson, Ridgeway, S.C., five bass, 17-4, $1,693

               2^nd:         Brandon Jeffcoat, Columbia, S.C., three bass, 10-5, $946

               3^rd:          Daniel Cook, Ridgeway, S.C., five bass, 9-12, $479

               3^rd:          Mike Ware, Rock Hill, S.C., two bass, 9-12, $691

               5^th:          James Meadows, Goose Creek, S.C., three bass, 9-9, $339

               6^th:          Rodney Tapp, North Augusta, S.C., four bass, 8-12, $310

               7^th:          Nathan Turbyfill, Asheville, N.C., four bass, 8-10, $282

               8^th:          Josh Day, Aiken, S.C., four bass, 8-5, $254

               9^th:          Wesley Mullins, Bloomingdale, Ga., three bass, 8-1, $226

               10^th:        Jack Hoy, Hollywood, S.C., four bass, 8-0, $248

Ware caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $212.

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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.