Shad Spawn Clutch for Carter

Kimmel takes co-angler title on Sinclair

Kip Carter of Social Circle, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division event on Lake Sinclair. For his efforts, Carter netted $6,126.

“I caught the majority of my fish in the first two hours of the day during the shad spawn,” says Carter, who earned his second career win on Lake Sinclair in BFL competition. “I fished mid-lake, targeting grass and seawalls.”

Carter used three baits – a buzzbait, a Nasty Shad-colored Spro Dean Rojas 65 Bronzeye Frog and a custom chartreuse and white-colored spinnerbait with gold double-willow leaf blades and a white Zoom Split Tail trailer.

“The spinnerbait caught more in terms of the number of fish, but the topwaters got the bigger ones,” says Carter.

With around 15 pounds of fish in his livewell, Carter left the shad spawn and flipped docks for the remainder of his day with a Junebug-colored Zoom Trick Worm on a shaky head.

“I stayed mid-lake and got a couple key bites that ended up anchoring my bag for the win,” says Carter.

The top 10 boaters:

1st:          Kip Carter, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 18-2, $4,126 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2nd:         Dylan Peppers, Good Hope, Ga., five bass, 15-13, $1,963

3rd:          Mark Svendsen, Doraville, Ga., five bass, 14-2, $1,939

4th:          Steve Phillips, Douglas, Ga., five bass, 12-12, $916

5th:          John McKinney, Palatka, Fla., five bass, 12-6, $785

6th:          Terry Adams, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 11-7, $720

7th:          Tony Couch, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 11-5, $654

8th:          David Milsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $856

8th:          Pat Fisher, Colbert, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $556

10th:        John Bitter, Maitland, Fla., five bass, 10-4, $458

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Svendsen brought a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $530.

Kimmel wins co-angler title

Justin Kimmel of Athens, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,228 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1st:          Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., five bass, 11-2, $2,228

2nd:         Mike Thornton, Jonesboro, Ga., four bass, 8-11, $1,081

3rd:          Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 8-3, $705

4th:          Brandon Padilla, Roswell, Ga., five bass, 8-0, $458

5th:          Zachary Padilla, Roswell, Ga., three bass, 7-10, $393

6th:          Daniel Bentley, Fayetteville, Ga., five bass, 7-9, $360

7th:          Ariel Laria, Flowery Branch, Ga., four bass, 7-5, $294

7th:          Ron Lee, Cumming, Ga., four bass, 7-5, $294

7th:          Carlos Guzman, Fayetteville, Ga., four bass, 7-5, $294

10th:        Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., four bass, 7-3, $229

Kimmel also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $265.

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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. 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.