Shell Beds and Brush Put Brown on Top

Crider nets co-angler title in Arkie Division event

Kevin Brown of Hot Springs, Arkansas, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle presented by GEARED. Brown earned $6,256 for his win.

Brown says he fished from the takeoff ramp to Shoal Bay, working through five or six key areas and catching around 30 keepers throughout the event.

“I fished shell drops and brush piles from 5 to 13 feet down,” says Brown, who earned his third career win in BFL competition. “I caught them on a Texas-rigged YUM Ribbon Tail worm in plum and red shad colors. I also used shad and chartreuse-colored medium- and deep-diving Bomber crankbaits.”

Brown was able to put a limit of fish in the boat by 10 a.m.

“Sometimes I went for an hour or two without a bite, so I just kept moving,” says Brown. “But overall, it was a fun day from start to finish.”

The top 10 boaters:

1st:          Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 19-2, $4,256 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2nd:         Sawyer Grace, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 17-11, $1,978

3rd:          Dustin Huggins, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 17-2, $1,253

4th:          Josh Hilton, Clarksville, Ark., five bass, 15-13, $876

5th:          Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 15-11, $751

6th:          Cody Kemp, Donaldson, Ark., five bass, 15-8, $689

7th:          Chuck Hamby, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 15-1, $1,116

8th:          Justin Swayze, Gurdon, Ark., five bass, 14-3, $563

9th:          Spencer Grace, Dardanelle, Ark., five bass, 14-0, $501

10th:        Josh Ray, Alexander, Ark., five bass, 13-13, $438

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Hamby brought a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $490.

Crider wins co-angler title

Johnny Crider of Fulton, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,078 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1st:          Johnny Crider, Fulton, Ark., five bass, 13-14, $2,078

2nd:         Charles Swilley, Ashdown, Ark., five bass, 13-11, $939

3rd:          Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., five bass, 13-8, $627

4th:          John McCullar, Benton, Ark., five bass, 12-4, $438

5th:          Tony Smith, Benton, Ark., four bass, 11-6, $376

6th:          Robert Scott, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 9-15, $344

7th:          Todd Brown, Little Rock, Ark., three bass, 9-6, $363

8th:          Kenyon Johnson, Mountain Home, Ark., three bass, 9-4, $282

9th:          Kevin LaRue, Royal, Ark., four bass, 8-4, $234

9th:          Jason Mullins, Benton, Ark., four bass, 8-4, $234

Daniel Elam of Lamar, Arkansas, also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $245.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle presented by GEARED was hosted by Russellville Advertising and Promotions.

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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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.