Johnson Runs to Barkley for LBL W
Texas’ Glynn grabs co-angler title
Daniel Johnson of Lebanon, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 11 ounces. For his win, Johnson earned $5,943.
“I had three areas on the south end of Barkley Lake that I worked through both days,” says Johnson, who notched his second career win in BFL competition. “I targeted ultra-shallow cover like rock and wood – basically anything in less than 2 feet of water.”
Johnson flipped green-pumpkin or black and blue-colored tubes with ½-ounce Jenko Creature Weights. He also rotated in handmade balsa square-billed crankbaits. For crankbait colors, he said he preferred shad on Saturday and chartreuse with a black back on Sunday.
“The majority of my fish came from flipping, but I caught one key fish and a couple of keepers on the square-bill,” says Johnson. “I utilized the square-bill more early in the morning when I noticed shad up around the cover. Later in the day I flipped.”
Johnson says he caught eight keepers Saturday and six keepers on Sunday.
“Sticking with my gameplan was important,” says Johnson. “A lot of times, with those shallow fish, there aren’t enough of them for a two-day event, but I felt I could get two limits and two limits would go far. The fishing has been tough, but I knew there were some good, quality fish to be caught up shallow.”
Top 10 boaters
1st: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-11, $5,943
2nd: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-0, $2,671
3rd: Chris Beaudrie, Princeton, Ky., eight bass, 28-15, $1,748
4th: Joey Mallicoat, Lebanon, Tenn., seven bass, 28-10, $1,153
5th: Chuck Callahan, Cincinnati, Ohio, 10 bass, 27-11, $989
6th: Josh Malone, Alma, Ill., 10 bass, 27-7, $1,206
7th: Cody Bertrand, Dyer, Ind., seven bass, 27-1, $824
8th: Keith Amerson, Bethel Springs, Tenn., seven bass, 26-11, $1,348
9th: Billy Schroeder, Paducah, Ky., nine bass, 26-9, $659
10th: Brad Baldwin, Waynesville, Ohio, seven bass, 23-7, $577
Amerson caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $607.
Texas’ Glynn grabs co-angler title
Michael Glynn of Boerne, Texas, caught a two-day total of seven bass weighing 23 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,671.
Top 10 co-anglers
1st: Michael Glynn, Boerne, Texas, seven bass, 23-7, $2,671
2nd: Dennis Taylor, Murray, Ky., six bass, 22-11, $1,236
3rd: Jerry Sterling, Jackson, Mo., five bass, 18-10, $872
4th: Wesley Dunn, Paducah, Ky., six bass, 18-0, $577
5th: Spencer Childers, Jasper, Ga., five bass, 17-15, $494
6th: Nathan Steele, Benton, Ky., five bass, 15-15, $453
7th: Ryan Kirkpatrick, Benton, Ky., four bass, 13-9, $412
8th: Danny Robinson, Fairland, Ind., two bass, 11-6, $675
9th: James Kelley, Maryland Heights, Mo., three bass, 11-4, $330
10th: Evan Bremmerkamp, Benton, Ky., three bass, 10-12, $288
Robinson caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $304.
The 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division finale on Kentucky and Barkley lakes was hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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 Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. 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.