Brueggen Sticks to Swim Jigs

Swanson takes co-angler title

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Mike Brueggen of La Crosse, Wis., weighed a two-day total of 10 bass totaling 31 pounds, 9 ounces to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Great Lakes Division Super Tournament on the Mississippi River Sunday. For his victory, Brueggen earned $8,066.

“I was just swimming a jig on weedlines, and I ran into two groups of fish where the current was different,” said Brueggen, who wanted to divulge only a limited amount of information because he is also planning on fishing the upcoming Rayovac FLW Series event on the river.

“I weighed in all largemouth, and I did pretty much the same thing both days,” Brueggen continued. “The only difference was that I caught a 4-pounder on Sunday. I didn’t think I had a chance to win with largemouth. I don’t know why the smallmouth didn’t bite on Sunday, but if I’m going to win the upcoming Rayovac tournament I’ll definitely need to find some smallmouth.

“It felt amazing to win,” said Brueggen. “A win is hard to beat, especially with the $2,000 Ranger Cup bonus. I also got an extra $1,000 for winning the points title in the Great Lakes Division.”

Brueggen said that he caught all his fish on swimjigs, in two different colors.

Rounding out the top 10 pros:

2^nd:          Jimmy Johnson, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 28-11, $3,033

3^rd:          Brian Fitzpatrick, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 27-1, $2,024 + $300 Evinrude Bonus

4^th:           Joe Pollak, Lake Geneva, Wis., 10 bass, 26-4, $1,415

5^th:           Kyle Schauf, Onalaska, Wis., 10 bass, 26-1, $1,213

6^th:           Kyle Von Ruden, Stoddard, Wis., 10 bass, 25-11, $1,112

7^th:           Troy Anderson, Galesville, Wis., eight bass, 25-3, $1,011

8^th:           Michael Mengeling, Woodstock, Ill., 10 bass, 25-1, $910

9^th:           Kevin Wolfram, Sugar Grove, Ill., 10 bass, 25-0, $809

10^th:        Josh Keeney, Greenville, Wis., 10 bass, 24-15, $708              

Complete results can be found by clicking here.

Swanson wins co-angler title

Jason Swanson of Waterloo, Iowa, weighed in a two-day total of 10 bass totaling 23 pounds, 9 ounces to win $3,033 in the co-angler division Sunday.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

2^nd:          Matt Knox, Metamora, Ill., nine bass, 21-12, $1,517

3^rd:          Michael Gray, Stoddard, Wis., nine bass, 19-15, $1,010

4^th:           Jason Howland, Albert Lea, Minn., nine bass, 19-8, $708

5^th:           Tyler Fitch, Oregon, Wis., eight bass, 18-7, $607

6^th:           Mongshoua Xiong, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 15-8, $556

7^th:           Jared Greninger, Rockford, Ill., seven bass, 15-3, $506

8^th:           Adam Barnard, Burlington, Wis., seven bass, 14-11, $455

9^th:           Tyler Rocke, Peoria, Ill., seven bass, 14-0, $404

10^th:        Ryan Coon, Bettendorf, Iowa, six bass, 13-14, $354

Complete co-angler results can be found by clicking here.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 16-18 Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Ky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

About FLW

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.