Day One Taylor Tops Field

Lepere nets co-angler title

SHELBYVILLE, Ill. – George Taylor of Dresden, Tenn., weighed a two-day total of five bass totaling 20 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Illini Division Super Tournament on Lake Shelbyville Sunday. For his victory, Taylor earned $4,943.

“I caught them on jigs, just one here and one there,” Taylor said of the tournament-best 20-pound, 14-ounce limit he landed on day one. “I caught two in one creek and three in another. I wasn’t even doing that well in practice and I didn’t have any kind of pattern.
 

“I caught one in practice that was about 5 pounds, and I think I caught that exact same fish in the tournament,” Taylor continued. “I pitched my jig into the exact same place and caught one that weighed 5-10.

“They just shut down on me on Sunday,” said Taylor. “I never even had a keeper-sized fish on. Going back to the weigh-in, I never thought I’d win without weighing a fish. 

“It looks funny to weigh in that kind of weight on one day and zero the next, but I don’t know how to explain it,” finished Taylor. “I’ve never done well up on Lake Shelbyville, so this is just a blessing.”

Taylor said he caught all his fish on a Candy Craw-colored ½-ounce Strike King jig.

Rounding out the top 10 pros:

2^nd:          Toby Corn, West Frankfort, Ill., nine bass, 17-7, $2,471

3^rd:          Travis Boley, Weldon, Ill., seven bass, 15-2, $1,648

4^th:           Neil McCord, West Frankfort, Ill., four bass, 15-1, $1,153

5^th:           Leroy McDuffie, McLeansboro, Ill., eight bass, 14-7, $989

6^th:           Ryan Deal, Haubstadt, Ind., eight bass, 13-10, $906

7^th:           Marion Cordes, Sullivan, Ill., eight bass, 12-15, $824

8^th:           Robert Atchison, Whittington, Ill., five bass, 11-5, $741

9^th:           Bobby McMullin, Pevely, Mo., seven bass, 11-4, $659

10^th:        Luke Budde, Waterloo, Ill., five bass, 10-5, $577              

Complete results can be found by clicking here.

Lepere wins co-angler title

Dusty Lepere of Dupo, Ill., weighed in a two-day total of four bass totaling 14 pounds, 7 ounces to win $2,471 in the co-angler division Sunday.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

2^nd:          Aaron Wehmeyer, Odell, Ill., six bass, 9-14, $1,236

3^rd:          Chuck Teegardin, St. Louis, Mo., five bass, 9-9, $822

4^th:           J.D. Walker, Noble, Ill., two bass, 8-11, $577

5^th:           Chad Hess, Scheller, Ill., three bass, 7-7, $494

6^th:           Andy Paschedag, Edwardsville, Ill., three bass, 7-2, $453

7^th:           Sheldon Ayers, Anna, Ill., four bass, 6-11, $412

8^th:           Levi Shaw, Opdyke, Ill., three bass, 5-5, $371

9^th:           John Morales, Tinley Park, Ill., three bass, 5-3, $330

10^th:        Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., three bass, 5-1, $288

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.