Tennessee’s King Wins FLW Bass Fishing League Mountain Division Event on Lake Cumberland

Rushing wins co-angler title

MONTICELLO, Ky. – J.B. King of Byrdstown, Tennessee, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds even Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Cumberland. For his victory, King took home $5,972.

“I went down to the lower end of the lake to target smallmouth along rock bluffs,” said King, who earned the first win of his FLW career. “There was dirt and fine-gravel structure that attracting smallmouth. I fished stretches ranging from 100- to 600-feet long.”

“At my first area I caught my biggest bass of the day – a 4-pound, 11-ouncer – off of a gravel bank,” King continued. “I caught another keeper on a point before hooking two more from a bluff pocket. I spent 15 to 20 minutes in each spot and then moved on. I had five fish by 10:30 a.m.”

King said he used one bait to build his winning limit – a shaky-head rigged with a black and green-colored Zoom Finesse Mag Worm.

“You had to be patient and fish slow,” said King. “The fish were about 15 feet down and were either on a bed or guarding fry. Luckily I made something of my nine bites.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          J.B. King, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 17-0, $5,972

               2^nd:         Terry Ledford, Gray, Ky., five bass, 16-5, $2,236

               3^rd:          Talmadge Marcum, McKee, Ky., five bass, 14-1, $1,492

               4^th:          Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 13-9, $968

               4^th:          Mark Neal, Livingston, Tenn., five bass, 13-9, $968

               6^th:          Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 13-6, $820

               7^th:          Mark Morgan, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 13-4, $745

               8^th:          Michael Allen, Gainesboro, Tenn., five bass, 13-1, $671

               9^th:          Bart Hardy, Hazard, Ky., five bass, 12-14, $596

               10^th:        Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $522

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Nick Neves of Brooklyn, Michigan, caught a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $650.

Chris Rushing of Gamaliel, Kentucky, weighed in four bass totaling 11 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,236.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Chris Rushing, Gamaliel, Ky., four bass, 11-10, $2,236

               2^nd:         Tyler Sheffield, Dry Ridge, Ky., five bass, 10-12, $1,118

               3^rd:          Justin Sensabaugh, Byrdstown, Tenn., three bass, 7-13, $745

               4^th:          Jason Stigall, Tateville, Ky., two bass, 7-12, $847

               5^th:          Ryan Joshi, Knoxville, Tenn., two bass, 7-7, $447

               6^th:          Todd Stopher, London, Ky., three bass, 7-6, $410

               7^th:          Shawn Overton, Coal Valley, Ill., three bass, 7-0, $373

               8^th:          Tony Baber, Dayton, Ohio, three bass, 6-15, $335

               9^th:          Kevin Simpson, Monticello, Ky., two bass, 6-10, $279

               9^th:          Brenton Clemons, Somerset, Ky., three bass, 6-10, $279

Stigall caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $325.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, 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 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.

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