Ellijay’s Pack Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division Event on Lake Hartwell

Martin’s Watson Grabs Co-angler Title

LAVONIA, Ga. – Heath Pack of Ellijay, Georgia, weighed five bass totaling 18 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to take top honors at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Hartwell. For his limit, Pack earned $4,686.

“In the morning I focused on whatever was left of the shad spawn on the Tugaloo River,” said Pack, who earned his first career-victory in BFL competition. “I targeted creeks with boat docks and submerged grass. I had three primary areas, but two creeks really produced for me.”

Pack said he rotated between two baits to catch his fish – a Z-Man ChatterBait with a 3.8-inch Sight Flash-colored Keitech Swing Impact Swimbait, and a Chartreuse Shad-colored 5/8-ounce Lucky Craft SKT Spinnerbait.

“I keyed in on boat dock floats and grass edges,” said Pack. “The grassline was about a foot and a half under the water, and the fish were along the edges as the shad were trying to spawn in it. The shad were also spawning along the black floats on the docks. If I put the lure a foot or two off of either the grassline or the floats, I couldn’t catch them. I had to be precise with my casts.”

After 1 p.m., Pack said he made his way to some brush where he was able to wrangle his largest fish of the day – a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass.

“The brush was between some docks and I caught it on a ½-ounce (Strike King) Hack Attack Jig with a black and blue trailer,” said Pack. “My Kistler Magnesium 2 Rod was definitely a key as well. It had the sensitivity to feel the bite but a strong enough backbone to swing it up and into the boat.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          Heath Pack, Ellijay, Ga., five bass, 18-10, $4,686

               2^nd:         David Williams, Maiden, N.C., five bass, 16-12, $2,543

               3^rd:          Scott Chatham, Kingston, Ga., four bass, 16-2, $2,352

               4^th:          Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., five bass, 15-15, $1,093

               5^th:          Christopher Chavis, Rincon, Ga., five bass, 15-13, $937

               6^th:          Darren Ashley, Calhoun Falls, S.C., five bass, 15-12, $859

               7^th:          Shane Lineberger , Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 15-5, $781

               8^th:          Matthew Justice, Fair Play, S.C., five bass, 14-0, $703

               9^th:          Jimmy Gooch, Jefferson, Ga., five bass, 13-13, $625

               10^th:        Scott Browning, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 13-9, $547

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Chatham caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $690.

Tim Watson of Martin, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,343 Saturday after weighing a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Tim Watson, Martin, Ga., five bass, 13-12, $2,343

               2^nd:         Andrew Bridges, Spartanburg, S.C., five bass, 12-8, $1,372

               3^rd:          Tony Holbrooks, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 11-13, $781

               4^th:          Neal Shade, Greenville, S.C., five bass, 11-10, $547

               5^th:          Cody Coker, Comer, Ga., five bass, 11-8, $814

               6^th:          Donnie Davis, Greer, S.C., five bass, 11-0, $480

               7^th:          Scott Roberts, Asheville, N.C., five bass, 10-15, $391

               8^th:          Brent Thomas, Cleveland, Ga., five bass, 10-0, $331

               8^th:          Dillon Self, Dahlonega, Ga., five bass, 10-0, $331

               10^th:        James Akins, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 9-15, $273

Coker collected the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $345.

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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. 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.

The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the 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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa 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 Snapchat.

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