Indiana’s Sisk Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Illini Division Tournament on Rend Lake

Odin’s Depew Grabs Co-angler Title

WHITTINGTON, Ill. – Marty Sisk of Evansville, Indiana, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division tournament on Rend Lake Saturday after weighing three bass totaling 10 pounds, 12 ounces. For his victory, Sisk took home $4,341.

Sisk said he spent his day on the lower end of the lake in Marcum Branch creek, near the dam. He said he targeted bass in pockets and points along a route that stretched nearly a mile.

“I fished in 3 to 4 feet of water and caught them out of flooded buck brush and willow trees,” said Sisk, who earned his fourth career-win in BFL competition. “It was the cleanest water on the lake, which I really liked.”

Sisk used two lures throughout his day – a ¾-ounce chartreuse and white-colored Mann’s Lures Classic spinnerbait, and a green-pumpkin Lunker Lure Ultimate Rattlin’ Jig with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer, treated with Strike Force attractant.

“It was a tough day out there – I only caught two in the morning and one on the afternoon,” said Sisk. “If the cover was thick I’d use the jig, if it was thin I threw the spinnerbait.”

Around 9:30 a.m., Sisk caught the largest bass of the event on the spinnerbait.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          Marty Sisk, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 10-12, $4,341

               2^nd:         Jeremy Mull, Chatham, Ill., four bass, 9-0, $1,935

               3^rd:          Alex Moore, Chester, Ill., two bass, 6-15, $1,224

               4^th:          Jerry Walker, Zeigler, Ill., two bass, 6-14, $1,156

               5^th:          Dan Shoraga, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 6-8, $734

               6^th:          John Templeton, Coulterville, Ill., three bass, 6-4, $673

               7^th:          Brad Porter, Bluford, Ill., three bass, 6-0, $612

               8^th:          Larry Page, Mount Vernon, Ill., two bass, 5-10, $520

               8^th:          Chad Diedrich, Nashville, Ill., three bass, 5-10, $520

               10^th:        Tim Davis, East Alton, Ill., one bass, 5-6, $428

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Sisk’s biggest bass weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce and earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $470.

Brandon Depew of Odin, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $1,835 Saturday after weighing two bass totaling 4 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Brandon Depew, Odin, Ill., two bass, 4-3, $1,835

               2^nd:         Ryan Fancher, Olney, Ill., two bass, 4-2, $1,118

               3^rd:          Mike Swetland, Tamaroa, Ill., two bass, 3-6, $662

               4^th:          Jim Budde, Waterloo, Ill., two bass, 3-5, $397

               4^th:          Mario Rossi Jr., Granite City, Ill., two bass, 3-5, $397

               6^th:          Greg Griffith, Harrisburg, Ill., one bass, 3-1, $571

               7^th:          Doug Miller, Peoria, Ill., one bass, 2-13, $306

               8^th:          Eric Cote, Elburn, Ill., one bass, 2-10, $260

               8^th:          Scott Payne, Ingraham, Ill., one bass, 2-10, $260

               10^th:        William Richno, Raymond, Ill., one bass, 2-7, $214

Griffith’s 3-pound, 1-ounce bass was the largest among Co-angler Division anglers, and earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $235.

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. 5-7 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. 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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