Blaylock closes the deal at Ouachita

Flipping beds delivers win for 19-year-old

MOUNT IDA, Ark. – Luck occurs when opportunity meets preparation, and such was the case for Keeton Blaylock, who won the co-angler title at the FLW American Fishing Series Central Division event on Lake Ouachita.

Blaylock said he caught a keeper in the first hour and a half, but his productivity ceased. Fortunately, his boater moved into a pattern yielding great opportunities that Blaylock was prepared to maximize.

“My partner (pro winner Matt Jones) and I were sight-fishing, and it was just the Lord’s will the way it worked out. He would find one on the bed that he knew he needed, and there would be one 20 feet down the bank that wouldn’t help him and he’d let me catch it. It happened like that all day. It was an awesome deal.”

Over the previous two days, Blaylock spent some time with a Carolina rig and a wacky worm, but he caught all of his day-three fish flipping a Texas-rigged Berkley lizard on a 4/0 Gamakatsu hook and a ¼-ounce weight.

“We stayed off of them quite a bit today,” he said. “You just had to keep working them and keep working them and keep throwing the bait in there to get them to bite. They were a little less aggressive today. You just had to keep making them mad for them to finally get it.”

The forecast for day three called for cloudy skies and midday rain, but morning cloud cover thinned, rain stayed elsewhere, and the sun actually poked out enough to facilitate bed-fishing.

“We were praying for the sun to come out, and it finally did and made it a really good sight-fishing day.”

The Benton, Ark., angler placed sixth on day one with 11-13 and took over the division lead on day two with 11-15. His final-round limit catch of 8-9 gave him the winning total of 32-5 worth $8,384.

Loeffelman lands in second

Missouri co-angler Nick Loeffelman enjoyed the biggest improvement of anyone in the top 10. After placing 29th on day one with 7-4, he turned up the heat on day two and sacked up 13-15 for third place. In the final round, his 8-3 gave him a second-place finish with 29-6 worth $3,353.

When his partner, Blaylock’s brother Stetson, fished deeper outside structure, Loeffelman threw a Mega-Bass jerkbait. Later, when they transitioned to sight-fishing, Loeffelman flipped a Texas-rigged white Berkley Chigger Craw.

“I was fortunate enough to catch a few fish early (on the jerkbait) and then went and caught a couple bed-fishing,” he said. “I was hoping that Stetson would catch his fish, so I was being respectful of that. But he let me have two opportunities, and I caught both of them.”

Best of the rest

Chris Darby of Mount Ida, Ark., placed third with 29-2; Arnold Payne Jr. of Noblesville, Ind., was fourth with 26-12; and Jason Scoggins of Benton, Ark., took fifth with 16-11.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at the FLW American Fishing Series Central Division event on Lake Ouachita:

6th: David L. Davis of Paron, Ark., 26-3

7th: Ben Due or Mauston, Wis., 25-12

8th: Fred Martin of North Little Rock, Ark., 24-6

9th: Robert Prebeck of Norwood, Mo., 23-2

10th: Shawn Martin of Owasso, Okla., 19-9