Super Tournament Winning Patterns – Week 4
The BFL regular season comes to an end
The month of September has seen 18 T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) divisions conclude with their two-day Super Tournaments and the last weekend of the month saw the final six divisions put a bow on the regular season before Regionals start in October. With the fall transition in full swing, fishing can vary from day to day and the weights this week reflect that.
Below is a brief look at how the final BFL Super Tournaments of the season played out.
Cowboy Division – Toledo Bend
Joe Beebee of The Woodlands, Texas, took the title with 27 pounds, 14 ounces over two days and earned $5,600 for it.
Beebee spent his time in Housen Bayou on a mile-long stretch of hydrilla, lily pads and pepper grass that were all mixed together. Since grass was the key to success, it’s no surprise he used a frog and Texas rig to do his damage.
A Strike King Popping Perch and Spro Bronzeye 65 were his frogs of choice and a Xcite Baits Hawgalicious flipped fish up on a Texas rig.
Hoosier Division – Rough River Lake
Aaron Sisk of Evansville, Ind., won over $4,400 after catching 22-7 for just eight bass at Rough River Lake. The event was originally scheduled to take place on the Ohio River, but flooding forced the venue change.
To get his first win, Sisk fished docks in the North Fork section of the lake. Docks on the inside of pockets located close to the main lake offered the best action.
He used Z-Man ChatterBait Jack Hammer with a Zoom Super Fluke Jr. or a ½-ounce R&S Baits/Bass Alarm Chatterbuzz buzzbait to cover water around the docks.
Mississippi Division – Pickwick Lake
Adding another Tennessee River title to the mantle was Jason Lambert of Michie, Tenn., with 32-10 overall and put over $9,000 in his bank account.
Lambert says the fish were all over the place and caught fish from shallow to deep, but the lower end of the lake was where he spent the bulk of his time.
In the morning, he worked a 6th Sense Mad Dog 130 along a hydrilla edge in 5 or 6 feet of water or used his staple Castaic Jerky J on a ½-ounce head.
Later, he’d work his way out to ledges in 25 feet of water and long-line a 6th Sense Cloud 9 C20 crankbait.
Music City Division – Old Hickory
Tony Eckler of Lebanon, Tenn., ran away with the title on Old Hickory with a two-day total of 28 pounds – winning by nearly 5 pounds – and cashing $4,700 for his effort.
On Saturday, Eckler caught the bulk of his fish flipping wood and trash piles in 1 to 3 feet of water on a creature bait.
He switched gears on Sunday and threw a Heddon Super Spook at some schooling fish and worked a Keitech around, though after losing some fish he dragged a Zoom Ol’ Monster worm on the ledge near where the fish were schooling and put fish in the boat. He rounded out his limit and culled by going back to flipping in the final hour of competition, pushing him over 16 pounds for the day – the largest limit of the event – easily pushing him into the winner’s circle.
North Carolina Division – Lake Norman
Craig Chambers of Charlotte, N.C., got the first win of his career thanks to his 26-3 total weight and got $4,900 to show for it.
Davidson and Ramsey creeks were the ticket where the North Carolina boater flipped docks with a 9/16-ounce True South Lures Fathead jig and a Zoom Big Salty Chunk trailer or rolled a ½-ounce True South spinnerbait around them.
On Sunday, Chambers ran 35 miles up the Catawba River to a place he felt he could get a big bite if there was current. He caught a 4 ½-pounder there and it likely won the tournament for him.
Shenandoah Division – Potomac River
Otis Darnell of Linden, Va., won the first tournament of his FLW career thanks to back-to-back solid days of fishing with 32 pounds total. Not only did he win by over 4 pounds, but he also got a check worth $5,400 because of it.
Junk fishing was the name of the game for Darnell, who fished north of Mattawoman Creek, and a swim jig or Z-Man ChatterBait did the heavy lifting.