(Mar. 19, 2013 - BYRDSTOWN, Ky.)... Joe Slagle of Bristol, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Mountain Division event on Dale Hollow Lake. For his victory, Slagle earned $5,261.
"I knew I had enough to cut a check, but I had no idea that I would win," said Slagle. "I thought I had somewhere between 16 and 17 pounds. Throughout the day I caught close to 15 keepers and my limit was all largemouth. I had caught a smallmouth that was close to being over the limit and would have helped me considerably, but I didn’t want to take the risk." (Dale Hollow Lake imposes a protected slot limit for smallmouth bass between 16 and 21 inches.)
"I caught most of my fish on a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait," Slagle went on to say. "I was fishing it around a lot of the lay downs in Eagle Creek and up the Obey River. I found the pattern on Friday in practice after catching one about four pounds. After that I left it alone until tournament day. Some of the fish I caught were up shallow and others were out as deep as 15 feet. Even though the jerkbait got me most of my bites, I caught the biggest one of the day on an Umbrella rig around noon. They were pretty active fish. I ran a HydroWave all day and I honestly think that it made a difference in getting those fish up off the bottom and eating."
Slagle currently attends Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn., and has been fishing with FLW since 2009. In 2012, Slagle and his partner won an FLW College Fishing qualifying event on Lake Guntersville, where they blew the competition away by over 9 pounds.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
| 2nd: | Chris Gerrein | Villa Hills, Ky. | five bass | 17-11 | $2,631 |
| 3rd: | Richard Cobb V. | Richmond, Ky. | five bass | 16-15 | $1,753 |
| 4th: | Brandon Wallen | Monticello, Ky. | five bass | 16-13 | $1,228 |
| 5th: | Jonathan Green | East Bernstadt, Ky. | five bass | 16-8 | $1,052 |
| 6th: | Dwight Fox | Gainesboro, Tenn. | five bass | 16-0 | $965 |
| 7th: | Josh Gaffney | Crab Orchard, Ky. | five bass | 15-8 | $833 + Evinrude Bonus: $300 |
| 7th: | Mark Neal | Livingston, Tenn. | five bass | 15-8 | $833 |
| 9th: | Brian Wilson | Somerset, Ky. | five bass | 14-15 | $701 |
| 10th: | Thomas Coomer | Albany, Ky. | five bass | 14-14 | $583 |
| 10th: | Jonathan Henry | Grant, Ala. | five bass | 14-14 | $583 |
Joe Wasson of Campbellsville, Ky., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $2,631 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
| 2nd: | Troy Combs | Hazard, Ky. | five bass | 12-6 | $1,315 |
| 3rd: | Brent Clark | Bowling Green, Ky. | four bass | 11-7 | $877 |
| 4th: | Bruce Dean | Harrodsburg, Ky. | two bass | 8-13 | $614 |
| 5th: | Chris Hurd | Somerset, Ky. | three bass | 8-11 | $526 |
| 6th: | Mike Beasley | Cookeville, Tenn. | three bass | 8-5 | $482 |
| 7th: | Bob L. Coomer | Albany, Ky. | four bass | 8-2 | $438 |
| 8th: | Clark Siler | Richmond, Ky. | three bass | 8-1 | $395 |
| 9th: | Brian Frank | Fishers, Ind. | three bass | 7-15 | $351 |
| 10th: | Tyler Blevins | Waco, Ky. | four bass | 7-13 | $291 |
| 10th: | Jimmy Page | Burkesville, Ky. | three bass | 7-13 | $291 |
The next BFL Mountain Division tournament is scheduled for April 6 on Lake Cumberland in Monticello, Ky. After the last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Ala. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing - the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. The 2013 BFL All-American is being held June 27?29 on the Nickajack Lake in Chattanooga, Tenn. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy - the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the "Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water." For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.FLWOutdoors.com
