Griffin Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division on High Rock Lake
OutdoorHub 06.11.12
Ray Griffin of Henderson, N.C., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division event on High Rock Lake. For his victory, Griffin earned $3,164 plus a $2,000 Ranger Cup bonus.
“I found a rock pile during practice that really turned out to be a sweet spot for me on Saturday,” said Griffin. “I had a 16-pound limit within 15 to 20 minutes of the (takeoff) using a jig and shaky heads. I had a 6-inch trick worm on the shaky head. It was sweet.
“After I caught my limit I moved up into the backs of creeks and started flipping wood, but that only produced smaller fish, so I started fishing docks,” Griffin continued. “Mostly I was catching small keepers, but then I caught a 4-pounder and was able to cull. That fish is the one that got me over the hump. About 1:30 I went back to the rock pile — my sweet spot — and caught another 4-pounder that really put me over the top.”
Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:
2nd: Jeff Salmon, Chester, Va., five bass, 18-1, $1,582
3rd: Justin Goodyear, Thomasville, N.C., five bass, 16-15, $1,054
4th: Todd Walters, Kernersville, N.C., five bass, 16-6, $738
5th: Orlando Giles, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 14-10, $633
6th: Skeet Bennett, Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 14-9, $580
7th: David Farrington, Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 14-8, $527
8th: Jeff Chandler, New London, N.C., five bass, 13-13, $475
9th: Steve Sink, Winston-Salem, N.C., five bass, 13-4, $42210th: Kenny Seagle, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 12-10, $369
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Joey Musgrave of Lexington, N.C., weighed four bass totaling 10 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win $1,582 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Thomas Jones, Kannapolis, N.C., four bass, 9-4, $791
3rd: Robert Adams, Greensboro, N.C., four bass, 8-6, $526
4th: Marty Williams, Thomasville, N.C., two bass, 8-2, $369
5th: Doug File, Salisbury, N.C., three bass, 8-1, $316
6th: Robert Galvin, Zebulon, N.C., three bass, 7-15, $290
7th: Anthony Mencome, Benson, N.C., three bass, 7-12, $264
8th: George (Jack) Boyce, Fuquay Varina, N.C., two bass, 6-6, $237
9th: Richard Lemons, Eden, N.C., one bass, 6-3, $211
10th: Bud Amend, Pleasant Garden, N.C., three bass, 6-0, $185
The next BFL Piedmont Division tournament is scheduled for Sept. 8-9 on Kerr Lake in Henderson, N.C. After the fifth Piedmont Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 18-20 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Morristown, Tenn. 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
