Lake Hartwell Bass Fishing League 16 Sept 17

[Mike Cork]

LIBERTY'S RAMPEY WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE SAVANNAH RIVER DIVISION FINALE ON LAKE HARTWELL
Missouri's Govreau Nabs Co-angler Title
ANDERSON, S.C. (Sept. 18, 2017) – Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Hartwell Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 6 ounces. For his win, Rampey pocketed $7,112.
"I caught them from the clear main-lake water to all the way up the Tugaloo River," said Rampey, who logged his sixth career-win in BFL competition. "I fished fast and shallow along a 30-mile stretch and threw to whatever looked good."
Rampey said he focused on stumps, wood and docks. He said he ended up weighing eight keepers from a white Zoom Horny Toad, and two from a Buckeye Lures jig with a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw trailer.
"There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to what I was doing," said Rampey. "The wind and rain from the outskirts of Hurricane Irma had the fish spread out. I don't think they were adjusted back to normal weather conditions yet."
Rampey's two-day total was highlighted by a 6-pound, 4-ouncer, which he caught Saturday on the Horny Toad near a laydown.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
               1st:          Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 10 bass, 26-6, $7,112
               2nd:         Rob Jordan, Flowery Branch, Ga., 10 bass, 25-6, $3,121
               3rd:          Brad Fowler, Townville, S.C., 10 bass, 23-12, $2,282
               4th:          Kerry Partain, Elberton, Ga., 10 bass, 23-11, $1,456
               5th:          Brad Benfield, Cornelia, Ga., 10 bass, 22-14, $1,248
               6th:          Joey Nichols, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 22-13, $1,444
               7th:          Franklin Ramey III, Abbeville, S.C., 10 bass, 22-7, $1,140
               8th:          Taylor Ashley, Warrior, Ala., 10 bass, 22-2, $936
               9th:          Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 10 bass, 21-14, $832
               10th:        Todd Goade, Suwanee, Ga., 10 bass, 21-1, $728
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 
Rampey's 6-pound, 4-ounce bass was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned him the Big Bass award of $870.
Beau Govreau of Cedar Hill, Missouri, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $3,121.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
               1st:          Beau Govreau, Cedar Hill, Mo., 10 bass, 20-9, $3,121
               2nd:         Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., 10 bass, 20-5, $1,660
               3rd:          Jimmi Leuthner, Tamassee, S.C., 10 bass, 19-8, $1,092
               4th:          Donnie Davis, Greer, S.C., 10 bass, 19-6, $728
               5th:          Brandon Brock, Honea Path, S.C., 10 bass, 19-6, $624
               6th:          Michael Miller, Greenville, S.C., 10 bass, 18-10, $572
               7th:          Keith Lewis, Franklin, N.C., eight bass, 18-9, $955
               8th:          Tim Watson, Martin, Ga., eight bass, 17-6, $468
               9th:          Kevin Landreth, Seneca, S.C., nine bass, 17-6, $416
               10th:        Mark Denney, Bonaire, Ga., 10 bass, 17-6, $364
Lewis caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $435.
The T-H Marine FLW BFL Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Hartwell was hosted by the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. 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.