Grand Lake St Mary's Bass Fishing League 17 May 14

[Mike Cork]

ST. MARYS, Ohio (May 19, 2014) – Ronald Nutter of Newark, Ohio, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 10 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the first Walmart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division tournament of 2014 on the Grand Lake St. Mary's. For his victory, Nutter earned $5,618.

      "I went out Wednesday and started prefishing and I went a lot of places," said Nutter. "I started in the southwest corner of the lake and checked in pretty much every cut and I found one stretch of bank that held quality fish.

      "I caught eight keepers the day of the tournament and I lost one big one at the boat," continued Nutter. "I knew it was going to be a tough day because of the cold front, but the bass started to bite pretty well in the afternoon once the water warmed up."

      Nutter said that he spent over five hours fishing his prime area, which was a sloping rip rap bank in about 4 feet of water. He said the bank had some grass on it, and that it was shallower than many of the nearby banks.

      "I've got to thank Gamma Fishing Line," added Nutter. "I flipped clear behind a metal boat dock and caught about a two and half-pounder. I pulled him over the back bar of the dock and my line did not break. My Power-Poles were also key for me. I could easily anchor down and just keep flipping the bank in the wind.

      "I didn't think I had a chance to win," finished Nutter. "After I lost that big one I would be fishing for a top-5. It feels good to win. A BFL trophy is a hard trophy to get."

      Nutter said he was flipping a black blue glitter-colored Venom Lures Better Beever and a black Hookers Lures Tungsten Jig.

      Rounding out the top 10 pros were:

            2nd:   Dave Fricke, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 10-9, $2,309
            3rd:   Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, five bass, 10-8, $1,539
            4th:    Matt Tuttle, Van Wert, Ohio, five bass, 10-3, $1,078
            5th:    Christopher Helfer, Delaware, Ohio, five bass, 10-2, $885
            5th:    Scott Manson, Covington, Ohio, five bass, 10-2, $885
            7th:    Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 9-15, $770
            8th:    John Carter, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 9-9, $693
            9th:    Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 9-2, $616
            10th:  Michael Manor, Sidney, Ohio, five bass, 9-1, $539

      Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

      Ryan Sykes of Hamilton, Ohio, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 8 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win $2,305 in the co-angler division.

      Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

            2nd:   Steve Garman, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 8-4, $1,152
            3rd:   Gary Wallace, Albany, Ky., four bass, 8-1, $768
            4th:    Gerald Shaw, Pendleton, Ind., four bass, 7-15, $538
            5th:    Seth Fricke, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-7, $461
            6th:    Jim Betts, Fort Wayne, Ind., five bass, 7-3, $403
            6th:    Cody Hall, Xenia, Ohio, five bass, 7-3, $403
            8th:    Jason Daniels, Camden, Ohio, three bass, 7-1, $346
            9th:    James Mayle, Millersport, Ohio, four bass, 6-6, $307
            10th:  Gary Roberson, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 6-4, $269

      The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 16-18 Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Ky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C 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 2014 BFL All-American is being held June 5-7 on Wilson Lake in Florence, Ala. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW 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 2014 over the course of 229 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. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

[Tylermsawmiller]

Grand lake is my home lake, and within the past few years after the algae blooms the EPA has really cracked down on the farmers and the watershed that enters the lake. It's really been some great fishing lately.

I'm surprised only 10 pounds won the tournament out of 135 boaters. Just a few weeks ago during our Thursday evening eagles tournament, 15 lbs took first place, and big bass was over 5 lbs.