Faber followed up with a 12-03 limit
on day two, giving him nearly a 2-
pound cushion over his closest rival,
Travis Graham, with 28-09. When day
three was canceled, Faber claimed the
divisional victory.
Graham, who’s from Colorado but
fished for the Utah team, landed in sec-
ond with 26-12, while Evan Buchanan,
also of Colorado but fishing for New
Mexico, scored day two’s biggest bag
with a 13-13 limit to place third with a
25-12 total. Arizona’s Jon Griffith took
fourth with 25-09, and California’s
Timmy Wells rounded out the top five
with 25-03.
By state, California handily defend-
ed its conference title with 114 bass
weighing 225-10. New Mexico took sec-
ond with 110 fish for 198-10, followed
by Colorado with 106 bass for 192-09,
Utah with 108 bass for 187-15, Arizona
with 100 bass for 183-10 and Nevada
with 105 bass for 175-13. In all, Lake
Powell produced 643 bass that totaled
1,164 pounds, 3 ounces.
On day two, however, Tennessee
team member Bryan Dowdy of Florence,
Ala., made a run up the ranks with a 19-
11 limit. Anchored by a 9-06 Santee
Cooper showstopper, it pushed Dowdy’s
total to 34-08, good for the lead going
into the final day of competition.
With the rest of the talented grass-
roots field in hot pursuit, led by South
Carolina’s Herman Vining in second
with 33-09, Dowdy couldn’t count on
coasting into victory lane. He boated
a 7-07 brute that would prove to be
big bass of the day. The behemoth
helped take the pressure off, but
Dowdy couldn’t manage a limit and
nervously climbed the TBF stage with
just four bass in his weigh bag. As it
turned out, his 13-11 catch was
enough to hold the lead with a 48-03
total weight.
Georgia’s Justin Lanier placed sec-
ond with 46-09, followed by Michael
Wasden of Tennessee with 42-04. Tracy
Hewitt of South Carolina finished
fourth with 41-06, and Alabama’s
Taylor Watkins rounded out the top
five with 38-03.
In the battle between the states,
Georgia claimed the division title with
100 bass weighing 274-07. Alabama
placed second with 84 fish for 247-5,
followed by South Carolina with 98
bass for 232-14, Tennessee with 71 bass
for 196-15, Kentucky with 56 bass for
140-14, North Carolina with 55 bass for
135-11 and Florida with 56 bass for 128-
13. A total of 520 bass weighing 1,356
pounds, 15 ounces came to the TBF
scale during the event.
The top two anglers from each of the
states competing in TBF Division
Championships will advance to the
2017 TBF National Championship next
spring, along with qualifiers from the
new Semi-Finals program.
A Southern Showdown
The storied Santee Cooper system
comprised of bass-rich lakes Marion
and Moultrie was the battleground for
Southern Division rivals June 15-17 as
84 TBF members from Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
squared off in the Southern Division
Championship presented by Berkley.
Hosted by the Clarendon County
Chamber of Commerce and The Bass
Federation of South Carolina, the event
launched out of the John C. Land III
Sport Fishing Facility in Summerton.
Alabama’s Jason Hester topped the
leaderboard on day one with a five-fish,
17-06 sack that was one of only 13 open-
ing-day limits.
Bryan Dowdy
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