ON TOUR
T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE
BFL REGIONAL | BARREN RIVER
GLASGOW, KY
By Curtis Niedermier
photoS by CurtIS nIederMIer
WINNING ANGLER
eric sanders
Lexington, Ky.
Winning Weight:
33-10 (12 fish)
details:
oct. 19-21, 2017
presented by Lowrance
hosted by glasgow-
barren Co. tourist &
Convention Commission
B
arren River Lake chal-
lenged the entire field
when the BFL Regional
was held there in late
October, but it didn’t stop Eric
Sanders of Lexington, Ky. He
caught an impressive day-
three stringer of 14 pounds,
9 ounces – second biggest of
the tournament, and the only
limit that day – to vault from
ninth place and claim his first
FLW win.
Sanders says he has
fished Barren River in the
past, so he was prepared for
a tough autumn scenario in
which the lake was being
drawn down to winter pool.
He says the shallow bite
often suffers during draw-
down, and the field of 169
anglers beating the banks
only made the shallow bite
seem worse. Yet, the situation
helped set up Sanders’ win.
“With the pressure, I just
knew I had to fish out deep,”
Sanders says. “A lot of the
guys were sitting on the fish.
They’d leave, and I was able to
go in behind and catch fish.”
bFL regional divisions:
buckeye, great Lakes,
LbL & Michigan
Sanders hopped a 1/2-
ounce Stan Sloan’s Zorro
Bait Co. Booza Brush Bug jig
through the branches of
brush piles in about 25 feet
of water. His best brush was
located off the ends of
bluffs. He also fished a few
deep rock piles.
Sanders' biggest challenge
came on day two, when a
wind shift pushed the fish
into some nearby pockets.
He adjusted but only
weighed in 6-5. The rest of
the tournament his deep-
water program was on, and
he handily outpaced the field.
ALL-AMERICAN qUALIFIERS
boaterS Co-angLerS
2. Tim Rhoades
Bowling Green, Ky. 2. Philip Borsa
Redford, Mich.
1. Eric Sanders
Lexington, Ky.
3. Clint Bissonett
Beavercreek, Ohio
4. Jack Dalzell
Elyria, Ohio
5. Kyle Weisenburger
Ottawa, Ohio
6. Brad Leifermann
Andover, Minn.
january 2018 I flWfIshIng.com
1. Jim Stone
Greenwood, Ind.
3. Andrew Gilliland
McArthur, Ohio
4. Danny Nicklin
Highland, Ill.
5. Paul Vonwald
La Crosse, Wis.
6. Joseph Gulash
Edwardsville, Ill.
WINNING CO-ANGLER
jim stone
greenwood, Ind.
Winning Weight:
23-05 (8 fish)
Winning Program:
Stone fished a 1/2- or
3/4-ounce green pump-
kin Right Bite Baits jig
with a Zoom UV Speed
Craw trailer with its tails
dipped in chartreuse
dye. He either cast
toward offshore struc-
ture or, when his boater
partner fished the bank,
pitched behind the boat
and slowly dragged the
jig back.
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