JOHNSON
TBF NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
AT A GLANCE
Boyd’s 38-pound, 10-ounce total gave him a nearly 3-pound margin of victory over his closest rival, New
York’s Brad Brodnicki.
two-day event with seven fish for 9
pounds, 15 ounces.
“It was tough, but that’s the Ohio
River,” he says. “It’s my home water,
and it’s taught me a lot about com-
peting in tough tournaments, and
about picking an area apart without
giving up on it.”
Those lessons served him well on
Table Rock.
A mix of cool, rainy and windy con-
ditions challenged the field to find bass
that surpassed the 15-inch minimum
size limit during the first two days of
the tournament, when qualifiers from
around the country and Canada com-
peted only against other anglers from
their state and province for a shot at
the three-day final round. New York’s
Brad Brodnicki paced the boater divi-
sion on day one with 10 bass for 28
pounds, 10 ounces, followed by
Wisconsin’s Larry Hildebrandt and
Arizona’s Jon Griffith with 24-8.
After struggling on day one with
three bass for 5-13, Boyd found him-
self in 44th place overall. He moved
up to 25th on day two with a 10-
pound, 15-ounce limit that gave him a
16-12 two-day total. Boyd advanced
to the final three-day stretch of the
championship as Indiana’s represen-
tative, while more than half the 204-
angler field left for home.
After an off-day to practice, weights
were cleared for day three, which pro-
duced sunnier skies, and Boyd surged
JULY 2017 I FLWFISHING.COM
into first place on the strength of a 17-
pound, 14-ounce limit.
“I made a long run and caught fish
all day,” he told the weigh-in crowd.
Cautiously optimistic about his chances
of claiming a second TBF crown, he
added, “The fish have got to cooperate.
But if we get more sun, it could definte-
ly work out.”
Boyd, however, was not immune
to Table Rock’s legendary ability to
reshuffle a leaderboard. He weighed
just three fish for 8-2 on day four.
“I started off the morning catching
one of my big fish on the second cast,
but it went downhill from there,” he
says. “A lot of local boat traffic run-
ning around didn’t help anything, and
it just wasn’t my day.”
Boyd’s catch, although less than
he’d hoped for, was still enough to
top his Northern Division rivals and
qualify him for the grand finale on
day five.
Colorado’s Ty Faber, representing
the New Mexico Bass Federation,
slipped past Boyd into first with a 15-
15 limit that gave him 26-6 headed
into the last day.
Despite the turn of events, Boyd
professed no plans to change his
strategy.
“I’m going back and doing the
same thing,” he said before the final
round. “I think the fish are there to
win this. They’ve just got to move up
and eat.”
The Bass Federation’s 2017
National Championship was the
largest and richest title showdown in
Federation history, with more than
$300,000 in winnings up for grabs. It
ran April 3-8 out of Kimberling City,
Mo., on Table Rock Lake.
The action began April 3-4, with
204 anglers from across the conti-
nent who qualified either through
TBF’s traditional divisional format
or the organization’s new National
Semi-Finals system.
At the end of day two, the field
narrowed to 49 boaters and 49 co-
anglers – the finalists from each
state and province. Anglers making
the cut practiced on April 5 before
heading into the championship’s
final three-day stretch Thursday
through Saturday. Weights were
also zeroed, giving all competitors
a fresh shot at the championship.
Cumulative weights from the
next two days, April 6-7, deter-
mined who made the cut for
Saturday, when only the top boater
and co-angler from each of TBF’s
seven divisions advanced. The
angler with the heaviest cumulative
three-day weight after the final
round ended was the winner.
All five days, launches and
weigh-ins were held at the Port of
Kimberling Marina and Resort in
Kimberling City. Coverage of the
TBF National Championship was
streamed live daily on bassfedera-
tion.com and will be broadcast
nationally in high definition on the
Pursuit Channel.
The Bass Federation is a proud
partner in fishing with FLW, which
helps support this annual event
along with other industry-leading
TBF sponsors, including Ranger
Boats, Evinrude, Lowrance, Minn
Kota, Power-Pole, Cabela’s, Berkley
and Humminbird.
Adding to the excitement headed
into the tournament’s championship
round, Robert Harkness of West
Virginia was also in the hunt for his
second TBF national title. Harkness
topped the Mid-Atlantic Division with
a 22-pound, 10-ounce total.
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