Consistency Pays – Eric Lippincott Wins Northwest Division, Headed to 2011 TBF National Championship

 June 4, 2010 – Yellowtail Reservoir, Montana – Eric Lippincott of Daniel, Wyoming is the overall 2010 Northwest Division Champion and is headed to the 2011 TBF National Championship next Spring – and so is his father. Gene Lippincott finished 2nd in Wyoming to also land a spot in the Federation Championship as a Co-Angler. Eric was consistent all 3 days, finishing with a 15 bass total weight of 28 lbs 12 oz. He had 9 lbs 10 oz Day 1, 9 lbs 11 oz Day 2 & 9 lbs 7 oz Day 3. If we gave tournament MVP, Eric would’ve won. Not only did he win the overall tournament, he also was first in his state, the Day 2 Leader & Tournament Big Bass Winner (2 lbs 11 oz). Eric is very excited at having another shot at the ‘Living the Dream’ Package. “It is literally a dream to have the opportunity to go back”, he said. Eric continued, “ I caught my fish, while fishing ultra slow, something I do not normally do but I figured it out in practice. The first wave of spawning smallmouth have already done their business and now a second and third wave is reusing the same beds. Catch one off a bed and soon another will take its place. So I just went around and around fishing the same stuff.”

Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk finished in 2nd place Overall, 1st in his state and was the highest Ranger Cup qualifier of the tournament. He wins half of the total Ranger Cup Bonus for being a Ranger Boat owner and registering it in the TBF Ranger Cup Bonus Program. The winning team of Idaho (which Palaniuk is also a member) gets the other half to divide among all Ranger Cup qualified Anglers on that state team.
Brandon was only down by 1 ½ pounds, behind Eric Lippincott. Brandon is on a hot streak and is “in the zone” this year and is doing very well for himself. He’s been spending a lot of time on the water lately. He fished the FLW Tour at Lake Norman as a Co-Angler. He won that event and the $20,000 top prize. He then fished the Federation National Championship in Tennessee and won the Northwest Division, which also qualified him to fish the BFL All-American in Hot Springs, AR. He did very well there just last week, finishing 5th Overall, bringing home $15,500! Brandon said he has only been home 6 days in the last 3 months and I believe he is ready to be home for awhile. His boss says he even still has a job to go back to. “My boss called me and told me not to come home – stay back east and keep fishing!”, Brandon said.
As for the State Standings, the Idaho Federation Squad got better every day and was victorious with a tournament total of 145 fish for 215 lbs 15 oz, Day 1 leaders from Washington fell to 2nd Place with 191 lbs 3 oz. Oregon, fishing with only a 10 man team (2 men down) finishes 3rd with 157 lbs 14 oz. Montana finished 4th and Wyoming finished 5th.
10 anglers qualified for the TBF National Championship today and will be fishing for their share of cash and prizes next Spring.
 
 
Idaho
Brandon Palaniuk – Angler
Don Boeger – Co-Angler
Montana
Stan Fisher – Angler
JD Woods – Co-Angler
Oregon
Jim Brinkerhoff – Angler
Nicholas Fitzsimmons – Co-Angler
Washington
Chris Ferry – Angler
Hernandez Ruffin – Co-Angler
Wyoming
Eric Lippincott – Angler
Gene Lippincott – Co-Angler
Full standings can be found on our Results page under the Tournaments link on BassFederation.com.