GORDON AND GAGNER BRING IT HOME ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE 2015 TBF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BOTH ANGLERS PUNCH THEIR TICKET TO THE FORREST WOOD CUP, WIN CASH AND A TBF “LIVING THE DREAM” PACKAGE.
Grove, OK. (April 25, 2015) – Shawn Gordon of Russellville, Arkansas, weighed his third five-bass limit in as many days to claim the title of TBF National Champion. On Day 1 Gordon weighed in 17 – 03 and lead his division, on day two he weighed only 14-05, central division standout Dean Matt’s from Yukon Oklahoma closed the gap to only four ounces but Gordon held onto his lead int he central division to make the cut and compete the final day. However Gordon was not the overall tournament leader going into Saturday’s final day, that spot was held by Colorado’s Sam Heckman who had almost a three pound lead. As the final 7 TBF division champions brought their fish up onto the FLW Tours Main stage in Rogers, AR. to weigh in on the final day. Tournament leader Sam Heckman checked in with four fish, one short of the tournament limit. This final weigh in would get very interesting very quickly.
Gordon’s final day catch turned out to be one of the biggest of the event at 18pounds and 10 ounces and secured him the title of National Champion and TBF Living The Dream Angler. Gordon will l represent TBF anglers everywhere on the FLW tour next year with all entries fees paid, a custom wrapped ranger boat, a tow vehicles, travel stipends and more.
“For the first two days Gordon fished shallow rock and small pockets of the main lake arms, with a white square bill crank bait and fished bed fish with a green pumpkin-colored YUM Christie Craw.” said Gordon. The final day the weather would not allow him to sight fish so he relied on the square bill to bring it home for him.
“Its a lot to take in right now,” said Gordon. “This means I am fishing the Forrest Wood Cup, which is really special.
“Since I wasn’t able to sight fish on the final day, the key for me was finding those fish along those points and pockets,” Gordon said. “Luckily, they were right where I needed them to be.”
The top seven Division Champion Boaters on Grand Lake were:
1st: Shawn Gordon, Central Division, Russellville, Ark., 15 bass, 50-2, $100,000 Living the Dream package + Ranger Z518 Boat
2nd: Sam Heckman, SouthWest Division, Fountain, Colo., 14 bass, 45-10, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
3rd: Brian LaClair, Mid-Atlantic Division, Denton, Md., 15 bass, 40-9, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
4th: Mark Lundgren, Southern Division, Cocoa, Fla., 12 bass, 36-14, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
5th: Curtis Richardson, Eastern Division, Belleville, Ontario, 13 bass, 34-0, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
6th: Nicholas Smyers, Northern Division, Franksville, Wis., 11 bass, 27-4, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
7th: Mark Maderos, NorthWest Division Maple Valley, Wash., nine bass, 25-14, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
The top angler from each state qualifies to advance to the TBF Federation National Championship as a boater, the second place angler in each state attends as a co-angler.
Top prize on the co-angler side went to Gilbert Gagner of Highgate Springs, Vt., won the co-angler championship and “Living The Dream” co-angler prize package, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 43 pounds, 4 ounces.
There is a lot on the line for the co-angler side as well and some great sticks fishing it.
The top seven Division Champion co-anglers on Grand Lake were:
1st: Gilbert Gagner, Eastern Division, Highgate Springs, Vt., 15 bass, 43-4, “Living The Dream” package + $2,500
2nd: Wes Logan, Southern Division, Springville, Ala., 12 bass, 39-11, $750 + BFL All-American Package
3rd: Phillip Duracz, Northern Division, Chesterton, Ind., 10 bass, 27-9, $750 + BFL All-American Package
4th: Steven Wiseman, Mid-Atlantic Division, Bryans Road, Md., 10 bass, 23-4, $750 + BFL All-American Package
5th: Johnny Babb, Centtral Division, Holdenville, Okla., 10 bass, 23-3, $750 + BFL All-American Package
6th: Will Treadwell, SouthWest Division, College National Champion, 10 bass, 22-11, $750 + BFL All-American Package
7th: Brian Merlini, NorthWest Division, Maple Valley, Wash., eight bass, 19-14, $750 + BFL All-American Package
Overall there were 13 bass weighing 32 pounds, 14 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. Only one of the final seven co-anglers weighed in five-bass limits.
The winning boater received a $100,000 “Living the Dream” prize package which includes use of a wrapped Ranger boat powered by Evinrude as well as a tow vehicle, fully paid entry fees into the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour, a cash award, an automatic berth into the 2015 Walmart BFL All-American and the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup. First place on the co-anglers side is a “Living The Dream” prize package including paid entry fees into the FLW Rayovac series division of their choice, a cash award, and an automatic berth into the 2015 Walmart BFL All-American and the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup. Each of the seven Division Champions (7 boaters and 7 co-anglers) will advance to the 2015 Walmart BFL All-American.
The 2015 TBF National Championship, hosted by the Grand Lake Association, is the ultimate dream goal for all TBF members. The boater and co-angler with the heaviest cumulative weight from all three days of competition will be crowned TBF National Champions. The tournament featured 48 Boaters and 48 Co-anglers, representing seven TBF divisions nationwide, who qualified through a series of TBF club, TBF state and TBF divisional championship series tournaments to compete in the TBF National Championship
Coverage of the TBF National Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) November 9 from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. ET. when Season 20 of “FLW” returns this fall. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network 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 complete details and updated information visit BassFederation.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the TBF on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheBassFederation and on Twitter at Twitter.com/BassFederation.
ABOUT THE BASS FEDERATION
The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.
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 2015 over the course of 240 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 FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
