The final day of the 2012 Northwest Division Championship crowned Eric Lippincott and the Idaho State team 2012 Northwest Division Champions on CJ Strike Reservoir, in Mountain Home, Id. Lippincott became a two-time Northwest Division Champion with his win today, marking his spot in TBF history. 10 anglers, the top boater and co-angler from each of the five states representing the TBF Northwest Division, claimed spots at the 2013 Federation National Championship. It was an exciting day as these champion anglers stepped that much closer to the dream of a lifetime advancing to the national contest. There they’ll fish for the “Living the Dream” prize package to include paid entry fees as an FLW Pro for a year with use of a wrapped Ranger boat and Chevrolet truck, as well as, thousands in cash and prizes.
Eric Lippincott from Daniel, Wy., seized the lead yesterday and brought in another healthy limit of bass today to claim the title. Lippincott’s tournament total was 41lbs 4ounces. “It was a good tournament, fishing was good,” Lippincott said. “The fish I had the first two days we had really beaten up, so I kind of winged it today.” Lippincott pre-fished a bank during practice and that’s where he decided to head after he’d found his spots dried up. “We went there this morning and by 7:30am I had 11-12lbs. Then, we hung around there until my non-boater got his limit.” After both anglers had their limits they went to hunt for largemouth kickers. Around 11:30am, they both had landed largemouth beauties. “I tell you what, win or lose we both had an awesome day; it all played out just the way I had planned it.” Lippincott’s non-boater, Shawn McDaniel, from the Washington state team wasn’t even in contention going into the final day. But, after a day on the water like today McDaniel not only qualified to advance, but he also won the first place, boater slot for the state of Washington.
Lippincott and McDaniel both found themselves fighting for the same largemouth kicker out there, and with about 45 minutes left to go they decided to go test their luck one more time. “Sure enough, my non-boater got that fish. He was so happy he was shaking. He sat down, said he was done fishing and ready to weigh-in. I was just really tickled to fish with him today; I’m really happy for him.”
For Lippincott, the big win today lands in the record books. A two-time Division Champion is seldom heard of, much less two out of three years in a row. “I’m on a little bit of a roll. Well, I feel really fortunate, and blessed I can get that done. I’m really excited to go back to nationals and give it another try.”
The 2012 Division Champions in the state standings from Idaho were determined to pull out a home team victory from start to finish this week. The team commanded the lead on day one and solidify their win today with 103lbs 10ounces making their tournament total 338lbs 8ounces to be named 2012 Northwest Division Champions.
The 10 State Champion anglers advancing to the 2013 Federation National Championship are as follows: (boater, co-angler) 1st Place, Idaho: Jason Hickey, Keegan Graves; 2nd Place MT: Stan Fisher, Sid Ziegler; 3rd Place Oregon: Dan Betz, Edward Hodges; 4th Place Washington: Shawn McDaniel, Tony Lofranco; 5th Place Wyoming: Eric Lippincott, Tory Thomas.
