June 18, 2010; Truman Lake, MO – Matt King of Olathe, Kansas came from being down by nearly 10 lbs from yesterday’s overall leader, Kerry Milner, to win the individual overall division champions title in the 2010 Central Division Championship Tournament Presented by Evinrude E-TEC.
King weighed in a monster sack of 21 lbs 4 oz today and was the largest stringer of the entire tournament, by far. What a comeback! The only one close to that weight was his draw partner today, Don Heiser of MO, who caught 16 lbs 5 oz. in the same boat.
King earned himself another trip to the TBF Federation Championship. “I changed it up a little bit and felt like I burned my fish the first 2 days. Today, I went out and fished the areas on this lake that I generally fish in the late spring and early summer, where fish should be this time of year,” King said. He was fishing the ledges in about 15-25’ of water and caught most of his fish on a Carolina Rig using a Brush Hog and a 6” lizard.
Kerry Milner, the day 1 and 2 leader looked pretty solid going into the final day with his 10 lb lead going into the final day. He had a late draw in the flights today and by the time he got to his favorite spots, they were already covered. That didn’t stop him, he still managed to bring in 3 fish for 8 lbs 4 oz, which was enough to secure his spot as the top angler from Arkansas in the TBF National Championship next spring. Milner, who owns a lawn care business says, “This is my first qualifier and I am definitely looking forward to it. I’m looking to go full-time fishing.” The TBF ‘Living the Dream’ package is looking pretty good to him right now!
Another first-time TBF National Championship qualifier is Missouri’s Bobby Carleton, who finished the tournament in 8th place overall with 25 lbs 1 oz. He started off slow the first day, but came back and secured his spot in the National Championship as the top Missouri contender. He caught his limit today on a Carolina Rig, Super Hog – Watermelon Candy. Carleton says “I went back to the spot where I caught 3 fish yesterday and didn’t realize how good the spot was” He had 4 keepers by 8am, as did his non-boater.
Oklahoma’s Jody Linder will be preparing himself for his second trip to a Federation National Championship next year. He was pretty consistent over the 3 days. “I was flipping willow trees using a baby brush hog”. He caught 5 lbs 3 oz today. Even though he didn’t bring in as much as he had the first 2 days, it was enough to win his state. Jody says, “I move around a lot and fast, which means I cover twice as many trees as other anglers.” His other team members had a little bit tougher tournament this time and weren’t able to hang on to some keepers. “This was a great tournament for me, I never lost a fish. It was just my time, my turn, that’s the way fishing works”.
As for the team results, Arkansas came out on top with a 3 day total weight of 205 lbs 5 oz, an 8 lb 10 oz lead over the 2nd place host team of Missouri. Kansas finished in 3rd.
Other than the 3 mentioned above, thirteen more TBF members will be moving on to the 2011 TBF National Championship, where they will fish for their share of cash and prizes. For the qualifying anglers, the ultimate prize package of any TBF Member is the $100,000 ‘Living the Dream’ package. The top angler from each state qualifies as the boater and the second place angler form each state as the Co-Angler. Those qualifying from the eight central division states:
Arkansas
Angler: Kerry Milner
Co-Angler: Donnie Cobb
Kansas
Angler: Matt King
Co-Angler: Casey Scanlon
Louisiana
Angler: Billy Graves
Co-Angler: Steve Cagle
Missouri
Angler: Bobby Carleton
Co-Angler: Eddie Wolfe
Mississippi
Angler: Sam Husley
Co-Angler: Brandon Bolton
Nebraska
Angler: Robert Hime
Co-Angler: Doug Borer
Oklahoma
Angler: Jody Linder
Co-Angler: MIKE ZACKARY
Texas
Angler: James Biggs
Co-Angler: Dennis Hastings
Full results can be found on our tournament results page HERE
