Shane Lehew of Charlotte won the Walmart Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division two-day Super Tournament on Lake Norman on Sept. 27 with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces.
The victory earned Lehew $5,270 and solidified his ticket to the Clarks Hill Lake Regional Championship in Appling, Ga., Oct. 15-17.
“This feels really good,” Lehew said. “Especially being 20 years old … it feels really good.”
Lehew said he targeted sea walls and rock banks in the mornings with a buzzbait and a Rebel Pop-R and then fished as many docks as he could the rest of the day.
“I probably ran to 40 spots each day,” Lehew said. “I was fishing the first day and hit all my best stuff and pounded it pretty hard and I wasn’t sure if I had left enough for the last day.”
Rounding out the top five boaters are Jeff Hager of Alexis (10 bass, 21-4, $2,635); Todd Walters of Greensboro (10 bass, 20-8, $1,758); Maurice Freeze of Concord (10 bass, 19-14, $1,230) and Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C. (10 bass, 19-9, $1,054).
Maurice Parent of Taylorsville took home the Boater Division Folgers Big Bass award, earning $675 for a 4-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught on a crankbait.
John Wilson of Hazelwood earned $2,635 as the co-angler winner thanks to a two-day catch of eight bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Travis Ruff of Connelly Springs (eight bass, 13-4, $1,317); Scott Stallings of Kannapolis (seven bass, 12-8, $880); Gus Jones of Bostic (six bass, 12-6, $615); and Mike Williams of Lancaster, Ky. (seven bass, 12-4, $527).
Michael Miller of High Point earned $337 as the co-angler Folgers Big Bass winner after catching a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee regional championship.
Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com.