Lieblong wins Rayovac FLW Series Central Division finale on Lake Dardanelle
Category: press release
Aug 17th, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Aug 17th, 2015 at 12:00 AM
Jason Lieblong of Conway, Arkansas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 12 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Central Division finale on Lake Dardanelle presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46 pounds, 3 ounces. For his win, Lieblong earned $39,733 and a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“I’m still stoked from that final weigh-in,” said Lieblong, who earned his second career win in FLW competition. “There are a lot of great anglers in this tournament so to come out on top is very exciting.”
Lieblong said he focused on six spots in a mid-lake area over the course of the three-day event.
“On day one I hit two areas in the morning which were full of lily pads. I threw a black Stanley Ribbit Frog,” said Lieblong. “As the morning progressed I fished reeds and a laydown, rotating between flipping a Redbug-colored Zoom Ol’ Monster Worm and pitching a black and blue Z-Man ChatterBait to some logs.”
Around noon, Lieblong said he switched to a white ChatterBait to imitate the shad that were schooling around flats and points – a tactic he would use over the course of the tournament.
“I had 16 or 17 pounds by 8:45 a.m.,” said Lieblong. “Every fish I caught on day one was a 4-pounder.”
On the final two days of competition, Lieblong headed straight for the reed walls, lily pads and the laydown early in the morning.
“I flipped the reeds and laydown using the Ol’ Monster Worm,” said Lieblong. “Between noon and 1 o’ clock I used the white Chatterbait again on open-water flats and points.”
With an hour left before check-in on day three, Lieblong said he headed to a southern spot to fish drop-offs with an Ol’ Monster Worm.
“At 11:30 a.m. I only had three fish, but I was able to catch a few more down in the brush,” said Lieblong. “Today was a slow day of fishing. I ended up only having seven bites.”
Lieblong said he ended up catching approximately 25 keepers over the three days of competition.
“It was a pretty textbook fishing tournament,” said Lieblong. “Unfortunately my spots weren’t replenishing each day. I got pretty nervous because my weights kept falling. Luckily it all worked out.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Dardanelle were:
1st: Jason Lieblong, Conway, Ark., 15 bass, 46-3, $39,733 + Ranger Z518 w/ 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Spencer Grace, Dardanelle, Ark., 15 bass, 44-1, $15,397
3rd: Jeff Keene, Vinita, Okla., 15 bass, 43-13, $11,920
4th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 43-9, $9,933
5th: Kerry Milner, Bono, Ark., 13 bass, 40-11, $8,940
6th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 15 bass, 37-3, $7,947
7th: Austin Brown, Benton, Ky., 13 bass, 32-14, $6,953
8th: Josh Hilton, Clarksville, Ark., 11 bass, 32-1, $5,960
9th: Wells Kaiser, Cuba City, Wis., 10 bass, 29-4, $4,967
10th: Michael Stetich, Ankeny, Iowa, 11 bass, 27-11, $3,973
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.