$46,000 prize on line at Lake Dardanelle

As many as 400 pros and co-anglers will compete in the first Costa FLW Series Central Division bass tournament of the year Thursday through Saturday on Lake Dardanelle.

The tournament is the first of three regular-season events scheduled in the Central Division. Pro division anglers will compete for a top prize of up to $46,000 in cash and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard motor.

The co-angler champion will win a Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude outboard, and an additional $5,000 if he is Ranger Cup qualified.

Greg Bohannan of Bentonville is one of 36 Arkansans that will fish in the pro division. He has appeared in the Forrest Wood Cup four times and said the tournament could be one of the best in the series as far as the quality of bass that anglers can expect to catch.

“Lake Dardanelle is a great fishery, and we are going to be hitting it at the absolute perfect time,” Bohannan said. “The water is on a strong warming trend, and the lake has been fishing really, really well. There are going to be a lot of ways to catch them, and this event is going to be a power-fisherman’s dream.”

Bohannan said bass are spawning on Lake Dardanelle right now, but there also are a lot of bass in the pre- and post-spawn patterns, so anglers will able to employ a variety of styles and techniques to catch them.

“I think we’re going to be hitting the spawn right on top of the head,” Bohannan said. “I really look for a lot of fish to be shallow, caught off of visible targets. Moving baits are going to play big, but I think guys who are flipping to targets will also be very strong as well.”

Bohannan said he expects the winner will need a threeday total of 52 pounds to 54 pounds to have a shot at winning.

“To even make the top-10 cut to fish the final day you’re going to need to average 15 or 16 pounds a day,” Bohannan said. “I think the winner will likely catch 20 or 21 pounds one day, and then back it up with a couple of solid limits.”

Anglers will take off daily at 7 a.m. from Lake Dardanelle State Park, at 2428 Marina Road in Russellville. Weigh-ins will be held at the park each day at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division has three tournaments. Competitors vie for a chance to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship on Nov. 2-4 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn.