Beaver Lake newcomer wins $20,000 co-angler prize

NWA Democrat-Gazette/Michael Woods --04/24/2015--w@NWAMICHAELW... Co-Angler Luke Dunkin from Lawernceburg Tennessee, shows off tow of his fish on his way to first place win in the co-angler division of the Walmart FLW tournament on Beaver Lake Friday evening. Duncan finished with a total weight of 18 pounds and 2 ounces to win $20,000.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/Michael Woods --04/24/2015--w@NWAMICHAELW... Co-Angler Luke Dunkin from Lawernceburg Tennessee, shows off tow of his fish on his way to first place win in the co-angler division of the Walmart FLW tournament on Beaver Lake Friday evening. Duncan finished with a total weight of 18 pounds and 2 ounces to win $20,000.

Luke Dunkin's first visit to Beaver Lake was worth $20,000, winning the FLW co-angler championship Friday with a two-day catch of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces.

It was also the first time an angler won a major championship on Beaver Lake without catching a largemouth bass. He said it was only possible because his two pros partners targeted smallmouths both days.

"To win these things you have to have perfect partners that match your style," saidDunkin, of Lawrenceburg, Tenn. "Coming into this thing, I thought it would be a pipe dream catching 15-inch smallmouths, but I had a limit of them today, and three yesterday."

Dunkin also weighed in two spotted bass on Thursday. He caught all of his fish with a pumpkin/green Zoom Z-Craw with a three-fourths ounce weight. His main line was 17-pound test monofilament, and his leader was 12-pound test flourocarbon.

"That's heavy for here, but I got away with it," Dunkin said.

Dunkin, 31, is the sales manager for TH Marine, which sponsors the FLW Tour. He said he's been a bass angler since age 6, and that he has a lifetime of experience catching smallmouths on the Tennessee River near his home. Smallmouth fishing there, he said, is nothing like smallmouth fishing in Beaver Lake.

"We catch a lot big smallmouths, but we have a lot of dingy water there," Dunkin said. "We throw bigger baits there, with heavier line."

Still, Dunkin said the quality of the Beaver Lake smallmouths delighted him.

"The biggest surprise is how great a fishery it is," Dunkin said. "It has lots of fish. A lot of these guys complain because of that big length limit. A 15-inch fish is hard to come by sometimes, but I bet I caught 25 smallmouths. There's so many here."

Dunkin is married with five children.

"We can use that 20-grand," he said.

Sports on 04/25/2015

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