Navy Takes Hartwell Win At ABA Military Team Bass Tournament

Shaun Flanagan and Curt Poggenpohl won the 32nd annual Military Team Bass Tournament held May 3-5 on Lake Hartwell.

The team of Shaun Flanagan and Curt Poggenpohl put in three good days to win the 32nd annual Military Team Bass Tournament, presented by American Bass Anglers and Caymas Boats, held May 3-5 on Lake Hartwell.

Launching at Green Pond Landing in Anderson, S.C., Flanagan and Poggenpohl landed three consecutive daily tournament limits of five bass to win with a total of 15 bass tallying 45.09 pounds. The two men on active duty with the U.S. Navy beat their nearest competition by nearly 7 pounds with slightly more than a 3-lb. average. They went home $4,000 richer for the victory. 

“We targeted 18 to 22 feet of water with drop-shot rigs and shaky heads way off the ends of the shoals,” said Flanagan, who is stationed in Pensacola, Fla. “We were looking for little fingers, basically a spot on a spot. We focused on doing that all week. We fished consistently.”

On Day 1, Flanagan and Poggenpohl held sixth place with 14.09 pounds. On the second day, the team scored the second heaviest single-day sack of the tournament at 15.72 pounds to vault upward five levels and capture the Day 2 lead with 29.81 pounds. They never relinquished the lead.

“On Day 1, we had some issues with the trolling motor batteries that prevented us from staying on our good spots,” Flanagan said. “We fished well offshore. On Day 2, we were able to milk everything we had.”

Holding the lead by a little more than a pound and a half, Flanagan and Poggenpohl needed another good day going into the final. They got it, landing 15.28 pounds with a 3.88-lb. kicker to score a decisive win for the Navy. 

“We knew we needed a consistent 15 to 17 pounds per day to win,” said Poggenpohl, who is assigned to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. “On Day 1, we targeted largemouth bass and didn’t think we could get anything near our target weight. We switched gears and concentrated on spotted bass. We found a couple areas that consistently held some 2- to 3-lb. spots. We rotated through our areas and got the fish we needed. On the last morning, the bass really didn’t want to bite, so we just toughed it out. We finally got a couple upgrades toward the end of the day. It was a tough tournament. Hats off to all of the competitors.”

Hunter Clay had big fish in the May 6 Berry’s event on Sinclair. The bass weighed 6.56 pounds and paid out $1,040.