BRYAN’S MACKEY WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE COWBOY DIVISION EVENT ON SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR

Sims claims co-angler title

BROOKELAND, Texas (Feb. 13, 2017) – Tommy Mackey of Bryan, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 26 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the second T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. For his win, Mackey took home $8,000.

 

“Most of the bass I caught during the event came from two areas near the Highway 147 bridge,” said Mackey, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “The first stop had submerged trees where fish were staging to move into a spawning pocket. Fishing around 15 feet of water, I used a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Brush Hog on a Carolina rig and caught 12 to 15 bass.

“The second area was an outside grass line about five miles south of the bridge,” continued Mackey. “The fish were getting ready to spawn, similar to the bass in the trees. I only caught six on the Brush Hog, but they were a lot of heavier than what I was averaging.”

Mackey said he mixed a third area into his day – a drain leading into a spawning pocket – but only weighed a single bass from it.

“I caught a 5-pounder on a blue chartreuse-colored Norman DD22 Crankbait,” said Mackey. “I was casting into 12 to 14 feet of water. It was a solid catch that anchored my limit.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Tommy Mackey, Bryan, Texas, five bass, 26-11, $6,000 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Shane Howell, Franklin, Texas, five bass, 23-2, $3,000

3^rd:          Stephen Johnston, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 21-7, $2,200

4^th:          Blake Schroeder, Whitehouse, Texas, five bass, 20-5, $1,500

5^th:          Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., five bass, 20-2, $1,200

6^th:          Eason Dowden, Many, La., five bass, 20-1, $1,100

7^th:          David Mansue, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 19-14, $1,000

8^th:          Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, five bass, 19-1, $900

9^th:          Phil Addison, Baytown, Texas, five bass, 18-3, $800

10^th:        Clay Phillips, Huntington, Texas, five bass, 18-2, $700

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Terry Cole of Houston, Texas, caught an 8-pound, 1-ounce bass – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1000.

Chris Sims of Houston, Texas, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,991.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Chris Sims, Houston, Texas, five bass, 16-11, $2,991

2^nd:         David Kayda, Huffman, Texas, five bass, 15-15, $1,595

3^rd:          Robert Laird Sr., Livingston, Texas, five bass, 15-5, $998

4^th:          Michael Vining, Little Elm, Texas, five bass, 15-3, $698

5^th:          Justin Seeton, Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 15-1, $598

6^th:          Brian Murphy, Sulphur, La., five bass, 14-12, $548

7^th:          Steven Fisher, Lufkin, Texas, 14-6, $498

8^th:          Clay Sammons, Whitesboro, Texas, 13-15, $449

9^th:          Nathan Wharton, Sulphur, La., five bass, 13-11, $399

10^th:        Hugh Cosculluela, The Woodlands, Texas, five bass, 13-8, $331

10^th:        Tommy Henley, Gonzales, La., five bass, 13-8, $331

Antwon Harris of Deridder, Louisiana, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $495.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.

The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.