Arlington’s Cotter Takes Co-angler Title

BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 8, 2018) – Phil Marks of Dallas, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to earn top honors at the first T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) event of the 2018 tournament season on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. For his efforts, Marks pocketed $8,143.

Marks said he caught the majority his fish on the main lake, specifically on the tips of ridges with isolated stumps. He said he fished through a dozen areas and was able to put 10 keepers in the boat throughout the day.

“I don’t think the water temperature on Sam Rayburn has been below 55 degrees in a few years, so the fish were really lethargic,” said Marks, an FLW Tour winner who had earned eight prior top-10 finishes on Sam Rayburn in FLW competition. “I caught three or four good ones in the first hour which allowed me to focus on catching the big ones. It was a grind out there, but I knew when I got one it’d be a good one.”

Marks said he used a Powder Blue Back Chartreuse-colored Strike King 8XD crankbait to fish in 16 to 19 feet of water, and switched to a 10XD for deeper casts in the 18- to 24-foot range.

“It’s funny – just about every bite was on the initial descent or when the bait was up under the boat,” said Marks. “I started making shorter casts so I could maximize my time in those strike zones.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Phil Marks, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 27-8, $6,143 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Richard Ballard, Sulphur, La., four bass, 19-12, $4,081

3^rd:          Terry Hawkins, Corsicana, Texas, five bass, 17-2, $2,048

4^th:          Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., five bass, 16-8, $1,363

5^th:          Anthony Jones, Irving, Texas, five bass, 15-13, $1,169

6^th:          Coy Riggins, Georgetown, Texas, five bass, 15-12, $1,071

7^th:          Chris Lewis, Longview, Texas, three bass, 15-11, $925

7^th:          Darold Gleason, Many, La., five bass, 15-11, $925

9^th:          Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 15-9, $779

10^th:        Brandon Thrash, Downsville, La., five bass, 15-8, $682

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Ballard caught a bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $960.

Michael Cotter of Arlington, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and $3,006 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Michael Cotter, Arlington, Texas, five bass, 20-10, $3,006

2^nd:         Jacob Dupree, Haughton, La., four bass, 18-3, $1,453

3^rd:          Lindy Hadley, Sam Rayburn, Texas, five bass, 16-10, $971

4^th:          Richard Hooter, Natchitoches, La., five bass, 14-4, $678

5^th:          Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 13-10, $631

6^th:          Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 13-4, $533

7^th:          Taylor Hardin, Fort Worth, Texas, five bass, 13-1, $484

8^th:          Jimmy Brumfield, Madison, Miss., five bass, 12-3, $436

9^th:          Eric Lacroix, Ball, La., four bass, 11-13, $387

10^th:        Brian Allen, Katy, Texas, five bass, 11-8, $339

James Spell of Sulphur, Louisiana, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $477.

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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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 2018 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. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.