Florida’s Garrett Takes Co-angler Title

GADSDEN, Ala. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Adam Brown of Rainbow City, Alabama, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds even to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lake Neely Henry. For his efforts, Brown pocketed $3,917.

Brown said he spent his day fishing the backs of three creeks in the mid-river area, including Big Wills Creek.

“I didn’t do well until the sun got up around 10 a.m. and the fish started holding tight to cover, then I was able to target them better,” said Brown, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I fished stumps, bushes – basically any type of cover that was back there. Almost every fish I caught came from 2 feet or less of water.”

Brown’s primary bait was a white Stan Sloan’s The Aggravator long-arm spinnerbait with No. 5 willow leaf blades and a trailer hook. He said he followed it up with a 3/8-ounce black and blue-colored Bo’s jig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer of the same color. By the end of the day, Brown said he caught around 15 keepers.

“I ran the spinnerbait across the stumps and then pitched the jig,” said Brown. “I had to fish slow and steady. I hit each creek at least twice, and as far as the big fish go, I caught about two from each creek.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Adam Brown, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 17-0, $3,917

2^nd:         Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 16-11, $2,478

3^rd:          Johnathan Stuckey, Tallassee, Ala., five bass, 16-1, $1,507

4^th:          Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., five bass, 15-10, $1,014

5^th:          Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., five bass, 14-13, $783

6^th:          Andy Kilgore, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $718

7^th:          Allen Yarborough, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $620

7^th:          Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $620

9^th:          Josh Bragg, Jacksonville, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $522

10^th:        Hunter Hayes, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 12-14, $457

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Dorsett brought a 5-pound, 14-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $520.

Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $1,958 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Mike Garrett, Pensacola, Fla., five bass, 12-1, $1,958

2^nd:         Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 10-5, $1,179

3^rd:          Jacob Robinson, Temple, Ga., five bass, 9-14, $703

4^th:          Chris Hawkins, Adger, Ala., five bass, 9-7, $684

4^th:          Chris Harcrow, Dawson, Al a., three bass, 9-7, $424

6^th:          Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., four bass, 9-1, $359

7^th:          Sam McLean, LaGrange, Ga., five bass, 8-15, $326

8^th:          Tanner Ellison, Jemison, Ala., four bass, 8-12, $294

9^th:          Radney Atchison, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 8-11, $261

10^th:        Larry McNeil, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 8-8, $228

Hawkins caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $260.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lake Neely Henry was hosted by the City of Gadsden.

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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. 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. 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.