Carriere’s Stegall Grabs Co-angler Title

COLUMBUS, Miss. (June 12, 2017) – Timmy Ming of Louisville, Mississippi, weighed five bass Saturday totaling 13 pounds, 3 ounces to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division tournament on the Columbus Pool. Ming took home $6,037 for his win.

“I locked from the Columbus Pool down to Aliceville and started my day on a 100-yard stretch right outside of the lock,” said Ming, who earned his first career-victory in BFL competition. “There was some riprap with grass growing on it and bass were feeding on crawfish. I put together a limit there by 9:30 (a.m.)”

Ming said he used a Putty Black-colored Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog to catch his initial limit. After 9:30 a.m., he said he continued his day in an area he refers to as Pratt Creek.

“Pratt Creek is an old river run with four or five old lakes off of it,” said Ming. “I sat at the mouth of one of the lakes where there’s a flat littered with stumps. Bass were schooling on shad as they moved out of the lake and into the river. I used a (Lucky Craft LC Silent) square-billed crankbait to catch one that I ended up weighing in.”

At noon, Ming said he locked back into the Columbus Pool and made his way up Tibbee Creek. He said he switched to a Red Shad-colored Berkley Havoc Ike’s Devil Spear to finish out his day.

“The flat I hit was a lot like the previous area in Pratt Creek, but there were grass mats around the stumps,” said Ming. “I caught one more that culled, and then brought in what I had.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Timmy Ming, Louisville, Miss., five bass, 13-3, $4,037 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Chris Quaintance, Muscle Shoals, Ala., three bass, 11-8, $2,019

3^rd:          Taylor Ramey, Purvis, Miss., five bass, 11-6, $1,545

4^th:          Tim Jaynes, Ethelsville, Ala., five bass, 11-5, $942

5^th:          Wayne Foreman, Magnolia, Miss., five bass, 10-9, $807

6^th:          Randy Craft, Seminary, Miss., five bass, 8-13, $840

7^th:          Sawyer Woods, Caledonia, Miss., four bass, 8-7, $673

8^th:          Jamie Long, Okolona, Miss., three bass, 8-3, $606

9^th:          Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., four bass, 8-1, $538

10^th:        Steve Jones, Moss Point, Miss., four bass, 8-0, $471

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Gary Wright of Booneville, Mississippi, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $545.

Jack Stegall of Carriere, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $2,019 Saturday after weighing three bass totaling 4 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Jack Stegall, Carriere, Miss., three bass, 4-11, $2,019

2^nd:         Dylan Wooten, Vicksburg, Miss., two bass, 4-9, $842

2^nd:         Daniel Sullivan, Guntown, Miss., one bass, 4-9, $1,114

4^th:          Christian Sullivan, Florence, Miss., two bass, 4-8, $471

5^th:          Chris Dye, Hickory Flat, Miss., one bass, 4-3, $604

6^th:          Joseph Breeden, Brandon, Miss., two bass, 4-0, $370

7^th:          Robert Keifer, Brandon, Miss., two bass, 3-11, $336

8^th:          Jesse Steadham, Byram, Miss., two bass, 3-10, $303

9^th:          Jimmy Tisdale, Ellisville, Miss., two bass, 3-9, $269

10^th:        Lance Jackson, Starkville, Miss., two bass, 3-6, $273

10^th:        Kenneth Amos, Greenville, Miss., one bass, 3-6, $223

Daniel Sullivan’s bass was the largest caught in the Co-angler Division and earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $272.

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. 12-14 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.