Alabama’s Quaintance Wins Co-angler Title

BRANDON, Miss. (March 11, 2019) – Boater Lloyd Pickett Jr. of Bartlett, Tennessee, brought five bass to the scale Sunday weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division opener on Ross Barnett Reservoir presented by Navionics. For his win, Pickett earned $5,766.

Pickett said he fished mid-lake bank lines in 1 to 1½ feet of water on the western side of Ross Barnett Reservoir. He said he had three main areas and that he used a Carolina rig to pick them apart.

“It was a slow, methodical fishing day of fishing,” said Pickett, who earned his fifth win in BFL competition – third on Ross Barnett. “The areas had patches of grass in the water. If it was one solid clump you wouldn’t get a bite, but if there were isolated clumps off to the side, I’d throw at those.

“I think they were prespawn bass trying to pull up. I worked them over slow because of the cold front that was coming through Sunday morning,” continued Pickett. “During practice, the weather was bad, but I caught 20 and shook off 20, so I think that weather really shut them down. On the day of the tournament, I maybe had 10 keepers, but they were quality.”

Pickett said he used a Carolina-rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog and a small Strike King creature bait to entice his fish. He said he used darker colors like junebug if the water was stained, and green-pumpkin if it was clearer.

“Water temperature was a huge factor – I can’t stress that enough,” said Pickett. “At takeoff, it was around 56 degrees, and when it hit 60 or 61, it made all the difference in the world. My first two areas were colder, but the third stretch was sheltered from the wind and was about 62 degrees. It took a little while, but the bite got better around 11 (a.m.).”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Lloyd Pickett Jr., Bartlett, Tenn., five bass, 16-11, $3,766 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 15-5, $2,083

3^rd:          Joel Barber, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-1, $1,256

4^th:          Kirk Tisdale, Ellisville, Miss., five bass, 12-6, $816

4^th:          Gary Caruso, Baton Rouge, La., five bass, 12-6, $1,216

6^th:          Travis Mosley, Benton, Ark., five bass, 11-5, $690

7^th:          Ray King, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 11-3, $628

8^th:          Darrell Hunter, Lena, Miss., three bass, 10-5, $565

9^th:          Shan Schoenrock, Aliceville, Ala., five bass, 9-13, $502

10^th:        Jason Hannah, Forest, Miss., five bass, 9-12, $439

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Corey Sullivan of Brandon, Mississippi, caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $500.

Nick Quaintance of Russellville, Alabama, won the Co-angler Division and $1,883 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 12 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Nick Quaintance, Russellville, Ala., four bass, 12-2, $1,883

2^nd:         Don White, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 11-0, $942

3^rd:          Tres Dobbins, Collinsville, Miss., three bass, 7-8, $627

4^th:          Kevin Smith, Yazoo City, Miss., three bass, 7-0, $639

5^th:          Tim Beale, Hernando, Miss., three bass, 6-9, $427

6^th:          Jerry Riddle, Summit, Miss., one bass, 6-2, $595

7^th:          Chuck Channell, Clinton, Miss., three bass, 5-10, $314

8^th:          Joshua Harris, Jackson, Miss., three bass, 5-9, $282

9^th:          Chris Bowers, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 5-6, $251

10^th:        Joey Tanner, Meridian, Miss., one bass, 4-11, $220

Riddle caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $250.

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. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, presented by Mercury. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 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 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. 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, and YouTube.