Local angler from Eufaula, Scott Montgomery won the first FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Eufaula. He weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 1 ounce. For his victory, Montgomery took home a check for $4,127.
Montgomery said he began his day fishing banks in clear water in an area on the south end of the lake. He said he used a black and blue Strike King Rage Blade Swim Jig rigged with a black and blue Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper.
“I fished it as slow as I could around the banks and had three keepers within the first hour,” said Montgomery.
Around noon, Montgomery said he adjusted and made a run to new types of structure in a nearby area.
“I could tell the bass I was catching early on were smaller males that had moved up and were getting ready to spawn, so I went looking for staging areas,” said Montgomery. “I wanted to hit the first drop out of the spawning pockets, especially where it was deep. That’s where I figured the bigger fish would be.”
The Alabama angler said he switched to a Carolina-rigged, Hematoma-colored Big Bite Baits B2 Worm in the new area and used it to catch the remainder of his winning stringer.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Scott Montgomery, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 21-1, $4,127
2nd: Mark Cameron, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 20-10, $2,064
3rd: Terry Stevens, Marianna, Fla., five bass, 20-9, $1,377
4th: Jerome Hubbard Sr., Albany, Ga., five bass, 20-5, $1,538
5th: Matt Baty, Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 18-11, $825
6th: Bryan Hinkle, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 18-3, $757
7th: Tony Couch, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 16-15, $688
8th: Tyler Morgan, Columbus, Ga., four bass, 15-13, $619
9th: Ryan Horton, Palmetto, Ga., five bass, 15-11, $550
10th: David Pettis, Tifton, Ga., three bass, 14-11, $482
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Hubbard caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $575.
Harold Grizzle of Gainesville, Georgia, weighed in four bass totaling 12 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to earn $2,064 and win the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., four bass, 12-7, $2,064
2nd: Noah Rega, Douglasville, Ga., two bass, 9-11, $1,319
3rd: Coulby Lewis, Macon, Ga., three bass, 9-0, $688
4th: Andrew Wade, Zebulon, Ga., three bass, 8-15, $482
5th: Cody Yearwood, Austell, Ga., four bass, 8-10, $413
6th: Jeff Stone, Jackson, Ga., two bass, 6-7, $378
7th: James Lamons, Boston, Ga., three bass, 6-4, $344
8th: Clint Payne, Alpharetta, Ga., two bass, 6-3, $310
9th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., three bass, 6-0, $275
10th: Carlos Howard, Athens, Ga., two bass, 5-11, $241
Rega caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $287.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart 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.