REYNOLDS WINS SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION FINALE ON LAKE TEXOMA

Boater Jeff Reynolds of Calera, Oklahoma, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division tournament on Lake Texoma presented by Frabill. Reynolds’ three-day total of 15 bass weighing 51 pounds, 9 ounces was enough to earn him $80,167, including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.

“I put a lot of work into preparing for this event,” said Reynolds, who earned his first career-victory in FLW Series competition. “The payday means more than anything to me right now. I’m building a house and we have a baby on the way, so any money helps.

“I played the wind a lot this week – it was one of the biggest factors in where I decided to fish,” continued Reynolds. “On Day One it was blowing really hard so I stayed shallow. On Day Two it was a bit lighter so I was able to catch some out deep. On Day Three, it was so calm that all but one came from deep water.”

Reynolds said his most productive bait up shallow was a Heddon Super Spook topwater. He said his shallow areas were primarily on the main lake.

“I focused on flat points and banks with rock, sand and clay,” said Reynolds. “The biggest key was the shad. If I could find shad pushed up on the flats, I knew I could catch them.”

For the deep bite, Reynolds worked through stumps, brush and rock piles with a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Trick Worm with a ½-ounce weight.

“I had deeper areas both on the main lake and in pockets,” said Reynolds “Some keepers came as shallow as 10 feet, but most were 20 to 25 feet down.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Texoma finished:

1^st:          Jeff Reynolds, Calera, Okla., 15 bass, 51-9, $80,167

2^nd:         Don McFarlin, Gordonville, Texas, 15 bass, 47-1, $13,627

3^rd:          T.R. Andreas, Kerrville, Texas, 15 bass, 44-6, $10,750

4^th:          Alton Wilhoit, Noble, Okla., 15 bass, 44-6, $8,892

5^th:          Kevin Gressett, Tioga, Texas, 15 bass, 43-2, $7,913

6^th:          Hayden Burkett, Bokchito, Okla., 15 bass, 42-7, $7,033

7^th:          Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 15 bass, 42-7, $6,154

8^th:          Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, 15 bass, 41-7, $5,275

9^th:          Brandon Mosley, Choctaw, Okla., 15 bass, 40-13, $4,396

10^th:        Ricci Head, Shawnee, Okla., 11 bass, 37-14, $3,517

A complete list of results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.

Joe Lane of Republic, Missouri, caught a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass Thursday – the biggest of the tournament in the Boater Division. For his catch, Lane earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $242.

Dan Wilson of Pilot Point, Texas, won the Co-angler Division, $5,000 and a new Ranger Z175 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude outboard motor. Wilson earned his win with a three-day total catch of 15 bass weighing 37 pounds, 15 ounces. 

The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Texoma finished:

1^st:          Dan Wilson, Pilot Point, Texas, 15 bass, 37-15, $27,200 + $5,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Daren Scott, Aledo, Texas, 12 bass, 35-0, $4,588

3^rd:          Rick Parker, Kaufman, Texas, 14 bass, 31-12, $3,541

4^th:          J.C. Thompson, Calera, Okla., 11 bass, 27-7, $3,099

5^th:          Joe Copeland, Roff, Okla., 10 bass, 26-13, $2,656

6^th:          Andrew Brandstrom, White Bear Lake, Minn., 10 bass, 25-11, $2,263

7^th:          Chris Weaver, Lawton, Okla., 11 bass, 21-14, $1,771

8^th:          Chad Witten, Elgin, Okla., 10 bass, 21-2, $1,549

9^th:          Hugh Rose, Davis, Okla., nine bass, 20-15, $1,328

10^th:        Bruce Jones, Arlington, Texas, eight bass, 20-2, $1,107

Chris Jeffery caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a fish weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $161.

The Costa FLW Series on Lake Texoma presented by Frabill was hosted by the Denison Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the third and final Southwestern Division tournament of the 2017 season. The next Costa FLW Series event will be a Western Division tournament, held Sept. 28-30 on Clear Lake in Lakeport, California. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2017 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 2-4 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tennessee, and is hosted by the Henry County Tourism Authority.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 258 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

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Mark

Mark Lassagne, born and raised in California is the creator of the popular, BASS ANGLER magazine. Mark a skillful professional angler, outdoor writer, promoter and top competitor on the western tournament circuits. www.marklassagne.com

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