From Special Reports
Louisville’s Timmy Ming fared the best of 71 boaters Saturday with a five-bass total of 13 pounds, 3 ounces to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division tournament on the Columbus Pool.
Ming earned $6,037 for the victory, which was his first in BFL competition.
“I locked from the Columbus Pool down to Aliceville and started my day on a 100-yard stretch right outside of the lock,” Ming told www.flwfishing.com, the website for Fishing League Worldwide. “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 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,” Ming told the website. “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 his day.
“The flat I hit was a lot like the previous area in Pratt Creek, but there were grass mats around the stumps,” Ming said. “I caught one more that culled, and then brought in what I had.”
Chris Quaintance, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was second with three bass weighing 11-8. He won $2,019.
Taylor Ramey, of Purvis, was third with five bass weighing 11-6. He won $1,545.
Tim Jaynes, of Ethelsville, Alabama, was fourth with five bass weighing 11-5. He won $942.
Wayne Foreman, of Magnolia, rounded out the top five with five bass weighing 10-9. He won $807.
Caledonia’s Sawyer Woods was seventh with four bass weighing 8-7. He won $673.
Other local boaters who finished in the top 20 were: T.J. Free, of Carrollton, Alabama (tied for 14th, three bass weighing 7-10, $346), Mark Clark, of Crawford (tied for 17th, four bass weighing 7-3, $303), and Danny Walden, of Columbus (19th, three bass weighing 7-3, $283).
Booneville’s Gary Wright caught the biggest bass — a 5-pound, 3-ounce fish — in the Boater Division to earn him a prize of $545.
Jack Stegall of Carriere, won the co-angler Division and $2,019. He caught three bass weighing 4-11.
Dylan Wooten, of Vicksburg, was tied with Guntown’s Daniel Sullivan for second. Wooten caught two bass weighing 4-9. He won $842. Sullivan caught one bass weighing 4-9. He won $1,114.
Christian Sullivan, of Florence, was fourth with two bass weighing 4-8. He won $471.
Chris Dye, of Hickory Flat, was fifth with one bass weighing 4-3. He won $604.
Starkville’s Lance Jackson was tied for 10th with two bass weighing 3-6. He won $273.
Sullivan’s bass was the largest caught in the 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.
Information from flwfishing.com was included in this report.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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