Miller and Thaggard tie for co-angler title
David Lowery of Phenix City, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Bama Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Martin. For his victory, Lowery earned $4,385.
“It feels great to win,” said Lowery. “It was completely unexpected. I figured I could go out there and catch 10 or 11 pounds, but ended up bringing in more.”
Lowery said he primarily targeted fish that were waiting to move into the spawning pockets and eating bream along clay shelves. For bait, he used a Rainforest-colored Spro Poppin’ Frog.
“The fish were cruising up and down those drop offs,” Lowery said. “To get them to eat the frog, they had to be traveling in groups. If it was a single fish, it would come up, look at the bait and leave. It was like they preferred to compete with one another for food.
“After I would hook one, I was able to see where they went,” Lowery continued. “I would follow them another 25 or 30 yards and was able to catch a second one.”
As he worked his way to the back of the pockets, Lowery said that he used the frog as a search bait before switching to a green pumpkin Fighting Frog from Big Bite Baits.
“They would come to the surface, look at it and bite a lot of the time,” said Lowery. “It was a great backup bait.
“I ended up catching around 14 keepers,” Lowery said. “A lot of the guys in the tournament thought the fish had already come up to spawn, and some of them have, but I think the biggest stringers are yet to come.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: David Lowery, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 14-8, $4,385
2nd: Tim Malcolm, Americus, Ga., five bass, 13-1, $2,193
3rd: Patrick Dobbins, Opelika, Ala., five bass, 12-14, $1,463
4th: Chad Newbolt, Opelika, Ala., five bass, 12-8, $1,023
5th: Kenny Everette, Villa Rica, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $877
6th: Sam Stewart, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 12-4, $804
7th: David Gaston, Oak Grove, Ala., five bass, 12-3, $731
8th: Kip Carter, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 12-1, $658
9th: Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., five bass, 11-12, $585
10th: Jody Thaggard, Dadeville, Ala., five bass, 11-5, $512
Gaston caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $620.
Vernon Miller of Manchester, Georgia, and Zack Thaggard of Dadeville, Alabama, both weighed five-bass limits totaling 10 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to tie for first place and win $1,644 each in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Vernon Miller, Manchester, Ga., five bass, 10-5, $1,644
1st: Zack Thaggard, Dadeville, Ala., five bass, 10-5, $1,644
3rd: Jonathon Cone, Pell City, Ala., five bass, 9-12, $730
4th: Brandon Burton, Steele, Ala., five bass, 9-10, $475
4th: Chad Fowler, LaGrange, Ga., five bass, 9-10, $475
6th: Charlie Dick, Conyers, Ga., five bass, 9-9, $402
7th: Wesley Rushing, Abbeville, Ala., five bass, 9-1, $365
8th: Dennis McGouirk, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 8-12, $310
8th: Undre Montgomery, Atlanta, Ga., five bass, 8-12, $310
10th: David Pollard, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 8-10, $256
Miller also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $310.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, 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 compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
