Sims claims co-angler title
Tommy Mackey of Bryan, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 26 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the second T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. For his win, Mackey took home $8,000.

“Most of the bass I caught during the event came from two areas near the Highway 147 bridge,” said Mackey, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “The first stop had submerged trees where fish were staging to move into a spawning pocket. Fishing around 15 feet of water, I used a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Brush Hog on a Carolina rig and caught 12 to 15 bass.
“The second area was an outside grass line about five miles south of the bridge,” continued Mackey. “The fish were getting ready to spawn, similar to the bass in the trees. I only caught six on the Brush Hog, but they were a lot of heavier than what I was averaging.”
Mackey said he mixed a third area into his day – a drain leading into a spawning pocket – but only weighed a single bass from it.
“I caught a 5-pounder on a blue chartreuse-colored Norman DD22 Crankbait,” said Mackey. “I was casting into 12 to 14 feet of water. It was a solid catch that anchored my limit.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Tommy Mackey, Bryan, Texas, five bass, 26-11, $6,000 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Shane Howell, Franklin, Texas, five bass, 23-2, $3,000
3rd: Stephen Johnston, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 21-7, $2,200
4th: Blake Schroeder, Whitehouse, Texas, five bass, 20-5, $1,500
5th: Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., five bass, 20-2, $1,200
6th: Eason Dowden, Many, La., five bass, 20-1, $1,100
7th: David Mansue, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 19-14, $1,000
8th: Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, five bass, 19-1, $900
9th: Phil Addison, Baytown, Texas, five bass, 18-3, $800
10th: Clay Phillips, Huntington, Texas, five bass, 18-2, $700
Terry Cole of Houston, Texas, caught an 8-pound, 1-ounce bass – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1000.
Chris Sims of Houston, Texas, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,991.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chris Sims, Houston, Texas, five bass, 16-11, $2,991
2nd: David Kayda, Huffman, Texas, five bass, 15-15, $1,595
3rd: Robert Laird Sr., Livingston, Texas, five bass, 15-5, $998
4th: Michael Vining, Little Elm, Texas, five bass, 15-3, $698
5th: Justin Seeton, Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 15-1, $598
6th: Brian Murphy, Sulphur, La., five bass, 14-12, $548
7th: Steven Fisher, Lufkin, Texas, 14-6, $498
8th: Clay Sammons, Whitesboro, Texas, 13-15, $449
9th: Nathan Wharton, Sulphur, La., five bass, 13-11, $399
10th: Hugh Cosculluela, The Woodlands, Texas, five bass, 13-8, $331
10th: Tommy Henley, Gonzales, La., five bass, 13-8, $331
Antwon Harris of Deridder, Louisiana, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $495.
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. 19-21 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.
The 2017 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. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
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 274 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.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
