ABBEVILLE’S DAUGHTRY WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE BAMA DIVISION OPENER ON LAKE MARTIN PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

Crane Hill’s Johnson wins co-angler title

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (March 21, 2016) – Scott Daughtry of Abbeville, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the first FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Martin presented by Navionics. For his victory, Daughtry took home $4,866.

“The win really caught my by surprise,” said Daughtry, who earned his first win in his 29^th career tournament in FLW competition. “I knew that my 9-pounder was likely to win the big bass award, but I really didn’t think that I had enough weight to go with it to win. It was a very nice surprise.”

Daughtry said that he caught his winning stringer up the Tallapoosa River, targeting clean water in the backs of pockets.

“I had found some fish on Friday in practice that I shook off to save, so I ran right back to those pockets when the tournament started,” Daughtry said. “I was fishing a jig, while my co-angler was fishing a Hematoma-colored Reaction Innovations Kinky Beaver. I couldn’t get a bite, while my co-angler caught eight keepers behind me, including a 5-pounder.

“He only had three of the Kinky Beavers, but he was kind enough to share one of them with me. It had been chewed up and was pretty mangled, but I super-glued it back together and it worked great. My co-angler ended up catching 21 or 22 bass throughout the day, while I ended up with seven. My first bite was the 9-2.”

Daughtry said that he caught his winning stringer up the Tallapoosa River, targeting clean water in the backs of pockets.

Daughtry said that he Texas-rigged the Kinky Beaver with a 1/8-ounce weight and that the key to the presentation was fishing extremely slow.

“You really had to let the bait soak. I knew that those fish were going to be there, the key was just fishing it really slow and persistent. We ran pocket after pocket right behind other boats and were catching fish right behind them. It was a very fun day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Scott Daughtry, Abbeville, Ala., five bass, 15-3, $4,866

2^nd:         David Millsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $2,136

3^rd:          David Gaston, Sylacauga, Ala., five bass, 14-8, $1,424

4^th:          Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 14-4, $925

4^th:          Scott Hayes, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 14-4, $925

6^th:          Ben Weldon, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 14-0, $783

7^th:          Michael Luster, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 13-8, $712

8^th:          Chris Baxter, Winder, Ga., five bass, 13-4, $941

9^th:          Marty Giddens, Alpine, Ala., five bass, 11-11, $569

10^th:        Mark Richardson, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 11-6, $498

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Daughtry’s stringer was anchored by the 9-pound, 2-ounce kicker – the biggest fish of the tournament in the pro division – and earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $595.

Cory Johnson of Crane Hill, Alabama, weighed in five bass totaling 12 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to earn $2,136 and win the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Cory Johnson, Crane Hill, Ala., five bass, 12-13, $2,136

2^nd:         Slaton Jemison, Mathews, Ala., five bass, 11-12, $1,068

3^rd:          Michael Reed, Maylene, Ala., five bass, 11-5, $712

4^th:          Rusty Smith, Six Mile, S.C., five bass, 11-4, $498

5^th:          Randy Smith, Fayetteville, Ga., five bass, 9-14, $427

6^th:          Dennis Sandoval, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 9-10, $374

6^th:          Dennis McGouirk, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 9-10, $671

8^th:          Chance Hebert, Norcross, Ga., five bass, 9-9, $320

9^th:          Mike Chirico, Brundidge, Ala., five bass, 9-8, $285

10^th:        Ricky Parpolowicz, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 9-3, $249

McGouirk caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $297.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. 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.