Andy Parkinson of Dalton, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division event on Lake Guntersville. Parkinson took home $4,385 for his victory.
Parkinson started his day fishing a ditch toward the back of a mid-lake creek.
“The flat I was sitting on was 4-feet-deep, and the ditch reached down to about 6½ feet,” says Parkinson, who earned his first career-win in BFL competition. “The edges of the ditch had scattered milfoil, but its bottom was fairly clean. I caught my first keeper on a Rayburn Red-colored Booyah One Knocker.”
After a while, Parkinson says he followed bass along the ditch as they made their way to spawning beds.
“I targeted some lily pads with a black and blue-colored swimjig rigged with a Strike King Rage Craw,” says Parkinson. “I caught a 7-pound, 9-ouncer – my largest of the day – and a 4-pounder soon after.”
Parkinson says he followed bass along the ditch as they made their way to spawning beds. BFL photo
Parkinson returned to the ditch and put another 4-pound bass in the boat – all by 10:30 a.m.
“Around 1:45 p.m., I picked up a shad-colored vibrating jig and caught my last keeper, which was just shy of 3 pounds,” says Parkinson. “That one sealed that deal for me. I knew I had a decent limit of fish, but I thought someone may beat me with bass from the Guntersville bridges. Luckily my five held up.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Andy Parkinson, Dalton, Ga., five bass, 23-4, $4,385
2nd: Casey Martin, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 22-8, $3,113
3rd: Douglas Webster, Pinson, Ala., five bass, 21-14, $1,663
4th: Triston Crowder, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 21-1, $1,123
5th: Bryon Luman, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 20-9, $877
6th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., five bass, 20-8, $804
7th: Ricky Chappell, Warrior, Ala., five bass, 20-2, $731
8th: Tony Harvey, Killen, Ala., five bass, 19-0, $658
9th: Derek Remitz, Grant, Ala., five bass, 18-14, $585
10th: Justin Wallace, Meridianville, Ala., five bass, 18-8, $512
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Martin caught a bass weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $620.
Clayton wins co-angler title
Paul Clayton of Cohutta, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 20 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division and the top prize of $2,393.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Paul Clayton, Cohutta, Ga., five bass, 20-6, $2,393
2nd: Zach Britton, Hazel Green, Ala., five bass, 18-1, $1,456
3rd: Corey Williams, Lenoir City, Tenn., five bass, 16-2, $730
4th: Stephen Barday, Acworth, Ga., five bass, 14-3, $512
5th: Chris Walters, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $439
6th: Chad Biddle, Shelbyville, Ky., three bass, 12-15, $402
7th: Benny Medlen, Scottsboro, Ala., four bass, 12-1, $365
8th: Daniel Davis, Albertville, Ala., four bass, 11-15, $329
9th: Bruce Stanley, Jasper, Ala., four bass, 11-8, $292
10th: Mike McLamb, Hartselle, Ala., four bass, 11-3, $256
Britton caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $310.
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 Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama. 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.
