Brown Bumps Wood on Neely Henry

July 16, 2018

Adam Brown of Rainbow City, Alabama, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds even to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lake Neely Henry. For his efforts, Brown pocketed $3,917.

Brown says he spent his day fishing the backs of three creeks in the mid-river area, including Big Wills Creek.

“I didn’t do well until the sun got up around 10 a.m. and the fish started holding tight to cover, then I was able to target them better,” says Brown, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I fished stumps, bushes – basically any type of cover that was back there. Almost every fish I caught came from 2 feet or less of water.”

Brown’s primary bait was a white Stan Sloan’s The Aggravator long-arm spinnerbait with No. 5 willow leaf blades and a trailer hook. He followed it up with a 3/8-ounce black and blue-colored Bo’s jig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr trailer of the same color. By the end of the day, Brown says he caught around 15 keepers.

“I ran the spinnerbait across the stumps and then pitched the jig,” says Brown. “I had to fish slow and steady. I hit each creek at least twice, and as far as the big fish go, I caught about two from each creek.”

The top 10 boaters:

1st:          Adam Brown, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 17-0, $3,917

2nd:         Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 16-11, $2,478

3rd:          Johnathan Stuckey, Tallassee, Ala., five bass, 16-1, $1,507

4th:          Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., five bass, 15-10, $1,014

5th:          Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., five bass, 14-13, $783

6th:          Andy Kilgore, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $718

7th:          Allen Yarborough, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $620

7th:          Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $620

9th:          Josh Bragg, Jacksonville, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $522

10th:        Hunter Hayes, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 12-14, $457

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Dorsett brought a 5-pound, 14-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $520.

Garrett wins co-angler title

Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $1,958 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1st:          Mike Garrett, Pensacola, Fla., five bass, 12-1, $1,958

2nd:         Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 10-5, $1,179

3rd:          Jacob Robinson, Temple, Ga., five bass, 9-14, $703

4th:          Chris Hawkins, Adger, Ala., five bass, 9-7, $684

4th:          Chris Harcrow, Dawson, Al a., three bass, 9-7, $424

6th:          Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., four bass, 9-1, $359

7th:          Sam McLean, LaGrange, Ga., five bass, 8-15, $326

8th:          Tanner Ellison, Jemison, Ala., four bass, 8-12, $294

9th:          Radney Atchison, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 8-11, $261

10th:        Larry McNeil, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 8-8, $228

Hawkins caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $260.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lake Neely Henry was hosted by the City of Gadsden.

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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. 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.