Millsaps Prevails on Mitchell

Cook lands co-angler title in Bama Division event

David Millsaps of Ranger, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Mitchell. For his victory, Millsaps took home $6,414.

Millsaps says he spent the majority of his day fishing a bluff wall stretch on the upper end of the lake. 

“I had one area that was really active, especially after the sun came out,” says Millsaps, who earned his third win in FLW competition. “It was a long, straight bluff wall with a dip in it where fish could get out of the current.”

Millsaps used a custom brown and black-colored jig to catch approximately 15 keepers throughout the event.

“I was sitting in about 20 feet of water and I’d let the jig slide down the wall,” says Millsaps. “That’s when they’d get it. My biggest bass – a 6-pounder – came from a seawall that had rocks on it. After that, I caught most of my fish between 1 and 3 p.m. – all on the jig.”

The Georgia angler filled his five-bass limit with just minutes to spare.

“I boated three in a row on a rocky point which protruded from the bluff wall and ended up weighing two of them,” says Millsaps.

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          David Millsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 19-11, $4,414 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Jason Nixon, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 16-8, $1,944

3^rd:          Morgan Brown, Spanish Fort, Ala., five bass, 12-13, $1,297

4^th:          Michael Smith, Andalusia, Ala., five bass, 12-12, $907

5^th:          Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., five bass, 12-9, $778

6^th:          Coby Carden, Shelby, Ala., five bass, 12-4, $713

7^th:          Daniel Graham, Childersburg, Ala., five bass, 11-13, $648

8^th:          Chris Baxter, Winder, Ga., five bass, 11-12, $883

9^th:          Kenny Everette, Villa Rica, Ga., five bass, 11-8, $519

10^th:        David Parsons, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 11-7, $454

Complete results can be found here. 

Millsaps also caught a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $525.

Cook wins co-angler division

Jerry Cook of Prattville, Alabama, weighed in five bass totaling 15 pounds even Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $1,944.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Jerry Cook, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 15-0, $1,944

2^nd:         Jeff Huddleston, Ohatchee, Ala., five bass, 13-13, $972

3^rd:          Geoff Percival, Lincoln, Ala., five bass, 10-12, $649

4^th:          Tanner Ellison, Clanton, Ala., five bass, 10-11, $716

5^th:          Randol Stone, Marianna, Fla., three bass, 8-15, $389

6^th:          Slaton Jemison, Mathews, Ala., five bass, 8-0, $356

7^th:          Marcus Corbett, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 7-11, $324

8^th:          Alvin Hammonds, Hampton, Ga., five bass, 7-6, $275

8^th:          Bill Hawkins, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 7-6, $275

10^th:        Mike Chirico, Brundidge, Ala., five bass, 7-3, $227

Ellison caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 3 pounds, 13 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $262.

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.