Armstrong Rotates Baits for Win

Nicely takes co-angler title on columbus Pool

Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Mississippi, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division of 2016 on Columbus Pool. Armstrong took home $4,839 for his victory.

“At the start of the day I picked apart some shallow grass near the gravel pit with a white Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog 65,” says Armstrong, who earned his second win in BFL competition. “I fished it extremely slow and caught two keepers.”

Around midday, Armstrong ran up the Tenn-Tom Waterway to a slough that had cypress trees and stumps. He says he rotated between a green-pumpkin-orange Booyah jig with a Sapphire Blue-colored Zoom Super Chunk trailer and a Tennessee Shad-colored Bagley Balsa Kill’r B Crankbait.

“I fished the jig next to the cypress trees in about three feet of water,” says Armstrong. “With the crankbait, I killed it when it was next to stumps and then gave it a little shake. The bulk of my fish came on the jig, but my biggest was caught on the crankbait.”

The Mississippi angler says he ended up catching approximately 15 keepers throughout the event.

“Everything I wanted to try from practice ended up working out in the tournament,” says Armstrong. “As long as I switched baits at the right time, everything went right.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Eddie Armstrong, West Point, Miss., five bass, 14-14, $4,839

2^nd:         Jason Mitchell, Hamilton, Miss., five bass, 14-11, $2,419

3^rd:          David Dove, Steens, Miss., five bass, 14-1, $1,371

3^rd:          Michael Savell, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 14-1, $1,371

5^th:          Timmy Ming, Louisville, Miss., four bass, 13-15, $1,698

6^th:          Bobby Foskey, Biloxi, Miss., four bass, 13-5, $846

6^th:          Teddy Cranford, Seminary, Miss., five bass, 13-5, $846

8^th:          Grant Galloway, Houlka, Miss., five bass, 13-1, $685

8^th:          Jeff Johnston, Marion, Ark., five bass, 13-1, $685

10^th:        Norman Foskey, Biloxi, Miss., five bass, 12-4, $565

Complete results can be found here.  

Ming caught a 5-pound, 15-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $730.

Nicely wins co-angler title

Kevin Nicely of Ethelsville, Alabama, weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,419.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Kevin Nicely, Ethelsville, Ala., five bass, 14-10, $2,419

2^nd:         Kelly Bock, Cedar Bluff, Miss., four bass, 9-12, $1,575

3^rd:          Austin Navarre, Carriere, Miss., five bass, 9-5, $807

4^th:          David Best, Bartlett, Tenn., five bass, 9-4, $565

5^th:          Richard Keene, Caledonia, Miss., four bass, 8-15, $484

6^th:          Heath Gilmore, Meridian, Miss., two bass, 7-11, $444

7^th:          Joel Ross, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 7-4, $403

8^th:          Ray Higginbotham, Brooksville, Miss., two bass, 7-2, $363

9^th:          Rickey McKenzie, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 7-1, $323

10^th:        Lee Fesmire, Marion, Ark., three bass, 6-14, $282

Bock caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $365.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas. 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.