Watts Earns First BFL Victory on Pickwick

Charles Watts of Corinth, Mississippi, brought a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division tournament presented by Mud Hole Custom Tackle on Pickwick Lake. Watts pocketed $5,181 for his efforts.

Watts said he threw a jig along bluff walls near the takeoff ramp to get his day started. He was able to put three keepers in the boat before moving to locations between Indian Creek and Yellow Creek.

“I had four areas that I liked – two humps and two flats,” says Watts, who earned his first career-victory in FLW competition. “I sat in 25 feet of water and fished in anywhere from 15 to 18 feet. I would focus on one area for about 45 minutes and then move on. They ate well in each when we’d first pull up then they’d die off.”

Watts said he used one lure to catch his fish – a Strike King 6XD Crankbait in Sexy Blue Back Herring and Sexy Shad colors. He said he caught approximately 15 keepers throughout the tournament.

“I think the fish were relating to the drops and rock on the bottom – they’ll stack on them,” says Watts. “It’s a basic early-Summer pattern when they first get off the spawning beds.”

The top 10 boaters:

 1^st: Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., five bass, 20-6, $5,181

 2^nd: David Allen, Florence, Ala., five bass, 19-4, $2,076

 2^nd: Roger Stegall, Iuka, Miss., five bass, 19-4, $2,836

 4^th: Alan Langford, Tupelo, Miss., five bass, 18-7, $1,162

 5^th: Cody Harrison, Florence, Ala., five bass, 17-4, $1,096

 6^th: Justin Atkins, Florence, Ala., five bass, 17-3, $913

 7^th: Connor Martin, Marion, Ark., five bass, 16-14, $830

 8^th: Larry Materia, Somerville, Tenn., five bass, 16-5, $705

 8^th: Danny Walden, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 16-5, $705

 10^th: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 16-2, $581

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Stegall caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $760.

Anthony Wilson of Greenville, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $2,870 Saturday after bringing four bass totaling 18 pounds, 12 ounces to the scale.

The top 10 co-anglers:

 1^st: Anthony Wilson, Greenville, Miss., four bass, 18-12, $2,870

 2^nd: Joseph Breeden, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-14, $1,245

 3^rd: Michael Smotherman, Savannah, Tenn., five bass, 15-9, $829

 4^th: Daniel Stover, Hernando, Miss., five bass, 13-13, $781

 5^th: Drew Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 13-5, $498

 6^th: Tim Beale, Hernando, Miss., five bass, 13-2, $457

 7^th: Farley Fondren, Maben, Miss., five bass, 12-13, $415

 8^th: Ryan LeCompte, Picayune, Miss., five bass, 12-10, $424

 9^th: Andrew Garvin, Hamilton, Miss., five bass, 12-4, $332

 10^th: Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 11-15, $291

Wilson also caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $380.

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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana. 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.