Marks Cranks for Rayburn Title

Cotter nets co-angler crown in Cowboy opener

Phil Marks of Dallas, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to earn top honors at the first T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division event of the season on Sam Rayburn. For his efforts, Marks pocketed $8,143.

Marks says he caught the majority his fish on the main lake, specifically on the tips of ridges with isolated stumps. He fished through a dozen areas and was able to put 10 keepers in the boat throughout the day.

“I don’t think the water temperature on Sam Rayburn has been below 55 degrees in a few years, so the fish were really lethargic,” says Marks, an FLW Tour winner who had earned eight prior top-10 finishes on Rayburn in FLW competition. “I caught three or four good ones in the first hour which allowed me to focus on catching the big ones. It was a grind out there, but I knew when I got one it’d be a good one.”

Marks used a powder blue back chartreuse-colored Strike King 8XD crankbait to fish in 16 to 19 feet of water, and switched to a 10XD for deeper casts in the 18- to 24-foot range.

“It’s funny – just about every bite was on the initial descent or when the bait was up under the boat,” says Marks. “I started making shorter casts so I could maximize my time in those strike zones.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Phil Marks, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 27-8, $6,143 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Richard Ballard, Sulphur, La., four bass, 19-12, $4,081

3^rd:          Terry Hawkins, Corsicana, Texas, five bass, 17-2, $2,048

4^th:          Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., five bass, 16-8, $1,363

5^th:          Anthony Jones, Irving, Texas, five bass, 15-13, $1,169

6^th:          Coy Riggins, Georgetown, Texas, five bass, 15-12, $1,071

7^th:          Chris Lewis, Longview, Texas, three bass, 15-11, $925

7^th:          Darold Gleason, Many, La., five bass, 15-11, $925

9^th:          Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 15-9, $779

10^th:        Brandon Thrash, Downsville, La., five bass, 15-8, $682

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Ballard caught a bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $960.

Cotter wins co-angler title

Michael Cotter of Arlington, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and $3,006 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Michael Cotter, Arlington, Texas, five bass, 20-10, $3,006

2^nd:         Jacob Dupree, Haughton, La., four bass, 18-3, $1,453

3^rd:          Lindy Hadley, Sam Rayburn, Texas, five bass, 16-10, $971

4^th:          Richard Hooter, Natchitoches, La., five bass, 14-4, $678

5^th:          Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 13-10, $631

6^th:          Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 13-4, $533

7^th:          Taylor Hardin, Fort Worth, Texas, five bass, 13-1, $484

8^th:          Jimmy Brumfield, Madison, Miss., five bass, 12-3, $436

9^th:          Eric Lacroix, Ball, La., four bass, 11-13, $387

10^th:        Brian Allen, Katy, Texas, five bass, 11-8, $339

James Spell of Sulphur, Louisiana, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $477.

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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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.