Lasyone Tops Record Field on Rayburn
Louisiana pro beats 230 in Cowboy Division season opener
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine opened competition Saturday at the historic Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Brookeland, Texas, and featured a record-setting field size – 230 boaters and 230 co-anglers. The season opener, the largest field in more than 20 years, took off with multiple anglers left on the waiting list.
Boater Kevin Lasyone of Dry Prong, Louisiana, caught the largest five-bass limit of the day (weighing 20 pounds 8 ounces) to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps opener. Lasyone earned $6,000 for his efforts.
“It feels great to get the win against a field like this in the first event of the year,” says Lasyone, who earned his third career victory on Sam Rayburn in FLW competition. “I was basically fishing grass in three to five feet of water early, then I went shallow and finished out my day.”
Lasyone said he caught most of his fish on a Rat-L-Trap and a V&M Thunder Shad swimbait with a Lazyman weighted swimbait hook. He also added a few keepers with a Yamamoto Senko.
“I think the key to my victory was all of the time that I have spent on Rayburn over the years,” Lasyone adds. “The big ones really seemed to pull up when the sun came out, and they were up pretty shallow. I was fishing water that was only about knee deep, but it had to have grass.”
Top 10 boaters
1st: Kevin Lasyone of Dry Prong, La., five bass, 20-8, $6,000
2nd: Derek Mundy of Broaddus, Texas, five bass, 18-12, $3,000
3rd: Andre Martin of Lena, La., five bass, 17-15, $2,000
4th: Phil Marks of Dallas, Texas, five bass, 17-14, $1,400
5th: River Lee of Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 16-15, $1,200
6th: Randy Quin of Huffman, Texas, five bass, 16-12, $1,100
7th: Rylon Ganey of Pineville, La., five bass, 16-10, $1,000
8th: Skeeter Fowler of Grand Saline, Texas, five bass, 16-6, $900
9th: James Allen Pruitt of Houston, Texas, five bass, 15-13, $800
10th: Judah Morris of Forest Hill, La., five bass, 15-9, $665
10th: Ryan Pinkston of Center, Texas, five bass, 15-9, $665
Mason Kellett of Kingston, Oklahoma, won the Boater Big Bass award of $1,000 after bringing a largemouth bass weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces to the scale.
Jaden Parrish of Liberty, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds even.
Top 10 co-anglers
1st: Jaden Parrish of Liberty, Texas, five bass, 15-0, $3,000
2nd: Larry Lovell of Emory, Texas, five bass, 14-12, $1,500
3rd: Todd Fontenot of Lake Charles, La., five bass, 13-12, $1,000
4th: Cannon Rush of Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 13-11, $700
5th: Chase Crawford of Kingwood, Texas, five bass, 12-13, $600
6th: Lindy Hadley of Sam Rayburn, Texas, five bass, 12-5, $550
7th: Antwon Harris of DeRidder, La., five bass, 12-3, $500
8th: Lat Nichols of Deport, Texas, four bass, 12-2, $425
8th: Brandon Ackerson of Afton, Okla., five bass, 12-2, $425
10th: Juan Barrientos of Clarksville, Ark., five bass, 12-1, $350
Clark Moore of Nacogdoches, Texas, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.
Phoenix Boats, title sponsor of the Bass Fishing League, announced a lucrative new FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program designed to reward Phoenix Boats owners for their performance in FLW events. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Cowboy Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 22-24 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held April 30 through May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.