Coker Swims a Jig on Ross Barnett
Armstrong wins co-angler title
Clyde Coker of Brandon, brought five bass to the scale Saturday totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Ross Barnett Reservoir in Brandon, Mississippi. For his victory, Coker earned a total of $4,315.
“The water temperatures had dropped, so I started out throwing a spinnerbait in the morning,” says Coker, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I caught a bunch of short fish, then switched over to a ChatterBait.
“When the wind picked up and the sun came out they wouldn’t hit the ChatterBait anymore, so I started swimming a jig and that is what the majority of my fish came on.”
Coker says he was mainly fishing main-lake flats in 3 feet of water. His jig of choice was a green-pumpkin and orange-colored Blacks Custom jig. He used a twin-tailed trailer with the tails dyed chartreuse.
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Clyde Coker of Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-13, $4,315
2nd: Taurian Parks of Clinton, Miss., three bass, 11-7, $2,157
3rd: Joel Barber of Brandon, Miss., five bass, 11-2, $1,439
4th: Andy Graves of Clarksdale, Miss., two bass, 10-9, $1,617
5th: Mike Jones of Brandon, Miss., four bass, 9-15, $1,063
6th: Andy Coy of Corinth, Miss., four bass, 9-4, $1,291
7th: Lloyd Pickett Jr. of Bartlett, Tenn., two bass, 9-2, $683
7th: Gary Caruso of Baton Rouge, La., two bass, 9-2, $683
9th: Darrell Hunter of Lena, Miss., two bass, 8-13, $575
10th: Bryant Adam of Madison, Miss., three bass, 8-8, $503
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Graves brought a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $610.
Coy was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500. 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.
Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $2,157 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Miss., five bass, 17-10, $2,157
2nd: Desmond Champion of El Dorado, Ark., three bass, 13-5, $1,384
3rd: David Hug of Collierville, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $717
4th: Louie Parkman Jr. of Brandon, Miss., three bass, 8-0, $503
5th: Daniel Corkern of Florence, Miss., two bass, 7-2, $581
6th: Tim Davis of Laurel, Miss., two bass, 7-1, $396
7th: Joel Ross of Brandon, Miss., two bass, 6-14, $460
8th: Chris Godfrey of Columbus, Miss., two bass, 6-8, $324
9th: Chris Bray of Southaven, Miss., two bass, 5-12, $288
10th: Tyler Patterson of Tupelo, Miss., one bass, 5-11, $252
Champion caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $305.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Ross Barnett Reservoir was the first of five qualifying events in the Mississippi Division.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Mississippi Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, hosted by the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.