Upshaw Goes Deep in Toledo Bend Blowout

FLW Tour pro Andrew Upshaw of Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament presented by Navionics on Toledo Bend Lake Saturday after bringing five bass totaling 30 pounds, 15 ounces to the scale. For his win, Upshaw took home $5,257.

“I was fishing deep, in 20 to 24 feet of water, in areas near Three Mile Bridge,” says Upshaw, a former FLW College Fishing standout who is a six-year veteran of the FLW Tour. “I targeted stump rows using an 8-inch (Gene Larew) Tattletail Worm with a (Gene Larew) 7/16-ounce Hardhead.

“I’d find four or five stumps in a row along a breakline,” Upshaw explains. “The best stumps were right where it dropped from 20 to 24 feet. Once you find them relating to a specific depth on Toledo Bend that’s where they will be all over the lake.”

Upshaw said he preferred two colors for his Tattletail worm – green pumpkin and Red Bug Lite.

“I’d hit the Hardhead against the stump, and then let it sit there with a tight line,” says Upshaw. “Then the line would go slack or you would feel a bite. Most of the time it would go slack because they’d swim off with it.”

Upshaw said he caught most of his fish throughout the event on the Tattletail worm.

“I cranked one, but 90-percent of what I caught came on the worm,” says Upshaw. “With the dead-slick calm conditions, it was the perfect day for worm fishing.”

The top 10 boaters:

 1^st: Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 30-15, $5,257

 2^nd: Thomas McMillan, Choudrant, La., five bass, 23-6, $2,628

 3^rd: Gary Caruso, Baton Rouge, La., five bass, 22-14, $1,685

 4^th: Darold Gleason, Many, La., five bass, 22-8, $1,180

 5^th: Matthew McArdle, Humble, Texas, 17-7, $1,011

 6^th: Jarred Williams, Bunkie, La., five bass, 16-7, $927

 7^th: Brett Hortman, West Monroe, La., three bass, 16-3, $1,623

 8^th: Tommy Mackey, Bryan, Texas, five bass, 16-1, $758

 9^th: Ken Smith, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 14-11, $674

 10^th: Billy Guinn, Shreveport, La., five bass, 14-10, $890

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Hortman caught a gigantic bass weighing 10 pounds, 12 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $780.

Michael Greer Jr. of DeRidder, Louisiana, won the Co-angler Division and $2,728 Saturday after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 9 ounces to the scale.

The top 10 co-anglers:

 1^st: Michael Greer Jr., DeRidder, La., five bass, 16-9, $2,728

 2^nd: Doug Estep, Baton Rouge, La., five bass, 12-11, $1,054

 2^nd: Charles Dellard, Burleson, Texas, two bass, 12-11, $1,494

 4^th: Mat Downey, Kountze, Texas, five bass, 11-4, $590

 5^th: Adam Boyd, Humble, Texas, five bass, 10-13, $506

 6^th: Robert Royal, Vidor, Texas, five bass, 10-4, $464

 7^th: Russell Lewis, Pineville, La., five bass, 10-0, $400

 7^th: Jerry Wade Jr., Kingwood, Texas, four bass, 10-0, $400

 9^th: Justin Shelton, Seven Points, Texas, four bass, 9-13, $337

 10^th: Johnathan Fontenot, Iowa, La., two bass, 9-5, $295

Dellard caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $390.

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.