BAINBRIDGE, Ga. – The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division event on Lake Seminole was a great tournament, but challenging for the co-angler field. Weights went up and down precipitously, and trying to navigate fields of timber from the back of the boat is no easy task. Still, on the final day, nobody expected 11th-place Preston Williams to hold on to the lead when he weighed in. Then, somehow, down to the last fish, he did – earning a new Phoenix boat for his troubles and also locking up his spot in the Toyota Series Championship in the fall on Grand Lake.
Fishing the whole week with a torn Achilles Tendon, Williams wrangled 12 pounds, 4 ounces on the final day on four fish, which totaled up 31-6 for the week. In second, James Cobbs totaled 30-11, and Hunter Prough dropped from first to third with a 30-9 total.
On the points side of things, Cobbs earned Fishing Clash Angler of the Year honors by a wide margin with 763 points, which netted him an extra $2,000 in prize money. Additionally, the Top 25 co-anglers qualified for the Toyota Series Championship this fall, which features a $33,500 top co-angler award.
Williams figured out how to stay consistent in Spring Creek from the back of the boat, and it went a long way. The two baits that performed best for him were a Rapala DT 10 in live river shad and a plum-colored Zoom Ol’ Monster on a 1/4- or 3/16-ounce weight, along with a drop-shot on Day 2.
“Day 1, I started off with a local, he was from Bainbridge,” Williams said. “Usually when I get the text message, I look up who it is, who I’m going to be fishing with, put a face with the name. And, he was from Bainbridge. So, we went out on the Chattahoochee, fishing a channel swing with a spawning flat behind it with some grass on it, with swimbaits and ChatterBaits.
“Then later that day, we went to Spring Creek like everybody else,” he said. “He wasn’t ‘Scoping, though. He was just out there throwing a big worm. I picked up a big worm, and that’s how I got my limit – the big worm. I only caught one or two on the ChatterBait in the Chattahoochee. And then I finished my limit and culled up a couple times in Spring Creek.”
The next two days, Williams steadily ground out bites in the timber and grass in Spring Creek. On the final day, the bite was tougher than ever.
“Today, for some reason, they were suspended, like 4 foot under the water, they were terribly hard to catch,” Williams said. “They’re posted by the trees, I mean, that’s where they feel comfortable at. So, they’re not going to really move too far from the tree. You actually had to throw in the middle of the trees and just let it fall straight down. And now that I think, today, with how they were set up, they were so high in the water column that you really couldn’t catch them on the worm. I was just lucky to get hung on a tree branch and have one come up and just be there and eat it.”
On the week, Williams fished everything on Scenko Stix rods, using a 7-foot, 6-inch, medium-heavy model for his worm, and the ChatterTrap model for his crankbait.
On stage, Williams was joined by his wife and kids and his parents.
“They always want to be at the weigh-ins,” he said. “So whenever my wife is off work and I’m fishing close enough that she can get there in a matter of hours; when the kids get out of school, they’re usually there.
“I tore my Achilles Saturday, and I was just like, ‘Man, I’ve got to go fish. I’m at 26th in points, so I’ve got go fish,’” he said. “It just feels great, man, for me to just be that bold and take that chance and it pay off. I mean, that’s all I can really say about it.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Preston Williams – 31 – 6 (14) – $33,500
2. James Cobbs – 30 – 11 (15) – $4,413
3. Hunter Prough – 30 – 9 (11) – $3,450
4. Jamie Childree – 28 – 11 (13) – $3,019
5. Jeremy Bouldin – 28 – 4 (15) – $2,588
6. Doug Wooldridge – 27 – 15 (9) – $2,306
7. Daniel Weaver – 27 – 15 (13) – $1,725
8. Tyler Nekolny – 27 – 14 (15) – $1,510
9. Rusty Brogdon – 27 – 8 (10) – $1,294
10. Leo Morris – 27 – 7 (12) – $1,228