Winning in the Majors

Arkansas co-angler takes first FLW Tour win at Table Rock Lake

BRANSON, Mo. – Patrick Majors of Rogers, Ark., visited Table Rock Lake for the first time in his life this week and walked away with a $20,000 win in the Co-angler Division of the Walmart FLW Tour event.

“I’m a nervous wreck,” Majors said repeatedly. “And I have been a nervous wreck all day – I just fish for fun back home in Rogers on Beaver Lake, so this is certainly a dream come true.”

During the week Majors fished with pros Lendell Martin, Kyle Mabry and Dan Morehead.

His one key lure for the week was a suspending Rattlin’ Rogue, purple and chartreuse in color.

But what is most interesting about the way Majors fished the Rogue was a technique he calls “strolling.”

“When the pros parallel these bluff banks with crankbaits, there is not a whole lot you can do out of the back of the boat,” explained Majors, who is a transportation broker back in Rogers. “So what I do is make long casts straight out the back with a Rogue and just kind of jerk it along, pause it for long periods, and then jerk it again. And if there are any suspended fish back there, they’ll bite it.”

Majors’ winning limit included an Ozark slam, featuring all three species of bass.

As for the $20,000 windfall, Majors quipped, “I’m pretty sure my wife has plans for that.”

Martin second

Fred Martin of North Little Rock, Ark., finished second with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces worth $10,000.

During the week Martin fished with pros Terry Baksay, Guido Hibdon and Greg Bohannan. His key lures included a 3/8-ounce poison jig, a green-pumpkin shaky head, a Megabass 110 jerkbait and a Lucky Craft DD jerkbait.

“Today I figured out that the bass were not right on the bank like they had been,” Martin said. “Instead they were suspended about 6 feet off the bluff banks, and I could catch them dragging a jig and a crankbait behind the boat where they were suspended.”

Hunter, Watson, Cassill round out top five

Brandon Hunter of Benton, Ky., finished third with four bass weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces worth $7,500. He caught his bass on a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 jerkbait.

James Watson of Waynesville, Mo., finished fourth with three bass weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces worth $5,000.

Zac Cassill of Fairfax, Iowa, finished fifth with one bass weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces for $4,000.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the FLW Tour event on Table Rock Lake after day three:

6th: Frank Divis of Fayetteville, Ark., one bass, 2-3, $3,500

7th: Alex Posey of Roswell, Ga., 0, $3,000

8th: Teddy Bradley of Mishawaka, Ind., 0, $2,500

9th: Dearal Rodgers of Camden, S.C., 0, $2,000

10th: David Lauer of South Bend, Ind., 0, $1,500