Achee strikes early

Crankbait bite sets up Texas co-angler for Toledo Bend win

MANY, La. – When you catch the only limit and the only double-digit bag in your division, good things are bound to happen. For Timothy Achee of Hemphill, Texas, that meant winning the co-angler crown at the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on Toledo Bend Lake.

“I didn’t know if this would ever happen,” Achee said. “This is not my first top-10, but it’s my first win, and I’ve been fishing FLW for nine years.”

Fishing with second-place pro Tim Reneau, Achee got off to a blazing start with a crankbait bite.

“Tim said we were getting out early, so he said he had a crankbait spot,” Achee said. “We pulled into that spot, and I had a limit and culled on by 7:30.”

He’s thankful for that early success, as the rest of the day saw declining action in which he caught another pair of keepers with a jig fished on 65-pound braided line.

“After the crankbait spot, we went and flipped grass,” Achee said. “I caught two on a jig and culled two spots. It died after that. We fished grass and fished grass. I flipped a jig until my arm nearly fell off.”

Achee placed seventh on day one with 9 pounds, 1 ounce. He rose to second on day two with 8-13 and completed his campaign on day three with 10-9 for a 28-7 total. For his victory, Achee received a 177TR Ranger boat, motor and trailer package.

Welch winds up second

Will Welch of San Angelo, Texas, started the tournament with a strong day-one performance of 13 pounds, 7 ounces worth second place. He slipped on day three with only 3-12 and landed in third. His final day of competition paired him with Pro Division winner George Jeane Jr., and Welch caught 9-2 to finish in second place with 26-5 for $2,980. He caught his day-three fish on Texas-rigged worms.

“My pro partners were doing totally different things, which is good because it makes you stretch yourself,” he said. “I caught fish on square-bill crankbaits; I caught them in 20 feet of water on a Texas-rigged worm and Carolina rigs, football jigs and all kinds of different things.”

Underwood climbs to third

David Underwood of Waco, Texas, placed 10th on day one with 8 pounds even, moved up to fifth on day two with 7-10 and grabbed two more spots on day three to end in third with a total of 22-14 worth $2,235. Underwood caught his fish by Carolina-rigging a Zoom Brush Hog and flipping docks with a Senko.

Killingsworth, Hope round out top five

Brett Killingsworth of Rowlett, Texas – the leader on days one and two – slipped to fourth with 21-7, earning $1,863. Steve Hope of Ovilla, Texas, took fifth and $1,676 with 19-11.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series Toledo Bend event:

6th: Rick Parker of Kaufman, Texas, 18-4

7th: Robbie Dubois of Lubbock, Texas, 16-9

8th: Tommy Hagler of Abilene, Texas, 16-4

9th: Myong Yu of Port Arthur, 15-15

10th: Don R. Dickenson of Pineville, La., 14-0