Griffin Gets Win on Ross Barnett
Corley nets co-angler title in season opener
BRANDON, Miss. – Jason Griffin of Benton, Mississippi, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the first Walmart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division tournament of 2015 on Ross Barnett Reservoir. For his victory, Griffin earned $5,349.
“It feels good to win a tournament like this,” said Griffin. “I know some of the competitors in this tournament fish Ross Barnett two or three times a week and are a lot more experienced than I am, so this is pretty special.”
Griffin started off his day by flipping and pitching clumps of grass in the main lake area using a black and blue-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver. After just 45 minutes on the water, Griffin said he had put five bass in the livewell. From there he worked his way down the banks, where he found other boaters fishing.
“I had to play a little bit of defense with all of those boaters out there. I made sure to stay out of their water,” Griffin said.
As his bite slowed, Griffin made the decision to follow shad that were being pushed by the wind out onto the flats.
“I let off the trolling motor and drifted out to where the shad were,” said Griffin. “As soon as I did that I caught a 5-pounder.”
Out on the flats, Griffin used a junebug-colored Zoom Mag Lizard and said he could see the fish he was targeting in the pad stem holes.
“I really concentrated on those spots,” said Griffin. “I would sometimes catch three or four in a row.”
As his weigh-in time approached, Griffin worked his way out of the pads throwing a swimbait and ended up catching a 6-pound kicker around 3:45 p.m. to cap off his stringer.
“I knew I had to have more than 20 pounds of fish to have a shot,” said Griffin. “After I caught the kicker at the end of the day I was feeling pretty comfortable about my chances of winning.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Jason Griffin, Benton, Miss., five bass, 23-2, $5,349
2nd: Corey Glenn, Smithville, Miss., five bass, 22-1, $2,675
3rd: John Bailey, Terry, Miss., five bass, 21-5, $1,782
4th: Eddie Armstrong, West Point, Miss., five bass, 20-3, $1,248
5th: Ray King, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 19-6, $1,070
6th: Marty Torrence, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 19-2, $981
7th: Justin Sylvester, Bailey, Miss., five bass, 18-7, $892
8th: Robert Keifer, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 17-13, $802
9th: Danny Walden, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 17-10, $713
10th: Michael McCollum, Morton, Miss., five bass, 17-0, $624
Complete results can be found here.
Jeff Johnston of Marion, Arkansas caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $850.
Corley wins co-angler title
Chad Corley of Pearl, Mississippi, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win $2,631 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Chad Corley, Pearl, Miss., five bass, 18-2, $2,631
2nd: Charles Knowles, Canton, Miss., five bass, 16-3, $1,315
3rd: Don Meyerett, Southaven, Miss., five bass, 15-1, $877
4th: Josh Hamilton, Maben, Miss., five bass, 14-11, $614
5th: Farley Fondren, Maben, Miss., five bass, 14-10, $526
6th: Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 13-13, $482
7th: Joel Ross, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-12, $438
8th: Kenneth Underwood, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 13-7, $395
9th: Jason Mitchell, Hamilton, Miss., five bass, 13-4, $351
10th: Joe Henderson, Memphis, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $307
Henderson caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $410.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Alabama. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.