Montgomery Targets Prespawn Bass for Win

Grizzle nets co-angler title on Lake Eufaula

Local angler Scott Montgomery of Eufaula, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the first FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Eufaula. For his victory, Montgomery took home a check for $4,127.

Montgomery said he began his day fishing banks in clear water in an area on the south end of the lake. He said he used a black and blue Strike King Rage Blade Swim Jig rigged with a black and blue Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. 

“I fished it as slow as I could around the banks and had three keepers within the first hour,” says Montgomery. 

Around noon, Montgomery said he adjusted and made a run to new types of structure in a nearby area.

“I could tell the bass I was catching early on were smaller males that had moved up and were getting ready to spawn, so I went looking for staging areas,” said Montgomery. “I wanted to hit the first drop out of the spawning pockets, especially where it was deep. That’s where I figured the bigger fish would be.”

The Alabama angler says he switched to a Carolina-rigged Hematoma-colored Big Bite Baits B2 Worm in the new area and used it to catch the remainder of his winning stringer.

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Scott Montgomery, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 21-1, $4,127

2^nd:         Mark Cameron, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 20-10, $2,064

3^rd:          Terry Stevens, Marianna, Fla., five bass, 20-9, $1,377

4^th:          Jerome Hubbard Sr., Albany, Ga., five bass, 20-5, $1,538

5^th:          Matt Baty, Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 18-11, $825

6^th:          Bryan Hinkle, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 18-3, $757

7^th:          Tony Couch, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 16-15, $688

8^th:          Tyler Morgan, Columbus, Ga., four bass, 15-13, $619

9^th:          Ryan Horton, Palmetto, Ga., five bass, 15-11, $550

10^th:        David Pettis, Tifton, Ga., three bass, 14-11, $482

Complete results can be found here.

Hubbard caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $575.

Grizzle wins co-angler title

Harold Grizzle of Gainesville, Georgia, weighed in four bass totaling 12 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to earn $2,064 and win the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., four bass, 12-7, $2,064

2^nd:         Noah Rega, Douglasville, Ga., two bass, 9-11, $1,319

3^rd:          Coulby Lewis, Macon, Ga., three bass, 9-0, $688

4^th:          Andrew Wade, Zebulon, Ga., three bass, 8-15, $482

5^th:          Cody Yearwood, Austell, Ga., four bass, 8-10, $413

6^th:          Jeff Stone, Jackson, Ga., two bass, 6-7, $378

7^th:          James Lamons, Boston, Ga., three bass, 6-4, $344

8^th:          Clint Payne, Alpharetta, Ga., two bass, 6-3, $310

9^th:          Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., three bass, 6-0, $275

10^th:        Carlos Howard, Athens, Ga., two bass, 5-11, $241

Rega caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $287.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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.