Mann Cracks 27-13 for Choo Choo title

Wade nets co-angler title on Lake Guntersville

Terry Mann of Warrior, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 27 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the second FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Guntersville. For his victory, Mann took home $7,337.

Mann targeted bass mid-river, near isolated grass clumps that were located in the mouths of spawning pockets. He says that the clumps were approximately 10 feet by 10 feet in size.

“I had three main areas where I was throwing into about 4 to 8 feet of water,” says Mann, who earned his first win in BFL competition. “I kept throwing near anything that I thought would stop bass as they came up shallow to spawn and eventually the right fish bit.”

Mann used both a Strike King 2.5 (Chili Craw color) and a 1.5 (Bluegill) square-billed crankbait to catch his fish. He says the majority of his keepers came on the Chili Craw color.

“Four of my stringer fish, including my 9-pounder, were caught on the 2.5,” says Mann. “The big thing for me was that the bait just barely touched the grass. If you got down too far, the hook would get a lot of sludge on it and nothing would bite.”

Mann went on to say that he caught eight keepers over the course of the day.

“I was lucky enough to catch a couple of decent-sized fish early,” says Mann. “It was just one of those days where everything went my way.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Terry Mann, Warrior, Ala., five bass, 27-13, $7,337

2^nd:         Derek Remitz, Grant, Ala., five bass  , 26-14, $2,528

3^rd:          Jacob Gibbs, Baileyton, Ala., five bass, 18-11, $1,432

3^rd:          Tracy Robinson, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 18-11, $1,432             

5^th:          Bryon Luman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 18-1, $1,011

6^th:          Kent Keys, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 17-15, $927

7^th:          Cameron Gautney, Muscle Shoals, Ala., five bass, 17-14, $843

8^th:          John Polly, Nauvoo, Ala., five bass, 17-12, $758

9^th:          Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., four bass  , 17-11, $674

10^th:        Ben Johnson, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 17-10, $590

Complete results can be found here. 

Mann also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $780.

Wade wins co-angler title

Chris Wade of Acworth, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 18 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to earn $2,528 and win the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Chris Wade, Acworth, Ga., five bass, 18-4, $2,528

2^nd:         Jefferson Cobb, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 17-15, $1,654

3^rd:          Rodney Treadaway, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 17-3, $845

4^th:          Steve Melton, Shelbyville, Tenn., three bass, 11-9, $590

5^th:          Danny Moss, Glencoe, Ala., four bass, 10-15, $506

6^th:          Bruce Stanley, Jasper, Ala., four bass, 10-8, $464

7^th:          Joey Morse, Cartersville, Ga., four bass, 10-4, $421

8^th:          Johnny Pittman, Albertville, Ala., three bass, 9-4, $379

9^th:          Randy Hobbs, Dawson, Ala., two bass, 9-3, $337

10^th:        Chris Nesbitt, Suwanee, Ga., three bass, 9-0, $295

Cobb caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $390.

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.