Wood Covers Water for Title

Rushing tops co-angler division in Bama Super Tournament

Local angler Dustin Wood of Eufaula, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 2 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division Super Tournament on Lake Eufaula with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 6 ounces. Wood took home $5,660 for his win.

“I spent Saturday in mid- to south-lake areas throwing a Strikezone Deep Daddy crankbait,” says Wood, who earned his first win in BFL competition. “I hit ledges that were 10 to 15 feet down and isolated patches of hydrilla. Of the six keepers I caught, two were over 5 pounds.”

Wood made nearly 60 stops each day of the event and says that covering a lot of water was a crucial part to his success.

“On Sunday the ledge bite was tough so I decided to fish brush piles,” says Wood. “I used a shaky-head rig with an 8-inch Bluegill-colored Strikezone Meat Stix. I didn’t get many bites, but the ones that did bite were the right size. That’s what made the difference for me. I ended up catching five keeper bass, with the last two coming within the last 30 minutes of the event.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Dustin Wood, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 34-6, $5,660

2^nd:         Derrick Blake, Rockwood, Tenn., eight bass, 26-12, $2,730

3^rd:          Anthony Hawkins, Pell City, Ala., eight bass, 22-15, $2,532

4^th:          Michael Smith, Andalusia, Ala., 10 bass, 22-5, $1,274

5^th:          Mike Cavender, Phenix City, Ala., 10 bass, 21-14, $1,092

6^th:          Henry Golden, Tallassee, Ala., 10 bass, 21-2, $1,001

7^th:          Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., eight bass, 20-14, $1,010

8^th:          Russell Sapp, Lincoln, Ala., seven bass, 19-13, $819

9^th:          Bobby Padgett, LaGrange, Ga., nine bass, 16-15, $1,028

10^th:        James Hill, Ozark, Ala., six bass, 16-10, $637

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 

Hawkins caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $712.

Rushing wins co-angler title

Wesley Rushing of Abbeville, Alabama, won the co-angler division and earned $2,730 with a two-day cumulative catch of nine bass weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Wesley Rushing, Abbeville, Ala., nine bass, 17-15, $2,730

2^nd:         Jeff Huddleston, Ohatchee, Ala., seven bass, 15-5, $1,365

3^rd:          Mike Chirico, Brundidge, Ala., four bass, 12-7, $909

4^th:          Rusty Smith, Six Mile, S.C., five bass, 12-5, $837

5^th:          Franklin McCutcheon, Jacksonville, Ala., four bass, 11-9, $546

6^th:          Carl Della Torre, Alachua, Fla., six bass, 11-5, $501

7^th:          Brandon Mayhann, Wewahitchka, Fla. six bass, 10-14, $455

8^th:          Jeff Norwood, Rogersville, Ala., five bass, 10-0, $410

9^th:          Christopher Haynes, Valley, Ala., four bass, 8-4, $414

10^th:        Chance Hebert, Norcross, Ga., four bass, 7-10, $319

Ryan Muccio of Columbia, Alabama, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Saturday, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $356.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. 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.