Sullivan Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division Opener on Ross Barnett Reservoir

Jackson’s Churchill tops Co-angler field

BRANDON, Miss. – Local angler Corey Sullivan of Brandon, weighed in three bass totaling 12 pounds, 12 ounces, Saturday to win the first T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division event of 2017 on Ross Barnett Reservoir. Sullivan took home $5,457 for his victory.

“In the morning I fished my go-to area but there wasn’t much action,” said Sullivan, who logged his first career-win in FLW competition. “When I left, I noticed there were a lot of boats scrambling. Those two observations told me it was going to be a slow day.

“I began running points with hard bottoms,” continued Sullivan. “I threw a Black Back and Chartreuse-colored Strike King KVD Rattling Square Bill Crankbait and caught one keeper. That catch told me where the bass were in terms of depth. Everyone else was expecting them to be shallow, but the water temperature had dropped. I knew I had to slow down, so that’s what I did.”

Sullivan said he also threw a June Bug-colored Zoom Lizard and a ½-ounce black and blue-colored Strike King Hack Attack Jig.

“Most of my bass came from 4½ to 5 feet of water,” said Sullivan. “Each of my three baits ended up producing a bass that I weighed in.  I knew I had solid fish, but I didn’t think a few 3- or 4-pounders was going to win it. I was pleasantly surprised.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          Corey Sullivan, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 12-12, $5,457

               2^nd:         Bradley Burns, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 12-1, $2,728

               3^rd:          Teddy Cranford, Seminary, Miss., five bass, 11-15, $2,019

               4^th:          Percy Jones, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 11-14, $1,273

               5^th:          John Goul, Philadelphia, Miss., four bass, 11-8, $1,091

               6^th:          Ramey Harrell, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 11-5, $1,000

               7^th:          John Bailey, Terry, Miss., four bass, 11-1, $909

               8^th:          Alan Smith, Brandon, Miss., four bass, 11-0, $919

               9^th:          Kenny Churchill, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 10-8, $728

               10^th:        Bob Garrison, Baldwyn, Miss., three bass, 10-6, $1,512

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Garrison caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $875.

Nick Churchill of Jackson, Mississippi, weighed in five bass totaling 12 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division and the top prize of $3,317.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Nick Churchill, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 12-10, $3,317

               2^nd:         Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., four bass, 9-6, $1,395

               3^rd:          Weston Smedley, Birmingham, Ala., three bass, 8-12, $899

               4^th:          David Hug, Collierville, Tenn., two bass, 6-14, $628

               5^th:          Kameron Johnson, Brandon, Miss., two bass, 6-13, $538

               6^th:          Jason Swanner, West Memphis, Ark., four bass, 6-11, $493

               7^th:          Jason Rankin, Flora, Miss., three bass, 6-6, $448

               8^th:          Daniel Corkern, Florence, Miss., two bass, 6-2, $404

               9^th:          Lance Jackson, Starkville, Miss., two bass, 5-15, $359

               10^th:        Nicholas Quaintance, Russellville, Ala., three bass, 5-12, $314

Churchill also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $427.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.

The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

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