Arkansas’ Sandidge Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Regional Tournament on Red River Presented by Quaker State
Oklahoma’s Colwell Tops Co-angler Division
BOSSIER CITY, La. – Boater Jason Sandidge of Centerton, Arkansas, caught a three-day cumulative total of 15 bass weighing 31 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional event on the Red River presented by Quaker State. Sandidge netted $65,000 for his win, including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and an automatic berth into the 2018 BFL All-American Championship.
Sandidge said he spent the event working through a 50-yard stretch of water near the takeoff ramp, and that he caught around eight to 10 keepers a day.
“The spot was basically a logjam that toppled into a ditch,” said Sandidge, who earned his first career victory as a boater in BFL competition. “The ditch led into backwaters, and the fish used it as a highway. The logjam resembled a point and it was the first place they could stop and feed before they went shallow. There were some shad there as well.”
Sandidge primarily flipped a green-pumpkin and blue-sapphire-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw, adding that he dipped the pincers in chartreuse dye.
“I think the area held up because it was near deep water,” said Sandidge. “It was able to reload quickly, which was key.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2018 BFL All-American were:
1st: Jason Sandidge, Centerton, Ark., 15 bass, 31-12, $65,000
2nd: Randy Deaver, Blanchard, La., 15 bass, 30-7, $10,200
3rd: Ben Blaschke, Muldrow, Okla., 15 bass, 29-10, $5,000
4th: Randy Despino, Colfax, La., 14 bass, 26-5, $3,100
5th: John Shore, Owasso, Okla., 11 bass, 23-1, $2,000
6th: Nick Lebrun, Bossier City, La., 11 bass, 23-0, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Samuel Jenkins, Abita Springs, La., 14 bass, 23-0, $1,600
8th: Austin Parker, Broken Arrow, Okla., 13 bass, 21-7, $1,400
9th: James Marsh, Thomas, Okla., 12 bass, 21-5, $1,200
10th: Ed Barton, Vian, Okla., nine bass, 19-11, $1,000
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Nathan Colwell of Pryor, Oklahoma, won the Co-angler Division and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard with a three-day cumulative total of nine bass weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2018 BFL All-American were:
1st: Nathan Colwell, Pryor, Okla., nine bass, 17-5, $45,200
2nd: Jack Stegall, Carriere, Miss., 10 bass, 16-12, $5,050
3rd: Bobby Call, Wagoner, Okla., eight bass, 15-9, $2,500
4th: Cord Colwell, Pryor, Okla., five bass, 14-8, $1,500
5th: Keith Whipple, Iuka, Miss., six bass, 14-5, $1,000
6th: Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 12-11, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: James Callaghan, De Berry, Texas, six bass, 12-8, $800
8th: Brian Choate, Conway, Ark., eight bass, 12-3, $700
9th: Steve Standridge, Conway, Ark., five bass, 11-7, $600
10th: Daniel Corkern, Florence, Miss., seven bass, 10-12, $500
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Regional Tournament on the Red River was hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission.
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. The 2018 All-American will be held on Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, May 31-June 2 and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission and the Red River Waterway Commission. 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 258 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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