Anthony Thomas of Jackson, Mississippi, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division event on Ross Barnett Reservoir. For his win, Thomas earned $5,475.

“I fished heavy grass patches in Pelahatchie Bay that had the coontail moss up under them,” says Thomas, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. “I had two areas, but one was more productive because there were bream bedding near the bass. Every year the bream seem to bed in the same area as the bass and they mess with them.”

Thomas says a natural-colored SPRO Dean Rojas Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 60 produced his best bites.

“I caught one fish chasing a bream in practice on a frog and it was cloudy, so I knew I’d do the same thing if it was cloudy during the tournament,” says Thomas. “I only had eight bites all day – four in the morning and then four more throughout the day with my biggest coming around 2 (p.m.)."

The top 10 boaters:

1st: Anthony Thomas, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 22-9, $5,475

2nd: Terry Whittington, Laurel, Miss., five bass, 19-5, $2,737

3rd: Michael Savell, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 18-9, $2,697

4th: Ramey Harrell, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-5, $1,277

5th: Dave Woodfin, Kosciusko, Miss., five bass, 15-10, $1,095

6th: Marty Torrence, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 14-6, $1,004

7th: Kenny Churchill, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 14-3, $912

8th: Jason Hannah, Forest, Miss., four bass, 13-5, $821

9th: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., five bass, 12-13, $930

10th: Shannon Denson, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 12-9, $639

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Savell weighed a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $870.

Petras wins co-angler title

Michael Petras of Diberville, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $2,668 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1st: Michael Petras, Diberville, Miss., four bass, 12-10, $2,668

2nd: Josh Taylor, Nesbit, Miss., three bass, 10-1, $1,334

3rd: Ken Pecanty, Vicksburg, Miss., four bass, 9-7, $988

4th: Justin Thomas, Braxton, Miss., three bass, 9-3, $673

5th: Marian Hall, Hattiesburg, Miss., two bass, 9-0, $954

6th: Leland Brown, Fulton, Miss., two bass, 7-10, $489

7th: Brent Ladnier, Wiggins, Miss., three bass, 7-1, $445

8th: Adam Horn, Madison, Miss., two bass, 7-0, $400

9th: Ray Higginbotham, Brooksville, Miss., three bass, 6-15, $356

10th: Tim Callahan, Houston, Miss., three bass, 6-10, $311

Hall caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $420.

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. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. 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.