Brandon’s Coker Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on Ross Barnett Reservoir
West Point’s Armstrong Wins Co-angler Division
BRANDON, Miss. – Local boater Clyde Coker of Brandon, brought five bass to the scale Saturday totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Ross Barnett Reservoir in Brandon, Mississippi. For his victory, Coker earned a total of $4,315.
“The water temperatures had dropped, so I started out throwing a spinnerbait in the morning,” said Coker, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I caught a bunch of short fish, then switched over to a ChatterBait.
“When the wind picked up and the sun came out they wouldn’t hit the ChatterBait anymore, so I started swimming a jig and that is what the majority of my fish came on.”
Coker said he was mainly fishing main-lake flats in 3 feet of water. His jig of choice was a green-pumpkin and orange-colored Blacks Custom jig. He used a twin-tailed trailer with the tails dyed chartreuse.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
1st: Clyde Coker of Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-13, $4,315
2nd: Taurian Parks of Clinton, Miss., three bass, 11-7, $2,157
3rd: Joel Barber of Brandon, Miss., five bass, 11-2, $1,439
4th: Andy Graves of Clarksdale, Miss., two bass, 10-9, $1,617
5th: Mike Jones of Brandon, Miss., four bass, 9-15, $1,063
6th: Andy Coy of Corinth, Miss., four bass, 9-4, $1,291
7th: Lloyd Pickett Jr. of Bartlett, Tenn., two bass, 9-2, $683
7th: Gary Caruso of Baton Rouge, La., two bass, 9-2, $683
9th: Darrell Hunter of Lena, Miss., two bass, 8-13, $575
10th: Bryant Adam of Madison, Miss., three bass, 8-8, $503
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Graves brought a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $610.
Coy was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $2,157 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:
1st: Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Miss., five bass, 17-10, $2,157
2nd: Desmond Champion of El Dorado, Ark., three bass, 13-5, $1,384
3rd: David Hug of Collierville, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $717
4th: Louie Parkman Jr. of Brandon, Miss., three bass, 8-0, $503
5th: Daniel Corkern of Florence, Miss., two bass, 7-2, $581
6th: Tim Davis of Laurel, Miss., two bass, 7-1, $396
7th: Joel Ross of Brandon, Miss., two bass, 6-14, $460
8th: Chris Godfrey of Columbus, Miss., two bass, 6-8, $324
9th: Chris Bray of Southaven, Miss., two bass, 5-12, $288
10th: Tyler Patterson of Tupelo, Miss., one bass, 5-11, $252
Champion caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $305.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Ross Barnett Reservoir was the first of five qualifying events in the Mississippi Division.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Mississippi Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, hosted by the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine 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 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held April 30 through May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina and is hosted by Visit Anderson. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
# # #