SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (Feb. 27, 2006) - Boater Bryan Douglas of Hazel Green, Ala., earned $6,000 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Guntersville. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Choo Choo Division events and featured 200 boaters vying for the win, which earned Douglas 200 points in the Boater Division.
Douglas' winning catch of five bass weighed 22 pounds, 10 ounces. Douglas threw a Rat-L-Trap over midlake hydrilla stubble in 5 to 7 feet of water to catch his bass. Interestingly, Douglas' win, his first on the BFL, came on his birthday.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Clark Smith Jr. of Pell City, Ala. (five bass, 22 pounds, 3 ounces, $3,000); Steve Gautney of Decatur, Ala. (five bass, 20 pounds, 2 ounces, $2,000); Kevin Stubblefield of Scottsboro (five bass, 20 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,400) and Matt Vanzant of Sylacauga, Ala. (five bass, 18 pounds, 15 ounces, $1,200). Derek Hicks of Rocky Face, Ga., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $1,000 for a 7-pound, 11-ounce bass he caught on a handmade jig.
Smith earned an additional $500 for the Ranger Cup award.
Carl Pritchett of Scottsboro, Ala., bested 200 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $3,000 as the co-angler winner, thanks to three bass weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught while fishing a Rat-L-Trap. The bulk of Pritchett's weight came from an astonishing 12-pounder that ties for the fifth-largest bass in the history of FLW Outdoors and the largest so far of 2006. That bass earned Pritchett an additional $500 for the big-bass award.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Greg Gilley of Boaz, Ala. (five bass, 17 pounds, 15 ounces, $1,500); Glen Black of Jacksonville, Fla., (four bass, 15 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,000) Alan Tatum of Ringgold, Ga., (four bass, 15 pounds, 5 ounces, $700) and in a fifth-place tie were Jeff Mason of Falkville, Ala., and Paul Higdon of Rainsville, Ala. Mason caught three bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce and Higdon caught four bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce. Both anglers earned $600.
The Choo Choo Division's next event will be held March 25 on Wheeler Lake near Decatur, Ala., followed by an event on Weiss Lake near Centre, Ala., April 29. The fourth event will be held June 3 on Neely Henry near Gadsden, Ala., and the Choo Choo Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 23-24 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Guntersville near Scottsboro.