JASPER, Texas (Feb. 6, 2010) - Pro Cody Woods of Jacksonville, Texas, caught three bass weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the FLW American Fishing Series Texas Division bass fishing tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 32 pounds, 10 ounces. For his victory, Woods earned $24,680.
"It was slow today," Woods said. "The sun came out and I didn't want that to happen because it turned my bite off that I had going during the tournament. I knew where there were a few fish staging and I just happened to get lucky and catch three of them.
"I was so nervous (Friday) night just (to make the cut) that I poured a whole gallon of oil in my gas tank of my boat thinking it was my oil dispenser," Woods added. "I've never won anything like this before."
During the first two days of the tournament Woods used a floating Smithwick Rogue in three feet of water to catch his fish. On Saturday he switched to a red Rat-L-Trap with red hooks and managed to catch the winning three fish. Woods paired his Rat-L-Trap with braided line and threw it over grass in eight feet of water.
"With the braided line I can feel whether I hit grass or I have a bite," Woods said. "I can feel it when I rip out of it."
Rounding out the top five pros were:
2nd: Randy Cisler, Mesquite, Texas, 8 bass, 31-0, $8,391
3rd: Charles Bebber, Willis, Texas, 12 bass, 30-3, $5,923
4th: Tommy Martin, Hemphill, Texas, 15 bass, 30-1, $4,936
5th: Team Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 11 bass, 29-11, $4,442
Cisler caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday - a 10-pound, 8-ounce bass - that earned him the day's Big Bass award of $294.
Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and $9,882 cash, with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 24 pounds, 6 ounces.
Honeycutt caught three bass weighing 4-11 Thursday while fishing with pro David Mullins of Coppell, Texas, to open the tournament in 24th place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 10-14 to make the top-10 cut in second place while fishing with pro Timothy Griffin of Zapata, Texas. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with five bass weighing 8-13 while fishing with Cisler.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were:
2nd: Bo Standley, Silsbee, Texas, five bass, 20-0, $3,953
3rd: Sonny Kopech, Troup, Texas, 10 bass, 19-14, $1,976
4th: Kenneth Pellerin, Pasadena, Texas, 10 bass, 19-7, $1,729
5th: Danny Cherry, Kountze, Texas, 10 bass, 19-6, $1,482
Standley caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday - a 10-pound, 3-ounce bass - that earned him the day's Big Bass award of $196.
After three qualifying events are complete in each FLW American Series division - Central, Northern, Southeast, and Texas - the top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on the points standings from each division advance to the FLW American Fishing Series Invitational on Wheeler Lake, in Decatur Ala., Nov. 4-6. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the American Fishing Series Championship will also qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.