“I caught them all flipping laydowns in the backs of spawning pockets,” said Sumter, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I stayed in the Webbers Falls pool and fished in the Spaniard Creek area and probably hit five different pockets. I think they were moving in to spawn, but the water was too dirty to see them.”
Sumter said he used a Texas-rigged, black and blue- or green pumpkin-colored YUM Christie Critter with a 5/16-ounce weight.
“My fish were in less than 3 feet of water. As soon as I’d pitch in and pick it up they’d be there, probably hitting it on the fall,” said Sumter. “I caught six keepers and weighed all largemouth. Four of my fish came by 8:30 [a.m.] and two more around noon, which culled a smaller one.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Brit Sumter, Prairie Grove, Ark., five bass, 18-1, $4,315
2nd: Nick Kincaid, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 16-12, $2,157
3rd: Brian Dossey, Okmulgee, Okla., five bass, 15-5, $1,439
4th: Jacob Keenom, Meeker, Okla., five bass, 15-2, $1,007
5th: Phillip Lunceford, Stigler, Okla., five bass, 13-13, $863
6th: Mark Shadowens, Kiefer, Okla., five bass, 13-12, $791
7th: John Soukup, Agra, Okla., five bass, 13-9, $919
8th: Chuck Nelson, Elmore City, Okla., five bass, 13-3, $747
9th: Rodney Copeland, Sallisaw, Okla., five bass, 12-13, $575
10th: Brandon Linney, Tahlequah, Okla., three bass, 12-10, $478
10th: Matt Williams, Prairie Grove, Ark., four bass, 12-10, $478
Chris Ogan of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, caught a 6-pound, 8-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $610. Matt Wright of Clay Center, Kansas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,157 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Matt Wright, Clay Center, Kan., five bass, 13-12, $2,157
2nd: Russell Vandiver, Wyandotte, Okla., five bass, 13-4, $1,079
3rd: Steve Sanders, Gore, Okla., three bass, 10-11, $917
4th: Jackie Copeland, Sallisaw, Okla., four bass, 10-7, $503
5th: Tej Lad, Tulsa, Okla., four bass, 9-9, $431
6th: Rick Blosser, Tulsa, Okla., four bass, 9-6, $446
7th: Steven Whitaker, Sallisaw, Okla., four bass, 9-3, $360
8th: Drake Lumpkin, Ft. Gibson, Okla., three bass, 8-13, $306
8th: Keith Sherwood, McAlester, Okla., four bass, 8-13, $306
10th: Nic Conger, Fort Smith, Ark., four bass, 8-9, $252
Jimmy Green of Tulsa, Oklahoma, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $305.