EUFAULA, Ala. (June 24, 2019) – Boater Clabion Johns of Social Circle, Georgia, won the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament on Lake Eufaula Saturday after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces. Johns netted $6,237 for his win.
“On Friday, there was a tremendous mayfly hatch. I ran to my first stretch of bugs on Saturday, but couldn’t get a bite,” said Johns, who earned his first win in FLW compeittion. “I ran up the Chattahoochee River to above Hatchechubee Creek, but never found any active mayflies, so I turned around and went with my backup plan – flipping mixed grass. I ran three stretches where I’ve caught them in the past, which had a mix of primose, pond weed and hyacinth and really picked them apart.”
Johns said his stretches spanned from Cowikee Creek to Florence Marina, and that he flipped a Hematoma-colored Big Bite Baits Real Deal Craw with a 1½-ounce Picasso weight and 4/0-sized Owner Jungle Flippin’ hook. His set up was paired with a 7-foot, 9-inch Extra Heavy-action Big Bear rod with an Abu Garcia Revo SX reel and spooled with 65-pound-test SpiderWire Stealth braided line.
“In the morning I got a ton of bites, but couldn’t land them. It was frustrating,” said Johns. “I didn’t lose any big fish, though. The first one I put in the boat was a 5-pounder. I probably had 15 keepers throughout the day and only upgraded once in the afternoon.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 19-9, $4,237 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Travis Northey, Headland, Ala., five bass, 19-6, $2,019
3rd: Lee Nunnally, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 18-1, $1,717
4th: Jack Tibbs, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 18-0, $942
5th: Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., five bass, 17-15, $1,057
6th: Ronnie Ray, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 16-7, $740
7th: Shane Powell, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 16-6, $673
8th: Mike Cavender, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 16-2, $606
9th: Jason Ninas, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 16-1, $538
10th: Andrew Whitaker, Iron City, Ga., five bass, 15-15, $471
Jerome Hubbard Sr. of Albany, Georgia, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $272. Edgar Salva of Conyers, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,169 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 20 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Edgar Salva, Conyers, Ga., five bass, 20-0, $2,169
2nd: Flint Murray, Leesburg, Ga., five bass, 15-14, $1,009
3rd: Cameron McBride, McDonough, Ga., five bass, 15-11, $675
4th: Chris Graham, Blue Ridge, Ga., five bass, 14-12, $472
5th: Ronald Harris, Jefferson, Ga., five bass, 13-8, $454
6th: Clifford Avery, Bonaire, Ga., five bass, 13-4, $370
7th: Blake Yarbrough, Fitzgerald, Ga., five bass, 12-11, $336
8th: Thom Dickson, Cartersville, Ga., five bass, 12-5, $303
9th: Preston Hatz, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 11-12, $269
10th: Frank Godwin Jr., Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 11-10, $235
Graham caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $272.