COLUMBIANA, Ala. (May 5, 2014) – Warren Wyman of Calera, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League Bama Division tournament on Lay Lake. For his victory, Wyman earned $3,889.
“I had to change my game plan because we had a long fog delay,” said Wyman. “Normally, I would have started off with topwater but I didn’t get to do that because the sun was already up by the time we got to go out.
“I went and targeted some prespawn and spawning fish in a spawning area. It was an area with rocks, sand and grass altogether and the fish really like that. I started off flipping a jig and a Brush Hog around the grass until the sun got up enough so that I could see them.
“Later on I went to some other areas where I normally do really well, but I noticed that the water was very dingy,” added Wyman. “It seemed to me that the water had just gotten dirty, so I went back to where I started which was the only place I had seen clear water.
“Once I caught my last big one around 1 o’clock I was feeling pretty good,” finished Wyman. “But, I didn’t get any practice time for this event and I had caught some bed fish, so I thought someone else may have found some big ones in practice on a bed. I think that the dirty water actually helped me because the area that I chose to fish had fairly clear water.”
Wyman said that he used a variety of baits to put together his limit including a homemade jig, Zoom Brush Hog, a white Zipper finesse worm and a watermelon-colored homemade finesse worm.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 15-8, $1,944
3rd: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., five bass, 15-6, $1,297
4th: Kyle Mabrey, McCalla, Ala., five bass, 14-6, $907
5th: Bill Spratlin, Chelsea, Ala., five bass, 14-5, $745
5th: Terry Stevens, Marianna, Fla., five bass, 14-5, $745
7th: Matthew Owens, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 14-0, $648
8th: Ronnie McDonough, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-15, $583
9th: Chris Rutland, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 13-13, $519
10th: Chad Lynch, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-12, $454
Ezekiel Findley of Montevallo, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win $1,944 in the co-angler division. Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Marcus Corbett, Heflin, Ala., five bass, 11-12, $972
3rd: Charlie Allen, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 10-6, $649
4th: Taylor Smith, Dallas, Ga., three bass, 10-0, $454
5th: Jeff Huddleston, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 9-13, $389
6th: Josh Wissinger, Hayden, Ala., four bass, 9-9, $356
7th: Bill Granberry, Moody, Ala., four bass, 9-7, $324
8th: Matthew Hale, Gardendale, Ala., five bass, 8-14, $275
8th: Scott Noles, Woodland, Ala., four bass, 8-14, $275
10th: Riley Yeargan, Clanton, Ala., two bass, 8-0, $227
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 2-4 Regional Championship on the St. John’s River in Palatka, Fla. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.