SHREVEPORT, La. (April 14, 2008) - Boater Mark Allen of Kemp, Texas, won the Bass Fishing League Louisiana/Texas Division bass fishing tournament on the Red River Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 18 pounds. The victory earned Allen $3,697 plus a $652 Ranger contingency bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Ouachita Regional Championship in Mount Ida, Ark., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"I think my Abu Garcia reels, Falcon rods and Berkley Trilene Fluorocarbon line really made a difference," said Allen, who has won seven tournaments with FLW Outdoors since 2001, earning over $120,000. "There were a whole lot of people around me, and I was just slowing down, fishing really methodically in that area to get of some of the better fish in there."
High water and muddy conditions prompted Allen to find clear water, where he caught seven keeper bites for the day, flipping a Sweet Beaver and using a Texas-rigged lizard.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Glen Freeman of Converse, La. (five bass, 17-09, $2,175); Charles Hammack of New Caney, Texas (four bass, 11-14, $1,451); Jeff Holder of Bossier City, La. (five bass, 11-12, $1,015) and Richard Cunningham of Ragley, La. (five bass, 11-06, $870).
Jeremy Johnson of Longview, Texas, took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $615 for a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught on a frog.
Shannon Smith of Maud, Texas, earned $2,175 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to four bass weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces that he caught flipping timber with an oversized tube.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerrod Vaught of Mount Pleasant, Texas (five bass, 10-10, $1,088); John Ellender Jr. of Hemphill, Texas (three bass, 10-04, $726); Duane Olivier of Opelousas, La. (five bass, 10-00, $507) and James Covington of Denham Springs, La. and Daniel Perry of Pineville, La. (five bass, 9-08, $417).
Smith earned $307 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught flipping timber.
Louisiana/Texas Division anglers will visit the Red River in Natchitoches, La., May 17 for their third regular-season event, followed by an event on Toledo Bend in Many, La., June 28. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas, Sept. 20-21.