BROOKELAND, Texas (June 10, 2019) – Boater Rylon Ganey of Pineville, Louisiana, won Saturday’s Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces. For his win, Ganey took home $6,362. Ganey said he primarily flipped hay grass and bushes in two areas to catch his fish. His first area – in Mill Creek – only gave up one keeper. It was his second stop, though, that really jumpstarted his day.
“I ran up to my second area across the lake from Mill Creek around 9 [a.m.], flipped in a bush, and within five flips I caught an 8-pounder,” said Ganey, who notched his first victory in FLW competition. “That set the tone. I knew I had a good chance to place in the top five with a kicker like that.
“Within another hour I filled my limit,” continued Ganey. “I culled three times – all in that second area. I got a lot of big bites there in practice and kept getting fish that I needed there Saturday.”
Ganey said he used Watermelon Red Flake-colored Strike King Rage Tail Denny Brauer Structure Bugs, rigged with either ¾- or 1-ounce weights depending on how thick the cover was. He threw them on a trio of Duckett White Ice Casting rods with 13 Fishing Concept “A” casting reels, spooled with 65-pound-test PowerPro Spectra braided line.
“The rods were strong and really helped me pull those fish out of the bushes – they have a great backbone on them.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Rylon Ganey, Pineville, La., five bass, 20-11, $6,362
2nd: Eric Leger, Mamou, La., five bass, 19-6, $2,353
3rd: Jarred Williams, Bunkie, La., five bass, 19-4, $1,502
4th: Jame Dubroc, Bunkie, La., five bass, 18-14, $1,052
5th: Tommy Mackey, Bryan, Texas, five bass, 17-12, $1,151
6th: Matthew McArdle, Humble, Texas, five bass, 17-0, $826
7th: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 16-10, $751
8th: Ryan Pinkston, Center, Texas, five bass, 16-3, $676
9th: Jerry King, Flint, Texas, five bass, 16-2, $601
10th: Jim Dillard, West Monroe, La., five bass, 16-0, $526
Ganey’s big kicker bass ended up weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $655. Michael Glynn of Boerne, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,353 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Michael Glynn, Boerne, Texas, five bass, 18-9, $2,353
2nd: Hannah Gryder, Milam, Texas, five bass, 17-9, $1,127
3rd: Pete Lammons, Houston, Texas, five bass, 15-12, $801
4th: Zane Leblanc, Reserve, La., five bass, 15-2, $853
5th: Ryan Bourque, Slidell, La., five bass, 14-10, $451
6th: Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 13-15, $413
7th: Brian Tolley, Katy, Texas, five bass, 13-5, $526
8th: Clark Moore, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 13-2, $338
9th: Sammy Strong, Orange, Texas, five bass, 13-0, $281
9th: David Beason, Evans, La., five bass, 13-0, $281
Leblanc caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $327.