ZWOLLE, La. (March 11, 2024) – Boater Tater Reynolds of Florien, Louisiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Toledo Bend Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Reynolds earned $3,845 for his victory.
In classic spring fashion, anglers fishing the Toledo Bend event saw borderline easy fishing evaporate on tournament day in the wake of an end-of-the-week cold front. Reynolds said that during the week prior to the tournament, consistently warm weather had pushed many bass to the banks to spawn, and it was possible to catch 20 to 30 pounds by sight-fishing. Just going down the bank throwing a vibrating jig, wacky worm or just about anything could produce 15 to 18 pounds.
“But this cold front finished them up on the bed or they just got finished in general during the week, and they were gone (from up shallow),” Reynolds said. “Four of my fish I weighed were postspawn.”
The tournament champ adjusted to the change by backing out of the shallows and targeting fish in 8 to 12 feet of water. Despite high winds that roiled the lake and forced many competitors to stay closer to takeoff, Reynolds made the call to make a 44-minute run to the south end of Toledo Bend. He lives on the lake down south and said that’s where he feels most confident.
Throughout the day, Reynolds relied on forward-facing sonar to catch roaming bass or bass around standing timber, but it wasn’t the usual cat-and-mouse “digital sight-fishing” approach. Prior to the rain, there was heavy pine pollen on the water’s surface. Reynolds said the rain spread the pollen throughout the water, which clouded up his sonar imaging.
“It clutters the screen so bad that you can’t see your bait,” he said. “I don’t think I saw my bait all day long. What I would do is I would kind of see a glob – just a little speck (a bass) – out there, and I would throw my bait in that direction. And when I’d get the bite, I’d catch the fish, but I never did see my bait on the scope all day.”
Reynolds caught his fish on two presentations: a 6th Sense Juggle Minnow on a 1/8-ounce 6th Sense Finesse Swimbait Jig Head and a 6th Sense Provoke 97DD Jerkbait.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Tater Reynolds, Florien, La., five bass, 20-3, $3,845
2nd: Lane Haeger, Flint, Texas, five bass, 18-4, $1,773
3rd: Bill Cook, Houston, Texas, five bass, 17-8, $1,626
4th: Daniel Bryant, Scott, La., five bass, 16-13, $827
5th: Randy Brewer, Bedford, Texas, five bass, 15-10, $709
6th: Brad Smith, Longview, Texas, five bass, 15-8, $650
7th: Reese Ray, Glenmore, La., four bass, 13-15, $591
8th: Charles Dubroc, Hessmer, La., five bass, 13-13, $532
9th: Zack Fogle, Longview, Texas, five bass, 13-7, $973 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
10th: Ricky Guy, Humble, Texas, five bass, 13-3, $414
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Bill Cook of Houston, Texas, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $445. Logan Slaughter of Dallas, Texas, won the co-angler division and $1,773 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 15-7, $1,773
2nd: Daryl Powell, Leesville, La., three bass, 12-14, $1,108
3rd: Allen Musser, Ada, Okla., four bass, 12-11, $502
3rd: Colton Hatzold, Montgomery, Texas, five bass, 12-11, $502
5th: Michael Glynn, Boerne, Texas, five bass, 12-3, $355
6th: Jeffrey Higgs, San Antonio, Texas, five bass, 11-10, $325
7th: Justin Overstreet, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 11-9, $295
8th: Clay Carpenter, Joyce, Texas, five bass, 11-3, $266
9th: Todd Brown, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 11-2, $236
10th: Al Longoria, Pottsboro, Texas, five bass, 10-14, $207
Powell earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $222, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Tater Reynolds of Florien, Louisiana, leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 744 points, while Allen Musser of Ada, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Strike King Co-Angler of the Year race with 715 points.
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