TUNICA, Miss. (June 16, 2008) - Boater Jeff Johnston of Marion, Ark., won the Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division bass fishing tournament on Tunica Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 9 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned Johnston $3,087 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Wheeler Lake Regional Championship in Decatur, Ala., Oct. 9-11, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"I won as a co-angler on the Columbus Pool in 2005, but to win as a boater is even better," Johnston said. "It's a great feeling. Especially with gas prices the way they are.
"We made a two-hour run one way and only had a couple of hours to fish," Johnston added. "So you can imagine we went through some gas. It was a gamble, but it paid off."
Johnston targeted a road bed three feet under the surface that dropped to six feet on the sides. Johnston flipped a green pumpkin jig with an electric blue trailer as well as a junebug-colored soft plastic crawfish imitator to three green bushes located on the submerged road bed.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Bob Burgess of Millington, Tenn. (three bass, 6-04, $1,816); Gene Brown of West Point, Miss. (two bass, 6-02, $1,210); Brad McCulley of Batesville, Miss. (two bass, 5-15, $847) and Danny Carter of Hernando, Miss. (two bass, 5-14, $726).
Ronnie Wall of Boyle, Miss., took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $465 for a 4-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught.
Larry McNeal of Ridgeland, Miss., earned $1,816 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to three bass weighing 6 pounds even that he caught fishing a green pumpkin lizard around wood in two feet of water.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jonathan Reeves of Hillsboro, Ala. (one bass, 4-02, $908); Andrew Harris of Jackson, Miss. (two bass, 3-09, $606); John Bubnik of Olive Branch, Miss. (two bass, 3-08, $424) and Mike Findley of Millington, Tenn. (two bass, 3-07, $363).
Reeves earned $232 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 4-pound, 2-ounce bass on a green pumpkin lizard with a chartreuse tail.
Mississippi Division anglers will visit Lake Ferguson in Greenville, Miss., Sept. 6-7 for a two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event.