In the second of back-to-back weekends of fishing tournament action on the Columbus Pool of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, a heap of local fishermen left their mark on the water and in the standings with one area angler taking home a first-place finish.
Caledonia’s Mark Wade navigated the scorching heat and difficult bites on Sunday to capture first in the co-angler division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League, a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers that is run by Major League Fishing, with a haul of three bass for 6 pounds and 14 ounces.
Wade just beat the 6 pounds, 9 ounces of second-place finisher Thomas Alexander of Austin, Ark., for the win and along with a trophy, Wade earned $1,160 for his efforts. Reggie Thornton of Columbus finished in third place with three bass weighing a total of 6 pounds.
In the boater division it was Pascagoula’s Josh Williams who claimed the win with a total of five fish for 14 pounds and 13 ounces and took home a prize of $2,420. Starkville’s Brandon Bell caught five bass for 12 pounds and 3 ounces for a fifth-place finish, Mitch Crane of Columbus finished in eighth place with five fish for 11 pounds and 7 ounces and Clint Pegg of Caledonia tied for 10th with 10 pounds, five ounces.
Ray Higginbotham of Brooksville won the Big Bass co-angler award after catching a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass for $100.
Even after a 10th-place finish, Caledonia’s Pegg leads all anglers in the boater division with 711 points in the Angler of the Year race with Columbus’ Thornton leading the pack in the co-angler division with 724 points. The top 45 fisherman based on the point standings, along with the tournament winners of the five qualifying events, will earn the right to battle in the BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala., from Oct. 8-10.
The fisherman in the boaters category will compete for the top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard motor, which is worth $50,000. The top co-anglers will compete for another Phoenix bass boat worth $33,500. The top seven finishers of the regional move on to fish in the BFL All-American.
Columbus has been a bass fishing tournament hot-spot this year, seeing stops on its waters by the Bassmaster Elite Series and the Mississippi Bass Nation High School Tournament already – and it’s not done either. On June 27, Mississippi Bass Nation will return to Columbus for a state championship qualifier in its adult angler series.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
