Mississippi’s Coker Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on Ross Barnett Reservoir

West Point’s Armstrong Wins Co-angler Division

BRANDON, Miss. (March 10, 2020) – Local boater Clyde Coker of Brandon, brought five bass to the scale Saturday totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Ross Barnett Reservoir in Brandon, Mississippi. For his victory, Coker earned a total of $4,315.

“The water temperatures had dropped, so I started out throwing a spinnerbait in the morning,” said Coker, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I caught a bunch of short fish, then switched over to a ChatterBait.

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“When the wind picked up and the sun came out they wouldn’t hit the ChatterBait anymore, so I started swimming a jig and that is what the majority of my fish came on.”

Coker said he was mainly fishing main-lake flats in 3 feet of water. His jig of choice was a green-pumpkin and orange-colored Blacks Custom jig. He used a twin-tailed trailer with the tails dyed chartreuse.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

            1^st:       Clyde Coker of Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-13, $4,315

            2^nd:      Taurian Parks of Clinton, Miss., three bass, 11-7, $2,157

            3^rd:       Joel Barber of Brandon, Miss., five bass, 11-2, $1,439

            4^th:       Andy Graves of Clarksdale, Miss., two bass, 10-9, $1,617

            5^th:       Mike Jones of Brandon, Miss., four bass, 9-15, $1,063

            6^th:       Andy Coy of Corinth, Miss., four bass, 9-4, $1,291

            7^th:       Lloyd Pickett Jr. of Bartlett, Tenn., two bass, 9-2, $683

            7^th:       Gary Caruso of Baton Rouge, La., two bass, 9-2, $683

            9^th:       Darrell Hunter of Lena, Miss., two bass, 8-13, $575

            10^th:     Bryant Adam of Madison, Miss., three bass, 8-8, $503

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

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Graves brought a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $610.

Coy was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $2,157 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

            1^st:       Eddie Armstrong of West Point, Miss., five bass, 17-10, $2,157

            2^nd:      Desmond Champion of El Dorado, Ark., three bass, 13-5, $1,384

            3^rd:       David Hug of Collierville, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $717

            4^th:       Louie Parkman Jr. of Brandon, Miss., three bass, 8-0, $503

            5^th:       Daniel Corkern of Florence, Miss., two bass, 7-2, $581

            6^th:       Tim Davis of Laurel, Miss., two bass, 7-1, $396

            7^th:       Joel Ross of Brandon, Miss., two bass, 6-14, $460

            8^th:       Chris Godfrey of Columbus, Miss., two bass, 6-8, $324

            9^th:       Chris Bray of Southaven, Miss., two bass, 5-12, $288

            10^th:     Tyler Patterson of Tupelo, Miss., one bass, 5-11, $252

Champion caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $305.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Ross Barnett Reservoir was the first of five qualifying events in the Mississippi Division.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Mississippi Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, hosted by the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.