Clayton Boulware of Zavalla, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 24 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday, Feb. 15, to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Navionics. For his victory, Boulware took home $4,948.

“I ran to a creek bend on the north end of the lake that has a hump with clay and rock on it,” said Boulware, who logged the first BFL win of his career. “That slight elevation is called the ‘sweet spot’ and it’s only a 10- by 10-foot square. The key is to pull in there and see if there’s shad. If they’re there, you’ll likely get a limit within minutes. You have to be quick though, because the bite usually dies off by 8 a.m.”

Boulware said he arrived at the spot around 7:45 a.m. and used a Citrus Shad-colored Bomber Fat Free Shad Crankbait to begin accruing his winning stringer. “I quickly caught a 5½- and 6-pounder in the sweet spot, all before 8 a.m.. The bite slowed around 8:30 so I took out a Texas-rigged, Blue Fleck-colored Big Bite Baits Kriet Tail Worm and boated two 4-pounders by 9.”

With four keepers in the livewell, Boulware said he caught his fifth using a homemade shaky-head jig rigged with a Blue Fleck Big Bite Baits Finesse Worm before the sweet spot went dormant. From there, he ran farther north to try and cull before his day concluded.

“The final area I targeted was a pocket that had some milfoil,” said Boulware. “I caught one more on a white Z-Man ChatterBait and culled, and that’s what I took to the scale. Luckily the five bass I had were enough to win.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Clayton Boulware , Zavalla, Texas, five bass, 24-11, $4,948
2nd: Domonick Poullard, Houston, Texas, five bass, 23-15, $2,474
3rd: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 22-10, $1,649
4th: Stephen Johnston, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 22-0, $1,910
5th: Phil Marks, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 20-12, $990
6th: Blake Schroeder, Whitehouse, Texas, five bass, 20-4, $866
6th: Albert Collins, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 20-4, $866
8th: Troy Roder, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 19-13, $742
9th: Charles Dubroc, Hessmer, La., five bass, 18-10, $960
10th: Billy Guinn, Shreveport, La., five bass, 18-9, $577

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Stephen Johnston caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $755.

Matthew Derr of Tyler, Texas, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to earn $2,474 and win the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Matthew Derr, Tyler, Texas, five bass, 17-9, $2,474
2nd: Matthew Kay, League City, Texas, five bass, 14-7, $1,237
3rd: Wesley Meeks, Mont Belvieu, Texas, five bass, 14-5, $824
4th: Russell Lewis, Pineville, La., five bass, 13-15, $577
5th: John Goebel, Lumberton, Texas, five bass, 13-12, $495
6th: Joe Marino, Bryan, Texas, five bass, 13-10, $454
7th: Clay Phillips, Huntington, Texas, five bass, 13-9, $412
8th: Matt Hilton, Laurel, Miss., five bass, 13-7, $371
9th: James Callaghan, De Berry, Texas, four bass, 13-6, $330
10th: Joshua Wendt, Fulshear, Texas, five bass, 13-4, $289

Michael Conaway of Magnolia, Texas, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $377.