Jeremy Knepper of Montgomery, Texas, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 27 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Knepper took home $5,261 for his efforts. Knepper said he caught his fish flipping bushes along an approximately 200-yard stretch near Veach Basin. He said he’d had some success at the area in practice, and decided to return to it during the event.
“The stretch had some bushes with deep water nearby. During practice, I had only gotten five bites – including a 6-pounder – and lost a good one at the boat,” said Knepper, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “It was one of those deals where I knew that if I could get five bites during the tournament, they’d be the right ones, but I wasn’t sure that I could get those five bites.”
Knepper said he arrived at the area first thing in the morning and within about 10 minutes, put a 9-pounder in the boat.
“I flipped into a bush, felt a hard tug and boat-flipped it. That one calmed me down. With the water dropping and the weather changing like it is, I wasn’t sure that the pattern was going to hold. But that one told me they were there,” said Knepper. “About 10 or 15 minutes later I caught one of my 5-pounders. I looked at the clock and saw it was about 8:15 (a.m.) and I knew I was way ahead of schedule.”
Knepper said he got a couple more bites, but could tell he had hit a mid-morning lull, so he decided to let the area rest.
“I didn’t want to go back through - I wanted to let it sit. You had to let the stretch rest and reload,” said Knepper. “I spent about two hours running the bank looking for similar water before coming back to the stretch. Then I got a 6-pounder and then a 5-pounder toward the end of it. With four fish in the boat, I let it rest again, and caught my fifth around 2 (p.m.).”
The Texas boater said he used one bait to catch his fish – a ½-ounce, Texas-rigged, Hematoma-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver on an Owner Jungle flipping hook.
Bryan Trahan caught an 11.10 lbs bass, the heaviest of the event in the Boater Divisionl.