Published: May 22, 2008 11:46 pm      

Fox wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League tourney

Angler Tim Fox of Meridian won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Mississippi division tournament on the Columbus Pool of the Tombigbee River last Saturday. He had a five fish limit weighing 13 pounds 9 ounces. The victory earned Fox $3,705 and moved him into 5th place on the angler of the year list for the division.

Fox is now one step closer to qualifying for the Wheeler Lake Regional which will be held in Decatur, Alabama, Oct 9 - 11. Top prize in that tournament will be a new 198 VX Ranger Boat and Chevy Truck.

Fox won the BFL event on Columbus Pool back in 2005, and by winning another on one of the toughest days of the year proved it was not a fluke. Only 15 limits were caught on the boater side and none on the co-angler side. That’s 15 five fish limits of 12” bass out of 250 anglers. And that makes for some mighty tough fishing.

Wesley Wheat caught four bass weighing 5-13 and came in 3rd on the co-angler side. Mark Sullivan of Collinsville came in 15th in that division.



High finisher



Chris Dozier, of Collinsville, also had a good showing by virtue of a 15th place finish on the boater side of the tournament.

And Michael Dennis of nearby Cuba, Alabama finished in 11th place. Dennis is currently in 2nd place in the Mississippi Division points race.

Though the conditions were tough, Fox found a pattern that would ultimately prove to be the top producer on the day. His pattern consisted of fishing stumps and grass in one to three feet of water. All of the wood cover didn’t produce, but some stumps that were in grass patches turned out to be just a little better.

Fox made the best of the tough conditions by landing all five of the bites he got. And on that day, that was enough. “Wood and grass were the keys today,” commented Fox. “I started out with a Scum Frog and caught one keeper on that. Later I switched to a Strike King spinner bait and that got me four solid keeper fish.



Late start



The talented angler didn’t catch his first keeper until 9:30 and then worked hard until about 20 minutes before weigh when he boated his fifth and final keeper at 1:40. As it turned out that was enough to give him first place as well as lunker honors for the tournament.

“Catching the big fish of the tournament meant the most to me,” exclaimed Fox. “I’ve fished these events since the 80s when I got out of college and this is the first lunker prize for me!”

Fox also earned contingency money from Bass Cat Boats with the win. Fox credited his AES sunglasses with helping him spot submerged stumps where he was able to work his spinner baits to entice the finicky bass into biting. One other key was the 17 pound Vicious fluorocarbon fishing line that was strong enough and tough enough to hold up under the toughest conditions.

With five top finishers from the Meridian area, local anglers have proven once again just how talented our local anglers are. And who knows, another FLW champion may come from Meridian one day!