Photo MLF
BROOKELAND, Texas (KTRE) - A Broaddus angler won the season opener of the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League at Sam Rayburn Reservoir on Saturday.
Derek Mundy’s five-bass limit weighed a total of 40 pounds and 10 ounces, which was more than 12 pounds more than the second-place finisher’s total. Mundy earned $7,000 with the win.
According to a Major League Fishing press release, Mundy was one of four East Texans to finish in the top 10 of the bass fishing tournament, which was held at a marina in Brookeland.
Mundy said he found his fish in practice, but he had no idea how good his spot was going to be, the press release stated.
“You can’t look on the graph and see 40 pounds, but I knew I could have a good bag if they bit,” Mundy said in the press release. “It’s not guaranteed you’re going to roll up to your first spot and catch 30, much less 40. I caught the first four on a big crankbait and they busted up a bit.”
At that point, Mundy pulled out a jig and caught the last fish.
“I caught those five, all on the first stop, in about 20 minutes,” Mundy said.
The Broaddus angler said he caught his limit in about 17 feet of water in the mid-lake region.
Mundy said in the press release that he felt like he could relax after he caught five large fish, including an 11-pound, 10-ounce largemouth bass. The largemouth bass earned Mundy the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000.
“I took it easy and went to some Plan B stuff to try to get my co-angler on fish, but it never worked out – the wind got up pretty bad in the afternoon,” he admitted.
Mundy, who makes his living working on oil pipelines, said it was the biggest bag he has ever caught.
“It felt good,” he said in the press release. “I didn’t realize they were that big until I was checking on them to make sure they were doing alright in the livewell, but even then, I didn’t realize I had 40 pounds.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
- 1st: Derek Mundy of Broaddus, Texas, five bass, 40-10, $7,000
- 2nd: Cameron Mattison of Bossier City, La., five bass, 28-6, $3,000
- 3rd: Tommy Loving of Cypress, Texas, five bass, 22-14, $2,000
- 4th: Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, five bass, 17-11, $1,400
- 5th: Jimmy Hickman of Shreveport, La., five bass, 17-8, $1,200
- 6th: Cannon Bird of Marshall, Texas, five bass, 16–6, $1,100
- 7th: Chris McCall of Woodville, Texas, five bass, 15-15, $1,000
- 8th: Richard Ballard of Sulphur, La., five bass, 15-12, $1,400
- 9th: Dicky Newberry of Houston, Texas, five basses, 15-0, $800
- 10th: Bobby Vice of Orange, Texas, five bass, 14-11, $665
- 10th: Travis Franks of Lake Charles, La., five bass, 14–11, $665
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