College Anglers Sinclair and Flack Win 2016 Alabama Bass Trail Lake Martin
Father / Son Teams Round out Top Three Finishers in Southern Division Opener
by Dan O’Sullivan
Alexander City, Ala. February 20, 2016 – There are two types of competitors in the world, the wiser, more intellectual “old bulls, and the faster more aggressive “young bulls.” At the first event of the 2016 Alabama Bass Trail Southern Division at Lake Martin near Alexander City, the young bulls wound up sitting atop the heap.
Caiden Sinclair and Ethan Flack, college anglers from the University of Alabama fishing team put together a strong pattern that enabled them to produce a 16.66-pound limit of Lake Martin largemouth the earned them their first major tournament victory and the $10,000 first prize.
Sinclair had shown his potential in the Bassmaster Carhartt College Southern Regional two weeks ago when he jumped out to the lead en route to a 10th place finish, and Flack, the son of 2014 ABT Championship winner Jackie Flack has a long history of excellence – it all came together today.
Building on what Sinclair had started at the College event, the pair utilized a pair of squarebilled crankbaits to capitalize on the warming weather conditions in the heavily stained water following several heavy rains. Sinclair and Flack reported staying within a mile of the Wind Creek Park launch site throwing a Strike King KVD 1.5 and 6th Sense Lures squarebill in Sexy Shad type colors. “We stayed pretty close to the takeoff and just hit every shallow piece of cover we could,” said Sinclair. “We were able to figure out a way to trigger strikes from these early prespawn females and put them in the boat.”
Flack said the expectations were high heading into the event. “We really had a good day and were able to land everything that bit. We caught fish all day, but really had the limit we weighed in at around 10:30 this morning,” he said. “With everything Caiden found we expected to have a good event, but you don’t expect it to go this well. It’s really humbling to be able to win an event like this with the amount of talent that the Alabama Bass Trail draws; it’s a little overwhelming right now.”
The father / son team of Colby and Kevin Wells from Pensacola, Fla. finished in second place with a total weight of 15.97 pounds. The pair started their day by landing a 7.25-pound largemouth at 7:30 in the morning and building from there. That behemoth would wind up being the Mountain Dew Big Bass of the tournament, and gave them a foundation to their day.
They used a pair of techniques to boat their limit. “We caught the big one and two other good ones on a 1/4-ounce green pumpkin Skinny Bear Jig and Zoom Critter Craw trailer, then filled out our limit with a Japan Craw colored SKT Mini MR crankbait by Lucky Craft,” they reported. “It was a great day, and to be able to do it together made it even more special.
Another father / son team, Scott and Taylor Ashley rounded out the top three with a strong, 15.60-pound performance that netted them a third place finish and the $4,000 prize as well as the ABT gear bonus for being the highest finisher wearing Alabama Bass Trail apparel.
The top 10 finishers are listed below. For complete standings visit the website at http://dev-alabama-bass-trail.pantheonsite.io/tournament-series/lm-results/
| Place | Team | Total Weight | Big Fish | Earnings |
| 1 | Caiden Sinclair/Ethan Flack | 16.66 | $10,000 | |
| 2 | Colby Wells/Kevin Wells | 15.97 | 7.25 | $5,000 |
| 3 | Scott Ashley/Taylor Ashley | 15.6 | $4,000 | |
| 4 | Matt McSweeney/Rod McSweeney | 14.53 | $3,000 | |
| 5 | Radney Atchison/Joe Wikoff | 14.44 | $2,000 | |
| 6 | Jimmy Miller/Chris Miller | 14.12 | $1,000 | |
| 7 | Tony Hogan/Vernon Ward | 13.91 | 4.6 | $900 |
| 8 | Shaye Baker/Ben Weldon | 13.87 | $800 | |
| 9 | Jeremy Headley/Anthony Goggins | 13.19 | $700 | |
| 10 | Mike Hardin/Michael Hardin | 12.93 | $600 |
The sponsors of the 2016 Alabama Bass Trail include; Bill Penney Toyota, Phoenix Bass Boats, Garmin, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Wind Creek Hospitality – Wetumpka, Wind Creek Hospitality – Montgomery, Alabama Tourism Department, SCA Performance, Mt. Dew, Boat US, T-H Marine Supplies, AllState, TVA, Alabama Power, Fish Neely Henry Lake.com, Lew’s Fishing, Frogg Toggs, Crossed Industries, Alabama Foundation Specialist, Costa, YETI, Leer, E3
For information about Alabama Bass Trail and for complete tournament standings visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.
The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.
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