The final day proved to be just as tough as the first two days of competition, for most of the 94 anglers participating in the Central Division Championship, this week in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Only four anglers were able to bring a five fish limit to the scales on the final day. Jeffery Sullivan, of Starkville, MS provided the largest limit with a 14.06 sack, which was the largest catch of the entire week. Brian Maloney of Missouri had 10.09 while Stewart Ryan of Oklahoma had 10.06 and BJ Gibson weighed 10.04 and Tim Carmouche of Louisiana turned in 10.02 pounds. All other anglers were under ten pounds for the day. The Big Bass of the day went to Jeffrey Sullivan, of Mississippi, with a 4.12 lunker.

The overall individual winner turned out to be Johnny Babb from Holdenville, OK with a three day total of 26.08. Hoyt Akins of Arkansas made a run, but ended up in second with 23.03 pounds. Third place belonged to Jason Benjamin of Kansas with 22.05. The only other angler above twenty pounds was Joseph Webster of Misissippi with 20.11 pounds. When asked, most anglers reported catching most of their fish on topwater frogs and then some type of plastic creature baits, fishing around the grasslines.

In the overall states competition, Oklahoma came out on top again today to successfully defend their 2014 state, team championship. Their twelve team members compiled a total weight of 122.10 while Mississippi ended up with 110.12 pounds, to take the runner up spot. Coming in third was the team of Arkansas with 97.03 pounds.

There were also sixteen members who earned a spot in the upcoming 2016 TBF Federation National Championship. The top two anglers from each of the eight competing states are as follows:

Oklahoma: Johnny Babb & Stewart Ryan

Mississippi: Joseph Webster & Jeffery Sullivan

Arkansas: Hoyt Akins & Mike Palmer

Kansas: Jason Benjamin & Davis Heffel

Texas: Tyler Fisher & Dennis Hastings

Missouri: Brian Maloney & Cole Findley

Louisiana: Seth Lablanc & Tim Carmouche

Nebraska: Pat Klausen & Terry Hussey

With the Central Division, now in the books, we want to say a big “Thanks” to the folks of Aberdeen, Mississippi. Everyone there went out of their way to make sure all the anlgers had a good time while in Aberdeen. Also a big debt of gratitude goes out to the host state of Mississippi, the President and his wife, Edwin & Angie Gregory. Their dedication to the Federation and the anglers w=is second to none. They worked non-stop for almost a year to see that everything went off without a hitch. Finally, too all the volunteers and alternates who came and worked the event, things went smoothly because of your efforts. Thanks to all who had a part in this event.

For Complete results check out our results page HERE

For the event Photo Gallery Click HERE

Joseph Webster of Fulton, Mississippi retained his overall lead today, but the margin of his lead was cut in half, from five pounds, down to just under 3 pounds. Webster weighed just 6.06 on day two and only managed three keepers. He said there are still plenty of quality fish in his area, but today they were just pushing his bait out of their way, and not really trying to eat it. As a result, a lot of his bites ended up coming off before they got to the boat. Falling water levels around the area are making the bites harder to come by each day. However, with one day of fishing left, almost two thirds of the 94 anglers still are within 5 pounds of the top two qualifying spots in each state. That is just one bite away from possibly going to the Federation National Championship next spring. It is going to be a shootout tomorrow at the final day weigh in.

There were only three limits weighed in today and only two of them were double digit weights. Tyler Fisher of Texas weighed in the largest limit of the day with 11.11 pounds. 

Hoyt Akins, of Arkansas followed suit with a limit weighing 11.10 pounds.

In all there were three limits and 66 of 94 anglers weighed at least one fish on Thursday.

The daily big bass award on Thursday went to David Sherrer of Louisiana with a nice 4.07 largemouth.

 Special Guest Emcee “Mayor Cecil Belle” of Aberdeen was on hand on day 2 to help conduct todays weighin ceremonies.

With one day of fishing left, here are the top two leaders in each state:

Oklahoma: Johnny Babb 16.09 & Mike Zachery 12.05

Kansas: Jason Benjamin 15.02 & Jayce Newell 10.09

Mississippi: Joseph Webster 19.02 & Jamie Long 10.01

Arkansas: Hoyt Akins 16.03 & Josh Ray 10.02

Texas: Tyler Fisher 14.10 & Dennis Hastings 9.05

Louisiana: Seth Leblanc 12.07 & Mark Brasher 7.12

Missouri: Cole Findley 7.14 & Brian Maloney 6.10

Nebraska: Terry Hussey 7.15 & Ben Milliken 7.09

Day 3 will be the hottest day of the week and conditions will be even tougher as more and more people will be on the water for the weekend events. And with so many anglers within five pounds of the top two spots in their state, a single bite can change everything on the final day. Regardless, of the tough conditions, sixteen anglers will advance to the 2016 Federation National Championship at the conclusion of tomorrows weigh-in.

Day 2 Results

Day 2 Pictures

After the first day, the one thing that is still certain, in this event, is that everyone is still in the hunt to make the championship. The keeper bites were few and far between as only 102 keeper fish were weighed in by the 94 anglers. There was only one limit weighed in today and it belonged to Joseph Webster of Fulton, Mississippi with 12.12 pounds.

  Eight other anglers have a weight of just over 6 pounds going into the second day of competition on the Tenn-Tom Waterway in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Most every angler in each of the 8 competing states, still has an opportunity to be one of the top two anglers from their state, come Friday.

Ben Milliken got off to a good start with two fish that weighed 7.09 pounds. He also brought the biggest bass of the day to the scales with a nice 5.05 lunker.

The top two anglers from each of the eight states are as follows:

Kansas: David Heffel 6.08 & Jayce Newell 6.01

Mississippi: Joseph Webster 12.12 & Jamie Long 6.09

Oklahoma: Johnny Babb 6.15 & Brandon Moss 4.14

Nebraska: Ben Milliken 7.09 & Terry Hussey 5.11

Arkansas: Mike Palmer 6.08 & Josh Ray 6.08

Missouri: Cole Findley 6.01 & Tim Biondo 4.15

Louisiana: Mark Brasher 4.07 & Seth Leblanc 4.06

Texas: John Brothers 4.13 & Rick Rickman 3.09

The daily weigh-ins begin at 3:00 pm each of the next two days at Aberdeen Marina.

View Day 1 Pictures 

View Day 1 Results

The 2015 Northwest Division Championship presented by Berkley is over, but it was a “rare” occurrence and will be talked about for a long time to come. Washington big stick Aaron Eckterncamp catching a “Rare” unheard of bag of fish from the tournament waters, locking up the individual division champions title and Montana winning its first Division Championship in more than a decade for sure and possibly its first in history (no one is quite sure).

In a rare occurrence, all 54 anglers weighed in at least one fish every day of the three day event. There was not one single zero in three days. That is pretty impressive on any body of water. The Noxon Reservoir in upper northwest Montana made a name for itself this weekend with some impressive limits of fish. The average size limits are normally around 12 to 14 pounds. A good sack of fish would be anything above 16 pounds and anything above that would be rare.

Day one saw 47 of the 54 anglers bring in a limit of bass. The big bag on day one belonged to Brian Sanders of Sutherlin, OR with a 16.02 pound sack of bass. The biggest bass of the day belonged to Randy Gust of Osburn, ID with a 5.07 smallmouth. On the second day of competition, 48 out of 54 anglers brought a limit of fish to the scales. Aaron Echternkamp of Moses Lake, WA shocked the crowd with a bag that weighed one ounce shy of 21 pounds, at 20.15. Daily big bass honors on Day 2 went to Dillon Thomas, of Green River, WY with a 6.07 pound bucketmouth. And to finish the event, Day three saw three different anglers bring in bags of 17 plus pounds, while 45 of the 54 anglers recorded limits on Friday. The biggest bag belonged to Bryson Mort, from Post Falls, ID with 17.05 pounds. The final big bass of the tournament went to Casey Clark from Lambert, MT with a nice 5.10 largemouth.

In the individual category, the overall winner of the event was Aaron Echternkamp with an impressive three day weight of 50.11 pounds. He was the only angler to reach the 50 pound club. For his efforts he received the overall Champions plaque and earned a spot at the TBF Federation National Championship next spring, representing Washington.

The other qualifier from Washington was Peter Kline. The other 8 qualifiers were as follows: IDAHO: Bryson Mort & Loron Torok, MONTANA: Stan Fisher & Danny Stamper, OREGON: Nicholas Fitzsimmons & Thomas Hartshorn, WYOMING: Zach Lugibihl & Lee Thomas. Congratulations to these ten qualifiers for the TBF National Championship.

In the competition among the states the final results looked like this:

Montana 437.14

Idaho 417.05

Washington 416.03

Oregon 360.10

Wyoming 179.03

Congratulations to Montana for a well deserved win in a total team effort.

What a great week in Montana. Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all who were involved in making this event a success. Thompson Falls Chamber of Commerce, Lakeside Resort & Motel & The Trout Creek Community Improvement Association all played a part in getting this event scheduled in Montana. Hosts for this event were Lakeside Resort & Motel, John & Julie Harris and then Trout Creek Motel with Bill & Yvonne Stevenson. Both of these places are fine places to stay with clean rooms and great people to take care of you while you are there. If you ever get a chance to get to upper Northwest Montana, I highly recommend you look these folks up. Thanks for a wonderful week in Montana.

 For Day 3 Photo Gallery CLICK HERE

For Complete Standings CLICK HERE