BROOKELAND, Texas (March 16, 2026) – Eighteen-year-old oater Colton Caskey of Campti, Louisiana, caught a total of five bass weighing 23 pounds, 15 ounces, Sunday, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The tournament was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division and the second of a back-to-back BFL tournament weekend at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. After finishing in 46th place and missing a payout in the first event on Saturday, Caskey earned $3,830 for his victory on Sunday.
“I made a long run in the morning and started off fishing some shallow timber without the (Garmin Live)’Scope ,” Caskey said. “I was catching a bunch of males –small ones. I had a limit of maybe 4 or 5 pounds. So, I decided to pull out off the bank and fish a couple of hard spots. I pulled up on one in 15 feet of water I hadn’t fished in a long time and cast up there with a jig and had one about 6 pounds that came off at the boat. Then I had another about 5 pounds that came off at the boat. So, I had lost two big ones on this one spot.
“So, I decided to turn on my ’Scope on to see what was there,” Caskey added. “And there was a good many of them. And I caught my first big one, an 8-14.”
Caskey continued to throw his ¾-ounce V&M Cliff Pace the Flatline Pacemaker Football Jig with a V&M J-Bug trailer as well as a Carolina rig with a V&M Swamp Hog and added another 6-pounder, one that weighed 4 pounds and then lost two more that he estimated at between 5 and 6 pounds. The lost fish weighed heavily on Caskey, and he feared he had blown his chances of a good finish in the tournament.
“It was rough,” Caskey said. “I lost a lot of fish right at the boat and was having problems with the net. I thought there was no chance I was going to win. They were biting really well today. Rayburn is typically a 30-pounds-to-win type of lake. And I weighed in a fish that was barely over a pound.
“I was very surprised,” Caskey went on to say about the win. “I’ve not been catching them very good out there. I caught one really big one in practice was all. I was grateful to have what I had.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Colton Caskey, Campti, La., five bass, 23-15, $3,830
2nd: Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, five bass, 19-10, $2,270 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
3rd: Zack Fogle, Longview, Texas, five bass, 18-9, $890
4th: Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., five bass, 16-13, $710
5th: Robert Laird Jr, Livingston, Texas, five bass, 16-9, $630
6th: Justin Parchman, Oologah, Okla., five bass, 16-3, $540
7th: Ricky Guy, Humble, Texas, five bass, 14-12, $520
8th: Daniel Bryant, Scott, La., five bass, 14-11, $490
9th: Bryan McDonough, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 14-5, $460
9th: Kaden Mueck, Livingston, Texas, five bass, 14-5, $460
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Caskey also earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing an 8-pound, 14-ounce bass, worth $200. Demarcus Armstrong of Pittsburgh, Texas won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,865 Sunday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Demarcus Armstrong, Pittsburgh, Texas, three bass, 10-8, $1,865
2nd: Chris Harrell, Conroe, Texas, three bass, 9-12, $885
3rd: Maximillian Stevens, Lafayette, La., three bass, 8-9, $445
4th: Aaron Uncapher, Tyler, Texas, three bass, 8-8, $355
5th: Anthony Jones, Irving, Texas, three bass, 8-4, $315
6th: Collin Kelly, Montgomery, Texas, three bass, 8-0, $270
7th: David Gandaria, Hemphill, Texas, three bass, 7-14, $310
8th: Dwight Minogue, Many, La., three bass, 7-12, $245
9th: James Grizzle, Many, La., three bass, 7-11, $232
9th: William Easley, Pollok, Texas, three bass, 7-11, $232
Armstrong also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $100.
After four events, Cole Moore of Anacoco, Louisiana, now leads the 7 Brew Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 978 points, while James Grizzle of Many, Louisiana, leads the Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 929 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-rayburn-31626.html
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