BROOKELAND, Texas (Sept. 29, 2025) – Boater Hayden Heck of Lufkin, Texas, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 52 pounds, 7 ounces, over two days to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Heck earned $4,882 for his victory.
“On Day 1 I started out running around,” Heck said. “It had been a cool night, so I thought the cranking bite would be pretty good. It’s a little early on Rayburn for them to get going like that, but I started out cranking and had a good bag by 9 o’clock. And then after that, it got really tough.”
Heck said the brushpile bite had been good to him during practice, so he focused his efforts on that bite.
“That was not happening,” Heck said. “So pretty much, by 11 o’clock the bite was pretty off for me.”
Somewhat discouraged, and bothered by a back pain issue, Heck weighed in early. Heck said his plan for Sunday was to try cranking early again.
“My first cast Sunday I caught a 4- or 5-pounder,” Heck said. “We ran the other spots I was catching them on the day before and didn’t catch anything doing that, so then I just started running brushpiles.”
The switch turned out to be the right move, as Heck said he hit 40 to 50 brushpiles Sunday to catch “a few good ones.”
“In the shape I was in, hurting with the back pain, I said, ‘However it ends, it’s how it’s going to be,’” said Heck, who had chalked up four BFL wins prior to the two-day event. “I was able to fish longer Sunday and was happy to have what I had. I figured I would finish in the top five.
“With Rayburn you just never know,” Heck added. “Somebody’s going to come out and bust a 30-pound limit. I was happy it worked out the way it did, but I sure didn’t think I had this thing wrapped up.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Hayden Heck, Lufkin, Texas, 10 bass, 52-7, $4,882
2nd: Wyatt Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, 10 bass, 49-5, $3,041
3rd: James Laramore, Vidor, Texas, 10 bass, 46-2, $1,625
4th: Zane Parker, Kingwood, Texas, 10 bass, 45-13, $1,139
5th: Kade Hillestad, Grayson, La., 10 bass, 45-1, $976
6th: Zack Fogle, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 44-10, $1,495 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
7th: Evan Howe, Keatchie, La., 10 bass, 43-15, $814
8th: Clayton Boulware, Zavalla, Texas, 10 bass, 42-4, $732
9th: Tater Reynolds, Florien, La., 10 bass, 40-13, $651
10th: Cord Rawls, Call, Texas, 10 bass, 39-3, $570
Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, caught a bass that weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $600. Carter Lanclos of Sulphur, Louisiana, won the co-angler division and $2,491 Sunday, after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Carter Lanclos, Sulphur, La., six bass, 16-15, $2,491
2nd: J.T. Turner, Minden, La., five bass, 16-0, $1,320
3rd: Ben Barker, Porter, Texas, four bass, 15-11, $814
4th: Floyd Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, six bass, 15-7, $570
5th: Jordan Lane, Conroe, Texas, six bass, 14-6, $488
6th: Jay Ferguson, Houston, Texas, six bass, 13-10, $447
7th: Bobby Spangenberg, Montgomery, Texas, six bass, 13-4, $407
8th: Demarcus Armstrong, Pittsburg, Texas, five bass, 12-10, $366
9th: Jacob Smith, Frisco, Texas, five bass, 12-8, $325
10th: Brad Poole, Roanoke, Texas, six bass, 12-8, $285
Rick Habarka of Conway, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $300, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds even.
With all five events in the division now complete, boater Zane Parker of Kingwood, Texas, won the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,336 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Leavitt Hamilton of Gonzales, Louisiana, won the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,306 points and earned the $500 payout.
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