MANY, La. (Jan. 20, 2025) – Boater Evan Howe of Keachi, Louisiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 27 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Toledo Bend Reservoir. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Howe earned $3,804 for his victory.
According to Howe, Toledo Bend has been red hot all winter. Prior to the tournament, he’d been catching plenty of fish out deep using forward-facing sonar. But come competition day, those fish were gone. His counter was to rely on his experience on the lake, running and gunning drains to look for new fish.
“I just went back on history and figured out where the shad were and started scoping around them,” he said. “(I was targeting) any kind of drain with timber that had shad in it. Honestly, you would scope through it and see only one or two fish worth throwing at. I had to keep jumping drains to find enough fish to throw at.”
Howe says he eventually found fish up shallower in the drains, but “shallower” is relative. They were still in 30 feet of water. It was just a matter of covering enough water to find the right caliber of fish. Things started slowly, with Howe putting only about 5 pounds in the livewell by 9 a.m. Once he found the better-quality fish, though, Howe was able to box 20 pounds by 10 a.m. By 1 p.m., he had 27.
“I ended up catching a few good ones, but they were not biting well,” added Howe. “I had a lot followers. A lot that just nipped at the tail. They wouldn’t get the whole bait.”
Howe caught his fish using a Damiki rig with a Rapala Crush City Freeloader soft plastic.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Evan Howe, Keachi, La., five bass, 27-0, $3,804
2nd: Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., five bass, 24-0, $1,902
3rd: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., five bass, 23-1, $1,767 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Tater Reynolds, Florien, La., five bass, 21-8, $888
5th: Robert Lafitte, Many, La., five bass, 20-13, $1,266
6th: Caden Alexander, Huntington, Texas, five bass, 19-13, $697
7th: Zane Parker, Kingwood, Texas, five bass, 19-6, $634
8th: Frank Canizaro, Mansfield, La., five bass, 19-5, $571
9th: Jacob Callahan, Yantis, Texas, five bass, 18-4, $507
10th: Cal Cameron, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 17-13, $444
Robert Lafitte of Many, Louisiana, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $505. Eddy Gilder of Sulphur, Louisiana, won the co-angler division and $2,154 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 11 co-anglers finished:
1st: Eddy Gilder, Sulphur, La., three bass, 11-4, $2,154
2nd: Leavitt Hamilton, Gonzales, La., three bass, 10-1, $951
3rd: Gary Medley, Vidor, Texas, three bass, 9-4, $634
4th: Mark Sterling, Hornbeck, La., three bass, 8-15, $444
5th: Shane Landry, Winnie, Texas, three bass, 8-14, $380
6th: Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, three bass, 8-0, $349
7th: James Wright, Hamshire, Texas, three bass, 7-14, $317
8th: Chris Harrell, Conroe, Texas, three bass, 7-4, $285
9th: Joe Perez, Kemp, Texas, three bass, 6-11, $225
9th: Cole Allen, Taylor, Ark., three bass, 6-11, $325
9th: Adam Brister, Meadville, Miss., three bass, 6-11, $225
Gilder also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $252, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Cole Moore of Anacoco, Louisiana, now leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 497 points, while Gary Medley of Vidor, Texas, leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 495 points.
The third event of the year for BFL Cowboy Division anglers will be held Feb. 15, at Toledo Bend out of Zwolle, Louisiana.
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