After consecutive runner-up finishes in previous Bassmaster Opens at Douglas Lake, David Mullins now knows what it feels like to be a champion. He stayed in 1st place for all 3 days to win the Southern Division finale.
The Elite Series pro caught 19-05 on Saturday to give him a three-day total of 62-12. FLW Tour angler Scott Canterbury was 2nd with 56-10 and Elite Series competitor Britt Myers was 3rd with 52-02.
Mullins, a resident of Mount Carmel, Tenn., has extensive knowledge of Douglas. He finished 2nd in Bassmaster Open tournaments there in 2013 and 2014 before taking the title Saturday.
“It’s a little bit of sweet redemption,” Mullins said. “I didn’t lose the last two – somebody just caught ’em better than me. It feels good to come out on top.”
Mullins took the lead Thursday with 21-05 and built his margin to more than 7 pounds by weighing in 22-02 on Friday.
Canterbury was the only angler in the Top 12 who managed a 20-pound bag Saturday. His five-bass limit weighed 21-7, but that still left Mullins with a 6-pound margin of victory.
“Every time I have a good finish here, I never catch ’em off the same place 2 days in a row,” Mullins said. “I think that’s the biggest key to fishing Douglas Lake – having enough places where you know they live, so you can keep moving and have a good rotation. The places I fished today, I haven’t fished all week. I just ran history.”
In recent years, there have been two constant factors in a winning formula at Douglas: concentrating on deep schools of bass and catching more than 20 pounds per day. Mullins followed that pattern. His shallowest bass came in 8- to 12-foot depths and his deepest came from almost 30 feet.
Mullins' primary lures were Strike King 10XD and 6XD crankbaits in Tennessee shad and green gizzard shad colors. He also caught a key bass Saturday on a Scottsboro Tackle Company 6-inch swimbait in a shad pattern that was specially made for Mullins at Douglas.
“I picked it up this morning and caught one on my first cast,” he said. “I didn’t have a fish until about 9:15, and that one was one of my best of the day.”
Mullins didn’t fish the other two Southern Opens, so he will not receive an automatic qualifying spot in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
“We’ve been going so hard on the Elite Series, I’m tired as it is,” he said. “Scheduling and the extra money it was going to cost to fish those other two Opens is why I didn’t do it. But I’m not even thinking about that now. I don’t regret it one bit.”
For the victory, Mullins won a package valued at $45,000, which includes a Skeeter ZX200 boat and Yamaha VF200LA outboard motor, Minn Kota Fortrex trolling motor and a pair of Lowrance HDS 7 graphing units.
Here are the final total for the Top 12:
1. David Mullins: 62-12
2. Scott Canterbury: 56-10
3. Britt Myers: 52-02
4. Sam George: 48-12
5. Mark Daniels Jr.: 47-10
6. Mark Rose: 47-09
7. Brandon Card: 47-06
8. Kyle Glasgow Jr.: 46-15
9. Joey Nania: 46-03
10. Ott DeFoe: 45-15
11. Jesse Wiggins: 45-03
12. Michael Murphy: 43-14
