Tennessee angler Brandon Perkins led after each of the three rounds of the inaugural National Professional Fishing League Championship at Lake Amistand in Texas, capturing the title and the $100,000 top prize with a 71-08 total. He weight bags that registered 29-9, 21-12 and 20-3.
Perkins, whose margin of victory was 15 1/2 pounds, spent the week fishing a mixture of different cover types, but his best areas were bluff walls where there were rock transitions. If there was wood, it was even better. Perkins got a clue in practice when he saw and caught a big fish using his Lowrance ActiveTarget and it may have changed the trajectory of the event.
“I knew the wind was going to be bad later in the week, so I found places I would be able to fish without being affected too bad,” he said. “During practice, I was able to catch a ton of bass on (forward-facing sonar), but they were all small. I was going down a bluff bank and saw a big blob. I threw that Scope Stik out there and caught one almost 8 pounds. That fish got me dialed on bluff walls and that is how I fished this week.”
All week throughout practice and the tournament, Perkins for the most part had his water to himself, which was key for being able to manage fish.
“I saw a few boats in practice, but they were not fishing the same types of bank I was. I felt like I had figured out something special,” he added. ”My one-two punch was the Magdraft and the Bill Lewis MR-12 crankbait. When they were eating the swimbait, I could see them bite and it was an absolute blast.”
While the majority of the field was fishing a bit more offshore or on different types of banks, Perkins was able to locate big largemouth using his Costa Sunglasses and make precise casts. When the fish would miss, he would follow up with a Yamamoto Senko.
Here are the final totals for the Top 10:
1. Brandon Perkins: 71-8
2. Jesse Wise: 55-15
3. Patrick Walters: 52-14
4. Darrel Robertson: 48-7
5. Randy Sullivan: 45-10
6. Jason Wilson: 44-11
7. John Cox: 44-6
8. Kevin Martin: 43-15
9. Barron Adams: 42-8
10. Louis Fernandes: 42-4
