Phillips wins opening All-Afternoon fishing tournament

Published 11:15 pm Friday, May 23, 2014

Scott Phillips, organizer of the All-Afternoon Bass Tournament, and his brother Mark won the series’ first tournament of the year Thursday night at the Selma Marina.

A total of 22 boats entered, but none could out-catch the Phillips brothers, who caught a total of 13.47 pounds. The duo barely edged out Torrey Jones and Scott Harrison, who caught a total of 13.35 pounds to finish second.

“Our fish were scattered,” Phillips said. “We went down a bank and caught one here and it might be on a spinner bait and the next one would be on a crank bait. It was like an hour between each bite. We picked up five fish and that was it all day.”

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By winning the tournament, the Phillips’ brothers won $1,000. For second, Jones and Harrison took home $500.

J.R. Hamilton and J.R. Lowe finished third with a total of 11.62 pounds, Austin Moore and Corey Ingram were fourth with a total of 9.58  pounds and Mike Cutler and Dale Brooks finished fifth with 9.68 pounds.

“Everything went smooth. We ended up with 22 boats and all the sponsors kicked in and it all worked out well,” Phillips said.

Moore and Ingram also caught the day’s biggest fish, which weighed 4.35 pounds.

Thursday’s tournament was the first of eight that will be held at the Selma Marina throughout the summer. The next tournament will be held Thursday, June 5.

“We would like to see a few more boats show up,” Phillips said. “It’s probably one of the best afternoon tournaments in the state with the money we are giving away and the prizes all the sponsors gave us. We just need a few more boats.”

Each tournament also includes drawings from sponsors. To get entered in the drawing, anglers must bring a receipt showing a purchase from one of the tournament’s sponsors.

A full list of the sponsors can be found by going to the All-Afternoon Tournament Facebook page.