Murphy wins Bassmaster co-angler title

Published 6:21 am Sunday, March 12, 2017

Brian Murphy has been making big strides as a co-angler in competition on various bass tournament circuits.

And probably the biggest step for the Sulphur resident and McNeese State graduate (where he was one of the founders of the university’s fishing club) came last week when he won the co-angler title in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.

As a clarification, co-anglers fish in tournaments that allow such, mainly open events. The co-angler teams up with a pro angler and fishes from the back of the boat. The pro is the owner of the boat, handles the rig and fishes from the front.

Each fishes within his own group, the pro fishing for the big money and big prizes. The co-angler fishes with the anticipation of eventually advancing to the front end of the boat.

That’s Murphy goal.

In winning the co-angler division of the tournament Murphy picked up $250 cash for having the largest bass and a $30,000 boat.

For taking the pro title, Mike McClelland took home $8,900 in cash and a $45,000 boat.

There were 400 fishermen who started last week’s tournament, 200 in each division.

A super final day enabled Murphy to take the co-angler title.

“I really had a good first day,” he said, adding that was when he caught the large fish among the co-anglers, a 5-pound, 3-ounce largemouth (they also caught smallmouth and spotted bass) that garnered him the $250 cash prize.

His second day wasn’t as good as he caught only one keeper but on the third day he and pro Josh Bertrand (who finished second in the pro division and collected $20,165 in cash) ran into a school of shad and brought home the winners.

“I was in 10th place going into the final day and really caught fish all day long,” he said.

His three-fish limit that day accounted for 8-8, giving him a winning three-day total of 19-7.

It was a random draw that had put Murphy and Bertrand together the final day.

“You fish with a different pro each day and you fish in the back of the boat, not allowed to go up front,” Murphy said. “I try not to step on their toes, just work together and don’t fish against each other.”

Having never fished Table Rock before, Murphy said prior to the tournament he read up on the lake as much as he could, gleaning information on events that had been held there in the past, what lures worked the best.

He also said the weekend before the tourney he had placed second in a tournament on the Red River.

Next up for Murphy, who was named co-angler of the year in 2014 on the Ram American Fishing tour and has several other tournament titles, will be Ram’s Ray Scott championship in early April on Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee.

He said he expects to fish two other Bassmaster opens later in the year, including one in June on Sabine River.

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In other fishing news, Lacassine Reserve will open for fishing on Wednesday, and Murphy has a few hints for those bass fishermen making it to the big impoundment the first few days.

“If it was me,” said Murphy who casts with a Shimano reel and Megabass rod, “just because of how warm the winter has been, I would go and throw a 6-inch Gambler swim bait. We’ve already had a couple of spawning phases.

“The bait has a fish profile and a paddle tail. I would rig it up with a big line (50-pound braid) and a big hook.”

He said he prefers the Houdini color (watermelon color with a pearl belly) and would throw the bait as far as he could and slow roll it in.

And said he would try to fish places where there was not a “bunch of people.”

Last year he had pretty good luck on the early days of the season in Lacassine.

“Nothing real big, but a lot of fish from 4-6 pounds,” he said.