Scotty Hull
SHEFFIELD-Scotty Hull has at least 1,500 reasons to be happy about the only fish he caught during the Fishlife Big Bass Battle on Pickwick Lake.
The 7.93-pounds largemouth bass earned Hull cash prizes totaling $1,500. He earned $500 for catching the largest bass during the first weigh-in period for the tournament that was held Saturday, April 16 out of Riverfront Park in Sheffield. Hull also received a $1,000 bonus for catching the largest bass overall for the tournament. Each of the anglers catching the largest bass during the seven one-hour weigh-in periods received $500.
“It feels good to win,” said Hull, of Summertown, Tenn. “The money is going to come in handy, because the motor on boat went out after I had caught that fish. Now I can use the money to help pay for getting it fixed.”
Hull caught the winning bass early and then spent the rest of day wondering if anyone would catch a larger fish. “It was nerve racking.”
Hull caught the big bass while fishing near Wilson Dam in an area of Pickwick Lake known as The Horseshoe. It was the largest bass Hull has ever caught.
Jody Harrison, founder and CEO of Fishlife, said Pickwick Lake is an amazing fishery. Carson Nash won the second weigh-in period with a 7.25-pounds largemouth bass and Chad Brewer won the third period with a 6.42-pounds largemouth bass. All of the weigh-in period winning fish weighed at least 4.45 pounds.
“We had people turning fish loose that would be considered big bass on a lot of lakes because they knew the bass were not big enough to win up here. Pickwick is a great lake,” Harrison said.
Susann Hamlin, CEO and President of Colbert County Tourism, said the Big Bass Battle format was a great way to showcase Pickwick Lake. “The size of the bass caught during the Fishlife tournament confirms that our lakes, Pickwick and Wilson, are some of the best lakes in the country.”
