Pro Hensley Powell of Whitwell, Tennessee, brought a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces, to the scale Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Central Division opener on Table Rock Lake presented by Lowrance. Powell’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 40 pounds, 12 ounces, was enough top the 197-boat field and take the first place prize of $49,700.
 
Powell spent the majority of the event fishing the backs of pockets on the White River. He said he used an umbrella rig with White Ice-colored Zoom Swimmin’ Super Fluke Jr. soft jerkbaits to work through 30 to 35 pockets a day, catching smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass in the process.

“I threw an umbrella rig the entire tournament and a Strike King jerkbait maybe a dozen or so times when I was in clearer water,” said Powell, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. “For me, it was more about where the fish were this week. In practice I figured out that they were in the back third of the pockets, in 8 to 12 feet of water. Even the spotted bass and smallmouth were up there staging to spawn, and that’s where the majority of the largemouth were.”

Powell said he was able to catch plenty fish in each of his areas, but their weight gradually decreased throughout the event.

“I thought this front we had would make the big ones bite again, but it didn’t,” said Powell.

Powell credited his 7-foot, 6-inch heavy-action Cashion rod with being his most beneficial piece of equipment. He said it provided the sensitivity he needed to feel the bites.

“I could feel the largemouth as they were about to bite the bait and I was able to keep it with them. I could feel them come up behind it and push it. When they did that, I would speed it up a little bit, slow down and then they’d eat it.”

The top 10 pros on Table Rock Lake finished:

               1st:          Hensley Powell, Whitwell, Tenn., 15 bass, 40-12, $49,700

               2nd:         Mike McClelland, Bentonville, Ark., 14 bass, 39-4, $19,500

               3rd:          Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 39-1, $14,000
 
               4th:          Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 15 bass, 38-15, $12,000

               5th:          Derek Jenkel, Pinckneyville, Ill., 14 bass, 35-2, $11,100

               6th:          Kevin Meeks, Smyrna, Tenn., 13 bass, 34-9, $9,000

               7th:          Keith Amerson, Bethel Springs, Tenn., 13 bass, 34-8, $7,800

               8th:          Graden Hansen, Lee’s Summit, Mo., 12 bass, 33-3, $7,100

               9th:          Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 12 bass, 30-13, $5,800

               10th:        Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., 10 bass, 28-0, $4,400

A complete list of results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.