MLF photo
Can you believe this happened in our backyard, right down the road on Bussey Brake? Awesome.
There’s winning, there’s dominating and then there’s what Alton Jones Jr. did to win General Tire Heavy Hitters on Bussey Brake. The Texas pro didn’t just win Heavy Hitters, he left no doubt that he was the best angler on the water on Saturday. Jones caught 19 bass for 81 pounds, 15 ounces — the other nine anglers fishing totaled 21 bass for 96-10.
While Jones was cruising to a victory, Bryan Thrift was able to lock up the other $100,000 prize for the Berkley Big Bass of the day. Thrift brought in a 9-6 for his only bass of the day, but it earned him $100,000 on top of his winnings for finishing in seventh place.
Here is how the Top 10 finished on Bussey Brake:
- Alton Jones Jr. – 81-15 (19)
- Dakota Ebare – 22-15 (5)
- Andy Morgan – 15-0 (4)
- Randy Howell – 13-9 (3)
- Josh Bertrand – 11-2 (2)
- Bradley Roy – 10-11 (2)
- Bryan Thrift – 9-6 (1)
- Edwin Evers – 7-3 (2)
- Brent Ehrler – 3-10 (1)
- Ryan Salzman – 3-2 (1)
All gas, no brakes for Jones
Jones beat second-place Dakota Ebare by 59-1, which was the second-largest margin of victory in Bass Pro Tour history. Jones’ victory was never in doubt for the vast majority of the day thanks to his decision to fish a key stretch of cypress trees.
“I don’t know what to say other than everything went right today,” Jones said. “I started the first period around some other guys and didn’t have a lot of luck, so I moved over to some cypress trees, and that ended up being the right move for me.”
Jones was flipping a white Geecrack Bellows Shad as well as targeting the base of the trees with a spinnerbait on a Kistler CHUNGUS rod. The original plan was just to make one quick pass through the area, but after he kept getting bit, he had no other choice than to let it ride.
“I was just going to fish one stretch of trees, but I kept catching them,” Jones said. “I kept making marks for myself, telling myself, ‘OK, I’ll fish 10 more trees and then move on.’ I kept just catching them, so I decided I was going to stay there all day long.”
Jones caught 19 bass for 81-15 to win the coveted Heavy Hitters belt and becomes the second Alton Jones to win the event. His father came away with the belt back in 2021 on Shearon Harris, making it two out of the last three seasons that the Texas fishing family has won the belt.
“There’s only four belts in existence and the Jones family has two of them,” Jones said. “It’s such an awesome thing to share and have in common with my dad, I can’t wait for our family to celebrate this one together.”
