Jordan Thompkins, a 19-year-old from Myrtle Beach, S.C., caught an 18-03 stringer to win the Harris Chain of Lakes Southern Toyota Series in Florida with a three-day total of 65-00, besting runner-up Willy Dennison of Ohio by 12 1/2 pounds. Thompkins, the son of former FLW Pro Circuit competitor Timmy Thompkins, earned the top payout of $40,000.
“I can’t even hardly think straight right now – I’ve had probably one hour of sleep over the past two nights. My heart has been beating out of my chest since I caught the 31-pound limit on day 1,” Thompkins said. “This has just been an unreal experience. Waiting in the bag line today, I just kept thinking to myself, ‘When am I going to wake up?’ Everything has just gone right for me this week – it’s been unreal.”
He became the fourth angler under 20 years old to win a Toyota Series event.
“My dad has blessed me with awesome teaching – I’ve learned every piece of information that I know from him,” Thompkins said. “This is all for him. I’ve gotten so much support from everyone back home, it really helped me keep my mind in it and kept me on my game.”
Thompkins credited a Rapala DT-10 crankbait as being his key bait throughout the week.
“I’d never really cranked before in my life – especially in Florida – but when I saw them there and I saw the way the fish were setting up, it reminded me of a couple of different times that I caught them cranking and then when I caught the first one it gave me the confidence to stick with it,” Thompkins said.
“On the first day, it was lights out very quick and I caught the 31 pounds in a hurry,” Thompkins continued. “The rest of the week was a bit of a scramble. I’d start on my first spot and could get a limit in 15 minutes with a jerkbait. That was important because it would help me get my nerves down. Then later in the day I would pick up a ChatterBait and the crankbait and look for the bigger bites. I really just had to run as many high-percentage areas as I could, and it worked out. Not very often things like this happen, but every decision I made worked and it’s just been an awesome experience.”
Here are the final totals for the Top 10:
1. Jordan Thompkins: 65-00
2. Willy Dennison: 52-08
3. Steven Eastman: 50-01
4. Michael Conley: 48-01
5. Jeffrey Harper: 46-08
6. Destin Lesesne: 45-05
7. Lance Oligschlater: 42-08
8. Nathan Thomas: 40-12
9. Jacob Walker: 39-10
10. Christian Greico: 39-04
Greico won Thursday’s Berkley Big Bass Award after bringing a 9-12 largemouth to the scale. The lunker had a special tag attached to it, indicating that it was a part of the Lake Apopka Fish Tag Challenge. The challenge was launched by the Friends of Lake Apopka and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to further recovery of the state’s fourth-largest lake.
When it was originally tagged in January, the bass Greico caught had weighed in at 12 pounds even. The Commission also tagged 499 other fish, including approximately 200 largemouth bass more than 16 inches long, 150 black crappie 10 inches or more and 150 bluegills of at least 8 inches. Potential winnings for catching the tagged fish are more than $10,000. For rules and more information, visit friendsoflakeapopka.org.
