LEESBURG, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2021) – Eric Panzironi of Longwood, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 24 pounds, 12 ounces to win the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine at Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. Panzironi earned $6,000 for his victory. 

“I stayed on Harris all day, which was a short run for me but it worked out nicely,” said Panzironi. “I caught all my fish on a black-colored Zoom Magnum Trick Worm in 10 to 12 feet of mostly dirty water.

“The real key to the victory was the Garmin LiveScope. I caught every single one of my fish directly beneath my boat and I could see them all. I dropped down to them and they’d eat it – it was amazing.”

Panzaroni said he was excited to walk away with a win at the first tournament of the year for the Gator division.

“It’s awesome – I love it,” he said. “To start off 2021 with a win at my first event – I definitely have no regrets.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

            1^st:       Eric Panzironi of  Longwood, Fla., five bass, 24-12, $6,000

            2^nd:      Peter Thliveros of Saint Augustine, Fla., five bass, 22-7, $3,000

            3^rd:       Joshua Parry of Saint Johns, Fla., five bass, 20-11, $3,000

            4^th:       Jonathan Semento of Okahumpka, Fla., five bass, 19-8, $1,900 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)

            5^th:       Tyler Sheppard of Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 19-7, $1,200

            6^th:       Grady Johnson of Saint Cloud, Fla., five bass, 18-7, $1,100

            7^th:       Bill Troyer of Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 17-11, $1,000

            8^th:       Robert Crosnoe of Inverness, Fla., five bass, 17-10, $900

            9^th:       Grady Maynard of Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $800

            10^th:     McCoy (Simon) Borja of Fruitland Park, Fla., five bass, 16-9, $700

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Parry also caught the largest bass in the Boater Division, a 10-pound, 2-ounce largemouth, which was good for the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000.

Semento took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF BIG5 Contingency Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

            1^st:       Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Fla., five bass, 22-3, $3,000

            2^nd:      Shaun Ireland of Lake Worth, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $1,500

            3^rd:       Aymon Wilcox of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five bass, 17-3, $1,000

            4^th:       Justin Brown of Frostproof, Fla., five bass, 16-6, $900

            5^th:       Bradley Phillips of Alachua, Fla., five bass, 15-11, $600

            6^th:       Justin Bun of Lake Alfred, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $550

            7^th:       Joshua Dunn of Mulberry, Fla., five bass, 14-7, $500

            8^th:       Jason Cooper of Shelbyville, Tenn., five bass, 14-0, $450

            9^th:       Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo., five bass, 13-12, $400

            10^th:     Jake Stines of Plant City, Fla., five bass, 12-8, $350

Luke Cocke of Valdosta, Georgia caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Harris Chain of Lakes was hosted by Visit Lake County, FL.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Gator Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 21-23 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida, hosted by the Putnam County Tourist Development Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury s outboard.

The 2021 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 4, 2021) – Derek Mundy of Broaddus, Texas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing a staggering 40 pounds, 10 ounces to win the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine season opener at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Brookeland, Texas. Mundy earned $7,000 for his victory. 

Mundy said he found his fish in practice but didn’t realize just how good his spot was going to be.

“You can’t look on the graph and see 40 pounds, but I knew I could have a good bag if they bit,” Mundy said. “It’s not guaranteed you’re going to roll up to your first spot and catch 30, much less 40.

“I caught the first four on a big crankbait and they busted up a bit,” Mundy said. “Then I pulled out a jig and caught the last one. I caught those five, all on the first stop, in about 20 minutes.”

Fishing a Strike King 8XD and a ¾-ounce V&M The Flatline Pacemaker Football Jig, Mundy said he did all of his damage in about 17 feet of water, in the mid-lake region.

After catching five giants, including a 11-pound, 10-ounce largemouth, Mundy said he felt he could relax.

“I took it easy and went to some Plan B stuff to try to get my co-angler on fish, but it never worked out – the wind got up pretty bad in the afternoon,” he admitted.

Weighing his fish as soon as he was allowed, Mundy said he was content to wait for the weigh-in to conclude before collecting his check.

“It’s the biggest bag I’ve ever caught,” said Mundy, who makes his living working on oil pipelines. “It felt good. I didn’t realize they were that big until I was checking on them to make sure they were doing alright in the livewell, but even then, I didn’t realize I had 40 pounds.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
 1^st:  Derek Mundy of Broaddus, Texas, five bass, 40-10, $7,0002^nd:  Cameron Mattison of Bossier City, La., five bass, 28-6, $3,000
3^rd:  Tommy Loving of Cypress, Texas, five bass, 22-14, $2,000
4^th:  Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, five bass, 17-11, $1,400
5^th:  Jimmy Hickman of Shreveport, La., five bass, 17-8, $1,200
6^th:  Cannon Bird of Marshall, Texas, five bass, 16–6, $1,100
7^th:  Chris McCall of Woodville, Texas, five bass, 15-15, $1,000
8^th:  Richard Ballard of Sulphur, La., five bass, 15-12, $1,400
9^th:  Dicky Newberry of Houston, Texas, five bass, 15-0, $800
10^th:  Bobby Vice of Orange, Texas, five bass, 14-11, $665
10^th:  Travis Franks of Lake Charles, La., five bass, 14–11, $665
 Mundy’s 11-pound, 10-ounce largemouth was also good for the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000.

Ballard took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF BIG5 Contingency Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Michael Petras of Biloxi, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds even.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:
1^st:  Michael Petras of Biloxi, Miss., five bass, 16-0, $3,000
2^nd:  Shane Stoddard of Hot Springs, Ark., four bass, 15-4, $2,000
3^rd:  Michael Horne of Dodson, La., five bass, 14-10, $1,000
4^th:  Carson Dillinger of Bloomburg, Texas, five bass, 12-70
5^th:   Tracy Hawkins of Corsicana, Texas, three bass, 11-15, $600
6^th:   Julio Garza of Houston, Texas, five bass, 11-5, $550
7^th:   Steve Lee of Benton, Ark., five bass, 11-2, $500
8^th:   Daniel Bryant of LaFayette, La., five bass, 10-10, $450
9^th:  Ryker Holmes of Arlington, Texas, five bass, 10-7, $400
10^th:  John Webb of Fort Smith, Ark., four bass, 10-4, $332
10^th:  Greg Boik of College Station, Texas, five bass, 10-4, $332
Stoddard caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 9 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper County Development District.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Cowboy Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 21-23 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Ouachita in Mount Ida, Arkansas hosted by Visit Hot Springs. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury s outboard.

The 2021 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held June 3-5 at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee and hosted by the Jefferson County Department of Tourism. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.