Month: April 2021

Florida’s Pechacek Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League on Lake Okeechobee

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date April 13, 2021
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CLEWISTON, Fla. (April 13, 2021) – Boater David Pechacek of Winter Garden, Florida, wins the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine at Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Florida. Pechacek earned $5,519 for his victory at the event.

TOP 10 RESULTS

RANK	BOATER NAME/HOMETOWN	BASS	WEIGHT	AWARD
1^st	David Pechacek of Winter Garden, Fla.	5	20-3	$5,519
2^nd	Brian MacDougall of La Belle, Fla.	5	19-4	$2,298
2^nd	Kevin Izzi of Smithville, Texas	5	19-4	$2,298
4^th	Jessie Mizell of Myakka City, Fla.	5	18-15	$1,288
5^th	Garrett Farmer of Estero, Fla.	5	18-3	$1,104
6^th	Brandon Medlock of Lake Placid, Fla.	5	18-0	$1,012
7^th	Trevor Hamlin of Cape Coral, Fla.	5	17-4	$1,805
8^th	Joe Callahan of Plantation, Fla.	5	16-9	$828
9^th	Clay Batson of Bradenton, Fla.	5	16-8	$736
10^th	Tony Bennett of Tarpon Springs, Fla.	5	15-14	$644

RANK	STRIKE KING CO-ANGLER NAME/HOMETOWN	BASS	WEIGHT	AWARD
1^st	Joshua Dunn of Mulberry, Fla.	5	22-0	$2,760
2^nd	Jonathan Miller of Dundee, Ohio	5	19-3	$1,380
3^rd	Chris Nickle of Sanford, Fla.	5	14-8	$918
4^th	Edwin Rivera of Orlando, Fla.	5	14-7	$644
5^th	Dawson Wiles of Fruit Cove, Fla.	5	13-6	$552
6^th	Randy Paquette of Sarasota, Fla.	5	12-13	$506
7^th	Brandon St. Pierre of Lehigh Acres, Fla.	5	12-11	$460
8^th	Jose Valasquez of Gibsonton, Fla.	5	12-10	$414
9^th	Giovanni Pizza of Boca Raton, Fla.	5	12-8	$368
10^th	Barry Colbert of Port Saint Lucie, Fla.	5	12-2	$322

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

AWARD	NAME	CONTINGENCY	PAYOUT
Boater Big Bass	Trevor Hamlin of Cape Coral, Fla.	7-pound, 10-ounce bass	$885
Strike King Co-Angler Berkley Big Bass	Bruce McFayden of Deerfield Beach, Fla.	8-pound, 2-ounce bass	$442
Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus	Jared McMillan of Clewiston, Fla.	Eligible Phoenix Boat*	$500

* 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.

WINNING BAITS

ANGLER	BAIT	COLOR
Boater	Outkast Tackle RTX Flipping Jig Zoom Super Speed Craw	Black & Blue Did Not Divulge
Strike King Co-Angler	Havoc Devil Spear	Brown & Purple

2021 QUALIFICATION OPPORTUNITIES

EVENT	DATE	LOCATION	HOST
Gator Division – Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship	Oct. 21-23	St. Johns River, Palatka, Fla.	Putnam County Tourist Development Council
Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American	June 3-5	Douglas Lake, Dandridge, Tenn.	Jefferson County Department of Tourism

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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championships. 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 Strike King co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The top six finishers in each regional will then qualify for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

MLF BIG-5

Virginia’s Powroznik Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League on Smith Mountain Lake

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date April 13, 2021
No Comments on Virginia’s Powroznik Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League on Smith Mountain Lake

HUDDLESTON, Va. (April 13, 2021) – Boater Ryan Powroznik of Hopewell, Virginia, wins the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine at Smith Mountain Lake in Huddleston, Virginia. Powroznik earned $6,573 for his victory at the event.

TOP 10 RESULTS

RANK	BOATER NAME/HOMETOWN	BASS	WEIGHT	AWARD
1^st	Ryan Powroznik of Hopewell, Va.	5	23-6	$6,573
2^nd	Gregory Stallings of Dry Fork, Va.	5	21-0	$2,829
3^rd	Zach Peaslee of Draper, Va.	5	20-6	$1,886
4^th	Jessie Moore of Severn, Md.	5	20-1	$1,820
5^th	Mike Hawks of Galax, Va.	5	19-4	$1,132
6^th	Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va.	5	19-2	$1,537
7^th	Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Va.	5	19-0	$943
8^th	Scott Dameron of Beckley, W.V.	5	18-11	$879
9^th	Bill Deeds of Orange, Va.	5	18-8	$754
10^th	Elliot Pilson of Stuart, Va.	5	18-1	$660

RANK	STRIKE KING CO-ANGLER NAME/HOMETOWN	BASS	WEIGHT	AWARD
1^st	Scott Howard of Bedford, Va.	5	16-1	$2,791
2^nd	Mark Blankenship of Christiansburg, Va.	5	15-0	$1,395
3^rd	Dylan Gray of Gladys, Va.	5	14-15	$931
4^th	Robert Wedding of Welcome, Md.	5	13-8	$901
5^th	Daniel Eubank, Moneta, Va.	5	12-6	$558
6^th	Jacob Waller of Chatham, Va.	3	11-1	$512
7^th	Eric Hawks of Galax, Va.	4	10-13	$465
8^th	Seth Brogan of Montvale, Va.	2	10-10	$395
8^th	Tyrell Collins of Galax, Va.	4	10-10	$395
10^th	Demon Pittman of Timberlake, N.C.	3	9-14	$326

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

AWARD	NAME	CONTINGENCY	PAYOUT
Boater Big Bass	Ryan Powroznik of Hopewell, Va.	7-pound bass	$915
Strike King Co-Angler Berkley Big Bass	Dwayne Downey of Covington, Va.	6-pound, 13-ounce bass	$447
Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus	Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va.	Eligible Phoenix Boat*	$500

WINNING BAITS

ANGLER	BAIT	COLOR
Boater	Did Not Divulge	N/A
Strike King Co-Angler	Did Not Divulge	N/A

2021 QUALIFICATION OPPORTUNITIES

EVENT	DATE	LOCATION	HOST
Piedmont Division – Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship	Oct. 14-16	Potomac River, Marbury, Md.	Charles County Board of Commissioners
Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American	June 3-5	Douglas Lake, Dandridge, Tenn.	Jefferson County Department of Tourism

The top six finishers in each regional will then qualify for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Jacob Wheeler Catches 7½-Pound Largemouth to Earn $50K, Final 10 Set for Championship Round at General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops

RALEIGH, N.C. (April 13, 2021) – One fish. $50,000. Pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, boated a 7-pound, 8-ounce, largemouth Tuesday afternoon on Shearon Harris Reservoir, the largest fish of the day, to win $50,000 at the Major League Fishing (MLF) General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wheeler finished the day in 2^nd place and punched his ticket straight to Wednesday’s final-day Championship Round.

“50 g’s, heck yeah, that is unreal,” Wheeler said in his post-game interview. “That will be a fish that I remember for the rest of my life. I was cruising down the bank and when I saw that fish, I literally stopped and was like ‘Whoa, that’s a $50,000 bass.’ It took me about 45 minutes trying to figure out how to catch her, and it was pretty dang awesome when I did.”

Wheeler caught the big bass on a Googan Baits Lunker Log, although he credited a different bait as being his key for the day.

“The (Googan) Bandito Bug was the big player for me today and I caught several of my fish doing that,” Wheeler said. “But, I also caught a couple, including the big ‘un, on the Lunker Log.

“I got really close to winning here two years ago, and I’d love to try to take home the title and get a little pay back on this lake this time around. So far, after today, it’s treating me pretty solid. Shearon Harris… I love you.”

Joining Wheeler in the Championship Round will be pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, who won Tuesday’s Knockout Round with 15 bass weighing 46 pounds, 11 ounces.

“It was a great day for me, and well beyond my expectations,” said Morgan. “It was pretty simple fishing – just looking for spawning fish. They were up super-shallow, right around the bank. Weed clumps, trees, logs – whatever they could get around.

“I caught them on just a couple of baits,” Morgan continued. “I threw a ½-ounce Strike King Thunder Cricket with a chartreuse and white-colored Zoom Swimmer on the back. I also caught them flipping a Zoom Brush Hog and a Zoom Z-Craw . Some of the fish were actually feeding – those ones I’d catch on the Cricket. The bass that I caught flipping were primarily all spawning.”

Morgan fished the Thunder Cricket on a 7-foot, 2-inch medium-heavy Favorite Fishing Big Sexy casting rod, paired with a Lew’s 6:3:1 reel and spooled with 16-pound fluorocarbon line. For his flipping setup, he Texas-rigged the creature baits and threw them on a Favorite Fishing Pro Series The GOAT rod paired with an 8:3:1 Lew’s Flipping and Pitching reel and 20-pound fluorocarbon line.

Wednesday’s Championship Round will feature Qualifying Round winners Fletcher Shryock and Bryan Thrift, along with the top eight anglers from Tuesday’s Knockout Round, competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000. In addition to the tournament purse, a $100,000 Big Bass Bonus will be awarded to the angler that lands the single biggest fish on the final day.

The top eight pros from the Knockout Round that advanced to Wednesday’s final-day Championship Round on Shearon Harris Reservoir are:

1^st:          Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 46-11
2^nd:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 13 bass, 41-6
3^rd:         Alton Jones, Woodway, Texas, 13 bass, 39-6
4^th:         Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., 12 bass, 36-15
5^th:         Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 10 bass, 35-8
6^th:         Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., nine bass, 30-3
7^th:         Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-13
8^th:         Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, nine bass, 29-13

Eliminated from competition after the Knockout Round on Shearon Harris Reservoir are:

  9^th:         Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., eight bass, 27-7, $4,000
10^th:       Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., eight bass, 27-0, $4,000
11^th:       Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., seven bass, 24-5, $4,000
12^th:       Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., seven bass, 19-15, $4,000
13^th:       Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 17-9, $4,000
14^th:       Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., four bass, 15-5, $4,000
15^th:       Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., four bass, 13-5, $4,000
16^th:       Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., three bass, 8-12, $4,000
17^th:       Boyd Duckett, Guntersville, Ala., three bass, 6-12, $4,000
18^th:       Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., one bass, 2-15, $4,000

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 143 bass weighing 453 pounds even caught by the 18 pros on Tuesday, which included one 7-pounder, one 6-pounders and seven 5-pounders caught from Shearon Harris Reservoir.

The MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops is hosted by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

The 20 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Jordan Lake on Friday and Sunday – the 20 anglers in Group B on Falls Lake on Saturday and Monday. The anglers that finished in 2nd through 10th place from both groups advanced to Tuesday’s Knockout Round on Shearon Harris, while the winner of each group advanced directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round on Shearon Harris. In Wednesday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins.