Category: MLF BIG-5

CLEWISTON, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2021) – General Tire pro Skeet Reese of Auburn, California, already had a stacked resume when he crossed the stage on Sunday at the Major League Fishing Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, 13 Fishing Stop 1 – Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Florida. With 10 career victories, a 2007 Elite Series Angler of the Year title and a 2009 Bassmaster Classic championship, Reese is one of the top 5 tournament money-winners of all-time with more than $3.4 million in earnings. Reese added another monumental victory to the Major League Fishing (MLF) record books and is bringing a $100,000 check and a big trophy back home to California.

The win brought the 2019 merger of FLW (now known as the MLF BIG5) and MLF full circle and was a moment that marked the significance of the unity that now exists between the blended MLF family.

Reese weighed a five-bass limit on Sunday totaling a whopping 27 pounds, 9 ounces, to win by a 7-pound, 9-ounce margin over fellow Bass Pro Tour angler Chris Lane of Guntersville, Alabama. Lane weighed in five bass for 20 pounds, 1 ounce, including an 8-pound, 13-ounce giant, which carried him to a second place finish on the final day of competition.

“This feels really good,” said an emotional Reese. “I’ve had some tough fishing the last few years and to be able to come back and win; it is recognition that my new mindset and hard work paid off. Everybody who fishes tournaments does it to win and to be able to do it against this level of competition, with this big of a field – it’s priceless.”

Reese said he mixed up his approach each day and alternated between two key lures for the win, a 6″ Berkley PowerBait The General and an unnamed green-pumpkin-colored vibrating jig with a  Berkley PowerBait The Deal in the Skeet’s green money-color serving as the trailer.

“The first day, I focused on the isolated clumps of reeds that were a little deeper,” said Reese. “I targeted water that was four feet deep because all of the shallower stuff was getting so much pressure. I stayed out a little further from the bank on the isolated pencil reeds and caught a few good ones the second day by pitching The General on a 5/O hook with a ¼-ounce weight on 25-pound-test Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon.”

On the second day, Reese said he opted to stay solely off the bank and was able to catch a 21-pound bag that included the day’s biggest bass, an 8-pound, 8-ounce giant.
The final two days offered vastly different weather conditions, with wind speeds picking up throughout the lake. Reese said this caused him to make a change to the vibrating jig and helped him seal the win.

“It got too windy and made it hard to flip and pitch The General,” Reese said. “I also think it moved some of those fish out a little deeper. On the final day, it seemed like every big female was set up out in the open.”

Reese said the area had cleaner water and he felt it offered him the best chance to get multiple bites.

“I maximized what little I had and fished it all four days,” he continued. “I was trying to be in an area and get as many bites as I could. I never thought I was on the winning fish this week. I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Okeechobee finished:1^st:       Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 20 bass, 82-14, $100,000
2^nd:      Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 20 bass, 75-5, $30,000
3^rd:       Jim Neece, Jr., Bristol, Tenn., 20 bass, 74-2, $25,000
4^th:       Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, 20 bass, 72-12, $20,000
5^th:       Bill McDonald, Greenwood, Ind., 20 bass, 71-0, $19,000
6^th:       Miles Burghoff, Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., 20 bass, 70-11, $18,200
7^th:       Pete Ponds, Madison, Miss., 20 bass, 66-7, $17,000
8^th:       Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 20 bass, 64-3, $16,000
9^th:       Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 20 bass, 63-14, $15,000
10^th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 20 bass, 63-2, $14,000
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The four top performers from Sunday’s Pro Circuit event who will receive invitations to compete at the Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One presented by Power-Pole at Sam Rayburn, March 21-26, in Jasper Texas, are Jim Neece, Jr. of Bristol, Tennessee, Dicky Newberry of Houston, Texas, Bill McDonald of Greenwood, Indiana, and Miles Burghoff of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee.

Overall, there were 50 bass weighing 173 pounds, 5 ounces caught by the final 10 pros on Sunday. All 10 weighed in a five-bass limit.      

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, 13 Fishing Stop 1 – Lake Okeechobee’s two-hour action-packed television show will premiere on the Outdoor Channel on Sunday, July 11 from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and re-air on the Sportsman Channel this fall.

The Major League Fishing Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, 13 Fishing Stop 1 – Lake Okeechobee was hosted by the Hendry County Tourism Development Council and Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort. The next event for Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will be the Major League Fishing Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Covercraft Stop 2 – Smith Lake , Mar. 11-14, in Cullman, Alabama. The tournament will be hosted by the Cullman Area Local Organizing Committee.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of 163 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advanced to fish on Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition on Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE presented by Mercury, the Pro Circuit Championship, where they will compete for up to $235,000. The 2021 TITLE will be on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Aug. 17-22, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the MLF BIG5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and YouTube.

About MLF BIG5
MLF BIG5 is part of MLF, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization. It provides anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits featuring a five-biggest-fish format. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, MLF and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.

MLF tournaments are broadcast on Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, MyOutdoorTV, Discovery and CBS Sports while MLF Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros to the world’s most avid bass anglers.

SENECA, S.C. (Feb. 8, 2021) – Boater Troy Morrow of Eastanollee, Georgia, won the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine at Lake Keowee presented by Googan Baits in Seneca, South Carolina. Morrow earned $7,011 for his victory at the event, which was hosted by Visit Oconee.

TOP 10 RESULTS

RANK	BOATER NAME/HOMETOWN	BASS	WEIGHT	AWARD
1st	Troy Morrow of Eastanollee, Ga.	5	15-2	$7,011
2nd	Bo Price of Seneca, S.C.	5	13-14	$3,006
3rd	Todd Goade of White Pine, Tenn.	5	13-7	$2,001
4th	Randy Dover of Buford, Ga.	5	13-6	$1,403
5th	Jared Pelfrey of Westminster, S.C.	5	12-12	$1,202
6th	Chris Nelson of Social Circle, Ga.	5	12-3	$1,102
7th	Andy Burgess of Greenville, S.C.	5	11-15	$1,502
8th	Hunter Eubanks of Inman, S.C.	5	11-14	$852
8th	Jody Holland of Clermont, Ga.	5	11-14	$852
10th	Jayme Rampey of Liberty, S.C.	5	11-13	$701

RANK	STRIKE KING CO-ANGLER NAME/HOMETOWN	BASS	WEIGHT	AWARD
1st	James South of Gainesville, Ga.	5	11-9	$3,006
2nd	Johnny Hancox of West Union, S.C.	4	9-6	$2,000
3rd	Chris Coleman of Ware Shoals, S.C.	5	9-4	$1,008
4th	Kyle Rogers of Cleveland, Ga.	5	7-13	$701
5th	Corey Veal of Royston, Ga.	5	7-11	$576
5th	Stewart Uldrick of Anderson, S.C.	5	7-11	$576
7th	Shane Swann of Mars Hill, N.C.	5	7-5	$476
7th	Kyle Davis of Liberty, S.C.	5	7-5	$476
9th	Lee Montgomery of Duncan, S.C.	4	6-7	$401
10th	Trey Paul of Anderson, S.C.	4	6-6	$319
10th	Jimmy Plakas of Greenville, S.C.	3	6-6	$319
10th	Caleb Roberson of Travelers Rest, S.C.	5	6-6	$319

Full results from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

AWARD	NAME	CONTINGENCY	PAYOUT
Boater Berkley Big Bass	Shane Peck of Gainesville, Ga.	4-pound, 9-ounce bass	$995
Strike King Co-Angler Berkley Big Bass	Johnny Hancox of West Union, S.C.	4-pound, 12-ounce bass	$497
Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus	Andy Burgess of Greenville, S.C.	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	BAITS	COLOR
Boater	– 3/8-ounce Outkast Tackle Swimbait Jig Head with a Zoom Boot Tail Fluke Swimbait	Not Disclosed
Strike King Co-Angler	– ½-ounce Unnamed Swimbait Jig Head with a Keitech Swing Impact FAT Swimbait – Shaky-Head Rig	Not Disclosed

2021 QUALIFICATION OPPORTUNITIES

EVENT	DATE	LOCATION	HOST
Savannah River Division – Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship	Oct. 14-16	Lake Murray, Columbia, S.C.	Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board
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.

ANDERSON, S.C. (Nov. 13, 2020) – Boater Chris Macy of Diamond, Missouri, won the 37^th annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American on Lake Hartwell presented by TINCUP Friday, bringing a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce. Macy’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 34-10 was enough to overtake second-place angler Todd Goade of White Pine, Tennessee – who led the event after the second day of competition – by a 2-pound, 4-ounce margin. For the win, Macy earned the top payout of $100,000.

“This is unbelievable – going in to today, I really didn’t think I had a shot at it,” said Macy, who qualified for this tournament through the Bass Fishing League Ozark Division. “I went out this morning and thought that if I could catch 10 pounds, I’d be happy. When you make it to the last day, you kind of look at the payscale and you know that every spot you can hold or move up is another thousand bucks in your pocket. My goal was just to hang in there.

“I stumbled on to something around 1 o’clock this afternoon, and it absolutely went crazy from there,” Macy continued. “On the LiveScope, I would watch my swimbait come across the brush piles and if I could get the fish to follow it, I would kill it and let that swimbait go straight to the bottom. Every one of those fish would nose down on it, and as soon as I popped that swimbait up off the bottom, they would eat it every time.”

Macy said that of the 15 keepers he brought to the weigh-in stage this week, 14 of them came on a Keitech 2.8-inch swimbait in Tennessee Shad and Sexy Shad colors. He credited his electronics as being crucial to his win.

“Every fish that I caught came off of a brush pile,” Macy said. “My Garmin LiveScope was crucial. Every fish that I caught this week, I watched it bite. Most of the water I fished was 20- to 30-feet-deep, and if I could get the fish sitting up on top of the brush piles, it was game on.

“Overall, it has just been a super three days,” Macy went on to say. “I was just so happy to be fishing on the third day of the All-American, and I knew that if I could put a big one in the bag today that anything could happen. When it’s your time, it’s your time and today was just my day.”

The top 10 boaters on Lake Hartwell finished:

            1^st:       Chris Macy, Diamond, Mo., 15 bass, 34-10, $100,000
            2^nd:      Todd Goade, White Pine, Tenn., 15 bass, 32-6, $20,000
            3^rd:       Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 15 bass, 31-11, $15,000
            4^th:       Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 31-7, $21,000
            5^th:       Bryan Dowdy, Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 30-7, $18,000
            6^th:       Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., 15 bass, 28-1, $12,000
            7^th:       Randall Allen, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., 15 bass, 27-11, $12,000
            8^th:       Kip Carter, Mansfield, Ga., 15 bass, 27-11, $10,000
            9^th:       Dustin Lippe, Lampe, Mo., 12 bass, 25-11, $9,000
            10^th:     Dennis Berhorst, Holts Summit, Mo., 13 bass, 23-11, $8,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall, there were 45 bass weighing 77 pounds, 5 ounces, caught by the final 10 boaters Friday. The catch included eight five-bass limits.

Justin Kimmel of Athens, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $50,000 Friday with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 26 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Larry Rothweil of Saint Charles, Missouri, in second place with 12 bass weighing 22-2, good for $10,000.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

            1^st:       Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., 14 bass, 26-9, $50,000
            2^nd:      Larry Rothweil, St. Charles, Mo., 12 bass, 22-2, $10,000
            3^rd:       Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 19-14, $6,000
            4^th:       David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla., 13 bass, 19-6, $5,000
            5^th:       Dalton Steele, Cherokee, Ala., 10 bass, 18-5, $4,500
            6^th:       Cole Sands, Calhoun, Tenn., 12 bass, 17-11, $4,000
            7^th:       Andrew Wiley, Joppa, Md., 13 bass, 17-7, $3,500
            8^th:       Leo Reiter, Greenup, Ill., 13 bass, 16-13, $3,000
            9^th:       Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., 11 bass, 16-2, $3,000
            10^th:     Kerry Harris, Bethel Island, Calif., 11 bass, 16-1, $2,000

Overall, there were 30 bass weighing 40 pounds, 6 ounces, caught by the final 10 co-anglers Friday. The catch included two five-bass limits.

In addition to the cash payouts, the highest-finishing boater and co-angler from each of six Regional Championships, the Wild Card Championship and The Bass Federation (TBF) National Championship at the All-American now advance to the 2020 Toyota Series Championship next month on Lake Cumberland for a shot at winning $235,000 and $33,500, respectively.

The eight boaters and co-anglers that now advance to the 2020 Toyota Series Championship are:

Region 1 (Lake Hartwell) Boater Champion: Todd Goade, White Pine, Tenn.
Region 2 (Lake Seminole) Boater Champion: Randall Allen, Owens Cross Roads, Ala.
Region 3 (Kentucky-Barkley lakes) Boater Champion: Kerry Frey, Middlebury, Ind.
Region 4 (Potomac River) Boater Champion: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C.
Region 5 (Lake Guntersville) Boater Champion: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio
Region 6 (Grand Lake) Boater Champion: Chris Macy, Diamond, Mo.
WildCard (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Bryan Dowdy, Florence, Ala.
TBF (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Blake Wilson, Benton, Ark.

Region 1 (Lake Hartwell) Boater Champion: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga.
Region 2 (Lake Seminole) Boater Champion: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C.
Region 3 (Kentucky-Barkley lakes) Boater Champion: David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla.
Region 4 (Potomac River) Boater Champion: Mark Blankenship, Christiansburg, Va.
Region 5 (Lake Guntersville) Boater Champion: Dalton Steele, Cherokee, Ala.
Region 6 (Grand Lake) Boater Champion: Larry Rothweil, Saint Charles, Mo.
WildCard (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Leo Reiter, Greenup, Ill.
TBF (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Andrew Wiley, Joppa, Md.

Hosted by Visit Anderson, the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American on Lake Hartwell presented by TINCUP featured a field of the top 55 boaters and 55 co-anglers from across the 24-division Bass Fishing League, TBF, Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI and High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing.

Television coverage of the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American presented by TINCUP will premiere Jan. 2, 2021, on the Outdoor Channel, Jan. 4, 2021, on the World Fishing Network and be featured in the FLW television series on YouTube.com/FLWFishing. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Nov. 8, 2020) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Keith Poche of Pike Road, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces to win the three-day Toyota Series at Lake Seminole tournament in Bainbridge, Georgia. Poche’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46-6 earned him the win by a 9-ounce margin over second-place angler Mikey Keyso, Jr. of North Port, Florida, and earned Poche the top payout of $31,960 in the third and final regular-season tournament of the 2020 Toyota Series Southern Division.

“I love fishing Lake Seminole and I especially like running up the Flint River in those shoals and catching shoal bass,” Poche said. “I’ve got a 17-foot, 6-inch flat-bottom aluminum boat I use just for fishing such rivers in the southeast, but I only looked into fishing this tournament earlier this week, so I’m shocked at pulling the win.”

As a fulltime professional angler on the MLF Bass Pro Tour, Poche is no stranger to big time bass fishing events. Poche said what stunned him, however, was he had no intention of even fishing the Toyota Series on Seminole until Tuesday of last week. In fact, other than a few Phoenix Bass Fishing League events early in his career, and the recent Tackle Warehouse  Pro Circuit Super Tournaments, Poche had never fished either a Pro Circuit or a Toyota Series event.

Poche said he ran as far as nearly Newton, Georgia, on the first day of the event, but found the Flint to be higher and dirtier than he would like for shoal bass.

 “I realized pretty quickly that because of the fast current, it was a total reaction bite,” Poche said. “I opted to drift down the river with the current, pitching a Berkley PowerBait Pit Boss in green pumpkin, teamed with a 3/8-ounce weight, tied to Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon to any current breaks caused by bank cuts, cypress trees, logs or rocks. The fish were holed up in the current breaks and they would bite as soon as it hit the water and started to fall.”

On day one, Poche weighed in all largemouths for 17 pounds, 14 ounces and settled in third place, behind Jared McMillan and Jason Smith. 

On day two, Poche ran some 35 to 40 miles up the river again, but said his quick pitch program died.

“I went like 3 hours without catching one,” he said. “So I changed up a little bit and started throwing a 3/8-ounce Humdinger Spinnerbait to main river rocks breaking current. That produced a couple of keeper shoal bass.”

Poche said he only had three bass in his livewell when he got back down towards Bainbridge. Needing to make something happen, he bumped over a shallow sandbar to access a backwater slough. Once in the slough, he caught a 4-pound largemouth and a couple more keepers on the spinnerbait.

“Looking back on the tournament, that 4-pounder on Friday is probably what won the tournament for me,” he recalled. “I had struggled all day and that one saved me.”

Poche started the final day some 6 pounds behind the leader and headed far north on the Flint again.

“It was sort of like day one again,” he said. “They were biting the Pit Boss as soon as it hit the water. I started to catch some better ones as the day went on and even added a nice shoal bass to top off my limit. By the end of the day, I was knocking on the door of the 15-pound range.”

Poche said it wasn’t until the final fish was weighed that he learned most of the top-10 had struggled and his consistent limits each day put him on top.

“I was happy to have made the top 10 and fish up there another day,” Poche said. “I figured I might stay in the top five with my catch and get a decent check for the week. But to win this thing? Man, I’m still a little shocked. It’s crazy how it all worked out.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Seminole finished:

            1^st:       Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala., 15 bass, 46-6, $31,960

            2^nd:      Mikey Keyso, Jr. of North Port, Fla., 15 bass, 45-9, $12,191

            3^rd:       Bryan New of Belmont, N.C., 15 bass, 44-11, $9,438

            4^th:       Jared McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 44-7, $7,865

            5^th:       Dillon McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 43-0, $7,179

            6^th:       Jim Murray, Jr., Leesburg, Ga., 15 bass, 42-9, $6,292

            7^th:       Jason S. Smith of Dawson, Ga., 13 bass, 35-14, $5,505

            8^th:       Santos Solis of Vero Beach, Fla., 13 bass, 34-3, $5,719

            9^th:       Gary Milicevic of Labelle, Fla., 11 bass, 32-14, $3,932

            10^th:     Corey Smith of Clermont, Fla., 10 bass, 29-2, $3,247

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

Solis took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Ricky Grant of Inverness, Florida, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 33 pounds even. Grant took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Seminole finished:

            1^st:       Ricky Grant of Inverness, Fla., 14 bass, 33-0, Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat w/115-hp outboard

            2^nd:      Spencer Howerton of Melbourne Beach, Fla., 11 bass, 27-9, $3,983

            3^rd:       J.P. Sims of Port St. Lucie, Fla., 12 bass, 24-2, $3,186

            4^th:       Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, nine bass, 23-0, $2,788

            5^th:       John Riddling of Melrose, Fla., 13 bass, 22-13, $2,390

            6^th:       Todd Beaver of Richland, Ga., nine bass, 21-14, $1,991

            7^th:       James Brooks of Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 21-1, $1,593

            8^th:       Aaron Gengler of Lakeland, Fla., 13 bass, 20-10, $1,394

            9^th:       Dan Ehmen of Rockford, Ill., 10 bass, 19-14, $1,195

            10^th:     Blaine Partee of Oviedo, Fla., eight bass, 16-14, $996

The Toyota Series at Lake Seminole was hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. It was the third and final tournament in 2020 for Southern Division anglers. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will take place on Dec. 3-5 – the 2020 Toyota Series Championship at Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The 2020 Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $235,000 cash, including a $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus for qualified anglers. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship will be held Dec. 3-5 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.

BROOKELAND, Texas (Oct. 19, 2020) – Aaron Johnson of Shreveport, Louisiana, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces to win the three-day Toyota Series at the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament in Brookeland, Texas. Johnson’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 54-14 earned him the win by an 11-ounce margin over second-place angler Blake Schroeder of Whitehouse, Texas, and earned Johnson the top payout of $31,751 in the third and final tournament of the 2020 Toyota Series Southwestern Division.

Johnson said he won the tournament fishing entirely around shallow hydrilla with a modified square-bill crankbait. Hanging in the mid-lake for the most part, in 3 to 6 feet, he targeted clumpier sections of the grass.

“Typically, I would run it over the top or over the side,” said Johnson of his presentation. “The bait comes through pretty good, so I’ll run it over the top and to the side, pop it, stop it, twitch it, just the normal erratic stuff to try to get a reaction. There were times when I would twitch it over a clump, and then reel it fast when I got it over the other side of the clump. Every day I had probably 10 that would try to get it and just wouldn’t get it, but that’s just part of it.”

Fishing a discontinued bait that he modified with a custom color scheme, a red treble hook on the front and a filed-down bill, Johnson knew he had a good thing going.

“I have a lot of confidence in that bait,” said Johnson. “I won a two-day tournament a few years ago here with it and I know what it will do if you stay with it, so I never put it down. I threw a ChatterBait maybe 10 times and then I cut it off and put on a crankbait. I just had to stick with it.”

Johnson said he started mid-lake on days one and two, then ran more isolated places that brought him all the way north of the TX-147 bridge. He said the presence or lack of wind was key for him every day.

“Today it blew so hard, and they were biting really good in one of my main places, so I never left,” said Johnson. “Every other day, I would run and hit a couple of small patches here and there, and yesterday I did that and caught my biggest fish out of a little clump. Today, I never left, and at 2:10 I culled a 2-pounder with a 3½-pounder, and that’s what won the event.”

Johnson won a Bassmaster Open on Kentucky Lake in 2008, but this is his biggest win with FLW by far. Oddly enough, it comes after he literally zeroed in the recent Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Super Tournament on Rayburn.

“I found these fish for the BFL, and I caught none of them,” said Johnson. “However, God has a plan, and this tournament worked out. It feels great – it’s been a little while since I’ve been in the winner’s seat – so it’s good to be back. I’m very fortunate and very grateful – these are hard to win.”

The top 10 pros on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

            1^st:       Aaron Johnson of Shreveport, La., 15 bass, 54-14, $31,751

            2^nd:      Blake Schroeder of Whitehouse, Texas, 15 bass, 54-3, $12,303

            3^rd:       Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, La., 15 bass, 45-15, $9,525

            4^th:       Chris McCall of Palmer, Texas, 15 bass, 44-13, $7,938

            5^th:       Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas, 15 bass, 42-1, $7,144

            6^th:       Tim Reneau of Richland Springs, Texas, 15 bass, 41-15, $6,350

            7^th:       Kenneth Cates of Zavalla, Texas, 15 bass, 41-12, $5,556

            8^th:       Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 41-4, $4,763

            9^th:       Cole Moore of Anacoco, La., 14 bass, 40-4, $4,969

            10^th:     Justin O’Brian Cooper of Zwolle, La., 15 bass, 39-4, $3,175

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

Moore took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Anthony Templeton of Beckville, Texas won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 12 bass weighing 28 pounds, 3 ounces. Templeton took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

            1^st:       Anthony Templeton of Beckville, Texas, 12 bass, 28-3, Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat w/115-hp

outboard

            2^nd:      Micheal Sharp of Argyle, Texas, 10 bass, 24-14, $4,057

            3^rd:       Todd Childs of Waxahachie, Texas, seven bass, 23-2, $3,314

            4^th:       Grayson Honeycutt of Temple, Texas, 12 bass, 21-5, $2,840

            5^th:       Kayden Tanner of Millsap, Texas, 10 bass, 20-15, $2,434

            6^th:       David Keith of Haughton, La., 10 bass, 20-13, $2,029

            7^th:       Donny Davis of Livingston, La., 10 bass, 20-12, $1,623

            8^th:       Timothy Cooper of Pelican, La., 10 bass, 19-15, $1,420

            9^th:       Aaron Freeman of Montgomery, Texas, 10 bass, 18-2, $1,217

            10^th:     Randy Pewthers of Pearland, Texas, seven bass, 16-6, $1,014

The Toyota Series at the Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the third of three regular-season tournaments in 2020 for Southwestern Division anglers. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will take place on Oct. 29-31 with the Toyota Series at Dale Hollow Lake in Monroe, Tennessee. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The 2020 Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $235,000 cash, including a $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus for qualified anglers. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship will be held Dec. 3-5 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.

ANDERSON, S.C. (Oct. 13, 2020) Boater Troy Morrow of Eastanollee, Georgia, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 32 pounds even, to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Savannah River Division Super-Tournament at Lake Hartwell presented by Fish-Intel. For his victory, Morrow earned $6,415.

I didn’t start catching fish until after 9 a.m, but I had found a spot in practice with some big ones on a timber line,” said Morrow. “I broke a big one off yesterday that would have really helped but I went back today and they were schooling so I caught them all on top.”

Morrow comes from a recent Toyota Series win on Lake Norman, only a few short weeks ago.

“On Hartwell, it all depends on what bait the fish are currently eating,” Morrow continued. “These were eating small fish so I threw small topwater baits. Normally if you can find them eating on the bluebacks, you go with pencil poppers, big sammies and your bigger walking baits.”

Morrow said if he had to name his key bait it would be the Zoom Shakey Head Worm in green-pumpkin color.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

            1^st:       Troy Morrow of Eastonellee, Ga.,10 bass, 32-0, $6,415

            2^nd:      Derek Lehtonen of Woodruff, S.C., 10 bass, 28-4, $3,708

            3^rd:       Chris Nelson of Social Circle, Ga., 10 bass, 27-4, $2,141

            4^th:       Jayme Rampey of Liberty, S.C., 10 bass, 26-11, $1,497

            5^th:       Tony Holliday of Piedmont, S.C., 10 bass, 25-5, $1,283

            6^th:       Justin Singleton of Myrtle Beach, S.C., 10 bass, 24-12, $1,376

            7^th:       Lane Wright of Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 24-6, $1,069

            8^th:       Bo Price of Seneca, S.C., 10 bass, 23-12,  $962

            9^th:       Trent Palmer of Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 23-1, $855

            10^th:     Collin Smith of Honea Path, S.C., 10 bass, 21-11, $748

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Jeremy Strong of Elberton, Georgia earned the day’s $907 Boater Big Bass award with a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass.

Lehtonen took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX 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 FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Nathan McClure of Hiawassee, Georgia earned the win in the Co-angler Division Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces. McClure earned $3,181 for his victory.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

            1^st:       Nathan McClure of Hiawassee, Ga., 10 bass, 19-6, $3,181

            2^nd:      Adam Tanner of Cleveland, Ga., 10 bass, 18-10, $1,591

            3^rd:       Wendell Grantham of Athens, Ga., 10 bass, 17-13, $1,061

            4^th:       Christopher Chavis of Guyton, Ga., nine bass, 17-5, $742

            5^th:       Blake Wilson of Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 17-3, $636

            6^th:       Wayne Hancock of Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 16-15, $583

            7^th:       Cody Coker of Comer, Ga., eight bass, 15-13, $530

            8^th:       Brian Anthony of Pickens, S.C., 10 bass, 15-9, $677

            9^th:       Gary Haraguchi of Phoenix, Ariz., nine bass, 15-7, $424

            10^th:     Kevin Henderson of Honea Path, S.C., seven bass, 15-3, $371

Collin Cribb of Sumter, South Carolina, earned the event’s Co-angler Big Bass Award of $450 with a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 7 ounces

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell was hosted by the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau and was the fifth and final qualifying event in the 2020 Savannah River Division.

Now the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Savannah River Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will advance to the Oct. 22-24 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia, hosted by Gainesville Convention and Visitors Bureau. 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 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2020 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 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held Nov. 11-13 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina and is hosted by Visit Anderson. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.

HENRICO, Va. (Oct. 12, 2020) Pro Chris Daves of Spring Grove, Virginia, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 50 pounds, 1 ounces to win the no-entry fee Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on the James River. For his victory, Daves earned $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and automatic entry into the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Championship, June 3-5, at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee.

“We had extremely low tides the past few days, which put the fish off the bank and right where I like to fish,” said Daves, regarding the key to his victory.

“I fished drops on the lower end of James in the mouth of the Chickahominy River, at a depth of 4 to 5 feet, with a chartreuse-colored square-bill crankbait,” continued Daves. “I also caught several key fish on a ribbontail worm.”

Daves said he grew up fishing this river and Wards Creek.

“Fishing on your home lake, you normally get the local jinx, but this time it worked out for me, so it feels good,” said Daves.

The top six boaters that qualified for 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

            1^st:       Chris Daves of Spring Grove, Va., 15 bass, 50-1, $60,000

            2^nd:      Jason Burger of Bridgeton, N.J., 15 bass, 45-11, $10,000

            3^rd:       Chris Baldwin of Lexington, N.C., 15 bass, 44-6, $5,200

            4^th:       Keith Estes of Spring Grove, Va., 15 bass, 44-4, $3,000

            5^th:       Jason Thomas of Lexington, N.C., 15 bass, 43-10, $2,500

            6^th:       Chad Poteat of Mount Airy, N.C., 15 bass, 43-9, $1,800

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:

            7^th:       Chris Dover of Blacksburg, S.C., 15 bass, 41-11, $1,600

            8^th:       Jason Barnes of Concord, N.C., 15 bass, 41-9, $1,400

            9^th:       Cole Huskins of Gastonia, N.C., 15 bass, 40-9, $1,200

            10^th:     Steve Colgin of Lanexa, Va., 15 bass, 40-1, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Thomas took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX 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 FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Moo Bae of West Friendship, Maryland, weighed in 15 bass over three days totaling 35 pounds, 5 ounces to win the top co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

1^st:       Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., 15 bass, 35-5, $50,000, including Phoenix 819 Pro boat w/200-hp outboard

            2^nd:      David Mills of Wirtz, Va., 15 bass, 33-11, $5,000

            3^rd:       Rod Mackinnon of Middletown, N.Y., 14 bass, 30-3, $2,500

            4^th:       Travis Garrett of Charlottesville, Va., 13 bass, 30-3, $1,500

            5^th:       Terri Davis of Chilhowie, Va., 15 bass, 27-15, $1,000

            6^th:       Robert Wedding of Welcome, Md., 11 bass, 25-12, $1,150

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

            7^th:       Cody Lewis of Ooltewah, Tenn., nine bass, 22-2, $800

            8^th:       Nick Coker of Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 21-12, $700

            9^th:       Bradley Smith of Cherryville, N.C. 14 bass, 21-3, $600

            10^th:     Gregory Chuhta of Germantown, Md., 12 bass, 20-11, $500

The Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on the James River was hosted by Richmond Region Tourism. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the North Carolina, Northeast, Shenandoah and Volunteer divisions.

The 2020 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 is 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 Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.

DAYTON, Tenn. (Oct. 12, 2020) Boater Drew Boggs of Lebanon, Tennessee, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 40 pounds, 11 ounces to win the no-entry fee Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship at Lake Chickamauga. For his victory, Boggs earned $61,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and automatic entry into the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Championship, June 3-5, at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee.

“This is my first time in a long time to come out on top, and I’ve been trying hard,” said Boggs. “It’s been a grind with the drop in water levels, so I’m super excited with what I weighed in today.”

Boggs said he found his winning fish in the middle part of the lake, fishing shallow, throwing a swimbait, buzzbait and a squarebill crankbait.

“I was fishing water that hadn’t been fished and getting to places other people hadn’t been to – I think that made the biggest difference,” continued Boggs. “I’m so excited – this will be my third All-American tournament to compete in and I can’t wait,” said Boggs.

The top six boaters that qualified for 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

            1^st:       Drew Boggs of Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 40-11, $61,000

            2^nd:      Blake Tomlin of Greenville, Ga., 13 bass, 37-9, $10,000

            3^rd:       Jason Nixon of Wetumpka, Ala., 13 bass, 37-2, $5,000

            4^th:       Brent Butler of Vonore, Tenn., 14 bass, 35-12, $3,000

            5^th:       Lloyd Pickett, Jr., of Bartlett, Tenn., 14 bass, 35-0, $2,000

            6^th:       Christopher Thomas of Birmingham, Ala., 14 bass, 34-7, $1,800

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:

            7^th:       Jeff Cannon of Douglasville, Ga., 14 bass, 33-15, $1,600

            8^th:       Mike Quinlin of Mooresville, Ind., 14 bass, 33-2, $1,900

            9^th:       Vernon Lowe of Oneida, Tenn., 14 bass, 32-11, $1,200

            10^th:     David Wootton of Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-10, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Quinlin took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX 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 FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Samuel Lemons of Vonore, Tennessee, weighed in 10 bass over three days totaling 32 pounds, 5 ounces to win the top co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

1^st:       Samuel Lemons of Vonore, Tenn., 32-5, 10 bass, $50,000

            2^nd:      Brent Clark of Bowling Green, Ky., 11 bass, 21-4, $5,000

            3^rd:       Curtis Cline of Lafayette, Tenn., 10 bass, 19-1, $2,500

            4^th:       Keith Whipple of Iuka, Miss., eight bass, 18-8, $1,500

            5^th:       Allen Neal of Whitley City, Ky., seven bass, 17-13, $1,000

            6^th:       Michael Petras of Biloxi, Miss., seven bass, 17-11, $900

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

            7^th:       Dennis Taylor of Murray, Ky., eight bass, 15-10, $800

            8^th:       Nathan Martin of Golden, Miss., five bass, 15-0, $700

            9^th:       Jojo Walsh of Lyles, Tenn., four bass, 13-13, $600

            10^th:     Josh Allen of Salem, Ala., six bass, 13-6, $500

The Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga was hosted by the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Bama (Alabama), LBL (Kentucky), Mississippi, and Mountain (Kentucky-Tennessee) divisions.

The 2020 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 is 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 Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. (Sept. 27, 2020) – Pro Tai Au of Glendale, Arizona, crossed the stage with a five-bass limit Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 26 pounds, 4 ounces, to vault to the top of the leaderboard and win the three-day Toyota Series at Clear Lake tournament in Clearlake, California. Au’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 63-3 earned him the win by a 5-pound, 4-ounce margin and earned him the top payout of $24,635 in the third and final tournament of the 2020 Toyota Series Western Division.

Au also won the Western Division season opener on Lake Havasu in his home state back in March.

“I’m shocked that I won,” Au said on stage. “It’s also a little emotional for me because this might be my last Western Division event for a while. I’m planning to go back east and fish the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit next year and make my dream a reality.”

“I just got a brand new boat and this week was the first time putting it in the water,” Au said. “I spent time breaking in the motor and getting my Lowrance units rigged up. On the third day of practice, I broke one off on a Neko Rig and then caught a 5-pounder in one area and that gave me the confidence to start there during the tournament.”

The area he found ended up being the winning area and he plied it for three straight days on the way to victory. Au described the area as a rounded point inside a pocket adjacent to a long flat. He fished in the mid-lake area and the spot had clean water and grass.

The first day, Au relied on a Neko-rigged 5-inch Yamamoto Senko in the watermelon red color on a size 1 Decoy hook. He ended the day with 17 pounds, 8 ounces and found himself in 13th place.

On the second day, Au returned to the same area. He caught one immediately, but the bite went cold after that.

“I knew they were still there because I could see them on my Lowrance units,” Au said. “They were just nipping at the Neko Rig and I knew I had to change it up to get them to react. I started throwing a Lucky Craft LV 500 in ghost minnow and chartreuse shad and figured out the cadence they wanted.”

Once he figured out how to fish the bait in his area, his catches went way up as he brought in 19-7 on the second day.

“The key was to rip it as hard as I could to get them to react,” he said. “I sat in one spot and made repeated casts to the same place. If you could get the school to fire up, you could catch four or five in a row.”

Saturday, he returned to his magic area and worked it all day long on his way to the win.

“I parked in that same spot for three straight days,” Au says. “It was a highway for fish coming in and out along the grass.”

He fished the lipless baits on two different setups, depending on the thickness of the grass. A 7-foot, 4-inch heavy Fitzgerald Bryan Thrift Signature Series cranking rod on the outside edges of the grass and a 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy Fitzgerald Stunner HD Series rod on the inside grass line. He fished both on Daiwa Tatula 100 reels spooled with 20-pound fluorocarbon.

The top 10 pros on Clear Lake finished:

            1^st:       Tai Au of Glendale, Ariz., 15 bass, 63-3, $24,635

            2^nd:      Tom White of Costa Mesa, Calif., 15 bass, 57-15, $9,613

            3^rd:       Jared Linter of Arroyo Grande, Calif., 15 bass, 54-14, $7,390

            4^th:       Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 54-9, $6,159

            5^th:       Todd Kline of San Clemente, Calif., 15 bass, 53-5, $5,543

            6^th:       John Pearl of Upper Lake, Calif., 15 bass, 51-6, $4,927

            7^th:       Sergio Arguello of North Hollywood, Calif., 15 bass, 50-6, $4,378

            8^th:       Jordan Collom of Canyon Lake, Calif., 15 bass, 49-7, $3,695

            9^th:       Wade Curtiss of Eagle, Idaho, 15 bass, 49-6, $4,079

            10^th:     Phillip Dutra of Concord, Calif., 15 bass, 47-4, $2,463

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

Curtiss took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Blaine Christiansen of San Jose, California, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 1 ounce. Christiansen took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Clear Lake finished:

            1^st:       Blaine Christiansen of San Jose, Calif., 15 bass, 50-1, Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat w/115-hp outboard

            2^nd:      Jeff Hodges of Grover Beach, Calif., 15 bass, 48-1, $3,209

            3^rd:       Travis Avery of Mount Vernon, Wash., 15 bass, 46-11, $2,567

            4^th:       Jack Farage of Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 45-10, $2,246

            5^th:       Bruce Harris of Oakdale, Calif., 15 bass, 44-15, $1,926

            6^th:       Jesse Parks of Avondale, Ariz., 15 bass, 42-2, $1,605

            7^th:       Larry Rogers of Riverside, Calif., 15 bass, 40-2, $1,284

            8^th:       Scott Bern of San Rafael, Calif., 15 bass, 39-12, $1,123

            9^th:       Zack Eggleston of Goleta, Calif., 15 bass, 38-14, $963

            10^th:     Ilya Guryanov of West Sacramento, Calif., 15 bass, 35-14, $847

The Toyota Series at Clear Lake was the third and final regular-season tournaments in 2020 for Western Division anglers. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will take place Oct. 1-3 – the Toyota Series at Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The 2020 Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $235,000 cash, including a $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus for qualified anglers. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship will be held Dec. 3-5 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.