GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 26, 2024) – Boater Randy Stone of Dexter, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes . Hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, the tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Stone earned $5,133 for his victory.
“The water was very rough this morning when I ran down to my first stop,” Stone said. “I didn’t catch a fish there, so I decided to run to a bank where I had been catching them, near Paris Landing, and I caught a few there. I still didn’t know what to do; it was so rough there wasn’t really any good place to fish.”
Stone said he then began hitting old spots he’d fished in the past and said every spot he hit produced fish. Stone said he was targeting flats and caught 10 keepers with a Z-Man Original Chatterbait, a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and crankbaits.
“I never thought I had a chance to have enough weight to win this,” Stone said. “I needed two really nice fish to finish up, so I threw up to the bank and caught two really nice smallmouth, and that ended up putting me over the top.
“This win is just crazy,” Stone added. “I didn’t have a clue that I could end up winning. I thought my co-angler had caught enough for a win, but I didn’t think I had.”
Stone’s co-angler, Greg Warren, went on to win the co-angler division, as the duo swept the event.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Randy Stone, Dexter, Ky., five bass, 23-0, $5,133
2nd: Billy Schroeder, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 22-8, $2,566
3rd: Brad Kell, Benton, Ky., five bass, 21-10, $1,710
4th: Stephen Barga, Benton, Ky., five bass, 21-2, $1,198
5th: Ethan Fields, Breese, Ill., five bass, 20-15, $1,027
6th: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., five bass, 20-10, $1,441 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Zachary Martin, Murray, Ky., five bass, 20-2, $855
8th: Clint Knight, Lewisburg, Ky., five bass, 18-3, $770
9th: Sam Moll, Hershey, Pa., five bass, 18-2, $684
10th: Lloyd Pickett, Jr., Bartlett, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $599
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Justin Berger of Murray, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $800.
Greg Warren of Rosiclare, Illinois, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,966 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 20 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
Stone’s Co-Angler Warren Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division, Completes Duo Sweep
1st: Greg Warren, Rosiclare, Ill., five bass, 20-4, $2,966
2nd: Alan Spell, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 14-15, $1,283
3rd: Peyton Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., five bass, 14-9, $855
4th: Gage Elder, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 14-6, $599
5th: Jim Elmore, Independence, Ky., five bass, 14-3, $513
6th: Tim Rampaul, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 13-14, $571
7th: Conner Hughart, Goreville, Ill., five bass, 13-6, $428
8th: Logan Sutherland, Elizabeth, Ind., five bass, 13-1, $385
9th: Bill Olson, Barrington, Ill., four bass, 13-0, $342
10th: Hunter Holguin, Knoxville, Tenn, five bass, 12-15, $299
Greg Warren of Rosiclare, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $400, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
The next event for BFL LBL Division anglers will be held April 6, at Kentucky-Barkley Lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.
