Tennessee’s Wright Posts Victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on the Barren River
Tennessee’s Lloyd Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division
SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. – Boater Dylan Wright of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, caught five bass Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on the Barren River. The tournament was the fourth event for the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Mountain Division. Wright earned $4,796 for his victory.
“I got to my first spot and nobody was on it,” Wright said. “I caught a limit on it pretty early and then moved to a different spot about 9 o’clock and stayed there and just culled up throughout the day. All in all, it went pretty smooth.”
Wright said he had never fished the Barren River before, except for two practice days in the week leading up to the event. During the tournament he focused on mid-lake points with a shaky-head rig, tipped with a Roboworm, casting into 10 feet of water on points and dragging his bait into depths around 20 feet. Wright said his method resulted in 25 keepers and no short fish during the course of the day.
“This feels real good,” said Wright after posting his first BFL win. “I’ve had some tournaments that I’ve left the lake and just felt terrible, and I’ve also had some close calls, like last week in the Music City Division’s Old Hickory Lake event where I finished second, so to finish this one on top feels great.”
The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Dylan Wright, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 17-5, $4,796
2nd: Aaron Singleton, La Grange, Ky., five bass, 16-14, $2,398
3rd: Dalton Smith, Taylorsville, Ky., five bass, 16-8, $1,595
4th: William Merrick, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $2,834 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th: Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., five bass, 15-13, $919
5th: Grant Adams, Campbellsville, Ky., five bass, 15-13, $919
7th: Anthony Bowman, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 15-11, $799
8th: Nick Ratliff, Vine Grove, Ky., five bass, 14-15, $719
9th: Stephen Whobrey, Scottsville, Ky., five bass, 14-14, $639
10th: Talmadge Marcum, McKee, Ky., five bass, 14-11, $560
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Merrick also caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – earning him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $715.
Travis Lloyd of Jamestown, Tennessee, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,533 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces.
The Top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Travis Lloyd, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 17-7, $2,533
2nd: Brent Clark, Bowling Green, Ky., five bass, 16-15, $1,453
3rd: Gilbert Jolley, Livingston, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $1,187
4th: Taylor Wisniewski, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 13-15, $701
5th: Jeff Hartgrove, Mt. Sterling, Ky., five bass, 13-3, $472
6th: Wayne Crouch, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $433
7th: Bert Kissick, Danville, Ky., five bass, 12-13, $393
8th: Josh Gadd, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $354
9th: Matthew Short, Florence, Ky., five bass, 12-7, $315
10th: Lucas Devere, Berea, Ky., five bass, 12-0, $275
Lloyd and Clark both caught bass weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces in the Co-angler Division to tie for the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award. Each angler received $173.
After four events, Michael Morrison of Stamping Ground, Kentucky, leads the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Mountain Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 957 points, while Todd Stopher of London, Kentucky, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 947 points.
The Top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 20-22 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. Boaters will compete for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.
The 2022 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 Regional Championships 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 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 MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.