Mount Airy’s Poteat “squeezes” out victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League event at High Rock Lake

Knightdale’s House wins Strike King co-angler Division

LEXINGTON, N.C. – Boater Chad Poteat of Mount Airy, North Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on High Rock Lake . The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL North Carolina Division. Poteat earned $12,986, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

“The water had come up tremendously over the last few days because of the rain we’ve had,” said Poteat, who owns a lake house on High Rock Lake. “It had come down just enough to let me fish Abbott’s Creek. I removed my motor hood and windshield and a couple of graphs and was able to squeeze up under the bridge and get back in the creek where the water was stable and cleaner.”

Poteat, who said he excels in shallow water, targeted bream beds he had located a week before the tournament with a Texas-rigged Queen Tackle tungsten jig and coaxed eight keeper bites from High Rock for the day.

“I fished High Rock the week before in the Piedmont Division BFL event and finished seventh, so I knew where the fish were,” Poteat said. “I just swam a jig and pitched my worm around, and I was fortunate to get the ‘W’. God blessed me.”

After Poteat caught his third 5-pounder he thought he had a good shot at placing high in the standings.

“I had a limit in the box, then I caught my fourth 5-pounder and I said, ‘Man, I’ve got a shot at this thing,’” Poteat said. “I’ve fished a bunch of BFLs over the year, and to close the deal out on my home lake was a blessing. Plus, I got my fifth career BFL win. It is so hard to win one of these things. There are so many good fishermen nowadays.”

The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

• 1st:          Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., five bass, 23-5, $12,986 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
• 2nd:        David Farrington, Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 21-0, $2,383
• 3rd:        Ron Wolfarth, Oakboro, N.C., five bass, 15-15, $1,256
• 4th:         Ladd Whicker, Winston-Salem, N.C., five bass, 15-9, $879
• 5th:         Greg Robertson, King, N.C., five bass, 13-13, $753
• 6th:         Todd Harris, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 13-5, $690
• 7th:         Adam Flora, Red House, W.V., four bass, 13-4, $628
• 8th:         Robert Walser, Lexington, N.C., four bass, 13-0, $565
• 9th:         John Farmer, Sherrills Ford, N.C., three bass, 12-9, $502
• 10th:      Chris Dover, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 11-15, $439

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

David Farrington of Greensboro, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces, to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $500.

Wes House of Knightdale, North Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $1,883 Saturday, after bringing four bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 5 ounces.

The Top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished: 

• 1st:          Wes House, Knightdale, N.C., four bass, 15-5, $1,883
• 2nd:        Lee Williams, Durham, N.C., five bass, 12-6, $942
• 3rd:        Hunter Alexander, China Grove, N.C., five bass, 10-15, $627
• 4th:         Chase Tedder, Walnut Cove, N.C., two bass, 8-2, $889
• 5th:         Andy Kearns, High Point, N.C.., two bass, 7-0, $361
• 5th:         Andrew Weaver, Clemmons, N.C., three bass, 7-0, $361
• 7th:         Greg Fox, Hudson, N.C., two bass, 6-15, $314
• 8th:         April Barrow, Salisbury, N.C., two bass, 6-9, $282
• 9th:         Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, N.C., three bass, 6-8, $251
• 10th:      Gregory Haverlock, Indian Trail, N.C., two bass, 6-0, $220

Chase Tedder of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $250, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Jason Barnes of Concord, North Carolina, leads the BFL North Carolina Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 945 points, while Wes House of Knightdale, North Carolina, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 969 points.

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. 5-7 BFL Regional tournament on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will fish 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 compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2023 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 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X and YETI.

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.