Suratt’s kicker smallmouth gives Tennessee angler third win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League event at Pickwick Lake

Alabama’s Turner tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

IUKA, Miss. – Boater Trent Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Pickwick Lake. The tournament, hosted by Tishomingo County Tourism, was the second event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Suratt earned $4,702 for his victory.

“I didn’t catch much until about 10 or 11 o’clock,” said Surratt, who notched his third BFL win on Lake Pickwick since 2019. “We had a pretty rough day with the wind, and I had run about 40 miles upriver to where I wanted to fish.

“After I found them, they were all in a 20-yard stretch,” Surrat added.

Suratt said he was targeting spawning smallmouth with a 3/16-ounce Johnston Lures shaky head with a green pumpkin Zoom Trick Worm. He said he fished around chunk rock in four to six feet of water to catch nine keepers during the tournament.

“At 1 o’clock I told myself I was going to leave because I knew it was going to be rough going back,” Suratt said. “I had just caught a smallmouth that was the big fish of the tournament (5-10), so I knew I probably needed to be going back after that one.”

The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

• 1st: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 20-14, $4,702
• 2nd: Taurian Parks, Clinton, Miss., five bass, 20-7, $2,064
• 3rd: Blake Fritts, Florence, Ala., five bass, 19-5, $1,377
• 4th: Matt Ferguson, Pontotoc, Miss., five bass, 18-10, $963
• 5th: Hunter Brewer, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 17-12, $791
• 5th: Mike Foster, Terre Haute, Ind., five bass, 17-12, $791
• 7th: Michael Wooley, Booneville, Miss., five bass, 16-9, $688
• 8th: Doug Taylor, Booneville, Miss., five bass, 16-5, $619
• 9th: Thomas Bridges, Newhebron, Miss., five bass, 16-0, $550
• 10th: William Camp, Blytheville, Ark., five bass, 15-8, $482

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Suratt’s smallmouth that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, earned him the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $575.

Jesse Turner of Danville, Alabama, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $2,059 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 11 ounces.

The Top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

• 1st: Jesse Turner, Danville, Ala., five bass, 17-11, $2,059
• 2nd: Jacob Littrell, Waynesboro, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $1,030
• 3rd: Jason Henson, Rome, Ga., five bass, 14-11, $1,237
• 4th: Todd South, Florence, Ala., five bass, 14-10, $480
• 5th: Tanner Plumlee, Wildersville, Tenn., four bass, 13-3, $412
• 6th: Brian Dodd, Florence, Ala., four bass, 11-10, $378
• 7th: Clint Horton, Falkner, Miss., five bass, 11-4, $343
• 8th: Brice Cohea, Booneville, Miss., three bass, 11-1, $309
• 9th: Ryan Lecompte, Picayune, Miss., three bass, 9-15, $257
• 9th: Grey Holland, Guntown, Miss., three bass, 9-15, $257

Randy Holman of Columbus, Mississippi, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $282, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Taurian Parks of Clinton, Mississippi, leads the BFL Mississippi Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 480 points, while Hunter Averett of Carriere, Mississippi, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 479 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 Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Oklahoma. 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 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.