Arkansas’ Blevins Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Table Rock Lake
Kansas City’s Ladehoff Wins Co-angler Division
KIMBERLING CITY, Mo. – Boater Dustin Blevins of Harrison, Arkansas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, Missouri. For his victory, Blevins earned a total of $7,000.
The tournament was the first of five events in the Ozark Division presented by Tournament Anglers Group.
“I caught all of my fish today on an Alabama rig and a Strike King Coffee Tube,” said Blevins, who earned the first win of his FLW career. “I weighed in two black bass on the A-rig and three smallmouth on the tube.”
Blevins said his tube of choice was a green pumpkin-melon-colored 3½ inch Strike King Coffee Tube, and he used sexy shad-colored Keitech 3.3 swimbaits on his Alabama rig.
“I was fishing a 15- to 20-minute run from takeoff – near Shell Knob – running windy gravel points, fishing in 25 to 30 foot of water. The smallmouth were in 15 feet,” Blevins said.
“I’ve been so close to winning before,” Blevins went on to say. “I’ve finished second and had a couple of third place finishes, so it feels good to finally get one.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
1st: Dustin Blevins of Harrison, Ark., five bass, 19-5, $7,000
2nd: Shawn Kowal of Linn Creek, Mo., five bass, 18-15, $4,000
3rd: Dustin Lippe of Lampe, Mo., five bass, 18-6, $2,500
4th: Ben Verhoef of Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 18-0, $1,400
5th: Roger Fitzpatrick of Eldon, Mo., five bass, 17-11, $1,200
6th: Mike Gold of Billings, Mont., five bass, 17-7, $1,100
7th: Rick Johnston of Webb City, Mo., five bass, 17-4, $1,000
8th: Tyler Stewart of Mount Vernon, Mo., five bass, 16-15, $850
9th: Brock Reinkemeyer of Lone Jack, Mo., five bass, 16-15, $850
10th: Adam Boehle of Warrenton, Mo., five bass, 16-13, $700
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Kowal brought a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000.
Lippe 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.
Troy Ladehoff of Kansas City, Missouri, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:
1st: Troy Ladehoff of Kansas City, Mo., five bass, 18-14, $3,000
2nd: Alan Bernicky of Joliet, Ill., five bass, 15-5, $1,650
3rd: Zach Wilson of Kansas City, Kan., four bass, 13-2, $1,000
4th: Christian Singer of Bunceton, Mo., four bass, 12-15, $1,200
5th: Rob Melendez of Bourbonnais, Ill., five bass, 12-4, $600
6th: Dennis Kube of Arnold, Mo., five bass, 11-5, $550
7th: Joseph Lay of Gardner, Kan., five bass, 11-1, $500
7th: Zachery Hanzlik of Basehor, Kan., four bass, 10-12, $450
9th: Jacob Wade of Mountain Grove, Mo., five bass, 10-8, $400
9th: Chris Gebhardt of Columbia, Mo., four bass, 10-7, $350
Singer caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Ozark Division presented by the Tournament Anglers Group based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 15-17 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, hosted by the Explore La Crosse. 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 April 30 through May 2 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.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW 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.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
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