Missouri’s Macy Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American on Lake Hartwell presented by TINCUP

Chris Macy Photo by Rob Matsuura.

November 13, 2020 • FLW Communications • Phoenix Bass Fishing League

ANDERSON, S.C. – Boater Chris Macy of Diamond, Missouri, won the 37th annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American on Lake Hartwell presented by TINCUP Friday, bringing a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce. Macy’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 34-10 was enough to overtake second-place angler Todd Goade of White Pine, Tennessee – who led the event after the second day of competition – by a 2-pound, 4-ounce margin. For the win, Macy earned the top payout of $100,000.

“This is unbelievable – going in to today, I really didn’t think I had a shot at it,” said Macy, who qualified for this tournament through the Bass Fishing League Ozark Division. “I went out this morning and thought that if I could catch 10 pounds, I’d be happy. When you make it to the last day, you kind of look at the payscale and you know that every spot you can hold or move up is another thousand bucks in your pocket. My goal was just to hang in there.

“I stumbled on to something around 1 o’clock this afternoon, and it absolutely went crazy from there,” Macy continued. “On the LiveScope, I would watch my swimbait come across the brush piles and if I could get the fish to follow it, I would kill it and let that swimbait go straight to the bottom. Every one of those fish would nose down on it, and as soon as I popped that swimbait up off the bottom, they would eat it every time.”

Macy said that of the 15 keepers he brought to the weigh-in stage this week, 14 of them came on a Keitech 2.8-inch swimbait in Tennessee Shad and Sexy Shad colors. He credited his electronics as being crucial to his win.

“Every fish that I caught came off of a brush pile,” Macy said. “My Garmin LiveScope was crucial. Every fish that I caught this week, I watched it bite. Most of the water I fished was 20- to 30-feet-deep, and if I could get the fish sitting up on top of the brush piles, it was game on.

“Overall, it has just been a super three days,” Macy went on to say. “I was just so happy to be fishing on the third day of the All-American, and I knew that if I could put a big one in the bag today that anything could happen. When it’s your time, it’s your time and today was just my day.”

The top 10 boaters on Lake Hartwell finished:

1st: Chris Macy, Diamond, Mo., 15 bass, 34-10, $100,000
2nd: Todd Goade, White Pine, Tenn., 15 bass, 32-6, $20,000
3rd: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 15 bass, 31-11, $15,000
4th: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 31-7, $21,000
5th: Bryan Dowdy, Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 30-7, $18,000
6th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., 15 bass, 28-1, $12,000
7th: Randall Allen, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., 15 bass, 27-11, $12,000
8th: Kip Carter, Mansfield, Ga., 15 bass, 27-11, $10,000
9th: Dustin Lippe, Lampe, Mo., 12 bass, 25-11, $9,000
10th: Dennis Berhorst, Holts Summit, Mo., 13 bass, 23-11, $8,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall, there were 45 bass weighing 77 pounds, 5 ounces, caught by the final 10 boaters Friday. The catch included eight five-bass limits.

Justin Kimmel of Athens, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $50,000 Friday with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 26 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Larry Rothweil of Saint Charles, Missouri, in second place with 12 bass weighing 22-2, good for $10,000.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., 14 bass, 26-9, $50,000
2nd: Larry Rothweil, St. Charles, Mo., 12 bass, 22-2, $10,000
3rd: Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 19-14, $6,000
4th: David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla., 13 bass, 19-6, $5,000
5th: Dalton Steele, Cherokee, Ala., 10 bass, 18-5, $4,500
6th: Cole Sands, Calhoun, Tenn., 12 bass, 17-11, $4,000
7th: Andrew Wiley, Joppa, Md., 13 bass, 17-7, $3,500
8th: Leo Reiter, Greenup, Ill., 13 bass, 16-13, $3,000
9th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., 11 bass, 16-2, $3,000
10th: Kerry Harris, Bethel Island, Calif., 11 bass, 16-1, $2,000

Overall, there were 30 bass weighing 40 pounds, 6 ounces, caught by the final 10 co-anglers Friday. The catch included two five-bass limits.

In addition to the cash payouts, the highest-finishing boater and co-angler from each of six Regional Championships, the Wild Card Championship and The Bass Federation (TBF) National Championship at the All-American now advance to the 2020 Toyota Series Championship next month on Lake Cumberland for a shot at winning $235,000 and $33,500, respectively.

The eight boaters and co-anglers that now advance to the 2020 Toyota Series Championship are:

Region 1 (Lake Hartwell) Boater Champion: Todd Goade, White Pine, Tenn.
Region 2 (Lake Seminole) Boater Champion: Randall Allen, Owens Cross Roads, Ala.
Region 3 (Kentucky-Barkley lakes) Boater Champion: Kerry Frey, Middlebury, Ind.
Region 4 (Potomac River) Boater Champion: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C.
Region 5 (Lake Guntersville) Boater Champion: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio
Region 6 (Grand Lake) Boater Champion: Chris Macy, Diamond, Mo.
WildCard (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Bryan Dowdy, Florence, Ala.
TBF (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Blake Wilson, Benton, Ark.

Region 1 (Lake Hartwell) Boater Champion: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga.
Region 2 (Lake Seminole) Boater Champion: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C.
Region 3 (Kentucky-Barkley lakes) Boater Champion: David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla.
Region 4 (Potomac River) Boater Champion: Mark Blankenship, Christiansburg, Va.
Region 5 (Lake Guntersville) Boater Champion: Dalton Steele, Cherokee, Ala.
Region 6 (Grand Lake) Boater Champion: Larry Rothweil, Saint Charles, Mo.
WildCard (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Leo Reiter, Greenup, Ill.
TBF (Kentucky Lake) Boater Champion: Andrew Wiley, Joppa, Md.

Hosted by Visit Anderson, the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American on Lake Hartwell presented by TINCUP featured a field of the top 55 boaters and 55 co-anglers from across the 24-division Bass Fishing League, TBF, Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI and High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing.

Television coverage of the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine All-American presented by TINCUP will premiere Jan. 2, 2021, on the Outdoor Channel, Jan. 4, 2021, on the World Fishing Network and be featured in the FLW television series on YouTube.com/FLWFishing. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.

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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