Loudon’s Woods picks up first career win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League event at Dale Hollow Lake
Illinois’ Keefer tops Strike King co-angler division
BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. – Boater Jacob Woods of Loudon, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine event on Dale Hollow Lake. Hosted by Star Point Marina & Resort, the tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. Woods earned $4,394 for his victory.
It’s been a scorching start to the BFL Mountain Division season for Woods. The 24-year-old former Abu Garcia MLF College Fishing competitor from nearby Tennessee Tech now works as a survey tech for a surveying and engineering firm, and he competes in local tournaments on Dale Hollow any chance he gets.
All that experience helped him earn a second-place finish at the Mountain Division opener and now a win the second stop.
Woods said he fished the same way in both tournaments.
“I just targeted fish and bait with a Damiki (rig) and a swimbait, and I ain’t gonna lie, it was pretty tough today (Saturday),” he said. “The wind made it very, very difficult. I didn’t have a fish until 11 o’clock. I ended up pulling in a place at 2 o’clock, and by 2:45 I had what I had. I caught them all in about a 45-minute span. It was just one of those things where if it’s your time, it’s your time.”
Woods used a Garmin LiveScope to find and catch his fish, and he weighed in a limit of five largemouth bass. Woods declined to share the specific lures he used, but did share that he fished 3-inch and 4-inch soft baits on his Damiki rig to match the size of the local baitfish. Upsizing to a little heavier jighead helped him manage his presentations in the wind.
“It was interesting, to say the least,” Woods said, while reflecting on his win. “It feels good to finally get one. I got two seconds. I finished third in the regional down here. It feels good to finally get one.”
The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jacob Woods, Loudon, Tenn., five bass, 21-13, $4,394
2nd: Will Garrett, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 21-7, $2,197
3rd: Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., five bass, 20-6, $2,264 (includes $500 Phoenix MFL Contingency Bonus)
4th: Christian Nash, Allons, Tenn., five bass, 20-5, $1,025
5th: Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., five bass, 19-10, $842
5th: Cole Logsdon, Brownsville, Ky., five bass, 19-10, $842
7th: Hunter Sales, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 19-5, $732
8th: Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., five bass, 19-2, $659
9th: Aaron Bidarian, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 18-14, $586
10th: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 18-8, $513
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Aaron Combs of Jackson, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds even to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $630.
David Keefer of Charleston, Illinois, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,179 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 8 ounces.
The Top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: David Keefer, Charleston, Ill., five bass, 15-8, $2,179
2nd: Dustin Forrest, Knob Lick, Ky., five bass, 13-7, $1,090
3rd: Derik Smith, Mt. Washington, Ky., five bass, 13-3, $825
4th: Grant Aumiller, Danville, Ky., five bass, 12-12, $509
5th: Joshua Mounce, Somerset, Ky., four bass, 11-4, $436
6th: Robert Holliday, White Plains, Ga., four bass, 11-2, $400
7th: Robert Jones, Whitley City, Ky., five bass, 11-1, $363
8th: Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 10-2, $483
9th: Scotty Reagan, Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., four bass, 9-15, $291
10th: James Proffitt, Celina, Tenn., four bass, 9-13, $254
Johnny Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and Javon Booker of Beaver Dam, Kentucky, tied for the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award by each catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces. They each took home a $156 prize.
After two events, Jacob Woods leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 499 points, while Luke Shrader of Monticello, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 476 points.
The next event for BFL Mountain Division anglers will be held April 13, at Lake Cumberland in Monticello, Kentucky. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call 270-252-1000.
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. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki 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 or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 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 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota 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.