| Boater winner Will Hart of Danielsville, Georgia, and Strike-King co-angler winner Mark Yarborough of Salem, South Carolina. |
| Salem’s Yarborough Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division ANDERSON, S.C. (March 11, 2024) – Boater Will Hart of Danielsville, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell . Hosted by Visit Anderson, the tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Hart earned $11,266, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory. Hart caught all of his fish on deep points using his Garmin LiveScope and a Damiki rig. The rig consisted of a Damiki Armor Shad with a Greenfish Bryan New Bad Little Shad Swimbait Head. “They were out a little bit deeper in 30 to 35 feet,” he said, “just staged up getting ready to start moving up (to spawn) with the water temp rising like it is. “It started off slow,” Hart added. “I had two fish at like 9 or 10 o’clock, and then I caught the 7-10 (Berkley Big Bass for the day) at like 10:30. Then I knew I had to just slow down. It was a grind. I caught a bunch of little fish, but it was a grind to get a decent bite.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Will Hart, Danielsville, Ga., five bass, 21-8, $11,266 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 2nd: Kevin Chandler, New London, N.C., five bass, 20-13, $1,883 3rd: Joe Anders, Easley, S.C., five bass, 19-12, $1,256 4th: Dylan Akins, Flowery Branch, Ga., five bass, 18-13, $879 5th: Cole Wilson, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 18-9, $753 6th: Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 17-6, $690 7th: Brendan Smith, Lavonia, Ga., five bass, 17-4, $628 8th: Justin Raines, Easley, S.C., five bass, 17-2, $865 9th: Lane Clark, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 17-0, $502 10th: Tallis Morrison, Royston, Ga., five bass, 16-14, $439 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Hart caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $500.  Mark Yarborough of Salem, South Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,878 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 5 ounces. The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished: 1st: Mark Yarborough, Salem, S.C., five bass, 16-5, $1,878 2nd: Kodell Keels, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 14-12, $1,184 3rd: Moldon Jordan, Andrews, S.C., five bass, 14-1, $627 4th: Michael Gauldin, Stokesdale, N.C., five bass, 14-0, $438 5th: Mark Lee, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 13-0, $360 5th: David Cooper, Rushville, N.Y., five bass, 13-0, $360 7th: Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., five bass, 12-13, $313 8th: Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., five bass, 11-10, $382 9th: Danny Bickley, Chapin, S.C., five bass, 11-6, $250 10th: Ross Doolittle, Greenwood, S.C., five bass, 11-5, $219 Kodell Keels of Columbia, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $245, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. The next event for BFL South Carolina Division anglers will be held April 6, at Santee Cooper Lakes in Summerton, South Carolina. 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 Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. 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. |
