| Boater winner Bradley Day of Anderson, South Carolina, and Strike-King co-angler winner Troy Mims of Suwanee, Georgia. |
| Georgia’s Mims Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division ANDERSON, S.C. (Feb. 3, 2025) – Boater Bradley Day of Anderson, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine at Lake Hartwell. The tournament, hosted by Visit Anderson, was the second event of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Day earned $3,514 for his victory. Day didn’t waste any time on tournament morning. In fact, his game plan involved making hay “before” the sun was shining. “I caught them all in the first 45 minutes,” he said. “I pulled up in a ditch and got lucky and caught a couple threes (3-pounders) right off the bat, and then I went to the next ditch over – a couple pockets down – and caught like a 5 and a 4 in that ditch, too. I pretty much had 21 pounds in the first 45 minutes to an hour. I struggled the rest of the day.” The early action was no surprise to Day, who fishes Hartwell just about every weekend. He knew the fishing would get tougher once the sun got high. That’s why he chose to stay close to the ramp and ran spots that he could cover quickly. Most of the fish Day caught were suspending right at the tops of standing timber. While they were relating to the timber, the fish were continuously on the move. To track them down, he used finesse tackle, including a shaky head and a Keitech swimbait, while fishing most of the time with his forward-facing sonar. “Some of the stuff is prespawn,” Day added, referring to his target areas. “A couple of them did slide up just a little bit with the warmer days – shallower in the ditches. Rather than 50, 60 foot, instead they were 35, 40 foot, kind of in the backs of some of those places – in the backs of the creeks. That’s kind of what they do as they get further back. That’s kind of their prespawn, and then they go from there.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 21-0, $3,514 2nd: Xander Patton, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 19-13, $1,757 3rd: Max Heaton, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 19-12, $1,172 4th: Logan Anderson, Sherrills Ford, N.C., five bass, 18-6, $820 5th: Dylan Akins, Flowery Branch, Ga., five bass, 18-5, $703 6th: T.J. Souther, Brevard, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $1,085 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 6th: Caleb Allgood, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $585 6th: Michael Webster, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $1,035 9th: Michael Gammons, North Charleston, S.C., five bass, 18-0, $469 10th: Josh Kauffman, Marysville, Pa., five bass, 17-4, $410 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Michael Webster of Gastonia, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $450.  Troy Mims of Suwanee, Georgia, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,982 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 11 ounces. The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished: 1st: Troy Mims, Suwanee, Ga., three bass, 12-11, $1,982 2nd: Dan Marin, Appling, Ga., three bass, 11-8, $879 3rd: Mark Garrett, Six Mile, S.C., three bass, 10-7, $585 4th: Marvin Godard, Charlotte, N.C., three bass, 9-9, $510 5th: Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., three bass, 9-7, $351 6th: Gibson Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 9-5, $322 7th: Roger McKee, Columbia, S.C., three bass, 7-15, $293 8th: Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., three bass, 7-14, $264 9th: Darren Jeter, Asheville, N.C., three bass, 7-10, $234 10th: Chuck Bagwell, Laurens, S.C., three bass, 6-14, $205 Mims also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $225, catching a bass that weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After two events, Lucas Murphy of West Columbia, South Carolina, now leads the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 487 points, while Rodney Tapp of Inman, South Carolina, leads the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 486 points. The next event for BFL South Carolina Division anglers will be held Feb. 22, at Santee Cooper Lakes out of 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 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000. The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Vosker, WIX Filters 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. |
