| Boater Christopher Wilder of Macon, Georgia, and co-angler James Griffin of Pelham, Georgia. |
Pelham’s Griffin Tops Co-Angler Division BUCKHEAD, Ga. (March 31, 2025) – Boater Christopher Wilder of Macon, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Oconee . The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Bulldog Division. Wilder earned $6,641, including the lucrative Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory. Wilder found his winning fish on Oconee’s docks during practice, but it took some situational awareness to figure out when and how to catch them in the tournament. “In practice I was actually catching them mostly on a wacky rig on the walkways of the docks,” he said. “But while I was doing that I was scanning out and looking at the main part of the dock. I could see some big fish out there, but I couldn’t get them to bite anything. I moved out and started throwing an Alabama rig on the ends of the docks. I was able to catch some fish, but they were all small.” Sunny, bluebird conditions in practice transitioned to overcast and breezy for the tournament. Knowing that the forecast called for a change, Wilder figured those bigger fish might slide out from underneath the shade of the docks and give him a shot to catch them. “I think that’s what it did because this morning it was cloudy and I was catching them pretty good,” he added. “Then it got sunny in the middle of the day and I went a few hours with only catching a fish here or there, and they were small again like I was catching in practice. It started getting cloudy again later and I started catching them on the edges of docks again.” Wilder relied on the Alabama rig for most of his weight. His strategy was to target as many docks as he could, keying on docks in pockets. The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., five bass, 18-11, $6,641 (includes $3,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 2nd: Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 16-11, $1,820 3rd: John Kitchens, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 16-5, $1,507 3rd: David Lowery, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 16-5, $1,032 5th: Brad Stalnaker, Eatonton, Ga., five bass, 16-0, $728 6th: Matt Henry, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 15-8, $668 7th: Kenneth Cash, Covington, Ga., five bass, 15-6, $607 8th: Jon Lawson, Alpharetta, Ga., five bass, 15-2, $546 9th: Josh George, Monroe, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $455 9th: Weston Parker, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $455 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. John Kitchens of Cumming, Georgia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $475.  James Griffin of Pelham, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $2,057 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 14 pounds, 9 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: James Griffin, Pelham, Ga., three bass, 14-9, $2,057 2nd: Robert Holliday, White Plains, Ga., three bass, 11-1, $910 3rd: Jerry Bryant, Douglas, Ga., three bass, 10-8, $607 4th: Scott Williams, Canton, Ga., three bass, 10-5, $525 5th: Luther Jackson, Byron, Ga., three bass, 9-9, $364 6th: Robert Ash, Buford, Ga., three bass, 9-6, $334 7th: Clifford Avery, Bonaire, Ga., three bass, 9-2, $303 8th: David Gibson, Atlanta, Ga., three bass, 8-13, $273 9th: Justin Guck, Winder, Ga., three bass, 8-9, $243 10th: Rowen Vandergriff, Covington, Ga., three bass, 8-7, $212 Griffin also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $237, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After two events, Michael Wilder of Lizella, Georgia, now leads the Fishing Clash Bulldog Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 482 points, while David Gibson of Atlanta, Georgia, leads the Fishing Clash Bulldog Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 486 points. The next event for BFL Bulldog Division anglers will be held May 3, at Lake Eufaula out of Eufaula, Alabama. 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. 17-18 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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 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, 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. |
