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Gainesboro’s Brown Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Center Hill Lake

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May 2, 2023

Gainesboro’s Brown Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Center Hill Lake

Boater Rodney Brown of Gainesboro, Tennessee.

Cookeville’s Catalin Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division Title

SPARTA, Tenn. (May 2, 2023) – Boater Rodney Brown of Gainesboro, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Center Hill Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Music City Division. Brown earned $3,794 for his victory.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Rodney Brown, Gainesboro, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $3,794
2nd:       Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $1,897
3rd:       Josh Womack, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $1,265
4th:        Jay Melton, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 15-1, $885
5th:        Joey Mallicoat, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-8, $1,697 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
5th:        Cody Mackie, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 14-8, $927
7th:        Jeremy Walker, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 14-7, $632
8th:        Zach Youngblood, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 14-0, $569
9th:        Matt Underhill, Lascassas, Tenn., five bass, 13-10, $474
9th:        Christian Nash, Allons, Tenn., five bass, 13-10, $474

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Braxton Campbell of McMinnville, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $495.

Pop Catalin of Cookeville, Tennessee, won the Strike King co-angler division a total of $1,605 Saturday, after bringing five bass each to the scale that weighed 16 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 16-3, $1,859
2nd:       Robert Russell, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 13-3, $1,129
3rd:       Richard Payne, Elkton, Ky., five bass, 12-12, $619
4th:        Andrew Rogers, Bristol, Tenn., four bass, 11-6, $434
5th:        John Carman, Berea, Ky., five bass, 10-13, $372
6th:        Austin Mitchell, Antioch, Tenn., four bass, 9-15, $341
7th:        Rocky Williams, Portland, Tenn., five bass, 9-10, $310
8th:        Adam Radovic, Brecksville, Ohio, four bass, 8-5, $279
9th:        Kenny Botts, Alvaton, Ky., three bass, 8-3, $490
10th:     Kenny Manning, Westmoreland, Tenn., three bass, 8-2, $217

Botts earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $242, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Gavin Cloutier of Jonesboro, Tennessee, leads the BFL Music City Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 715 points, while Rocky Williams of Portland, Tennessee, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 730 points.

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. 12-14 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury 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 outboard.

The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.

New Jersey’s Orecchio Wins Northeast Division Opener at Phoenix Bass Fishing League at Chesapeake Bay

Brian Carter

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May 2, 2023

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New Jersey’s Orecchio Wins Northeast Division Opener at Phoenix Bass Fishing League at Chesapeake Bay

Boater Jason Orecchio of Andover, New Jersey, and Strike-King co-angler Ryan Sweeney of Secane, Pennsylvania.

Rutland and Carden Secure Win Number Five at Lake EufaulaBy Jason Duran

Brian Carter

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May 2, 2023

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Rutland and Carden Secure Win Number Five at Lake Eufaula
By Jason Duran

Lake Eufaula was stop number three of five for the Alabama Bass Trail South Division. Lake Eufaula is known as the Big Bass Capital of the world. In the weeks leading up to this event teams were reporting tough fishing conditions. The fish for the most part were in a post spawn pattern. Lake levels were fluctuating and falling leading up to tournament morning. The team of Chris Rutland and Coby Carden came out on top with 20.63 pounds on a very stingy Lake Eufaula.

When it comes to raising up the ABT First place trophies and big checks, Rutland and Carden are no strangers. This win makes ABT number five for the pair. With this win it makes them the ABT winningest team in history. They were previously tied with another team with four wins. They have four wins on Lay Lake and one win on Lake Eufaula. The team shared “we have been close a couple times at winning on other lakes than Lay Lake but today was a good win.”

Chris shared, “We thought it would take 18-19 pounds to week Colby practiced for three days and found a good shad spawn. We had a late number boat draw and we were worried that the shad spawn would be over by the time we got there. Typically, it only lasts a little while.” The team continued, “This morning we started in the shad spawn area, and we caught two good ones there.” Chris spent two and a half days just idling brush piles marking them and looking. We found lots of brush piles we had about a dozen that were new, big and green. The piles were in about 10-foot of water After we left the shad spawn area, we rotated those for about four hours caught about six fish doing that and weighed in four of those. We used a SPRO Frog, it is probably the best shad spawn bait on a grass lake like this. Fishing in the brush piles we used a William Davis Spinner bait and a William Davis Jig teamed up with 65-pound braid and 20-pound fluorocarbon line.” The team weighed in 20.63-Pounds for first place and collected a $10,000 pay day. This win also secures their spot in ABT Championship and moves them up to 5th place in the AOY Standings.

The second-place team of Blake Davenport and Zach Lightsey caught 19.39 Pounds. Blake shared “I started practicing on Wednesday found a shad spawn that we were kind of hoping would work for us, as the week went on it started to dissipate. So, I went to try and find some fish in the brush piles and spent two days and it didn’t work out either. On friday we went up into the back of a creek and found an area that had some good grass that seemed to be holding fish. We started fishing and we shook some off we knew we had a decent chance to catch 16-18 pounds. However, today that area really exceeded our expectations.” The team continues “today we spent the whole day in that area using a SPRO black popping frog and Crusher Lures black and blue swimming a jig.” They described this area as “a channel swing on the main creek in about 3 feet of water with grass. The stretch took aid a bout an hour to fish though. With the water dropping it really helped us by pulling the fish out of the grass a little. This concentrated them more in the area we were fishing. We just fished the same area over and over and the fish kept reloading every time we went through. We caught over 20 fish running that pattern today.” Their second-place finish earned them a $5000 payday in this event.

Joey Davidson and Tullis Lanier finished in third-place with 19.25 pounds. They began Monday practicing separately for this event. They both had the opposite experience in practice. “We spent a lot of time flipping the shallow grass up the lake. The lake is way down and with the water continuing to fall it scared us. We didn’t know if the fish we found would still be there, but we got lucky, and they were. The used a unnamed creature bait in black and blue and caught around 20 fish all day. “We caught two big fish today doing the shad spawn shad spawn. We have not caught any fish all week on the shad spawn but today was when it counted.” A third-place finish earned them a $4,000 paycheck and some valuable AOY points moving them into 20th place.

The top five standings are below for a complete list of standings please visit:
https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/lake-eufaula/results/

Download and listen to the ABT Podcast on your favorite Podcast app by searching for “Alabama Bass Trail Podcast.” The Podcast is released each week on Tuesday.
For Live coverage from this event and others visit https://www.youtube.com/@alabamabasstrailtv
The sponsors of the 2023 Alabama Bass Trail include: Phoenix Boats, Academy Sports, Alabama Power, America’s First Federal Credit Union, American Trailer Rental Group, BAJIO, Big Bite Baits, Bill Penney Automotive, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Anheuser – Bush, Inc., E3 Sports Apparel, Fish Neely Henry Lake.com, Garmin, Jack’s, Lew’s, Mtn Dew, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, Power-Pole, Strike King, Sweet Home Alabama, T-H Marine, Yamaha, YETI Coolers.

May Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report by Captain Chad Green

Brian Carter

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May 2, 2023

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May Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report by Captain Chad Green

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
By: Captain Chad Green
www.lastcastguideservicesml.com

May can offer some great fishing. The Shad have started their spawn and is in full swing. Get out on the water when you can and enjoy the sunrises and sunsets. Practice catch and release as much as possible to preserve our great fisheries out there. As always, just make one more Last Cast as it could be the next trophy fish.
Visit Captains Quarters Marina at Hales Ford Bridge for any tackle that you may need and they will fix you up.
Visit https://missilebaits.store/and check out all they have to offer.
Special Thanks to Brian Carter at the https://thebasscast.com/
Check out Smith Mountain Boat and Tackle Penhook for your boating needs https://www.smboats.com

PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE ON CITATION SIZE FISH

Largemouth Bass/Smallmouth Bass
Bass fishing will start to move in to full post spawn phase this week. There are still some fish that have not spawned yet and will do so over the next week or so. The shad spawn is in full swing so target rocky shorelines with shad imitating baits on or under the surface. There is more bass fry this year than I have seen in a long time and plenty of those smaller male fish to catch as well. Plastics will pick up as primary offering for bass on points, docks, or any other type of cover you are planning to fish. Typically smaller profile plastics work better in May. Night time fishing will be great this month as well while the shad spawn is in swing. Try topwaters on riprap banks from dark until whenever you don’t catch any more. This is a great opportunity to catch some trophy fish and multiples per night is very common. Smallmouth have mostly finished up their spawn and will fulfill their time chasing shad around as well.

Striped Bass
Striper fishing will be great this month and the best way to catch a trophy fish is large topwaters on rip rap banks, main points, large flats, or shoals. They will travel in smaller schools searching for feeding opportunities. They will feed during this time even during bright sunlight in shallow water. Many times you can spot them cruising around and properly presented topwater will provide some exciting action. Bair pulled near shore will produce a lot of fish as well. During the cooler weather we are having so far this month flukes, swimbaits, jerkbaits etc. in the 10-20 ft range will produce fish throughout the day as well. The lower end of the lake is where most of the action will be this month. Night time fishing is great this time of year in shallow water with topwater lures and will produce some trophy fish as well. Larger topwater plugs and bomber long A’s, rapala stickbaits will be good lures to use as well. Captains Quarters Marina can provide you with a great selection of what you need.

Crappie
Most of the Crappie have spawned so far. But there are still some waiting on stable weather and the full moon coming up to move in shallow. Target shallow structure or protected areas in creeks and large pockets to locate schools of fish. Small minnows or jigs will be the primary ways to catch them. Water depths less than 10ft will be the location of most schools of fish

Tournaments May
Big Bass tournament 5th-7th
FFA tournament May 6th 7-3 Penhook Boat Ramp
May 20th Anglers Choice Marine at Parkway Marina

Special Thanks to Brian Carter at the www.BassCast.com

Three Teams Advance from General Tire Team Series Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley

Brian Carter

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May 1, 2023

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Three Teams Advance from General Tire Team Series Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley

Team Fox Rent A Car (DeFoe-Poche-Jordon), Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff (Thrift-Scroggins-Gagliardi) and Team Builders First Source (Sprague-Tharp-Crochet) Advance to Team Series Championship

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (May 1, 2023) – The final episode of the Major League Fishing (MLF) General Tire Team Series Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley premiered Saturday, and three teams have now advanced to the Bass Pro Shops Championship Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches to compete for the $300,000 top prize. The first episode of the General Tire Team Series Bass Pro Shops Championship Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will premiere this Saturday, May 6 on the Outdoor Channel at 2p-4p ET.

Team Fox Rent A Car (Ott DeFoe, Keith Poche and Kelly Jordon) advanced in Match 1 with 110 bass weighing 204 pounds, 1 ounce, as team captain Ott DeFoe led the way with 95-13 along with Keith Poche’s 64-11 and Kelly Jordon’s 43-9.

In Match 2, Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches (Bryan Thrift, Terry Scroggins and Anthony Gagliardi) dominated to earn the victory by a margin of 42 pounds. Thrift was the top performer for Team Smokey Mountain, as the reigning REDCREST Champion caught 23 bass over the two days weighing 44 pounds, 4 ounces to pace his team.

In the third and final match, which premiered on Outdoor Channel this past weekend, Team Builders First Source (Jeff Sprague, Randall Tharp and Cliff Crochet) won a nailbiter over Team Ferguson. The Team Builders First Source squad weighed in 66 bass totaling 137 pounds, 12 ounces, edging Team Ferguson by just 1 pound, 13 ounces – the narrowest margin of victory this season on the General Tire Team Series.

The final results from Match 1 at the Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley in College Station, Texas, were:

1^st:          Team Fox Rent A Car, 110 bass, 204-1
Ott DeFoe, 46 bass, 95-13
                Keith Poche, 39 bass, 64-11
                Kelly Jordon, 25 bass, 43-9
2^nd:         Team Knighten Industries, 90 bass, 169-11
                Casey Ashley, 26 bass, 57-14
                Dean Rojas, 31 bass, 56-14
Takahiro Omori, 33 bass, 54-15
3^rd:         Team Kubota, 61 bass, 123-13
                Cody Meyer, 21 bass, 42-7
Andy Montgomery, 21 bass, 41-15
                James Watson, 19 bass, 39-7

The final results from Match 2 at the Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley in College Station, Texas, were:

1^st:          Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches, 58 bass, 108-6
                Bryan Thrift, 23 bass, 44-4
                Terry Scroggins, 20 bass, 37-0
                Anthony Gagliardi, 15 bass, 27-2
2^nd:         Team Crockett Creek, 34 bass, 65-13
                Dustin Connell, 16 bass, 33-3
                Cole Floyd, 10 bass, 19-5
                Fred Roumbanis, eight bass, 13-5
3^rd:         Team B&W Trailer Hitches, 22 bass, 40-8
                Russ Lane, eight bass, 13-15
                Michael Neal, nine bass, 13-7
                Paul Elias, five bass, 13-2

The final results from Match 3 at the Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley in College Station, Texas, were:

1^st:          Team Builders First Source, 66 bass, 137-12
                Jeff Sprague, 35 bass, 67-1
                Randall Tharp, 23 bass, 46-2
                Cliff Crochet, eight bass, 24-9
2^nd:         Team Ferguson, 74 bass, 135-15
                Mark Rose, 34 bass, 62-15
                Jordan Lee, 23 bass, 44-14
                Luke Clausen, 17 bass, 28-2
3^rd:         Team Star brite, 58 bass, 89-0
                Bobby Lane, 22 bass, 34-7
                Chris Lane, 22 bass, 32-9
                Jimmy Washam, 14 bass, 22-0

Complete results along with photos from the events can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, for the entire week, there were 573 bass weighing 1,074 pounds, 15 ounces caught by the nine teams during three matches in the Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley in College Station, Texas.

The 2023 MLF General Tire Team Series Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley aired on the Outdoor Channel as six, two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon, debuting on March 25, 2023, and running through April 29, 2023.

The next General Tire Team Series event will premiere on the Outdoor Channel on Saturday, May 6 – the General Tire Team Series Bass Pro Shops Championship Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches. For a complete schedule of General Tire Team Series events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley was shot over six days in November and featured nine teams of three anglers visiting College Station to compete on private lakes in the area on each day of competition. The fisheries were unknown to the anglers – they did not learn where they were competing until they arrived at the launch ramp each morning of competition.

All six episodes of the General Tire Team Series Builders First Source Qualifier Presented by Berkley from College Station, Texas, are now available for viewing on the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) streaming app. The full television schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: B&W Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Crockett Creek Beef Jerky, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Optima Batteries, Phoenix Boats, Power-Pole, Rapala Baits, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, T-H Marine, Toyota, USAA, and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the MLF General Tire Team Series events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Mike Keyton & Kenny Millner Win Castaway Anglers SML 4/29

Brian Carter

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May 1, 2023

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Mike Keyton & Kenny Millner Win Castaway Anglers SML 4/29

Third stop on Castaway Anglers Trail was beautiful Smith Mountain Lake on 4/29/23 fishing was rough but still had most folks with fish .

1st – Mike Keyton aka Yogi

Kenny Millner aka – Boo boo with 13.6

They are on a roll this year

2nd – Timothy Lucinda Davis

Jeffery Scott Martin with 12.25

Big lm Chestnut and Frame 4.05

Big sm. Bryan and Tim Mayhew 3.20

Wyatt Kelly Wins CATT Spring Championship on Smith Mountain Lake

Brian Carter

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April 30, 2023

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Wyatt Kelly Wins CATT Spring Championship on Smith Mountain Lake

It was a tough day for over half the field today on SML at the 2023 CATT Spring Championship. Congratulations to everyone that cashed & check & thank you to Alicia Matherly for covering our CATT events.

CLICK HERE TO SEE RESULTS

Palmer slams the door on Bassmaster Elite Series win at Santee Cooper Lakes

Brian Carter

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April 30, 2023

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Palmer slams the door on Bassmaster Elite Series win at Santee Cooper Lakes

Luke Palmer of Coalgate, Okla., has won the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes with a four-day total of 96 pounds, 14 ounces.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

April 30, 2023

Palmer slams the door on Bassmaster Elite Series win at Santee Cooper Lakes

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — At the Championship Sunday takeoff, an ominous weather forecast told of a coming storm. By day’s end, it was clear Luke Palmer was the storm.

Turning in an absolutely crushing final-round performance, the fifth-year pro from Coalgate, Okla., posted a four-day total of 96 pounds, 14 ounces to win the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes.

Palmer started the event strong with a Day 1 limit of 21-3 that put him in 10th place and followed with a second-round bag of 23-9 that moved him up to third. After adding 26-3 on Semifinal Saturday, Palmer slammed the door on the victory with a massive limit of 25-15 on Championship Sunday.

He earned his first blue trophy and the $100,000 first-place prize, besting second-place angler Mark Menendez (82-11) by a whopping margin of 14-3.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say that,” Palmer told Bassmaster Emcee Dave Mercer after his ‘Elite Series Champion’ announcement. “I was so close to doing it last year, to finally get it done — I wanted to break 100 pounds, but I’ll take 96-14.”

Notably, Palmer’s winning margin was the sixth-largest in Bassmaster history. The victory, Palmer said, provided an important shot of confidence.

“This is special,” said Palmer, who finished fourth in the 2022 Elite on Santee Cooper. “You work your whole life and you start second guessing yourself and you wonder ‘Am I good enough to do it?’ I was good one time and one time is better than no time.”

Anchoring his final bag with a 7-5 Santee Cooper stud, Palmer was the only angler to catch a limit every day of the event. The final day would bring significant limitations, but Palmer outpaced the impediments.

After three relatively calm days, Championship Sunday dawned damp from overnight/early morning showers. The mid- to late morning period saw a mix of sun and threatening clouds, with a daunting weather system unleashing substantial rain and strong winds from about noon through the end of the fishing day.

Fortunately, Palmer got all of his work done early. According to BassTrakk’s unofficial standings, he had his weight at 10:05.

Spending all four days on Lake Marion’s southwest side, Palmer’s main technique was old school — big rod, heavy line and flipping to cypress trees. In the early going, he threw a bladed jig with a Gene Larew Long John Minnow through the eelgrass, but switching techniques late on the first day ignited his run to the top.

“It took me until 1:30 of Day 1 to realize what was happening,” Palmer said. “It had warmed up; we finally got some sun. It seems those fish were staging out in that eelgrass (during practice) to go up and spawn on those trees.

“When that sun came out and it warmed up, those fish went ahead and moved to the trees.”

Arming himself with a 7-foot-3 heavy action Falcon Amistad rod with a high-speed reel spooled with 20-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon, Palmer flipped a YUM Wooly Bug and a YUM Bad Mamma, both Texas-rigged with a 3/16- or 5/16-ounce Rougarou Tungsten weight, depending on depth.

With thousands of cypress trees spread throughout Marion, Palmer focused on the ones closest to deep water. Knowing the tournament fell at the tail end of the Santee Cooper spawn, he fished the zone most likely to host the late spawners.

Palmer said his Power-Poles allowed him to hold in perfect position, while his Humminbird MEGA Live forward-facing sonar provided a clear picture of what each tree held. Finding the particular “sweet spot” on each tree he fished was the key to triggering bites from territorial bass.

Menendez, the tenured pro from Paducah, Ky., got off to a good start with a sixth-place limit of 21-14. A Day 2 stumble left him with only four fish for 9-7 and dropped him to 34th place.

Menendez rebounded on Semifinal Saturday by weighing 27-13 — the event’s second-heaviest bag. That pushed Menendez up from 34th place to fourth. He gained two more spots with a final-round limit of 23-9.

“I knew Day 2 would come back to haunt me,” Menendez said. “Anytime you don’t fill a limit, it generally does. I’m really kicking myself because I fished right over those fish on Day 2. I wanted to make sure I made the 50 cut so I could fish Day 3 and I fished too fast.

“I got back to my area on Day 3 and I slowed down. It was just a slow process. You’d male lots of casts and all of a sudden, you’d get a bite and you were off to the races. Sometimes you’d catch a whopper, sometimes it was a double whopper.”

Menendez caught some of his bass on a Strike King 4.0 squarebill, but he did most of his work with a Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Cut-R-Worm in the junebug color. Proximity was key, as Menendez said he had to hit the base of a tree to trigger a bite.

Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., finished third with 74-9. The 2022 Santee Cooper Elite winner, he turned in daily limits that weighed 21-13, 17-12, 23-4 and 11-12.

Despite this year’s event falling considerably later in the season, Cook remained committed to the sight-fishing techniques that delivered his first Elite win. He caught his bass on a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog and the Big Bite Baits Quarantine Craw that he designed — both Texas rigged.

“I can’t complain at all,” he said. “I’ve done exactly what I’ve wanted to do in the last two events (including a seventh place at last week’s Elite at Lake Murray).

“Today, with the weather like it was, I made the decision to stay in Taw Caw Creek (where daily takeoffs occurred). I had seven bites today and caught four.”

Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program while ninth-place finisher Jacob Powroznik of North Prince George, Va., earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Menendez earned an additional $2,500 as the highest-placing entrant and Cook claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

Palmer earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with his 7-5, while David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., earned Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week — an honor that pays $2,000 — with the 8-5 he caught on Day 1.

Matt Robertson of Kuttawa, Ky., won the $2,000 VMC Monster Bag of the Week with his 28-1 limit from Thursday’s opening round.

Veteran pro Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., won the $1,000 BassTrakk contingency award for the most accurate weight reporting.

After three events, Cobb leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 387 points. Cook is in second with 369 points, followed by Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La., with 349, Carl Jocumsen of Queensland, Australia, with 335 and Kyle Welcher of Opelika, Ala., with 333.

Bryant Smith of Roseville, Calif., leads the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 300 points.

The Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce hosted the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes.

2023 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes 4/27-4/30
Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4

Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 20 96-14 104 $101,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 23-09 Day 3: 5 26-03 Day 4: 5 25-15
2. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 19 82-11 103 $35,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-14 Day 2: 4 09-07 Day 3: 5 27-13 Day 4: 5 23-09
3. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 19 74-09 102 $30,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-13 Day 2: 5 17-12 Day 3: 5 23-04 Day 4: 4 11-12
4. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 18 74-07 101 $27,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 5 24-15 Day 3: 5 21-08 Day 4: 3 07-00
5. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 17 68-15 100 $20,000.00
Day 1: 4 21-14 Day 2: 5 14-05 Day 3: 5 21-11 Day 4: 3 11-01
6. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 16 67-02 99 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 25-10 Day 2: 5 15-15 Day 3: 4 15-08 Day 4: 2 10-01
7. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 15 60-13 98 $18,000.00
Day 1: 5 26-15 Day 2: 3 09-10 Day 3: 4 18-00 Day 4: 3 06-04
8. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 15 58-09 97 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 22-03 Day 3: 3 12-01 Day 4: 2 06-07
9. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 15 55-10 96 $16,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 20-12 Day 3: 5 16-14 Day 4: 0 00-00
10. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 12 54-04 95 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 28-01 Day 2: 5 21-13 Day 3: 2 04-06 Day 4: 0 00-00
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 08-05 $1,000.00
2 Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 07-11 $1,000.00
3 Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 07-10 $1,000.00
4 Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 07-05 $1,000.00

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PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 08-05 $2,000.00
VMC MONSTER BAG
Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 28-01 $2,000.00

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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 72 450 1465-12
2 54 413 1295-04
3 27 203 646-13
4 2 27 102-01
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155 1093 3509-14

Chris Lucas and Damien McMahon Win Region 4 TBF Open April 29th 2023 Philpott Lake

Brian Carter

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April 30, 2023

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We had 30 teams take off on the small lake and 28 came back to weigh-in.

Chris Lucas and Damien McMahon

With the win having 16.18lbs and big fish 5.14

2nd place was David McLaughlin and Daniel Martin with 15.42

We had a tie for 3rd

Brandon Harris and Jared Looney with 14.32 and also Paul Craighead and Brian Burnett with 14.32

Thanks to everyone who came out.

See y’all at stop # 5

Seth & McKayla Comer Win Fishers of Men VA West on Claytor Lake

Brian Carter

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April 30, 2023

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Seth & McKayla Comer Win Fishers of Men VA West on Claytor Lake

The third tournament of the year Fishers of Men Virginia West on Claytor lake is in the books

The weekend started with a good Friday evening meeting at Dublin Uniited Methodist Church. We had a great Gospel Message from Jared Sowers. They also supplied the meal of home made spaghetti with salad and dessert! Thanks so much to the Sowers Family!

The day started out nice with a nice breeze and ended with some sunshine and nice temperatures. The Fishing was tough for a lot of teams but At the end of the day the team of Seth Comer and Mike Laster pulled out the win with 13.48. In second place was the team of Jason Lee and AJ Smith with 13.01. Third was the team of Tony and Penny McCraw with 10.70. Just out of the money and winning 2 new Abu Garcia Rods was the team of Deisher and Pauley with 10.37.

Thanks to everyone that came out and fished with us. Our next tournament is May 20th.

Thanks to our wonderful local sponsors who help make this a wonderful tournament trail!

McCraw Insurance Agency, Swamp Monkey Lures, Sowers Electric, Foot Hills Marine, Back Creek Custom Rods, Blue Eagle Credit Union, SML Tackle Shack, Santana Kinlaw with Edward Jones, Paul Menschner State Farm, Nixon Land Surveying, L&S Cleaning.