Davidson Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament at Columbus Pool

COLUMBUS, Miss. (May 22, 2023) – Boater Hunter Davidson of Reform, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Columbus Pool. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Davidson earned $3,637 for his victory.

“I started catching them right off the bat on a shad spawn,” said Davidson. “I caught all of my weight pretty quick – around 9 o’clock I had the fish I weighed in. At that point I thought that I might have a chance to win, but I kept fishing hard all day.”

Davidson, who calls the Columbus Pool his home water, said he caught 15 bass during the course of the day on a black, blue and white Dirty Jigs Swim Jig.

“This win was a blast,” Davidson said. “I’ve wanted to win a BFL for a while. I fish all of the events in the Bama Division, and I saw this one that was close to my house on the schedule, so I it was looking forward to it. I was just blessed to get the win.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

                1st:        Hunter Davidson, Reform, Ala., five bass, 17-11, $3,637
                2nd:       T.J. Free, Carrollton, Ala., five bass, 13-15, $1,623
                3rd:       Andrew Gordon, Steens, Miss., five bass, 13-7, $1,082
                4th:        Randy Craft, Seminary, Miss., five bass, 12-7, $758
                5th:        Barrett Saunders, Hammond, La., five bass, 12-6, $2,119 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
                6th:        Bill Harrison, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 11-15, $595
                7th:        Justin McKee, Pheba, Miss., five bass, 11-12, $541
                8th:        Steve Hatch, Long Beach, Miss., four bass, 11-11, $487
                9th:        Danny Walden, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 11-7, $433
                10th:     Dakota Shaw, Millport, Ala., five bass, 11-0, $379


Davidson also caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $390. Brandon Mast of Sturgis, Mississippi, won the co-angler division and a total of $1,623 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

                1st:        Brandon Mast, Sturgis, Miss., five bass, 10-1, $1,623
                2nd:       Bubba Wright, Ridgeland, Miss., four bass, 7-15, $812
                3rd:       Lance Jackson, Starkville, Miss., three bass, 6-7, $541
                4th:        Cameron Wagner, Hoover, Ala., two bass, 6-0, $379
                5th:        Larry McWilliams, Florence, Miss., three bass, 5-14, $325
                6th:        Anthony Rasberry, New Albany, Miss., two bass, 5-1, $498
                7th:        Thomas Sanderson, Amory, Miss., two bass, 4-13, $271
                8th:        Hunter Averett, Carriere, Miss., two bass, 4-11, $244
                9th:        Caleb Gwaltney, Athens, Ala., one bass, 4-10, $411
                10th:     Steve Ruth, Columbus, Miss., two bass, 4-8, $179
                10th:     Jack Danozsky, West Point, Miss., two bass, 4-8, $179

Caleb Gwaltney of Athens, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $195, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 10 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Randy Craft of Seminary, Mississippi, leads the BFL Mississippi Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 941 points, while Hunter Averett of Carriere, Mississippi, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 967 points.