Morris Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament at Lake Cumberland

MONTICELLO, Ky. (May 15, 2023) – Boater Jake Morris of McKee, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Cumberland. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. Morris earned $5,122 for his victory.

“Man, it was slow for me,” Morris said. “I never caught a keeper until I got my first one between 11 o’clock and noon. And after that, it wasn’t much better. I caught five keepers. That’s it.”

Morris said he targeted bass in 2 to 3 feet of water, pitching and flipping trees and bushes with a Zoom Brush Hog as well as a Zoom Z Craw. Morris said his fourth fish, a 6-pound 5-ounce bass that took the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award, changed his tournament.

“That helped out tremendously,” Morris said. “That’s what won it for me. If you don’t catch a big one you get stuck in that 12- to 13-pound traffic jam.

“It feels great to win this on my home lake,” Morris added. “I’ve been fishing these things for 20 years now, and it is definitely not easy to win a BFL.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

                1st:        Jake Morris, McKee, Ky., five bass, 16-15, $5,122
                2nd:       Nick Ratliff, Vine Grove, Ky., five bass, 14-14, $2,236
                3rd:       Tyler Thompson, Radcliff, Ky., five bass, 14-11, $1,492
                4th:        Andrew Adams, Science Hill, Ky., five bass, 14-0, $1,243
                5th:        Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 13-15, $894
                6th:        Blake Claudill, Hillsboro, Ky., five bass, 13-6, $745
                6th:        Steve Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 13-6, $1,245 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
                6th:        Billy Hall, Russell Springs, Ky., five bass, 13-6, $745
                9th:        Mike Lemons, Huntington, W.V., five bass, 13-4, $596
                10th:     Chris Hurd, Nancy, Ky., five bass, 13-1, $522

Morris’ 6-pound, 5-ounce bass earned the Big Bass Boater award of $650. Mike Casada of Stearns, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and $2,179 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

                1st:        Mike Casada, Stearns, Ky., five bass, 10-3, $2,179
                2nd:       Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, five bass, 9-7, $1,090
                3rd:       Tracy Helton, London, Ky., five bass, 9-5, $725
                4th:        Kaleb Ferrell, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 9-0, $509
                5th:        Curtis Cline, Hartsville, Tenn., four bass, 8-5, $786
                6th:        Chris Rushing, Gamaliel, Ky., three bass, 8-2, $400
                7th:        Allen Neal, Whitley City, Ky., four bass, 7-15, $363
                8th:        Abbie Greynolds, Liberty, Ky., three bass, 7-8, $327
                9th:        Anthony Scott, Byrdstown, Tenn., three bass, 7-3, $291
                10th:     Michael York, Berea, Ky., three bass, 7-1, $254

Timothy Ernst of Winchester, Kentucky, earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $312, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Christian Nash of Allons, Tennessee, leads the BFL Mountain Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 714 points, while Allen Neal of Whitley City, Kentucky, leads the Co-Angler Division AOY race with 715 points.