WAGONER, Okla. (April 29, 2024) – Boater Levi Malone of Grove, Oklahoma, caught four bass weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Fort Gibson Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Okie Division. Malone earned $3,889 for his victory. Fort Gibson was nothing but stingy for the BFL anglers. Only two anglers in the entire field weighed in a limit.
Malone caught his four keepers by doing exactly what you need to do when the fishing is so tough: He slowed down and finessed his fish with a shaky-head rig. His key bait was an 8-inch Big Bite Baits Straight Mag Worm on a 3/16- or 1/4-ounce Buckeye Lures Spot Remover shaky head.
He used the worm to target shallow areas where some bass were starting to pull up in anticipation of spawning.
“I did find kind of a little pattern on some kind of chunky rock and was able to catch most of my fish off that,” he said. “But I did pick off another one just kind of fishing whatever was in front of me.
“I stayed shallow. I kept the boat in about 8 feet of water or less the whole day.”
Malone had a chance at a limit but lost it when a 3-pounder came off the hook about 10 feet from the boat.
“Those five bites were the only keeper bites I had all day,” added Malone, a sophomore studying fish and wildlife at Northeastern State University.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Levi Malone, Grove, Okla., four bass, 14-9, $3,889
2nd: John Campbell, Park Hill, Okla., four bass, 13-13, $1,944
3rd: Brett Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 13-12, $1,797 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Hunter Alsip, Chouteau, Okla., five bass, 13-9, $907
5th: Chris M. Jones, Bokoshe, Okla., four bass, 12-6, $778
6th: Dakotah Edwards, Talala, Okla., four bass, 12-4, $713
7th: Joel Baker, Talala, Okla., four bass, 11-11, $648
8th: Paul Waner, Choctaw, Okla., four bass, 11-10, $583
9th: Keith Hays, Broken Arrow, Okla., four bass, 11-6, $486
9th: Chase Washburn, Harrah, Okla., three bass, 11-6, $486
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Wes Nofire of Park Hill, Oklahoma, and Cameron Dahlem of Gans, Oklahoma, each caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, which tied them for the Big Bass Boater award and earned each of them $262. Johnny Burke of Bristow, Oklahoma, won the co-angler division and $1,944 Saturday, after bringing two bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 11 co-anglers finished:
1st: Johnny Burke, Bristow, Okla., two bass, 8-8, $1,944
2nd: Brady Short, Oxford, Kan., three bass, 8-5, $810
2nd: Tom Fink, Tulsa, Okla., two bass, 8-5, $1,072
4th: Rick Blosser, Tulsa, Okla., two bass, 7-12, $454
5th: Justin Nobles, Owasso, Okla., three bass, 7-10, $389
6th: Mark Sloan, Harrison, Ark., three bass, 6-0, $456
7th: Scott Stallings, Glencoe, Okla., two bass, 5-14, $324
8th: Jake Hess, Guthrie, Okla., one bass, 5-1, $292
9th: Al Longoria, Pottsboro, Texas, one bass, 4-8, $259
10th: Michael Sexton, Broken Arrow, Okla., two bass, 4-6, $215
10th: Kaleb O'Brien, Wagoner, Okla., two bass, 4-6, $215
Tom Fink of Tulsa, Oklahoma, earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $262, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Chris M. Jones of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Okie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 729 points, while Kaleb O'Brien of Wagoner, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Okie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 714 points.
https://dev.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-gibson-42924.html
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