Martin Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Guntersville

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (Feb. 7, 2022) – Boater Casey Martin of Brownsboro, Alabama, caught five bass Saturday weighing 26 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League tournament on Lake Guntersville. Martin earned $6,000 for his victory.

“I started off close and got three keepers in the livewell early,” Martin said. “They came on a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap. I made a run and ended up catching a limit and started culling. About noon I caught two 6-pounders, so I kept fishing that area.”

Martin said he caught seven to 10 keepers, with a total of 12 fish caught.

“I was just covering a lot of water and hitting a lot of spots,” Martin said. “When it’s that cold in the morning it’s just a matter of finding the right spot that hasn’t been hit hard or guys haven’t picked off.”

Martin said he fished the Rat-L-Trap in varying retrieves to understand what the fish were doing and the color of bait he chose varied with the color of the water. Martin said he would go to a shad-colored-bait when the water was clearer, fishing it hard when they were actively biting and slowing his retrieve as the bite slowed.

“It just worked out for me,” Martin said.

The top 10 BFL boaters finished the tournament in:

                  1st:          Casey Martin, Brownsboro, Ala., five bass, 26-14, $6,000
                  2nd:        Jim Leary, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 25-2, $4,500 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
                  3rd:        Mickey Beck, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 22-1, $2,000
                  4th:         Cole Wade, Athens, Ala., five bass, 20-14, $1,400
                  5th:         Brian Merriman, Falkville, Ala., five bass, 20-8, $1,200
                  6th:         Brad Ableman, Watervliet, N.Y., five bass, 20-6, $1,100
                  7th:         Andrew Clayton, Westpoint, Tenn., five bass, 17-13, $1,000
                  8th:         Brandon Bright, Crossville, Ala., five bass, 17-9, $900
                  9th:         Ian Hudson, Toney, Ala., five bass, 17-6, $800
                  10th:      Corey McMullen, Gurley, Ala., five bass, 17-5, $700

Leary’s 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,000. Luke Salvail of Huntsville, Alabama, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 BFL co-anglers were:

                  1st:          Luke Salvail, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 19-5, $3,000
                  2nd:        Justin Stringer, Hartselle, Ala, five bass, 18-15, $1,500
                  3rd:        Jake Staley, Tuxedo, Ga., five bass, 18-8, $1,000
                  4th:         Michael Morrison, Stamping Ground, Ky., five bass, 17-12, $700
                  5th:         Allen Rhodes, Decherd, Tenn., five bass, 15-7, $600
                  6th:         Bennett Slinkard, Huntsville, Ala., three bass, 15-4, $550
                  7th:         Kyle Holt, Section, Ala., five bass, 13-14, $500
                  8th:         Rick Webster, Knoxville, Tenn., four bass, 12-3, $450
                  9th:         Randy Wilson, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 12-1, $400
                  10th:      Robert W. Spurgeon, Jasonville, Ind., three bass, 11-15, $350

Roger Barnette, of Elkmont, Alabama, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 9 pounds, 11 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Big Bass Co-angler award of $500.