HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (April 24, 2023) – Boater Bryce Boatright of Sheridan, Arkansas, brought five bass to the scale totaling 15 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Hamilton. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. A former MLF College Fishing angler for Henderson State University, it was Boatright’s first career MLF event as a solo boater, and he notched his first career win and earned $4,825 for his victory.
“It feels great to get this win,” Boatright said in his post-game interview. “I’ve got some history on this lake, and I’ve been wanting to get revenge here for some time. So it feels real good to win and get some vengeance.
“It was a tough day – I only got seven bites all day long,” Boatright continued. “I caught my biggest fish – a 5-pounder on a bed. I caught a 4½- pounder on a wacky worm, and I got one good bite on a buzzbait. Those were my three key baits – I sight-fished, a buzzbait and a wacky worm.”
Boatright said that he earned the victory by covering a lot of water.
“I was all over the lake – mid-lake, down-lake – I ran all over and burned a lot of gas,” he said. “The key was just being in the right place at the right time. All of my fish were coming pretty shallow – in 2- to 6-feet.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Bryce Boatright, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 15-9, $4,825
2nd: Rodney Copeland, Sallisaw, Okla., five bass, 15-6, $2,118
3rd: Russell Richmond, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 14-15, $1,913 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
4th: Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 14-14, $988
5th: Nick Aber, Yukon, Okla., five bass, 13-15, $847
6th: Wayne Dixon, Morrilton, Ark., five bass, 13-13, $776
7th: Brian Bean, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 13-12, $706
8th: Chip Hawkins, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 13-6, $835
9th: Brett King, Kinta, Okla., five bass, 12-5, $565
10th: Lance Pyle, Sherwood, Ark., five bass, 11-15, $494
Boatright’s biggest bass that weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces, also earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $590. Jody Jones of Harvey, Arkansas, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,413 Saturday, after bringing a five-bass limit to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., five bass, 12-8, $2,413
2nd: John Hankins, Atkins, Ark., five bass, 11-2, $1,059
3rd: Alex Albert, Broken Bow, Okla., five bass, 11-1, $706
4th: Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 11-0, $494
5th: Mark Sloan, Harrison, Ark., five bass, 10-10, $424
6th: Corey Ruff, Jacksonville, Ark., five bass, 10-9, $388
7th: L. Neil Welch, Malvern, Ark., five bass, 10-7, $353
8th: Zachary O'Brien, Palestine, Ark., five bass, 10-3, $318
9th: Steve Duggan, Pearcy, Ark., five bass, 9-9, $282
10th: Mitchell Moore, Russellville, Ark., four bass, 9-8, $247
Jones also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler bonus of $295 with a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces.
After three events, Brian Bean of Hot Springs, Arkansas, leads the BFL Arkie Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 732 points, while John Hankins of Atkins, Arkansas, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 738 points.
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