HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (Sept. 25, 2023) – Boater Jamey Black of Sheridan, Arkansas, caught 10 bass weighing 23 pounds even to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Arkie Division. Black earned $8,075 for his victory, including a $2,500 Phoenix contingency bonus.
“I found a couple of good areas that had schooling fish, and I just tried to stay in those areas following them around,” said Black, who has 18 top-10 finishes in BFL competition. “I mainly fished mid-lake and down. They were following big bait balls around, so I just tried to follow them as best as I could with (Garmin) LiveScope and threw a topwater at them whenever they would come up schooling.”
Black said his schools were deep – anywhere from 20 to 50 feet – but they would surface wherever the bait was. He credited a big fish that he caught on a frog late in the day on Day 1 as being the key to his strong finish.
“I had a decent stringer on Sunday, but I never would have even had the opportunity if it weren’t for that frog fish on Saturday afternoon,” Black went on to say. “I’m just so very happy to win this one. It’s been since 2006 since I last earned one of these winner trophies, so this win, against this level of competition, feels really, really good.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jamey Black, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 23-0, $8,075 (includes $2,500 Phoenix Bonus)
2nd: Larry Selig, Alexander, Ark., 10 bass, 22-1, $2,787
3rd: Brian Bean, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 21-12, $1,860
4th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 21-9, $1,301
5th: Chris Darby, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 21-5, $1,115
6th: James Stricklin, Jr., Fort Smith, Ark., 10 bass, 21-0, $1,022
7th: Bryce Boatright, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 19-5, $1,656
8th: Ben Blaschke, Roland, Okla., 10 bass, 19-0, $836
9th: Austin Johnston, Mena, Ark., 10 bass, 18-13, $743
10th: Jeremiah Kindy, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 18-9, $650
Bryce Boatright of Sheridan, Arkansas, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds even – the heaviest bass weighed in the boater division – and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $727. Leland Nixon of Bee Branch, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,694 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Leland Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 10 bass, 20-1, $2,694
2nd: Brock Krohne, Belton, Mo., 10 bass, 17-15, $1,347
3rd: Michael Massey, Amity, Ark., nine bass, 16-11, $899
4th: Clayton Self, Benton, Ark., eight bass, 14-1, $1,178
5th: Jason Baggett, Mansfield, Ark., seven bass, 13-7, $539
6th: Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., 10 bass, 13-7, $494
7th: Todd Garner, Spiro, Okla., nine bass, 13-4, $449
8th: John McCullar, Benton, Ark., six bass, 11-13, $404
9th: Derek Dixon, Hot Springs, Ark., seven bass, 11-0, $359
10th: Nathan Hall, Hensley, Ark., seven bass, 9-4, $314
Randy Allen of Russellville, Arkansas, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing 3 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $345.
With the regular season now complete, boater Wayne Dixon of Morrilton, Arkansas, won the 2023 Bass Fishing League Arkie Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,297 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Blake Defoor of Waldron, Arkansas, won the 2023 Strike King Co-Angler Arkie Division AOY race with 1,303 points and earned the $500 Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.
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