Mixon Wins Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on High Rock Lake

SALISBURY, N.C. (Sept. 19, 2022) – Boater Robert Mixon of Lexington, North Carolina, caught 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament on High Rock Lake in Salisbury, North Carolina. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division. Mixon earned $4,189 for his victory.

“I started off fishing piers to catch good fish early, and then moved out during the later part of the day,” Mixon said. “On Saturday, I caught four or five off the piers, and four or five when I moved away from the piers. Then on Sunday, I caught five starting off fishing the piers, then I caught some more fish out, but they weren’t big ones and didn’t help me.”

Mixon said practiced for five days before the event and ended up targeting piers in Abbot’s Creek that sat in four feet of water, but he caught his bass where the piers met the bank in one foot of water. He fished a black Zoom Trick Worm for his pier fish, and switched to a Carolina rig with a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Brush Hog in the main river of High Rock Lake later in the day.

“When I sat the hook, water just boiled,” Mixon said.

Mixon said after catching a 4-pounder and one that weighed 6-1, the thought of a win crept into his mind.

“I was fishing against 12 of the best guys on High Rock, so I wasn’t guaranteed anything,” Mixon said. “You can’t take anything for granted until you weigh in.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Robert Mixon, Lexington, N.C., 10 bass, 37-1, $4,189
                2nd:       Maurice Freeze, Concord, N.C., 10 bass, 28-6, $2,295
                3rd:       Eric Johnson, Partlow, Va., 10 bass, 28-4, $1,396
                4th:        Christopher Brown, Lexington, N.C., 10 bass, 27-12, $978
                5th:        Thomas Milton, Chester, Va., eight bass, 26-11, $838
                6th:        Kevin Chandler, New London, N.C., 10 bass, 26-11, $768
                7th:        Steve Sink, Winston-Salem, N.C., 10 bass, 25-4, $698
                8th:        Bradley Staley, Sophia, N.C., 10 bass, 23-11, $928
                9th:        Tyler Trent, Nathalie, Va., six bass, 20-13, $1,059 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
                10th:     Todd Harris, Lexington, N.C., eight bass, 20-13, $489

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Chad Poteat of Mount Airy, North Carolina, had a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $465. Dustin Riddle of Hiwassee, Virginia, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,095 Sunday after catching a two-day total of eight bass weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Dustin Riddle, Hiwassee, Va., eight bass, 21-10, $2,095
                2nd:       Clifton Jenkins, Elm City, N.C., seven bass, 17-6, $1,047
                3rd:       Tony Toombs, Drakes Branch, Va., five bass, 14-14, $932
                4th:        Hunter Alexander, China Grove, N.C., six bass, 14-9, $489
                5th:        Hayden Payne, Dugspur, Va., four bass, 13-3, $519
                6th:        David Deciucis, Chester, Va., six bass, 13-2, $384
                7th:        Nathan Reeves, Lynchburg, Va., six bass, 12-11, $549
                8th:        Pat Kendrick, Bumpass, Va., seven bass, 12-3, $314
                9th:        Phillip Ragland Jr., Rustburg, Va., three bass, 11-14, $479
                10th:     Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., five bass, 11-13, $394

Tony Toombs of Drakes Branch, Virginia, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $232.