LAKEVIEW, Ohio (July 17, 2023) – Boater Zac Mumford of Covington, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Indian Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Buckeye Division. Mumford earned $12,535, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
Mumford, who focused his efforts on the main lake area of Indian Lake, said at 9 a.m. he lost the use of his trolling motor after hitting a log with it. Mumford said fellow angler Kyle Weisenburger, who tied for 10th place in Saturday’s event, stopped to help him, and after an hour, the trolling motor came back to life.
“He tried to help me the best he could and got tools out, and he was a major help to me,” Mumford said. “I don’t know what happened, but we got it working again, and it was like the light switch turned on and the fishing got great for me after that.”
Mumford said he had a limit in the livewell before his trolling motor woes, but after he resumed fishing, he started to cull his smaller fish with quality bass.
“The areas I was fishing were very heavily pressured, so I had to do something different to get them to bite,” Mumford said. “So, the retrieve style was very important for me. It was a fast retrieve.”
Mumford said he focused on shallow transitions between rocks and weeds with crankbaits and a vibrating jig to load his livewell.
“I caught between 30 and 40 fish during the tournament and culled a lot,” Mumford said. “I just caught good, quality fish.
“To be honest with you, I never thought I had a chance to win until the fish hit the scale and I saw how heavy they were,” Mumford added. “I’m super excited. My grandpa is going through some health problems right now, and he was the one who introduced me to fishing at Indian Lake, so I’m really excited to share this with him.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Zac Mumford, Covington, Ohio, five bass, 15-2, $12,535 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Chris Martinovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 13-10, $2,907
3rd: Tony Collins, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 13-7, $1,439
4th: Ray McGraw, Chillicothe, Ohio, five bass, 13-0, $1,007
5th: Josh Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 12-13, $863
6th: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, five bass, 12-10, $791
7th: Mike Reeves, Brecksville, Ohio, five bass, 12-5, $719
8th: Chuck Willis, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 12-2, $1,257
9th: Aaron Lewis, Russells Point, Ohio, five bass, 11-15, $575
10th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 11-13, $478
10th: Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, five bass, 11-13, $478
Chuck Willis of Dayton, Ohio, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $610. Jesse Foster of Franklin, Ohio, won the co-angler division and a total of $2,157 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jesse Foster, Franklin, Ohio, five bass, 13-1, $2,157
2nd: Ryan Sykes, Fairfield, Ohio, five bass, 11-2, $1,479
3rd: Rece Kimmel, Lewistown, Ohio, five bass, 9-15, $717
4th: Alex Richardson, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 9-14, $503
5th: Todd Taylor, Bargersville, Ind., five bass, 9-4, $431
6th: Ron Weisenburger, Continental, Ohio, five bass, 9-2, $396
7th: James Wilcox, Barboursville, W.V., five bass, 9-1, $474
7th: Richard Rike, Lewisburg, Ohio, five bass, 9-1, $324
7th: Jeremy Middleton, Marengo, Ohio, five bass, 9-1, $324
10th: Andrew Simon, Risingsun, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $252
Greg Marshall of Paris, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $305, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Chris Martinovic of Hamilton, Ohio, leads the BFL Buckeye Presented by Rabid Baits Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 738 points, while Steve Sorrell of Beavercreek, Ohio, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 712 points.