GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 26, 2024) – Boater Randy Stone of Dexter, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Stone earned $5,133 for his victory.
“The water was very rough this morning when I ran down to my first stop,” Stone said. “I didn’t catch a fish there, so I decided to run to a bank where I had been catching them, near Paris Landing, and I caught a few there. I still didn’t know what to do; it was so rough there wasn’t really any good place to fish.”
Stone said he then began hitting old spots he’d fished in the past and said every spot he hit produced fish. Stone said he was targeting flats and caught 10 keepers with a Z-Man Original Chatterbait, a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and crankbaits.
“I never thought I had a chance to have enough weight to win this,” Stone said. “I needed two really nice fish to finish up, so I threw up to the bank and caught two really nice smallmouth, and that ended up putting me over the top.
“This win is just crazy,” Stone added. “I didn’t have a clue that I could end up winning. I thought my co-angler had caught enough for a win, but I didn’t think I had.”
Stone’s co-angler, Greg Warren, went on to win the co-angler division, as the duo swept the event.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Randy Stone, Dexter, Ky., five bass, 23-0, $5,133
2nd: Billy Schroeder, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 22-8, $2,566
3rd: Brad Kell, Benton, Ky., five bass, 21-10, $1,710
4th: Stephen Barga, Benton, Ky., five bass, 21-2, $1,198
5th: Ethan Fields, Breese, Ill., five bass, 20-15, $1,027
6th: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., five bass, 20-10, $1,441 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Zachary Martin, Murray, Ky., five bass, 20-2, $855
8th: Clint Knight, Lewisburg, Ky., five bass, 18-3, $770
9th: Sam Moll, Hershey, Pa., five bass, 18-2, $684
10th: Lloyd Pickett, Jr., Bartlett, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $599
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Justin Berger of Murray, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $800. Greg Warren of Rosiclare, Illinois, won the co-angler division and $2,966 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 20 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Greg Warren, Rosiclare, Ill., five bass, 20-4, $2,966
2nd: Alan Spell, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 14-15, $1,283
3rd: Peyton Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., five bass, 14-9, $855
4th: Gage Elder, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 14-6, $599
5th: Jim Elmore, Independence, Ky., five bass, 14-3, $513
6th: Tim Rampaul, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 13-14, $571
7th: Conner Hughart, Goreville, Ill., five bass, 13-6, $428
8th: Logan Sutherland, Elizabeth, Ind., five bass, 13-1, $385
9th: Bill Olson, Barrington, Ill., four bass, 13-0, $342
10th: Hunter Holguin, Knoxville, Tenn, five bass, 12-15, $299
Greg Warren of Rosiclare, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $400, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.