Millsaps Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Keowee

SENECA, S.C. (March 21, 2022) – Boater David Millsaps of Ranger, Georgia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Keowee. The tournament, hosted by Visit Oconee, was the season-opener for the Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division. Millsaps earned $4,830 for his victory.

“I started out and caught four or five spotted bass on a homemade jig,” Millsaps said. “As the day went on, the wind picked up, and I fished rocky points where the wind was blowing bait and just kept upgrading all day.”

Millsaps said he caught 15 to 20 keepers during the course of the day by keeping the boat in 20 feet of water and casting to rocky points and banks and working the jig slowly.

“These events are hard to win,” said Millsaps, who now has four career BFL wins. “A win this early in the season always boosts you for the rest of the season.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        David Millsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 19-5, $4,830
                2nd:       Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $4,235 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
                3rd:       Bo Price, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 17-15, $1,609
                4th:        Scott Browning, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 16-4, $1,127
                5th:        Shannon Poore, Walhalla, S.C., five bass, 15-7, $925
                5th:        Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 15-7, $925
                7th:        Derek Lehtonen, Woodruff, S.C., five bass, 15-4, $805
                8th:        Derek Freeman, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 14-12, $724
                9th:        Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $644
                10th:     Kevin Whitmore, Easley, S.C., five bass, 14-7, $563

Burroughs had a 7-pound, 15-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $720.

Jason Goldman of Commerce, Georgia, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,415 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Jason Goldman, Commerce, Ga., five bass, 13-10, $2,415
                2nd:       Alan Poston, Travelers Rest, S.C., five bass, 13-5, $1,207
                3rd:       Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., five bass, 11-13, $806
                4th:        Jody Hughes, Baldwin, Ga., five bass, 11-9, $523
                4th:        Corey Veal, Royston, Ga., five bass, 11-9, $523
                6th:        Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $443
                7th:        Scott Gardner, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 11-0, $402
                8th:        Gerald Glouse, Easley, S.C., five bass, 10-13, $362
                9th:        Gavin Ballew, Travelers Rest, S.C., five bass, 10-11, $322
                10th:     Jacob Yaden, Evans, Ga., five bass, 10-7, $582

Nicholas Gurkin of Simpsonville, S.C, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $360.

After one event, David Millsaps of Ranger, Georgia, leads the Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Jason Goldman of Commerce, Georgia, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 250 points.