Anderson Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Kerr

May 16, 2022
BFL News Archive

HENDERSON, N.C. (May 16, 2022) – Boater Logan Anderson of Catawba, North Carolina, caught five bass Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League Tournament on Kerr Lake. The tournament, hosted by Vance County Tourism, was the third event of the season for the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division. Anderson earned $7,415, including a $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

“We had a fog delay and still had a little bit of fog when we took off, so I knew a lot of people would stay in Nutbush and fish,” Anderson said. “I wanted to get as far away from that as I could. But, that’s the place I’m most familiar with, so I started right at the mouth of Nutbush.”

Anderson said he began fishing docks with a Queen Tackle Glimmer Blue Shad Tungsten Swim Jig and immediately caught a 4-pound bass. His co-angler caught one that weighed three pounds, so Anderson said he knew good fish were in the area. After he missed another good fish and then caught another 4-pound fish, Anderson said it was time to relocate.

“After we ran out of stuff there, we took a run up the lake to Ivy Hill,” Anderson said. “I caught some more on the swim jig and then caught a couple on a new Queen Tackle prototype spinnerbait that is coming out. That’s all I did all day – fished docks and laydown trees as the main source of cover.”

Anderson said the swim jig and spinnerbait produced 12 fish during competition – seven of which were keepers.

“Until I put them on the scales I would not have believed I had almost 18 pounds,” Anderson said. “This is my first year fishing BFLs as a boater, and as hard as it is to win one, it’s insane to win in just my third try.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Logan Anderson, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 17-10, $7,415 (includes $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
                2nd:       Aaron Digh, Denver, N.C., five bass, 16-1, $2,458
                3rd:       Tyler Trent, Nathalie, Va., five bass, 15-12, $1,640
                4th:        Scott Hamrick, Denver, N.C., five bass, 15-9, $1,147
                5th:        Bradley Staley, Pleasant Garden, N.C., five bass, 14-8, $1,558
                6th:        James Blankenship, Siler City, N.C., five bass, 14-6, $1,301
                7th:        Jason Barnes, Concord, N.C., five bass, 14-2, $819
                8th:        Chris Dover, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 14-1, $737
                9th:        Jeffrey Davis, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 13-12, $655
                10th:     Jordan Hall, Leasburg, N.C., five bass, 13-10, $573

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Todd Harris of Lexington, N.C., and Staley both had largemouth that weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces that were the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. Harris and Staley split the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $750. Tommy Swicegood of Salisbury, North Carolina, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,458 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Tommy Swicegood, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 12-6, $2,458
                2nd:       Johnny Guffey, Bessemer City, N.C., five bass, 11-9, $1,229
                3rd:       Mark Allen Seals, Laurinburg, N.C., three bass, 10-9, $1,004
                4th:        Jacob Crook, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 10-2, $573
                5th:        Wyatt Hammond, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 9-12, $492
                6th:        Jonathan Strickland, Graham, N.C., four bass, 9-2, $451
                7th:        Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, N.C., three bass, 9-1, $597
                8th:        Thomas McDermott, Madison, N.C., three bass, 8-5, $369
                9th:        Riley Smallwood, Shallotte, N.C., four bass, 8-0, $628
                10th:     Adam Gum, Charleston, W.V., four bass, 7-15, $287

Seals and Jones tied for the largest bass in the Co-angler Division with fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces each. They split the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $374.

After three events, James Blankenship of Siler City, North Carolina, leads the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 727 points, while Eric Osborne of Jefferson, North Carolina, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 700 points.