GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Feb. 19, 2024) – Boater Brooks Anderson of Marietta, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Lanier. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Bulldog Division. Anderson earned $4,584 for his victory. Anderson began his day with a run to the south end of Lanier and spent the first three hours of the tournament without a fish in the boat. His first fish – a 4½-pounder – didn’t come until 11 a.m., and he ended up losing that one at the net.
“That was a heartbreaker, to finally get a good bite and then lose it,” Anderson said. He said he caught a few 2-pounders before his day turned around.
“At 11:30 I caught one that was 4¾ and got me pointed in the right direction,” Anderson said. “I ran to another hole and caught one that was just over 4 pounds, and then one that was right at 6 pounds.”
Anderson said his primary techniques used were a shaky-head rig, a Damiki rig and a spoon. He relied on Garmin Livescope to catch bass on the shaky-head rig on secondary points in 15 feet of water. He threw the spoon and Damiki rig around ditches and timber.
Anderson focused on the Six Mile Creek Park area to Buford Dam and said he added a 4-pound fish and a 4½-pound bass with 30 minutes left in the competition to post his final weight.
“When I caught that last 4½-pounder I thought I had a slight chance of winning,” Anderson said. “But I fish a lot of local tournaments out here, and you’re never safe with any weight. So, this feels awesome. It’s my first year to be able to fish a full circuit of BFLs, so I’m really excited for this year.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Brooks Anderson, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 23-3, $4,584
2nd: Alex Prince, Blue Ridge, Ga., five bass, 22-3, $2,292
3rd: Kevin Underwood, Gillsville, Ga., five bass, 21-7, $1,529
4th: Maddux Walters, Canton, Ga., five bass, 20-12, $1,070
5th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., five bass, 20-1, $1,417 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
6th: Brad Davis, Statham, Ga., five bass, 20-0, $840
7th: Zac Bennett, Loganville, Ga., five bass, 19-12, $764
8th: Ty Overmyer, Dawsonville, Ga., five bass, 18-15, $688
9th: Jeremy York, Conyers, Ga., five bass, 18-11, $611
10th: Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 18-1, $835
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Kenneth Cash of Covington, Georgia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $675. Joseph Chilcott of Williamson, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $2,292 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Joseph Chilcott, Williamson, Ga., five bass, 16-2, $2,292
2nd: Joshua Green, Cartersville, Ga., five bass, 16-1, $1,146
3rd: Tim Greene, Loganville, Ga., five bass, 15-2, $765
4th: Brady Vaughn, Royston, Ga., five bass, 14-3, $535
5th: John McCoy, Jasper, Ga., five bass, 13-13, $458
6th: Matt Luczynski, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 13-1, $420
7th: Tommy Royston, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 12-13, $382
8th: Ryan Frazier, Stone Mountain, Ga., five bass, 12-4, $344
9th: Justin Lemaster, Royston, Ga., five bass, 11-14, $306
10th: Steve Phillips, Douglas, Ga., five bass, 11-11, $267
Daniel Paulin of Smyrna, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $337, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.