Brumfield Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Lanier

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Feb. 28, 2022) – Boater Jerry Brumfield of Cumming, Georgia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 20 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League tournament on Lake Lanier. The tournament was the season-opener for the Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division. Brumfield earned $6,000 for his victory.

“The day started off a little sluggish,” Brumfield said. “After the first hour and a half I didn’t have anything, so I had to make a move.”

Brumfield said he practiced for three weeks before the tournament, and for the most part had success. But Brumfield said the week leading up to the event was a different story.

“They moved on me,” Brumfield said. “I had holes I had caught big fish on, so I moved to them. And then at 11 o’clock I had 18 pounds.”

Brumfield credits his win in large part to his Garmin Panoptix LiveScope he used to locate fish, and a Keitech Swim Jig to provoke strikes in 30 to 42 feet of water.

“At 2:30 I caught one that upgraded me 2 pounds,” Brumfield said. “I told my co-angler, ‘I just won this tournament.’”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Jerry Brumfield, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 20-2, $6,000
                2nd:       Will Harkins, Blairsville, Ga., five bass, 19-13, $3,000
                3rd:       Grant Kelly, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 19-5, $3,000
                4th:        Todd Anderson, Dawsonville, Ga., five bass, 18-15, $1,400
                5th:        Patrick Brown, Swainsboro, Ga., five bass, 18-5, $1,200
                6th:        Jeff Williams, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 18-0, $1,100
                7th:        Alex Prince, Blue Ridge, Ga., five bass, 17-8, $1,500 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
                8th:        Carl Smith, Lugoff, S.C., five bass, 17-7, $800
                8th:        Dalton Tankersley, Copperhill, Tenn., five bass, 17-7, $800
                8th:        Weston Parker, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 17-7, $800

Kelly had a 7-pound, 3-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,000. Jonathan Gregory of Somerset, Kentucky, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Jonathan Gregory, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 14-15, $3,000
                2nd:       Jarrett Vick, Archer, Fla., five bass, 14-14, $1,500
                3rd:       David Uselton, McDonough, Ga., five bass, 14-9, $1,200
                4th:        Chris Pfrogner, Dawsonville, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $650
                4th:        J.B. Banks, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $650
                6th:        Ryan Frazier, Stone Mountain, Ga., five bass, 13-15, $525
                6th:        Shane Carlton, Akron, Ohio, five bass, 13-15, $525
                8th:        Caleb Wyatt, Easley, S.C., five bass, 13-11, $450
                9th:        Ben Brisbois, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 13-0, $400
                10th:     Judah Eernisse, Chapin, S.C., five bass, 12-14, $350

Jody Cook of Dawsonville, Georgia, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $500.