Campbell Wins Bass Fishing League Super Tournament at Lake Murray

September 9, 2024
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News

PROSPERITY, S.C. (Sept. 9, 2024) – Boater Tyler Campbell of Martin, Georgia, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) Super Tournament at Lake Murray , which concluded Sunday. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Campbell earned $4,732 for his victory. The winning pattern was probably not too surprising in this derby.

“Typical herring bite,” said Campbell. “I was catching them on topwater and swimbaits; mainly a topwater offshore.”

Campbell worked out off the deep end of shallow points where bass were suspending in cane piles. He figures he fished about 150 cane piles throughout the tournament – a rapid pace of covering water that burned about 50 gallons of gas each day.

“It was just about timing and pulling up when they were ready to bite, which is the key to burning so much gas,” he said. “You have to filter through so many places, and then eventually they’re going to fire for you. I will say, today (Sunday) the game changer was I was sitting on about 18 pounds all day. I got really unlucky and lost some big fish. I should’ve had a mega-bag today, but stuff happens. I was sitting on about 18 pounds at 2:30, and we had to be in at 2:45. I pulled into a spot I haven’t been able to get on all week. I made one cast and caught a 5-pounder and that sealed it for me.”

Campbell’s go-to lures included a Zoom Super Fluke in blue glimmer, a chrome Berkley Drift Walker topwater bait and a chrome Berkley Krej .

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Tyler Campbell, Martin, Ga., 10 bass, 42-13, $4,732
2nd:        Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., 10 bass, 42-1, $2,366
3rd:         Wesley Sandifer, Chapin, S.C., 10 bass, 39-14, $1,577
4th:         Matt O'Connell, Brooks, Ga., 10 bass, 34-12, $1,729 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th:         Aspen Martin, White, Ga., nine bass, 30-4, $946
6th:         Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., 10 bass, 30-4, $868
7th:         Joe Anders, Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 30-3, $789
8th:         Rodney Bell, Salisbury, N.C., 10 bass, 28-6, $710
9th:         Roger Pope, Statesville, N.C., 10 bass, 28-5, $631
10th:       Chad Sims, Lancaster, S.C., eight bass, 24-10, $552

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jake Monti of Mooresville, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $555. Ross Doolittle of Greenwood, South Carolina, won the co-angler division and $2,366 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of four bass to the scale that weighed 13 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished: 

1st:          Ross Doolittle, Greenwood, S.C., four bass, 13-7, $2,366
2nd:        Arthur Harris, York, S.C., four bass, 13-6, $1,183
3rd:         Scott McKay, New London, N.C., three bass, 10-10, $790
4th:         Dillon Reid, Piedmont, S.C., four bass, 10-0, $552
5th:         Lonnie Drusch, Sumter, S.C., four bass, 9-15, $473
6th:         Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., three bass, 8-4, $534
7th:         Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., two bass, 8-2, $394
8th:         Trent Killian, Bostic, N.C., four bass, 7-6, $355
9th:         Brian Nappier, Huntersville, N.C., four bass, 7-1, $315
10th:       Sam Fish, Alexander City, Ala., two bass, 5-13, $276

Preston Catoe of Lugoff, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $277, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

At the conclusion of the event, Joe Anders of Easley, South Carolina, was crowned the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,324 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Trent Killian of Bostic, North Carolina, won the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Co-angler of the Year race and the $500 prize with 1,320 points.