LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (Aug. 29, 2022) – Boater Mike Quinlin of Mooresville, Indiana, caught nine bass weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament on the Ohio River at Tanner’s Creek in Lawrenceburg, Indiana . The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division. Quinlin earned $14,374 for his victory, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus.
Quinlin’s victory was his second BFL Hoosier Division win in a row, as he won the BFL event on the Ohio River at Rocky Point on Aug. 6.
“Saturday, I caught all my fish shallow on a spinnerbait and had a 4-14 kicker, which is a pretty good fish for the Ohio River,” Quinlin said. “I only had four fish, but I was leading after Day 1.”
Quinlin said on Sunday he stayed close to takeoff and caught a quick limit that didn’t weigh very much, then made a 40-mile run and was able to cull out two more fish flipping a Hog Snatcher Baits tube.
“I probably didn’t even need to make that long run and still would have gotten the win,” Quinlin said. “The good old Ohio River changed on me, and the water went down a foot overnight. The fish would no longer chase a spinnerbait.”
With two straight wins behind him, Quinlin is now eyeing his next BFL event, the Regional Championship in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
“This feels great,” Quinlin said. “The Phoenix bonus was fantastic, as were the Mercury and General Tire and AFTCO bonuses. I’m looking forward to fishing the Regional Championship at the Mississippi River in La Crosse. That place is just full of fish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., nine bass, 15-12, $14,374 includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF5 Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, 10 bass, 13-11, $3,437
3rd: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., 10 bass, 13-7, $1,957
4th: David Spivey, Hamilton, Ohio, nine bass, 13-0, $1,371
5th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, nine bass, 12-15, $1,425
6th: Matt McCoy, Indianapolis, Ind., nine bass, 12-11, $1,077
7th: Brain Funkhouser, Bloomington, Ind., six bass, 12-7, $979
8th: Brandon Barrett, Bloomington, Ind., eight bass, 11-1, $881
9th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., six bass, 10-2, $783
10th: Blake Albertson, Bloomington, Ind., seven bass, 9-3, $685
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Ethan Hill of Columbus, Indiana, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $780. Brent Jones of Okeana, Ohio, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,287 Sunday after catching a two-day total of six bass weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, six bass, 8-11, $3,287
2nd: Tim Edwards, Underwood, Ind., five bass, 8-3, $1,468
3rd: John Thomas, Quincy, Ind., six bass, 7-9, $979
4th: Dan Pardue, Morgantown, Ind., five bass, 7-2, $685
5th: Bill Kissinger, Knoxville, Tenn., six bass, 7-1, $587
6th: Dominic Bogolo, Hamilton, Ohio, six bass, 7-0, $538
7th: Jarrod Pickel, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 7-0, $489
8th: Evan Baldwin, Avon, Ind., five bass, 6-14, $441
9th: Jay Backer, Henderson, Ky., five bass, 5-15, $392
10th: Yaounde Howard, Bolingbrook, Ill., four bass, 5-8, $443
Jimmy Bean of Hamilton, Ohio, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 2 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $390.
With the regular season now complete, boater Mike Quinlin of Mooresville, Indiana, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,339 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Ryan Sykes of Fairfield, Ohio, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Hoosier Division AOY race with 1,292 points and earned the $500 Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.