SMYRNA, Tenn. (May 16, 2022) – Boater Kelly Readhimer of Beech Bluff, Tennessee, caught five bass Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League Tournament on Percy Priest Lake presented by Lithium Pros. The tournament was the third event of the season for the Bass Fishing League Music City Division. Readhimer earned $4,235 for his victory.
“I practiced on Friday and caught probably 13 or 14 pounds in one school,” Readhimer said. “I threw a crankbait into it and didn’t get bit, so I spun the boat around and fired up onto the point in 8 to 10 feet of water. I caught three 3-pounders in a row. So I marked those fish.”
Readhimer said he began the tournament Saturday fishing a shad spawn and didn’t catch a bass. He said he returned to the school he found the previous day, but nothing bit the crankbait he threw. He switched to a brown ¾-ounce football mop jig and cast to the point, hopped the jig twice and landed a 4½-pound bass. Readhimer said he focused on the Hobson Pike Bridge area and targeted a shallow flat that ran from an island to the bank and featured a lot of large rocks. He hopped the jig, caught a couple of keeper bass, and fished the spot until he filled his limit.
“All I was doing was stroking that big mop jig,” Readhimer said. “You couldn’t drag it and get bit. I was stroking it so hard with 30 minutes left in the tournament that my right arm was cramping.”
Readhimer said he had been to Percy Priest only five times and felt fortunate to get the win.
“I don’t have a lot of experience on the lake, but I knew it was fishing tough,” Readhimer said. “Basically, I had two spots and I just milked them for all it was worth. The way I found those fish was just luck.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kelly Readhimer, Beech Bluff, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $4,235
2nd: Billy Hinson, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 17-5, $2,618 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd: Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 16-14, $1,413
4th: Chris Fondren, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $988
5th: Zach Youngblood, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $811
5th: Mike Bryant, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $1,011
7th: Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., five bass, 15-1, $706
8th: Bryden Mugleston, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $1,225
9th: Michael Tuck, Old Hickory, Tenn., three bass, 13-2, $565
10th: Dylan Wright, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 12-8, $494
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Mugleston had a largemouth that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $590. Brian Haworth of Cookeville, Tennessee, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,413 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Brian Haworth, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 14-11, $2,413
2nd: Harvey Daniels, Portland, Tenn., four bass, 10-9, $1,059
3rd: Robert Moore, Elkmont, Ala., five bass, 10-8, $806
4th: Gary Haraguchi, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 9-7, $494
5th: Teddy Baggett, Nashville, Tenn., four bass, 9-0, $424
6th: Grant Frazier, Manchester, Tenn., four bass, 7-15, $388
7th: Matt Perkins, Smyrna, Tenn., three bass, 7-11, $353
8th: Keith Whipple, Iuka, Miss., three bass, 7-4, $318
9th: Logan Stewart, Nashville, Tenn., four bass, 7-1, $282
10th: Ricky England, Sparta, Tenn., three bass, 6-9, $247
Haworth caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $295.
After three events, Jade Keeton of Florence, Alabama, leads the Bass Fishing League Music City Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 705 points, while Grant Frazier of Manchester, Tennessee, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 732 points.
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