FLORENCE, Ala. (May 8, 2023) – Boater Trent Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Pickwick Lake. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Choo Choo Division. Suratt earned $4,127 for his victory.
Suratt won a Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament at Lake Pickwick on April 1, and Saturday’s victory makes the fourth career BFL event he has won on Pickwick since 2019.
“I started out making a drift in what little current we had, and after the first drift I had five fish for right at 18 pounds,” said Suratt. “That was by 6:45 (a.m).
“I just kept beating that all day and finally lucked up and caught a big largemouth, and that was it,” Suratt added.
Suratt said he relied on a swimbait fished near rockpiles, in current below Wilson Dam, for his fish. Suratt said he caught a mix of 10 smallmouth and two largemouth during the tournament. He said he had fish located in another area, but those spots were only producing 2- to 3-pound fish.
“I said, ‘This isn’t going to do me any good,’” Suratt said. “So, I stuck with what was working, and then I caught the 5½-pound largemouth, and I knew I had a good bag then. I knew if somebody was going to beat me, they were going to have to catch them good.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 23-8, $4,127
2nd: Charlie Craycraft, Grant, Ala., five bass, 20-11, $2,984 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd: Michael Hood, Winchester, Tenn., five bass, 15-12, $1,377
4th: Andrew Clayton, Westpoint, Tenn., five bass, 14-9, $963
5th: Jennings Earnest, Guin, Ala., five bass, 14-0, $825
6th: Westin Moss, Jasper, Tenn., five bass, 13-15, $757
7th: John Janick, Adams, Tenn., five bass, 13-10, $688
8th: Tim Macknair, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $619
9th: Jordan Thompson, Hartselle, Ala., five bass, 13-0, $550
10th: Evan Horne, Tuscumbia, Ala., five bass, 12-10, $457
10th: Corey McMullen, Gurley, Ala., five bass, 12-10, $457
Keith Miller of Chattanooga, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $575. Justin Stephenson of Jasper, Alabama, won the co-angler division and a total of $2,351 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 18 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Justin Stephenson, Jasper, Ala., five bass, 18-4, $2,351
2nd: Tanner Plumlee, Wildersville, Tenn., four bass, 11-0, $1,032
3rd: Deon Smith, Guntersville, Ala., four bass, 9-11, $688
4th: Neal Goulas, Madison, Ala., three bass, 8-7, $482
5th: Lewis Ritchie, Bogalusa, La., three bass, 7-13, $413
6th: Aaron Krieger, Robertsdale, Ala., three bass, 7-12, $378
7th: Alan Barrett, Cullman, Ala., two bass, 7-4, $344
8th: Nick Carter, Cartersville, Ga., three bass, 6-10, $310
9th: Joey Wright, Cullman, Ala., three bass, 6-5, $275
10th: Roderick Green, Columbia, Tenn., three bass, 5-9, $241
Stephenson also earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $287, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama, leads the BFL Choo Choo Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 937 points, while Justin Stephenson of Jasper, Alabama, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 965 points.
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