Anderson Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Pickwick

COUNCE, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2022) – Boater Brent Anderson of Kingston Springs, Tennessee, caught five bass Saturday weighing 21 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on Pickwick Lake . The tournament, hosted by Hardin County Convention and Visitors Bureau, was the second event for the Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division. Anderson earned $12,618, which included the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

“I ran to the mid-lake section and fished pretty much from Waterloo down to State Line Islands, and targeted mud lines where clear water was running into all of the mud,” Anderson said. “I used a Z-Man (Evergreen) Chatterbait Jack Hammer and targeted anything from 1 to 6 feet deep.”

Anderson said he used a combination of white, chartreuse/white and black/blue ChatterBaits, depending on water color to catch “about 20 keepers.”

“Where the mud started I would stay with the dark, and as it cleared up I would go to the light colors,” Anderson said. “A lot of what I was fishing I would run multiple times, and I would switch colors on my second trip.”

Anderson now has nine Phoenix Bass Fishing League wins under his belt.

“It’s a relief to start your year off with a win and have that momentum,” Anderson said. “The years I’ve done that have turned out to be really good years.

“I just try not to take these wins for granted,” Anderson added. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and they’re a lot harder to come by now. Guys are a lot better, technology is a lot better and information is a lot easier to gain. You never know when a win might be your last one.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., five bass, 21-0, $12,618, (includes $7,000 Phoenix Bonus)
                2nd:       Chris Kirksey, Fairmount, Ga., five bass, 17-12, $2,309
                3rd:       Blake Fritts, Florence, Ala., four bass, 16-13, $2,219
                4th:        Nick Stickland, Sulligent, Ala., five bass, 16-11, $1,078
                5th:        Garrett Warren, Hoover, Ala., five bass, 16-3, $924
                6th:        Steve Stewart, Donalsonville, Ga., five bass, 15-8, $847
                7th:        Brandon Bright, Crossville, Ala., two bass, 15-6, $770
                8th:        Justin Atkins, Florence, Ala., five bass, 15-0, $693
                9th:        Mickey Beck, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-9, $616
                10th:     Chris Youngblood, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $539

Fritts had a 6-pound, 5-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $680. Johnny Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,640 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., four bass, 14-8, $2,640
                2nd:       Ethan Wheeler, Mayfield, Ky., four bass, 13-8, $960
                2nd:       Jose Serna, Albertville, Ala., three bass, 13-8, $960
                4th:        Craig Johnson, Trinity, Ala., five bass, 13-4, $538
                5th:        Nicholas Gresens, Decatur, Ga., five bass, 12-7, $461
                6th:        Teddy Baggett, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 12-3, $423
                7th:        Caleb Edgerton, Dayton, Ohio, three bass, 9-14, $584
                8th:        Bob Thompson, Florence, Ala., three bass, 9-1, $346
                9th:        Jason Long, Calhoun, Ga., three bass, 7-14, $307
                10th:     Randall Kramer, Signal Mountain, Tenn., two bass, 7-3, $269

Suratt also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $335.