JEFFERSON, Texas (April 24, 2023) – Boater Ernie Hillebrandt of Lafayette, Louisiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake of the Pines. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Hillebrandt earned $4,082 for the first MLF victory of his career.
“This feels great,” Hillebrandt said in his post-game interview. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is my first win.
“I was fishing on the south end of Lake of the Pines, targeting spawning fish,” Hillebrandt continued. “My key bait was a watermelon-seed-colored Zoom Super Fluke. Most of my keepers came on that. But the big one came on a white (River2Sea) Whopper Plopper.
“The key to this victory was my history on the lake,” Hillebrandt went on to say.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Ernie Hillebrandt, Lafayette, La., five bass, 18-5, $4,082
2nd: Tater Reynolds, Florien, La., five bass, 17-2, $2,041
3rd: Travis Franks, Lake Charles, La., five bass, 16-7, $1,862 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
4th: Nick Abshire, Sulphur, La., five bass, 16-1, $952
5th: Leon Jefferson, Baytown, Texas, three bass, 15-12, $1,796
6th: Red Ballard, Sulphur, La., five bass, 15-1, $748
7th: Arthur Johnson, Judson, Texas, five bass, 14-10, $680
8th: Ian Leybas, McAlester, Okla., five bass, 14-6, $612
9th: Trent Manuel, Iowa, La., five bass, 13-2, $544
10th: Dylan Smith, Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 13-1, $476
Jefferson caught a largemouth that weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $560. J.J. Matzke of League City, Texas, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $2,041 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 14 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: J.J. Matzke, League City, Texas, five bass, 14-9, $2,041
2nd: Glen Dockery, Longview, Texas, five bass, 13-9, $1,301
3rd: Nic Gardner, Frisco, Texas, five bass, 12-6, $683
4th: Lawrence Tidwell, Frisco, Texas, five bass, 12-4, $476
5th: Garrett Wilson, Willis, Texas, five bass, 11-12, $408
6th: Troy Ladner, Bay Saint Louis, Miss., five bass, 10-10, $774
7th: Scott LeBlanc, Lafayette, La., five bass, 10-8, $340
8th: Steven Fisher, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 10-6, $289
8th: Dustin Berry, Dayton, Texas, five bass, 10-6, $289
10th: Cole Allen, Taylor, Ark., four bass, 10-2, $388
Dockery earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $280, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Tater Reynolds of Florien, Louisiana, leads the BFL Cowboy Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 961 points, while J.J. Matzke of League City, Texas, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 980 points.
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