McDowell Wins Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on Rend Lake

SESSOR, Ill. (Sept. 19, 2022) – Boater Garrett McDowell of Windsor, Illinois, caught eight bass weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Bass Fishing League tournament on Rend Lake in Sessor, Illinois. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Illini Division. McDowell earned $5,426 for his victory.

McDowell said he began his tournament fishing rip rap on the north end of Rend, where wind was prevalent and blowing baitfish onto rock. McDowell said he caught six keepers Saturday morning on a Z-Man Jack Hammer Evergreen ChatterBait , then moved to fish holding in less than a foot of water. On Sunday, the wind was coming from a different direction and the bass were not holding on the rip rap, so McDowell said he fished shallow, but cloud cover hampered quality production.

“With about an hour left the clouds broke, and I was able to get my last two bites flipping cyprus trees,” McDowell said.

McDowell said he found success using an Omega Revelation Swim Jig for his cyprus tree bite.

“This feels pretty good,” McDowell said. “My first BFL win was in a Super Tournament on Shelbyville in 2018. This is just kind of my time of year – when it transitions into the fall bite. That’s kind of when I shine.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Garrett McDowell, Windsor, Ill., eight bass, 19-14, $5,426
                2nd:       Patrick Odell, Windsor, Ill, seven bass, 19-10, $2,563
                3rd:       Alex Moore, Chester, Ill., nine bass, 18-13, $1,709
                4th:        Toby Corn, Paducah, Ky., nine bass, 18-7, $1,596
                5th:        Trey McKinney, Carbondale, Ill., eight bass, 18-5, $1,325
                6th:        Brennon McCord, Thompsonville, Ill., eight bass, 17-13, $1,440 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
                7th:        Wayne O’Dell, Toledo, Ill., six bass, 17-2, $1,484
                8th:        Greg Mullins, Mount Vernon, Ill., six bass, 16-0, $769
                9th:        Scott Rice, Cobden, Ill., six bass, 15-6, $683
                10th:     Michael Black, Toledo, Ill., six bass, 14-7, $598

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Wayne O’Dell of Toledo, Illinois, had a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $630. Sheldon Ayers of Goreville, Illinois, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,502 Sunday after catching a two-day total of five bass weighing 12 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Sheldon Ayers, Goreville, Ill., five bass, 12-12, $2,502
                2nd:       Rick Cheatham, Carterville, Ill., five bass, 12-6, $1,401
                3rd:       Ryan Murphy, Paris, Ill., six bass, 11-12, $1,034
                4th:        Ryan Taylor, Christopher, Ill., four bass, 9-14, $584
                5th:        Ovidiu Marginean, Glenview, Ill., four bass, 9-9, $500
                6th:        Chuck Davis, Farmington, Ill., four bass, 9-6, $559
                7th:        Andrew Boring, El Paso, Ill., four bass, 8-15, $417
                8th:        Mike Swetland, Tamaroa, Ill., four bass, 8-11, $375
                9th:        Steve Bowcock, Bridgeport, Ill., four bass, 7-6, $392
                10th:     Brian Huber, Saint Charles, Mo., three bass, 7-0, $292

Drake Horn of Murphysboro, Illinois, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $307.