SALISBURY, N.C. (June 27, 2022) – Boater Jason Thomas of Lexington, North Carolina, caught five bass Saturday weighing 23 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on High Rock Lake. The tournament was the fourth event for the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division. Thomas earned $4,584 for his victory.
“I practiced on Wednesday and Thursday and the fish hadn’t really been biting until later in the day,” Thomas said. “We fished topwater for a couple of hours and that didn’t pan out too good, so we went a couple of places I’d had some bites on.
“We had three bites pretty quick and ended up staying on just a couple of places most of the day,” Thomas added.
Thomas said he fished the mid-lake area and Abbott’s Creek to fill his limit during the tournament. A jig and a spoon fished from 13 to 17 feet deep accounted for most of his eight keepers during the day, and most of the fish were caught from 10:30 until noon.
“It’s a big accomplishment to win against this crowd down here,” said Thomas, who also posted a BFL win on High Rock Lake in 2020. “There were a lot of great local guys in this tournament, and there’s been a lot of boat traffic and pressure on the lake, so it feels great to pull it off.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jason Thomas, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 23-0, $4,584
2nd: Byron Brush, Rockwell, N.C., five bass, 19-6, $2,292
3rd: David Wright, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 19-0, $2,229 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Jackson Pleasant, Four Oaks, N.C., five bass, 17-15, $1,270
5th: Ray Griffin, Greensboro, N.C., four bass, 16-2, $917
6th: Conrad Manuel, Pilot Mountain, N.C., five bass, 15-4, $840
7th: Travis Willis, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 15-2, $764
8th: Doug Young, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 14-14, $688
9th: John Ritchie, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 14-13, $611
10th: Mark Cannon, Youngsville, N.C., five bass, 14-11, $535
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Robert Drew of Gold Hill, North Carolina, caught a largemouth weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – earning him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $675. Will White of Wake Forest, North Carolina, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,292 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 20 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Will White, Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 20-9, $2,292
2nd: Cole File, Gold Hill, N.C., five bass, 14-10, $955
2nd: James Jackson, Raeford, N.C., five bass, 14-10, $955
4th: Jonathan Strickland, Graham, N.C., four bass, 13-14, $535
5th: Wayne Smelser, Wytheville, Va., four bass, 13-6, $895
6th: Jeff Frazier, Trinity, N.C., four bass, 12-6, $420
7th: George Boyce, Youngsville, N.C., five bass, 12-5, $382
8th: Adam Edwards, Cana, Va., five bass, 12-0, $344
9th: Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, N.C., five bass, 11-10, $306
10th: Zach Pringle, Newton, N.C., four bass, 11-5, $267
Smelser also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $337.
After four events, Aaron Digh of Denver, North Carolina, leads the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 948 points, while Trevor Wright of Chesterfield, Virginia, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 875 points.
https://dev.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-rock-62722.html
BFL News Archive