Davis Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Shelbyville

SHELBYVILLE, Ill. (May 16, 2022) – Boater Robert Davis of Bethalto, Illinois, caught four bass Saturday weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Shelbyville. The tournament was the season-opener for the Bass Fishing League Illini Division. Davis earned $4,825 for his victory.

“This tournament was a hot grind,” Davis said. “My original plan did not pan out, so I went with Plan B that I had found the week before – fishing spawning and post-spawn fish, and that paid off.

“I was going back and forth between shallow and deep fish,” Davis added. “I was slow-rolling a spinnerbait near the bottom. Everything I was getting was just subtle bites; they weren’t hitting very hard at all. It was just a reaction bite. I could get them fired up for about 10 minutes and then go two hours without another bite, then get them fired back up for about 10 minutes. It was tedious.”

Davis said he fished three different areas up-river on Lake Shelbyville, and his slow-rolling technique focused on water about 20 feet deep and produced four keepers in the livewell. Davis said he lost four other keepers during the tournament.

“I feel humbled and blessed to win this,” Davis said. “I’ve been fishing the BFL events for four years now with only one top-10 finish. To win on a lake I’m not too familiar with is great. Everything just lined up right for me.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                1st:        Robert Davis, Bethalto, Ill., four bass, 14-4, $4,825
                2nd:       Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-12, $2,118
                3rd:       Tanner Shiley, Oakland, Ill., four bass, 13-0, $1,700 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
                3rd:       Bill Cearlock, Springfield, Ill., five bass, 13-0, $1,200
                5th:        Ben Holmes, Altamont, Ill., five bass, 12-2, $847
                6th:        Cole Jezek, Salem, Ill., five bass, 11-8, $741
                6th:        Trey McKinney, Carbondale, Ill., five bass, 11-8, $741
                8th:        Luke Budde, St. Louis, Mo., five bass, 10-9, $635
                9th:        Shane Haslett, Beecher City, Ill., five bass, 10-3, $565
                10th:     Patrick Odell, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 10-2, $494

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Davis had a largemouth that weighed 6 pounds even that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $590. Jay Fields of Breese, Illinois, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,082 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                1st:        Jay Fields, Breese, Ill., four bass, 8-7, $2,082
                2nd:       Andrew Dunford, Christopher, Ill., three bass, 8-6, $1,041
                3rd:       Matt Cannaday, Farmington, Mo., three bass, 8-3, $692
                4th:        Joe Andres, Effingham, Ill., four bass, 8-2, $486
                5th:        Aaron Wehmeyer, Bloomington, Ill., four bass, 7-13, $416
                6th:        Derick Holmes, Fairfield, Ill., four bass, 7-11, $382
                7th:        Jimmy Null, Bethalto, Ill., three bass, 7-4, $347
                8th:        Steve Grigsby, Washington, Ill., four bass, 7-2, $312
                9th:        John Hingson, Montrose, Ill., three bass, 6-11, $278
                10th:     Gary Huber II, Saint Charles, Mo., four bass, 6-9, $243

Westley Smith of Bridgeport, Illinois, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $290.