SHELBYVILLE, Ill. (June 20, 2022) – Boater Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Illinois, caught five bass Saturday weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournamnet on Lake Shelbyville . The tournament was the second event for the Bass Fishing League Illini Division. McKinney earned $4,889 for his victory.
“The first 30 minutes on a rock bite you can always catch one or two keepers as a safety net during the tournament,” McKinney said. “So we fished that way, and I actually ended up catching one of my big ones – a 4-pounder. That was a surprise.
“I’ve had a problem the last few times I’ve fished getting a big bite,” McKinney added. “When I finally got it right off the bat, I thought, ‘I need to start taking some more risks.’ I felt pretty confident I could catch a limit just junk fishing.”
McKinney said he switched to more of an offshore tactic that focused on edges and sides of points and different targets many anglers might overlook.
“Everybody out there has their ‘milk run’, and everybody runs their same points,” McKinney said. “Sometimes something a little different doesn’t hurt much.”
McKinney said he employed the use of a Freedom Baits Jig in natural colors with a dyed tail as well as a shaky head rig with plum-colored baits instead of more conventional natural colors.
“I fished my confidence colors,” McKinney said. “If you don’t have confidence in your bait, it’s just not going to happen.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Trey McKinney, Carbondale, Illinois., five bass, 14-4, $4,889
2nd: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 14-2, $2,144
3rd: John Wright, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 12-3, $1,297
4th: Todd Blakeman, Chatham, Ill., five bass, 11-12, $1,557
5th: Larry Diveley, Saint Jacob, Ill., five bass, 11-9, $778
6th: Micah Mulvany, Salem, Ill., five bass, 10-9, $713
7th: Travis Boley, Weldon, Ill., five bass, 10-3, $615
7th: Matt Weber, Glen Carbon, Ill., five bass, 10-3, $615
9th: Terry Holsapple, Greenup, Ill., five bass, 10-0, $486
9th: Kyle Dowdy, El Paso, Ill., five bass, 10-0, $486
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Michael Black of Toledo, Illinois, caught a largemouth weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces, the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division, to earn the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $525. Aaron Wehmeyer of Bloomington, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $1,944 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Aaron Wehmeyer, Bloomington, Ill., five bass, 14-1, $1,944
2nd: Joe Andres, Effingham, Ill., four bass, 12-15, $972
3rd: Shaun Avery, Plainfield, Ill., five bass, 12-2, $949
4th: Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., five bass, 11-14, $454
5th: Drew Williams, Homer, Ill., five bass, 11-3, $539
6th: Jojo Johnson, Benton, Ill., four bass, 10-15, $356
7th: Matt Chumbler, Carbondale, Ill., five bass, 9-14, $324
8th: Eugene Kim, Lindenhurst, Ill., four bass, 9-7, $292
9th: Tom Lyskawka, Arlington Heights, Ill., five bass, 8-13, $259
10th: Tad Cain, La Place, Ill., two bass, 7-14, $427
Mike Swetland of Tamaroa, Illinois, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $262.
After two events, Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Illinois, leads the Bass Fishing League Illini Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 495 points, while Aaron Wehmeyer of Bloomington, Illinois, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 496 points.