LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (June 17, 2024) – Boater Braxton Munson of Anderson, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Ohio River-Tanners Creek. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. Munson earned $4,684 for his victory.
Sometimes tournament practice reveals a hot bite or a key area. For Munson, it didn’t exactly work out that way. Instead, he figured out where not to fish in practice, then uncovered the winning pattern during competition.
“Basically, in practice I fished the main lake (river) and went down and fished a few creeks and never really figured anything out,” he said. “I didn’t catch a single keeper. So fast-forward to tournament day, I decided to stick to Tanners Creek and basically just fished in there. I was just trying to get five bites. I wasn’t really on anything at all.”
Keeping it simple and staying close to takeoff paid off despite needing to fish within a crowd.
“I kept my head down,” Munson said. “I flipped a creature bait just like everybody else and just got the right five.”
Munson’s primary targets were wood, including stumps and laydowns. He flipped a Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver to catch six keepers throughout the day.
Reflecting on his win, Munson pointed to his thoroughness as a key to success.
“Just picking everything apart and not getting in a hurry. That’s my biggest key,” he said. “Sometimes you’re not getting a bite so you think you’ve got to move, but really they’re right there and you’ve just got to make them bite.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Braxton Munson, Anderson, Ind., five bass, 10-14, $4,684
2nd: Eric Moore, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 8-9, $2,059
3rd: Clay Ennis, Ludow, Ky., four bass, 8-4, $1,374
4th: Chris Myers, Madison, Ind., five bass, 7-14, $1,192
4th: Rob Flowers, West Harrison, Ind., five bass, 7-14, $892
6th: Jordan Nauert, Fillmore, Ind., five bass, 7-8, $1,255 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Chris Malas, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 7-5, $652
7th: Joseph House, Terre Haute, Ind., five bass, 7-5, $652
9th: Jamil Abdullah, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 7-4, $549
10th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 7-1, $480
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Munson caught a bass that weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $565. Rod Yoder of West Lafayette, Indiana, won the co-angler division and $2,005 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Rod Yoder, West Lafayette, Ind., five bass, 9-8, $2,005
2nd: Dustin Cronenwett, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 8-4, $1,102
3rd: Gary Baker, Vallonia, Ind., four bass, 7-8, $668
4th: Jeremy Aslinger, Richmond, Ind., five bass, 7-7, $468
5th: Travis Lakes, Miamisburg, Ohio, five bass, 6-1, $551
6th: Rob Campbell, Martinsville, Ind., five bass, 5-13, $368
7th: Mark Goodridge, Burlington, Ky., three bass, 5-7, $334
8th: Mark Bouchie, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 5-3, $301
9th: Danny Robinson, Fairland, Ind., four bass, 4-15, $267
10th: Paul Eckert, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 4-12, $234
Tanner McCartney of Tipton, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $275, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Braxton Munson of Anderson, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 711 points, while Paul Eckert of Jasper, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 731 points.
The next event for BFL Hoosier Division anglers will be held July 27, at Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Indiana.
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