ROGERSVILLE, Ala. (Sept. 30, 2024) – Boater Trent Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) Super Tournament on Wheeler Lake. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Choo Choo Division. Suratt earned $4,465 for his victory.
Suratt didn’t practice for the tournament, but based on the rainy conditions, he knew there’d be gates open on Guntersville Dam, which would position the fish on rock piles in the current. So he knew fishing the tailrace would probably contend for the win, as it often does on the Tennessee River. Yet, he actually started the tournament by running down to First Creek.
“I didn’t have but like 9 pounds (at 9 a.m.),” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to win down there, so I just struck out toward the dam, got up there and caught them all within about 15 minutes. Then I stayed up there and beat on ’em today (Sunday). I just had one little rock pile that I caught all of them on.”
In two days, Suratt weighed in a mix of four smallmouth and six largemouth bass. He caught his winning fish on an undisclosed swimbait.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 37-8, $4,465
2nd: Jimmy Carruth, Madison, Ala., 10 bass, 31-0, $2,233
3rd: Corey McMullen, Gurley, Ala., 10 bass, 30-3, $1,998
4th: Harry Peyton II, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-11, $1,542 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 10 bass, 27-12, $893
6th: Kent Ware, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 27-12, $819
7th: Alan McCoy, Blountsville, Ala., 10 bass, 27-4, $744
8th: Daniel Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 26-15, $670
9th: Donny Beck, Killen, Ala., 10 bass, 25-4, $595
10th: Jason Henson, Rome, Ga., 10 bass, 23-13, $821
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Corey McMullen of Gurley, Alabama, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $510. Tony Hill of Chatsworth, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $2,233 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale that weighed 23 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Tony Hill, Chatsworth, Ga., 10 bass, 23-3, $2,233
2nd: Brandon Bell, Starkville, Miss., 10 bass, 20-0, $1,116
3rd: Red Calvert, Perdido Key, Fla., 10 bass, 19-8, $844
4th: Brian Carroll, Glencoe, Ala., nine bass, 19-6, $521
5th: Todd Mowery, Madison, Ala., 10 bass, 18-1, $447
6th: Frank Mackin, State Line, Miss., nine bass, 17-13, $409
7th: Jonathan Craig, Madison, Ala., nine bass, 17-2, $372
8th: Ethan Wheeler, Water Valley, Ky., eight bass, 16-8, $335
9th: Richard Bailey, Florence, Ala., seven bass, 16-4, $298
10th: Mekiah Jack, Mount Juliet, Tenn., eight bass, 14-9, $260
Alvis (Slick) Jones of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $255, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the tournament.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Dillon Falardeau of Hixson, Tennessee, was crowned the Fishing Clash Choo Choo Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,289 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Todd Mowery of Madison, Alabama, won the Fishing Clash Choo Choo Division Co-angler of the Year race with 1,324 points and took home the $500 payout.
https://dev.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-wheeler-93024.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News