WINNECONNE, Wis. (June 19, 2023) – Boater Kyle Meyer of Blaine, Minnesota, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Wolf River Chain of Lakes. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Meyer earned $5,204 for his victory.
“I ran up to Lake Winnebago, and once I was there, I got three fish for 10 pounds,” said Meyer. “It was a good start to the day.”
Meyer said his first bass was a 3¼-pound bass that fell for a swimjig in lily pads, and a 4-pounder followed soon after. A couple of minutes later a 2¾-pounder took the jig. Meyer said his weight held with those three fish until 11 o’clock, then he relocated in search of bass to fill his limit.
“I caught two more keepers, but they were just small ones, so I knew I had to cull them,” Meyer said. “I ran back to my starting spot about noon, caught one, then ended up catching the big one, a 4-15. There was nothing special about today – just throwing a swimjig at the same stuff.
“When I caught that big one, I said, ‘Game over,’” Meyer continued. “There’s not that many 5-pounders out there. That was an absolute unicorn on this body of water.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Kyle Meyer, Blaine, Minn., five bass, 18-5, $5,204
2nd: Joe Pollak, Lake Geneva, Wis., five bass, 14-4, $2,629
3rd: Randy Oppermann, Redgranite, Wis., five bass, 14-0, $1,452
4th: Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 13-15, $1,517 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th: Jeff Ritter, Prairie du Chien, Wis., five bass, 13-9, $872
6th: Brad Wessling, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-5, $799
7th: Christopher Smith, North Branch, Minn., five bass, 13-3, $726
8th: Travis Seitzinger, Lakefield, Minn., five bass, 13-2, $654
9th: Curtis Samo, Rochelle, Ill., five bass, 13-1, $581
10th: Tanner Bock, Davenport, Iowa, five bass, 12-11, $509
Meyer also caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $625. Gage Griffin of Lake Forest, Illinois, won the co-angler division and a total of $2,442 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Gage Griffin, Lake Forest, Ill., five bass, 15-6, $2,442
2nd: Troy Jutting, Savage, Minn., five bass, 12-6, $1,070
3rd: Kenny Nachtman, Bellevue, Iowa, five bass, 11-8, $712
4th: Will Ahnen, Fennimore, Wis., five bass, 10-15, $499
5th: Michael White, Waupun, Wis., five bass, 10-12, $428
6th: Mike Marr, Oxford, Wis., five bass, 10-10, $392
7th: Jason von Bargen, Prior Lake, Minn., four bass, 9-13, $357
8th: Frank Miller, Barrington, Ill., four bass, 9-0, $303
8th: Jill Kerzisnik, Plainfield, Ill., four bass, 9-0, $303
10th: Clifton Williams, Wood Dale, Ill., four bass, 8-15, $250
Griffin also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $302, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Jeff Ritter of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, leads the BFL Great Lakes Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 730 points, while Hertz Skaer of Holmen, Wisconsin, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 725 points.
https://dev.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-wolf-61923.html
BFL News Archive