Odom Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Ross Barnett Reservoir
BRANDON, Miss. (March 14, 2022) – Boater Taylor Odom of Flowood, Mississippi, caught five bass Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Ross Barnett Reservoir . The tournament was the second of the season for the Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division. Odom earned $5,403 for his victory.
“I found a really good group of fish during practice that I wanted to target,” Odom said. “Another boater that I know, Allen Shoemaker, had found the same group of fish, and we talked about it and said we would both go back to that group of fish and just work it out and both fish the same group.
“I ended up being randomly paired with Allen in a boater-boater draw,” Odom continued. “What a crazy scenario that turned out to be.”
Odom said the bass he targeted were “hunkered down”, so he went with a common approach for Ross Barnett – dragging a black 8-inch Zoom “Magnum” Lizard in about 3 feet of water.
Odom said he had experienced engine malfunctions during practice and was concerned his boat’s performance would affect his tournament. The boat held up for Odom’s win and Shoemaker finished 14th.
“All I can say is God is good,” Odom said. “I wasn’t even sure that I was going to get to fish Saturday morning because of my boat.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
2nd: Joel Barber, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-9, $1,859
3rd: Corey Sullivan, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 14-13, $1,238
4th: Blake Daugherty, Pope, Miss., five bass, 13-4, $867
5th: Teddy Cranford, Collins, Miss., five bass, 12-14, $744
6th: Timmy Ming, Louisville, Miss., five bass, 12-5, $682
7th: Noel Allen Jr., Brandon, Miss., five bass, 11-4, $620
8th: Red Ballard, Sulphur, La., five bass, 11-3, $1,058 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
9th: Will Dupler, Columbus, Miss., four bass, 10-2, $496
10th: John Coggins, Guntown, Miss., four bass, 9-15, $434
Odom had an 8-pound, 4-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $485.
Larry Stewart Jr. of Brandon, Mississippi, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,116 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Larry Stewart Jr., Brandon, Miss., five bass, 12-6, $2,116
2nd: Michael Morris, Sumrall, Miss., three bass, 8-4, $908
3rd: Blake Koenigsberger, Columbus, Miss., three bass, 6-9, $606
4th: David Huey, Tupelo, Miss., two bass, 6-4, $424
5th: Sank Payton, Bay Springs, Miss., three bass, 6-0, $363
6th: Brandon Bell, Starkville, Miss., three bass, 5-13, $333
7th: Quentin Bremenkamp, Brandon, Miss., one bass, 5-8, $535
8th: Vernon Hearn, Lena, Miss., one bass, 5-1, $272
9th: Daniel Corkern, Florence, Miss., two bass, 4-15, $392
10th: Chris Brown, Fulton, Miss., one bass, 4-8, $212
Bremenkamp caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $232.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 20-22 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. Boaters will compete for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.
The 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Regional Championships where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The 2022 All-American will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
