Swicegood Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division

HENDERSON, N.C. (May 16, 2022) – Boater Logan Anderson of Catawba, North Carolina, caught five bass Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Kerr Lake . The tournament, hosted by Vance County Tourism, was the third event of the season for the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division. Anderson earned $7,415, including a $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

“We had a fog delay and still had a little bit of fog when we took off, so I knew a lot of people would stay in Nutbush and fish,” Anderson said. “I wanted to get as far away from that as I could. But, that’s the place I’m most familiar with, so I started right at the mouth of Nutbush.”

Anderson said he began fishing docks with a Queen Tackle Glimmer Blue Shad Tungsten Swim Jigand immediately caught a 4-pound bass. His co-angler caught one that weighed three pounds, so Anderson said he knew good fish were in the area. After he missed another good fish and then caught another 4-pound fish, Anderson said it was time to relocate.

“After we ran out of stuff there, we took a run up the lake to Ivy Hill,” Anderson said. “I caught some more on the swim jig and then caught a couple on a new Queen Tackle prototype spinnerbait that is coming out. That’s all I did all day – fished docks and laydown trees as the main source of cover.”

Anderson said the swim jig and spinnerbait produced 12 fish during competition – seven of which were keepers.

“Until I put them on the scales I would not have believed I had almost 18 pounds,” Anderson said. “This is my first year fishing BFLs as a boater, and as hard as it is to win one, it’s insane to win in just my third try.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        Logan Anderson, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 17-10, $7,415 (includes $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:       Aaron Digh, Denver, N.C., five bass, 16-1, $2,458
3rd:       Tyler Trent, Nathalie, Va., five bass, 15-12, $1,640
4th:        Scott Hamrick, Denver, N.C., five bass, 15-9, $1,147
5th:        Bradley Staley, Pleasant Garden, N.C., five bass, 14-8, $1,558
6th:        James Blankenship, Siler City, N.C., five bass, 14-6, $1,301
7th:        Jason Barnes, Concord, N.C., five bass, 14-2, $819
8th:        Chris Dover, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 14-1, $737
9th:        Jeffrey Davis, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 13-12, $655
10th:     Jordan Hall, Leasburg, N.C., five bass, 13-10, $573

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Todd Harris of Lexington, N.C., and Staley both had largemouth that weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces that were the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. Harris and Staley split the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $750.

Tommy Swicegood of Salisbury, North Carolina, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,458 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Tommy Swicegood, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 12-6, $2,458
2nd:       Johnny Guffey, Bessemer City, N.C., five bass, 11-9, $1,229
3rd:       Mark Allen Seals, Laurinburg, N.C., three bass, 10-9, $1,004
4th:        Jacob Crook, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 10-2, $573
5th:        Wyatt Hammond, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 9-12, $492
6th:        Jonathan Strickland, Graham, N.C., four bass, 9-2, $451
7th:        Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, N.C., three bass, 9-1, $597
8th:        Thomas McDermott, Madison, N.C., three bass, 8-5, $369
9th:        Riley Smallwood, Shallotte, N.C., four bass, 8-0, $628
10th:     Adam Gum, Charleston, W.V., four bass, 7-15, $287

Seals and Jones tied for the largest bass in the Co-angler Division with fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces each. They split the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $374.

After three events, James Blankenship of Siler City, North Carolina, leads the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 727 points, while Eric Osborne of Jefferson, North Carolina, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 700 points.

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 the James River in Richmond, Virginia. 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.