Duvall Claims Strike King Co-Angler Division

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Aug. 29, 2022) – Boater Ty Overmyer of Dawsonville, Georgia, caught 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia . The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division. Overmyer earned $7,138 for his victory.

“A lot of hard work went into this, and it really paid off,” Overmyer said. “Knowing the lake really helped me a lot fishing in these tough conditions.

“I had really slow mornings, and as the sun got higher, it positioned the fish in the brush piles. I ran as many as I possibly could,” Overmyer added.

Overmyer said he focused on the south end of the lake during both days of competition, and his efforts produced five bass on Saturday and eight Sunday. He said he used a Trickster Tricky Shad Fluke and let it sink to brush piles on Saturday. Overmyer said wind on Sunday pushed herring up shallow on points and his key bait was an Evergreen Shower Blows 77.7 topwater bait.

“It was a slow bite, but it was the right bite,” Overmyer said. “My co-angler and I threw the topwater baits in tandem and it would trigger the fish to come up and eat. It helps when you’ve got someone else throwing one, too.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:          Ty Overmyer, Dawsonville, Ga., 10 bass, 30-7, $7,138
2nd:        Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga, 10 bass, 30-5, $4,269 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
3rd:        Alex Prince, Blue Ridge, Ga., 10 bass, 29-5, $2,378
4th:         Will Harkins, Blairsville, Ga, 10 bass, 27-14, $1,666
5th:         Paul Driskell, Jefferson, Ga, 10 bass, 26-5, $1,428
6th:         Weston Parker, Mansfield, Ga., 10 bass, 25-5, $1,309
7th:         Dalton Tankersley, Copperhill, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-0, $1,190
8th:         Kip Carter, Eatonton, Ga., 10 bass, 24-15, $1,071
9th:         Mitchell Grimsley, Hiawassee, Ga., 10 bass, 24-8, $952
10th:      Bill Booth, Marietta, Ga., 10 bass, 24-0, $833

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Nathan Vick of Archer, Florida, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,065.

John Duvall of Madison, Georgia, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,844 Sunday after catching a two-day total of seven bass weighing 17 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:          John Duvall, Madison, Ga., seven bass, 17-8, $3,844
2nd:        Robert Holliday, Greensboro, Ga., eight bass, 17-6, $1,922
3rd:        Carlos Guzman, Fayetteville, Ga., eight bass, 16-10, $1,179
4th:         Wayne Hancock, Cumming, Ga., seven bass, 15-6, $827
5th:         Nathan Duong, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 14-6, $709
6th:         Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., seven bass, 14-2, $650
7th:         Frank Poole, Stockbridge, Ga., six bass, 13-13, $591
8th:         Madison Earnest, Covington, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $532
9th:         Cody Cantrell, Fairmount, Ga., six bass, 12-14, $473
10th:      Judah Eernisse, Lexington, S.C., seven bass, 12-2, $413

Leon Chandler of Jonesboro, Georgia, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $532.

With the regular season now complete, boater Kip Carter of Eatonton, Georgia, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,337 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Benjie Winkler of Cleveland, Georgia, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Bulldog Division AOY race with 1,287 points and earned the $500 Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.

Now, the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will advance to compete in the Oct. 6-8 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Murray in Prosperity, South Carolina. 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 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.