Barton Bests Field in Strike King Co-Angler Division

GALLATIN, Tenn. (Oct. 3, 2022) – Pro Jason Lambert of Michie, Tennessee, caught 10 bass weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Old Hickory Lake Presented by Lithium Pros in Gallatin, Tennessee. The tournament, hosted by Sumner County Tourism, was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Music City Division. Lambert earned $5,504 for his victory.

“Old Hickory has always been a notoriously tough lake to fish for me,” said Lambert, who earned his seventh career win in MLF competition. “To go up there and fish against the local guys and squeak one out – it’s harder to win a BFL event than a Toyota Series or a Bass Pro Tour event because you’re fishing against every local hammer on the lake.”

Lambert said he focused on outside grass lines – milfoil and hydrilla in particular – on the bottom third of Old Hickory and caught every fish he weighed in on a white ChatterBait with a Green Shad-colored Castaic Baits Jerky J trailer.

“On Saturday I had seven keeper bites and lost two of them,” Lambert said. “Sunday I only had five keeper bites all day. But my first fish Sunday morning was a 3-pounder, which is huge there,” Lambert said.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:          Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn., 10 bass, 19-14, $5,504
2nd:        Kelly Woodruff, Portland, Tenn., nine bass, 19-4, $3,252 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
3rd:        Beau Grissim, Lebanon, Tenn., nine bass, 17-10, $1,835
4th:         Anthony Guffie, Lafayette, Tenn., eight bass, 17-10, $1,284
5th:         Dylan Wright, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 17-7, $1,806
6th:         Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., 10 bass, 16-5, $1,009
7th:         Matt Underhill, Lascassas, Tenn., six bass, 16-1, $917
8th:         Corey Steakley, Lebanon, Tenn., seven bass, 15-10, $826
9th:         John Wilkerson, Nashville, Tenn., eight bass, 15-9, $734
10th:      Joe Manley, Bowling Green, Ky., six bass, 15-4, $642

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Dylan Wright of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces – the heaviest in the Boater Division – to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $705.

Mike Barton of Lafayette, Tennessee, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,104 Sunday after catching a two-day total of six bass weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:          Mike Barton, Lafayette, Tenn., six bass, 13-11, $3,104
2nd:        Darryl Lee, Franklin, Ky., four bass, 9-15, $1,376
3rd:        Justin Clark, White House, Tenn., five bass, 8-9, $918
4th:         Todd Mowery, Madison, Ala., four bass, 8-8, $642
5th:         Casey Carpenter, Gallatin, Tenn., three bass, 7-9, $550
6th:         Howard Dowdy, Livingston, Tenn., two bass, 6-15, $505
7th:         Gary Haraguchi, Murfreesboro, Tenn., three bass, 6-2, $459
8th:         John Lawson, Hampshire, Tenn., two bass, 5-9, $413
9th:         Robert Moore, Elkmont, Ala., three bass, 5-2, $467
10th:      William McCandless, Lewisburg, Tenn., two bass, 4-6, $321

Barton also caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $352.

With the regular season now complete, boater Josh Tramel of Smithville, Tennessee, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Music City Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,271 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. John Lawson of Hampshire, Tennessee, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Music City Division AOY race with 1,243 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. 13-15 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee. 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.