Whitesville’s Fitzgerald Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 6, 2024) – Boater Adrian Urso of Union, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes . Hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, the tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Urso earned $4,498 for his victory.

Efficiency was the key for Urso. More specifically, he used forward-facing sonar to make accurate casts to stumps, working his way up to a very impressive winning weight. Urso’s limit included four largemouth bass and one smallmouth.

“I was fishing around the Kenlake area,” he said. “Fishing for fish living on stumps in anywhere from 5 to 15 feet with a drop-shot.”

Urso’s best stumps were current-related on the edge of bars.

“I was running as many stumps as I could,” he said. “A lot of them (the bass) you can see (on forward-facing sonar), but some of them you can’t. So you always have to keep them honest and make a cast.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Adrian Urso, Union, Ky., five bass, 26-1, $4,498
2nd:       Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., five bass, 21-9, $3,049 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd:       Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., five bass, 21-7, $1,498
4th:        Clint Knight, Lewisburg, Ky., five bass, 20-1, $1,050
5th:        Gary Singleton, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 19-13, $900
6th:        Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., five bass, 19-10, $825
7th:        Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., five bass, 19-2, $750
8th:        Brad Hutcheson, Hornbeak, Tenn., five bass, 18-4, $675
9th:        Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., five bass, 17-12, $1,245
10th:     Harbor Lovin, New Concord, Ky., five bass, 17-5, $525

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Justin Berger of Murray, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $645.

Carson Fitzgerald of Whitesville, Kentucky, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,179 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 14 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 12 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Carson Fitzgerald, Whitesville, Ky., five bass, 14-10, $2,179
2nd:       Philip Wright, Bedford, Ky., five bass, 14-3, $1,402
3rd:       Daniel Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., five bass, 13-0, $725
4th:        William Burch, Nashville, Ind., five bass, 12-8, $509
5th:        Bo Bivins, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 11-15, $436
6th:        Steve Freeman, Eddyville, Ky., five bass, 11-5, $400
7th:        Cody Burke, Lexington, Tenn., four bass, 10-5, $363
8th:        Dave Willmore, West Frankfort, Ill., four bass, 10-2, $327
9th:        Dave Maxfield, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 10-0, $291
10th:     John Lovin, Fayetteville, Ohio, five bass, 9-14, $231
10th:     Mark Manley, Bowling Green, Ky., five bass, 9-14, $231
10th:     Zach Falder, Sedalia, Ky., four bass, 9-14, $231

Philip Wright of Bedford, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $312, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Clint Knight of Lewisburg, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 737 points, while John Lovin of Fayetteville, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 726 points.

The next event for BFL LBL Division anglers will be held July 20, at Kentucky-Barkley Lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.

The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments 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 BFL All-American.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

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.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.