Mississippi’s Cornelius Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (July 22, 2024) – Boater Duston Vaal of Farmington, Kentucky, caught a three-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces, 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 fourth event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Vaal earned $4,163 for his victory.

Anglers competing in the Kentucky-Barkley event were limited to weighing three bass due to the high summer heat. An experienced Vaal put together a solid multi-species catch – one smallmouth and two largemouth bass – on a fishery that’s enjoyed a healthy resurgence over the last several seasons.

Vaal said he ran south to the Paris, Tennessee, area where he worked out a current-based ledge pattern that turned on once the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) started generating power. A key ledge in 12 to 15 feet produced most of Vaal’s fish throughout the day.

“It took until the afternoon to get bit,” Vaal said. “I guess when they generated a little current. From then on, I was able to take a big worm on the ledges and hop it and get bit by quality size fish.

“I wasn’t catching them off one individual spot,” he added. “I was just going down a ledge catching them one here and one there.”

The key bait for Vaal was a 10-inch ribbontail Yamamoto Ichi Worm.

“Yesterday (in practice) they were eating a 1/2-ounce. Today (Saturday), it was weird. They were higher up in the water column, so I had to drop down to 3/16.”

Vaal hopped the worm by lifting his rod up almost to the 12 o’clock position then letting it fall on slack line.

“That’s when they’d bite it most of the time,” he said.

“I’ve been fishing BFLs ever since I was in college, and it took me forever to win one,” Vaal added. “I finally got one last fall. So, to get two here in two years, it’s pretty surreal, honestly.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Dustin Vaal, Farmington, Ky., three bass, 14-6, $4,163
2nd:       Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., three bass, 13-2, $2,082
3rd:       Adrian Urso, Union, Ky., three bass, 12-7, $1,179
3rd:       Zachary Martin, Murray, Ky., three bass, 12-7, $1,179
5th:        David Hames, Trezevant, Tenn., three bass, 12-6, $1,413
6th:        Edward Gettys, Dover, Tenn., three bass, 11-14, $1,263 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th:        Jeff DeFew, Benton, Ky., three bass, 11-13, $694
8th:        Drew Fromm, Creal Spring, Ill., three bass, 11-12, $625
9th:        Scott Brummett, Brentwood, Tenn., three bass, 11-2, $555
10th:     Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., three bass, 11-0, $486

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

David Hames of Trezevant, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $580.

Joe Cornelius of Corinth, Mississippi, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,082 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 11 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Joe Cornelius, Corinth, Miss., three bass, 11-13, $2,082
2nd:       Jacob Bovara, Wadsworth, Ill., three bass, 11-5, $1,041
3rd:       Jojo Walsh, Lyles, Tenn., three bass, 10-2, $692
4th:        Mark Sollman, Haubstadt, Ind., three bass, 10-0, $486
5th:        Bobby Wade, Mayfield, Ky., three bass, 9-12, $416
6th:        Chuck Rounds, Benton, Ky., three bass, 9-5, $382
7th:        Frank Haysley, Louisville, Ky., three bass, 8-6, $447
8th:        Barry Gunter, Trafalger, Ind., three bass, 8-0, $263
8th:        Mike Westfall, Norris City, Ill., two bass, 8-0, $263
8th:        Austin Hunter, Vandalia, Ill., two bass, 8-0, $553
8th:        William Hadraba, Willow Springs, Ill., three bass, 8-0, $263

Austin Hunter of Vandalia, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $290, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Clint Knight of Lewisburg, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 976 points, while John Lovin of Fayetteville, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Co-angler of the Year race with 947 points.

The next event for BFL LBL Division anglers will be held Aug. 24-25, at Kentucky-Barkley Lakes in Buchanan, Tennessee. 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, PowerStop Brakes, 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.