Buena Vista’s Wilhelm Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

HENRICO, Va. (Sept. 9, 2024) – Boater Keith Estes of Spring Grove, Virginia, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Super Tournament on the James River , which concluded Sunday. Hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, the tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Estes earned $6,066 for his victory.

“I was kind of running the outgoing tide as much as I could,” Estes said. “You couldn’t do that all day because eventually you’d ‘run out of tide’ (the tide would bottom out) after a while. I was covering as much water as possible and throwing moving baits. The fish were a little bit finicky because we’ve had some northeast winds and that kind of backed the water up a bit. I just had to keep getting reaction bites. That’s what my bigger fish came on.”

Estes started both days making a 45-mile run to the Chickahominy. The tide bottomed out at about 10:30 in that area on day one, and 45 minutes later on day two. He was able to fish the last two hours of outgoing tide around the Chickahominy, then worked his way back upstream to target waters where the tide was still falling.

In addition to the tides, he looked for high-percentage targets where he could avoid getting gunked up with annoying grass clumps.

“I grew up here, so I just know a lot of areas,” Estes said. “It kind of had to be hard cover, and this time of year the grass that’s in the river breaks up. I had to find hard cover that was clean.”

It was an intense two days of fishing for Estes. He pushed hard all day long, running and gunning to make the most of every last minute of outgoing tide.

One of his key fish during the tournament was a 5 1/2-pounder that came out of a tree. During practice for a previous BFL event, he caught what he believes is the same fish out of the same tree. It had a healed-over scar in the mouth and a distinct shape that makes him confident it was the same fish. That bass anchored a big 16-pound, 11-ounce limit on day one that set Estes on the trajectory to win the tournament.

Estes’ winning lures included a vibrating jig, a shallow-running crankbait and some soft plastics, but the jig and crankbait produced all of his key fish.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Keith Estes, Spring Grove, Va., 10 bass, 30-1, $6,066
2nd:        Billy Shelton III, La Crosse, Va., 10 bass, 30-0, $3,333
3rd:         Ben Dalton, Keeling, Va., 10 bass, 27-14, $2,024
4th:         Christopher Wingfield, Richmond, Va., 10 bass, 27-14, $1,415
5th:         James Cassaday, Wirtz, Va., 10 bass, 27-0, $1,213
6th:         Tommy Little, Chester, Va., 10 bass, 25-15, $1,612 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th:         Rodney French, Virginia Beach, Va., 10 bass, 25-8, $1,011
8th:         Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., 10 bass, 25-7, $1,035
9th:         Powell Kemp, Scotland Neck, N.C., 10 bass, 25-7, $809
10th:       Chris Moore, Mechanicsville, Va., 10 bass, 25-5, $1,540

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Chris Moore of Mechanicsville, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $832.

Dustin Wilhelm of Buena Vista, Virginia, won the Strike King co-angler division and $3,033 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale that weighed 24 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:          Dustin Wilhelm, Buena Vista, Va., 10 bass, 24-5, $3,033
2nd:         David Deciucis, Chester, Va., 10 bass, 24-3, $1,517
3rd:         Randall Given, Laurel, Del., 10 bass, 19-13, $1,010
4th:         Chad Boggs, Prince Frederick, Md., 10 bass, 19-12, $708
5th:         David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., 10 bass, 19-7, $857
6th:         Lenny Baird, Stafford, Va., nine bass, 19-6, $556
7th:         Pat Kendrick, Bumpass, Va., nine bass, 19-5, $506
8th:         Rickey Wood, Smithfield, Va., nine bass, 17-7, $455
9th:         Nathan Sullivan, Fredericksburg, Va., eight bass, 17-4, $404
10th:       Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., nine bass, 16-14, $354

Bobby Overby of Virgilina, Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $416, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

At the conclusion of the event, Chris Brummett of Lynch Station, Virginia, was crowned the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,348 points and earned the $1,000 payout, while David Williams of Fredericksburg, Virginia, won the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race and the $500 prize with 1,283 points.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, have qualified for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. 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. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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.