Erlanger’s van Hoene Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

MONTICELLO, Ky. (Sept. 16, 2024) – Boater Christian Nash of Allons, Tennessee, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Super Tournament at Lake Cumberland. The tournament, which concluded Sunday, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. Nash earned $11,465, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

For Nash, this makes BFL win No. 2 this season. He also won a Music City Division tournament on Dale Hollow in March. And like he did at Dale Hollow, Nash won the Lake Cumberland tournament using his Lowrance ActiveTarget live sonar. He also experienced an interesting bit of luck … but more on that later.

“I had no practice,” Nash said of the tournament. “I actually haven’t been on Cumberland since this past spring. I just went fishing.

“The first day, I ran down the lake and actually pulled in the holler and just sat down right on top of them. I started out catching a few keeper spots. Then once the sun got higher up, the bait would actually get tighter in the water column, and I could pick off single, individual smallmouth. They were 30 to 40 feet deep.”

When the bait balls tightened up, Nash was better able to spot and target the smallies on sonar. He said it was challenging fishing due to the wind, depth and the impressive speed of the fish, forcing him to lead them by as much as 40 yards to make an accurate presentation.

Nash stayed in that area most of the day. But with a decent limit of 14 pounds in the livewell, he vacated and did some bank fishing in search of a backup pattern. It never really panned out, so in the afternoon he returned to his primary area and caught a 3-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that culled out the only remaining spotted bass in his livewell. That cull put him at 16 pounds, 4 ounces with a healthy day-one lead.

On day two, Nash returned to his primary area and put about 11 pounds in the box by 11 a.m. That’s when things got interesting.

“I proceeded to lose four fish, four straight casts in a row, that were all pretty big,” he said. “And I thought I’d blown my chance to win. But, this is gonna sound funny, but my buddy Jacob Woods, he gave me some lucky arrowheads, he called ’em. He said if you need some luck, just take them out and rub them for good luck. After I lost those four fish, I told my co-angler, ‘You might think I’m a little crazy, but I’ve gotta give these things a try.’ Within an hour and a half after that, I had a little over 18 pounds.”

Whether it was skill, timing or a little something extra thanks to a fishing partner’s good-luck charms, the turnaround put Nash way ahead of the competition. His day-two limit of 18-9 was the biggest of the tournament, boosting his total to 34-13 and a winning margin of 7 1/2 pounds.

Nash caught all his key fish on a prototype swimbait he’s working on with Burtek Tackle, which he paired with a 1/2-ounce Zorro Baits Booza Sonar FFS jighead.

“It’s been a blessed year,” Nash added. “I have no complaints. God’s been good to me. He’s been good to my family, too.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Christian Nash, Allons, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-13, $11,465 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:       Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., 10 bass, 27-5, $2,743
3rd:       Andrew Napier , Fisherville, Ky., 10 bass, 24-14, $1,488
4th:        Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-11, $1,167
5th:        Evan Fields, Shelbyville, Ky., 10 bass, 24-6, $893
6th:        Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., 10 bass, 23-13, $819
7th:        Bailey Gay, Union, Ky., 10 bass, 23-6, $744
8th:        Ryan Davidson, Branchland, W.Va., eight bass, 20-0, $970
9th:        Aaron Singleton, Lagrange, Ky., 10 bass, 19-10, $595
10th:     Jason Smith, Union, Ky., eight bass, 19-7, $521

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Lee Sinclair of Albany, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 9 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $510.

Joey von Hoene of Erlanger, Kentucky, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,167 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of four bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Joey von Hoene, Erlanger, Ky., four bass, 10-3, $2,167
2nd:       Grant Aumiller, Danville, Ky., five bass, 8-11, $1,083
3rd:       Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., four bass, 8-8, $724
4th:        Robbie Mattingly, Junction City, Ky., four bass, 6-10, $506
5th:        Jordan Garrett, Jamestown, Tenn., three bass, 6-8, $433
6th:        Richard Payne, Portland, Tenn., four bass, 6-3, $397
7th:        Caden Ayers, McKee, Ky., two bass, 5-12, $608
8th:        Adler Odle, Willow Springs, Mo., four bass, 4-15, $325
9th:        Chris Rushing, Gamaliel, Ky., two bass, 4-7, $289
10th:     Garrett Haggerty, Campbellsville, Ky., two bass, 3-13, $253

Caden Ayers of McKee, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $247, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Bailey Gay of Union, Kentucky, was crowned Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,327 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Johnny Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-angler of the Year race with 1,300 points to win $500.

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 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. 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.