Georgia’s Ford Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (Feb. 3, 2025) – Boater Stihl Smith of Alexander City, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Martin. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Smith earned $4,163 for his victory.

“It was not a very good morning bite,” Smith said,” but at around 8 I caught my first fish. I caught it on a jig.”

Smith spent the first couple hours of the day “hodgepodging” around and fishing a mix of targets. He threw at docks, brush, points and any fish he saw on his Garmin LiveScope. While it wasn’t exactly a pattern, the junk-fishing approach put a couple quality largemouth bass in the livewell as Smith sorted out a more consistent way to get bit.

“As the sun came up more, I started getting around the bait more,” he said. “If the bait was there, the fish were there. I was using LiveScope, just using forward-facing sonar and throwing at fish in the bait balls. I had to catch a bunch to catch a decent one.

“I was catching mostly spots. I believe the spots were getting where they’re gonna spawn, but not quite spawning yet. So more of a prespawn deal.”

Smith had two primary areas in the middle part of the lake. While he caught his two best fish on a jig, Smith boated many more using a Damiki rig and said his overall approach was “pretty plain and simple” for the early season at Lake Martin.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Stihl Smith, Alexander City, Ala., five bass, 13-13, $4,163
2nd:       Kyle Dorsett, Springville, Ala., five bass, 11-9, $2,082
3rd:       Joseph Nania, Cropwell, Ala., five bass, 11-7, $1,387
4th:        Bruce Thompson, Midland, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $971
5th:        Vernelle Quinnie, Duncanville, Ala., five bass, 11-1, $1,413
6th:        Michael M. Smith, Andalusia, Ala., five bass, 10-15, $763
7th:        Joe Minor, Clanton, Ala., five bass, 10-12, $659
7th:        Drake Sturgill, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 10-12, $659
9th:        Blake Tomlin, Greenville, Ga., five bass, 10-3, $520
9th:        Kris Colley, Ragland, Ala., five bass, 10-3, $520

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Vernelle Quinnie of Duncanville, Alabama, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $580.

Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,082 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Jeffrey Ford, Trion, Ga., three bass, 7-11, $2,082
2nd:       Gary Marlowe, Montgomery, Ala., three bass, 7-3, $1,431
3rd:       Adrian Gonzales, Anniston, Ala., three bass, 6-12, $692
4th:        Michael Stevenson, Leitchfield, Ky., three bass, 6-8, $486
5th:        Ben Caldwell, Hartselle, Ala., three bass, 6-7, $416
6th:        Daniel Vasquez, Boynton Beach, Fla., three bass, 6-5, $382
7th:        Kyle Schuchard, Morris, Ala., three bass, 5-10, $347
8th:        Garrett Brown, Trion, Ga., three bass, 5-5, $312
9th:        Hudson Choquette, Montevallo, Ala., three bass, 5-4, $260
9th:        Jeffery McCoy, Birmingham, Ala., three bass, 5-4, $260

Gary Marlowe of Montgomery, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $290, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to earning the win, Stihl Smith of Alexander, Alabama, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, leads the Fishing Clash Bama Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.

The next event for BFL Bama Division anglers will be held March 1, at Lay Lake out of Columbiana, Alabama. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Logan Martin Lake in Lincoln, Alabama. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.

The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, 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 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Vosker, 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 20 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.