Easley’s Wilson Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

SENECA, S.C. (Jan. 27, 2025) – Boater Brent Willey of Anderson, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Keowee. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Savannah River Division. Willey earned $10,679, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency bonus, for his victory.

Willey said he was on some good fishing coming into the tournament, but it took adapting to changing conditions to dial in the winning bite.

“I actually caught ’em two days ago in probably 60 feet of water, 20 feet below the surface, and then today (Saturday) I got out there and they weren’t there,” he said. “I had to get in that 60 to 80 foot of water.

“You could see them about 5 feet off the bottom. I’d drop a Damiki rig down and get them to come up and sort of play with them. If I could get a school together, obviously, they’d compete for it, and it was a little bit easier to catch them.”

Willey caught his fish using Garmin LiveScope. The change in depth – from 20 feet deep to closer to 80 – was so drastic he had to adjust his sonar settings to be able to spot the fish.

What’s most interesting about the depth shift, according to Willey, is that the baitfish were still up high. He thinks maybe the warming trend in the region and a coinciding high-pressure system might have forced the fish to move.

Willey caught the bulk of his limit from one stretch – a deep channel – that was about a mile long. It’s a spot he wasn’t planning to make his primary area, but it’s a spot he’s fished a lot in the past. When his starting spot didn’t produce, he moved to the winning area and quickly put a 3.80-pound bass in the livewell, which told him he was on the right quality fish. He spent the rest of the day milking that spot, then running to check other areas, before returning to do it all again.

“I think the key was I was seeing big schools of herring swimming around,” Willey said of the primary area. “They were up high in the water column, but I think in the morning time when I got most of my bites – especially the fish that I weighed in – they generate power on this lake, and there was water flowing out. I think that gets a lot of the bait schooled up, and the fish seem to be more active during that time. When they stopped generation around 10 o’clock it definitely got tougher, but I was able to get a few bites. Then they started pumping water, where they actually send water up to Lake Jocassee, and that’s when it got really tough.”

Of note, Willey wasn’t alone in his tournament celebration. His tournament partner, Chris Wilson of Easley, South Carolina, also claimed victory in the co-angler division.

“He’s actually my best bud, my fishing partner, and we always fish together in the buddy tournaments,” Willey added. “So it’s pretty cool that we both got to win in the same day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Brent Willey, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 15-11, $10,679 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)

2nd:       Andy Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., five bass, 14-7, $1,532

2nd:       Davis Madden, Thomson, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $1,532

4th:        Jesse Dodson, Greenville, S.C., five bass, 14-5, $859

5th:        Keaton Owens, Inman, S.C., five bass, 14-3, $705

5th:        Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 14-3, $705

7th:        Brody Manley, Pickens, S.C., five bass, 13-14, $613

8th:        Lane Parker, Waleska, Ga., five bass, 13-11, $552

9th:        Tim Watson, Martin, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $491

10th:     Taylor Green, Royston, Ga., five bass, 13-4, $429

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jason Burroughs of Hodges, South Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $480.

Chris Wilson of Easley, South Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,840 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., three bass, 8-8, $1,840

2nd:       Colin Matthews, Hartsville, S.C., three bass, 8-7, $920

3rd:        Rusty Odom, Simpsonville, S.C., three bass, 8-6, $612

4th:        Jeff Horton, Inman, S.C., three bass, 8-5, $429

5th:        Daniel Owens, Townville, S.C., three bass, 8-3, $368

6th:        Joseph Tucci, Salem, S.C., three bass, 7-4, $337

7th:        Chuck Bagwell, Laurens, S.C., three bass, 7-0, $307

8th:        David Allen, Mableton, Ga., three bass, 6-15, $276

9th:        Chase Gurkin, Simpsonville, S.C., three bass, 6-11, $245

10th:     Darren Jeter, Asheville, N.C., three bass, 6-9, $215

Dwayne Parton of Anderson, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $240, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to earning the win, Willey also has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Savannah River Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while co-angler champ Wilson leads the Fishing Clash Savannah River Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.

On March 8, the BFL Savannah River Division anglers will once again square off at Lake Keowee out of Seneca, South Carolina, for the second event of their season. 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. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament at Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. 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 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.