Kansas Angler Bean Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (May 6, 2024) – Boater Kyle Meyer of Bland, Missouri, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake of the Ozarks. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Ozark Division. Meyer earned $4,729 for his victory.

There were a lot of bass spawning on Lake of the Ozarks, but Meyer said looking at fish on beds is not his style.

“The biggest thing was basically finding spawning areas and then targeting prespawn and postspawn fish, kind of that stuff half to three-quarters of the way back,” Meyer said. “I fished jigs and caught a couple on a crankbait. Just kind of junk-fishing around. I sorted through a whole bunch of keepers to catch 20.”

Secondary points leading into spawning pockets and coves were the key target areas. He used a Zoom Brush Hog and Rapala DT Series crankbaits.

One of the keys for Meyer was running a ton of water and fishing hard.

“I’m extremely tired and wore out,” said Meyer, an insurance agent and president of the Mid Mo Fishing Team, a local The Bass Federation club. “You exert so much energy whenever you’re that mentally focused. I very much earned it today.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kyle Meyer, Bland, Mo., five bass, 20-11, $4,729
2nd:       Jeffrey Barrickman, Forsyth, Mo., five bass, 16-15, $2,364
3rd:       Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., five bass, 16-10, $1,576
4th:        Matt Krekovich, Granite City, Ill., five bass, 16-5, $1,103
5th:        Josh Pladies, Belton, Mo., five bass, 16-1, $946
6th:        Adam Boehle, Warrenton, Mo., five bass, 15-8, $867
7th:        Joe Ingram, Ava, Mo., five bass, 15-7, $788
8th:        Nalon Jones, Marshfield, Mo., five bass, 14-12, $1,209 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
9th:        Garrett Weiss, Chesterfield, Mo., five bass, 14-5, $631
10th:     Kevin Rogers, Pleasant Hill, Mo., five bass, 14-2, $552

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tom Silber of Labadie, Missouri, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $705.

Mike Bean of Manhattan, Kansas, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,364 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Mike Bean, Manhattan, Kan., five bass, 13-8, $2,364
2nd:       Oliver Siebert, Fenton, Mo., five bass, 12-5, $1,182
3rd:       Tyler Neis, Arnold, Mo., four bass, 11-10, $788
4th:        Kirk Short, St. Clair, Mo., five bass, 10-11, $552
5th:        Stanislav Sedletskii, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 10-9, $453
5th:        Justin Wright, New Florence, Mo., five bass, 10-9, $453
7th:        DJ Pugh, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 9-12, $394
8th:        Wes Proctor, Manhattan, Kan., five bass, 9-10, $355
9th:        Tim Bowers, Thayer, Mo., five bass, 9-2, $315
10th:     Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., five bass, 9-1, $526

Peyton Keathley of Ashland, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $352, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Eric Olliverson of Shell Knob, Missouri, leads the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 712 points, while Kirk Short of St. Clair, Missouri, leads the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 735 points.

The next event for BFL Ozark Division anglers will be held June 15, at Truman Lake in Warsaw, Missouri. 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, 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.