Vermont’s Navari Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

MASSENA, N.Y. (July 22, 2024) – Boater Ethan Carr of Massena, New York, caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the St. Lawrence River. Hosted by the Town of Massena, the tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Northeast Division. Carr earned $3,335 for his victory.

For the BFL event, Lake Ontario was off limits, restricting anglers to the St. Lawrence River. Of course, that still meant anglers could spread out along many miles of world-class smallmouth waters. And Carr certainly spread out.

The Massena angler has had a lot of success on the river recently, including high finishes in tournaments on consecutive weekends before the BFL – all in the Clayton area.

“I said, well, if it’s not broke, why fix it?” Carr said. “I got to practice for two days, and I went up to that Clayton area.”

With his best spot two hours away from the launch in Massena, Carr only had about three hours to actually fish. He keyed in on two deep rocky shoals and a broad point – all spots that deflected the current.

“My main bait that I caught the majority of my fish on is called a Beast Coast Open Water Sniper Jig,” Carr said. “I was throwing that in 1/4 ounce, and the color is called sexy melon. And then I was putting on a trailer of a (Berkley PowerBait) MaxScent Lil’ General in either black or green pumpkin on the back.

“I did most of my damage besides one fish on that jig. I had a lot of fish spit up small gobies. I think that jig is a perfect representation of the smaller gobies that they seem to be feeding on this time of year.”

Carr targeted fish in 20 to 27 feet. Fishing just a 1/4-ounce jig that deep can be a challenge, but Carr made it work perfectly by drifting along with the current, letting the jig roll and kick along in the flow. Occasionally, when he’d see fish on his Garmin LiveScope unit, Carr made pinpoint pitches to them.

Of his three spots, the point was the primary stretch. It flattened out on top, giving him a quarter-mile-long drift. Six or seven drifts through that stretch produced 20-plus pounds. Then Carr moved to his shoals to upgrade.

“I did have a good population of fish on the one big long drift,” Carr said. “I kind of just used those smaller shoals for individual big ones.

“My area was more of a sneaky area,” he added. “I haven’t seen it get a lot of pressure throughout bigger tournaments, and even this year I haven’t seen really a single boat fish it. I’ve seen a couple guys graph it, but it’s definitely a sneakier spot that not a lot of people put a lot of pressure on.”

Finally, Carr feels like LiveScope was a big factor for him to get a read on the fish.

“Even though I wasn’t seeing fish and pitching to them the whole time, you could still kind of see them traveling on bottom,” he said. “It allows me to be able to make adjustments to things like drifting speed and color. You can really see once the fish get on it how they react to it and then make adjustments accordingly.

“It means a lot for someone like me to win a tournament like this,” Carr added. “Especially after last year. I came in second place in the (BFL) super tournament on the river. So this year was kind of like a little revenge for last year’s tournament.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Ethan Carr, Massena, N.Y., five bass, 24-10, $3,335
2nd:       Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., five bass, 24-7, $1,993 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd:       Zachary Goutremout, Chaumont, N.Y., five bass, 22-4, $994
4th:        Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., five bass, 21-11, $822
5th:        Jonathan Robla, Lisbon, N.Y., five bass, 21-7, $597
6th:        Joseph Thompson, Coatesville, Pa., five bass, 21-6, $547
7th:        Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 21-1, $498
8th:        Connor Bell, Lisbon, N.Y., five bass, 20-10, $448
9th:        Brian Green, North Augusta, Ont., five bass, 20-2, $398
10th:     Nevan Osburn, Lipan, Texas, five bass, 19-10, $348

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Carr caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $350.

Hunter Navari of Colchester, Vermont, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,493 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 22 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Hunter Navari, Colchester, Vt., five bass, 22-4, $1,493
2nd:       Sean O’Halloran, Lipan, Texas, five bass, 20-0, $921
3rd:       Adam Radovic, Brecksville, Ohio, five bass, 19-4, $497
4th:        Garrett Sicely, Albany, Vt., five bass, 19-2, $348
5th:        Lenny Baird, Stafford, Va., five bass, 15-8, $549
6th:        Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., five bass, 15-5, $274
7th:        Benjamin Kapp, Benton, Pa., five bass, 14-14, $249
8th:        David Williams, Fredericksburg, Pa., five bass, 14-13, $224
9th:        Kyle Richardt, Weymouth, Mass., five bass, 14-12, $199
10th:     Kyle Gilson Sr., Cedarville, N.J., five bass, 14-9, $174

Sean O’Halloran of Lipan, Texas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $175, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, William Kronander of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 473 points, while David Williams of Fredericksburg, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 490 points.

The next event for BFL Northeast Division anglers will be held Aug. 7, at Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, New York. 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 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.

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.