MOUNT IDA, Ark. (Feb. 28, 2022) – Boater Jon Craven of Sheridan, Arkansas, caught five bass Sunday weighing 21 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Ouachita . The tournament was the second event for the Bass Fishing League Arkie Division. Craven earned $7,296, including a $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

“I started off fishing some standing timber with a little bit of grass with some rock mixed in,” said Craven, who notched his first Phoenix Bass Fishing League win. “My first fish was a 6-pounder, and the very next cast was a 5-pounder.”

Craven said the action slowed a bit, but he managed to catch two 2½-pound bass on a Queen Tackle Tungsten Hammerhead Rattling Football Jig for four fish in the livewell. He then changed strategies and targeted brush piles and rock banks. Craven said he made a stop at a steep bluff and sat in 70 feet of water and used his Garmin Panoptix LiveScope to locate a piece of standing timber in 40 feet of water that held a good fish.

“I threw the A-Rig out and got it to bite,” Craven said. “It was a 6-pound, 6-ounce fish. And that put me at 21-14 with 45 minutes left in the tournament.

“It was a grind for me,” Craven added. “I only had five keeper bites all day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        Jon Craven, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 21-14, $7,296 (includes $2,500 Phoenix Bonus)
2nd:       Quincy Houchin, Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 17-10, $1,996
2nd:       Kanon Harmon, Benton, Ark., five bass, 17-10, $2,711
4th:        Josh Hilton, Clarksville, Ark., five bass, 16-6, $1,119
5th:        Timmy Poe, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 16-1, $1,159
6th:        Justin Howard, Austin, Ark., five bass, 15-14, $839
6th:        Bryer Pennington, Prescott, Ark., five bass, 15-14, $839
8th:        Brian Bean, Hot Springs, Ark., four bass, 14-15, $719
9th:        Derek Sandlin, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 14-14, $639
10th:     Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 14-13, $760

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Harmon had a 6-pound, 7-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $715.

Timothy Preator of Hensley, Arkansas, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,364 Sunday after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Timothy Preator, Hensley, Ark., five bass, 18-5, $2,364
2nd:       Jonathan Simms, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 17-11, $1,182
3rd:       Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 14-11, $788
4th:        Briley Knowles, Texarkana, Ark., five bass, 14-9, $552
5th:        Buck Blackwell, Pine Bluff, Ark., five bass, 12-15, $673
6th:        Colton Welch, Leola, Ark., four bass, 10-3, $433
7th:        Brian (Shane) Ray, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 9-7, $394
8th:        Frank Reynolds, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 8-14, $355
9th:        Blake Defoor, Waldron, Ark., four bass, 8-8, $315
10th:     Nicholas Wade, Hot Springs, Ark., four bass, 8-5, $276

John McCullar of Benton, Arkansas, and Herbert Kimbrough of North Little Rock, Arkansas, each caught fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces to split the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award. Both McCullar and Kimbrough received $176.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 20-22 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. Boaters will compete for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Regional Championships 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 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The 2022 All-American will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.

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.