Thompson Takes Strike King Co-Angler Division

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. (Aug. 29, 2022) – Boater Jack Dice of Lynchburg, Virginia, caught 10 bass weighing 45 pounds even to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Cayuga Lake . The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Northeast Division. Dice earned $4,732 for his victory.

“I had never been to Cayuga, and I got there Friday afternoon and went out for a couple of hours and tried to catch smallmouth, but I didn’t catch a single one,” Dice said. “So, I changed my thinking and went after largemouth in the tournament.”

Dice said he focused his efforts both days of the tournament near a marina two miles from takeoff because he wasn’t familiar with the lake. He fished any irregularities that featured grass, whether it was clumps or grass on points, with a crankbait and a drop-shot rig. Dice said his kicker bass came on a Yamamoto Zako Swimbait on the back of a small Z-Man Chatterbait. A 5-inch Yamamoto Senko on a wacky rig also produced for him.

Dice said he caught only seven or eight fish on the first day of competition, but the next day wind aided his efforts, and Sunday was more productive for him. He said he culled a number of times on the second day of competition and lost count of how many fish he caught.

“The fish in Cayuga are unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Dice said. “I caught one that must have had more girth than length. I had no idea I could win the tournament until I put them on the scales, and I took the lead Saturday. I thought they were nice fish, but they’re so healthy and heavy I didn’t know they would weigh that much. It’s just an awesome place to fish.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

                  1st:          Jack Dice, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 45-0, $4,732
                  2nd:        Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md, 10 bass, 43-0, $2,566
                  3rd:        Michael Morrin, Waterloo, N.Y., 10 bass, 41-5, $1,577
               4th:         Kyle Gelles, Pingree, Idaho, 10 bass, 40-2, $2,159 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
                  5th:         Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., 10 bass, 37-15, $946
                  6th:         Casey Smith, Victor, N.Y., 10 bass, 37-12, $868
                  7th:         John Lorenzo, Kane, Pa., nine bass, 35-10, $789
                  8th:         Justin Kubilus, North Abington Township, Pa., 10 bass, 34-4, $710
                  9th:         Bob Salotti, Geneva, N.Y., 10 bass, 33-3, $631
                  10th:      Eric Turner, Ticonderoga, N.Y., 10 bass, 33-3, $552

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Kyle Gelles of Pingree, Idaho, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $555.

Justin Thompson of Stafford, Virginia, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,366 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

                  1st:          Justin Thompson, Stafford, Va., 10 bass, 30-3, $2,366
                  2nd:        Matt Hummel, Dillsburg, Pa., nine bass, 22-14, $1,283
                  3rd:        Chad Dorney, Slatington, Pa., seven bass, 21-2, $790
                  4th:         Andreas Noraas, Pamplin, Va., nine bass, 20-15, $552
                  5th:         Jimmy Papineau, Staatsburg, N.Y., five bass, 20-2, $473
                  6th:         Max Meister, Atco, N.J., five bass, 19-1, $434
                  7th:         Chris Siclare, Geneva, N.Y., eight bass, 18-14, $394
                  8th:         Darren Noble, Hainesport, N.J., nine bass, 18-1, $555
                  9th:         Trey Marco, Morrisville, Pa., 10 bass, 18-1, $315
                  10th:      Liam Moore, Oneonta, N.Y., seven bass, 17-5, $276

Richard Jensen of Virginia Beach, Virginia, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds even. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $277.

With the regular season now complete, boater Joseph Thompson of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Northeast Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,263 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Matt Hummel of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Northeast Division AOY race with 1,271 points and earned the $500 Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.

Now, the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will advance to compete in the Oct. 20-22 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the James River in Richmond, Virginia. 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 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.