Griffin Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (July 11, 2022) – Boater Josh Dowdy of Mayfield, Kentucky, caught three bass Saturday weighing 13 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes. The tournament, hosted by Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, was the fourth event for the Bass Fishing League LBL Division. Dowdy earned $4,684 for his victory.

“I got to the first spot and got bit there and put my biggest fish in the boat,” Dowdy said. “Then the breeze changed from the south to out of the north, and that really set me up pretty good to get on some of the offshore spots I wanted to fish.”

Dowdy said the wind allowed him to position and hold his boat to make more methodical and efficient casts.

“When you’re dealing with small schools of fish – say fix or six fish – it really pays to get that first cast right in there where you want it,” Dowdy said. “You have to catch the first one in the school, because there won’t be another one. It’s just fishing one here and one there, picking them out throughout the day.”

Dowdy said he relied on slow, methodical technique, throwing a football jig as well as a Carolina rig to catch a total of six keepers during the course of the day.

“I was targeting ledges, gravel and shell bars 10 to 15 feet deep during the day,” Dowdy said. “I couldn’t get bit on brush. I just moved out to the main lake and started fishing the same old Kentucky Lake patterns everybody knows.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        Josh Dowdy, Mayfield, Ky., three bass, 13-0, $4,684
2nd:       Tim Griggs, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 12-13, $2,059
3rd:       Lance Freeman, Eddyville, Ky., three bass, 11-9, $2,274 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Harold Buchmeier, Gilbertsville, Ky., three bass, 10-10, $1,261
5th:        Ray Barga, Benton, Ky., three bass, 10-3, $824
6th:        Harry Barber, Earlington, Ky., three bass, 10-0, $755
7th:        Michael Wasden, Paris, Tenn., three bass, 9-13, $686
8th:        Andrew Suggs, Cunningham, Tenn., three bass, 9-8, $618
9th:        Ryan Deal, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 9-7, $549
10th:     Stuart Arthur, Benton, Mo., three bass, 9-6, $456
10th:     David Hames, Trezevant, Tenn., three bass, 9-6, $456

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Dowdy also had a largemouth that weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $565.

Demetrius Griffin of Sturgis, Kentucky, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,059 Saturday after catching three bass weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Demetrius Griffin, Sturgis, Ky., three bass, 9-13, $2,059
2nd:       Todd Mowery, Madison, Ala., three bass, 9-1, $1,030
3rd:       Alan Brasher, Decaturville, Tenn., three bass, 8-14, $687
4th:        Ethan Wheeler, Mayfield, Ky., three bass, 8-4, $480
5th:        Gary Gustafson, Gilbertsville, Ky., three bass, 8-3, $412
6th:        Cory York, Benton, Ky., three bass, 7-13, $378
7th:        Hayden Jett, Memphis, Ind., three bass, 7-11, $343
8th:        Ed Daniell, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 5-15, $459
9th:        Alexis Joyce, Benton, Ky., two bass, 5-13, $275
10th:     Frank Haysley, Louisville, Ky., one bass, 5-9, $722

Haysley caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $282.

After four events, Toby Corn of Paducah, Kentucky, leads the Bass Fishing League LBL Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 921 points, while Ed Daniell of West Frankfort, Illinois, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 966 points.

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. 13-15 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee. 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.