Houston Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 19, 2022) – Boater Riley Faulkner of Jacksboro, Tennessee, caught nine bass weighing 23 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Cherokee Lake in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The tournament, hosted by the Jefferson County Department of Tourism, was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Mountain Division. Faulkner earned $8,050 for his victory.

Although Faulkner said he had grown up fishing on Cherokee and is very familiar with it, his tournament began slowly Saturday at his first two stops. He then pulled up to his third spot, where his luck changed.

“I ran down the bank and had a limit in about 30 minutes,” Faulkner said. “I lost a 3-pounder, but had about 10 pounds. Then I saw a tree and tossed up to it and caught a 5-pounder.”

On Sunday, Faulkner said he focused on fishing a jig on wood on flats, and his efforts produced three spotted bass and a largemouth to secure the win.

“I missed out on a college fishing tournament this weekend to fish this BFL event, so it feels good to knowing that skipping that college tournament pay off,” Faulkner said.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        Riley Faulkner, Jacksboro, Tenn., nine bass, 23-7, $8,050
2nd:       Tristan Abbott, Somerset, Ky., 10 bass, 22-8, $3,294
3rd:       Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-6, $2,062
4th:        Tim Smiley, White Pine, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-0, $1,944 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
5th:        Jarrod Conn, Burgin, Ky., eight bass, 21-3, $1,238
6th:        Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., nine bass, 19-8, $1,134
7th:        Chip Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., 10 bass, 19-7, $1,031
8th:        Chase Henley, Kingston, Tenn., seven bass, 16-1, $928
9th:        Talmadge Marcum, McKee, Ky., eight bass, 15-15, $825
10th:     Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., eight bass, 14-13, $722

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Faulkner also caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce, the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $862.

Joe Houston of Burlington, Kentucky, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,188 Sunday after catching a two-day total of four bass weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Joe Houston, Burlington, Ky., four bass, 9-4, $3,188
2nd:       Brent Clark, Bowling Green, Ky., four bass, 8-10, $1,544
3rd:       Kendall Parnell, Monticello, Ky., four bass, 8-4, $1,030
4th:        Cliff Humphreys, Candler, N.C., four bass, 8-1, $870
5th:        Andrew Devere, Paint Lick, Ky., four bass, 7-15, $618
6th:        Kelly Reese, Cartersville, Ga., three bass, 7-8, $766
7th:        Joshua Jernigan, Rocky Top, Tenn., three bass, 7-4, $515
8th:        Mark Hogue, Danville, Ky., three bass, 6-13, $463
9th:        Wayne Crouch, Jamestown, Tenn., four bass, 6-11, $412
10th:     Tracy Helton, London, Ky., three bass, 6-10, $360

Dustin Perkins of Russell Springs, Kentucky, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds even. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $424.

With the regular season now complete, boater Michael Morrison of Stamping Ground, Kentucky, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Mountain Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,301 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Todd Stopher of London, Kentucky, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Mountain Division AOY race with 1,267 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 Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. 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.