Only Two Ounces Separate Winner From Third-Place Finisher and Auburn College Fishing Teammate Connor Jacob

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (Feb. 13, 2023) – Boater Garrett Warren of Hoover, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Martin . The tournament, hosted by the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce, was the first event for the BFL Bama Division. Warren earned $4,394 for his victory.

Warren’s winning weight was good enough to win by one ounce over second-place finisher Brady Vernon of Sterrett, Alabama, and two ounces ahead of the third-place angler, Warren’s College Fishing teammate at the University of Auburn, Connor Jacob of Peoria, Illinois.

“The conditions were so good today,” Warren said. “I had probably 60 bites and only landed about 20. I lost a 4-pounder and another 4- to 5-pounder that I saw. So I knew the conditions were fire for good fishing, if you knew what you were doing.

“A lot of the guys in that field were hammers, so I thought it was going to take 16 or 17 pounds to win,” Warren added.

Warren, a self-proclaimed “river rat,” said fishing Lake Martin doesn’t fit his style very well, but he adapted to the river bank-fishing techniques and situations that Lake Martin presented. The 22-year-old Auburn University senior said he focused on docks on the lower end of the lake with a Hornet swimbait.

“I caught my fifth keeper with maybe 15 minutes left to fish and it culled a small one that weighed maybe a pound and a quarter,” said Warren. “All of my fish were solid today. When I caught that last fish I was really pumped up because I knew I had a solid bag and was going to cut a solid check. The win was really unexpected, but I have accomplished a big goal.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Garrett Warren, Hoover, Ala., five bass, 13-6, $4,394
2nd:        Brady Vernon, Sterrett, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $2,197
3rd:        Connor Jacob, Peoria, Ill., five bass, 13-4, $1,464
4th:         Robbie Robinson, Mobile, Ala., five bass, 12-13, $1,655
5th:         Matthew Welcher, Opelika, Ala., five bass, 12-11, $879
6th:         Austin Shields, Lake View, Ala., five bass, 12-0, $805
7th:         Robbie Pritchard, Dadeville, Ala., five bass, 11-12, $732
8th:         Jake Akin, Heflin, Ala., five bass, 11-3, $659
9th:         Jonathan Powell, Elmore, Ala., five bass, 11-2, $586
10th:      Donald Griffith, Robertsdale, Ala., five bass, 10-13, $513

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Robinson caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $630.

Robinson Cruz of Montgomery, Alabama, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $2,197 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:          Robinson Cruz, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 9-5, $2,197
2nd:        Cameron Petras, Biloxi, Miss., five bass, 8-15, $915
2nd:        O’Brien Brown, Pinson, Ala., five bass, 8-15, $1,230
4th:         Jared Turnbloom, Calera, Ala., five bass, 8-7, $513
5th:         Ethan McDonald, Livingston, Tenn., five bass, 8-6, $439
6th:         Larry Harvey, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 8-5, $403
7th:         Turner Carlisle, Columbus, Ga., five bass, 8-2, $366
8th:         Don Reeves, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 7-13, $311
8th:         Ervin Heard, Brent, Ala., five bass, 7-13, $311
10th:      James Lehman, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., five bass, 7-12, $256

Brown earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $315, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

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. 12-14 BFL Regional tournament on Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. Boaters will fish 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 compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.