Simpsonville’s Gurkin Tops Co-Angler Division

SENECA, S.C. (March 10, 2025) – Boater Kerry Partain of Elberton, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Keowee. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Savannah River Division. Partain earned $3,505 for his victory.

The spawn is just getting going on Lake Keowee, and spawners would play a role in Partain’s victory. Just not right off the bat.

“I started out with (Lowrance) ActiveTarget, just catching some on a Zoom Winged Fluke on jigheads,” he said. “When I got to 12 pounds, I just left and started looking for some bedded fish. I caught a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass on a Zoom Fluke Stick wacky rigged. I saw two more after that, and I caught a few more on a shaky head with a Zoom Speed Craw.”

For his sonar fish, Partain prefers a more patient approach than many run-and-gun anglers have adopted. Instead of covering a ton of water, he sits tight in areas where he knows there are fish – in this case, an area where he’s been catching them the last few weeks – and waits for fish to funnel in and out. Whenever he sees the school, he throws on them. For the bedding fish, Partain benefitted from a fortunate “discovery.”

“I hung up on a dock, and I went up there to get it loose and saw it sitting there,” he said, referring to the 6-2 kicker he caught. “I would have never seen it. So I kind of backed off of it and kept throwing a few things in there, and it finally bit a Fluke Stick. It was kind of crazy. That was a gift for sure. Thank you, Lord.”

Reflecting on the win, Partain extended his gratitude to the team at 72 Marine Sales in Elberton, Georgia, which hooked up his lithium batteries last week in time for the tournament.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kerry Partain, Elberton, Ga., five bass, 17-0, $3,505
2nd:      Chase Stewart, Laurens, S.C., five bass, 15-14, $1,901
2nd:      Furman (Joe) Thompson, Clayton, Ga., five bass, 15-14, $1,961 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Lane Parker, Waleska, Ga., five bass, 15-13, $818
5th:        Logan Smith, Easley, S.C., five bass, 15-12, $701
6th:        Britt Myers Jr., Lake Wylie, S.C., five bass, 15-8, $643
7th:        Landon Lawson, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 15-2, $584
8th:        Jody Holland, Clermont, Ga., five bass, 15-1, $526
9th:        John Micheal, Ortman Douglas, Ga., five bass, 14-15, $467
10th:     Flint Davis, Leesburg, Ga., five bass, 14-13, $409

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Partain caught a bass that weighed7 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $440.

Chase Gurkin of Simpsonville, South Carolina, won the co-angler division and $1,753 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Chase Gurkin, Simpsonville, S.C., three bass, 9-1, $1,753
2nd:      Rusty Odom, Simpsonville, S.C., three bass, 8-13, $876
3rd:       Clint Jackson, Six Mile, S.C., three bass, 8-4, $497
3rd:       Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., three bass, 8-4, $497
5th:        Dax Liner, Mineral Bluff, Ga., three bass, 8-2, $351
6th:        Don Meury, Marietta, S.C., three bass, 8-0, $306
6th:        Brandon Lawson, Union, S.C., three bass, 8-0, $406
8th:        Blane Holcombe, Inman, S.C., three bass, 7-15, $263
9th:        Gibson Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 7-14, $234
10th:     Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., three bass, 7-5, $204

Craig Monnin of Cumming, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $220, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Lane Parker of Waleska, Georgia, now leads the Fishing Clash Savannah River Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 490 points, while Rusty Odom of Simpsonville, South Carolina, leads the Fishing Clash Savannah River Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 497 points.

The next event for BFL Savannah River Division anglers will be held April 12, at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.

The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.