Bristow’s Burke Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

WAGONER, Okla. (April 29, 2024) – Boater Levi Malone of Grove, Oklahoma, caught four bass weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Fort Gibson Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Okie Division. Malone earned $3,889 for his victory.

Fort Gibson was nothing but stingy for the BFL anglers. Only two anglers in the entire field weighed in a limit.

Malone caught his four keepers by doing exactly what you need to do when the fishing is so tough: He slowed down and finessed his fish with a shaky-head rig. His key bait was an 8-inch Big Bite Baits Straight Mag Worm on a 3/16- or 1/4-ounce Buckeye Lures Spot Remover shaky head.

He used the worm to target shallow areas where some bass were starting to pull up in anticipation of spawning.

“I did find kind of a little pattern on some kind of chunky rock and was able to catch most of my fish off that,” he said. “But I did pick off another one just kind of fishing whatever was in front of me.

“I stayed shallow. I kept the boat in about 8 feet of water or less the whole day.”

Malone had a chance at a limit but lost it when a 3-pounder came off the hook about 10 feet from the boat.

“Those five bites were the only keeper bites I had all day,” added Malone, a sophomore studying fish and wildlife at Northeastern State University.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Levi Malone, Grove, Okla., four bass, 14-9, $3,889
2nd:       John Campbell, Park Hill, Okla., four bass, 13-13, $1,944
3rd:       Brett Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 13-12, $1,797 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Hunter Alsip, Chouteau, Okla., five bass, 13-9, $907
5th:        Chris M. Jones, Bokoshe, Okla., four bass, 12-6, $778
6th:        Dakotah Edwards, Talala, Okla., four bass, 12-4, $713
7th:        Joel Baker, Talala, Okla., four bass, 11-11, $648
8th:        Paul Waner, Choctaw, Okla., four bass, 11-10, $583
9th:        Keith Hays, Broken Arrow, Okla., four bass, 11-6, $486
9th:        Chase Washburn, Harrah, Okla., three bass, 11-6, $486

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Wes Nofire of Park Hill, Oklahoma, and Cameron Dahlem of Gans, Oklahoma, each caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, which tied them for the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and earned each of them $262.

Johnny Burke of Bristow, Oklahoma, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,944 Saturday, after bringing two bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 11 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Johnny Burke, Bristow, Okla., two bass, 8-8, $1,944
2nd:       Brady Short, Oxford, Kan., three bass, 8-5, $810
2nd:       Tom Fink, Tulsa, Okla., two bass, 8-5, $1,072
4th:        Rick Blosser, Tulsa, Okla., two bass, 7-12, $454
5th:        Justin Nobles, Owasso, Okla., three bass, 7-10, $389
6th:        Mark Sloan, Harrison, Ark., three bass, 6-0, $456
7th:        Scott Stallings, Glencoe, Okla., two bass, 5-14, $324
8th:        Jake Hess, Guthrie, Okla., one bass, 5-1, $292
9th:        Al Longoria, Pottsboro, Texas, one bass, 4-8, $259
10th:     Michael Sexton, Broken Arrow, Okla., two bass, 4-6, $215
10th:     Kaleb O’Brien, Wagoner, Okla., two bass, 4-6, $215

Tom Fink of Tulsa, Oklahoma, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $262, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Chris M. Jones of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Okie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 729 points, while Kaleb O’Brien of Wagoner, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Okie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 714 points.

The next event for BFL Okie Division anglers will be held June 22, at the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Oklahoma. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

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. 17-19 BFL Regional tournament on Wright Patman Lake in Texarkana, Texas. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki 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 or Suzuki outboard.

The 2024 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.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, 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 17 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.