Leary Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

CORTLAND, Ohio (Sept. 12, 2022) – Boater Steven Hatfield of Ashland, Ohio, caught 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Mosquito Lake in Cortland, Ohio. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division. Hatfield earned $5,831 for his victory.

“The first day I started on a couple of offshore areas and thought I was going to get some fish, but the fish were leaving and going shallow, and I didn’t catch a keeper until around 9 o’clock,” Hatfield said. “Then I started checking shallow stuff in grass and caught a 5-14, which carried me into Sunday. Without that fish, I don’t think I would have made it.”

Hatfield said he decided to stay shallow on Sunday, and used swimjigs, vibrating jigs, Texas-rigged creature baits and worms in the Causeway area and the northeast side of the lake to catch his bass. Hatfield said he caught a dozen fish on each day of competition, in 3 to 7 feet of water.

“This win was a shocker, but it feels awesome,” Hatfield said. “I had kind of a rough tournament and lost several fish that I felt certain would hurt me, but somehow it worked out.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:          Steven Hatfield, Ashland, Ohio, 10 bass, 32-10, $5,831
2nd:        Gary Ginter, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 10 bass, 31-10, $2,915
3rd:        Buddy Busse, Cardington, Ohio, 10 bass, 31-1, $2,945
4th:         Matthew Michael, Warsaw, Ohio, 10 bass, 30-12, $1,361
5th:         Stan Miketa, New Middletown, Ohio, 10 bass, 30-4, $1,166
6th:         Seth Fricke, Oxford, Ohio, 10 bass, 30-3, $1,069
7th:         Michael Nesbitt, St. Paris, Ohio, 10 bass, 29-9, $2,009
8th:         Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, 10 bass, 29-5, $875
9th:         Mike Reeves, Brecksville, Ohio, 10 bass, 28-10, $777
10th:      Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, 10 bass, 27-14, $680

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.Michael Nesbitt of St. Paris, Ohio, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $787.

Jim Leary of Guntersville, Alabama, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,310 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 12 ounces.The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:          Jim Leary, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-12, $3,310
2nd:        Jeff Moorman, Liberty Township, Ohio, 10 bass, 24-14, $1,458
3rd:        Jacob Alltop, Lewistown, Ohio, 10 bass, 21-8, $971
4th:         Dylan Phillips, Albany, Ohio, nine bass, 20-14, $680
5th:         Matt Fisher, Glouster, Ohio, 10 bass, 20-13, $1,233
6th:         Christopher Chapman, Lancaster, Ohio, 10 bass, 20-9, $535
7th:         Matthew Hostetter, East Palestine, Ohio, nine bass, 19-8, $486
8th:         John Cantale, Lake Placid, Fla., 10 bass, 19-7, $437
9th:         J.R. Selke, Waynesville, Ohio, 10 bass, 19-6, $389
10th:      James Fulton, Ray, Ohio, 10 bass, 18-14, $340

Leary also caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $394.With the regular season now complete, boater Michael Nesbitt of St. Paris, Ohio, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,324 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Matt Fisher of Glouster, Ohio, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Buckeye Division AOY race with 1,310 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 the James River in Richmond, Virginia. 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.