Georgia’s Lemaster Tops Co-Angler Division

ANDERSON, S.C. (April 14, 2025) – Boater Jason Burroughs of Hodges, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell Presented by Suzuki Marine . The tournament, hosted by Visit Anderson, was the third event of the season for the BFL Savannah River Division. Burroughs earned $11,318, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

Burroughs spent the day targeting shallow red clay points where bass were feeding on spawning blueback herring.

“It started real slow,” Burroughs said. “I caught a few small ones but didn’t have anything to weigh until about 11. Then it picked up.”

This type of fishing is a total timing deal. You have to get on a rotation of points, run and gun from one to the next, and repeat as often as you can until they fire. That’s exactly how Burroughs approached it. He “just made a ton of stops and kept moving” throughout the day and wound up catching about 15 keepers, with all of them in the 4-pound class.

Burroughs caught his fish on a Sebile Magic Swimmer and a Cabin Creek magnum-sized finesse worm on a Buckeye Lures Magnum Series Spot Remover.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., five bass, 20-9, $11,318 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:      Tallis Morrison, Royston, Ga., five bass, 19-5, $1,859
3rd:       Tim Watson, Martin, Ga., five bass, 19-0, $1,238
4th:        Brian Tidwell, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 18-12, $867
5th:        Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-5, $744
6th:        Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., five bass, 17-1, $651
6th:        Furman (Joe) Thompson, Clayton, Ga., five bass, 17-1, $651
8th:        Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 16-8, $558
9th:        Logan Smith, Easley, S.C., five bass, 16-5, $496
10th:     Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 16-4, $434

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Trent Hammock of Villa Rica, Georgia, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $485.

Justin Lemaster of Royston, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $1,840 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 11 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Justin Lemaster, Royston, Ga., three bass, 12-10, $2,080
2nd:      Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 10-6, $920
3rd:       Corey Veal, Royston, Ga., three bass, 10-4, $612
4th:        Benjie Winkler, Cleveland, Ga., three bass, 10-3, $429
5th:        Landen Jordan, Anderson, S.C., three bass, 8-14, $368
6th:        Chris Worley, Eastanollee, Ga., three bass, 8-13, $337
7th:        Jody Anderson, Chapin, S.C., three bass, 8-11, $307
8th:        Chuck Bagwell, Laurens, S.C., three bass, 8-10, $260
8th:        Timothy Taylor, Seneca, S.C., three bass, 8-10, $260
10th:     Blake Burdette, Anderson, S.C., three bass, 8-8, $204
10th:     James Akins, Cumming, Ga., three bass, 8-8, $204

Lemaster also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $240, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Furman (Joe) Thompson of Clayton, Georgia, now leads the Fishing Clash Savannah River Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 724 points, while Rusty Odom of Simpsonville, South Carolina, leads the Fishing Clash Savannah River Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 726 points.

The next event for BFL Savannah River Division anglers will be held June 28, at Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. 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.