Missouri’s Welch Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

PADUCAH, Ky. (July 15, 2024) – Boater Bryan Godwin of Marion, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River at Paducah. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Illini Division. Godwin earned $2,977 for his victory.

From the launch in Paducah, anglers could stay on the Ohio River, or they had the option to run up the Cumberland River to the Lake Barkley tailrace, or up the Tennessee River to fish below Kentucky Dam. These large tailraces are popular fisheries all year, with good populations of largemouth and smallmouth bass, in addition to a variety of other species.

Godwin, a local, chose to run up the Cumberland.

“I ran all the way to the (Barkley) dam, and then I fished a few spots I’ve got on the way back down,” he said.

“The fish bit the first hour. After that, it was just scattered here and there. They’re not everywhere. You’ve got to find specific spots that they’re sitting on.”

Godwin says the Cumberland is all a timing deal, usually depending on the current flowing through the dam. But lately, just getting on the right spot first thing in the morning has led to some quality limits.

He targeted his tailrace fish in 4 to 6 feet of water on natural rock.

“It’s a current-break spot,” he said. “And they just happened to be on it, and I got lucky. I’ve got three spots that are like that, and they were on one and not the other two. After that it was stragglers here and there. But that first spot I pulled up and in 20 casts had five fish.”

Rotating back and forth between baits was another key. His rotation included a Rapala DT6 crankbait and a 3/8-ounce Greenfish Tackle Bryan New Bad Little Dude Jig. He occasionally mixed in a tube, but the crankbait and jig were his go-tos.

“If you’d catch one or two off of one, you could turn around and throw the other,” added Godwin, whose limit included four smallmouth bass and one largemouth.

Due to the water spilling through Barkley Dam, the tailrace currents are constantly swirling and changing, flowing upstream and downstream and forming eddies. Godwin carefully monitored the flows to present his lures naturally.

“I used the current to wash my bait,” he said. “That’s the key within the key, the spot within the spot. You let the current do the work for your bait so it’s more natural and not you doing it.”

Once he left the tailrace, Godwin targeted humps and other structure in the mouths of creeks. He used the crankbait and jig in these areas as well.

The top 11 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Bryan Godwin, Marion, Ky., five bass, 13-9, $2,977
2nd:       Peyton Coleman, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 12-14, $1,989 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd:       Andrew Harper, Shelbyville, Ill., five bass, 11-10, $1,292
4th:        Joe Johnson, Clarksville, Tenn., five bass, 11-8, $695
5th:        Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., five bass, 10-10, $595
6th:        Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., five bass, 10-6, $546
7th:        Jason Jacobs, Charleston, Ill., five bass, 9-10, $496
8th:        Kyle Dowdy, Sunrise Beach, Mo., five bass, 8-13, $447
9th:        Mario Rossi, Granite City, Ill., four bass, 8-10, $397
10th:     Travis Boley, Weldon, Ill., four bass, 8-3, $330
10th:     Coty Fowler, Brookport, Ill., five bass, 8-3, $330

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jeffrey Lee of Olney, Illinois, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $340.

Caleb Welch of Bolivar, Missouri, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,489 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Caleb Welch, Bolivar, Mo., five bass, 8-7, $1,489
2nd:       Aaron Wehmeyer, Normal, Ill., five bass, 7-8, $744
3rd:       Ryan Murphy, Paris, Ill., five bass, 6-14, $497
4th:        Kim Sapetti, Chatham, Ill., three bass, 6-8, $517
5th:        Jason Halverson, Belvidere, Ill., three bass, 6-3, $298
6th:        Dale Renth, Mascoutah, Ill., four bass, 5-11, $273
7th:        Eugene Kim, Lindenhurst, Ill., four bass, 5-9, $248
8th:        William Stokes, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 5-4, $210
8th:        Gary Huber II, Saint Charles, Mo., four bass, 5-4, $210
10th:     Michael Ratts, Iuka, Ill., two bass, 5-3, $174

Kim Sapetti of Chatham, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $170, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Jeffrey Lee of Olney, Illinois, leads the Fishing Clash Illini Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 726 points, while Ryan Murphy of Paris, Illinois, leads the Fishing Clash Illini Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 736 points.

The next event for BFL Illini Division anglers will be held Aug. 3, at Lake Shelbyville in Shelbyville, Illinois. 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. 10-12 BFL Regional tournament on Pools 13-17 of the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. 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, PowerStop Brakes, 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.