Mann Rides Hometown Water to Strike King Co-Angler Division Victory

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 8, 2023) – Boater Daniel Langton of Evansville, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes . The tournament, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, was the fourth event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Langton earned $4,082 for his victory.

“I headed over to Barkley and flipped shallow all day,” said Langton. “I figured the full moon would make a fresh wave of spawning fish come up, since the water temperature is still pretty cool.”

Langdon said his tactic paid off well, and every bass he caught was either spawning or pre-spawn. He targeted isolated wood and bushes with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog, which produced seven keepers during the course of the day. He added the bass didn’t hit the bait as well in early, low-light conditions where bass would swipe at the bait and miss it.

“Once the sun popped out at 10:30, that was the game changer,” Langton said. “That’s when they started eating it really well.

“About noon I started culling,” Langton added. “Then I caught a big one that weighed 5-4 with about 10 minutes to go before I had to make the run back.”

Langton said the 5-4 bass came from a spot where he knew big fish lived and had stopped to flip a few bushes before heading to weigh-in. He said four bushes into the stop the big bass fell for the Fighting Frog.

“I really didn’t think I was going to win, because I had a 15-incher in my bag,” Langton said. “I think that’s about to change, because the fishery is coming back and getting a lot healthier, and we’re seeing a lot more 4- to 5-pound fish than we have been seeing.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Daniel Langton, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 19-10, $4,082
2nd:       Adrian Urso, Union, Ky., five bass, 18-11, $2,041
3rd:       Jordan Hartman, Murray, Ky., five bass, 17-4, $1,362
4th:        Drew Morgan, Noblesville, Ind., five bass, 16-6, $952
5th:        Scott McWaters, Clarksville, Tenn., five bass, 16-2, $1,036
6th:        Drew Lynch, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 15-5, $748
7th:        Gary Singleton, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 14-11, $680
8th:        Ray Barga, Benton, Ky., five bass, 14-7, $612
9th:        Brian Futch, Herrin, Ill., five bass, 14-6, $1,044 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
10th:     Richard Meuth, Henderson, Ky., five bass, 14-2, $476

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Edward Gettys of Dover, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $560.

Sam Mann of Gilbertsville, Kentucky, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,005 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds even.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Sam Mann, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 15-0, $2,005
2nd:       Bernard Campos, Round Lake Beach, Ill., five bass, 13-6, $1,002
3rd:       Ron Robinson, Pittsburg, Ill., five bass, 12-6, $668
4th:        Cowboy Tidwell, Madisonville, Ky., four bass, 11-9, $468
5th:        Marcus Mann, Benton, Ky., three bass, 10-15, $601
6th:        Carl Oelker, Greenbrier, Tenn., five bass, 10-11, $368
7th:        Sean O’Brien, McKenzie, Tenn., five bass, 10-6, $334
8th:        Daren Tindle, Owensboro, Ky., four bass, 9-8, $301
9th:        C.J. Canada, Kevil, Ky., three bass, 7-13, $267
10th:     Philip Wright, Bedford, Ky., four bass, 7-6, $234

Michael Blumer of Louisville, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $275, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Sam Moll of Hershey, Pennsylvania, leads the BFL LBL Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 975 points, while Sean O’Brien of McKenzie, Tennessee, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 957 points.

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. 19-21 BFL Regional tournament on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will fish 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 compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.