Jacksonville’s Beckham Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

BROOKELAND, Texas. (April 8, 2024) – Boater Jaden Parrish of Liberty, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 27 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Sam Rayburn Reservoir . Hosted by the Jasper County Development District, the tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Parrish earned $11,052, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

Anytime you catch 27 pounds of bass, you’ve had an incredible day. Interestingly, when reflecting on his win, Parrish felt like he left a little bit out there.

“I could’ve had more,” he said.

The biggest culprit was a fog delay that kept Parrish from fully capitalizing on the morning crankbait bite. Regardless, it was still an impressive outing.

Parrish began the day on a small secondary point; a transition area where fish were moving in and out of a spawning area. This was one of three areas he targeted with a deep-diving crankbait.

“I caught roughly 16 pounds on a 6th Sense (Crush) 300DD crankbait,” Parrish said. “And then after that I just rotated through like 50 brush piles and just got two big ones to bite throwing a 6th Sense Whale (swimbait).”

Those “big ones” were giants: a 7-12 and a 9-4 that won Berkley Big Bass for the day.

Parrish used Garmin LiveScope to check each brush pile before he made a cast. Those two big ones were the only good ones he spied – and the only bass he tried to catch off the brush.

It’s been an impressively successful spring for Parrish. In addition to this win, he finished in the top 13 at the Toledo Bend Toyota Series event, the January 6 BFL event on Sam Rayburn, the Tackle Warehouse Invitational on Rayburn and the Toyota Series event on Rayburn.

“It’s going pretty good right now,” said Parrish, who’s in third place in the Toyota Series Southwestern Division standings. “I need to keep it rolling.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st: Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, five bass, 27-11, $11,052 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Bryan McDonough, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 21-2, $1,796
3rd: Jerry Mason, Ragley, La., five bass, 19-12, $1,201
4th: Red Ballard, Sulphur, La., five bass, 19-11, $838
5th: Hayden Heck, Lufkin, Texas, five bass, 19-9, $718
6th: Neal Gilmore, Magnolia, Texas, five bass, 17-0, $659
7th: Dylan Sorrells, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 14-14, $599
8th: Maverick Winford, Humble, Texas, five bass, 13-7, $539
9th: Tiffany Hart, Marquez, Texas, five bass, 12-10, $479
10th: Jacob Keith, Jefferson, Texas, five bass, 12-3, $419

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Parrish caught a bass that weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $460.

Neill Beckham of Jacksonville, Texas, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,796 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st: Neill Beckham, Jacksonville, Texas, five bass, 13-12, $1,796
2nd: Tony Irby, Baytown, Texas, five bass, 12-12, $898
3rd: Allen Musser, Ada, Okla., five bass, 12-1, $598
4th: Michael Glynn, Boerne, Texas, five bass, 11-10, $419
5th: Colton Hatzold, Montgomery, Texas, five bass, 11-9, $359
6th: Adrian Galvan, Deridder, La., five bass, 11-6, $329
7th: Zachary Hebert, Lake Charles, La., five bass, 11-0, $299
8th: Al Longoria, Pottsboro, Texas, five bass, 10-3, $254
8th: Tyrell Harmon, Manor, Texas, five bass, 10-3, $254
10th: Velin Sims, Spring, Texas, five bass, 9-12, $210

Jay Carranza of Houston, Texas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $230, catching a bass that weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Tater Reynolds of Florien, Louisiana, leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 984 points, while Allen Musser of Ada, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 963 points.

The next event for BFL Cowboy Division anglers will be held Sept. 7-8, at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Brookeland, Texas. 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, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota 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.