Huntsville’s McBride Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

GADSDEN, Ala. (July 15, 2024) – Boater Wes Logan of Springville, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Neely Henry Lake. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Choo Choo Division. Logan earned $3,917 for his victory.

Competing in another tournament during the week prevented Logan from practicing for the BFL. But it didn’t stop him from getting the job done. Logan rolled in on a few hours of sleep and put his experience on the Coosa River chain to work.

“I just kind of went fishing,” he said. “I ran a couple different things, different patterns – wood, grass, docks.

“Basically, I just junk-fished all day, and when I happened to get a bite it was a good one.”

According to Logan, the grass bite never really panned out. Wood and docks became his primary targets, all in less than 5 feet of water.

His strategy relied on timing and covering a ton of water, hitting 50 to 60 places throughout the day.

“Neely’s not that big of a lake,” he said. “But I probably burned 25 to 30 gallons of gas just running back and forth. I try to treat the place like a tidal fishery. Obviously, there’s not a tide. But it’s a big timing deal on that place. So I’ll fish a certain stretch two or three times in a day. I might run 15, 20 minutes to fish a place 5 minutes and then I’ll run the other way.”

Logan opened the morning with a nice keeper then put a couple other smaller fish in the livewell. After that, it slowed down, and he was able to add a fish here and there to assemble a decent limit. It all came together at the end of the day. That’s when Logan was able to capitalize after Weiss Dam, located upstream, started generating electricity, which created current. “Turning on” the power also turned on the fish.

“From 2 to 3, I think I culled three times,” Logan added. “Being in that last flight really helped, to be honest.”

Key baits for Logan included his signature Team Ark Wes Logan Swim Jig in a color called “the one.” He also caught fish on a square-bill crankbait, Zoom Z Craw and Team Ark Randall Tharp Flipping Jig .

“The swim jig did most of the heavy lifting, but I caught them on a hodgepodge of baits,” Logan added.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., five bass, 16-3, $3,917
2nd:       Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 14-2, $2,478
3rd:       Tanner Hadden, Appling, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $1,307
4th:        Austin Shields, Lake View, Ala., five bass, 11-15, $1,214
5th:        Corey McMullen, Gurley, Ala., five bass, 11-7, $783
6th:        Caleb Hudson, Lincolnton, Ga., five bass, 11-6, $718
7th:        Kent Ware, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 11-1, $1,153 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
8th:        Tim Miller, Springville, Ala., five bass, 10-12, $588
9th:        Ty Garrett, Pulaski, Tenn., three bass, 10-11, $522
10th:     Adam Brown, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 10-9, $457

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Dillon Falardeau of Hixson, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $520.

Todd McBride of Huntsville, Alabama, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,958 Saturday, after bringing four bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Todd McBride, Huntsville, Ala., four bass, 12-1, $1,958
2nd:       Timothy Sutherland, Elizabeth, Ind., five bass, 10-4, $979
3rd:       Kyle Kimbrell, Jasper, Ala., five bass, 10-3, $653
4th:        Frank Mackin, State Line, Miss., five bass, 10-1, $457
5th:        Michael Corbett, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 9-11, $392
6th:        Rodney Stewart, Town Creek, Ala., three bass, 8-13, $359
7th:        Michael Jones, Rome, Ga., four bass, 8-12, $326
8th:        Colton Jennings, Moody, Ala., five bass, 8-10, $294
9th:        Dennis Sandoval, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 8-4, $511
10th:     Randy Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala., four bass, 8-2, $228

Duane Parker of Calhoun, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $260, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Matt O’Connell of Brooks, Georgia, leads the Fishing Clash Choo Choo Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 933 points, while Todd Mowery of Madison, Alabama, leads the Fishing Clash Choo Choo Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 953 points.

The next event for BFL Choo Choo Division anglers will be held Sept. 28-29, at Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Alabama. 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 Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. 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.