Russell, of Elkton, Maryland, Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

HUDDLESTON, Va. (March 11, 2024) – Boater Broderick Luckey of Lynchburg, Virginia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Smith Mountain Lake. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Piedmont Division. Luckey earned $3,505 for his victory.

The Smith Mountain Lake tournament came on the heels of a week of consistently warm weather.

“The entire week before it was in the 70s,” Luckey said, “and it jumped the water up 7 or 8 degrees, which is very significant. I noticed that a lot of the fish were hesitant to move up because it was such a drastic change. A lot of the fish were in transition areas.”

Luckey didn’t exactly dial in a pattern, so much as he uncovered two key areas located at the mouth of a creek and midway back. Bass were moving in and out of these areas, so timing was critical, and throughout the day Luckey made sure to rest his best spots and then return later. This turned out to be a key move at the end of the day.

But first, his morning started quickly.

“I had 18 pounds in the first 30 minutes,” Luckey recalled. “I caught a 7-pounder real quick as well as a couple 3s.”

On his second spot, Luckey caught three fish that weighed more than 4 pounds each and culled up to about 22 pounds by 11 a.m.

“I was using a lot of my forward-facing sonar to locate fish,” Luckey said. “They were actively working bait. I threw a mix of a jerkbait and a swimbait at them and that seemed to work.

“I flat tried to run ’em down,” he added. “I had the trolling motor on high and just looked and look and looked. When I’d find fish, I’d make circles in the area, and when there weren’t fish I’d keep on moving.”

While he was resting his best spots, Luckey covered water with a crankbait. He caught several 3-pound-class fish, though they didn’t help his limit.

Later, when he came back to his second area again at the end of the day, Luckey’s rest-and-return strategy paid off. He culled out two 4-pounders, bringing his total to 24 pounds, 7 ounces and sealing the win.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 24-7, $3,505
2nd:       Justin Hicks, Roanoke, Va., five bass, 20-4, $1,753
3rd:       Adam Lester, Huddleston, Va., five bass, 19-7, $1,169
4th:        Dennis Stump, Madison Heights, Va., five bass, 19-6, $818
5th:        Christopher Atkins II, Goode, Va., five bass, 19-3, $701
6th:        Matthew Strykul, Richmond, Va., five bass, 18-11, $643
7th:        Michael Toney, Blacksburg, Va., five bass, 18-3, $584
8th:        Jonathan Bailey, Peterstown, W.Va., five bass, 17-15, $526
9th:        Grant Vest, Hopewell, Va., five bass, 17-6, $467
10th:     Zach Peaslee, Dublin, Va., five bass, 17-3, $409

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Shawn Keene of Jacksonville, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $440.

Matt Russell of Elkton, Maryland, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,373 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Matt Russell, five bass, 16-0, $2,373
2nd:       Chad Liptrap, three bass, 12-10, $876
3rd:       Scott Howard, five bass, 12-9, $585
4th:        Josh Hall, four bass, 11-12, $409
5th:        Cody Howard, four bass, 10-14, $501
6th:        David Williams, four bass, 10-12, $321
7th:        Sean Tobatto, four bass, 10-4, $292
8th:        Brandon Miskell, four bass, 9-8, $263
9th:        Matthew Foreman, three bass, 8-7, $234
10th:     Mekye Barnes, three bass, 7-11, $204

Russell earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $220, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

The next event for BFL Piedmont Division anglers will be held April 27, at Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. 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, 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.