Co-angler Victory Goes to South Carolina’s Henderson

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Oct. 26, 2020) Boater Chris Nelson of Social Circle, Georgia, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 50 pounds, 13 ounces to win the no-entry fee Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship at Lake Lanier. For his victory, Nelson earned $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and automatic entry into the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Championship, June 3-5, at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee.

“I rotated between 8 to 10 places all three days, fishing brush piles on offshore humps in 25 to 30 feet of water from about mid-lake to the dam,” said Nelson. “I was mostly using a ½-ounce shaky head with a Zoom Magnum Swamp Crawler and had great success with it.”

Nelson said he caught fish the same way in practice as well and felt his victory ultimately came down to timing.

“I probably hit the same brush piles at that depth range two to three times per day, all three days,” said Nelson. “If they weren’t biting early, I could usually get bit later in the afternoon.

“The sunshine definitely helped that bite – I didn’t catch as many on the final day due to the cloud cover, but we still came out well in the end.”

Nelson said winning a Regional Championship felt amazing.

“This is by far the biggest accomplishment I’ve had in my fishing career,” Nelson continued. “My primary goal was to qualify for the All-American and I got that done and am taking home a new boat, so I can’t ask for any more than that out of this tournament.”

The top six boaters that qualified for 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

            1^st:       Chris Nelson of Social Circle, Ga., 15 bass, 50-13, $60,000

            2^nd:      Randy Dover of Buford, Ga., 15 bass, 50-6, $10,000

            3^rd:       Trent Palmer of Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 45-15, $5,500

            4^th:       Cody Hoyle of Rutherfordton, N.C., 15 bass, 45-2, $3,000

            5^th:       Collin Smith of Honea Path, S.C., 15 bass, 44-9, $2,000

            6^th:       Jr. McCay of Robertstown, Ga., 15 bass, 44-1, $1,800

Rounding out the top 12 boaters were:

            7^th:       Brad Benfield of Demorest, Ga., 15 bass, 42-1, $1,600

            8^th:       Heath Pack of Ellijay, Ga., 15 bass, 40-6, $1,400

            9^th:       David Nichol of Gainesville, Ga., 14 bass, 39-15, $1,400

            10^th:     Christian Greico of Tampa, Fla., 14 bass, 34-13, $1,000

            11^th:     Jason Reed of Hollister, Fla., 11 bass, 34-2, $1,000

            12^th:     Justin Raines of Easley, S.C., 13 bass, 33-5, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Palmer took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Kevin Henderson of Honea Path, South Carolina, weighed in 11 bass over three days totaling 29 pounds, 4 ounces to win the top co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

            1^st:       Kevin Henderson of Honea Path, S.C., 11 bass, 29-4, $50,000

            2^nd:      Randy Paquette of Sarasota, Fla., 11 bass, 23-12, $5,000

            3^rd:       John Wilson of Six Mile, S.C., nine bass, 22-13, $2,500

            4^th:       Mickey Bergeron of Amherst, Va., 11 bass, 22-11, $1,500

            5^th:       Sam Loveless of Somerset, Ky., 10 bass, 21-12, $1,000

            6^th:       Dustin Elrod of Jasper, Ga., nine bass, 21-5, $900

Rounding out the top 12 co-anglers were:

            7^th:       Jason Hinger of Timberlake, N.C., eight bass, 21-1, $1,250

            8^th:       Mike Twitty of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., nine bass, 20-5, $700

            9^th:       B.K. Kelley of Colonial Heights, V.A., eight bass, 20-5, $600

            10^th:     Trevor Wright of Chesterfield, Va., nine bass, 20-2, $500

            11^th:     Chris Graham of Blue Ridge, Ga., eight bass, 19-15, $500

            12^th:     Jeff White of Rhoadesville, Va., seven bass, 17-6, $500

The Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on Lake Lanier was hosted by the Gainesville Convention and Visitors Bureau. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Gator (Florida), Music City (Tennessee), Piedmont (North Carolina/Virginia) and Savannah River (South Carolina/Georgia) divisions.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six 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 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held June 3-5 at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee, and is hosted by the Jefferson County Department of Tourism. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.