Salem’s Guiltner Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

BULL SHOALS, Ark. (Sept. 23, 2024) – Boater Wyatt Marler of Oldfield, Missouri, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Super Tournament on Bull Shoals Lake . The tournament, which concluded Sunday, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Marler earned $5,817 for his victory.

Marler’s winning pattern was a one-two punch.

“I caught a lot of my fish deep on a 6th Sense 1/2- and 3/4-ounce jig, and then the rest were shallow, all mid-lake,” he said.

Marler started each day on his deep fish. He targeted “big runoff points” with rock in about 25 to 30 feet of water. His jig was the 6th Sense Divine Hybrid Jig with a 6th Sense Congo Craw trailer.

When he slid up shallow, Marler didn’t go far. He moved to adjacent flat pockets where he slung a River2Sea Whopper Plopper. It’s a popular fall pattern in the Ozarks, and that bite got better as the day went on.

“Yesterday (Saturday), I had 16 pounds by 9:30, and I actually went and tried to help my co-angler the rest of the day and just kind of left my fish alone for the next day,” Marler said. “Then today (Sunday) I probably caught 40 keepers. I caught a lot of fish. It was a fun day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Wyatt Marler, Oldfield, Mo., 10 bass, 33-1, $5,817
2nd:        Connor Crafton, Paragould, Ark., 10 bass, 31-0, $2,909
3rd:         Les Brandenburg, Springfield, Mo., 10 bass, 27-8, $3,011
4th:         Cody Huff, Ava, Mo., 10 bass, 26-6, $1,357
5th:         Dustin Blevins, Harrison, Ark., 10 bass, 24-7, $1,163
6th:         Cloys Warren, Tuckerman, Ark., 10 bass, 23-13, $1,066
7th:         Scott Hardin, Little Rock, Ark., nine bass, 23-10, $970
8th:         Drew Tabor, Harrison, Ark., 10 bass, 23-0, $873
9th:         Colton Welch, Leola, Ark., 10 bass, 22-10, $1,276 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
10th:       Cameron Rhodes, Higden, Ark., 10 bass, 22-4, $679

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Les Brandenburg of Springfield, Missouri, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds even and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $772.

Wade Guiltner of Salem, Arkansas, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,909 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of seven bass to the scale that weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:         Wade Guiltner, Salem, Ark., seven bass, 17-8, $2,909
2nd:        Zachary Ramsey, Little Rock, Ark., seven bass, 17-1, $1,454
3rd:         Brock Tabor, Harrison, Ark., seven bass, 14-7, $970
4th:         Isaiah Vickers, Sherwood, Ark., seven bass, 14-5, $679
5th:         Jackson Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 11-8, $582
6th:         Jonathan Dotson, Dover, Ark., six bass, 11-5, $533
7th:         Michael Shinstine, Springdale, Ark., five bass, 10-13, $485
8th:         BJ Davis, Mountain Home, Ark., five bass, 10-13, $436
9th:         Don Billiot, Hot Springs Village, Ark., four bass, 9-8, $388
10th:       James Edmonds, Hot Springs Village, Ark., four bass, 9-6, $339

Hayden Vavak of Piggott, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $386, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the tournament.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Chris Darby of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was crowned the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,315 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Jonathan Dotson of Dover, Arkansas, won the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Co-angler of the Year race with 1,316 points and earned the $500 prize.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, have qualified 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. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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.