Illinois’ Griffin Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Sept. 23, 2024) – Boater Kevin Ruh of Onalaska, Wisconsin, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Super Tournament on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The tournament, which concluded Sunday, was hosted by Explore La Crosse. It was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Ruh earned $7,577, including the lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

In a way, Ruh owes his tournament win to a misfortunate situation at a Mississippi River lock on day two. More accurately, it was the way he made the most of the situation that made the difference.

But first, Ruh started the tournament by locking down from Pool 8 to Pool 9 on day one.

“My first spot was pretty good,” he said. “I caught a big bag, which allowed me to save a lot of fish down there. So, I locked up. I had some good stuff going on 8. I ran that and culled a little bit on pool 8.”

That “good stuff” on Pool 8 was a frog bite that helped Ruh cull past 18 pounds to get in the hunt. Sunday morning is when things got interesting. When he got to the lock, Ruh – and others – got stopped by a barge.

“We were told we could get down at about 8:30, so I had time for a couple stops,” he said. “So, I stopped on a place. It was just right place, right time, on something I saved the first day. I thought it could be pretty good. I caught a 5-pounder on my first cast.”

From there, Ruh hammered the fish, putting up a 22-pound, 4-ounce limit in about 20 minutes.

“It was a good morning flurry,” he said, putting it lightly. “It was windy this morning out of the north, and it was something I’ve got history with. I knew how those fish were setting up. I thought there could be a good bag there. You can’t imagine catching 22 pounds on the spot, but typically when you blow out a tournament or have a real big bag in a tournament, it’s off a magic spot – one spot – and it’s the right place at the right time.”

Ruh admitted that the barge actually helped him. Since other top competitors weren’t able to get through until about 11 a.m., they lost enough fishing time to open the door for him to make a move up the standings. He also thanked his co-angler, Will Ahnen, for being patient while Ruh fished his program in the morning. Ahnen finished fourth.

Not surprisingly, Ruh was tight-lipped about the exact pattern he fished in the morning. He only said that it was the same pattern each day. Ruh is not done competing on the river this fall and believes it could be a winner again – maybe even at the regional event coming up on the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., 10 bass, 40-7, $7,577 (includes $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:        Clayton Weber, West Salem, Wis., 10 bass, 35-0, $2,539
3rd:         Tony Puelz, Garnavillo, Iowa, 10 bass, 34-10, $2,331
4th:         Adam Crigger, Le Claire, Iowa, 10 bass, 34-2, $1,185
5th:         Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 32-13, $1,315
6th:         Nick Trim, Galesville, Wis., 10 bass, 32-11, $931
7th:         Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 32-9, $846
8th:         Glenn Walker, Savage, Minn., 10 bass, 32-6, $762
9th:         Jacob Erickson, Onalaska, Wis., 10 bass, 31-9, $677
10th:       Cade Laufenberg, Onalaska, Wis., 10 bass, 31-3, $592

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tony Puelz of Garnavillo, Iowa, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $637.

Gage Griffin of Lake Forest, Illinois, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,539 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale that weighed 30 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:          Gage Griffin, Lake Forest, Ill., 10 bass, 30-1, $2,539
2nd:         Blake Miller, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 10 bass, 28-8, $1,419
3rd:         Jamie Gomez, Holmen, Wis., 10 bass, 27-14, $846
4th:         Will Ahnen, Fennimore, Wis., 10 bass, 27-7, $592
5th:         Jason Swanson, Waterloo, Iowa, 10 bass, 25-7, $508
6th:         Richard Conrad, Arcadia, Wis., 10 bass, 25-0, $565
7th:         Lee Lewis, Ontario, Wis., 10 bass, 23-14, $423
8th:         Timothy Wittren, Ontario, Wis., eight bass, 22-12, $381
9th:         Dan McAdams, Reedsburg, Wis., eight bass, 20-12, $339
10th:       Nick Kramersmeier, Johnston, Iowa, 10 bass, 20-10, $296

Jessie Pollard of Whitehall, Wisconsin, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $319, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the tournament.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Jeff Ritter of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, was crowned the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,311 points and took home the $1,000 payout, while Jason Olson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, won the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Co-angler of the Year race with 1,307 points and earned the $500 award.

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. 10-12 BFL Regional tournament on Pools 13-17 of the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. 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.