Porento Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

TRENTON, Mich. (Sept. 25, 2023) – Boater Randy Ramsey of Burlington, Michigan, caught 10 bass weighing 44 pounds, 6 ounces, to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Detroit River Presented by FVP in Trenton, Michigan. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Michigan Division. Ramsey earned $5,875 for his victory.

Ramsey said he caught the majority of his fish in about 19 feet of water, fairly close to shore, on a drop-shot rig.

“Anything that is made of floating plastic is key, the trick is to have that lure floating up off the bottom,” said Ramsey. “I was also throwing a Ned rig in between rocks and a Texas-rigged creature bait. I could let that creature bait really get down into the rocks, which made a huge difference on Day 2 of the event.

“After some rough rides and big waves, the bite was really slow, so we just had to be patient,” Ramsey continued. “I was working lures along the bottom, and I had to just barely crawl them over the rocks. Most of the time if I popped them off a rock, I’d get bit.”

Ramsey said the changing weather conditions during the two-day event certainly impacted his game plan.

“The water clarity was a lot better on Day 1 – on the second day of competition I could barely see down to my trolling motor,” said Ramsey. “The southeast winds stirred the shoreline sediment up pretty good, so when the winds shifted to the northeast, it pulled that sediment off the shore and muddied up my area, which changed the bite drastically from day to day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:           Randy Ramsey, Burlington, Mich., 10 bass, 44-6, $5,875
2^nd:          Michael Sitko, Pinckney, Mich., 10 bass, 42-12, $3,844
3^rd:          Patrick Goodman, Sturgis, Mich., 10 bass, 42-11, $1,860
4^th:           Nicholas Seitz, Maumee, Ohio, 10 bass, 41-9, $1,301
5^th:           Brayden Federer, Adrian, Mich., 10 bass, 41-8, $1,115
6^th:           Jeremy Antrup, Fremont, Ind., 10 bass, 41-0, $1,022
7^th:           Wilson Burton, Findlay, Ohio, 10 bass, 39-2, $$1,629 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
8^th:           Heath Wagner, Angola, Ind., 10 bass, 38-13, $836
9^th:           Evan Eldred, Gaines, Mich., 10 bass, 38-7, $993
10^th:        Austin Anderson, Ashley, Ind., 10 bass, 36-4, $650

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Michael Sitko of Pinckney, Michigan, caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $727.

Paul Porento of Lowell, Indiana, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,788 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1^st:           Paul Porento, Lowell, Ind., 10 bass, 37-6, $2,788
2^nd:          Ryan Legg, Parma, Ohio, 10 bass, 34-12, $1,394
3^rd:          Jason Hayward, Otsego, Mich., 10 bass, 34-5, $929
4^th:           Richard Jarasun, Taylor, Mich., 10 bass, 33-12, $650
5^th:           Evan Ellis, Greentown, Ind., 10 bass, 33-9, $558
6^th:           Bill Miller, Metamora, Mich., 10 bass, 33-7, $511
7^th:           John Wall, Western Springs, Ill., 10 bass, 33-6, $465
8^th:           Scott Davis, Morenci, Mich., nine bass, 33-3, $418
9^th:           Scott Lutz, Bremen, Ind., 10 bass, 31-15, $522
10^th:        Alex Newman, Celina, Ohio, 10 bass, 31-10, $325

Daniel Dumais of Trenton, Michigan, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $364.

With the regular season now complete, boater Patrick Goodman of Sturgis, Michigan, won the 2023 Bass Fishing League Michigan Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,345 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Gavin Weted of Muont, Michigan, won the 2023 Strike King Co-Angler Michigan Division AOY race with 1,293 points and earned the $500 Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.

Now, the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will advance to compete in the Oct. 12-14 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury 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 outboard.

The 2023 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 top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.