Bond Wins Co-angler Title

IUKA, Miss. (Sept. 21, 2020) – Boater Christopher Whitehead of Tupelo, Mississippi, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 33 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Mississippi Division Super-Tournament at Pickwick Lake. For his victory, Whitehead earned $5,942.

“It feels great – I had a pretty good day,” said Whitehead, who weighed the biggest limit of the event on Sunday. “I was just riding around graphing ledges, trying to find little schools. Then I’d throw a crankbait right in the middle of them and try to get them to react. If they didn’t bite the crankbait, I’d follow up with a big jig.”

Whitehead said that he targeted fish in 18- to 22-feet-of-water with a Tennessee Shad-colored Strike King 6XD crankbait and an unnamed peanut butter and jelly-colored jig.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

            1^st:       Christopher Whitehead of Tupelo, Miss., 10 bass, 33-1, $5,942

            2^nd:      Cody Nichols of Fayette, Ala., 10 bass, 30-9, $2,971

            3^rd:       Chris Quaintance of Muscle Shoals, Ala., 10 bass, 29-10, $1,983

            4^th:       Mitch Crane of Columbus, Miss., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,386

            5^th:       Michael Savell of Brandon, Miss., 10 bass, 29-2, $1,388

            6^th:       Jennings Earnest of Guin, Ala., 10 bass, 28-3, $1,089

            7^th:       Joel Barber of Brandon, Miss., nine bass, 28-1, $990

            8^th:       Andy Coy of Corinth, Miss., 10 bass, 26-6, $1,391

            9^th:       Mark Willins of Como, Miss., 10 bass, 26-2, $792

            10^th:     Kyle Glasgow of Guin, Ala., 10 bass, 25-6, $693

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Bill Terrell of Memphis, Tennessee, earned the day’s $802 Boater Big Bass award with a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass.

Coy 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.

Mitchell Bond of Collins, Mississippi, earned the win in the Co-angler Division Sunday after catching a two-day total of seven bass weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces. Bond earned $2,909 for his victory.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

            1^st:       Mitchell Bond of Collins, Miss., seven bass, 23-5, $2,909

            2^nd:      Ty James of Iuka, Miss., seven bass, 20-5, $1,454

            3^rd:       Justin Dobble of Leoma, Tenn., seven bass, 18-15, $970

            4^th:       Chase Fernandez of Florence, Ala., seven bass, 16-9, $679

            5^th:       Taylor Odom of Flowood, Miss., seven bass, 16-4, $582

            6^th:       Gary Lucas of Columbus, Miss., five bass, 12-7, $533

            7^th:       Nick Quaintance of Russellville, Ala., three bass, 12-6, $871

            8^th:       Yu Han of Memphis, Tenn., five bass, 11-14, $436

            9^th:       Michael Harrison of Moscow, Tenn., five bass, 11-1, $388

            10^th:     Keith Whipple of Iuka, Miss., five bass, 10-9, $339

Quaintance earned the event’s Co-angler Big Bass Award of $386 with, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce.

The Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Pickwick Lake was the fifth and final qualifying event in the 2020 Mississippi Division.

Now the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Mississippi Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, hosted by the Rhea County Economic and Tourism Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

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 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held Nov. 11-13 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina and is hosted by Visit Anderson. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.