IUKA, Miss.– Boater Chris Quaintance of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, caught 10 bass weighing 36 pounds even to win the two-day MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Pickwick Lake in Iuka, Mississippi. The tournament, hosted by Tishomingo County Tourism, was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division. Quaintance earned $7,007 for his victory.
Quaintance said his tournament started off well Saturday morning with four fish, then slowed down around midday, and it took him a while to catch his fifth keeper. However, Quaintance said his catch rate improved on Sunday.
“It was steady catching on Day 2,” Quaintance said. “I caught fish all day long, a lot of quality bass on long, tapering points that featured light points in the mid-lake area.”
Quaintance said he caught his bass on a NetBait T-Mac Straight-Tail Worm and a green pumpkin jig in six to eight feet of water, and a Strike King Swim Jig in shallow grass.
“The bass were just roaming,” Quaintance said. “A lot of them weren’t even in brush. There was a lot of shad in the area, and each spot was just about the size of a football field, and I just pounded it out until I got what I needed.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Chris Quaintance, Muscle Shoals, Ala., 10 bass, 36-0, $7,007
2nd: Jimmy Mason, Rogersville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-12, $4,099 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF5 contingency bonus)
3rd: Justin Bussey, Fulton, Miss., 10 bass, 28-11, $1,997
4th: Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., 10 bass, 26-1, $1,399
5th: Clint Pegg, Caledonia, Miss., nine bass, 25-12, $1,199
6th: Alan Langford, Tupelo, Miss., nine bass, 25-10, $1,100
7th: Michael Brewer, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-12, $1,000
8th: Michael Wooley, Booneville, Miss., eight bass, 24-2, $900
9th: Roger Stegall, Iuka, Miss., 10 bass, 23-15, $800
10th: Mark Willins, Como, Miss., 10 bass, 23-15, $700
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Quaintance also had a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $810.
Harry Barber of Earlington, Kentucky, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,971 Sunday after catching a two-day total of six bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
1st: Harry Barber, Earlington, Ky., six bass, 16-5, $2,971
2nd: Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., seven bass, 14-14, $1,486
3rd: Keith Ramage, Raleigh, Miss., six bass, 13-2, $989
4th: Clint Horton, Falkner, Miss., five bass, 12-3, $693
5th: Mike Ellis, Tupelo, Miss., four bass, 11-11, $594
6th: Michael Petras, Biloxi, Miss., five bass, 11-9, $995
7th: Shan Payne, Saltillo, Miss., five bass, 10-15, $495
8th: Thomas Sanderson, Amory, Miss., five bass, 10-15, $446
9th: Steve Ruth, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 10-9, $396
10th: Lance Spencer, Donalsonville, Ga., five bass, 9-13, $347
Bubba Wright of Ridgeland, Mississippi, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $401.
With the regular season now complete, boater Evan Horne of Tuscumbia, Alabama, won the 2022 Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,289 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. Sank Payton of Bay Springs, Mississippi, won the 2022 Strike King Co-Angler Mississippi Division AOY race with 1,274 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. 20-22 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. Boaters will compete 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 fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.
The 2022 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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Regional Championships 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 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 Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
