Georgia’s Hicks Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Chickamauga
Chattanooga’s Bradford Wins Co-angler Division
HIXSON, Tenn. – Boater Derek Hicks of Rocky Face, Georgia, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 22 pounds, 10 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Lake Chickamauga in Hixson, Tennessee. Hicks earned a total of $5,519 for his victory.
“Lake Chickamauga is my home waters, so it feels pretty nice to get a win here,” said Hicks, who earned his second career victory in Bass Fishing League competition. “I fished the lower end of the lake all the way to above Dayton – about 25 different spots in that 20-mile stretch.
“I was targeting shallow rock – 1½- to 3-feet-deep,” Hicks continued. I caught my fish on three baits – a 5/8-ounce Stan Sloan Zorro Bango Blade spinnerbait, a Sonny McFarland Flat-Shad crankbait and a homemade 5/8-ounce brown jig.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
1st: Derek Hicks of Rocky Face, Ga., five bass, 22-10, $5,519
2nd: Seth Davis of Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 21-4, $4,345
3rd: Justin Freeman of Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 19-0, $1,837
4th: Steve Barnes of Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 18-3, $1,288
5th: Brian Hatfield of Spring City, Tenn., five bass, 18-2, $1,104
6th: Chase Henley of Kingston, Tenn., five bass, 17-11, $1,012
7th: Brian Elder of Locust Grove, Ga., five bass, 17-8, $920
8th: Derrick Blake of Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 17-5, $782
8th: Kevin Drake of Cleveland, Tenn., five bass, 17-5, $782
10th: Jay Fagan of Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 16-15, $644
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Davis brought an 8-pound, 7-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $885.
Davis also 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.
Jeff Bradford of Chattanooga, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $2,760 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:
1st: Jeff Bradford of Chattanooga, Tenn., five bass, 21-1, $2,760
2nd: Adam Godsey of Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 14-15, $1,380
3rd: Joshua Jernigan of Rocky Top, Tenn., five bass, 14-1, $918
4th: Elliott Gault of Leesburg, Ala., four bass, 12-15, $644
5th: Wayne Hancock of Cumming, Ga., three bass, 12-12, $552
6th: Thomas Pierce of Calhoun, Ga., two bass, 12-11, $506
7th: Tony Pendley of Oakman, Ala., five bass, 12-7, $460
8th: Ryan Wallace of Odenville, Ala., three bass, 10-8, $564
9th: Shane Browder of Lynnville, Ind., four bass, 9-4, $368
10th: Gene Delk of Georgetown, Tenn., three bass, 9-2, $322
Adam Hickman of Caledonia, Mississippi, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 8 pounds even. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $442.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Choo Choo Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 16-18 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Cherokee in Jefferson City, Tennessee, hosted by the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. 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 April 30 through May 2 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.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
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