Tupelo’s Whitehead Earns Win at Two-Day Phoenix Bass Fishing League event on Pickwick Lake
Collins’ Bond Wins Co-angler Title
IUKA, Miss. – 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:
1st: Christopher Whitehead of Tupelo, Miss., 10 bass, 33-1, $5,942
2nd: Cody Nichols of Fayette, Ala., 10 bass, 30-9, $2,971
3rd: Chris Quaintance of Muscle Shoals, Ala., 10 bass, 29-10, $1,983
4th: Mitch Crane of Columbus, Miss., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,386
5th: Michael Savell of Brandon, Miss., 10 bass, 29-2, $1,388
6th: Jennings Earnest of Guin, Ala., 10 bass, 28-3, $1,089
7th: Joel Barber of Brandon, Miss., nine bass, 28-1, $990
8th: Andy Coy of Corinth, Miss., 10 bass, 26-6, $1,391
9th: Mark Willins of Como, Miss., 10 bass, 26-2, $792
10th: 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:
1st: Mitchell Bond of Collins, Miss., seven bass, 23-5, $2,909
2nd: Ty James of Iuka, Miss., seven bass, 20-5, $1,454
3rd: Justin Dobble of Leoma, Tenn., seven bass, 18-15, $970
4th: Chase Fernandez of Florence, Ala., seven bass, 16-9, $679
5th: Taylor Odom of Flowood, Miss., seven bass, 16-4, $582
6th: Gary Lucas of Columbus, Miss., five bass, 12-7, $533
7th: Nick Quaintance of Russellville, Ala., three bass, 12-6, $871
8th: Yu Han of Memphis, Tenn., five bass, 11-14, $436
9th: Michael Harrison of Moscow, Tenn., five bass, 11-1, $388
10th: 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.
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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