The Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine’s Arkie, Cowboy, Mississippi and Okie divisions are set to close out the 2024 season next week, Oct. 17-19, in Texarkana, Texas with the Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine Regional Tournament on Wright Patman Lake.
The three-day event, hosted by the City of Texarkana, Texas, will feature the top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from all four divisions, fishing for a top prize of $60,000, including a Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, along with lucrative contingency awards, including up to an additional $7,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus. Strike King co-anglers will compete for a top prize of $50,000, including a Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard. Winners will be determined by the heaviest three-day catch.
The top six finishers in each regional will qualify for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the 42nd annual BFL All-American. The highest finishing boater from each division will also receive a $1,000 bonus and the highest finishing co-angler from each division will receive a $500 bonus.
“Wright Patman is a pretty good-sized lake, but it fishes relatively small when the water is at normal pool, which is where it’s at now,” said pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, who has 34 career top-10 finishes in MLF competition. “Generally, the lake is well known for water levels being high all the time – like 10, 15, 20-foot high, all the time. But they built a new bridge last year, and they’ve been working on a few things here and there and the water has been at normal pool for the last year, which is kind of unusual.
“There are basically two different fishing styles available,” Tutt continued. “You’ve got the lower lake, and then the upper lake which is the Sulfur River and the Sulfur River flats up there where it comes into the lake. There are a lot of great areas to target, but it can be very difficult place to navigate. There are a lot of hidden stumps and timber – I hit something the other day on the main lake in 18 foot of water and knocked my skeg off. So, everyone is going to need to be very cautious while boating. But it’s going to be a really fun tournament.”
Tutt said that he expects typical fall patterns to be in play for competitors.
“I’m definitely going to have a buzzbait tied on,” Tutt said. “I’ll also have a small, shallow-diving squarebill crankbait, something to flip – maybe a (Zoom) Baby Brush Hog – and a spinnerbait. I like to keep it simple, but I think all of those baits will be players in this one.
“We’ve got a cool spell coming – we’re getting down into the 50s this week, which should turn on the fishing some more. I think if a guy can catch in the high 13 or 14 for two days, he’ll do pretty good and will probably make the top 12 to fish the final day. But I definitely think it could take up to 20 pounds a day to win this one.”
Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each morning from the Sportsman’s Cove boat ramp, located at 850 Sportsman’s Cove Road in Texarkana. Weigh-ins will also be held at the boat ramp and will begin at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the action online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The 2024 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 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
The top boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division also earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and ultimately the Bass Pro Tour. For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.
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