Georgia’s David Lowery Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on St. Johns River
Category: article
Oct 26th, 2021 by Keith Worrall
Modified Oct 26th, 2021 at 3:33 PM
Boater David Lowery of Milledgeville, Georgia, and Strike-King co-angler Randy Paquette of Sarasota, Florida
Strike King Co-angler Victory Goes to Florida’s Paquette
PALATKA, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2021) – Boater David Lowery of Milledgeville, Georgia, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 62 pounds, 15 ounces to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship Presented by T-H Marine at the St. Johns River . For his victory, Lowery earned $68,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, along with the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF contingency bonus. Lowery also received automatic entry into the 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Championship, June 2-4, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, as well as priority entry into the Toyota Series – the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the Bass Pro Tour.
“The key to my victory this week was just keeping my head down and fishing,” said Lowery, who earned the seventh BFL victory of his career. “Catching 33-12 on the first day really helped the cause as well. I really had a bad practice, so I just put my head down and went. I had eight bites on that first day, and landed all of the ones that counted on top and that is very rare.”
Lowery said he caught his fish on a Spro Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog (Killer Gill and Rainforest Black) and a Big Bite Baits Tour Toad Buzzbait.
“I caught most of my fish within sight of the boat ramp, going south towards Lake George,” Lowery went on to say. “I also caught several key fish just north of Lake George, on seawalls.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:
1st: David Lowery, Milledgeville, Ga., 15 bass, 62-15, $68,000
2nd: Christopher Chavis, Guyton, Ga., 14 bass, 59-7, $10,000
3rd: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., 15 bass, 58-8, $5,000
4th: Matt Henry, Milledgeville, Ga., 15 bass, 57-5, $3,000
5th: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., 14 bass, 52-6, $2,500
6th: Laker Howell, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 49-11, $1,800
Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:
7th: Nathan Thomas, Weirsdale, Fla., 15 bass, 47-11, $1,600
8th: Levi Crossway, Jacksonville, Fla., 15 bass, 47-1, $1,400
9th: Kevin Izzi, Smithville, Texas, 15 bass, 41-7, $1,200
10th: Mickey McHenry, Eatonton, Ga., 11 bass, 38-1, $1,000
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Lowery took home an extra $7,000 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
Randy Paquette of Sarasota, Florida, weighed in 11 bass over three days totaling 31 pounds, 10 ounces to win the top Strike King co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.
The top six Strike King co-anglers that qualified for the 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:
1st: Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., 11 bass, 31-10, $50,000
2nd: Kenneth Hunnicutt, Jacksonville, Fla., 12 bass, 30-7, $5,000
3rd: Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, N.C., 13 bass, 30-0, $2,500
4th: Steven Obester, Palatka, Fla., nine bass, 24-1, $1,750
5th: Harold Addison II, Columbia, S.C., 11 bass, 23-0, $1,000
6th: Chandler White, Covington, Ga., seven bass, 22-6, $900
Rounding out the top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:
7th: Chris O’Bryan, Harned, Ky., 10 bass, 21-2, $800
8th: Ernie Thompson, Anthony, Fla., 11 bass, 20-10, $700
9th: Will Thomas, Madison, Ga., 10 bass, 19-15, $600
10th: Giovanni Pizza, Boca Raton, Fla., seven bass, 19-11, $500
The Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on the St. Johns River was hosted by the Putnam County Tourist Development Council. It featured the top pros and Strike King co-anglers from the Bulldog, Choo Choo, Gator and South Carolina divisions.
The 2021 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine consisted of 24-divisions devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season and 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, advance to one of six Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championships.
The top six finishers in each regional will qualify for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American, which will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
The top boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the Bass Pro Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on the MLF BIG5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network, the Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. In 2019 MLF which expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh and immediately release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
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