BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (March 24, 2025) – Boaters Lucas Reagan of Byrdstown, Tennessee, and Hunter Bouldin of McMinnville, Tennessee, tied for the win in the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Dale Hollow Lake on Sunday. They both caught five-bass limits weighing 21 pounds, 3 ounces, and each earned $2,233 for their share of the victory. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Music City Division.
Not surprisingly, the joint winners at Dale Hollow caught all of their fish using forward-facing sonar. The technology has dominated on the clear mountain reservoir over the last few years, as local anglers continue to expertly refine how to use it to catch suspended largemouth bass. Reagan and Bouldin were the most effective and efficient at adapting to the conditions on Sunday.
For Reagan, that meant abandoning his starting areas down the lake because of heavy winds, and then abandoning his backup water up the lake because it was blown out by muddy water. With Plans A and B both a flop, he went into “practice mode” and wound up catching his fish from a couple of areas he hadn’t even checked until the tournament. His primary lures were a Berkley Stunna 112+2 jerkbait and a Queen Tackle tungsten jighead with a Zoom Fluke .
“I had to find places the wind wasn’t blowing into really hard, where I could make decent casts on them, and some areas that weren’t just completely mud,” Reagan said.
Reagan tracked down enough fish to put together a pretty solid limit in the morning. Midday, his bite slowed until he applied some old-fashioned outdoors knowhow.
“Later in the day I looked across the lake. I was in a really windy area,” Reagan said. “I looked over at just a little pocket and I saw like four or five loons sitting there, and it was really calm. I thought, ‘There’ll be some bait there.’ I ran over and ended up making my last cull around 2:30. It was a 4.07 (pound bass). And I lost one more.”
Bouldin’s day started off much quicker. He caught a limit in the first 30 minutes.
“Then for whatever reason, where I was on that stretch, it was like they got kicked in the head,” Bouldin said. “They just quit. I made one more stop and there wasn’t really anything on it. So I ran around to this pocket in the Wolf (River), and there were fish suspended everywhere. I caught a 5-10, and then just a couple minutes later I caught two 4-pounders almost back to back.”
After his flurry, Bouldin figures he had 20 pounds by 10 o’clock. He made one last cull and lost a fish that might’ve gotten him the outright win. His catch came on a Burtek Tackle Wrangler soft-plastic minnow and a Rapala Crush City Freeloader.
Bouldin shouted out his buddy, Steven Heady, who did all the electronics rigging on Bouldin’s boat. Heady’s expertise ensured Bouldin would have clean power and the clearest, crispest sonar returns.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Lucas Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 21-3, $2,233
1st: Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 21-3, $2,233
3rd: Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 21-1, $843
3rd: Christian Nash, Allons, Tenn., five bass, 21-1, $843
5th: Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., five bass, 20-13, $595
6th: Tanner Rich, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 20-2, $546
7th: Wyatt Pearman, Hodgenville, Ky. five bass, 19-4, $496
8th: Gavin Cloutier, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 19-3, $947 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
9th: Logan Vicars, Corinth, Ky., five bass, 18-13, $372
9th: Nathan Reynolds, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 18-13, $372
Brady Duncan of Lebanon, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $340. Thomas Doc Legassie of Kingsport, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,498 Sunday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 11 co-anglers finished:
1st: Thomas Doc Legassie, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 10-11, $1,489
2nd: Gary Haraguchi, Murfreesboro, Tenn., three bass, 10-2, $914
3rd: Joshua Cloutier, Glasgow, Ky., three bass, 9-7, $497
4th: Parker Burgess, Granville, Tenn., three bass, 9-3, $347
5th: Lucas Brown, Albany, Ky., three bass, 9-2, $298
6th: Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., three bass, 9-1, $273
7th: Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., three bass, 8-15, $248
8th: Bobby Hannah, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 8-10, $323
9th: Wayne Crouch, Jamestown, Tenn., three bass, 8-6, $198
10th: Cole Mann, Crossville, Tenn., three bass, 8-4, $165
10th: Darryl Lee, Portland, Tenn., three bass, 8-4, $165
Gary Haraguchi of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $170, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Gavin Cloutier of Jonesborough, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Music City Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 492 points, while Tommy Pritchard of Bargersville, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Music City Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 494 points.
The next event for BFL Music City Division anglers will be held April 26, at Center Hill Lake in Sparta, Tennessee.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-dale-hollow-lake-32425.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News