HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (March 17, 2025) – Boater Chip Hawkins of Little Rock, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Hamilton. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Hawkins earned $11,000, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
Even with all the advanced electronics and new, high-end tackle out there for bass anglers, there are some simple, old-school fishing adages that still hold true – and can still lead to winning stringers.
“My whole life, people have always told me, when it starts raining throw a spinnerbait, and I’ve always done it,” said Hawkins. “And I’ve actually had some of my best tournaments doing it.”
It worked on Saturday at Lake Hamilton. Hawkins caught his winning fish on a BOOYAH spinnerbait with an orange kicker blade. Hawkins was expecting to find fish moving up to get ready to spawn, so in practice he hunted for pockets with the warmest water – areas closer to 60 degrees. While his practice was pretty terrible – in his words – those pockets ended up being where he caught his fish.
“This morning it was raining and cloudy, and so I just picked up a spinnerbait and started running shallow pockets,” he said. “Until it quit raining around 11:30 or 12. Then it was pretty much over.
“I think I was just fishing shallower than most people, to be honest,” Hawkins added. “I was fishing 2 feet of water, where everybody else was still fishing points.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Chip Hawkins, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 18-12, $11,000 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 16-8, $2,000
3rd: Eugene Moore III, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 14-13, $1,334
4th: Jackson Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 14-11, $933
5th: Brady Horton, Clinton, Ark., five bass, 14-9, $800
6th: Russell Richmond, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 14-7, $1,273
7th: Allen Stewart, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 14-5, $633
7th: Cody McEntire, Walnut Ridge, Ark., five bass, 14-5, $633
9th: Chris Darby, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 14-2, $533
10th: Kollin Crawford, Broken Bow, Okla., five bass, 13-15, $467
Russel Richmond of Sheridan, Arkansas, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $540. Rocky Warden of Searcy, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and $2,270 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 11 co-anglers finished:
1st: Rocky Warden, Searcy, Ark., three bass, 9-13, $2,270
2nd: Benjamin Russell, Saint Robert, Mo., three bass, 9-8, $1,000
3rd: Michael Brown, Arkadelphia, Ark., three bass, 9-5, $666
4th: Tommy McCullar, Benton, Ark., three bass, 8-4, $467
5th: Dale Clark, Malvern, Ark., three bass, 7-15, $400
6th: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., three bass, 7-14, $367
7th: Keagan Harrison, Sulphur Rock, Ark., three bass, 7-13, $333
8th: Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., three bass, 7-11, $300
9th: Reagan Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $236
9th: Zachary Morrow, Lonsdale, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $236
9th: Trenton Williams, Alma, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $236
Warden also earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $270, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
In addition to winning the event, Chip Hawkins of Little Rock, Arkansas, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Rocky Warden of Searcy, Arkansas, leads the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.
The next event for BFL Arkie Division anglers will be held April 12, at Lake Ouachita out of Royal, Arkansas.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-hamilton-31725.html
BFL News