ANDERSON, S.C. (Feb. 3, 2025) – Boater Bradley Day of Anderson, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds even Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament at Lake Hartwell. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Day earned $3,514 for his victory. Day didn’t waste any time on tournament morning. In fact, his game plan involved making hay “before” the sun was shining.
“I caught them all in the first 45 minutes,” he said. “I pulled up in a ditch and got lucky and caught a couple threes (3-pounders) right off the bat, and then I went to the next ditch over – a couple pockets down – and caught like a 5 and a 4 in that ditch, too. I pretty much had 21 pounds in the first 45 minutes to an hour. I struggled the rest of the day.”
The early action was no surprise to Day, who fishes Hartwell just about every weekend. He knew the fishing would get tougher once the sun got high. That’s why he chose to stay close to the ramp and ran spots that he could cover quickly.
Most of the fish Day caught were suspending right at the tops of standing timber. While they were relating to the timber, the fish were continuously on the move. To track them down, he used finesse tackle, including a shaky head and a Keitech swimbait, while fishing most of the time with his forward-facing sonar.
“Some of the stuff is prespawn,” Day added, referring to his target areas. “A couple of them did slide up just a little bit with the warmer days – shallower in the ditches. Rather than 50, 60 foot, instead they were 35, 40 foot, kind of in the backs of some of those places – in the backs of the creeks. That’s kind of what they do as they get further back. That’s kind of their prespawn, and then they go from there.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 21-0, $3,514
2nd: Xander Patton, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 19-13, $1,757
3rd: Max Heaton, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 19-12, $1,172
4th: Logan Anderson, Sherrills Ford, N.C., five bass, 18-6, $820
5th: Dylan Akins, Flowery Branch, Ga., five bass, 18-5, $703
6th: T.J. Souther, Brevard, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $1,085 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
6th: Caleb Allgood, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $585
6th: Michael Webster, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $1,035
9th: Michael Gammons, North Charleston, S.C., five bass, 18-0, $469
10th: Josh Kauffman, Marysville, Pa., five bass, 17-4, $410
Michael Webster of Gastonia, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $450. Troy Mims of Suwanee, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $1,982 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Troy Mims, Suwanee, Ga., three bass, 12-11, $1,982
2nd: Dan Marin, Appling, Ga., three bass, 11-8, $879
3rd: Mark Garrett, Six Mile, S.C., three bass, 10-7, $585
4th: Marvin Godard, Charlotte, N.C., three bass, 9-9, $510
5th: Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., three bass, 9-7, $351
6th: Gibson Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 9-5, $322
7th: Roger McKee, Columbia, S.C., three bass, 7-15, $293
8th: Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., three bass, 7-14, $264
9th: Darren Jeter, Asheville, N.C., three bass, 7-10, $234
10th: Chuck Bagwell, Laurens, S.C., three bass, 6-14, $205
Mims also earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $225, catching a bass that weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Lucas Murphy of West Columbia, South Carolina, now leads the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 487 points, while Rodney Tapp of Inman, South Carolina, leads the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 486 points.
The next event for BFL South Carolina Division anglers will be held Feb. 22, at Santee Cooper Lakes out of Summerton, South Carolina.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-hartwell-2325.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News