SMYRNA, Tenn. (March 9, 2009) - Steve Mull of Lebanon, Tenn., won the Bass Fishing League Music City Division bass fishing tournament on Percy Priest Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 16 pounds, 0 ounces. The victory earned Mull $3,632 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Clarks Hill Lake Regional Championship in Appling, Ga., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"During practice, I started at one end of the lake and went to the other," said Mull. "The fish were biting late in the day and I was concerned I didn't have the weight."
Mull caught his last three fish thirty-five minutes before time to weigh-in fishing shallow waters mid lake.
"I was one of the last ones to weigh-in," Mull said. Some of his friends looked in the boat to see what he had and they told him, "You've got it!"
Rounding out the top five boaters are Andrew Crabtree of Cane Ridge, Tenn. (five bass, 13-7, $1,816); Billy Hinson of Mount Juliet, Tenn. (four bass, 11-15, $1,210); Donnie Rubel of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (three bass, 11-12, $847) and Dayton Blair of Mount Juliet, Tenn. (four bass, 11-5, $726).
Andrew Crabtree took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $465 for a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught.
Steve Davis of Smyrna, Tenn., earned $1,816 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces that he caught on a Rapala jerkbait.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerrod Steward of Paris, Ky. (five bass, 10-10, $908); Lewis Qualls of Sparta, Tenn. (five bass, 9-10, $606); Chase Bradford of Dowelltown, Tenn. (three bass, 7-6, $424); and Doug Fraser of Ashland City, Tenn. (four bass, 7-3, $363).
Steve Davis earned $232 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass.
The next Music City Division event will be held on the Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, Tenn., March 28.