IUKA, Miss. (March 3, 2025) – Boater Carter Nutt of Nashville, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 29 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Pickwick Lake. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Nutt earned $3,792 for his victory.
Nutt’s win at Pickwick is a great example of adapting when an initial plan doesn’t work out. His strategy going into the event was to try to catch a couple quality bass from connected Bay Springs in the morning, then run back to Pickwick Lake to target bigger bites. Nutt said Pickwick was tough in practice, and while he caught some quality fish there, he didn’t catch many. Bay Springs was supposed to get him started strong, but things didn’t go to plan first thing Saturday morning. Thankfully, it not only worked out, but Nutt also caught an 8-plus-pounder on the way to a massive limit.
“It was tough on me to start off with,” Nutt said. “I made a long run over to Bay Springs, and I didn’t catch jack over there. I caught two like 2 3/4 (pounders). I ran back to Pickwick at 10:30 and hit a couple little magical places and caught 29 pounds’ worth. It was a slow grind, but I made it happen.”
It was three spots that produced Nutt’s winning fish – all current breaks. He said there’s a ton of current in the system, and the fish are setting up on main-lake breaks to get out of the flow. Once he found the fish on forward-facing sonar, Nutt caught most of his keepers using a Damiki rig or an Alabama rig.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Carter Nutt, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 29-7, $3,792
2nd: Chandler Howell, Guntown, Miss., five bass, 27-2, $1,689
3rd: Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., five bass, 25-8, $1,128
4th: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 25-7, $788
5th: Sam Ausbrooks, Loogootee, Ind., five bass, 25-2, $675
6th: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 24-12, $1,119 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Corban Knight, Somerville, Tenn., five bass, 24-3, $563
8th: Harbor Lovin, New Concord, Ky., five bass, 23-10, $507
9th: Nate Latham, Town Creek, Ala., five bass, 23-8, $450
10th: Blake Bullock, Seminary, Miss., five bass, 23-7, $394
Nutt also caught a bass that weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $415. William Walsh of Bon Aqua, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,689 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: William Walsh, Bon Aqua, Tenn., three bass, 13-9, $1,689
2nd: Matthew Cooper, Brooksville, Miss, three bass, 13-1, $844
3rd: Tim Rampaul, Dickson, Tenn., two bass, 11-7, $871
4th: Nathan Whitehead, Muscle Shoals, Ala., three bass, 11-5, $394
5th: Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 10-8, $338
6th: Chris Coates, Bethpage, Tenn., three bass, 10-0, $310
7th: Cy Matlock, Crump, Tenn., two bass, 9-3, $281
8th: Richard Baker, Jackson, Tenn., two bass, 8-8, $253
9th: Kris McCarter, Pheba, Miss, two bass, 8-6, $211
9th: Caleb Bass, Columbia, Miss., two bass, 8-6, $211
Tim Rampaul of Dickson, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $207, catching a bass that weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
In addition to earning the win, Carter Nutt of Nashville, Tennessee, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while William Walsh of Bon Aqua, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.
The next event for BFL Mississippi Division anglers will be held April 12, at Pickwick Lake in Iuka, Mississippi.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-pickwick-3325.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News