BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 10, 2025) – Boater Jeremy Gordon of Rutledge, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on South Holston Reservoir. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Gordon earned $3,255 for his victory.
“It started off decent,” Gordon said. “I caught like 17 1/2 pounds fairly quick. Then we had a little front come in, the clouds kind of rolled in and the wind started blowing out of the north-northeast. The bite got pretty tough after like 9 o’clock.”
The front also forced Gordon to make a strategy change. In practice, he was catching one or two quality largemouth bass each day, and his hope was to land a couple 5-pound-class largemouths as kickers. In the tournament, however, he spent a couple fruitless hours running that program before abandoning ship and shifting back to his smallmouth areas.
Around 2 p.m., he did get a break, catching a 4-pounder. Then the wind died down and the sun started shining, which turned on the bite and led to a wild moment that gave Gordon the win by just 2 ounces.
“They started doing what I needed them to do,” Gordon said. “I caught a couple key fish toward the end. Then I caught a 4 1/2-pounder with literally my last cast. I barely made it in (to check-in). It was crazy. I’ve fished a lot of tournaments – Toyotas, Invitationals, local stuff – and I’ve never won a tournament like that on the last cast.”
Gordon caught all his fish around schools of bait near spawning areas. The smallmouth bass are staging up, and he took advantage of it, using forward-facing sonar and a jighead minnow to get five of the right bites.
“It’s my first BFL win,” he added. “I’ve been close in some Toyotas. I mostly fish the Toyotas but decided to get in the Volunteer Division. To get an early win like this, it’s exciting.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 20-5, $3,255
2nd: Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., five bass, 20-3, $1,628
3rd: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 19-9, $1,584 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Greg McDavid, Blountville, Tenn., five bass, 19-7, $760
5th: Donavan Carson, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 19-6, $651
6th: Michael Morrison, Stamping Ground, Ky., five bass, 18-12, $722
7th: Jake Cross, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 18-9, $543
8th: Josh Lee, Powell, Tenn., five bass, 18-7, $461
8th: Jason Bridwell, Blountville, Tenn., five bass, 18-7, $461
10th: Gavin Daniels, Kingston, Tenn., five bass, 18-3, $780
Gavin Daniels of Kingston, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $400. T.J. Blakely of Kingsport, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,628 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: T.J. Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 9-4, $1,628
2nd: Brady Field, Gallatin, Tenn., three bass, 9-0, $1,014
3rd: Daniel Perkins, Honaker, Va., two bass, 8-10, $542
4th: Kirk Miles, Crossville, Tenn., three bass, 8-9, $353
4th: Konnor Sweet, Abingdon, Va., three bass, 8-9, $353
6th: Jake Davis, Wartburg, Tenn., three bass, 8-5, $298
7th: David Mundy, Dandridge, Tenn., three bass, 7-11, $271
8th: Aaron Webb, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 7-10, $244
9th: Isaac Mueller, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-4, $217
10th: Shane Winebarger, Abingdon, Va., three bass, 7-1, $190
Brady Field of Gallatin, Tennessee, earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $200, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Corey Neece of Bristol, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 498 points, while Konnor Sweet of Abingdon, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 485 points.
The next event for BFL Volunteer Division anglers will be held March 29, at South Holston Reservoir in Bristol, Tennessee
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-south-holston-31025.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News