BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 31, 2025) – Boater Zachary Francis of Abingdon, Virginia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on South Holston Reservoir. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Francis earned $3,247 for his victory. Francis weighed in a mixed bag comprised of three smallmouth bass and two largemouth bass. Regardless of species, he caught all his fish the same way.
“I was just out scoping,” he said. “I was catching some prespawn females. I started out this morning kind of in a community hole with several boats around. The fish were just real pressured. I had a small limit at 12 o’clock. Then I made a run and switched gears and went up the lake, and I just ran into some better quality fish there within the last hour and a half or so.”
South Holston is Francis’ home lake, so he knows where the fish spent the winter. He simply started in the backs of some nearby creeks and worked his way out toward the main lake until he ran into the lake’s bigger prespawn females. He caught his fish using a jighead that he pours and a soft plastic lure poured by a buddy.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Zachary Francis, Abingdon, Va., five bass, 21-6, $3,247
2nd: Kevin Stevenson, Butler, Tenn., five bass, 21-3, $1,623
3rd: Gavin Cloutier, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 20-11, $1,582 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Landon Lawson, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 20-7, $758
5th: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 20-2, $649
6th: Seth Austin, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 19-6, $958
6th: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 19-6, $568
8th: Donavan Carson, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 19-4, $487
9th: Hunter McClaskey, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 18-14, $433
10th: Conner Dimauro, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 18-12, $379
Corey Neece of Bristol, Tennesee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $390. Jack Williams of Kingsport, Tennessee, and Dewayne Drummonds of Gray, Kentucky, tied for the win in the co-angler division Saturday after each bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 1 ounce. They each took home $1,217 for their share of the winning prize.
The top 11 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jack Williams, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 10-1, $1,217
1st: Dewayne Drummonds, Gray, Ky., three bass, 10-1, $1,217
3rd: Ricky Crider, Dwale, Ky., three bass, 8-15, $541
4th: Brad Barton, Middlesboro, Ky., three bass, 8-9, $379
5th: Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 8-8, $325
6th: Stephen Vick, Dandridge, Tenn., three bass, 8-6, $298
7th: Kasey Hunley, Sharps Chapel, Tenn., three bass, 8-3, $271
8th: TJ Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 7-10, $244
9th: Colton Salyer, Gate City, Va., three bass, 7-9, $216
10th: Derek Ray, Swords Creek, Va., three bass, 7-8, $179
10th: Justin Goodman, Lancing, Tenn., three bass, 7-8, $179
Bud McKelvey of Knoxville, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $195, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Corey Neece of Bristol, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 743 points, while Stephen Vick of Dandridge, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 724 points.
The next event for BFL Volunteer Division anglers will be held May 18, at Cherokee Lake in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-south-holston-33125.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News