Georgia’s Tyler Campbell Wins Lake Murray BFL

Tyler Campbell (left), of Martin, won the Major League Fishing BLF tournament on Lake Murray in South Carolina. Ross Doolittle (right), of Greenwood, South Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division.

PROSPERITY, S.C. – Boater Tyler Campbell, of Martin, Ga., caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42-lbs., 13-ozs. to win the Lake Murray MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Super Tournament, which concluded Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Hosted by the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board, the tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Campbell earned $4,732 for his victory.

The winning pattern was probably not too surprising in this derby.

“Typical herring bite,” Campbell said. “I was catching them on topwater and swimbaits; mainly a topwater offshore.”

Campbell fished off the deep ends of shallow points where bass were suspending in cane piles. He figures he fished about 150 cane piles throughout the tournament—a rapid pace of covering water that burned about 50 gallons of gas each day.

“It was just about timing and pulling up when they were ready to bite, which is the key to burning so much gas,” he said. “You have to filter through so many places, and then eventually they’re going to fire for you. I will say, today (Sunday) the game changer was I was sitting on about 18 pounds all day. I got really unlucky and lost some big fish. I should’ve had a mega-bag today, but stuff happens. I was sitting on about 18 pounds at 2:30, and we had to be in at 2:45. I pulled into a spot I haven’t been able to get on all week. I made one cast and caught a 5-pounder and that sealed it for me.”

Campbell’s go-to lures included a Zoom Super Fluke in blue glimmer, a chrome Berkley Drift Walker topwater bait and a chrome Berkley Krej.

The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Tyler Campbell, Martin, Ga., 10 bass, 42-13, $4,732
2nd:        Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., 10 bass, 42-1, $2,366
3rd:        Wesley Sandifer, Chapin, S.C., 10 bass, 39-14, $1,577
4th:         Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., 10 bass, 34-12, $1,729 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th:         Aspen Martin, White, Ga., nine bass, 30-4, $946
6th:         Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., 10 bass, 30-4, $868
7th:         Joe Anders, Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 30-3, $789
8th:         Rodney Bell, Salisbury, N.C., 10 bass, 28-6, $710
9th:         Roger Pope, Statesville, N.C., 10 bass, 28-5, $631
10th:      Chad Sims, Lancaster, S.C., eight bass, 24-10, $552

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jake Monti, of Mooresville, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 6-lbs., 7-ozs., and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $555.

Ross Doolittle, of Greenwood, South Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,366 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of four bass to the scale that weighed 13-lbs., 7-ozs.

The Top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:          Ross Doolittle, Greenwood, S.C., four bass, 13-7, $2,366
2nd:        Arthur Harris, York, S.C., four bass, 13-6, $1,183
3rd:        Scott McKay, New London, N.C., three bass, 10-10, $790
4th:         Dillon Reid, Piedmont, S.C., four bass, 10-0, $552
5th:         Lonnie Drusch, Sumter, S.C., four bass, 9-15, $473
6th:         Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., three bass, 8-4, $534
7th:         Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., two bass, 8-2, $394
8th:         Trent Killian, Bostic, N.C., four bass, 7-6, $355
9th:         Brian Nappier, Huntersville, N.C., four bass, 7-1, $315
10th:      Sam Fish, Alexander City, Ala., two bass, 5-13, $276

Preston Catoe, of Lugoff, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $277, catching a bass that weighed in at 5-lbs., 9-ozs.—the largest co-angler catch of the day.

At the conclusion of the event, Joe Anders, of Easley, South Carolina, was crowned the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,324 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Trent Killian, of Bostic, North Carolina, won the Fishing Clash South Carolina Division Co-angler of the Year race and the $500 prize with 1,320 points.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, have qualified for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.

The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.