JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (May 19, 2025) – Boater Justin McGaha of Knoxville, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Cherokee Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. McGaha earned $2,748 for his victory.
During practice for Cherokee, McGaha worked a glide bait around floating docks, taking advantage of the bait’s knack for getting bass to follow – but not bite – to figure out which docks were holding fish. Then, in the tournament, he returned to those docks and caught the winning limit with a big swimbait and swim jig. McGaha’s limit was comprised entirely of postspawn largemouth bass, which he plucked from the shade way back under the docks.
“I probably hit 30 or more docks all day long,” McGaha said. “They weren’t docks all the way back (in the creeks). It would be docks on points or individual docks.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-14, $2,748
2nd: Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., five bass, 17-10, $2,109 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., five bass, 14-12, $882
4th: J.R. Henard, Rogersville, Tenn., five bass, 14-0, $618
5th: Andrew Napier, Fisherville, Ky., five bass, 13-12, $530
6th: Tony Wilson, Barbourville, Ky., five bass, 13-11, $485
7th: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 13-0, $441
8th: Matthew Rock, Bristol, Va., five bass, 12-4, $397
9th: Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., 12-2, $353
10th: Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., five bass, 11-15, $309
Clint Brodsky of Burlington, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $285. Elijah Caudill of Rutledge, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,324 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Elijah Caudill, Rutledge, Tenn., three bass, 8-1, $1,324
2nd: Kasey Hunley, Sharps Chapel, Tenn., three bass, 7-13, $662
3rd: Glenn Smith Jr., Corbin, Ky., three bass, 7-9, $440
4th: Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, three bass, 7-4, $309
5th: Tracy Helton, London, Ky., three bass, 6-7, $265
6th: Robert Duncan, Stearns, Ky., three bass, 6-5, $243
7th: Robert Jones, Whitley City, Ky., three bass, 6-2, $221
8th: Allen Neal, Whitley City, Ky., three bass, 6-0, $199
9th: Ryan Lee, Pound, Va., three bass, 5-10, $177
10th: Joshua Cloutier, Glasgow, Ky., three bass, 5-2, $154
Shane Bowman of Caryville, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $142, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Branden Grubb of Lily, Kentucky, now leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 716 points, while Allen Neal of Whitley City, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 728 points.
The next event for BFL Mountain Division anglers will be held June 7, at Dale Hollow Lake on Byrdstown, Tennessee.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-cherokee-51925.html
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