BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (June 9, 2025) – Boater Hunter Sales of Blaine, Tennessee, caught a three-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 15 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Dale Hollow Lake. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. Sales earned $2,703 for his victory.
With BFL anglers restricted to three keepers on Dale Hollow, separating yourself from the pack was almost certainly going to take a big kicker fish. And Sales got one. Among the three largemouth in his bag was one that weighed around 5 pounds.
“Most of the fish that I was catching were singles, not really in groups,” he said. “I caught those a couple different ways. I caught some dragging a jig on the end of some long points and also scoping a minnow.
“I put my trolling motor down this morning at probably 6:20 or so, and I never picked my trolling motor up until it was time to come back to weigh-in,” Sales added.
Sales spent the entire day in one area where he located some 3 1/2-pound-class fish in the four or so hours that he got to practice on Friday. Staying in that area and casting to as many fish as he could, from the points to the river channel, allowed him to be most efficient and effective.
His winning fish came on a Z-Man football jig and Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ on a 3/8-ounce Queen Tackle jighead tied to 15-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid with an 8-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon leader.
The top 11 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Hunter Sales, Blaine, Tenn., three bass, 11-15, $2,703
2nd: Chris Halfacre, Cookeville, Tenn., three bass, 11-12, $1,452
3rd: Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., three bass, 11-11, $901
4th: Tristan Abbott, Somerset, Ky., three bass, 11-10, $631
5th: Whit Terry, Cookeville, Tenn., three bass, 11-7, $541
6th: Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., three bass, 11-6, $996 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., three bass, 11-5, $576
8th: Blake Smith, Byrdstown, Tenn., three bass, 11-2, $405
9th: Ryan Laper, Bowling Green, Ky., three bass, 11-1, $660
10th: Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., three bass, 10-12, $299
10th: Christian Nash, Allons, Tenn., three bass, 10-12, $299
Ryan Laper of Bowling Green, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $300. Doug Back of Jackson, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and $1,352 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Doug Back, Jackson, Ky., three bass, 8-9, $1,352
2nd: Stephen Waldon, Ellenwood, Ga., three bass, 8-2, $676
3rd: Chris Rushing, Gamaliel, Ky., three bass, 7-6, $450
4th: Tim Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., three bass, 7-3, $315
5th: Brad Thacher, Murray, Ky., three bass, 7-1, $270
6th: Tyler Thompson, Radcliff, Ky., three bass, 6-15, $248
7th: Grant Aumiller, Danville, Ky., three bass, 6-12, $225
8th: Jayden Hearn, Brush Creek, Tenn., two bass, 6-9, $203
9th: Isaac Mueller, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 6-5, $180
10th: Cajun Rob Welsh, Berea, Ky., three bass, 5-10, $158
Tracy Helton of London, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $150, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Lee Sinclair of Albany, Kentucky, now leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 963 points, while Allen Neal of Whitley City, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 956 points.
The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Mountain Division anglers will be held Sept. 13-14, at Lake Cumberland in Monticello, Kentucky.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-dale-hollow-6825.html
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