SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (Feb. 16, 2026) – Boater Ben Yarbrough of Athens, Alabama, caught a total of five bass weighing 24 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Guntersville. The tournament was the first of five events of the season for the BFL Choo Choo Division. Yarbrough earned $7,750 for his victory. Yarbrough’s practice paid off, as he approached the tournament patiently with a wait-for-it approach.
“I sat in one pocket where there were about 15 boats until about 10 o’clock,” Yarbrough said. “I had pre-fished, and I knew the fish weren’t going to be right until the sun got to a certain position, whether it was cloudy or not.”
Time passed and Yarbrough sat patiently waiting on the sun. The deepest water the pocket had was 8 feet and was covered in grass. He said he knew the fish were out in the middle in the morning feeding on shad, but they were smaller fish. His bait of choice for the bass was a BOOYAH lipless crankbait.
“I sat there and didn’t catch a fish, a couple of boats left, and then the sun pulled up and the big fish turned on, and I caught five fish in 30 minutes,” Yarbrough said. “They were almost on the surface. I imagine you could almost catch them on a topwater bait. Once the sun pulled up, the bigger fish would come up to 4 feet, and I could burn that bait across the grass. As soon as my bait hit the water, I had to reel it fast with an 8:1 ratio reel. And that’s just typical Guntersville.
“I used my scoping period the last three hours of the day,” Yarbrough went on to say. “I wanted to save that as my last resort. I needed to upgrade. I had 20 pounds at that point and knew I needed 22 to 23 pounds to even have a chance at a top-5 finish. I caught two more that helped me out.”
Yarbrough relocated closer to the weigh-in ramp and had a chance to put a giant kicker in his livewell.
“I missed a 10-pounder,” Yarbrough said. “It rolled up on the water and straightened my hooks out.”
The missed fish was a heartbreaker for Yarbrough, but it turned out he didn’t need it to secure his first BFL win.
“This is wonderful,” Yarbrough said. “I’ve been trying to win a BFL for four years now. I told somebody, ‘I know this sounds crazy, but I’m more tickled about the trophy than the money.’”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Ben Yarbrough, Athens, Ala., five bass, 24-13, $7,750
2nd: Cal Lane, Grant, Ala., five bass, 23-9, $4,190 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
3rd: Hunter Davidson, Reform, Ala., five bass, 23-5, $1,660
4th: Jed Lamb, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 22-1, $1,155
4th: Tyler Pendergrass, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 22-1, $1,255
6th: Bo Quinnie, Duncanville, Ala., five bass, 22-0, $860
7th: Walt Roberts, Gautier, Miss., five bass, 21-14, $810
8th: Kade Harper, Section, Ala., five bass, 21-12, $760
9th: Sam Morgan, Coalmont, Tenn., five bass, 21-10, $710
10th: Jimmy Neece Jr., Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 21-9, $535
10th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., five bass, 21-9, $535
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Austin Smith of Attalla, Alabama, earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing a 8-pound, 14-ounce bass worth $200. Kade Suratt of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $3,875 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Kade Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 17-8, $3,875
2nd: Tyson Giesbrecht, Gurley, Ala., three bass, 16-12, $1,845
3rd: Kevin McWithey, Flintville, Tenn., three bass, 15-14, $830
4th: Jeff Collins, Albertville, Ala., three bass, 14-2, $630
5th: Josh Moore, Decatur, Ala., three bass, 13-1, $675
6th: Elliott Gault, Leesburg, Ala., three bass, 12-13, $430
7th: Jonathan Majors, Chelsea, Ala., three bass, 12-3, $410
8th: Isaac Brown, Lexington, Ala., three bass, 11-14, $380
9th: Joe Gionti, Stevenson, Ala., three bass, 11-13, $360
10th: Zac Brewer, Scottsboro, Ala., three bass, 11-8, $330
Josh Moore of Decatur, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass worth $100.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-guntersville-21626.html
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