MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. (June 22, 2026) – Boater Michael Stout of Gallatin, Tennessee, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Old Hickory Lake. The tournament was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Music City Division. Stout earned $2,960 for his victory.
“I really didn’t have a place to start, so I kind of just bounced around,” Stout said. “Most of my stuff was offshore. They started pulling current, and they weren’t supposed to, but it made the fish set up on a couple of key spots and I was able to catch them with (Garmin) LiveScope and without it. It was basically a big plug, worm and a football jig for me.”
Stout said he fished mid-lake to the bottom end of the lake and targeted current breaks on the main river in 6 to 12 feet of water. He attacked first with the crankbait and then switched to the more subtle baits to coax bites.
“Around 10 or 11 o’clock I felt like I had a shot at winning, but I felt that I was one fish short,” Stout said. “I had 17 pounds at 1:30 and I just happened to pull up on a hole and caught a 3½-pounder.
“It was a good day. Everything just kind of fell into place,” Stout went on to say. It’s an awesome feeling to win. It shows that all of the hard work you put in pays off. That’s the most rewarding thing to me.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Michael Stout, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 18-2, $2,960
2nd: Angel Rosario, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 18-1, $1,700
3rd: Austin True, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $1,195 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
3rd: Craig Gann, Castalian Springs, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $695
5th: Sam Lashlee, Camden, Tenn., five bass, 13-12, $550
6th: Jayson Johnson, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $470
6th: Cole Petroff, Mt. Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $470
8th: Shane Oxford, Saint Meinrad, Ind., five bass, 13-3, $690
9th: Matthew Poss, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 13-1, $420
10th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., five bass, 12-12, $560
Angel Rosario of Kalamazoo, Michigan, earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing a 4-pound, 6-ounce bass worth $200. Richard Payne of Portland, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,580 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Richard Payne, Portland, Tenn., three bass, 10-11, $1,580
2nd: David Marr, Cleveland, Tenn., three bass, 7-14, $750
3rd: Blake Whittaker, Cookeville, Tenn., three bass, 7-9, $347
3rd: Tyrell Harmon, Hermitage, Tenn., three bass, 7-9, $347
5th: Jarrod White, Lebanon, Tenn., three bass, 7-3, $275
6th: Jeff Cave, Mt. Juliet, Tenn., three bass, 7-0, $340
7th: Redd Reynolds, Flintville, Tenn., three bass, 6-13, $230
8th: Ricky England, Sparta, Tenn., three bass, 6-12, $220
9th: Chris Seese, Ten Mile, Tenn., three bass, 6-9, $188
9th: David Dan, Lebanon, Tenn., three bass, 6-9, $188
9th: David Wiley, Greenbrier, Tenn., three bass, 6-9, $188
Richard Payne of Portland, Tennessee, earned the Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $100.
After four events, tournament winner Michael Stout now leads the 7 Brew Music City Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 968 points, while David Wiley of Greenbrier, Tennessee, leads the Music City Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 952 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-hickory-62226.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News