ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (Jan. 19, 2026) – Boater Josh Harrison of Camp Hill, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 15 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Martin. The tournament was the first of five events of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Harrison earned $3,630 for his victory. Harrison said he began the tournament on the upper end of the lake.
“I had four or five areas that had fish in them lately, and I stayed in one area half the day and just kind of grinded it out,” Harrison said. “I was fishing pretty shallow, and I culled through a bunch of small fish. Then about mid-morning I caught close to a 4-pound fish.”
Harrison then relocated to a mid-lake area and caught some small keepers before he hooked into his second 4-pounder of the day.
“I knew when I caught that second big one I was probably going to cash a good check – a Top 5 or Top 10,” Harrison said. “I figured it was going to take 15 or 16 pounds to win. Usually, it takes 12 to 14 pounds to win there, but I figured there’d be some pretty big largemouth weighed in.”
Harrison said he fished the areas thoroughly with a crankbait, spinnerbait and jig and never used forward-facing sonar during the event. He estimated that he caught 20 keepers during the course of the tournament, and the 4-pounders he caught fell for a crankbait and a jig.
“Martin can be a tough lake,” Harrison went on to say. “And because it’s so tough, it gave me a challenge to really figure it out. I guess I’m going against the grain as far as technology goes, but to not use the technology available and get the win was my biggest accomplishment.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Josh Harrison, Camp Hill, Ala., five bass, 13-15, $3,630
2nd: Blake Davenport, Jemison, Ala., five bass, 13-12, $1,770
3rd: Lucas Lindsay, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 13-6, $890
4th: Ed Payne, Guin, Ala., five bass, 12-13, $710
5th: Alexander Wilson Sr., Millbrook, Ala., five bass, 12-3, $630
6th: Tristen Price, Madison, Ala., five bass, 12-0, $540
7th: Larry Franks Jr., Wilsonville, Ala., five bass, 11-11, $1,020 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
8th: Bill Spratlin, Rockford, Ala., five bass, 11-4, $490
9th: Jerry Brumfield, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 11-2, $470
10th: Anthony Goggins, Chelsea, Ala., five bass, 10-15, $450
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Manning Larkins of Hueytown, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass worth $200.
Colton Jennings of Moody, Alabama, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,765 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Colton Jennings, Moody, Ala., three bass, 7-3, $1,765
2nd: Alvin Shirey, Talladega, Ala., three bass, 7-2, $561
2nd: Thomas Mercer, Montgomery, Ala., three bass, 7-2, $611
2nd: Nic Harden, Deatsville, Ala., three bass, 7-2, $561
5th: Rodney Graham, Childersburg, Ala., three bass, 6-9, $365
6th: Steve Watson, Dadeville, Ala., three bass, 6-7, $270
7th: Jeffrey Ford, Trion, Ga., three bass, 5-14, $252
7th: Larry Chadwick, Phenix City, Ala., three bass, 5-14, $252
9th: Raymond Sturz, Opelika, Ala., three bass, 5-13, $240
10th: Colt Hinson, Andalusia, Ala., three bass, 5-12, $225
Rodney Graham of Childersburg, Alabama, and Thomas Mercer of Montgomery, Alabama, split the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $100 after each landed a 3-pound, 2-ounce bass.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-martin-11926.html
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