CLANTON, Ala. (March 16, 2026) – Boater Keith Marston of Mobile, Alabama, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds even to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Mitchell. The tournament was the third of five events of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Marston earned $3,260 for his victory.
“I’ve fished Mitchell for about 15 years,” Marston said. “It’s just a fun place to fish where you can always go catch a lot of fish. I usually go up there this time of year and spend a couple of days there.
“I prefished Thursday afternoon in a gale-force wind and didn’t learn much of anything,” Marston continued. “The temperature fell overnight and the water temperature fell six or seven degrees, so Friday I didn’t learn much, neither.”
Marston said his plan for tournament day was to make a run up to a creek mouth, near the dam where he caught a good fish in practice. After an hour of fog delay, the field was released to fish and Marston headed for the creek mouth. The spot didn’t produce, however, and Marston was forced to run back south to some islands below the dam he had never fished before.
“I threw my shaky head up there on the point of an island that had current running around it, and I caught a 6-5 largemouth,” Marston said. “It was just being at the right place at the right time. It was a fight on a spinning rod.”
Marston’s shaky head rig consisted of an Owner Shakey Ultrahead and a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw. Marston also mixed up his presentation with a Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver.
After 30 minutes of inactivity, Marston returned to midlake to fish rocks and bulkheads. That strategy paid off, as Marston finished his limit then began to run the lake trying to cull smaller fish. Moving water forced Marston to go heavier with his bait, and he chose a War Eagle jig.
“We had about an hour to go and I knew I had about 16½ pounds, and I asked my co-angler if he wanted to run back up to the creek mouth below the dam,” Marston said. “We ran up there and he culled a fish and then I stuck one about 3¼ pounds. I culled out a 2 ½-pounder, and it gave me just enough to eke out a win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Keith Marston, Mobile, Alabama., five bass, 18-0, $3,260
2nd: Blake Davenport, Jemison, Ala., five bass, 17-13, $1,500
3rd: James Willoughby, Gulfport, Miss., five bass, 16-8, $770
4th: Robert Pelt II, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 16-7, $585
4th: Tyler Wesley, Pinson, Ala., five bass, 16-7, $585
6th: Kevin Jackson, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 15-9, $480
7th: Mark McCaig, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 15-6, $960 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
8th: David Parsons, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 15-5, $440
9th: Chris Allen, Wedowee, Ala., five bass, 14-3, $420
10th: Phillip Herring, Richton, Miss., five bass, 13-15, $410
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Marston earned the Big Bass Boater award with his 6-pound, 5-ounce bass, worth an extra $200. Randy Wiggins of Birmingham, Alabama, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,440 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Randy Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala., three bass, 10-1, $1,440
2nd: Michael Donaldson, Thorsby, Ala., three bass, 9-11, $710
3rd: Jim Jeter, Birmingham, Ala., three bass, 9-5, $370
4th: John Bryan, Carrollton, Ga., three bass, 9-0, $265
4th: Raymond Sturz, Opelika, Ala., three bass, 9-0, $265
4th: Phillip Easterling, Clanton, Ala., three bass, 9-0, $265
7th: Rodney Graham, Childersburg, Ala., three bass, 8-12, $230
8th: David Rhudy, Calera, Ala., three bass, 8-11, $215
9th: Jeffrey Ford, Trion, Ga, three bass, 8-9, $210
10th: Scott Noles, Woodland, Ala., three bass, 8-8, $200
Brian Lasiter of Kinston, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 3-pound, 15-ounce bass worth $100.
After three events, Blake Davenport of Jemison, Alabama, now leads the 7 Brew Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 724 points, while Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, leads the Bama Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 736 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-mitchell-31626.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News