IUKA, Miss. (March 16, 2026) – Boater Cody Harrison of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, caught five bass weighing 22 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Pickwick Lake . The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Harrison earned $2,320 for his victory.
“I ran downriver today and didn’t stop until I got to the Natchez Trace bridge,” Harrison said. “I started out cranking some current breaks and caught two fish pretty quick. But I really didn’t get on anything until I stopped just shy of the dam.”
Harrison said he continued to fish current breaks and around 10 a.m. changed the color of his swimbait from a Citron color to a Green Bean color. That’s when his luck changed.
“On the first cast I made with the new color I caught a 4-6,” Harrison said. “I knew I had figured out the color. So, I made a few drifts and culled up to 19 pounds. I bounced around to let the spot rest, then I went back and fished it hard, but I didn’t get a fish that would help me.”
“I didn’t start (Garmin) LiveScope until 1:00 when I pulled up into a little sneaky place,” Harrison went on to say. “I could see the fish down there, and I knew something was about to happen.”
Harrison said he tried an Alabama rig and could see fish following it, so he switched back to the True Bass Hollow Body Swimbait 4.5 with a ¾-ounce True Bass True Lock Swimbait Jig Head and promptly caught a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass, one that weighed 4-14 and one that went 3-6 to cull up to more than 21 pounds. Harrison opted for a ¾-ounce jig head instead of his usual ½-ounce head for use in the high current.
“I really didn’t think I would win,” Harrison said. “I thought a top 5 was possible. I knew I had 22 pounds and some change, so I felt like that was pretty solid. I lost two fish, and whenever you lose one… I mean, you have to fish clean to win, so I thought losing those two was going to be a killer. I thought a win was out of the question.
“So, I was really glad to get a win on this lake,” Harrison went on to say. “I’m here all the time and I know so much about this place it usually burns me. I have too much water, and I kind of get spaced out too much. The last Toyota Series event I fished here I had fish from one end to the other and I didn’t know where to start and I just bombed. I’m just glad I got to redeem myself after the last Toyota event I fished here.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Cody Harrison, Muscle Shoals, Ala., five bass, 22-8, $2,320
2nd: Clayton Ellis, Saltillo, Miss., five bass, 21-5, $1,360
3rd: Donny Beck, Killen, Ala., five bass, 18-6, $630
4th: Skip Howell, Okolona, Miss., five bass, 17-13, $530
5th: Blake Daugherty, Pope, Miss., five bass, 17-9, $470
6th: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., four bass, 16-14, $915 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
6th: Corban Knight, Somerville, Tenn., five bass, 16-14, $415
8th: Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., five bass, 16-9, $390
9th: Shane Cox, Iuka, Miss., four bass, 16-5, $380
10th: JR Dukes, Tillatoba, Miss., five bass, 16-2, $520
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Clayton Ellis of Saltillo, Mississippi, earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $200. Scott Towry of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,160 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 10-6, $1,160
2nd: Christopher Beach, Brookhaven, Miss., three bass, 8-14, $580
3rd: Wade Mitchell, Woodland, Miss., three bass, 8-12, $315
4th: Bill Goldman, Tylertown, Miss., three bass, 8-5, $265
5th: Thomas Alexander, Austin, Ark., three bass, 7-11, $235
6th: John Higginbotham, Denham Springs, La., three bass, 7-5, $210
7th: Larry Stewart Jr., Brandon, Miss., one bass, 6-1, $302
7th: Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., two bass, 6-1, $202
9th: Ansel Davis, Tylertown, Miss, one bass, 5-4, $190
10th: Jeff Porter, Southaven, Miss., two bass, 5-1, $185
Larry Stewart Jr. of Brandon, Mississippi, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $100.
After two events, Blake Daugherty of Pope, Mississippi, now leads the 7 Brew Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 495 points, while John Higginbotham of Denham Springs, Louisiana, leads the Mississippi Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 485 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-pickwick-31626.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News