BRANDON, Miss. (June 9, 2025) – Boater John Anderson of Bay Springs, Mississippi, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Ross Barnett Reservoir. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Anderson earned $3,531 for his victory. This is Anderson’s second BFL win in as many seasons. And like last year, when he got the W on Lake Ferguson, Anderson gave his outboard a workout.
“I burned a lot of gas,” he said. “The last time I won, I did a whole bunch of running that day, too. I ran all over the lake.”
He kicked things off running far up the river to get away from the crowd.
“I caught a bunch of fish just fishing anything that looked good in front of me,” Anderson said. “Then later on in the day, I went out in the main lake to two known community holes and started throwing a frog in some windblown lily pads. I was able to secure two quality fish and didn’t think I had enough because I lost several big ones doing that.”
Anderson’s fears were nearly right, as he wound up getting the win by just 3 ounces over John Berry. He says not hooking fish in practice was an important strategy on a lake where “you can’t catch ’em two days in a row.” Instead, Anderson ran around listening for bluegills in grass, marking those areas to fish in the tournament.
“I keep it pretty simple up there,” he added. “I was throwing a frog and a swim jig on anything that was green touching the water.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: John Anderson, Bay Springs, Miss., five bass, 17-3, $3,531
2nd: John Berry, Mt. Olive, Miss., five bass, 17-0, $1,535
3rd: Alfred Williams, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 15-13, $1,024
4th: Roger Stegall, Iuka, Miss., five bass, 15-10, $716
5th: Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., five bass, 14-14, $614
6th: Hunter Briles, Russellville, Ala., five bass, 14-13, $563
7th: Blake Daugherty, Pope, Miss., five bass, 14-12, $512
8th: Shannon Denson, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-10, $461
9th: Timmy Ming, Louisville, Miss., five bass, 13-6, $409
10th: Barrett Saunders Hammond, La., five bass, 13-0, $858 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
Anderson caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $360. Davis Hendry of Madison, Mississippi, won the co-angler division and $1,535 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Davis Hendry, Madison, Miss., three bass, 7-11, $1,535
2nd: Ryan Lecompte, Picayune, Miss., three bass, 7-8, $640
2nd: Lance Jackson, Starkville, Miss., three bass, 7-8, $640
4th: Finn Norsworthy, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 7-5, $358
5th: Cy Matlock, Crump, Tenn., three bass, 7-4, $307
6th: Thomas Russell, Clarksdale, Miss., two bass, 7-1, $281
7th: Daryl Powell, Leesville, La., three bass, 7-0, $243
7th: Isiah Kelly, Memphis, Tenn., three bass, 7-0, $243
9th: Reggie Thornton, Columbus, Miss., three bass, 6-15, $205
10th: Will Herrington, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 6-14, $229
Chris Mitchell of Millport, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $180, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Luke Glasgow of Guin, Alabama, now leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 950 points, while Steve Hammack of Caledonia, Mississippi, leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 909 points.
The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Mississippi Division anglers will be held Sept. 27-28, at Pickwick Lake in Iuka, Mississippi.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-ross-barnett-6925.html
BFL News Archive