SPRING CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 22, 2025) – Boater Matthew Rock of Bristol, Virginia, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Watts Bar. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Rock earned $4,604 for his victory. Rock said he targeted main-river channel swings in 25 to 35 feet of water using LiveScope. He said the fish weren’t structure related and there was no rhyme or reason to the catches.
“I found an area in practice – about a 300-yard stretch – and I just sat there until about 10:30 Saturday and caught all of my weight there. Then I just went running around practicing for the next day,” said Rock. “I went back there Sunday and caught four, but the fish had left, so I relocated and caught my fifth keeper at 2:40.”
Rock said he used a Big Huey Lures custom minnow and a Big Huey Lures custom jighead to boat his bass from the channel swings. Saturday, he boated “nine or 10” keepers, and only five Sunday, but they were the right five to secure his first BFL win as a boater.
“When I caught that fifth keeper Sunday, I knew the rest of the boys would have to really catch them to beat me,” Rock said. “I wasn’t going to just let them have it.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Matthew Rock, Bristol, Va., 10 bass, 34-2, $4,604
2nd: Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., 10 bass, 31-15, $2,452
3rd: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-0, $2,036 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
4th: Turner Tharpe, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-13, $1,074
5th: Michael Morrison, Stamping Ground, Ky., 10 bass, 30-4, $1,461
6th: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-2, $844
7th: Jeffery Moore, Harriman, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-12, $767
8th: Terry Ford, Harriman, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-8, $691
9th: Josh Lee, Powell, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-4, $614
10th: Camdyn Cranfill, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-4, $537
Michael Morrison of Stamping Ground, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $540. Chuck Lyons of Riner, Virginia, won the co-angler division and $2,572 Sunday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Chuck Lyons, Riner, Va., five bass, 13-3, $2,572
2nd: Christopher Davis, Huntsville, Ala., four bass, 10-15, $1,151
3rd: Dewayne Drummonds, Gray, Ky., four bass, 10-0, $767
4th: Konnor Sweet, Abingdon, Va., four bass, 9-5, $537
5th: Kasey Hunley, Sharps Chapel, Tenn., three bass, 9-3, $460
6th: Billy Joe Wheat, Evensville, Tenn., four bass, 8-13, $422
7th: Steve Ouellette, Knoxville, Tenn., four bass, 7-15, $384
8th: Luke Shrader, Monticello, Ky., three bass, 7-8, $395
9th: Howard Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 6-9, $307
10th: Don Carmack, Middlesboro, Ky., two bass, 5-7, $269
Lyons also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $270, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 6 ounces.
With all five events in the division now complete, boater Jeremy Gordon of Rutledge, Tennessee, won the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,360 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Kasey Hunley of Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, won the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,335 points and earned the $500 payout.
The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-watts-barr-92225.html
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