Boater Lee Black of Danville caught five bass this past Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Neely Henry Lake. The tournament, hosted by the City of Gadsden, was the fourth event for the Bass Fishing League Bama Division. Black earned $4,315 for his victory.

“I started off and ran about 40 minutes to my first place, and it was kind of slow for the first two hours,” Black said. “I had four fish in the livewell, and one that weighed 3.5 pounds. Then, about noon, the bigger fish started biting and I caught three 4-pounders.”

Black said he focused on an upriver section of Neely Henry and caught 10 bass, including eight keepers, during the course of the day. He said a vibrating jig accounted for most of his keeper fish. He added that two of his biggest fish came while flipping a Z-Man Palmetto BugZ creature bait.

“I have fished a lot of BFL events and have finished second and third, but never have won one,” Black said. “It feels good to finally get one.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

• First: Lee Black, Danville, five bass, 15-6, $4,315
• Second: Kris Colley, Ragland, five bass, 15-0, $2,767
• Third: Wes Logan, Springville, five bass, 14-15, $1,439
• Fourth: Scott Chatham, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 13-7, $1,007
• Fifth: Mark McCaig, Oxford, five bass, 13-5, $1,563
• Sixth: Taylor Parker, Lake View, five bass, 12-8, $1,441
• Seventh: Jason Nixon, Wetumpka, five bass, 12-3, $683
• Seventh: Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., five bass, 12-3, $683 (contingency)
• Ninth: Beau Gregory, Tallassee, four bass, 11-14, $575
• Tenth: David Wesson, Southside, five bass, 11-12, $503

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.