“In September, Grand Lake goes through what I call the ‘fall blues,’” Lunceford said. “It’s a transition period. In practice I ran seven or eight spots I had fished in September, and I caught a limit pretty quick. I tried to expand on that, but a cold front came in and changed it.”

Lunceford said that October is traditionally a good time for a topwater bite, but he couldn’t get bass to react during the tournament. Instead he focused on what worked for him in practice, and in the first 10 minutes of the opening day of the tournament he had two fish for eight pounds in the livewell. The same tactics worked on the second day, then the weather changed.

“The wind blew on the last day, and I knew I probably couldn’t fish the areas I had been fishing, but I had to go look at them,” Lunceford said. “I couldn’t run in that wind, so I turned around and fished some stuff in practice from Sailboat Bridge up to near Neosho. Once I ran those spots, I just started fishing history.

“I’m 41 years old, and I’ve been going to Grand Lake since I was 15,” Lunceford added. “The win felt great because it was 20-something years of redemption of letting multi-day tournament wins slip through my fingers.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2023 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

1st:        Phillip Lunceford, Stigler, Okla., 15 bass, 39-7, $61,000
2nd:       Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 38-11, $11,000
3rd:       Shane Long, Willard, Mo., 15 bass, 38-7, $5,000
4th:        Travis Harriman, Huntsville, Ark., 15 bass, 38-5, $4,200
5th:        Chris Huselton, Conway, Ark., 15 bass, 37-14, $3,000
6th:        Dustin Lippe, Blue Eye, Mo., 14 bass, 35-6, $2,300 (including $500 Phoenix MLF contingency
bonus)

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:

7th:        Graden Hansen, Grove, Okla., 14 bass, 35-4, $1,600
8th:        Derek Felton, Willard, Mo., 13 bass, 35-2, $1,400
9th:        Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., 15 bass, 34-9, $2,200
10th:     Travis Mosley, Benton, Ark., 12 bass, 34-7, $1,100

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Arkie:                   Chris Huselton, Conway, Ark., 5th Place, $1,000
Cowboy:              Clark Moore, Nacogdoches, Texas, 26th Place, $1,000
Great Lakes:       Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., 9th Place, $1,000
Ozark:                  Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 2nd Place $1,000

Lippe took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Cody Carl of Lake Lotawana, Missouri, weighed in 12 bass over three days totaling 25 pounds, 10 ounces to win the top Strike King co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The top six Strike King co-anglers that qualified for the 2023 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

1st:          Cody Carl of Lake Lotawana, Mo., 12 bass, 25-10, $50,000
2nd:         Chris Bunk, Sullivan, Mo., nine bass, 24-4, $5,500
3rd:         Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., 11 bass, 21-7, $3,000
4th:         Daniel Bryant, Scott, La., 10 bass, 19-14, $2,100
5th:         Steve Duncan, Amarillo, Texas, eight bass, 19-4, $1,200
6th:         John Hankins, Atkins, Ark., eight bass, 18-9, $900

Rounding out the top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

7th:         Stephan Gross, Laneville, Texas, nine bass, 18-5, $800
8th:         Randy Allen, Russellville, Ark., eight bass, 18-2, $900
9th:         Larry Weeks, Ridgedale, Mo., seven bass, 17-10, $600
10th:       Albert Ignacio, Dallas, Texas, nine bass, 17-4, $550

The top four Strike King Co-anglers from each division that earned a $500 bonus for placing highest in the event were:

Arkie:                   Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., 3rd Place, $500
Cowboy:              Daniel Bryant, Scott, La. 4th Place, $500
Great Lakes:       Nicholas Oates, Marengo, Ill., 18th Place, $500
Ozark:                  Chris Bunk, Sullivan, Mo., 2nd Place $500

The Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Regional Tournament on Grand Lake was hosted by the City of Grove. It featured the top pros and Strike King co-anglers from the Arkie, Cowboy, Great Lakes and Ozark divisions.

The 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, advanced to one of six Regional Championships where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

The top boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.