Prosperity's Sabbagha takes 1st at Phoenix Bass Fishing League tourney on Santee Cooper

SUBMITTED BY MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING

SUMMERTON - Boater Joey Sabbagha of Prosperity caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces, on March 4 to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Santee Cooper. The tournament, hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, was the second event for the BFL South Carolina Division. Sabbagha earned $6,000 for his victory.

"During practice, I found some fish in the lower lake that were staging in some shallow depressions on some flats," said Sabbagha, who notched his second BFL win. "So, I ran that pattern of five depressions I found that had fish laying in them. I just rotated through them with a Berkley spinnerbait."

Sabbagha said he targeted flats in 3 1/2 feet of water, where the subtle depressions lay in four feet of water. The method provided Sabbagha with his weigh fish within his first two stops on tournament day. He said he caught nine keepers during the day but wasn't able to improve his weight. That early weight, however, turned out to be enough for the win.

"I expected it to take 26 to 28 pounds to win," Sabbagha said. "But we had a storm come through the night before the tournament, and it muddied up some of the water, and I think that affected the fish.

"To get the win on my favorite lake is pretty awesome," added Sabbagha. "I'm very surprised and happy with it."

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

- First: Joey Sabbagha, Prosperity, five bass, 23-3, $6,000;

- Second: Mark Hutson, Moncks Corner, five bass, 21-1, $3,000;

- Third: Robert Clarke III, Pineville, five bass, 20-10, $2,000;

- Fourth: Jack Belt, Fountain Inn, five bass, 19-12, $1,400;

- Fifth: Chuck Howard, Elloree, five bass, 19-10, $2,200;

- Sixth: Greg Rikard, Leesville, five bass, 18-12, $2,570 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus);

- Seventh: Bryan Cook, Vance, five bass, 17-15, $1,000;

- Eighth: Matt Wieteha, Miami, Florida, five bass, 17-14, $900;

- Ninth: Corey Hymer, Bridgeton, New Jersey, five bass, 17-5, $800; and

- 10th: Freddie Gibbs, Darlington, five bass, 17-3, $700.

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Chuck Howard of Elloree caught a bass that weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,000.

Jerry Robbins of Asheboro, North Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $3,000 on Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

- First: Jerry Robbins, Asheboro, North Carolina, five bass, 17-12, $3,000;

- Second: Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, four bass, 13-5, $1,500;

- Third: Bobby Henderson, Charlotte, North Carolina, five bass, 13-2, $1,400;

- Fourth: Alan Bennett, Greenwood, five bass, 12-10, $700;

- Fifth: Scott Bowers, Woodbridge, Virginia, four bass, 12-7, $600;

- Sixth: Jeff Bissen, Lugoff, four bass, 12-2, $550;

- Seventh: Dustin Powell, Lake City, three bass, 11-12, $500;

- Eighth: Justin Antley, Ladson, four bass, 11-3, $450;

- Ninth: Tyler Hensley, Bostic, North Carolina, four bass, 10-14, $400; and

- 10th: Wesley Mullins, Guyton, Georgia, four bass, 10-1, $350.

Joe Case of Easley earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $500, catching a bass that weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces - the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Chuck Howard of Elloree leads the BFL South Carolina Division Boater Angler of the Year race with 494 points, while Bobby Henderson of Charlotte, North Carolina, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 484 points.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 19-21 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina.

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.