OTHER STANDOUTS FROM 2020 |
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BRIAN MORGAN
No matter what tournament trail you ’ re fishing – from the Bass Pro Tour all the way down to a local weekend derby – three wins in a season is damn impressive . Just ask Brian Morgan , who tallied three victories in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division in 2020 .
Morgan fished all five tournaments in the division , finishing 38th and 17th in his two non-wins . Unsurprisingly , he won AOY honors in the North Carolina Division and pocketed more than $ 16,000 as a result .
“ To be honest , I kind of want to cry right now ,” Morgan said after securing his third win of the season . “ I can ’ t even think straight . To win three in a year ... unbelievable .”
We couldn ’ t have said it any better than that .
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LARAMY STRICKLAND
While Kyle Hall ultimately took home ROY honors on the Pro Circuit , Laramy Strickland certainly stood out as the frontrunner through the first few events of the season . Like Hall , Strickland bombed at Rayburn to start the year ( 119th place ), but the tournament that followed put Strickland on the map in the tour-level tournament world and confirmed for everyone in the Leesburg , Florida area what they already knew : Strickland is a hammer .
The 23-year-old Bushnell , Florida rookie won that event in February on his home waters of the Harris Chain of Lakes with the help of the largest fivefish limit in Pro Circuit competition in 2020 – a 31- pound , 6-ounce sack on day two of the event . With day three cancelled due to high winds , Strickland was able to regroup a couple days after that mega-bag and back it up with enough ( 15- 4 ) to edge out fellow rookie Jimmy Washam by more than 4 pounds .
The very next event in March , Strickland added a fifth-place showing on Lake Martin to prove he can catch fish outside of Florida and to put the fishing world on notice : Strickland is ready for the big stage and the bright lights .
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DREW BOGGS
Nine , six , one , four , two , one , eight . That ’ s not a phone number . That ’ s the list of top-10 finishes Drew Boggs turned in across multiple levels of MLF BIG5 competition in 2020 .
Boggs , a home builder from Lebanon , Tennessee , started his magical run back in June on Dale Hollow in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Mountain Division . A month later , in the Music City Division , Boggs finished sixth , followed by a win on Kentucky Lake a week later in the LBL Division . He tacked on a couple more top-fives before winning the BFL Regional on Chickamauga in October and then turning in a top-10 on Dale Hollow in the Toyota Series Central Division . Talk about a heater . And as great as Boggs was in 2020 , it wasn ’ t a fluke year for the 42-yearold angler , who already has 51 top-10s in MLF BIG5 competition and $ 174,402 in winnings to his name .
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Lake Fork , Texas produced two 10-pounders on back-to-back competition days on the Bass Pro Tour . Jason Christie landed MLF ’ s first-ever 10 when he corralled a 10-4 on the first day of Bass Pro Tour Stage Three ; that record stood less than 24 hours as Justin Atkins landed a 10-8 a day later .
Clabion Johns deserves the award for “ Ironman of the Year ” or “ Road Warrior of the Year .” Johns , a resident of Social Circle , Georgia , claimed the BFL Bulldog Division ’ s Angler of the Year title in 2020 , but also jumped into the Southeastern , Southern , All- American , Bama and Music City divisions . The All-American was Johns ’ 23rd BFL tournament of the year , the most of any angler on the MLF rosters ( Dakota Ebare was second with 21 ).
John Cox kick-started 2020 by winning the Pro Circuit season opener on Sam Rayburn Reservoir , and book-ended that with a thirdplace finish in the Pro Circuit TITLE . Notable results on their own ... but the “ how ” is what lands Cox on this list .
The Florida shallow-water savant won the Sam Rayburn event on a crankbait – a bait most keen observers of the sport had never even seen him throw before . Cox finished his 2020 campaign by arriving at Sturgeon Bay , Wisconsin the night before his first competition day , putting his tin boat in the water the next morning with no practice and no experience on the fishery , and then nearly pulling off a win . Cox caught the most weight in his group ’ s first Qualifying Round ( 66- 5 ) on the very first day he had laid eyes on Sturgeon Bay .
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