FishRook
Boater Jake Monti of Mooresville caught five bass Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Lake Norman. The tournament, hosted by Visit Lake Norman, was the season opener for the Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division. Monti earned $9,158, including a $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
“In practice on Friday I found a bed on the lower end of the lake where I saw a male locked on the bed,” Monti said. “He was about a 3½-pounder, and I could see the female sitting off to the side underneath a dock. I thought she would go about 6 pounds, because she was real wide across the back.
“Usually when the female is sitting off the bed like that you don’t have a real good chance of catching her unless you catch the male first and she moves up to protect the bed,” Monti added.
