Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Ill., the reigning BFL Illini Division Angler of the Year (AOY), caught five bass Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounces, to win an event on Rend Lake, earning $5,244 for his victory. It was the 17-year-old McKinney's third BFL triumph in the past 10 months following victories at Lake Shelbyville in June and in September 2021.
McKinney said his approach to tournament fishing of sticking to techniques, locations and baits he has confidence in paid off, and it didn’t take him long to catch his tournament-winning bag Saturday morning, as he stuck to the plan he had developed during practice for the event.
“My main strategy was to run back and forth, hitting key stretches that were high-probability areas,” McKinney said. “
McKinney said he had success on shallow wood laydowns in pockets, the deepest of which was in six feet of water. His bait of choice was a natural-colored jig that imitated bluegill that were present in the lake.
“I had my five fish that I weighed in at 8:11 (Saturday) morning,” McKinney said. “It was unreal that it happened so fast. I knew I had a good bag, but I didn’t think I had 16 pounds. I was thinking I needed one more 4-pounder to have good odds at winning.
“If you think you have enough, you just don’t fish the same as if you think you need one more,” McKinney added. “I always want to underestimate my weight, so I always need that one more bite.”
After three events, leads the division's Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 745 points.
