Special to IFN

Troutman resident Kaden Buchmann caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces, on Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kerr Lake.

The tournament, hosted by the Vance County Tourism Development Authority, was the second event of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Buchmann earned $4,182 for his victory.

Buchmann is off to a fast start this spring. He won the North Carolina Division tournament on Lake Norman on March 1, finished runner-up at Smith Mountain Lake in the Piedmont Division on March 30, finished second again in the North Carolina Division on April 12 at High Rock Lake and now has win No. 2 on the season with his victory at Kerr Lake.

“If you want me to put in into one word, it would be confidence,” said Buchmann, a junior business major at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina, when reflecting on his success. “Every time I’ve put my boat in the water this year, I’ve felt like I had a chance to win.

“I think it’s a combination of I’ve figured out how I like to fish, what I like to fish, and I feel like I’ve figured out the fish a little bit more than I previously have.”

This is Buchmann’s second season fishing the BFLs, and really, it’s his first full season. Last year, he only entered one event, finishing third at Lake Norman in the North Carolina Division Super Tournament. 

Buchmann’s not the only Lander angler having success. His roommate, Andrew Blanton, won the Co-angler Division at Kerr Lake on Saturday – his second top-10 finish of the season.