| Boater winner Jeremy Gordon of Rutledge, Tennessee, and co-angler winner T.J. Blakely of Kingsport, Tennessee. |
| Kingsport’s Blakely Tops Co-Angler Division BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 10, 2025) – Boater Jeremy Gordon of Rutledge, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on South Holston Reservoir. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Gordon earned $3,255 for his victory. “It started off decent,” Gordon said. “I caught like 17 1/2 pounds fairly quick. Then we had a little front come in, the clouds kind of rolled in and the wind started blowing out of the north-northeast. The bite got pretty tough after like 9 o’clock.” The front also forced Gordon to make a strategy change. In practice, he was catching one or two quality largemouth bass each day, and his hope was to land a couple 5-pound-class largemouths as kickers. In the tournament, however, he spent a couple fruitless hours running that program before abandoning ship and shifting back to his smallmouth areas. Around 2 p.m., he did get a break, catching a 4-pounder. Then the wind died down and the sun started shining, which turned on the bite and led to a wild moment that gave Gordon the win by just 2 ounces. “They started doing what I needed them to do,” Gordon said. “I caught a couple key fish toward the end. Then I caught a 4 1/2-pounder with literally my last cast. I barely made it in (to check-in). It was crazy. I’ve fished a lot of tournaments – Toyotas, Invitationals, local stuff – and I’ve never won a tournament like that on the last cast.” Gordon caught all his fish around schools of bait near spawning areas. The smallmouth bass are staging up, and he took advantage of it, using forward-facing sonar and a jighead minnow to get five of the right bites. “It’s my first BFL win,” he added. “I’ve been close in some Toyotas. I mostly fish the Toyotas but decided to get in the Volunteer Division. To get an early win like this, it’s exciting.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 20-5, $3,255 2nd: Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., five bass, 20-3, $1,628 3rd: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 19-9, $1,584 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 4th: Greg McDavid, Blountville, Tenn., five bass, 19-7, $760 5th: Donavan Carson, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 19-6, $651 6th: Michael Morrison, Stamping Ground, Ky., five bass, 18-12, $722 7th: Jake Cross, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 18-9, $543 8th: Josh Lee, Powell, Tenn., five bass, 18-7, $461 8th: Jason Bridwell, Blountville, Tenn., five bass, 18-7, $461 10th: Gavin Daniels, Kingston, Tenn., five bass, 18-3, $780 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Gavin Daniels of Kingston, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $400.  T.J. Blakely of Kingsport, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,628 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 4 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: T.J. Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 9-4, $1,628 2nd: Brady Field, Gallatin, Tenn., three bass, 9-0, $1,014 3rd: Daniel Perkins, Honaker, Va., two bass, 8-10, $542 4th: Kirk Miles, Crossville, Tenn., three bass, 8-9, $353 4th: Konnor Sweet, Abingdon, Va., three bass, 8-9, $353 6th: Jake Davis, Wartburg, Tenn., three bass, 8-5, $298 7th: David Mundy, Dandridge, Tenn., three bass, 7-11, $271 8th: Aaron Webb, Kingsport, Tenn., three bass, 7-10, $244 9th: Isaac Mueller, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-4, $217 10th: Shane Winebarger, Abingdon, Va., three bass, 7-1, $190 Brady Field of Gallatin, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $200, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After two events, Corey Neece of Bristol, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 498 points, while Konnor Sweet of Abingdon, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 485 points. The next event for BFL Volunteer Division anglers will be held March 29, at South Holston Reservoir in Bristol, Tennessee. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000. The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI. 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. |
