| Boater winner Byron Kenney of Monticello, Georgia, and co-angler winner Jacob Chandler of Covington, Georgia. |
| Covington’s Chandler Tops Co-Angler Division MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (June 16, 2025) – Boater Byron Kenney of Monticello, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Sinclair Presented by Suzuki Marine. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Bulldog Division. Kenney earned $3,641 for his victory. Kenny experienced a slow start. In fact, fishing was much tougher than he expected, considering how well Sinclair has fished recently. But he scrapped around, kept his head down and eventually righted the ship, catching his first keeper at around 9 a.m. “I started fishing docks with a jig, and the Lord just blessed me with the good ones, I guess,” he said. “I didn’t catch a lot of fish. I caught eight or nine. I wish I could say there was some rhyme or reason (to where he caught them), but really it was just covering as much water as possible. “Normally, the morning bite is really crucial,” Kenny added. “But I didn’t catch another good one until about 10:40, and then I caught back-to-back 4s. It was just tough. I just grinded around. I fished the rest of the day, and it probably wasn’t until around 2 o’clock that I caught another good one. I had four good ones and just a 2-pounder.” Kenny caught his winning fish on a 1/2-ounce “nothing special” jig. “I was just my faith and just fishing hard, and the Lord just blessed me,” he said. The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Byron Kenney, Monticello, Ga., five bass, 17-10, $3,641 2nd: John Pearson, Perry, Ga., five bass, 15-8, $1,820 3rd: Ryan Thomas, Madison, Ga., five bass, 15-3, $1,214 4th: Jamie M. Fountain, East Dublin, Ga., five bass, 15-2, $950 5th: David Millsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 13-14, $1,228 6th: Travis Clay, Jackson, Ga., five bass, 13-9, $668 7th: Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $1,232 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 8th: Callaway Robinson, Conyers, Ga., five bass, 13-5, $546 9th: John Duvall, Madison, Ga., five bass, 12-14, $485 10th: Brooks Anderson, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 12-12, $425 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Michael Dike III of Acworth, Georgia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $475.  Jacob Chandler of Covington, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $1,820 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 15 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Jacob Chandler, Covington, Ga., three bass, 9-15, $1,820 2nd: Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., three bass, 9-10, $910 3rd: Jackson Ford, Loganville, Ga., three bass, 9-5, $607 4th: Clayton Faircloth, Milledgeville, Ga., three bass, 8-3, $425 5th: William Thomas Cowart, Danielsville, Ga., three bass, 8-2, $364 6th: Timothy Stone, Conyers, Ga., three bass, 7-15, $571 7th: Bryan Burch, Climax, Ga., three bass, 7-10, $303 8th: Jeff Stone, Jackson, Ga., three bass, 7-4, $273 9th: Michael O’Neal, Cleveland, Ga., three bass, 7-0, $243 10th: Conery Williams, Macon, Ga., three bass, 6-14, $212 Timothy Stone of Conyers, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $237, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After four events, Michael Wilder of Lizella, Georgia, now leads the Fishing Clash Bulldog Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 947 points, while Daniel Arnberg of Auburn, Alabama, leads the Fishing Clash Bulldog Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 942 points. The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Bulldog Division anglers will be held Aug. 23-24, at Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. 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. 17-18 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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. |