| Boater winner Kenny Sloan of Gaylord, Kansas, and co-angler winner Joseph Lay of Gardner, Kansas. |
| Kansan Lay Tops Co-Angler Division WARSAW, Mo. (June 16, 2025) – Boater Kenny Sloan of Gaylord, Kansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Truman Lake Presented by Witch Doctor Tackle. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Ozark Division. Sloan earned $3,979 for his victory. Sloan recently relocated to north-central Kansas to train bird dogs and spend his fall hunting quail, but he’s fished Truman Lake his entire life. His experienced helped him deal with pressured fish and water that is around 9 feet high. “It was really good today,” he said. “I had eight keepers. I culled twice. I stayed in the Grand River arm, which is what I usually fish, for the most part. I have my whole life.” He kept his presentation simple, flipping Texas-rigged soft plastics around flooded bushes. “I’ve got points and spots that I typically fish, and I just kind of went over that stuff and moved around. The pressure was real bad today with all the people. I went up the Grand River arm quite a ways to get away from all the pressure, and that’s where I caught several of my fish.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Kenny Sloan, Gaylord, Kan., five bass, 17-12, $3,979 2nd: Oliver Siebert, Fenton, Mo., five bass, 16-0, $1,940 3rd: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 15-10, $1,793 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 4th: Nathan Portell, Festus, Mo., five bass, 15-5, $1,162 5th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., five bass, 14-15, $776 6th: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., five bass, 14-5, $711 7th: Andres Jackson, Crystal City, Mo., five bass, 13-8, $647 8th: Lance Williams, Billings, Mo., five bass, 13-7, $582 9th: Shane Long, Willard, Mo., five bass, 13-3, $517 10th: Kyle Alsop, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 13-0, $453 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Nathan Portell of Festus, Missouri, and Alex Avery of West Plains, Missouri, each caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces, earning them a tie for the Berkley Big Bass Boater award. They each took home $257 for their share of the prize.  Joseph Lay of Gardner, Kansas, won the co-angler division and $1,940 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 6 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Joseph Lay, Gardner, Kan., three bass, 9-6, $1,940 2nd: Matt Zimmerly, Hillsboro, Mo., two bass, 9-0, $1,227 3rd: Dennis Spell, Bonne Terre, Mo., three bass, 8-15, $696 4th: Thad Hewitt, Delaware, Okla., three bass, 8-10, $520 4th: Ryan Doel, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 8-10, $420 6th: Roy Bradford, Ashland, Mo., three bass, 8-9, $356 7th: Donald Pailer, Arnold, Mo., three bass, 8-3, $291 7th: Bobbie Green, Greenwood, Mo., three bass 8-3, , $291 7th: Stephen Babcock, Belton, Mo., three bass, 8-3, $291 10th: Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., three bass, 8-2, $226 Matt Zimmerly of Hillsboro, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $257, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After four events, Eric Olliverson of Shell Knob, Missouri, now leads the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 976 points, while Dennis Spell of Bonne Terre, Missouri, leads the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 956 points. The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Ozark Division anglers will be held Sept. 13-14, at Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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. |
