| Boater Frank McClain of Scottsburg, Indiana, and co-angler Steve Hanson of Shelbyville, Indiana. |
Indiana’s Hanson Wins Co-Angler Division CANNELTON, Ind. (Aug. 18, 2025) – Boater Frank McClain of Scottsburg, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 4 ounces, Sunday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River -Rocky Point . The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. McClain earned $3,505 for his victory. “I had a limit by 10 o’clock,” McClain said. “It was mostly topwater bites and flipping stuff. Then it slowed down a little bit, and I buckled down and started flipping to see if I could find some quality bites.” McClain filled an early limit of bass that fell for a buzzbait, then switched his approach to capitalize on the flipping bite. McClain said most of his fish came from stumps in 1 to 4 feet of water. He focused on the mouths of creeks off of the main river and felt that was key to his win. McClain counted 10 keepers during the course of the day, and he was thankful for a day of better-than-average bass. “I definitely had to get away from the crowd and made long runs to fish a long way from the takeoff ramp,” McClain said. “I fished two creeks today. I just buckled down where I knew there were quality fish and stuck with that.” McClain notched a runner-up spot the previous day at a BFL event at Ohio River-Rocky Point that had been rescheduled. McClain fell just 8 ounces shy of claiming back-to-back BFL wins in consecutive days.  “I should have won that one,” said McClain. “This is my 8th (BFL) win. I love it. It doesn’t get old, for sure. I mean I’ve won eight of them, but you don’t get tired of winning them. You fish against these guys, and they really know how to fish. It’s a good feeling.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Frank McClain, Scottsburg, Ind., five bass, 12-4, $3,505 2nd: Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., five bass, 10-6, $1,753 3rd: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., five bass, 8-9, $1,169 4th: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 8-7, $1,318 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Bonus) 5th: Chris Leclere, Cannelton, Ind., five bass, 8-2, $701 6th: Braxton Munson, Anderson, Ind., five bass, 8-1, $643 7th: Adrian Urso, Union, Ky., five bass, 7-9, $584 8th: Allen Boyd, Salem, Ind., five bass, 7-4, $526 9th: William Spivey, Middletown, Ohio, four bass, 7-1, $438 9th: Chase Hall, Orleans, Ind., five bass, 7-1, $538 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Noah Woodring of Evansville, Indiana, caught a bass that weighed 3 pounds, 13 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $440. Steve Hanson of Shelbyville, Indiana, won the co-angler division and $1,973 Sunday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 10 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Steve Hanson, Shelbyville, Ind., three bass, 7-10, $1,973 2nd: Dale Walton, Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 6-13, $876 3rd: Martin Bryant, North Vernon, Ind., three bass, 5-13, $585 4th: Zach Fields, Scottsburg, Ind., three bass, 5-11, $409 5th: Steven Sanders, Orleans, Ind., three bass, 5-6, $351 6th: Nathaniel Hester, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 4-14, $321 7th: Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., three bass, 4-11, $342 8th: Judd Linette, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 4-10, $263 9th: Bo Bivins, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 4-7, $234 10th: Daniel Fromme, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 4-6, $194 10th: Larry Turner Jr., Marion, Ind., two bass, 4-6, $294 Steve Hanson of Shelbyville, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $220, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After four events, Chris Wilkinson of Farmersburg, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 953 points, while Martin Bryant of North Vernon, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 941 points. The next event for BFL Hoosier Division anglers will be the two-day Super Tournament, held Sept. 20-21, at Ohio River-Tanners Creek. 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 Kentucky/Barkley Lake in Buchanan, 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. 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 Sport 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. |