| Boater winner Isaac Peavyhouse of Jamestown, Tennessee, and co-angler winner Barry King of Liberty, Kentucky. |
| Kentucky’s King Takes Co-Angler Division MONTICELLO, Ky. (Sept. 15, 2025) – Boater Isaac Peavyhouse of Jamestown, Tennessee, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 2 ounces, over the course of two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine at Lake Cumberland Presented by Suzuki Marine . The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. Peavyhouse earned $3,950 for his victory. Peavyhouse leaned heavily on his electronics throughout the event, targeting suspended fish with forward-facing sonar. By following bait schools and adjusting on the fly, he was able to steadily put keepers in the boat each day. “I was mostly just targeting suspended fish, with LiveScope of course,” Peavyhouse said. “I was probably catching 15 to 20 keepers a day, just staying around the bait.” Every fish that hit the scales came on a Rapala CrushCity Freeloader, which Peavyhouse used to trigger both largemouth and smallmouth feeding in the mid-depths. “The fish were suspended anywhere from 5 to 40 feet,” he explained. “The smallmouth were up higher, and the largemouth were down deeper. It was pretty much 50-50, but the smallmouth are what you want to be around on Cumberland – they weigh a little heavier.” That balance showed up in his daily bags. On Day 1, Peavyhouse weighed two smallmouth and three largemouth. On Championship Sunday, his mix shifted to four smallmouth and one largemouth, giving him the edge he needed. “I caught quite a few of both, just going through them,” he said. “Neither day did I really have what I wanted, but I managed to put enough together.” Peavyhouse admitted that confidence in a win didn’t settle in until late in the final round. “I thought once I got to what I got to today, I had a good chance,” he said. “I had a couple of really good bags in practice, but it got tougher during the tournament. Still, when I looked at what I had, I thought I had a shot.” After hoisting the trophy, Peavyhouse was quick to credit his equipment. “That feeling never gets old,” he said. “I feel like the key to my victory was my gear, especially my Yank-Um Custom Tackle Signature Series rods.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-2, $3,950 2nd: Rex Reagan, Livingston, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-10, $1,725 3rd: Evan Fields, Shelbyville, Ky., 10 bass, 29-13, $1,149 4th: Branden Grubb, Eufaula, Lily, Ky., 10 bass, 29-7, $905 5th: Wyatt Pearman, Hodgenville, Ky., 10 bass, 27-0, $1,190 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus) 6th: Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., 10 bass, 26-2, $633 7th: Logan Vicars, Corinth, Ky., 10 bass, 23-9, $575 8th: Gavin Cloutier, Jonesborough, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-10, $518 9th: Ethan Burnette, Monticello, Ky., five bass, 14-6, $460 10th: Luke Lamb, Nicholas, Ky., five bass, 13-1 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Brandon Jones of London, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $345.  Barry King of Liberty, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and $1,857 after bringing four bass to the scales that totaled 7 pounds, 9 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Barry King, Liberty, Ky., four bass, 7-9, $1,857 2nd: Briley West, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 6-8, $894 3rd: Joshua Mounce, Somerset, Ky., two bass, 4-11, $562 4th: Luke Shrader, Monticello, Ky., three bass, 4-10, $394 5th: Dylan Reed, London, Ky., two bass, 4-0, $338 6th: Matthew Faulkner, Corbin, Ky., one bass, 3-4, $409 7th: Scotty Reagan, Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., two bass, 2-13, $281 9th: Robert Pepiot III, Lexington, Ky., one bass, 1-14, $253 10th: Dustin Forrest, Knob Lick, Ky., one bass, 1-11, $450 Barry King of Liberty, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $169, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 5 ounces. With all five events in the division now complete, boater Lee Sinclair of Albany, Kentucky, won the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,333 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Allen Neal of Whitley City, Kentucky, won the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,317 points and earned the $500 payout. 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 Dandridge Lake in Douglas, 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. |