| Boater Hayden Heck of Lufkin, Texas, and co-angler Carter Lanclos of Sulphur, Louisiana. |
Louisiana’s Lanclos Tops Co-Angler Division BROOKELAND, Texas (Sept. 29, 2025) – Boater Hayden Heck of Lufkin, Texas, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 52 pounds, 7 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Presented by Strike King. The tournament, hosted by the Jasper County Development District, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Heck earned $4,882 for his victory. “On Day 1 I started out running around,” Heck said. “It had been a cool night, so I thought the cranking bite would be pretty good. It’s a little early on Rayburn for them to get going like that, but I started out cranking and had a good bag by 9 o’clock. And then after that, it got really tough.” Heck said the brushpile bite had been good to him during practice, so he focused his efforts on that bite. “That was not happening,” Heck said. “So pretty much, by 11 o’clock the bite was pretty off for me.” Somewhat discouraged, and bothered by a back pain issue, Heck weighed in early. Heck said his plan for Sunday was to try cranking early again. “My first cast Sunday I caught a 4- or 5-pounder,” Heck said. “We ran the other spots I was catching them on the day before and didn’t catch anything doing that, so then I just started running brushpiles.” The switch turned out to be the right move, as Heck said he hit 40 to 50 brushpiles Sunday to catch “a few good ones.” “In the shape I was in, hurting with the back pain, I said, ‘However it ends, it’s how it’s going to be,’” said Heck, who had chalked up four BFL wins prior to the two-day event. “I was able to fish longer Sunday and was happy to have what I had. I figured I would finish in the top five. “With Rayburn you just never know,” Heck added. “Somebody’s going to come out and bust a 30-pound limit. I was happy it worked out the way it did, but I sure didn’t think I had this thing wrapped up.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Hayden Heck, Lufkin, Texas, 10 bass, 52-7, $4,882 2nd: Wyatt Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, 10 bass, 49-5, $3,041 3rd: James Laramore, Vidor, Texas, 10 bass, 46-2, $1,625 4th: Zane Parker, Kingwood, Texas, 10 bass, 45-13, $1,139 5th: Kade Hillestad, Grayson, La., 10 bass, 45-1, $976 6th: Zack Fogle, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 44-10, $1,495 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus) 7th: Evan Howe, Keatchie, La., 10 bass, 43-15, $814 8th: Clayton Boulware, Zavalla, Texas, 10 bass, 42-4, $732 9th: Tater Reynolds, Florien, La., 10 bass, 40-13, $651 10th: Cord Rawls, Call, Texas, 10 bass, 39-3, $570 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, caught a bass that weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $600.  Carter Lanclos of Sulphur, Louisiana, won the co-angler division and $2,491 Sunday, after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 15 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Carter Lanclos, Sulphur, La., six bass, 16-15, $2,491 2nd: J.T. Turner, Minden, La., five bass, 16-0, $1,320 3rd: Ben Barker, Porter, Texas, four bass, 15-11, $814 4th: Floyd Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, six bass, 15-7, $570 5th: Jordan Lane, Conroe, Texas, six bass, 14-6, $488 6th: Jay Ferguson, Houston, Texas, six bass, 13-10, $447 7th: Bobby Spangenberg, Montgomery, Texas, six bass, 13-4, $407 8th: Demarcus Armstrong, Pittsburg, Texas, five bass, 12-10, $366 9th: Jacob Smith, Frisco, Texas, five bass, 12-8, $325 10th: Brad Poole, Roanoke, Texas, six bass, 12-8, $285 Rick Habarka of Conway, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $300, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds even. With all five events in the division now complete, boater Zane Parker of Kingwood, Texas, won the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,336 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Leavitt Hamilton of Gonzales, Louisiana, won the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,306 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. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, 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. |