| Boater winner Cole Moore of Anacoco, Louisiana, and co-angler winner Zachary McDaniel of Pitkin, Louisiana. |
| Evan Howe, Ethan Howe Disqualified from Tournament BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 6, 2026) – Boater Cole Moore of Anacoco, Louisiana, caught a total of five bass weighing 19 pounds, 15 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The tournament, hosted by Jasper County Development District, was the first event of the season for the 2026 BFL, and was the first of five events for the BFL Cowboy Division. Moore earned $7,360 for his victory, including the lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Bonus. Boaters Evan Howe and Ethan Howe, both of Keatchie, Louisiana, were disqualified from the event. The disqualification stems from a protest alleging the anglers violated BFL Rule No. 10, which states, in part, that contestants may not use mobile communication devices to communicate with anyone about locating or catching fish on tournament waters during tournament hours. Evan Howe admitted to the violation upon speaking with the tournament director as part of MLF’s investigation and turned over a text message exchange with Ethan Howe. The boaters are brothers, and Evan insists they were not familiar with the rule. As a result of Evan’s disqualifications, boater Cole Moore moves up from second to first place in the tournament and will receive the first-place payout. Third through sixth place finishers in the tournament will each move up a spot with points and payouts adjusted accordingly. As a result of Ethan’s disqualification, boater Colby Miller of Elmer, Louisiana moves up from eighth to sixth place and will receive $680. All places below eight will each move up two spots with points and payouts adjusted accordingly. Rules governing the use of mobile communications devices during tournament hours are covered during the pretournament meeting at every BFL tournament. The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., five bass, 19-15, $7,360 (includes $2,500 Phoenix bonus) 2nd: Wyatt Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, five bass, 19-8, $2,400 3rd: Ricky Guy, Humble, Texas, five bass, 19-6, $1,170 4th: William Easley, Pollok, Texas, five bass, 17-14, $920 5th: Jeffery Rice, Shreveport, La., five bass, 17-12, $800 6th: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., five bass, 17-1, $680 7th: Hut Reeves, Tyler, Texas, five bass, 16-14, $650 8th: Joshua Tepley, Harrah, Okla., five bass, 15-4, $610 9th: James Laramore, Vidor, Texas, five bass, 14-15, $580 10th: Doug Odom, Huntsville, Texas, five bass, 14-14, $550 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  Zachary McDaniel of Pitkin, Louisiana, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,530 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 10 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Zachary McDaniel, Pitkin, La., three bass, 11-10, $2,530 2nd: Jeremy Edwards, Lufkin, Texas, three bass, 9-6, $1,200 3rd: Larry Stewart Jr., Brandon, Miss., three bass, 9-5, $585 4th: Shane Landry, Winnie, Texas, three bass, 8-11, $460 5th: Rick Habarka, North Little Rock, Ark., three bass, 8-10, $370 5th: J.J. Matzke, League City, Texas, three bass, 8-10, $370 7th: David Gandaria, Hemphill, Texas, three bass, 8-4, $330 8th: James Grizzle, Many, La., three bass, 7-14, $305 9th: Jacob Smith, Frisco, Texas, three bass, 7-13, $290 10th: Sean Johnson, Chalmette, La., three bass, 7-10, $275 Tournament winner McDaniel also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $100 after landing a 7-pound, 12-ounce bass. The top 45 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. 22-24 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 prize of a new Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, worth $33,500. The 2026 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top seven, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2026 BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism. Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Lew’s, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, YETI and Yuengling. For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular BFL updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. |