| Boater Micah Littlejohn of Grove, Oklahoma, and co-angler Fred Fielder of Afton, Oklahoma. |
Oklahoma’s Fielder Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division GROVE, Okla.(March 9, 2026) – Boater Micah Littlejohn of Grove, Oklahoma, caught five bass weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Grand Lake . The tournament, hosted by the City of Grove, was the opening event of the season for the BFL Okie Division. Littlejohn earned $4,200 for his victory. Although Littlejohn didn’t get to practice for the Grand Lake tournament, he used his prior experience on the body of water to formulate a game plan. “I know this lake pretty good, so I started off shallow and elected to not use (Garmin) LiveScope until later in the day,” Littlejohn said. “And that decision worked out pretty good, because my first fish came on my third cast, and it was a 4½-pounder. Then I lost a 4-pounder. I had a 12-pound limit in the first 30 minutes.” Littlejohn said he then made a 15-minute run down the lake but couldn’t locate fish, so he returned to the mid-lake area from Shangri-La to Drowning Creek and turned on his LiveScope to target shallow main-lake spots. “Once I did that, I caught four more fish around the 4-pound range,” Littlejohn said. “I caught my last fish with about five minutes left to go in the LiveScope period. I ended up culling out a 3-pounder with a 4-pounder right at the end.” Only one of Littlejohn’s weigh fish came on a crankbait; the rest were caught on an Alabama rig. “I lost three fish over four pounds, and I was really bummed,” Littlejohn said. “I kept saying, ‘Man, I blew this. I gave this tournament away because of the lost fish.’ Whenever I got to 18 or 19 pounds I thought if I could get one more big bite I’d be good. I never did get that big bite.” Littlejohn didn’t need the big bite after all, and he ended up securing his first career win. “This feels great,” Littlejohn said. “It’s always really hard to win on this lake. To be able to beat these guys and hold that trophy … that was a good feeling.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Micah Littlejohn, Grove, Okla., five bass, 21-10, $4,200 2nd: Billy Lemon, Sand Springs, Okla., five bass, 20-7, $2,540 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF bonus) 3rd: T.J. Martin, Claremore, Okla., five bass, 18-13, $1,010 4th: Dillon Roberts, Oologah, Okla., five bass, 17-15, $800 5th: Nathan Luce, Claremore, Okla., five bass, 17-13, $700 6th: James West, Spiro, Okla., five bass, 17-3, $600 7th: Toby Hartsell, Afton, Okla., five bass, 16-14, $575 8th: Tim Hickson, Cleveland, Okla., five bass, 16-12, $550 9th: Kacey Moreland, Porter, Okla., five bass, 16-9, $525 10th: Roger Hughes, Nowata, Okla., five bass, 16-6, $500 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Allen Musser of Ada, Oklahoma, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $200.  Fred Fielder of Afton, Oklahoma, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,100 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 2 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Fred Fielder, Afton, Okla., three bass, 12-2, $2,100 2nd: Nathan Chuculate, Broken Arrow, Okla., three bass, 11-13, $1,020 3rd: Shane Pelt, Columbus, Kan., three bass, 11-9, $505 4th: Zack Holt, Yukon, Okla., three bass, 10-5, $400 5th: Noah Vessar, Joplin, Mo., three bass, 10-2, $350 6th: Mark Taylor, Oklahoma City, Okla., three bass, 9-13, $450 7th: Alan Bernicky, Dardanelle, Ark., three bass, 9-7, $290 8th: Brock Krohne, Belton, Mo., three bass, 9-6, $275 9th: Orion Williams, Claremore, Okla., three bass, 9-5, $260 10th: Jimmy Lee, Reeds, Mo., three bass, 9-0, $250 Fred Fielder of Afton, Oklahoma, and Harold Frazier of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, split the Berkley Big Bass $100 co-angler award after each landed a 6-pound, 3-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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lake in Calvert City, Kentucky. 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. |