| Boater winner Jon Paulovich of Benton, Arkansas, and co-angler winner Alan Bernicky of Dardanelle, Arkansas. |
| Dardanelle’s Bernicky Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division MOUNT IDA, Ark. (March 23, 2026) – Boater Jon Paulovich of Benton, Arkansas, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Ouachita Presented by Suzuki Marine. The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Paulovich earned $3,640 for his victory. Paulovich’s strategy for the event changed over the course of three days of practice before the tournament. He looked at fishing for spawning fish on the beds but decided he wouldn’t be able to win the tournament that way. So, he relied on a pattern that presented itself just before competition began. “I found something late Friday where I could catch a few fish pretty quickly,” Paulovich said. “So, I ran to that first thing and picked up four fish doing that. “I caught a 6-pounder Wednesday on some inside grasslines, so I went back out to the main lake and started doing that again, and that’s when I caught the big one that went 6-12,” Paulovich went on to say. “I didn’t catch that one until 12:20, and that was my fifth fish. Then I just upgraded from there. It was a really good day.” Paulovich caught his biggest bass on a Carolina rig, but he preferred not to reveal his specific bait. “It’s something people around here don’t throw, I can tell you that,” Paulovich said. “It’s something I picked up when I was fishing a tournament down at (Sam) Rayburn 10 years ago. And for whatever reason, it just works. I think it’s because the fish just don’t see it here. It’s not the typical lizard that everybody throws around here.” Paulovich said he also found a Megabass Magdraft Swimbait, a bait that typically produces big bites, to be productive. “At the very end of the day I was running back to weigh-in and I saw a point where the wind was blowing on it,” Paulovich said. “I pulled up and threw the Magdraft on the point, and one just crushed it. As I was culling out a fish I told my co-angler, ‘Put your life jacket on. We have got to go.’ And that’s the fish that won it for me. I culled up a pound with that one.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Jon Paulovich, Benton, Ark., five bass, 18-1, $3,640 2nd: Scott Hardin, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 17-13, $1,680 3rd: Chris Darby, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 17-1, $850 4th: Matt Baker, Glenwood, Ark., five bass, 16-12, $930 5th: Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 16-7, $600 6th: Justin Bean, Benton, Ark., five bass, 15-14, $1,020 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus) 7th: Keith Green, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 15-6, $500 8th: Bobby Ammons, Waldron, Ark., five bass, 14-9, $480 9th: Derek Sandlin, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $460 10th: Timmy Cook, Haskell, Ark., five bass, 14-0, $430 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Paulovich’s 6-pound, 12-ounce lunker was the biggest of the day and earned the $200 Berkley Big Bass Boater award.  Alan Bernicky of Dardanelle, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,970 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 15 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Alan Bernicky, Dardanelle, Ark., three bass, 9-15, $1,970 2nd: Derek Dixon, Pearcy, Ark., three bass, 9-5, $840 3rd: Jason Phillips, Rison, Ark., three bass, 9-4, $525 4th: Michael Brown, Arkadelphia, Ark., three bass, 8-10, $340 5th: Mark King, Gurdon, Ark., three bass, 8-9, $300 6th: Blake Ward, Sherwood, Ark., three bass, 7-15, $260 7th: Christian Knight, Alexander, Ark., three bass, 7-11, $250 8th: Edward Hendricks, Conway, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $240 9th: Buddy Rudolph, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 7-0, $230 10th: Jimmy Welch, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 6-14, $215 Jason Phillips of Rison, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 12-ounce bass worth $100. After two events, Matt Baker of Glenwood, Arkansas, now leads the 7 Brew Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 497 points, while Alan Bernicky of Dardanelle, Arkansas, leads the Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 500 points. 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. |