| Boater winner Dylan Akins of Flowery Branch, Georgia, and co-angler winner Dan Marin of Appling, Georgia. |
| Appling’s Marin Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division ANDERSON, S.C. (March 23, 2026) – Boater Dylan Akins of Flowery Branch, Georgia, caught five bass totaling 18 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell. The tournament, hosted by Visit Anderson, was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Savannah River Division. Akins earned $2,510 for his victory. Recent low temperatures at Hartwell had many anglers re-thinking their plan of attack for the tournament, and Akins was no exception. He knew bass had moved deeper after the temperature dropped and planned accordingly. “I used my (Garmin) LiveScope period the first three hours of the day,” Akins said. “I pretty much ran prespawn areas like flats and points to get up to about 15 pounds.” Akins said those prespawn areas featured baitfish that the bass were focusing on, and he used a Strike King KVD 200 Jerkbait as well as a Neko rig to entice bites. “I caught fish pretty consistently during my ’Scope period,” Akins said. But I’d catch two on one spot and then none on the next spot.” After his LiveScope period came to an end, Akins said he switched his focus to docks and flats that required very long casts. Akins skipped the Neko rig under docks in shade and then added his largest bass – a 5-6 that took the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of the tournament – as well as a 3-pounder. His big bass came on the jerkbait in Pro Blue color. “During my no-’Scope period, I didn’t catch many fish, but I caught big ones,” Akins said. “I figured somebody was going to get into fish that had pulled up to spawn. I knew after I caught my big one I would be in check range, but I never expected to get the win. I mean, you’re looking at the last week of March on Hartwell. You don’t expect it to be this tough. But I think with that last cold front we had when the temperature dipped down into the 30s it made those fish just really tough to catch. There just wasn’t much spawning going on.” In 2024 and 2025 Akins posted finishes of 2nd-, 4th-, and 5th-place at Hartwell, and he was hungry for a win. “I felt like I had been chasing a win on Hartwell for the last two years,” Akins said. “I had been so close. It felt good to finally get this win.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Dylan Akins, Flowery Branch, Ga., five bass, 18-2, $2,510 2nd: Tim Watson, Martin, Ga., five bass, 16-14, $1,250 3rd: Tallis Morrison, Royston, Ga., five bass, 16-13, $1,170 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus) 4th: Lane Clark, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 16-11, $550 5th: Donnie Davis, Greer, S.C., five bass, 15-2, $490 6th: Brooks Anderson, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $425 6th: Aspen Martin, White, Ga., five bass, 14-7, $425 8th: Kyle Herrman, Topeka, Kan., five bass, 14-4, $410 9th: Daniel Atkins, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 14-3, $590 10th: Joe Eubanks, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 14-0, $380 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Akins also earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award with a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass, worth $200.  Dan Marin of Appling, Georgia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,205 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 9 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Dan Marin, Appling, Ga., three bass, 9-9, $1,205 2nd: Benjie Winkler, Cleveland, Ga., three bass, 9-8, $625 3rd: Chris Coleman, Ware Shoals, S.C., three bass, 9-0, $335 4th: James Ezell, Mountain Rest, S.C., three bass, 8-15, $275 5th: Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 8-14, $295 6th: Mark Garrett, Six Mile, S.C., three bass, 8-8, $215 7th: Adam Johnson, Duluth, Ga., three bass, 8-1, $210 8th: Mark Meadows, Hendersonville, N.C., three bass, 7-13, $205 9th: Matthew Stewart, Cleveland, Ga., three bass, 7-5, $200 10th: Tyler Smith, Florence, S.C., three bass, 7-3, $190 Chuck Bagwell of Laurens, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass worth $100. After two events, Tim Watson of Martin, Georgia, now leads the 7 Brew Savannah River Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 496 points, while Chris Coleman of Ware Shoals, South Carolina, leads the Savannah River Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 497 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 Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, 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 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. |