| Boater winner Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Virginia, and co-angler winner Michael Garrett of Buena Vista, Virginia. |
| Virginia’s Garrett Claims Victory in Co-Angler Division MARBURY, Md. (May 11, 2026) – Boater Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Virginia, caught five bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Potomac River Presented by Suzuki Marine . The tournament, hosted by the Charles County Government, Dept. of Recreation, Parks and Tourism, was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Crowder earned $4,730 for his victory. Crowder leaned on a straightforward power-fishing pattern to earn his seventh career BFL victory, targeting rocky banks in the main river. Fishing in stained, wind-blown conditions, Crowder said he kept a Strike King 1.5 crankbait in his hands from start to finish and steadily put together a winning limit. “We were in the main river, just fishing rocks going down the river,” Crowder said Despite tough conditions that included muddy water, sparse grass and persistent wind, Crowder was able to stay consistent around the hard cover pattern. “There ain’t much grass on the river up there now,” he said. “The water was really stained, because the wind’s been blowing for months, it seems like.” Even with the 10- to 15-mph winds creating rough conditions, the fish continued to bite throughout the day. Crowder and his co-angler caught an estimated 25 to 30 bass, with the action remaining steady regardless of the changing tide. “We caught them all day long,” he said. “We started there on a low tide and fished it all the way to high tide, and we caught fish the whole time.” While he downplayed the performance as “just getting lucky and landing on the right spot,” Crowder credited years of experience on the Potomac for helping him recognize the timing and conditions needed for the pattern to come together. “I’ve been fishing this river for a very long time,” he went on to say. “Any time that you can get a win out here, it’s always a lot of fun.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., five bass, 16-5, $4,730 2nd: Stacey Craft, Dunkirk, Md., five bass, 15-13, $1,330 2nd: Travis Lewis, Stanley, Va., five bass, 15-13, $1,430 4th: Marvin Reese, Randallstown, Md., five bass, 15-12, $710 5th: Brian Laclair, Denton, Md., five bass, 15-10, $630 6th: Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 15-3, $540 7th: Joshua Wright, Toano, Va., five bass, 14-13, $520 8th: Robert Ramsey, Hubert, N.C., five bass, 14-11, $490 9th: Robert Grike, Dumfries, Va., five bass, 14-9, $460 9th: Michael Fry, Gallitzin, Pa., five bass, 14-9, $460 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Crowder also earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award with a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $200.  Michael Garrett of Buena Vista, Virginia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,765 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 5 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Michael Garrett, Buena Vista, Va., three bass, 10-5, $1,765 2nd: Jonathan Ceaser, Maidens, Va., three bass, 10-3, $985 3rd: Lew Jenkins, Waldorf, Md., three bass, 9-8, $445 4th: Dave Wilt, Lititz, Pa., three bass, 9-3, $355 5th: Ashton Crickenberger, Charlottesville, Va., three bass, 9-2, $365 6th: Dewey Mathis, Orange, N.H., three bass, 8-12, $270 7th: Jed Ranck, Powhatan, Va., three bass, 8-9, $260 8th: Allen (Tink) Burns, Concord, Va., three bass, 8-8, $242 8th: Shawn Hill, Muncy, Pa., three bass, 8-8, $242 10th: Nathan Sullivan, Fredericksburg, Va., three bass, 8-7, $187 10th: Melvin Smitson, Baltimore, Md., three bass, 8-7, $187 Jonathan Ceaser of Maidens, Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass worth $100. After two events, Chris Baldwin of Lexington, North Carolina, now leads the 7 Brew Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 493 points, while Michael Garrett of Buena Vista, Virginia, leads the Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 498 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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. 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. |
