| Boater winner Lee Sinclair of Albany, Kentucky, and co-angler winner Caleb Edgerton of Dayton, Ohio. |
| Ohio’s Edgerton Tops Co-Angler Division BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (March 3, 2025) – Boater Lee Sinclair of Albany, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces, Sunday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Dale Hollow Lake. The tournament, hosted by Star Point Resort, was the first event of the season for the BFL Music City Division. Sinclair earned $2,890 for his victory. Sinclair had a very successful weekend on the Kentucky-Tennessee border reservoir. He finished ninth in Saturday’s BFL Mountain Division tournament, which was also held on Dale Hollow, with a 17-pound, 7-ounce limit. Then he increased his weight to 20-3 on Sunday to get the win in the Music City Division opener. “It’s kind of just the same deal,” Sinclair said, referring to his tournament tactics on Sunday compared to Saturday. “I just got some better key bites today than I did yesterday. “They were eating a lot better early in the morning,” he added. “I caught three first thing, and then the other two I weighed in, they came later in the day. I had the bag that I weighed in at 12 o’clock or so. It seemed like the middle of the day it got real tough.” Sinclair used forward-facing sonar to find fish suspended from 15 to 30 feet deep. He said the fish were tough to trigger into biting, so he countered by playing the numbers game – finding and casting to as many fish as possible throughout the day. He caught most of his keepers from four primary areas where he has history on the lake, and he weighed in a limit comprised entirely of largemouth bass. The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., five bass, 20-3, $2,890 2nd: Gavin Cloutier, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 18-15, $1,945 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 3rd: Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., five bass, 18-11, $964 4th: Cody Mackie, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 18-8, $674 5th: Josh Womack, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 18-5, $554 5th: Colt Blanton, Piketon, Ohio, five bass, 18-5, $554 7th: Blake Smith, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 17-3, $482 8th: Michael Kennedy, Monroe, Tenn., five bass, 16-10, $433 9th: Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., five bass, 16-7, $385 10th: Rex Reagan, Livingston, Tenn., five bass, 16-6, $337 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Hunter Bouldin of McMinnville, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $330.  Caleb Edgerton of Dayton, Ohio, won the co-angler division and $2,010 Sunday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 2 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Caleb Edgerton, Dayton, Ohio, three bass, 9-2, $2,010 2nd: Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., three bass, 8-11, $722 3rd: Kade Oliver, Muncie, Ind., two bass, 7-7, $480 4th: Ryan Shriber, Franklin, Tenn., three bass, 7-1, $337 5th: Paul Vicars, Bowling Green, Ky., two bass, 6-14, $289 6th: Tim McKeel, Sale Creek, Tenn., three bass, 6-1, $265 7th: James Proffitt, Celina, Tenn., two bass, 5-9, $241 8th: Wayne Crouch, Jamestown, Tenn., two bass, 4-10, $217 9th: Tyrell Harmon, Hermitage, Tenn., two bass, 4-8, $193 10th: Timothy Ernst, Winchester, Ky., one bass, 4-7, $169 Edgerton also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $165, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. In addition to earning the win, Lee Sinclair of Albany, Kentucky, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Music City Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Caleb Edgerton of Dayton, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash Music City Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points. The next event for BFL Music City Division anglers will be held March 23, at Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000. The top 60 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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Douglas Lake in Dandridge, 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 award of $20,000. The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI. For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. |
