| Boater winner Kyle Huneycutt of Malvern, Arkansas, and co-angler winner Blake Defoor of Waldron, Arkansas. |
| Waldron’s Defoor Tops Co-Angler Division RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (June 16, 2025) – Boater Kyle Huneycutt of Malvern, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Dardanelle. The tournament, hosted by Russellville Tourism, was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Huneycutt earned $4,642 for his victory. Huneycutt, who drives a train for a living, describes himself as “just a country boy that loves to fish.” He’s had a passion for fishing for years, but as sometimes happens in life, he wasn’t always able to pursue it the way he wanted. “I’ve only been doing this for two years as a boater,” he said. “I didn’t own a fishing pole for 15 years.” Now, he’s making up for lost time. Huneycutt caught all his fish on an awesome frog bite. “I’m not gonna lie to you, I should’ve had about 22 or 23 (pounds). I lost some big ones,” he said. “The place I was at, if you go back over there right now, you could catch another 20 pounds off of it.” He found the spot on Friday in practice, after two long and mostly fruitless days leading up to it. The key stretch was about 30 yards long, with emergent grass out in front of some flooded timber. He said the grass grew up out of the water, tumbled over and created a sort of canopy that in some areas kept his frog from even splashing the surface of the water. But that didn’t keep the bass from finding it. “I was throwing a Booyah popping frog in brown,” he said. “It (the grass) was about a boat-length all the way around the bank. I was having to throw the frog up on top of that. Half of my fish came on bites when the frog wasn’t even in the water. It was unbelievable.” Working back and forth in circles, Huneycutt had no reason to leave. He knew there were more fish moving in because he could hear them busting back in the timber. Because he couldn’t get to the timber, he stayed patient and let the fish work their way out to him. The only thing that kept him from catching a real mega-bag was losing a pair of 5-pound-class fish. Even still, it was such an incredible bite that Huneycutt was ecstatic about his day. “It was so awesome, man. It was so awesome.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Kyle Huneycutt, Malvern, Ark., five bass, 19-4, $4,642 2nd: Brandon Lee, Ratcliff, Ark., five bass, 18-3, $2,041 3th: Bobby Ammons, Waldron, Ark., five bass, 17-11, $1,362 4th: Justin Howard, Austin, Ark., five bass, 16-13, $952 5th: Bryan Hunt, Water Valley, Miss., five bass, 16-2, $816 6th: Mike Rhinehart, Pottsville, Ark., five bass, 16-1, $748 7th: Matt Tucker, Pottsville, Ark., five bass, 15-15, $680 8th: Leland Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., five bass, 15-14, $612 9th: Zach King, Clarksville, Ark., five bass, 15-13, $544 10th: Cody McEntire, Walnut Ridge, Ark, five bass, 15-12, $476 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Huneycutt caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $560.  Blake Defoor of Waldron, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and $2,041 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 1 ounce. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Blake Defoor, Waldron, Ark., three bass, 9-1, $2,041 2nd: Stephen Simms, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 8-15, $1,021 3rd: Michael Brown, Arkadelphia, Ark., three bass, 8-6, $683 4th: Eli Garrison, Ward, Ark., three bass, 8-0, $476 5th: Mark King, Gurdon, Ark., three bass, 7-13, $408 6th: Dustin Schluterman, Alexander, Ark., two bass, 7-11, $374 7th: Zach Oliver, Coal Hill, Ark., two bass, 7-10, $340 8th: Koby Gooden, North Little Rock, Ark., three bass, 7-0, $306 9th: Rick Habarka, Conway, Ark., three bass, 6-14, $272 10th: Marlin Tice, Jonesboro, Ark., three bass, 6-12, $238 Chad Nolan of Muldrow, Oklahoma, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $280, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After four events, Brian Bean of Hot Springs, Arkansas, now leads the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 947 points, while Michael Brown of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, leads the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 951 points. The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Arkie Division anglers will be held Sept. 20-21, at Lake Hamilton out of Hot Springs, Arkansas. 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. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, 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 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. |