| Boater winner Clayton Reitz of Morton, Illinois, and co-angler winner Logan Kurth of Pound, Wisconsin. |
| Wisconsin’s Kurth Tops Co-Angler Division WINNECONNE, Wis. (Aug. 18, 2025) – Boater Clayton Reitz of Morton, Illinois, proved he’s got the Wolf River dialed in, as he caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Wolf River Chain Presented by Lew’s . The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Reitz earned $3,337 for his victory. “I normally fish for smallmouth,” said Reitz, who earned his fifth career BFL victory on the Wolf River Chain – six overall. “I practiced for five days and got the idea that the largemouth were biting a lot better and running a lot bigger than the smallies. So, for the first time in 20-something years, I opted to fish for largemouth. It worked out good.” Reitz said he caught four solid largemouth on Lake Poygan, and that cemented his largemouth-only approach. “I had a decent bag of largemouth, and I said, ‘I’m not even going to mess with (smallmouth),’” Reitz said. “I had shaken off a handful off smaller smallmouth, but I never really went to them.” Reitz said at 10:30 he upgraded bass twice – trading 2¾-pound fish for ones that weighed 3¾ pounds – and had his final weigh bag by 11:00. Reitz said he flipped a green pumpkin and blue creature bait all day to weigh four of his final weigh fish, and his last cull fish came on a black Spro Bronzeye Frog. “Winneconne is a special place to me, and as I get older those wins get more and more special,” Reitz said. “It’s very hard to win against such a stacked field where a lot of people have things pretty well figured out. “I really have to give a big shout out to my co-angler, Chris Morgan,” Reitz added. “He did everything for me and was key to me getting the win. When I was really catching them, he was right there for me.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., five bass, 16-10, $3,337 2nd: Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill, five bass, 16-9, $1,668 3rd: Geoff Williams, New London, Wis., five bass, 16-3, $1,317 4th: Tyler Fitch, Fall River, Wis., five bass, 16-0, $779 5th: Jim Tomsovic, Sparta, Wis., five bass, 15-15, $667 6th: Jim Jones, Big Bend, Wis., five bass, 15-12, $712 7th: Severin Tubbin, Viroqua, Wis., five bass, 14-15, $556 8th: Myles Steward, Omro, Wis., five bass, 14-8, $501 9th: Jerry Robackouski, Joliet, Ill., five bass, 14-5, $945 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus) 10th: Jack Webb, Trempealeau, Wis., five bass, 14-3, $594 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Jack Webb of Trempealeau, Wisconsin, and Geoff Williams of New London, Wisconsin, each caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 6 ounces, to split the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $410.  Logan Kurth of Pound, Wisconsin, won the co-angler division and $1,668 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 10 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Logan Kurth, Pound, Wis., three bass, 9-10, $1,668 2nd: Brad Juen, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 8-10, $936 3rd: Chia Xiong, Onalaska, Wis., three bass, 8-4, $558 4th: Timothy Wittren, Ontario, Wis., three bass, 8-3, $393 4th: Jamie Gomez, Holmen, Wis., three bass, 8-3, $343 4th: Robert Johnson, Omro, Wis., three bass, 8-3, $343 7th: Kenny Nachtman, Bellevue, Iowa, three bass, 8-1, $378 8th: Sean Ricker, Springfield, Ill., three bass, 7-8, $236 8th: Amanda Riley, Galesville, Wis., three bass, 7-8, $338 10th: Adam Beckwith, Madison, Wis., three bass, 7-6, $195 Amanda Riley of Galesville, Wisconsin, and Brad Juen of La Crosse, Wisconsin, each caught a bass that weighed 3 pounds, 14 ounces, to split the Berkley Big Bass Co-boater award of $204. After four events, Tyler Fitch of Fall River, Wisconsin, leads the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 969 points, while Timothy Wittren of Ontario, Wisconsin, leads the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 961 points. The next event for BFL Great Lakes Division anglers will be the two-day Super Tournament Presented by Lew’s, held Sept. 13-14, at Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. 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. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. 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. 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 Sport 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. |