| Boater winner Liam Blake of Fairport, New York, and co-angler winner Randall Given of Laurel, Delaware |
| Delaware’s Given Tops Co-Angler Division BREWERTON, N.Y. (Aug. 25, 2025) – Boater Liam Blake of Fairport, New York, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Oneida Lake presented by Lew’s. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Northeast Division. Blake earned $3,632 for his victory. “I fished history on the lake and just went back to the basics with a jig and a dropshot around grass and rocks,” Blake said. “It was nothing too crazy – just 13 to 20 feet of water. The perfect mix of grass and rock was what you needed to be around to get bit.” Blake said he fished west-central Oneida on the south shore and used forward-facing sonar to see fish through the grass. He cited being able to see the fish on his electronics as being the key to his victory. “I just put the bait in front of as many fish as I could to get bites. It was tough,” Blake said. “I caught 20 keepers all day. Ten of those were shallow and came on a drop-shot with a 4-inch Yamamoto Senko and a ¼-ounce drop-shot weight. I also threw a ½-ounce homemade football jig.” Blake said Oneida has been fishing so well lately he estimated it would take, “22 and some change to win”, and figured he was one bite short of a win at weigh-in. “Apparently, it was pretty tough out there,” Blake said. “I didn’t think I had enough until I put my boat on the trailer and a couple of people came over and commented about how tough it was, and 20 pounds was leading. That’s when I realized I might have a chance. “This win is amazing,” Blake added. “I’ve had a bunch of second places in tournaments out there, so to win one feels really good.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Liam Blake, Fairport, N.Y., five bass, 21-7, $3,632 2nd: Jason Putman, Cicero, N.Y., five bass, 20-2, $2,281 3rd: Ricky Brodeur, Chaumont, N.Y., five bass, 20-0, $1,210 4th: Casey Smith, Victor, N.Y., five bass, 19-14, $947 5th: Jordan Sypeck, Weston, Pa., five bass, 19-11, $726 6th: Jared Adamski, Dallas, Pa., five bass, 19-9, $666 7th: Henry Fristik, Blandford, Mass., five bass, 19-5, $605 8th: Dylan Fogerty, Mechanicsburg, Pa., five bass, 19-4, $545 9th: Ken Golub, Pittsford, N.Y., five bass, 19-2, $484 10th: Dean Diviesti, Walden, N.Y., five bass, 19-1, $424 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Jason Putman of Cicero, New York, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $465.  Randall Given of Laurel, Delaware, won the co-angler division and $1,816 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 14 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Randall Given, Laurel, Del., three bass, 12-14, $1,816 2nd: Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., three bass, 12-8, $958 3rd: Andrew Hostler, Tyrone, Pa., three bass, 10-14, $706 4th: Jared Burrows, Butler, Pa., three bass, 10-13, $424 5th: Cole Bernier, Saylorsburg, Pa., three bass, 10-12, $363 6th: Timothy Rougier, Watertown, N.Y., three bass, 10-9, $333 7th: Wes Woolridge, Phoenix, N.Y., three bass, 10-8, $303 8th: Sudhir Nath, Buffalo, N.Y., three bass, 10-6, $272 9th: Thomas Tennity, Newark, N.Y., three bass, 10-1, $242 10th: Wes Vyverberg, Rochester, N.Y., three bass, 9-15, $201 10th: Matthew Belmore, Indian Lake, N.Y., three bass, 9-15, $201 Gerald Dam of Pine Plains, New York, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $232, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. After four events, Tom Balachvili of Scarsdale, New York, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 935 points, while Kade Wesner of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 956 points. The next event for BFL Northeast Division anglers will be the two-day Super Tournament held Sept. 20-21, at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. 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 James River Presented by Mando Deodorant in Richmond, Virginia. 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. |