Thursday, December 18, 2025

Green Cove Springs’ Stalvey Holds Off Field for Victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at St. Johns River

Date:

Boater winner Parker Stalvey of Green Cove Springs, Florida, and co-angler winner Dana Bass of Miami, Florida.
Florida’s Bass Claims Co-Angler Division

PALATKA, Fla. (Sept. 29, 2025) – Boater Parker Stalvey of Green Cove Springs, Florida, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 46 pounds, 7 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on St. Johns River . The tournament, hosted by Putnam County Tourist Development Council, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Gator Division. Stalvey earned $5,237 for his victory.

As usual, tides proved to be the major factor on the St. Johns River, and Stalvey was tuned in to them and adjusted as necessary to capitalize on the changing conditions the water presented to earn his first BFL trophy.

“Saturday, I started north and caught them decent, probably 12 to 13 pounds by 10 o’clock,” said Stalvey, who earned his first career victory in BFL competition after two prior third-place finishes as well as a runner-up effort. “The tide was headed out pretty strong by that time, so I went south and started following the tide.

“I got around the Seven Sisters area and pulled up on a school of fish,” Stalvey added. “It was game on at that point.”

Stalvey said he caught fish early on a Heddon Zara Spook and a popping bait fished near the bank, then as the day progressed, he moved into 8 to 10 feet of water and fished a crankbait on current swings near docks or anything else fish were setting up on.

Stalvey said Sunday he tried to duplicate his first day’s success with the same pattern, but the tide was coming from the opposite direction, and he couldn’t get fish to bite. He moved south to the Crescent Lake area where the tide was coming in.

“As soon as I shut down, they were biting pretty good,” Stalvey said. “I had my weight by 11:30 or 12 o’clock.

“I told my co-angler, ‘If I can get them to bite on this brush pile, I feel like we’ll be sitting pretty,’” Stalvey added. “Then I caught a 5-pounder and one 4-pounder. I felt pretty good about it then.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Parker Stalvey, Green Cove Springs, Fla., 10 bass, 46-7, $5,237
2nd:      Cody Morgan, Green Cove Springs, Fla., 10 bass, 43-11, $2,569
3rd:       Austin Black, East Palatka, Fla., 10 bass, 42-8, $1,712
4th:        John Mobley, Macclenny, Fla., 10 bass, 32-10, $1,199
5th:        Wendell Burke, Cross City, Fla., 10 bass, 32-8, $1,027
6th:        Steven Eastman, Eustis, Fla., 10 bass, 27-9, $942
7th:        Chris Keith, Alachua, Fla., 10 bass, 27-7, $856
8th:        Kenton Linthout, Cape Coral, Fla., nine bass, 27-6, $771
9th:        Kyle Fox, Lakeland, Fla., seven bass, 26-11, $1,330
10th:     Ryan Lewis, Deland, Fla., 10 bass, 26-3, $599

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Kyle Fox of Lakeland, Florida, caught a bass that weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $645.



Dana Bass of Miami, Florida, won the co-angler division and $2,569 Sunday, after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 9 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Dana Bass, Miami, Fla., six bass, 16-9, $2,569
2nd:      David Jones, Umatilla, Fla., six bass, 14-5, $1,284
3rd:       Danny Hinton, Saint Cloud, Fla., six bass, 13-7, $858
4th:        Hunter Kaiser, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 12-13, $971
5th:        Conner Herring, Old Town, Fla., six bass, 12-11, $514
6th:        Pat Herolt, Citrus Springs, Fla., five bass, 11-11, $471
7th:        Robert Linthout, Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 11-0, $428
8th:        Adrian Davies, Cocoa, Fla., five bass, 10-9, $385
9th:        Chris Nickle, Sanford, Fla, three bass, 9-9, $442
10th:     Michael Robel, Bradenton, Fla., three bass, 9-7, $300

Hunter Kaiser of Lakeland, Florida, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $322, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Dylan Quilatan of Windermere, Florida, won the Fishing Clash Gator Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,348 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while David Jones of Umatilla, Florida, won the Fishing Clash Gator Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,298 points and earned the $500 payout.

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. 17-18 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, 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 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.

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.





Share post:

Popular

More like this
Related

Gill Sets the Bar as MLF’s Youngest Bass-Fishing Millionaire

By: Jody WhiteWhen Drew Gill put a bow on his primary...

Seth Dixon & Thanos Tsoumbous win Lake Gaston with 5 bass weighing 18.56 lbs!

Next up is the Lake Gaston Final on January...

Matt Robertson wins the CATT Lake Norman Fall Final with 5 bass weighing 16.50 lbs!

Matt Robertson wins the Lake Norman Fall Final with...

Surviving the Cold While Catching Monster Bass by Bruce Callis Jr

Surviving the Cold While Catching Monster BassBruce Callis Jr The...