| Boater winner Justin Berger of Murray, Kentucky, and co-angler winner Brady Kendall of Paducah, Kentucky. |
| Kentucky’s Kendall Tops Co-Angler Division PARIS, Tenn. (Oct. 13, 2025) – Boater Justin Berger of Murray, Kentucky, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 41 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on Kentucky-Barkley Lake Presented by Mando Deodorant . The tournament, which was hosted by the Henry County Tourism Authority, concluded Saturday. For his win, Berger earned a prize package valued at $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200hp Mercury or Suzuki outboard. The Kentucky-Barkley Lake event served as the Regional championship for the BFL Mississippi and Hoosier divisions. The field included the top 60 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each division’s tournament winners. The top three boaters and co-anglers have also now qualified for the 2026 BFL All-American. Berger entered the Regional event just weeks after winning the Sept. 6-7 BFL Super Tournament on Kentucky Lake. “My goal during practice was to find topwater fish,” Berger said. “This time of year, if you can find a couple of places that’s got them, you can win. Period. So, if I could find one spot per day, it would have been the best practice ever. And in five days, I got seven bites. Which was not good.” Berger said the first day of the tournament provided ‘super cold’ air temperatures and no wind, but he did not abandon his topwater approach for winning fish. “I was not feeling good at all going into this tournament,” Berger said. “I was just going to have fun. I went through all five of my best topwater spots and never had a bite the first day. So I went to different subsurface baits, and still nothing. A complete ghost town.” Berger said he moved the boat a couple of hundred yards away from one of his topwater spots and made some Scoping casts to clear his mind and gather his thoughts. He hooked into a couple of 4-pounders in a matter of 15 minutes. Another move provided a 17-inch keeper and a 4¼-pound bass. Yet another relocation provided another 17-incher. “I had salvaged my day by 1:30, and I told my co-angler I had enough weight to give myself a chance for the second day,” Berger said. “So, for the next 2½ hours I fished new water just trying to find something for the next day, and never got another bite. I had five keeper bites on Friday and boated them all.” The second day of competition provided warmer weather, and Berger said he wanted to run his same topwater spots in hopes that bite would pay off. “On the very first spot my co-angler caught a 3½-pound fish,” Berger said. “It just demolished his topwater bait. So, I took that as a good sign.” Berger’s topwater spots put two 3½-pound bass in the livewell and boosted his confidence. Berger soon boated a 3-pounder, and a smallmouth he estimated to be 5½ to 6 pounds followed. Berger said he wanted one more bass to fill his limit for a chance to make a strong showing in the tournament and secure an All-American berth. “Not five casts later I caught a 5½-pound largemouth,” Berger said. “At 10 a.m. I had a really good bag. I couldn’t have scripted it any better. I knew I was going to the All-American at that point. That’s all I wanted. I wanted to go back to the All-American. It is such a cool event and I’m so excited that I will be there again next year.” The top three boaters who qualified for the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American finished: 1st: Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., 10 bass, 41-0, $50,000 2nd: Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-0, $7,173 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus) 3rd: Gary Singleton, Dickson, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-10, $3,419 Rounding out the top 10 boaters were: 4th: Colton Boelkes, Roscoe, Ill., 10 bass, 34-9, $3,158 5th: Jackson Bennett, Knoxville, Tenn., eight bass, 25-5, $1,527 6th: Skip Howell, Okolona, Miss., eight bass, 25-3, $1,401 7th: Nick Uebelhor, Jasper, Ind., seven bass, 24-15, $1,274 8th: Jordan Hartman, Benton, Ky., seven bass, 24-10, $1,148 9th: Brian Funkhouser, Bloomington, Ind., eight bass, 24-2, $1,022 10th: John Anderson, Bay Springs, Miss., eight bass, 24-1, $958 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Colton Boelkes of Roscoe, Illinois, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $1,000 for landing a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces – the biggest of the tournament.  Brady Kendall of Paducah, Kentucky, won the co-angler division Saturday after bringing a two-day total of four bass weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces, to the scale. Kendall earned the top co-angler award of $12,790 for his victory. The top three co-anglers who qualified for the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American finished: 1st: Brady Kendall, Paducah, Ky., four bass, 13-5, $12,790 2nd: Jojo Walsh, Lyles, Tenn., four bass, 12-14, $3,278 3rd: Larry Stewart Jr., Brandon, Miss., four bass, 11-14, $1,701 Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were: 4th: Joe Cornelius, Corinth, Miss., five bass, 11-13, $1,070 5th: Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., four bass, 11-5, $755 6th: Tim Rampaul, Dickson, Tenn., four bass, 11-1, $792 7th: Judd Linette, Jasper, Ind., four bass, 10-1, $629 8th: Cory Kaiser, Lanesville, Ind., three bass, 9-10, $566 9th: Kilpatrick Thompson, Carrollton, Miss., three bass, 9-8, $503 10th: Peyton Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., four bass, 9-0, $471 Steve Hammack of Caledonia, Mississippi, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $500. The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine was 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, now 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 43rd annual BFL All-American. The BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, 2026, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board. |