| Boater Cody Harrison of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and co-angler Scott Towry of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. |
Tennessee’s Towry Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division IUKA, Miss. (March 16, 2026) – Boater Cody Harrison of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, caught five bass weighing 22 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Pickwick Lake . The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Harrison earned $2,320 for his victory. “I ran downriver today and didn’t stop until I got to the Natchez Trace bridge,” Harrison said. “I started out cranking some current breaks and caught two fish pretty quick. But I really didn’t get on anything until I stopped just shy of the dam.” Harrison said he continued to fish current breaks and around 10 a.m. changed the color of his swimbait from a Citron color to a Green Bean color. That’s when his luck changed. “On the first cast I made with the new color I caught a 4-6,” Harrison said. “I knew I had figured out the color. So, I made a few drifts and culled up to 19 pounds. I bounced around to let the spot rest, then I went back and fished it hard, but I didn’t get a fish that would help me.” “I didn’t start (Garmin) LiveScope until 1:00 when I pulled up into a little sneaky place,” Harrison went on to say. “I could see the fish down there, and I knew something was about to happen.” Harrison said he tried an Alabama rig and could see fish following it, so he switched back to the True Bass Hollow Body Swimbait 4.5 with a ¾-ounce True Bass True Lock Swimbait Jig Head and promptly caught a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass, one that weighed 4-14 and one that went 3-6 to cull up to more than 21 pounds. Harrison opted for a ¾-ounce jig head instead of his usual ½-ounce head for use in the high current. “I really didn’t think I would win,” Harrison said. “I thought a top 5 was possible. I knew I had 22 pounds and some change, so I felt like that was pretty solid. I lost two fish, and whenever you lose one… I mean, you have to fish clean to win, so I thought losing those two was going to be a killer. I thought a win was out of the question. “So, I was really glad to get a win on this lake,” Harrison went on to say. “I’m here all the time and I know so much about this place it usually burns me. I have too much water, and I kind of get spaced out too much. The last Toyota Series event I fished here I had fish from one end to the other and I didn’t know where to start and I just bombed. I’m just glad I got to redeem myself after the last Toyota event I fished here.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Cody Harrison, Muscle Shoals, Ala., five bass, 22-8, $2,320 2nd: Clayton Ellis, Saltillo, Miss., five bass, 21-5, $1,360 3rd: Donny Beck, Killen, Ala., five bass, 18-6, $630 4th: Skip Howell, Okolona, Miss., five bass, 17-13, $530 5th: Blake Daugherty, Pope, Miss., five bass, 17-9, $470 6th: Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., four bass, 16-14, $915 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus) 6th: Corban Knight, Somerville, Tenn., five bass, 16-14, $415 8th: Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., five bass, 16-9, $390 9th: Shane Cox, Iuka, Miss., four bass, 16-5, $380 10th: JR Dukes, Tillatoba, Miss., five bass, 16-2, $520 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Clayton Ellis of Saltillo, Mississippi, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $200.  Scott Towry of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,160 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 6 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 10-6, $1,160 2nd: Christopher Beach, Brookhaven, Miss., three bass, 8-14, $580 3rd: Wade Mitchell, Woodland, Miss., three bass, 8-12, $315 4th: Bill Goldman, Tylertown, Miss., three bass, 8-5, $265 5th: Thomas Alexander, Austin, Ark., three bass, 7-11, $235 6th: John Higginbotham, Denham Springs, La., three bass, 7-5, $210 7th: Larry Stewart Jr., Brandon, Miss., one bass, 6-1, $302 7th: Johnny Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., two bass, 6-1, $202 9th: Ansel Davis, Tylertown, Miss, one bass, 5-4, $190 10th: Jeff Porter, Southaven, Miss., two bass, 5-1, $185 Larry Stewart Jr. of Brandon, Mississippi, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $100. After two events, Blake Daugherty of Pope, Mississippi, now leads the 7 Brew Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 495 points, while John Higginbotham of Denham Springs, Louisiana, leads the Mississippi Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 485 points. The top 45 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. 8-10 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. 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 prize of a new Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, worth $33,500. The 2026 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top seven, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2026 BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism. |