| Boater winner Kevin Drake of Cleveland, Tennessee, and co-angler winner Chris Graham of McCaysville, Georgia. |
| Georgia’s Graham Tops Leaderboard in Co-Angler Division DAYTON, Tenn. (March 23, 2026) – Boater Kevin Drake of Cleveland, Tennessee, caught a total of five bass weighing 23 pounds, 15 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Chickamauga . The tournament, hosted by Rhea County Department of Tourism – Fish Dayton, was the first of five events of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Drake earned $4,910, including a $2,500 Phoenix bonus, for his victory. Drake’s tournament on Chickamauga didn’t exactly go as he had scripted it. He had planned on stocking his livewell with a quick limit and then spend the rest of the day looking for big fish. “During practice I had a couple of areas that were loading with fish,” Drake said. “I wouldn’t say big fish, but they were loading with fish. So, I decided to start on both of those areas if there weren’t boats on them.” Drake fished the main-lake areas and neither he nor his co-angler got a bite, so he knew he would have to rethink his strategy. “I just had a bad feeling,” Drake said. “Before takeoff, I checked the TVA app, and they had cut the water off Friday night. They had been flowing 35,000 (cubic feet per second) out of the dam for the last month straight, but they cut it off the night before the tournament.” Drake made the decision to run upriver and turn on his Garmin LiveScope to try out some spots that held big fish. Drake said he attacked main-lake points, river bars and flats with a 6-inch solid white swimbait, which was the bait he threw all day. After he turned on electronics at 9 a.m. he caught a bass that was about 5 pounds and over the course of an hour added three more to boost his weight to 15 pounds. Bites and catches were few and far between, and he said he caught only two more keepers, one of which was his largest bass, after his LiveScope period ended. “It was overall a very, very tough day of fishing compared to what it was through the previous weeks,” Drake said. “I was pretty much down and out all day. So, this win was unexpected and a big sigh of relief.” The top 10 boaters finished the tournament: 1st: Kevin Drake, Cleveland, Tenn., five bass, 23-15, $4,910 (includes $2,500 Phoenix bonus) 2nd: Seth Davis, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 23-4, $1,250 3rd: Jimmy Neece Jr., Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 19-13, $670 4th: Brian Vicchio, Gray, Tenn., four bass, 18-4, $550 5th: Turner Tharpe, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 17-11, $590 6th: Zachary Francis, Abingdon, Va., five bass, 17-9, $430 7th: Clark Warren, Jefferson, Tenn., five bass, 16-8, $420 8th: Colton Kees, Oliver Springs, Tenn., four bass, 15-0, $610 9th: Blake Wheat, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 14-15, $390 10th: Jacob Foutz, Philadelphia, Tenn., five bass, 14-7, $380 Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com. Colton Kees of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing an 8-pound, 5-ounce bass, good for $200.  Chris Graham of McCaysville, Georgia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,305 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 20 pounds, 13 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers finished: 1st: Chris Graham, McCaysville, Ga., three bass, 20-13, $1,305 2nd: Randy Wilson, Murfreesboro, Tenn., three bass, 13-14, $625 3rd: Keith Gunsauls, Dandridge, Tenn., three bass, 12-2, $335 4th: Bud McKelvey, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 10-10, $275 5th: Lynn Spears, Athens, Tenn., three bass, 7-6, $245 6th: Caleb Edgerton, Dayton, Ohio, two bass, 6-15, $315 7th: Sean Warriner, Sweetwater, Tenn., two bass, 6-10, $210 8th: Gordon Benedict, Cookeville, Tenn., two bass, 6-4, $255 9th: Clinton Harrison, Georgetown, Tenn., two bass, 5-12, $200 10th: Michael Lowe, Clinton, Tenn., three bass, 5-8, $190 Graham also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 9-pound, 9-ounce bass, worth $100. 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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, 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 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. |