Hockingport’s Campbell Tops Co-Angler Division

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (July 21, 2025) – Boater Aaron Stahley of Batavia, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River at Tanners Creek . The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Buckeye Division. Stahley earned $4,241 for his victory.

“It started off a little slow,” Stahley said. “I was catching some short fish, and then finally I was just kind of making some different milk runs and really started putting together a few bites here and there.”

There was no real pattern to it. Stahley ran around and fished what looked good, junk-fishing with a topwater, crankbait, spinnerbait and tube.

“I just try to put myself in the best position to be around a few fish,” he said. “Then the key is to catch your bites because it’s the Ohio River. You’re not going to get very many of them.”

For Stahley, a teacher, getting his first win from the front of the boat was a welcomed change of pace from dealing with the ongoing challenges of a house fire that his family suffered last November.

“I’m supposed to be home doing drywall, but I told my wife I was going to go fish instead of work,” he said. “She was on board. We’ve been over there working every single day for probably 10 or 12 hours. So to get an opportunity to go fish a tournament, she said have at it. It feels good.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 12-11, $4,241
2nd:        Michael Nesbitt, St. Paris, Ohio, five bass, 10-11, $1,835
3rd:         Kenny Dials, Gallipolis, Ohio, five bass, 9-14, $1,040
3rd:         Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 9-14, $1,690
5th:         David Taylor, Freedom, Pa., five bass, 8-7, $1,234 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
6th:         Chuck Willis, Dayton, Ohio, four bass, 8-6, $673
7th:         Kevin Spears, New Boston, Ohio, five bass, 7-9, $612
8th:         Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, five bass, 7-3, $551
9th:         Kenneth Pincombe, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-0, $458
9th:         Seth Fricke, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 7-0, $458

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Stahley caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $470.

Jonathan Campbell of Hockingport, Ohio, won the co-angler division and $1,835 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 4 pounds, 14 ounces.

The top 12 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Jonathan Campbell, Hockingport, Ohio, three bass, 4-14, $1,835
2nd:        Jacob Lange, Trenton, Ohio, three bass, 4-8, $918
3rd:         Jordan Smith, Middletown, Ohio, three bass, 4-6, $612
4th:         Eric Moore, Okeana, Ohio, three bass, 4-4, $428
5th:         Ryan Sykes, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 4-3, $517
6th:         Walt Hammond, Lees Summit, Mo., three bass, 3-14, $336
7th:         Dakota Ball, Connersville, Ind., three bass, 3-13, $275
7th:         Jordan Voigt, Celina, Ohio, three bass, 3-13, $275
7th:         Kade Oliver, Muncie, Ind., three bass, 3-13, $275
10th:       Jesse Foster, Franklin, Ohio, three bass, 3-12, $194
10th:       Brendon Thornburg, Muncie, Ind., three bass, 3-12, $194
10th:       Jeff Campbell, Fairfield, Ohio, three bass, 3-12, $194

Greg Barnes of Morning View, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $235, catching a bass that weighed in at 2 pounds, 15 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Chris Martinkovic of Hamilton, Ohio, now leads the Fishing Clash Buckeye Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 726 points, while Ryan Sykes of Hamilton, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash Buckeye Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 713 points.

The next event for BFL Buckeye Division anglers will be held Aug. 2, at Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio. 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 Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio. 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.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.