HENRICO, Va. (Aug. 5, 2024) – Boater Chris Brummett of Lynch Station, Virginia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the James River . Hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, the tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Piedmont Division. Brummett earned $4,305 for his victory.

“It was a good day,” said Brummett, who is celebrating his second Phoenix BFL victory this year. “I made a long run to my primary area and started off the competition with a 4-pounder that I caught on a dropshot rig.

“That was a good start, and I filled my limit in about 30 minutes or so after that first fish,” Brummett continued. “Once I had my limit, I started concentrating on finding big fish with a buzzbait and culled two good ones.

“The tide was out, so the fish were sucked up tight to that grass edge. I caught the rest of my fish – plus a pile of keepers – all on a dropshot rig, along a grass edge.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., five bass, 18-14, $4,305
2nd:        Christopher Wingfield, Richmond, Va., five bass, 17-4, $1,753
3rd:         Chaz Carrington, Suffolk, Va., five bass, 16-8, $1,169
4th:         Jonathan Bailey, Peterstown, W.V., five bass, 16-3, $818
5th:         Brian Bersik, Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 15-13, $701
6th:         Brian Laclair, Denton, Md., five bass, 15-3, $643
7th:         Eric Picucci, Midlothian, Va., five bass, 15-0, $584
8th:         Jeff Miskell, Vienna, Va., five bass, 14-15, $526
9th:         Ryan Lachniet, Gum Spring, Va., five bass, 14-12, $467
10th:       Ed Milton, Chester, Va., five bass, 14-9, $409

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Shannon Breeding of Moneta, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds even to earn the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $440.

Phillip Ragland Jr. of Rustburg, Virginia, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,500 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:          Phillip Ragland Jr., Rustburg, Va., five bass, 17-7, $2,500
2nd:        Jean Lacerte, Elm City, N.C., five bass, 14-6, $866
3rd:         Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., five bass, 14-4, $577
4th:         Travis Owens, Hurt, Va., five bass, 13-0, $404
5th:         David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 11-3, $347
6th:         Richard Williams, Sutherland, Va., five bass, 10-15, $318
7th:         Cornell Badra, Clarksburg, Md., five bass, 10-14, $289
8th:         Bryson Giles, Bedford, Va., five bass, 10-8, $260
9th:         William Lane, Midlothian, Va., five bass, 10-4, $231
10th:       Dustin Wilhelm, Buena Vista, Va., five bass, 10-3, $202

Ragland Jr. also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $217, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Jonathan Bailey of Peterstown, West Virginia, leads the BFL Piedmont Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 956 points, while Dustin Riddle of Hiwassee, Virginia, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 962 points.

The next event for BFL Piedmont Division anglers will be held Sept. 21-22, at Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional tournament on Clark’s Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.

The 2024 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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, 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 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, 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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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 17 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.