Indiana’s Lutz Takes Co-Angler Division

TRENTON, Mich. (Sept. 8, 2025) – Boater Nolan Mandel of Kimball, Michigan, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 47 pounds, 5 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Super Tournament (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Detroit River Presented by Lew’s . The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event of the season for the BFL Michigan Division. Mandel earned $12,370, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix Bonus for his victory.

Mandel’s win came just a few short days after his wife gave birth Tuesday, and his priorities quickly changed from fishing to family.

“I only got about two hours of practice for this tournament because my wife just had a baby, and we’ve been at the hospital,” Mandel said. “I didn’t even know if I could catch 15 pounds. When I left the boat ramp, I had no idea where I was even going to fish. I just ran to St. Clair and decided to cover a lot of water and try to find fish.”

Mandel said grass on Lake St. Clair at this time of year begins to die off, and schools of perch will stay in the grass that is still alive, and smallmouth follow the perch. So, Mandel searched for big schools of perch in thick, healthy grass in 15 to 17 feet of water.

“The first day was amazing.” Mandel said. “I checked some spots they were on this time last year, and every spot I checked held a 5-pounder.”

The wind was a factor during the opening day of the tournament, so Mandel chose to fish the side of the lake that was protected by the wind. A drop-shot rig with a 3/8-ounce weight and a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Hit Worm proved to be effective Saturday.

Saturday’s successful spots for Mandel muddied up on Sunday, so he switched tactics to a small, 3/8-ounce Keitech jig with a Z-Man Finesse TRD trailer as well as a jighead minnow to provoke strikes. Although Mandel had a 3-pound lead heading into the final day of competition, Sunday did provide some tension for him.

“I broke two fish off and kept losing fish, and I started to kind of spiral out,” Mandel said. “I had a really good co-angler who had a good attitude and brought me back down, and I ended up catching enough fish to still win.”

Mandel also wrapped up the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with the win.

“This week was just sweet because of the circumstances,” Mandel added. “This is my favorite win I’ve had. It is just amazing.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Nolan Mandel, Kimball, Mich., 10 bass, 47-5, $12,370 (includes $7,000 Phoenix Bonus)
2nd:      Cody Kelley, Plainwell, Mich., 10 bass, 47-1, $2,635
3rd:       Noah Stauffer, Gowen, Mich., 10 bass, 43-3, $1,758
4th:        Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 42-11, $1,230
5th:        Joshua Kolodzaike, Ypsilanti, Mich., 10 bass, 40-9, $1,054
6th:        Jesse Richardson, Ligonier, Ind., 10 bass, 40-4, $966
7th:        Ty Fain, Springfield, Ohio, 10 bass, 40-0, $878
8th:        Wilson Burton, Findlay, Ohio, 10 bass, 39-11, $790
9th:        Mike Trombley, Belleville, Mich., 10 bass, 38-5, $703
10th:     Julian Sweet, Flint, Mich., 10 bass, 37-14, $615

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Ralph Blasey of Pinckney, Michigan, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $675.

Scott Lutz of Bremen, Indiana, won the co-angler division and $2,635 Sunday, after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 24 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Scott Lutz, Bremen, Ind., six bass, 24-1, $2,635
2nd:      Dennis Blakely, Norwalk, Ohio, six bass, 23-8, $1,367
3rd:       Terry Bucciarelli, Ypsilanti, Mich., six bass, 23-7, $980
4th:        J.D. Marcum, Catlettsburg, Ky., six bass, 22-9, $615
5th:        Daniel Dumais, Trenton, Mich., six bass, 22-3, $527
6th:        Justen Fain, Springfield, Ohio, six bass, 21-14, $483
7th:        Steve Ward, Trenton, Mich., six bass, 21-4, $439
8th:        Jacob Alltop, Lewistown, Ohio, six bass, 21-2, $395
9th:        Adam Suliman, Solon, Ohio, six bass, 20-12, $351
10th:     Caleb Edgerton, Dayton, Ohio, six bass, 20-1, $307

Scott Sims of Morgantown, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $337, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Nolan Mandel of Kimball, Michigan, won the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,367 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Brian Ruetz of Toledo, Ohio, won the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,299 points and earned the $500 payout.

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 in 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, RFD-TV 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.