Georgia’s Ford Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division

COLUMBIANA, Ala. (Feb. 9, 2026) – Boater Jacob Walker of Springville, Alabama, caught a total of five bass weighing 23 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lay Lake . The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Walker earned $10,540, including a $7,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus, for his victory.

Walker, a rookie on the Bass Pro Tour, grew up and learned how to fish on the Warrior River just a couple of hours’ drive from Lay Lake and currently resides one hour and 10 minutes from Lay to the south and Guntersville Lake to the north. He calls the Coosa River his home waters, and he found he had to rely on home-water experience during the BFL event.

“I practiced for three days this week for the tournament, and it was really cold,” Walker said. “We had brutal conditions. The water temperature was mid-40s. I would use my LiveScope for a couple of hours in the morning, then I would go and look around to try to find something else. I never really found anything too good.”

Walker approached the tournament by planning to throw a 6-inch Deps Sakamata Shad Heavy Weight Soft Jerkbait on a 3/16-ounce Owner Range Roller Jig Head while utilizing his LiveScope and then switching to a Big Texan-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver 4.20 secured to a ½-ounce tungsten weight on 50-pound-test Sunline Braid to flip grass.

“That 6-inch bait is usually big for a spotted bass, and most people will not throw something that big for spotted bass,” Walker said. “I might not get as many bites with it as somebody throwing something smaller, but when I do get a fish to commit on that bait it’s usually one you’re going to weigh in.”

“I used the three hours of LiveScope from 7:10 to 10:10 and caught seven fish,” Walker went on to say. “I had a bunch of 4-pounders for 20 pounds. After my scoping was done, I went and flipped grass the rest of the day. I got five bites flipping, and I landed three of them, one of which was a 6-13 at 2:45.”

Although Walker knew his approach was a solid one, conditions played a major factor in the tournament and forced Walker to lean on past experience on the water.

“It was just a tough day,” Walker said. “Understanding current and the effect it has on water levels played a big factor. When they run some current and the water is already low, the bottom end of the lake is typically lower than it is mid- to up-river, so that’s where the grass fishing was better for me, because the water was a little bit higher up there. I’m talking four inches made a big difference. I just had to have faith to fish some of the stuff I’ve caught big fish on in the past and know where to go flip for six hours and have the confidence to get the right three bites. The weights have been really good on the lake, so I was worried. Even after I caught that big one I was still worried I wasn’t going to win.”

“I am a professional fisherman,” Walker went on to say. “I realize that. But I don’t feel that way. All of the people I fished against in this tournament are people I’ve fished against since I was 12 years old. I mean, there are local legends there. I don’t fish at home much anymore. It’s hard to compete at home because everybody there is so good. They know exactly what’s going on day to day. And being on the road you lose touch with that. So, I was shocked to win this, honestly.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., five bass, 23-0, $10,540 (includes $7,000 Phoenix Bonus)
2nd:        Hunter Davidson, Reform, Ala., five bass, 19-10, $1,680
3rd:         Tristen Price, Madison, Ala., five bass, 18-3, $850
4th:         Bobby McCaa, Selma, Ala., five bass, 17-4, $680
5th:         Chris Hensley, Marbury, Ala., five bass, 16-11, $600
6th:         Dalton Cochran, McCalla, Ala., five bass, 16-6, $520
7th:         Matthew Bennett, Eclectic, Ala., five bass, 16-0, $500
8th:         Phillip Herring, Richton, Miss., five bass, 15-10, $480
9th:         Josh Statum, Jackson’s Gap, Ala., five bass, 15-2, $460
10th:       James Willoughby, Gulfport, Miss., five bass, 15-0, $430

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Walker also earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 6-pound, 13-ounce bass worth $200.

Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,670 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Jeffrey Ford, Trion, Ga., three bass, 10-6, $1,670
2nd:        Timothy Shockley, Booneville, Miss., three bass, 10-0, $840
3rd:         Michael Hester, Ohatchee, Ala., three bass, 8-10, $425
4th:         Scott Noles, Woodland, Ala., three bass, 8-6, $340
5th:         Corey Wyrosdick, Phenix City, Ala., three bass, 8-0, $300
6th:         Roger Shirey, Ashland, Ala., three bass, 7-13, $260
7th:         Alvin Shirey, Talladega, Ala., three bass, 7-9, $250
8th:         David Rhudy, Calera, Ala., three bass, 7-7, $240
9th:         Randy Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala, three bass, 7-6, $230
10th:       Phillip Easterling, Clanton, Ala., three bass, 7-5, $215

Joseph Chilcott of Williamson, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass worth $100.

After two events, Tristen Price of Madison, Alabama, now leads the 7 Brew Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 493 points, while Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, leads the Bama Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 494 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. 22-24 BFL Regional tournament on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee. 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.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Lew’s, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, YETI and Yuengling.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular BFL 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, 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.