Florida’s Pabon Earns Win in Co-Angler Division

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (March 16, 2026) – Boater Eric Panzironi of Longwood, Florida, caught a total of five bass weighing 26 pounds, 6 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Toho. The tournament, hosted by Experience Kissimmee, was the third of five events of the season for the BFL Gator Division Presented by Merman’s Revenge. Panzironi earned $5,040 for his victory.

Panzironi recently competed in the Toyota Series event at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes earlier this month and finished 12th, so he had a good idea of his plan of attack for the BFL tournament.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Panzironi said. “The guys in the Toyota Series were really catching them, and fishing really slowed down after that event.

“I had a spot in Toho that I ran to and caught a 13- or 14-pound limit in the first 30 minutes,” Panzironi went on to say. “That bite slowed down pretty fast, so I knew I wanted to go to Kissimmee because I knew where some big ones were that I couldn’t get to bite during the Toyota Series event.”

Panzironi made the run to Kissimmee where he had located bass holding on brushpiles and proceeded to target post-spawn bass.

“They were in the brushpiles, and I threw a big worm at them and put it in their faces, and they ate it,” Panzironi said. “I got lucky. I think it was a timing deal. I hit them at the right time, caught them, and that was pretty much it.”

Panzironi targeted hydrilla and milfoil with a golden shad-colored Z-Man Chatterbait Elite EVO on Toho and used his 3-hour electronic period at Kissimmee, where he caught three good-sized bass he weighed in.

“This win feels great,” Panzironi said. “The last two years have been pretty rough. I lost my dad and I haven’t been able to get things together in tournaments, so it feels good to get a nice check in the Toyota Series and then come right back and win this one. I put my time in down there and worked my butt off, and it paid off finally.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Eric Panzironi, Longwood, Fla., five bass, 26-6, $5,040
2nd:      Anthony Cilladi, Oviedo, Fla., five bass, 22-9, $2,480
3rd:       Shelton Smith, St. Cloud, Fla., five bass, 20-0, $1,200
4th:        Kyle Fox, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 19-10, $885
4th:        Tanner Seabolt, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 19-10, $885
6th:        Danny Inabnett, De Leon Springs, Fla., five bass, 18-12, $690
7th:        Matt Wieteha, Miami, Fla., five bass, 18-10, $760
8th:        Brady Lunsmann, Citrus Springs, Fla., five bass, 18-4, $630
9th:        Dan Weber, Palm Bay, Fla., five bass, 17-12, $790
10th:     Andrew Ready, Auburndale, Fla., five bass, 17-8, $560

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Dan Weber of Palm Bay, Florida, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing an 8-pound, 8-ounce bass worth $200.

Brandon Pabon of Deltona, Florida, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,620 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 14 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Brandon Pabon, Deltona, Fla., three bass, 14-5, $2,620
2nd:      Sabin Griffis, Indiantown, Fla., three bass, 13-0, $1,240
3rd:       Lenny Leibold III, Franklin, Pa., three bass, 11-11, $600
4th:        Larry Austin, The Villages, Fla., three bass, 11-4, $475
5th:        Tim Endris, Salt Springs, Fla., three bass, 11-2, $410
6th:        Pat Herolt, Citrus Springs, Fla., three bass, 11-1, $345
7th:        William Lewis, Jacksonville, Fla., three bass, 10-5, $330
8th:        Chris Westhelle, Sanford, Fla., three bass, 10-2, $315
9th:        Robert Burnette, Lakeland, Fla, three bass, 10-1, $300
10th:     Andrew Cruz, Lakeland, Fla., three bass, 9-14, $193
10th:     Aaron Doll, Palm Bay, Fla., three bass, 9-14, $193

Pabon also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 7-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $100.

After three events, Dylan Quilatan of Windermere, Florida, now leads the 7 Brew Gator Division Presented by Merman’s Revenge Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 722 points, while Chris Westhelle of Sanford, Florida, leads the Gator Division Presented by Merman’s Revenge Co-Angler of the Year race with 699 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. 8-10 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. 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, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, 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, Game & Fish TV and Rumble, 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.