JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. (April 28, 2026) – Stop No. 4 of the 2026 Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech is set to take place next week, May 8-10, in Jefferson County, Tennessee – the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Stop 4 on Douglas Lake Presented by Phoenix Boats.

The three-day Pro Circuit event, hosted by Visit Jefferson County, TN, will feature up to 150 professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $135,000. Anglers will take to Douglas Lake to catch their five biggest bass each day, and the winner will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative total.

“Jefferson County is thrilled to welcome the Major League Fishing Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit to Douglas Lake for the first time,” said Lauren Hurdle, Director of Tourism for Visit Jefferson County, TN. “This is one of the most exciting times of year to fish Douglas, with big bass, changing patterns, and nonstop action that will make for an incredible competition. We’re proud to host some of the best anglers in the world and look forward to showcasing the energy, beauty and hospitality that make our lake and community a premier destination, while also generating a meaningful economic impact for our local businesses.”

Douglas Lake has not been a frequent stop for bigger MLF events, but the lake is far from a stranger to the tournament community. It’s a regular hit for many regional anglers, and the Volunteer Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League heads there often. In May 2022, Travis Lilly won a BFL there with 16 pounds, 5 ounces, fishing a shad spawn with a jig, and mixing in a spoon and a crankbait for some deeper fish. In May 2024, Jonathan Dagley won there with 12-9, throwing a ChatterBait on flooded bushes.

The All-American was held on Douglas Lake in June of 2021, and Brant Grimm got it done with 46-9 over three days. In that event, he fished offshore the entire time, while many others in the top 10 fished shallow.

A mountain lake, Douglas Lake fluctuates significantly, as do many similar fisheries in East Tennessee. Loaded with fish, this event is not likely to produce heavy weights, but it should give anglers plenty of chances to fish how they want to, with bass expected to be deep and shallow given typical May water levels.

“It’s going to be up if it’s historically how it goes, and there is a mean shad spawn bite on Douglas, probably the best I’ve ever seen,” said Haysville, North Carolina pro Caz Anderson, who fished in college at nearby Carson-Newman University. “Fish getting up on the bank, blowing up on boat docks, bridges, anything hard, there’s shad spawning on it when it’s going down on Douglas.”

Besides the shad spawn, which usually tapers off as the day goes on, Anderson expects fish to be caught deep and shallow.

“If the water is high, there’s always a good flipping bite – the fish follow the water really well on that lake,” he said. “Then, there’s the offshore bite, the deep crankbaits, the traditional ledge stuff. Those fish tend to get out pretty deep on Douglas. They get 30- to 40-foot deep; it’s a different approach because there’s no current. It’s finding those small sweet spots where the fish group up.”

Recently, we have seen plenty of tournaments defined by shad spawns – Banks Shaw exploited an offshore shad spawn to win at Pickwick last season, and famously, David Williams lapped the field at Smith Lake in 2018, fishing a shad spawn on docks. It’s a killer pattern that can dominate a tournament, but it happens fast – often, pros need a backup pattern at least one day. At Douglas, that backup could be right on the bank, or 40 feet deep.

Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from the Dandridge Boat Dock & Ramp, located at 157 Public Drive in Dandridge, Tennessee. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Dandridge Boat Dock & Ramp and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2026 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech features a field of up to 150 professional anglers competing across six tournaments around the country for a total purse of $3.8 million and valuable 7 Brew Angler of the Year (AOY) points to qualify for the Pro Circuit Championship, set for Sept. 18-20 on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, and a coveted spot on the MLF Bass Pro Tour – the sport’s premier circuit.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of pros compete in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 50 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday. The winner is determined by heaviest cumulative weight from all three days and they will be awarded the grand prize of up to $135,000. Forward-facing and/or 360-degree sonar is limited to only 3 hours of competition each day.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live all three days of competition from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech Stop 4 on Douglas Lake Presented by Phoenix Boats will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 27 on Vice TV.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, 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 information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 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, 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.