Indiana’s Gladish Tops Co-Angler Division

CANNELTON, Ind. (Aug. 10, 2026) – Boater Marty Sisk of Evansville, Indiana, and Blake Knies of Jasper, Indiana, both caught five bass weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces, to tie for the win Sunday at the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River at Rocky Point . The tournament was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division, and the second event of a back-to-back tournament weekend on the Ohio River for the Hoosier Division. Sisk earned $2,510 for his victory, while Knies earned $2,810 after his Berkley Big Bass and Tackle Warehouse contingency bonuses.

“I started off and caught three in the first creek I started in, but at 10 o’clock I moved to a different creek,” Sisk said. I was kind of holding off on this spot because it’s hard to get into. As soon as I got in there, I caught a 3-pounder and ended up catching four more keepers. But the three-pounder is what did it. In a low-weight tournament a 3-pounder is gold.”

Sisk said he caught all of his fish 15 miles up the river on a 3/8-ounce white spinnerbait, fished two to four feet deep around wood – stumps or laydowns. Sisk said he didn’t relax after catching the 3-pounder early.

“I actually caught a fish that was 1¾ pounds in the last 15 minutes of fishing before I ran back,” Sisk said. “It took me all day.

“I didn’t think I had it won,” Sisk went on to say. “The 3-pounder was my fifth fish. My focus after that was just to make as much money as I could. I’ve won there before with less weight (7-9 in 2020). I thought I had a shot, but with that low of a weight you don’t expect to win.”

Unlike Sisk, fellow winner Knies said he went through a variety of baits to coax bites, and his approach paid off well.

“Everything just went right today,” said Knies. “Today I just pulled up, and it was fish after fish. I don’t know if it was fresh water nobody had hit yet or what. I just could do no wrong. The fish just bit.”

Knies said he bounced from spot to spot and fished water he had never fished before and had no idea he had a shot of winning until he was weighing his bag and waiting for the scale to read his final weight.

“The fish were on the scale and the weighmaster said, ‘You’re either going to tie or you’re going to win,’” said Knies. “The scale just kept bouncing back and forth. I was like, ‘Oh, I had no idea!’”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Marty Sisk, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 8-9, $2,510
1st:        Blake Knies, Jasper, Ind., five bass, 8-9, $2,810
3rd:       Jeremy Johnson, Austin, Ind., five bass, 7-10, $850
4th:        Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 7-8, $1,180, (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
5th:        Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., five bass, 7-7, $710
5th:        Daniel Langton, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 7-7, $560
7th:        Larry Sisk, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 7-2, $490
7th:        Christopher Lemon, Martinsville, Ind., five bass, 7-2, $490
9th:        Ryan Deal, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 6-15, $460
10th:     Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-12, $365
10th:     Scott Bateman, Jasper, Ind., four bass, 6-12, $365

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tournament winner Blake Knies of Jasper, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 3-pound, 6-ounce bass worth $200.

Brandon Gladish of Petersburg, Indiana, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,670 Sunday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Brandon Gladish, Petersburg, Ind., three bass, 6-13, $1,670
2nd:      Cole Hess, Cannelton, Ind., two bass, 6-0, $940
3rd:       Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., three bass, 4-15, $475
4th:        Garrett Deal, Evansville, Ind., two bass, 4-9, $340
5th:        Steve Hanson, Shelbyville, Ind., three bass, 4-4, $300
6th:        Jesse Foster, Franklin, Ohio, three bass, 4-0, $255
6th:        Jeff Campbell, Fairfield, Ohio, three bass, 4-0, $255
8th:        Gary Owens, Columbus, Ind., three bass, 3-14, $235
8th:        Bo Bivens, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 3-14, $235
10th:     Dyllan Grace, Scottsburg, Ind., three bass, 3-13, $215

Cole Hess of Cannelton, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass worth $100.

After four events, Blake Knies of Jasper, Indiana, now leads the 7 Brew Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 953 points, while Rob Campbell of Martinsville, Indiana, leads the Hoosier Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 934 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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lake in Calvert City, Kentucky. 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 2027 BFL All-American will take place June 5-7, at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, and is hosted by Experience Kissimmee.

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, PiranhO2, 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, 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.