Missouri’s Hopping Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Sept. 14, 2026) – Boater Corbin Bailey of Camdenton, Missouri, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds even over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Super Tournament Presented by T-H Marine on Lake of the Ozarks Presented by Precision Sonar. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Ozark Division. Bailey earned $5,300 for his victory.

“I practiced Friday and had a really good day,” the 19-year-old Bailey said. “Then Saturday rolled around and I had a really slow start to the morning. I just kept doing the same thing. I was in the Osage River flipping docks shallow with a jig and running around covering water.”

Bailey said he started catching and culling bass around 11 a.m. and culled his way up to 17-11 for his first day’s weight.

“It was the same exact thing on the second day,” Bailey said. “It was really slow until about 11, and then I started catching some after that and culled my way up.”

Bailey’s jig of choice was one homemade and hand-tied by standout Ozarks angler Lawson Hibdon, and Bailey used a Bojangle Baits Z-Daddy trailer off the back. He said that he also caught a couple of his better bass on a shaky-head rig, tipped with a Bojangle Baits Mag Daddy.

“I fished a lot of new water,” Bailey said. “I practiced and got some bites, but really, everything I caught was a result of running new water every day. That was key.

“About 2 o’clock on the second day I caught my fourth big one, and I realized, ‘Heck, I could win this thing. I’ve got a really great bag,’” Bailey went on to say. “My high school fishing partner won this event last year, so to win it back-to-back with him was really cool.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Corbin Bailey, Camdenton, Mo., 10 bass, 40-0, $5,300
2nd:        Justin Luetkemeyer, Lake Ozark, Mo., 10 bass, 37-4, $2,760
3rd:         Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 35-4, $1,340
4th:         Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., 10 bass, 33-4, $1,070
5th:         Adam Boehle, Warrenton, Mo., 10 bass, 32-6, $1,700 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
6th:         David Rice, Galena, Mo., 10 bass, 32-0, $850
7th:         Matt Ells, Shell Knob, Mo., 10 bass, 31-3, $810
8th:         Les Brandenburg, Springfield, Mo., 10 bass, 30-14, $770
9th:         Trevor Bartlett, Grain Valley, Mo., 10 bass, 30-13, $720
10th:       Frank Sinn, St. Louis, Mo., 10 bass, 29-3, $680

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Adam Boehle of Warrenton, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass worth $300.

Ryan Hopping of Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,650 Sunday after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:         Ryan Hopping, Lake Saint Louis, Mo., six bass, 17-11, $2,650
2nd:        Chris McClellan, Desoto, Mo., five bass, 17-0, $1,480
3rd:         Connor Richmond, Cleveland, Okla., six bass, 16-9, $720
4th:         Loyd Davis, Cape Fair, Mo., six bass, 16-1, $535
5th:         Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., six bass, 14-11, $550
6th:         Eric Mahn, Herculaneum, Mo., six bass, 14-6, $425
7th:         Ben Bromley, Odessa, Mo., six bass, 13-12, $410
8th:         Joshua Ramsey, Columbia, Mo., five bass, 13-5, $385
9th:         Matt Holder, Chillicothe, Mo., six bass, 13-0, $360
10th:       Kevin McKnight, Osage Beach, Mo., four bass, 10-14, $340

Chris McClellan of Desoto, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass worth $150.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Adam Boehle of Warrenton, Missouri, won the 7 Brew Ozark Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,310 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Jeff Moss of Oronogo, Missouri, won the Ozark Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,286 points and earned the $500 payout.

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 Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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 Nicotine Pouches, 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.