ANDERSON, S.C. (Oct. 5, 2026) – Boater Reed Rooke of Dawsonville, Georgia, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell . The tournament, hosted by Visit Anderson, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Savannah River Division. Rooke earned $3,580 for his victory.

“The first day I started up shallow in the morning trying to find a big bite,” Rooke said. “I never found it, so I turned my (Garmin) LiveScope around 9 o’clock and capitalized on that period throwing an Evergreen OB Popper.”

Rooke said after his LiveScope period ended he returned to the bank and fished shallow the rest of the day and was able to upgrade with his biggest fish of the day throwing a Berkley Choppo. He also caught fish shallow on a Hideup Coiki Fullcast Creature Bait.

“On Day 2 I started my day using my ’Scope throwing the Evergreen Popper on suspended fish chasing blueback herring,” Rooke said. “I caught about 15 pounds doing that. After that I stayed shallow the rest of the day with my trolling motor on high and was able to cull up twice using the Choppo on shallow, hard-clay banks and points.”

Rooke said at 10 o’clock Sunday morning he had about 15 pounds in the livewell and felt very optimistic about his  chance at winning. A few hours later his winning moment was reality.

“This feels amazing,” Rooke said. “I practiced almost every day this week and have put a lot of time and hard work in on Lake Hartwell. It’s my home lake. I’m on it all the time.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Reed Rooke, Dawsonville, Ga., 10 bass, 34-0, $3,580
2nd:      Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., 10 bass, 32-4, $2,440 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
3rd:       Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., 10 bass, 28-5, $1,170
4th:        Kaden Buchmann, Troutman, N.C., 10 bass, 26-15, $770
5th:        Chase Gurkin, Simpsonville, S.C., 10 bass, 25-9, $680
6th:        Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 10 bass, 24-4, $650
7th:        Joseph Tucci, Salem, S.C., 10 bass, 24-3, $630
8th:        Darren Ashley, Calhoun Falls, S.C, 10 bass, 24-2, $600
9th:        Hunter Eubanks, Landrum, S.C., 10 bass, 23-9, $580
10th:     Michael Smith, Irmo, S.C., 10 bass, 18-12, $560

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Emil Wagner of Marietta, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $300.

Arlie Caudill of Grovetown, Georgia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,690 Sunday after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds even.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Arlie Caudill, Grovetown, Ga., six bass, 17-0, $1,690
2nd:      Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., six bass, 15-11, $870
3rd:       Adam Johnson, Duluth, Ga., six bass, 15-4, $460
4th:        Benjie Winkler, Cleveland, Ga., six bass, 12-15, $385
5th:        Corey Veal, Royston, Ga., six bass, 12-6, $340
6th:        James Akins, Cumming, Ga., six bass, 11-14, $325
7th:        John Kinard, Moore, S.C., six bass, 11-12, $320
8th:        Brian Nappier, Huntersville, N.C., six bass, 11-5, $300
9th:        Brennan Gunther, Johns Island, S.C., three bass, 8-4, $290
10th:     Chuck Bagwell, Laurens, S.C., four bass, 8-0, $380

Arlie Caudill of Grovetown, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 6-ounce bass worth $150.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Tim Watson of Lavonia, Georgia, won the 7 Brew Savannah River Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,333 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Benjie Winkler of Cleveland, Georgia, won the Savannah River Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,326 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 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 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.