CLANTON, Ala. (Oct. 5, 2026) – Boater Chris Walton of Heflin, Alabama, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 11 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Mitchell . The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Walton earned $3,920 for his victory.

Walton said the tournament marked only the second time he had been to Lake Mitchell and he really didn’t know what to expect. So, he hit the water during practice to see what information he could gather about the fishery.

“I rode around for a couple of hours Friday, but didn’t find anything I liked,” Walton said. “I was fishing shallow; junk fishing like I like to do. I went to the Lay Dam and fished in the current and caught a couple of good ones on topwater. I said, ‘Well, I’m going to run up here tomorrow and give it all I’ve got in the current.’”

Walton did just that first thing Saturday morning, and caught two largemouth that weighed more than five pounds on a Heddon Zara Spook. Walton said that most of his fish during the tournament came on the Spook. He ended the first day with a bag good enough to lead going into Day 2.

“On Day 2 I told my co-angler, ‘There are enough fish (at the dam) that we could both have two good limits,’” Walton said. “It was going to be hero or zero up there. It was not easy to get bit on the topwater.

“We went up there and threw a Spook from daylight until weigh-in and hoped for the best, and we got lucky and squeaked it out,” Walton added.

Walton said he had a feeling he was going to come up short and figured he would instead place second or third.

“This was pretty cool,” Walton said. “This is my first year to fish the BFLs, and I wanted to win one of them. So, it’s pretty cool to win a Super Tournament on a lake that I had the least amount of experience on.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Chris Walton, Heflin, Ala., 10 bass, 28-11, $3,920
2nd:      Michael Smith, Andalusia, Ala., 10 bass, 28-3, $2,480 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
3rd:       Colton Trotter, Dothan, Ala., 10 bass, 27-2, $1,010
4th:        Will Davis, Sylacauga, Ala., 10 bass, 27-1, $840
5th:        Blake Davenport, Jemison, Ala., 10 bass, 26-15, $720
6th:        Dylan Sorrells, Dallas, Texas, 10 bass, 26-9, $690
7th:        Brady McCormick, Harpersville, Ala., 10 bass, 25-15, $670
8th:        Matthew Bennett, Eclectic, Ala., 10 bass, 25-10, $640
9th:        James Willoughby, Gulfport, Miss., 10 bass, 25-3, $610
10th:     Jason Nixon, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 25-2, $580

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tournament winner Walton earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass worth $300.

Colton Jennings of Moody, Alabama, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,860 Sunday after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 14 ounces even.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Colton Jennings, Moody, Ala., six bass, 12-14, $1,860
2nd:      Stephen Mickle, Pell City, Ala., six bass, 12-8, $940
3rd:       Rodney Graham, Childersburg, Ala., six bass, 12-2, $505
4th:        Alvin Shirey, Talladega, Ala., six bass, 10-13, $420
5th:        Randy Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala., six bass, 10-7, $360
6th:        Jacob Hays, Marbury, Ala., six bass, 10-6, $345
7th:        Larry Chadwick, Phenix City, Ala., six bass, 9-8, $340
8th:        Steve Watson, Dadeville, Ala., six bass, 9-3, $320
9th:        Stanley Mickle, Pell City, Ala., six bass, 9-0, $310
10th:     Scott Noles, Woodland, Ala., five bass, 7-4, $290

Christopher Dennis of Wetumpka, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 3-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $150.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Michael Smith, Andalusia, Alabama, won the 7 Brew Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,312 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Rodney Graham of Childersburg, Alabama, won the Bama Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,335 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.