BULL SHOALS, Ark. (Oct. 5, 2026) – Boater Wyatt Marler of Oldfield, Missouri, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 13 ounces to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Bull Shoals Lake. The tournament, hosted by the City of Bull Shoals, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Marler earned $3,620 for his victory.

“In the morning I fished a XPS Chaos Shad on the bank from 7 to 9. That was my plan,” said Marler, who grew up an hour from Bull Shoals. “Then I would use an XPS Rock’n Shad and my three-hour (Garmin) LiveScope period to try to cull out everything I caught on the bank. Then I went back to the bank and ended the day again with the topwater.”

Marler stuck to the dam area and said he caught a lot of fish using both techniques, but the topwater fish he caught were “super skinny.” His LiveScope fish came in depths of 35 to 40 feet and were better quality fish.

Marler was so confident in his Sunday catch and performance over the two-day event that he didn’t fish the last three hours of competition Sunday to try to boost his co-angler’s weight and finish in the tournament.

“I put all of my rods up and let him fish,” Marler said. “This is my second time to win this event, and the second one feels really good.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Wyatt Marler, Oldfield, Mo., 10 bass, 33-13, $3,620
2nd:        Matt Baker, Glenwood, Ark., 10 bass, 32-5, $1,880
3rd:         Ryan Thompson, Seymour, Mo., 10 bass, 28-5, $1,010
4th:         Paul Combs, Russellville, Ark., 10 bass, 26-5, $1,340 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
5th:         Chris Huselton, Conway, Ark., 10 bass, 25-8, $720
6th:         Justin Howard, Austin, Ark., 10 bass, 25-4, $690
7th:         Dale Andrews, Jay, Okla., 10 bass, 25-3, $670
8th:         James Stricklin Jr., Fort Smith, Ark, eight bass, 23-1, $740
9th:         Jamey Black, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 21-10, $610
10th:       Caleb Messinger, Hot Springs, Ark., eight bass, 19-13, $580

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Keith Green of Hot Springs, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 4-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $300.

Blake Defoor of Waldron, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,860 Sunday after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:         Blake Defoor, Waldron, Ark., five bass, 12-6, $1,860
2nd:        Herbert Kimbrough, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 12-3, $940
3rd:         Eian Odle, Willow Springs, Mo., five bass, 12-0, $505
4th:         Ron Knight, Hot Springs Village, Ark., four bass, 11-7, $420
5th:         David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla., four bass, 9-12, $360
6th:         Brock Krohne, Belton, Mo., four bass, 8-15, $345
7th:         Adam O’Connell, Mount Vernon, Ark., four bass, 8-3, $340
8th:         Aaron McGuire, Monticello, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $320
9th:         Lee Early, Conway, Ark., three bass, 7-0, $460
10th:       Steve Lee, Benton, Ark., three bass, 6-12, $290

Lee Early of Conway, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 3-pound, 6-ounce bass worth $150.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Matt Baker of Glenwood, Arkansas, won the 7 Brew Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,364 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Alan Bernicky of Dardanelle, Arkansas, won the Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,341 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.