MARBURY, Md. (Oct. 12, 2026) – Boater Andrew George of Poplar Branch, North Carolina, caught a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on the Potomac River. The tournament, hosted by Charles County Government, Dept. of Recreation, Parks and Tourism, concluded Saturday. For his win, George earned a prize package valued at $52,500, including a Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, and a $2,500 Phoenix MLF Bonus.

The Potomac River event served as the Regional championship for the BFL Buckeye, Michigan, Northeast and Piedmont divisions. The field included the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in each division based on point standings, plus each division’s tournament winners. The top seven boaters and co-anglers at each regional and the Wild Card qualify for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American. The highest-finishing boater and co-angler from each regional and the Wild Card at the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American qualify for the 2027 Toyota Series Championship. The 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American boater champion qualifies for REDCREST 2028.

George didn’t start the tournament by catching a large number of fish, but he caught the right fish.

“On Day 1 I went to my starting area – what I thought was my best place – and I caught five keepers,” George said. “I had all five in the boat by 11 o’clock.”

George focused on the upper Potomac River and said he relied heavily on a bladed jig and a swim jig in deep grass during the tournament, which accounted for his better-quality fish. The last two days of the tournament George said he attributed a couple four-pounders to the jigs, but also spent some time punching grass with a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver paired with a 1½-ounce weight.

“I ran the same thing every day,” George said. “I had eight keepers Friday and 11 on Saturday.”

George said the grass on the river had died down a bit as of late, and the mats he fished were “trash mats” that had blown in, but he was confident his jig fish and mats would hold up for the duration of the tournament.

“I got the finer points of my area figured out during the first day, and on the other days I had pretty good bags pretty fast,” George said. “I had 15 pounds where I knew I’d still be in the hunt for the All-American by 8:30 a.m. on Day 2 and 9:50 a.m. on Day 3.

“Since I wasn’t getting very many bites total, it was nice to get them early,” George added.

George said after Friday’s weigh-in he felt pretty good about his chances at a win.

“There was no point that I thought I wasn’t around the quality of fish needed to win,” George said. “I was pretty confident from the beginning that I was on the right quality and in the hunt for the win. So, this is pretty awesome. I’ve always wanted to win a big one like this. It’s pretty crazy.”

The top seven boaters who qualified for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:          Andrew George, Poplar Branch, N.C, 15 bass, 47-13, $52,500 (including $2,500 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
2nd:         Jamey Way, Washington, N.C, 15 bass, 41-14, $9,320
3rd:         Otis Darnell, Linden, Va., 15 bass, 41-13, $3,320
4th:         Josh Smith, Liberty, Ind., 15 bass, 40-3, $2,090
5th:         Jackson Staib, Wilmington, Del., 15 bass, 39-0, $1,330
6th:         Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., 14 bass, 38-7, $1,190
7th:         Zack Queeney, Atco, N.J., 14 bass, 37-0, $1,060

The remaining top 10 finished:

8th:         Matt McCluskey, Ashburn, Va., 15 bass, 36-11, $930
9th:         Seth Fricke, Oxford, Ohio, 14 bass, 34-12, $790
10th:       Todd Langford, Great Falls, Va., 13 bass, 33-0, $660

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tanner Hampton of Bourbon, Indiana, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $350 for landing a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces, the biggest of the tournament.

Scott Standafer of Milford, Ohio, won the co-angler division Saturday after bringing a three-day total of eight bass weighing 23 pounds, 8 ounces, to the scale. Standafer earned the top co-angler award of a Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, worth $33,500.

The top seven co-anglers who qualified for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:         Scott Standafer, Milford, Ohio, eight bass, 23-8, $33,500
2nd:        Eric Nelson, Gainesville, Va., seven bass, 19-13, $4,660
3rd:         Kyle Richardt, Middleboro, Mass., eight bass, 19-13, $1,660
4th:         Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., nine bass, 19-11, $1,095
5th:         Adam Oxendine, Pembroke, N.C., eight bass, 19-8, $840
6th:         Wesley Bruner, Middletown, Ohio, nine bass, 19-5, $595
7th:         Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., seven bass, 19-5, $530

The remaining top 10 finished:

8th:         Glenn Hall, Wellsville, N.Y., eight bass, 19-4, $465
9th:         Jordan Smith, Middletown, Ohio, nine bass, 18-14, $400
10th:       David Deciucis, Chester, Va., five bass, 12-12, $330

Adam Oxendine of Pembroke, North Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $175.

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.