Tennessee’s Nolen Tops Co-Angler Division

IUKA, Miss. (April 14, 2025) – Boater Luke Glasgow of Guin, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 26 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine at Pickwick Lake Presented by Suzuki Marine . The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Glasgow earned $5,528, including the lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

“It started out better than I expected,” Glasgow said. “I caught a 5-pound smallmouth first thing this morning, and then after that I ran a whole lot of stuff and just couldn’t get bit. Finally, I landed on them in one area and I culled up to where, at 9:30, I had 24 pounds. And then just throughout the rest of the day I went and junk-fished and happened to catch a 5 1/4-pounder and another one over 4 to cull out my two 3 3/4s I still had in the box.”

Glasgow caught all his fish in about 15 feet of water, targeting areas where he knows “the big ones live this time of year.” For every five spots he pulled up on, maybe one produced fish. And he didn’t catch any between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., making it an all-day-grind kind of day. Because he’s admittedly not as well versed at “scoping” fish on live sonar as his competition, Glasgow stuck to his strengths.

“I was throwing a jig and flipping and throwing a spinnerbait some and ChatterBaiting and shaky heading,” he added. “I was raised fishing the way I fished today. I’ve finished second in a BFL, but I’ve never won one. Actually, I fished in college and fished a couple really big events, and I finished second in one and third in another. I just couldn’t seem to get a win, so this one really means a lot to me, fishing the old-school way, fishing like your grandpa would coming out here. It was really cool.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Luke Glasgow, Guin, Ala., five bass, 26-10, $5,528 (includes $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:      Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., five bass, 23-11, $1,514
3rd:       Jeff DeFew, Benton, Ky., five bass, 21-15, $1,008
4th:        Jordan Hartman, Benton, Ky., five bass, 21-2, $707
5th:        Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 21-1, $606
6th:        Nate Latham, Town Creek, Ala., five bass, 21-0, $555
7th:        Clayton Ellis, Saltillo, Miss., five bass, 20-11, $1,460
8th:        Gary Singleton, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 19-15, $454
9th:        Charles Jones, Beech Bluff, Tenn., five bass, 19-14, $404
10th:     Bryan Hunt, Water Valley, Miss., five bass, 19-8, $353

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Clayton Ellis of Saltillo, Mississippi, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $355.

Daniel Nolen of Lexington, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,514 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Daniel Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., three bass, 13-13, $1,514
2nd:      Blake Jeffreys, Booneville, Miss., three bass, 12-12, $934
3rd:       Terry Bennett, Oxford, Miss., three bass, 11-6, $505
4th:        Mike Todd, Summertown, Tenn., three bass, 10-11, $353
5th:        Harry Peyton II, Guntersville, Ala., three bass, 10-8, $303
6th:        Sank Payton, Bay Springs, Miss., three bass, 9-14, $278
7th:        Cy Matlock, Crump, Tenn., two bass, 9-10, $239
7th:        Matthew Willis, Europa, Miss., three bass, 9-10, $239
9th:        John King Jr., Alligator, Miss., three bass, 8-10, $202
10th:     Sims Meredith, Tupelo, Miss., three bass, 8-9, $177

Blake Jeffreys of Booneville, Mississippi, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $177, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Matteo Turano of Puryear, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 497 points, while Cy Matlock of Crump, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 488 points.

The next event for BFL Mississippi Division anglers will be held May 3, at the Columbus Pool of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway out of Columbus, Mississippi. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 60 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. 10-11BFL Regional tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes out of Paris, 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 award of $20,000.

The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League 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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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.