Madison’s Hendry Tops Co-Angler Division

BRANDON, Miss. (June 9, 2025) – Boater John Anderson of Bay Springs, Mississippi, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Ross Barnett Reservoir. The tournament, hosted by Visit Ridgeland, was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Anderson earned $3,531 for his victory.

This is Anderson’s second BFL win in as many seasons. And like last year, when he got the W on Lake Ferguson, Anderson gave his outboard a workout.

“I burned a lot of gas,” he said. “The last time I won, I did a whole bunch of running that day, too. I ran all over the lake.”

He kicked things off running far up the river to get away from the crowd.

“I caught a bunch of fish just fishing anything that looked good in front of me,” Anderson said. “Then later on in the day, I went out in the main lake to two known community holes and started throwing a frog in some windblown lily pads. I was able to secure two quality fish and didn’t think I had enough because I lost several big ones doing that.”

Anderson’s fears were nearly right, as he wound up getting the win by just 3 ounces over John Berry. He says not hooking fish in practice was an important strategy on a lake where “you can’t catch ’em two days in a row.” Instead, Anderson ran around listening for bluegills in grass, marking those areas to fish in the tournament.

“I keep it pretty simple up there,” he added. “I was throwing a frog and a swim jig on anything that was green touching the water.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        John Anderson, Bay Springs, Miss., five bass, 17-3, $3,531
2nd:      John Berry, Mt. Olive, Miss., five bass, 17-0, $1,535
3rd:       Alfred Williams, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 15-13, $1,024
4th:        Roger Stegall, Iuka, Miss., five bass, 15-10, $716
5th:        Charles Watts, Corinth, Miss., five bass, 14-14, $614
6th:        Hunter Briles, Russellville, Ala., five bass, 14-13, $563
7th:        Blake Daugherty, Pope, Miss., five bass, 14-12, $512
8th:        Shannon Denson, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-10, $461
9th:        Timmy Ming, Louisville, Miss., five bass, 13-6, $409
10th:     Barrett Saunders Hammond, La., five bass, 13-0, $858 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Anderson caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $360.

Davis Hendry of Madison, Mississippi, won the co-angler division and $1,535 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Davis Hendry, Madison, Miss., three bass, 7-11, $1,535
2nd:      Ryan Lecompte, Picayune, Miss., three bass, 7-8, $640
2nd:      Lance Jackson, Starkville, Miss., three bass, 7-8, $640
4th:        Finn Norsworthy, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 7-5, $358
5th:        Cy Matlock, Crump, Tenn., three bass, 7-4, $307
6th:        Thomas Russell, Clarksdale, Miss., two bass, 7-1, $281
7th:        Daryl Powell, Leesville, La., three bass, 7-0, $243
7th:        Isiah Kelly, Memphis, Tenn., three bass, 7-0, $243
9th:        Reggie Thornton, Columbus, Miss., three bass, 6-15, $205
10th:     Will Herrington, Brandon, Miss., three bass, 6-14, $229

Chris Mitchell of Millport, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $180, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Luke Glasgow of Guin, Alabama, now leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 950 points, while Steve Hammack of Caledonia, Mississippi, leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 909 points.

The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Mississippi Division anglers will be held Sept. 27-28, at Pickwick Lake in Iuka, 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. 10-12 BFL 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 Sport 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.