Virginia’s Jerman Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 6, 2025) – Boater Matt McCluskey of Ashburn, Virginia, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on the James River presented by Mando Deodorant . The tournament, which was hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, concluded Saturday. For his win, McCluskey earned a prize package valued at $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200hp Mercury or Suzuki outboard.

The James River event served as the Regional championship for the BFL Northeast and Shenandoah divisions. The field included the top 60 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each division’s tournament winners. The top three boaters and co-anglers have also now qualified to compete at the 2026 BFL All-American.

“I had a pretty good practice and stumbled upon a couple of things down the Chickahominy River I felt like I could run to and get a decent limit of fish,” McCluskey said. “I found it in the afternoon and got some decent 2½-pound to 3-pound bites. When I rolled down there on tournament day, it ended up being a little bit better size fish for me. So, that was a pleasant surprise.”

McCluskey said he was worried about how two recent storms would affect the tides for the tournament, as a lot of water had been pushed into the bay area.

“I had no idea what to expect when I got down there,” McCluskey said. “But after I got there it was an hour and a half of reeling in fish for the most part.”

McCluskey said his key baits were a crankbait and a jig-head minnow fished anywhere from six to 10 feet. The spot he focused on was no bigger than 20 yards by 20 yards, but it was stacked with fish.

“I had an hour and a half both mornings where I really caught them,” McCluskey said. “On the first day, what separated my bag from Day 1 and 2 was I had a 5¼-pounder I caught up north, closer to Osborne Landing. So, I had an area where I felt I could get one big bite. I planned on going down to the Chick first thing, then make the long run back up to try and get a big one. On the first day it paid off. Then the second day, when I felt like I had the bag that I felt was good enough to seal the deal, I made the hour-and-10-minute run back early to make sure I was safe.

“I never felt like the win was a done deal,” McCluskey went on to say. “But I felt confident enough with my lead after Day 1, and second place had a giant fish – an 8-11 – but it’s hard to catch that two days in a row. I kept telling everybody it wasn’t over, because this place has 25 pounds swimming around in it.”

It turns out McCluskey had more than enough for a confident win, as he brought more than 6½ pounds more to the scale than the next-closest angler.

The top three boaters who qualified for the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:        Matt McCluskey, Ashburn, Va., 10 bass, 34-12, $50,000
2nd:       Conor Cahill, Audubon, N.J., 10 bass, 28-0, $8,695 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
3rd:       Keith Estes, Spring Grove, Va., 10 bass, 23-8, $3,795

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:

4th:        Richard Hodges Jr., Camden, N.C., 10 bass, 22-14, $2,295
5th:        Colegan Stiner, Wellsboro, Pa., 10 bass, 22-14, $1,595
6th:        Thomas Milton, Chester, Va., 10 bass, 22-1, $1,455
7th:        Christopher Wingfield, Richmond, Va., 10 bass, 21-10, $1,315
8th:        Eric Johnson, Partlow, Va., 10 bass, 21-5, $1,175
9th:        Frank Poirer, North Prince George, Va., 10 bass, 21-5, $1,035
10th:     Rick Hawkins, Roanoke, Va., 10 bass, 20-11, $965

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Conor Cahill of Audubon, New Jersey, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $1,000 for landing a bass that weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces, the biggest of the tournament.

Rick Jerman of Springfield, Virginia, won the co-angler division Saturday after bringing a two-day total of six bass weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces, to the scale. Jerman earned the top co-angler award of $14,142 for his victory.

The top three co-anglers who qualified for the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:        Rick Jerman, Springfield, Va., six bass, 14-12, $14,142
2nd:       Randall Given, Laurel, Del., six bass, 13-14, $3,592
3rd:       Richard Williams, Sutherland, Va., six bass, 13-3, $1,842

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

4th:        David Paszkiewicz, Kearny, N.J., six bass, 13-0, $1,242
5th:        Dante Gray, Ruther Glen, Va., six bass, 12-15, $792
6th:        Cole Bernier, Saylorsburg, Pa., six bass, 12-11, $1,222
7th:        Fan Zhang, Arlington, Va., six bass, 12-4, $652
8th:        Victor Cuevas, Supply, N.C., six bass, 12-2, $582
9th:        Douglas Washburn, Bracey, Va., five bass, 11-15, $512
10th:     Mike Coleman, South Chesterfield, Va., six bass, 11-14, $477

Cole Bernier of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $500.

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, now 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 2026 BFL All-American.

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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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.