Harriman’s Farck Claims Victory in Co-Angler Division

SPRING CITY, Tenn. (May 4, 2026) – Boater Kenneth Owens of Bean Station, Tennessee, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Watts Bar Lake . The tournament, hosted by Rhea County Department of Tourism – Fish Spring City, was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Owens earned $2,140 for his victory.

Owens said he focused on the lower end of the lake, and after practicing for two days had a good plan for the tournament.

“I caught a limit on the first stop,” Owens said. “It was topwater, swimbaits and jigs – I probably caught them on five different baits. I had about 15 pounds then and just culled up after that.”

Owens caught 12 keepers during the tournament, seven of which came early in the morning. Owens said he thought it would take more than 20 pounds to win the event, so he kept grinding to cull fish all day.

“It’s hard to predict because weights are so tight in tournaments,” Owens said. “There have been times I thought I had enough to win and it turned out I wasn’t even close.

“I hadn’t fished any of the Major League Fishing tournament for a while,” Owens went on to say. “I used to, then I spent some time away and focused on buddy team trails. But I decided to get back into MLF tournaments, and to get the win is a pretty great feeling.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kenneth Owens, Bean Station, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $2,140
2nd:      Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-4, $1,580 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
3rd:       Bradley Stringfield, Oliver Springs, Tenn., five bass, 16-11, $950
4th:        Matthew Rock, Bristol, Va., five bass, 15-13, $500
5th:        Glenn Carter, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 15-10, $450
6th:        Blake Wheat, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 15-0, $400
7th:        Kevin Powers, Unicoi, Tenn., five bass, 14-12, $390
8th:        Travis Bowen, Duffield, Va., five bass, 14-10, $380
9th:        Michael Brown II, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 14-7, $370
10th:     Gavin Daniels, Kingston, Tenn., five bass, 14-6, $180
10th:     Bo Cross, Philadelphia, Tenn., five bass, 14-6, $180

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Bradley Stringfield of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $200.

Billy Farck of Harriman, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,020 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Billy Farck, Harriman, Tenn., three bass, 10-8, $1,020
2nd:      Larry Griffith, Harriman, Tenn., three bass, 10-5, $640
3rd:       Jerry Wright, Bland, Va., three bass, 10-0, $300
4th:        David Marr, Cleveland, Tenn., three bass, 9-13, $250
5th:        Konnor Sweet, Abingdon, Va., three bass, 9-11, $225
6th:        Bryan Morton, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 9-3, $250
7th:        Josh Hester, Dalton, Ga., three bass, 8-15, $200
8th:        Clinton Harrison, Georgetown, Tenn., three bass, 8-12, $190
9th:        Keith Gunsauls, Dandridge, Tenn., three bass, 8-11, $190
10th:     Daryl Wagner, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 8-8, $180

Larry Griffith of Harriman, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $100.

After two events, Blake Wheat of Rockwood, Tennessee, now leads the 7 Brew Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 487 points, while Keith Gunsauls of Dandridge, Tennessee, leads the Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 490 points.

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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. 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 2026 BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism.

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, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, 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.