Kansas’ Pugh Takes Co-Angler Division

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Sept. 15, 2025) – Boater Kaden Messina of Camdenton, Missouri, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 6 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine at Lake of the Ozarks. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Ozark Division. Messina earned $6,242 for his victory.

Messina admitted he went into the event with no practice time, but leaned on past experience and local knowledge to find the right fish.

“I did not practice at all,” Messina said. “I just ran into an area of the lake that I know very well and have a lot of confidence in.”

That decision paid off quickly on Day 1, as he boxed a limit of solid keepers before boating a key 5-pounder around noon. Skipping a 3/4-ounce jig around docks produced steady action and gave him 18 pounds to start the tournament.

On Championship Sunday, Messina returned to the same general area but made sure to mix in fresh stretches of docks rather than revisiting the same water. That move kept the bites coming early, and his biggest bass of the day – another 5-pounder – came around 7:30 a.m.

“It was probably the third dock I pulled up to,” he said. “I caught that big one and then went through a stretch catching a bunch of shorts and a small keeper.”

From there, he pieced together the rest of his limit by running both proven stretches from last fall’s Toyota Series and brand-new water. By mid-day, Messina had four fish for roughly 11 to 13 pounds, but a clutch 3-pounder late in the afternoon pushed his weight to 17-5 and sealed the victory.

“I kind of burned up everything I knew about in that area and then just started fishing random stuff looking for another big one,” he said. “I never did get another giant, but 17-5 was enough.”

When weigh-in came around, Messina said he felt confident he’d be near the top.

“I knew I was at least going to stay in the top three, 100%,” he said. “Usually, it takes around 35 pounds to win this one, and I figured I’d be right there. The computers went down and things got confusing at the scales, but when it was official, I was pretty hyped up.”

For Messina, the victory was especially rewarding after coming up short on the same lake in past events.

“It feels insane – I’ve been wanting to win one of these for a while,” he said. “Last year I was around the same fish, but I didn’t execute. This time I knew I needed to fish my best stretches in the first couple hours because it gets tougher as the day goes on. That made all the difference.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kaden Messina, Camdenton, Mo., 10 bass, 35-6, $6,242
2nd:      Jason Weast, Macks Creek, Mo., 10 bass, 34-0, $3,121
3rd:       Matt Ells, Shell Knob, Mo., 10 bass, 33-12, $2,182
4th:        Cory Steckler, Rocky Mount, Mo., 10 bass, 30-15, $1,956 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
5th:        Corbin Bailey, Camdenton, Mo., 10 bass, 29-8, $1,248
6th:        Chase Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,144
7th:        Anthony Scoma, Spring Hill, Kan., 10 bass, 29-0, $1,040
8th:        Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 28-12, $936
9th:        Chad Allison, Junction, Mo., 10 bass, 28-4, $832
10th:     Jonathan Pimentel, Camdenton, Mo., 10 bass, 12-13, $728

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jacob Welch of Jefferson City, Missouri, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $870.

D.J. Pugh of Overland Park, Kansas, won the co-angler division and $3,171 after bringing five bass to the scales that totaled 17 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        D.J. Pugh, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 17-4, $3,171
2nd:      Kasen Uthe, Camdenton, Mo., six bass, 15-13, $1,560
3rd:       Walt Hammond, Lees Summit, Mo., six bass, 15-4, $1,042
4th:        Alex Thomas, Fulton, Mo., five bass, 15-0, $728
5th:        Kody Yates, O’Fallon, Mo., six bass, 14-14, $624
6th:        Landon Gerlach, Lohman, Mo., six bass, 14-5, $572
7th:        Christopher Becker, Kansas City, Mo., six bass, 13-10, $520
8th:        Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., six bass, 13-8, $568
9th:        Stephen Babcock, Belton, Mo., five bass, 13-3, $416
10th:     Ted Holverson, El Cajon, Calif., six bass, 12-14, $364

Landon Vogt of Winfield, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $435, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 15 ounces.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Eric Olliverson of Shell Knob, Missouri, won the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,310 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Dennis Spell of Bonne Terre, Missouri, won the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,292 points and earned the $500 payout.

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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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.

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, RFD-TV 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.