GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Sept. 28, 2026) – Boater Hayden Seabolt of Dawsonville, Georgia, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 8 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Lanier Presented by Precision Sonar. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Bulldog Division. Seabolt earned $4,830 for his victory.

“The final day of practice I found a pretty good place that I thought had the winning fish on it,” said Seabolt, who lives on Lake Lanier. “I was really looking forward to my three hours of (Garmin) LiveScope. Saturday morning. I just burned down the bank with a topwater until around 11 and used my ’Scope until 2 both days.”

Seabolt focused his efforts in mid- to south waters of Lanier and said his topwater bait of choice was a Berkley Choppo targeting rocky banks or pieces of wood – anything that looked fishy. The Choppo produced a limit both mornings of competition. Seabolt said he ended up culling out that limit later during the LiveScope period fishing deep throwing a minnow.

Seabolt used his LiveScope period to focus on the ends of long points with a Berkley Lab Series Minnow with Berkley X5 8-pound-test braided line.

“I was really excited after yesterday and figured I could win,” Seabolt said. “I was expecting to catch more weight today, but I guess it was tough on everybody. Having 16 pounds today I thought I was going to get beat, but I guess it all worked out.

“I’ve seen my buddies win this tournament a couple of times, and I’ve always wanted to win it,” Seabolt said. “I worked pretty hard for this one this week, and I’m pretty excited about it.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Hayden Seabolt, Dawsonville, Ga., 10 bass, 37-8, $4,830
2nd:        Dylan Akins, Flowery Branch, Ga., 10 bass, 36-10, $2,690
3rd:         Jack Story, Atlanta, Ga., 10 bass, 34-5, $1,220
4th:         William Bates, Alpharetta, Ga., 10 bass, 33-5, $1,490 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
5th:         John Duvall, Madison, Ga., 10 bass, 33-1, $830
6th:         Randall Woodham, Buckhead, Ga., 10 bass, 31-5, $790
7th:         Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., 10 bass, 31-3, $750
8th:         Brad Stalnaker, Eatonton, Ga., 10 bass, 30-3, $710
9th:         Lane Parker, Waleska, Ga., 10 bass, 30-1, $670
10th:       Mitchell Wheeler, Jasper, Ga., 10 bass, 28-5, $630

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Dylan Akins of Flowery Branch, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 6-pound, 12-ounce bass worth $300.

Adam Johnson of Duluth, Georgia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,365 Sunday after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Adam Johnson, Duluth, Ga., six bass, 17-1, $2,365
2nd:        Richard Causey, Perry, Ga., six bass, 15-13, $1,195
3rd:         Benjie Winkler, Cleveland, Ga., six bass, 14-7, $610
4th:         Dennis McGouirk, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 14-6, $495
5th:         Ben Waldrop, Woodland, Ga., six bass, 13-6, $415
6th:         Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., five bass, 12-10, $395
7th:         Wyatt Harmon, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 12-8, $380
8th:         Robert Holliday, White Plains, Ga., three bass, 10-12, $555
9th:         Tony Stevens, Monroe, Ga., five bass, 10-6, $440
10th:       Scott Williams, Canton, Ga., three bass, 9-9, $315

Robert Holliday of White Plains, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass worth $150.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater John Duvall of Madison, Georgia, won the 7 Brew Bulldog Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,299 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Richard Causey of Perry, Georgia, won the Bulldog Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,268 points and earned the $500 payout.

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 2027 BFL All-American will take place June 5-7, at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, and is hosted by Experience Kissimmee.

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 Nicotine Pouches, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PiranhO2, 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.