West Frankfort’s Daniell Wins Co-Angler Division

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 18, 2026) – Boater Levi Kohl of Edinburg, Illinois, caught five bass totaling 19 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. The tournament, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, was the third of five events of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Kohl earned $2,590 for his victory.

Kohl adjusted to a difficult bite by slowing down and thoroughly working productive areas, a strategy that helped him separate himself from the field. With conditions making bites hard to come by, Kohl stayed patient and methodical throughout the day.

“It was not easy to get one to bite,” Kohl said. “I just slowed way down on the same spots I was fishing and picked them apart.”

While many anglers leaned heavily on forward-facing sonar, Kohl found most of his success without his electronics. He built the majority of his weight before even turning on his unit, relying primarily on blind-casting a minnow-style bait around productive areas.

“I had most of my weight before I even turned my ‘scope on,” he said. “I had 15 pounds before I turned it on, and then I only got up to 16 when I started scoping.”

In addition to the minnow presentation, Kohl mixed in a crankbait to round out his bag, with two key fish coming from roughly 10 feet of water.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Levi Kohl, Edinburg, Ill., five bass, 19-11, $2,590
2nd:        Noah Morgan, Russellville, Ky., five bass, 16-4, $1,330
3rd:         Michael Weimann, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 14-10, $700
4th:         Robert Wade, Jackson, Mo., five bass, 14-8, $770
5th:         Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-2, $610
6th:         Harlan Thomas, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 13-10, $450
7th:         Ron Smith, Walton, Ky., five bass, 13-8, $425
8th:         Scott McWaters, Clarksville, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $425
9th:         Kain Joiner, Benton, Ky., five bass, 13-6, $400
9th:         Grant Meisenhelter, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 13-4, $390

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Robert Wade of Jackson, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award with a 5-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $200.

Ed Daniell of West Frankfort, Illinois, won the co-angler division on Saturday with a three-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 6 ounces. Daniell brought home $1,295 for his victory.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Ed Daniell, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 11-6, $1,295
2nd:        Brendan Murphy, Cape Girardeau, Mo., three bass, 7-14, $715
3rd:         Brady Kendall, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 7-7, $350
4th:         Douglas Colson, Cadiz, Ky., three bass, 7-5, $285
5th:         Joey Cambron, Morganfield, Ky., two bass, 7-3, $255
6th:         Brian Huber, Saint Charles, Mo., three bass, 6-11, $222
6th:         Corey Green, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 6-11, $222
8th:         Mike Westfall, Norris City, Ill., three bass, 6-8, $210
9th:         Marcus Mann, Benton, Ky., three bass, 6-3, $300
10th:       Angel Sierra, St. Louis, Mo., three bass, 5-14, $195

Daniell also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pounder, worth $100.

After two events, Noah Morgan of Russellville, Kentucky, now leads the 7 Brew LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 745 points, while Marcus Mann of Benton, Kentucky, leads the LBL Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 739 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. 22-24 BFL Regional tournament on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, 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 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.