Kentucky’s Jones Tops Co-Angler Division

ANTIOCH, Tenn. (March 16, 2026) – Boaters Chris Fondren of Lebanon, Tennessee, and Logan Stewart of Nashville, Tennessee, each caught five bass weighing 19 pounds, 8 ounces, to tie for the win at the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Percy Priest. The tournament was the first of five events of the season for the BFL Music City Division. Fondren earned $9,100, including a $7,000 Phoenix bonus, and Stewart earned $2,200.

“There was a lot of boat traffic on the lake,” Fondren said. “The bigger fish seemed to be closer to the river channel, so I just tried to go wherever there wasn’t a boat and try to catch bigger-than-average fish. I tried to stay closer to deep water.”

Fondren said he stayed midlake and focused on broken chunk rock and channel swings with a crankbait, jerkbait and swimbait.

“I pretty much junk fished my way through the day using all of those baits and managed to weigh in a 6-11,” Fondren said.

Fondren found his fish came in flurries and he culled all day long. He was still culling with five minutes to go in the tournament.

“As soon as I caught that big one at 10:00 I had right at 18 pounds with a mega-big fish in the box, which is one of the hardest ones to catch. I thought if I caught another 4- or 5-pounder I would be tough to beat,” Fondren said.

Unlike Fondren, Stewart said he fished “all over the lake” and found his fish also came in flurries.

“That lake can fish a little small at times, but I was able to run into (fish) and capitalized on a couple of bite windows,” Stewart said.

Stewart’s bass came during two different bite windows: from 9 to 10 a.m., and again around 1 p.m.

“Late in the day I was fortunate to catch a kicker on a Carolina rig out deep, and that was a key fish for sure,” Stewart said. “It was then I realized I had an outside shot.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Chris Fondren, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 19-8, $9,100 (includes $7,000 Phoenix bonus)
1st:          Logan Stewart, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 19-8, $2,200
3rd:         Scott Brummett, Brentwood, Tenn., five bass, 19-1, $740
4th:         Austin True, Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 17-14, $600
5th:         Mike Suddoth, Dickson, Tenn., three bass, 17-2, $730
6th:         Michael Stout, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 16-1, $460
7th:         Josh Womack, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 15-10, $450
8th:         Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 15-8, $430
9th:         Pete Balishin, Sharps Chapel, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $410
10th:       Zach Hedges, Utica, Ky., five bass, 14-15, $400

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Mike Suddoth of Dickson, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $200.

Kevin Jones of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,490 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Kevin Jones, Fort Campbell, Ky., three bass, 12-5, $1,490
2nd:        Mason Moore, Waynesburg, Ky., three bass, 11-3, $710
3rd:         Mitchell Adams Sr, Smyrna, Tenn., three bass, 10-15, $370
4th:         Redd Reynolds, Flintville, Tenn., three bass, 10-2, $300
5th:         Dylan Beard, Dickson, Tenn., three bass, 9-11, $265
6th:         David Marr, Cleveland, Tenn., three bass, 9-7, $230
7th:         David Wiley, Greenbrier, Tenn., three bass, 9-1, $230
8th:         Bradley Miller, Russelville, Ky., three bass, 8-15, $215
9th:         Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn, three bass, 8-14, $210
10th:       Omar de Jesus, Goodlettsville, Tenn., three bass, 8-12, $200

Kevin Jones of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $100.

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 Kentucky-Barkley Lake in Calvert City, Kentucky. 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, CBS Sports Network, 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.