Three-time All-American Qualifier catches 20-pound, 3-ounce limit to take early lead in the race for $120,000

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (May 29, 2025) – Day 1 of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hamilton impressed at the scales – six boaters caught more than 15 pounds, and big bass hit the scales pretty steadily throughout weigh-in. In the lead, boater Buddy Benson of Dahlonega, Georgia, weighed 20 pounds, 3 ounces, thanks in large part to a mammoth 9-6 he wrangled midway through the day. In second, Matteo Turano of Puryear, Tennessee, weighed 19-10, and Appling, Georgia’s Tanner Hadden and Clint Knight of Russellville, Kentucky, both caught more than 18 pounds to finish the day in third and fourth, respectively.

Day 2 should prove critical, as the standings below seventh are stacked as tight as can be – 9-12 is good for 26th place and 13-12 currently stands in eighth. Making the Top 10 is going to be a real rodeo, especially considering the size of the fish that are evidently available on Hamilton at the moment.

The three-day All-American, hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism,, showcases the nation’s best weekend grassroots anglers, and awards the winning boater a top prize of up to $120,000 – and an automatic qualification into REDCREST 2026, MLF’s most prestigious event – and the winning co-angler a top prize of $50,000.

Despite his young age, Benson is fishing his third consecutive All-American, and after finishes of third and fourth, he’s looking to do just a little better this time. Today, the midday kicker propelled him to the top of the leaderboard.

“I caught it at probably 12 o’clock,” Benson said. “I had 12 1/2 pounds on my scale and then I pulled up on a little clay point. I thought it was, like, a carp or something, laying on a little brush pile in probably 5 or 6 foot of water. I pitched over there and it came up.

“I told my told my co-angler when I hooked it, I didn’t know if it was a bass or a catfish or what it was, but I just knew it was giant. And it came up and could only get, like, part of its head out of the water, and I fought it, fought it, fought it; finally got it in. I literally could barely stand up for, like, five or 10 minutes.”

That fish obviously vaulted Benson into an enviable position, but 12 pounds was still a pretty good start – plenty of other anglers would have loved 12 pounds today.

“I thought I was going to do at least solid,” Benson said of his practice. “I thought I would have at least 12 or 13 pounds, but I didn’t see a lot of big ones in practice. I didn’t know if I could get much more than that, but I knew there were big ones in here to be caught. I felt like I got a little something figured out that’s a little different, but at the same time, a 9-pounder changes everything.”

As the event goes on, one thing that Benson has going for him is his comfort with the fishery. Though his Georgia address doesn’t make him a local, Benson is a modern angler, and Day 1 of the event seemed to play into the hands of the more youthful anglers in the field.

“I definitely feel like [Hamilton] fishes pretty good to my strengths, just being clear, and the fish like to roam around on bait, which is a lot like home,” he said. “So, I definitely feel pretty comfortable here. And I always like fishing grass, so when I saw there was grass in here, that kind of made me smile a little bit.”

He’ll be smiling a lot if he can maintain for two more days – with the last two winners being Georgia products, he’s seen how far an All-American win can go first-hand.

“It would mean everything,” Benson said of the prospect. “Especially watching the last two people win it from the hometown, just seeing what it did for them. It would mean everything; it would truly be crazy.”

The Top 20 boaters after Day 1 of the 2025 All-American on Lake Hamilton are:

1st:        Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., five bass, 20-3
2nd:      Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., five bass, 19-10
3rd:       Tanner Hadden, Appling, Ga., five bass, 18-8
4th:        Clint Knight, Russellville, Ky., five bass, 18-1
5th:        Zack Fogle, Longview, Texas, five bass, 17-15
6th:        Harbor Lovin, New Concord, Ky., five bass, 15-4
7th:        Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., five bass, 14-15
8th:        Mike Bruggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-12
9th:        Mel Kennedy, Hiawassee, Ga., five bass, 13-6
10th:     Cody Ross, Livingston, Texas, five bass, 12-15
11th:     Dillon Roberts, Oologah, Okla., five bass, 12-11
12th:     Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 12-10
13th:     Jeremy York, Conyers, Ga., five bass, 12-4
14th:     Yeej Moua, Renton, Wash., five bass, 12-3
15th:     Brad Stalnaker, Eatonton, Ga., five bass, 12-2
16th:     Logan Anderson, Sherrills Ford, N.C., five bass, 11-11
17th:     Jonathan Lang, Joppa, Md., five bass, 11-4
18th:     Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., five bass, 10-12
19th:     Mike Puterbaugh, Montello, Wis., five bass, 10-7
20th:     Chad Sykes, Killen, Ala., five bass, 10-2
20th:     Bradley Sullivan, Shawnee, Okla., five bass, 10-2
20th:     Kevin Powers, Unicoi, Tenn., five bass, 10-2

A full list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 242 bass weighing 532 pounds, 15 ounces caught by the 49 boaters on Thursday. The catch included 46 five-bass limits.

Co-angler Scott Standafer of Milford, Ohio, grabbed the early lead in the co-angler division at Lake Hamilton on Thursday with a three-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces, anchored by a nice 8-pound, 6-ounce kicker bass. Standafer will start Day 2 of competition Friday with a slim 11-ounce lead over second-place co-angler Richard Williams of Sutherland, Virginia, who weighed in three bass totaling 11 pounds, 11 ounces.

The Top 20 co-anglers after Day 1 of the 2025 All-American on Lake Hamilton are:

1st:        Scott Standafer, Milford, Ohio, three bass, 12-6
2nd:       Richard Williams, Sutherland, Va., three bass, 11-11
3rd:       Brian Townley, Wyoming, Mich., three bass, 9-11
4th:        Robert Massey, Calhoun, La., three bass, 8-8
5th:        Nathan Hall, Hensley, Ark., three bass, 6-11
6th:        Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., three bass, 7-3
7th:        Bill Hockaday, Nashville, Ark., three bass, 6-11
8th:        Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, three bass, 6-6
9th:        Tony Stevens, Monroe, Ga., three bass, 6-4
9th:        Andy Morita, La Jolla, Calif., three bass, 6-4
11th:     Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., three bass, 6-2
12th:     Brad Sampson, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 6-0
13th:     Luke Shrader, Monticello, Ky., three bass, 5-15
14th:     Tim Greene, Loganville, Ga., three bass, 5-13
15th:     Ryan Sykes, Fairfield, Ohio, three bass, 5-11
16th:     Ernest Stephens, Orrum, N.C., three bass, 5-10
16th:     Cy Matlock, Crump, Tenn., three bass, 5-10
18th:     Andrew Rogers, Johnson City, Tenn., three bass, 5-8
19th:     Arthur Stahlhut, Garrett, Ind., three bass, 5-6
19th:     Cornell Badra, Clarksburg, Md., three bass, 5-6

Overall, there were 132 bass weighing 252 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 48 co-anglers on Thursday. The catch included 38 three-bass limits.

Anglers will launch each day at 6:30 a.m. CT from the Hulsey Hatchery Access, located at 350 Fish Hatchery Road in Hot Springs. Weigh-in each day will be held at the access and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and encouraged to follow the event’s online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

The full field of 49 boaters and 49 co-anglers will compete on Days 1 (Thursday) and 2 (Friday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 10 boaters and co-anglers, based on two-day total cumulative weight, and the final 10 anglers compete on Championship Saturday. The boater and co-angler that catch the heaviest three-day total weight will be crowned the 42nd Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champions.

The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine was 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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, advanced to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they competed to finish in the top six, which then advanced them to compete in the 2025 BFL All-American. The field also includes the top eligible finisher from each of seven The Bass Federation (TBF) divisions in the 2025 TBF National Championship.

Television coverage of the 2025 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine All-American will premiere at 10 a.m. ET, November 22, on CBS Sports. The full television air schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew Coffee, 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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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.