Major League Fishing’s Annual Grassroots Bass-Fishing Championship Showcasing Top Weekend Anglers to Take Place Next Week in Hot Springs at Hulsey Hatchery Access

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (May 20, 2025) – Major League Fishing (MLF) is set to return to Hot Springs, Arkansas, next week, May 29-31, for the 42nd annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Championship Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hamilton. The three-day tournament, hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, will showcase the nation’s best weekend grassroots anglers, and awards the winning boater a top prize of up to $120,000, and a top prize of $50,000 for the winning co-angler.

“Hot Springs is eagerly awaiting its seventh time to be the host city for the Phoenix BFL All-American Championship,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said. “We’re looking forward to showing some  good old-fashioned Hot Springs hospitality to these weekend anglers as they take to Lake Hamilton for some great championship fishing.

“The All-American is one of the most prestigious and longest-running championships in bass fishing and Hot Springs knows how to make an already-great event even more exciting and enjoyable for the anglers and our residents alike,” Arrison continued. “Hot Springs will reap tremendous media attention from the event, and we owe thanks to the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism for partnering with us to bring the Phoenix BFL All-American back to Hot Springs. The Championship will focus national attention on the unrivaled outdoor recreation we enjoy here in The Natural State.”

This event marks the seventh All-American to be held in Hot Springs, and the sixth on Lake Hamilton – both MLF records for the most times a city and fishery have hosted the event. The championship was previously held on Lake Hamilton in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2022, and on DeGray Lake in 2010.

Former All-American champions who currently compete on the Bass Pro Tour and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include Shaw Grigsby (1984), Jacob Wheeler (2011), Jeremy Lawyer (2016), Nick LeBrun (2018), Emil Wagner (2022) and Paul Marks Jr. (2024).

Local pro and noted Lake Hamilton hammer Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs won’t be competing – he’ll be heading to Kentucky Lake to prep for the next event on the Bass Pro Tour. But his deep knowledge of the fishery paints an interesting picture of what competitors can expect next week, and according to Shuffield, it’s “the best he’s ever seen the lake.”

“There’s never been more grass in it,” Shuffield said. “We’re talking milfoil, hydrilla, coontail – some of it growing in 18 feet of water, five to six feet tall. It’s been more than 15 years since we’ve seen that kind of vegetation in places like the fish hatchery and White Oak Basin.”

That resurgence of grass, along with improved Florida-strain genetics, has led to a booming big-bass population.

“There’s been a 10- to 12-pounder caught every week for the last six months,” he added. “It’s a totally different lake than it was five years ago.”

Still, tournament timing presents a unique challenge.

“It’s the beginning of summer, so managing the boat traffic is going to be a challenge,” Shuffield said. “They’ll bite early, but once the wakes start rolling, it’s going to get tough. Someone will have to find something in the grass or stay out deep and get sneaky.”

While shallow brush, schooling fish, and bream bed patterns may factor briefly, Shuffield believes forward-facing sonar and suspended fish will likely dominate.

“It’s probably going to be won scoping with a Damiki rig or a minnow-style bait,” he said. “Those fish are grouped up and chasing bait in 20 to 35 feet of water, and if someone figures out a unique presentation they could absolutely blow the field away.

“It might only take 13 pounds a day to win if guys don’t adjust, but if they figure it out, it could easily take 16 a day or more,” Shuffield predicted. “This lake is full of sevens, and I’d be shocked if we don’t see at least a few eights or bigger cross the stage.”

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 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.