Illinois’ Tinsman Tops Co-Angler Division

LA CROSSE, Wis. (April 28, 2025) – Boater Mike Feldermann of Galena, Illinois, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin Presented by Lew’s . The tournament, hosted by Explore La Crosse, was the first event of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Feldermann earned $4,437 for his victory.

One of the upper Mississippi River’s all-time greats, Feldermann has now won BFL events out of La Crosse in back-to-back years, just one calendar day apart. This is also his 13th career win, to go along with five BFL All-American appearances and more than $378,000 in career earnings.

“I just pretty much did the same thing I did last year,” he said. “I just fished pondweed with a ChatterBait and a spinnerbait, and I had one spot where I caught a limit pretty quick. Then I went to another spot later in the day and caught my big fish – a 6-6. They were all largemouth, no current, in about 3 feet of water.”

Feldermann’s history on the river is his biggest strength. He says he just “kind of knows where those big ones want to stage before they spawn.” In practice, he caught a few just to get an idea of what was going on, then ran history and applied his expertise to put together the winning weight in the tournament.

“Where I caught the 6-6 is probably 200 to 300 yards long – a 3-foot weed edge,” he added. “It’s a big lake.”

The top 11 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., five bass, 22-13, $4,437
2nd:      Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 21-1, $1,958
3rd:       Casey Goode, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 20-5, $1,307
4th:        Tyler Fitch, Fall River, Wis., five bass, 20-3, $914
5th:        Clayton Weber, West Salem, Wis., five bass, 20-2, $783
6th:        Hunter Litchfield, Macomb, Ill., five bass, 19-14, $718
7th:        Dan Mohn, Lansing, Iowa, five bass, 19-9, $653
8th:        Cade Laufenberg, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 18-10, $1,055 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
8th:        Jeremy Nokken, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 18-10, $555
10th:     Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 18-7, $434
10th:     Wyatt Becker, West Salem, Wis., five bass, 18-7, $434

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Feldermann’s kicker bass weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $520.

Matthew Tinsman of Peoria, Illinois, won the co-angler division and $1,958 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Matthew Tinsman, Peoria, Ill., three bass, 12-3, $1,958
2nd:      Philip Olson, Waukesha, Wis., three bass, 12-2, $979
3rd:       Blake Miller, Cedar Falls, Iowa, three bass, 11-13, $703
4th:        Larry Litchfield, Macomb, Ill., three bass, 11-5, $457
5th:        Duke Lensert, Sister Bay, Wis., three bass, 11-4, $652
6th:        Lee Lewis, Peoria, Ill., three bass, 11-2, $342
6th:        Trevor Gnotke, Pine Island, Minn., three bass, 11-2, $342
8th:        Brad Juen, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 10-9, $294
9th:        Garrett Koster, Vergas, Minn., three bass, 10-8, $261
10th:     Matthew Commerford, Wendell, Minn., three bass, 10-5, $228

Duke Lensert of Sister Bay, Wisconsin, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $260, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to winning the event, Mike Feldermann of Galena, Illinois, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Matthew Tinsman of Peoria, Illinois, leads the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.

The next event for BFL Great Lakes Division anglers will be held May 17, at the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wisconsin. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 60 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. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. 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 award of $20,000.

The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports 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.