RICHMOND, Va. (June 10, 2025) – The fifth Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Invitational event of the season is set to visit Richmond, Virginia, next week, June 20-22, on the James River – the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 5 Presented by 7Brew Coffee.

The three-day Invitational tournament, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, will feature professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000. Anglers will take to the river to catch their five biggest bass each day, and the winner will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative total.

“We’re proud to welcome Major League Fishing, their anglers and fans back to the Richmond Region for the upcoming Tackle Warehouse Invitational,” said Jerrine Lee, Vice President of Sales at Richmond Region Tourism. “Osborne Landing and the James River offer some of the best bass fishing in the country, and we’re excited for participants to experience everything that makes our outdoor scene so special. We look forward to a fantastic weekend on the water.”

Although MLF history on the James River was mainly limited to one-day Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournaments in the past, the last two pro-level events were a great example of what the river can produce over multiple days. Pro Nick LeBrun won the June 2022 Pro Circuit event with 17 pounds, 9 ounces on the final day, and he had 47-11 on the scale through three days. Last year, Skeet Reese won the Bass Pro Tour (BPT) event on the James, held in late June. The Bass Fishing Hall of Famer put up 23 bass for 54-3 on the final day to add another trophy to his already-packed trophy case.

In the Pro Circuit event, LeBrun did almost all his damage in the Chickahominy, though that event saw anglers utilize a lot of the river. Reese used the Chickahominy as well, but did most of his damage on the final day in the Appomattox, which is quite close to takeoff at Osborne Landing compared to the Chick.

Between the James and its tributaries, there are tons of options for the field in next week’s event. Expansive fields of spatterdock, cypress trees, docks, rip rap, brush and some submerged vegetation give anglers and bass plenty of choice. Given the time of year, fish should be postspawn and in summer patterns, and the fishing should be pretty good.

“The key is going to be finding where those big ones are,” said Jason Tibbetts of Centreville, Virginia, a second-year pro on the Invitationals and a local to the James. “The James has a lot of sneaky little areas, we have plenty of fishing area. It’s that guy that’s going to find that bigger than 2-pound average fish and really capitalize on that and possibly have a kicker – if you can go 18, 20 pounds each day, I think you’re going to do very well, if not win it.”

One of the big decisions on the James is where to fish, or, if you’re going to attempt to fish everywhere. Running the tide and hitting many areas on a long stretch of river is a tactic that local anglers tend to have a huge edge with. Alternatively, there are plenty of creeks and sections of the fishery where an angler could stay all day. But, the James is not the easiest fishery to navigate, and it is very spread out.

“It used to be the Chick was where you would go run,” Tibbetts said. “There were big fish, but with years and years and years of tournament fishing, they’ve kind of transported a lot of those big fish up to Osborne Landing. So now in that area you have a good chance of catching some big fish, but they are scattered, and they’ve got a lot of places to go.”

Last year, the Appomattox was key in the BPT event, and Tibbetts thinks it could play well again this time.

“The Chick will have the grass and the pads, but the Appomattox, which isn’t anywhere near the run to get to the Chick, is starting to get a lot of grass and pads in it as well. So that may be a big player,” he said. “People might overlook that. They’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to run all the way down to the Chick.’ You run all the way down to the Chick, you don’t really have a lot of time to come back and hit the Appomattox. So, if you find fish in the Appomattox and they’re good fish, you’ve got a lot of fishing time.”

Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from Osborne Landing, located at 9530 Osborne Turnpike in Richmond, Virginia. Weigh-ins will be held at the landing and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2025 Tackle Warehouse Invitationals feature a field of professional anglers competing across six invitational tournaments around the country, for a total purse of $4.3 million and valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points to qualify for the Invitationals Championship, set for Sept. 5-7 on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, and a coveted spot on the MLF Bass Pro Tour – the sport’s premier circuit.

In Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition, the full field competes in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000.

Forward-facing and/or 360-degree sonar is limited to only days 1 and 3 of competition. No forward-facing and/or 360-degree sonar will be allowed on day 2 of competition.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live all three days of competition from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 5 at the James River Presented by 7Brew Coffee will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 25 on CBS Sports Network.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Bubba, Deep Dive, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitationals updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 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.