Kansan Sloan Flips Bushes to Win Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Truman Lake Presented by Witch Doctor Tackle
Kansan Lay Tops Co-Angler Division
WARSAW, Mo. (June 16, 2025) – Boater Kenny Sloan of Gaylord, Kansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Truman Lake Presented by Witch Doctor Tackle. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Ozark Division. Sloan earned $3,979 for his victory.
Sloan recently relocated to north-central Kansas to train bird dogs and spend his fall hunting quail, but he’s fished Truman Lake his entire life. His experienced helped him deal with pressured fish and water that is around 9 feet high.
“It was really good today,” he said. “I had eight keepers. I culled twice. I stayed in the Grand River arm, which is what I usually fish, for the most part. I have my whole life.”
He kept his presentation simple, flipping Texas-rigged soft plastics around flooded bushes.
“I’ve got points and spots that I typically fish, and I just kind of went over that stuff and moved around. The pressure was real bad today with all the people. I went up the Grand River arm quite a ways to get away from all the pressure, and that’s where I caught several of my fish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Kenny Sloan, Gaylord, Kan., five bass, 17-12, $3,979
2nd: Oliver Siebert, Fenton, Mo., five bass, 16-0, $1,940
3rd: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 15-10, $1,793 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Nathan Portell, Festus, Mo., five bass, 15-5, $1,162
5th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., five bass, 14-15, $776
6th: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., five bass, 14-5, $711
7th: Andres Jackson, Crystal City, Mo., five bass, 13-8, $647
8th: Lance Williams, Billings, Mo., five bass, 13-7, $582
9th: Shane Long, Willard, Mo., five bass, 13-3, $517
10th: Kyle Alsop, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 13-0, $453
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Nathan Portell of Festus, Missouri, and Alex Avery of West Plains, Missouri, each caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces, earning them a tie for the Berkley Big Bass Boater award. They each took home $257 for their share of the prize.
Joseph Lay of Gardner, Kansas, won the co-angler division and $1,940 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Joseph Lay, Gardner, Kan., three bass, 9-6, $1,940
2nd: Matt Zimmerly, Hillsboro, Mo., two bass, 9-0, $1,227
3rd: Dennis Spell, Bonne Terre, Mo., three bass, 8-15, $696
4th: Thad Hewitt, Delaware, Okla., three bass, 8-10, $520
4th: Ryan Doel, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 8-10, $420
6th: Roy Bradford, Ashland, Mo., three bass, 8-9, $356
7th: Donald Pailer, Arnold, Mo., three bass, 8-3, $291
7th: Bobbie Green, Greenwood, Mo., three bass 8-3, , $291
7th: Stephen Babcock, Belton, Mo., three bass, 8-3, $291
10th: Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., three bass, 8-2, $226
Matt Zimmerly of Hillsboro, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $257, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Eric Olliverson of Shell Knob, Missouri, now leads the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 976 points, while Dennis Spell of Bonne Terre, Missouri, leads the Fishing Clash Ozark Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 956 points.
The fifth and final regular-season event for BFL Ozark Division anglers will be held Sept. 13-14, at Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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.
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 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.