Sulphur’s Gilder Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

MANY, La. (Jan. 20, 2025) – Boater Evan Howe of Keachi, Louisiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 27 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Toledo Bend Reservoir . The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Howe earned $3,804 for his victory.

According to Howe, Toledo Bend has been red hot all winter. Prior to the tournament, he’d been catching plenty of fish out deep using forward-facing sonar. But come competition day, those fish were gone. His counter was to rely on his experience on the lake, running and gunning drains to look for new fish.

“I just went back on history and figured out where the shad were and started scoping around them,” he said. “(I was targeting) any kind of drain with timber that had shad in it. Honestly, you would scope through it and see only one or two fish worth throwing at. I had to keep jumping drains to find enough fish to throw at.”

Howe says he eventually found fish up shallower in the drains, but “shallower” is relative. They were still in 30 feet of water. It was just a matter of covering enough water to find the right caliber of fish. Things started slowly, with Howe putting only about 5 pounds in the livewell by 9 a.m. Once he found the better-quality fish, though, Howe was able to box 20 pounds by 10 a.m. By 1 p.m., he had 27.

“I ended up catching a few good ones, but they were not biting well,” added Howe. “I had a lot followers. A lot that just nipped at the tail. They wouldn’t get the whole bait.”

Howe caught his fish using a Damiki rig with a Rapala Crush City Freeloader soft plastic.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Evan Howe, Keachi, La., five bass, 27-0, $3,804
2nd:       Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., five bass, 24-0, $1,902
3rd:       Colby Miller, Elmer, La., five bass, 23-1, $1,767 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Tater Reynolds, Florien, La., five bass, 21-8, $888
5th:        Robert Lafitte, Many, La., five bass, 20-13, $1,266
6th:        Caden Alexander, Huntington, Texas, five bass, 19-13, $697
7th:        Zane Parker, Kingwood, Texas, five bass, 19-6, $634
8th:        Frank Canizaro, Mansfield, La., five bass, 19-5, $571
9th:        Jacob Callahan, Yantis, Texas, five bass, 18-4, $507
10th:     Cal Cameron, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 17-13, $444

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Robert Lafitte of Many, Louisiana, caught a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $505.

Eddy Gilder of Sulphur, Louisiana, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,154 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 11 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:        Eddy Gilder, Sulphur, La., three bass, 11-4, $2,154
2nd:       Leavitt Hamilton, Gonzales, La., three bass, 10-1, $951
3rd:       Gary Medley, Vidor, Texas, three bass, 9-4, $634
4th:        Mark Sterling, Hornbeck, La., three bass, 8-15, $444
5th:        Shane Landry, Winnie, Texas, three bass, 8-14, $380
6th:        Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, three bass, 8-0, $349
7th:        James Wright, Hamshire, Texas, three bass, 7-14, $317
8th:        Chris Harrell, Conroe, Texas, three bass, 7-4, $285
9th:        Joe Perez, Kemp, Texas, three bass, 6-11, $225
9th:        Cole Allen, Taylor, Ark., three bass, 6-11, $325
9th:        Adam Brister, Meadville, Miss., three bass, 6-11, $225

Gilder also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $252, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Cole Moore of Anacoco, Louisiana, now leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 497 points, while Gary Medley of Vidor, Texas, leads the Fishing Clash Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 495 points.

The third event of the year for BFL Cowboy Division anglers will be held Feb. 15, at Toledo Bend out of Zwolle, Louisiana. 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. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, 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 Strike King 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, Vosker, 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 17 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.