Kentucky’s Carter Tops Co-Angler Division

BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (March 3, 2025) – Boater Bryce McDonald of Paintsville, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Dale Hollow Lake. The tournament, hosted by Star Point Marina & Resort, was the first event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. McDonald earned $3,679 for his victory.

McDonald started the day throwing an Alabama rig around grass to put together a limit. At about 10 a.m., he made a move.

“The water cleared up up the river a little bit, and I ended up scoping them in a few pockets up there with an Alabama rig and a (Missile Baits) Spunk Shad in frosted purple,” he said. “(They were in) pockets they move up into in springtime. The ones I caught were 10, 15 feet suspended. They were probably in 25 foot of water.”

Upriver, McDonald was able to cull out four of his initial keepers while putting together a final limit that included one smallmouth over 21 inches and four quality largemouths.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., five bass, 19-4, $3,679
2nd:      Jake Mattingly, Stanford, Ky., five bass, 18-14, $1,840
3rd:       Christian Nash, Allons, Tenn., five bass, 18-10, $1,725 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Lucas Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 18-6, $859
5th:        Josh Womack, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $705
5th:        Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $705
7th:        Cole Logsdon, Brownsville, Ky., five bass, 17-12, $613
8th:        Colt Blanton, Piketon, Ohio, five bass, 17-10, $552
9th:        Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., five bass, 17-7, $491
10th:     Blake Smith, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 17-2, $429

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

James Duffy of Livingston, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $480.

Ben Carter of Lancaster, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and $1,840 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Ben Carter, Lancaster, Ky., three bass, 9-6, $1,840
2nd:      Doug Back, Jackson, Ky., three bass, 8-11, $920
3rd:       Dustin Forrest, Knob Lick, Ky., three bass, 8-9, $612
4th:        Robert Jones, Whitley City, Ky., three bass, 8-1, $429
5th:        Scott Bateman, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 7-13, $368
6th:        Shane Bowman, Caryville, Tenn., three bass, 7-8, $337
7th:        Parker Burgess, Granville, Tenn., three bass, 6-2, $307
8th:        Allen Neal, Whitley City, Ky., two bass, 5-15, $516
9th:        Caleb Edgerton Dayton, Ohio, three bass, 5-12, $345
10th:     James Maynard, Marysville, Ohio, two bass, 5-6, $215

Allen Neal of Whitley City, Kentucky, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $240, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to winning the event, Bryce McDonald of Paintsville, Kentucky, also has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Ben Carter of Lancaster, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.

The next event for BFL Mountain Division anglers will be held March 22, at Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. 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 Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee. 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.