Rutledge’s Caudill Tops Co-Angler Division

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (May 19, 2025) – Boater Justin McGaha of Knoxville, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Cherokee Lake. The tournament, hosted by Visit Jefferson County, Tennessee, was the third event of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. McGaha earned $2,748 for his victory.

During practice for Cherokee, McGaha worked a glide bait around floating docks, taking advantage of the bait’s knack for getting bass to follow – but not bite – to figure out which docks were holding fish.

Then, in the tournament, he returned to those docks and caught the winning limit with a big swimbait and swim jig. McGaha’s limit was comprised entirely of postspawn largemouth bass, which he plucked from the shade way back under the docks.

“I probably hit 30 or more docks all day long,” McGaha said. “They weren’t docks all the way back (in the creeks). It would be docks on points or individual docks.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 17-14, $2,748
2nd:      Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., five bass, 17-10, $2,109 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd:       John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., five bass, 14-12, $882
4th:        J.R. Henard, Rogersville, Tenn., five bass, 14-0, $618
5th:        Andrew Napier, Fisherville, Ky., five bass, 13-12, $530
6th:        Tony Wilson, Barbourville, Ky., five bass, 13-11, $485
7th:        Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 13-0, $441
8th:        Matthew Rock, Bristol, Va., five bass, 12-4, $397
9th:        Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., 12-2, $353
10th:     Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., five bass, 11-15, $309

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Clint Brodsky of Burlington, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $285.

Elijah Caudill of Rutledge, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,324 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Elijah Caudill, Rutledge, Tenn., three bass, 8-1, $1,324
2nd:       Kasey Hunley, Sharps Chapel, Tenn., three bass, 7-13, $662
3rd:       Glenn Smith Jr., Corbin, Ky., three bass, 7-9, $440
4th:        Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, three bass, 7-4, $309
5th:        Tracy Helton, London, Ky., three bass, 6-7, $265
6th:        Robert Duncan, Stearns, Ky., three bass, 6-5, $243
7th:        Robert Jones, Whitley City, Ky., three bass, 6-2, $221
8th:        Allen Neal, Whitley City, Ky., three bass, 6-0, $199
9th:        Ryan Lee, Pound, Va., three bass, 5-10, $177
10th:     Joshua Cloutier, Glasgow, Ky., three bass, 5-2, $154

Shane Bowman of Caryville, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $142, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Branden Grubb of Lily, Kentucky, now leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 716 points, while Allen Neal of Whitley City, Kentucky, leads the Fishing Clash Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 728 points.

The next event for BFL Mountain Division anglers will be held June 7, at Dale Hollow Lake on 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 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.