Cookeville’s Whittaker Tops Co-Angler Division

SPARTA, Tenn. (April 28, 2025) – Boater Drew Boggs of Lebanon, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Center Hill Lake. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Music City Division. Boggs earned $2,403 for his victory.

Boggs has had a ton of success fishing with MLF and its predecessor, FLW. He’s a four-time BFL All-American qualifier with more than $278,000 in career earnings. But this win was extra sweet.

“There’s two things that make this very special to me,” he said. “First off, there was a goal that I set a long time ago to get 10 wins, and I finally achieved that. It’s my 10th BFL win. The second thing was that everything has changed so much. 2022 was my last win, and the past few years it seems like it’s pretty much been dominated by scoping, except on a couple lakes here and there.

“I thought the chance of winning flipping shallow had diminished big time. Thankfully, if you get around the spawn, the right time of year, or the right conditions with the water up, us old-school guys can get in the trees with them and get it done. It feels pretty good to represent the old school in that aspect, and it feels pretty good to do it on a lake that I’ve fished for 20 years and not won on.”

Boggs is now the 25th angler to win at least 10 BFL events across the circuit’s history with Operation Bass, FLW and now MLF. And his win was absolutely old-school power fishing. With the water up above summer pool, he went shallow and caught his 5 1/2-pound kicker on a SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog and caught the rest flipping a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a Jenko Fishing Creature Weight.

He credits his team partner, Daniel Johnson (13th place), with helping to clue him in to the winning pattern. The two fished a team tournament together the weekend prior and got the win there, as well. Boggs took what he learned from Johnson, along with his own history on the lake, and applied it in other areas – staying respectful of Johnson’s water – to dial in the winning pattern.

“I only had eight keeper largemouth bites,” he added. “I had another five keeper spots – Kentucky bass. That frog fish was crucial in getting there. The lake seems to be pretty full of 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pounders. Getting those 4 1/2-plus is what steps you up.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 17-5, $2,403
2nd:      Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 17-0, $1,202
3rd:       Braxton Campbell, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 16-11, $801
4th:        Michael Stout, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 16-7, $561
5th:        Lucas Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 15-9, $481
6th:        Cody Mackie, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 15-5, $441
7th:        Timothy Wacker, Clinton, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $401
8th:        Jake Cross, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 15-0, $860 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
9th:        Ike Gillentine, Quebeck, Tenn., five bass, 14-13, $320
10th:     Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 14-8, $280

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jason Smith of Union, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $250.

Blake Whittaker of Cookeville, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,202 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Blake Whittaker, Cookeville, Tenn., three bass, 9-11, $1,202
2nd:      Mark Redman, Scottsville, Ky., three bass, 9-6, $601
3rd:       Bob Melching, Smithville, Tenn., three bass, 9-1, $402
4th:        Trevor Medley, Sparta, Tenn., three bass, 8-12, $405
5th:        Alex Roberts, Columbia, Tenn., three bass, 8-10, $240
6th:        Trenton Webb, Goodlettsville, Tenn., three bass, 8-4, $220
7th:        Jason Barr, Fort Campbell, Ky., three bass, 7-15, $300
8th:        Parker Burgess, Granville, Tenn., three bass, 7-12, $170
8th:        Danny H. Boggs, Fayetteville, Tenn., three bass, 7-12, $170
10th:     James Proffitt, Celina, Tenn., three bass, 7-11, $140

Trevor Medley of Sparta, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $125, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Hunter Bouldin of McMinnville, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Music City Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 739 points, while Tommy Pritchard of Bargersville, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Music City Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 729 points.

The next event for BFL Music City Division anglers will be held June 28, at Old Hickory Lake out of Gallatin, 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 out of 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.