Searcy’s Warden Tops Co-Angler Division

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (March 17, 2025) – Boater Chip Hawkins of Little Rock, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hamilton . The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Hawkins earned $11,000, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

Even with all the advanced electronics and new, high-end tackle out there for bass anglers, there are some simple, old-school fishing adages that still hold true – and can still lead to winning stringers.

“My whole life, people have always told me, when it starts raining throw a spinnerbait, and I’ve always done it,” said Hawkins. “And I’ve actually had some of my best tournaments doing it.”

It worked on Saturday at Lake Hamilton. Hawkins caught his winning fish on a BOOYAH spinnerbait with an orange kicker blade. Hawkins was expecting to find fish moving up to get ready to spawn, so in practice he hunted for pockets with the warmest water – areas closer to 60 degrees. While his practice was pretty terrible – in his words – those pockets ended up being where he caught his fish.

“This morning it was raining and cloudy, and so I just picked up a spinnerbait and started running shallow pockets,” he said. “Until it quit raining around 11:30 or 12. Then it was pretty much over.

“I think I was just fishing shallower than most people, to be honest,” Hawkins added. “I was fishing 2 feet of water, where everybody else was still fishing points.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Chip Hawkins, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 18-12, $11,000 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:       Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 16-8, $2,000
3rd:       Eugene Moore III, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 14-13, $1,334
4th:        Jackson Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 14-11, $933
5th:        Brady Horton, Clinton, Ark., five bass, 14-9, $800
6th:        Russell Richmond, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 14-7, $1,273
7th:        Allen Stewart, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 14-5, $633
7th:        Cody McEntire, Walnut Ridge, Ark., five bass, 14-5, $633
9th:        Chris Darby, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 14-2, $533
10th:     Kollin Crawford, Broken Bow, Okla., five bass, 13-15, $467

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Russel Richmond of Sheridan, Arkansas, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $540.

Rocky Warden of Searcy, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and $2,270 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 11 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Rocky Warden, Searcy, Ark., three bass, 9-13, $2,270
2nd:       Benjamin Russell, Saint Robert, Mo., three bass, 9-8, $1,000
3rd:       Michael Brown, Arkadelphia, Ark., three bass, 9-5, $666
4th:        Tommy McCullar, Benton, Ark., three bass, 8-4, $467
5th:        Dale Clark, Malvern, Ark., three bass, 7-15, $400
6th:        Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., three bass, 7-14, $367
7th:        Keagan Harrison, Sulphur Rock, Ark., three bass, 7-13, $333
8th:        Aaron Calvert, Russellville, Ark., three bass, 7-11, $300
9th:        Reagan Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $236
9th:        Zachary Morrow, Lonsdale, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $236
9th:        Trenton Williams, Alma, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $236

Warden also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $270, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to winning the event, Chip Hawkins of Little Rock, Arkansas, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Rocky Warden of Searcy, Arkansas, leads the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.

The next event for BFL Arkie Division anglers will be held April 12, at Lake Ouachita out of Royal, Arkansas. 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, Alabama. 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.