Texas’ Gorzsas Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division

BROOKELAND, Texas (March 16, 2026) – Boater Kaden Mueck of Livingston, Texas, caught a total of five bass weighing 23 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Sam Rayburn Reservoir . The tournament, hosted by Jasper County Development District, was the third of five events of the season for the BFL Cowboy Division. Mueck earned $10,530, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF bonus, for his victory.

“I had a little better hopes for the morning,” Mueck said. “I thought I could catch more fish (Garmin) LiveScoping to carry me throughout the day, but I only lucked out with one 6-pounder to start with. I had that one and a 4½, and that was about all I did ’Scoping.

“The rest of my damage I did was by dragging some shallow hard spots and secondary points, stuff like that,” Mueck went on to say. “I caught a lot of fish. I probably caught 50 to 60 fish throughout the day and gradually culled up, little by little.”

Mueck said he started his day in Buck Bay and planned to go up the lake in search of fish, but wind changed his mind, and he fished the majority of his day in the Ayish Bayou arm. Mueck said his LiveScope fish, including the big bass that came off of a laydown at 8:30, came on a minnow. The rest of the day he relied on a Carolina rig with a 1-ounce weight and a Berkley Powerbait Pit Boss.

“I thought it would take 25 to 28 pounds, maybe even 30 today,” Mueck said. “I was thinking if I could catch three big ones in the morning, I would be alright, but that didn’t go my way. I was pretty antsy. I figured I was going to get bumped out at weigh-in.

“I’ve always wanted to win one of these trophies with the fish on it. I’ve always thought they were really cool trophies.” Mueck added. “I’ve been close. I’ve ended up second and everything else, so this felt really good. Now I’m looking to win another one.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kaden Mueck, Livingston, Texas, five bass, 23-4, $10,530 (includes $7,000 Phoenix bonus)
2nd:      Wyatt Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, five bass, 19-9, $1,770
3rd:       Dwight Abshire, Santa Fe, Texas, five bass, 19-3, $890
4th:        Daniel Bryant, Scott, La., five bass, 18-6, $710
5th:        River Lee, Diboll, Texas, five bass, 18-4, $630
6th:        Joshua Teply, Harrah, Okla., five bass, 17-12, $540
7th:        Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., five bass, 16-6, $520
8th:        Nikalos Tarkington, Gladewater, Texas, three bass, 16-3, $690
9th:        Louis Ferguson, Woodville, Texas, five bass, 15-13, $470
10th:     Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 15-11, $550

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Nikalos Tarkington of Gladewater, Texas, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 7-pound, 8-ounce bass worth $200.

Paul Gorzsas of Marshall, Texas, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,915 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Paul Gorzsas, Marshall, Texas, three bass, 12-1, $1,915
2nd:      Eddy Gilder, Sulpher, La., three bass, 10-8, $885
3rd:       Kaleb Cryer, Montgomery, Texas, three bass, 9-15, $445
4th:        David Gandaria, Hemphill, Texas, three bass, 8-14, $355
5th:        Daniel Robertson, Gladewater, Texas, three bass, 8-5, $315
6th:        Camden Cordray, Center, Texas, three bass, 8-4, $270
7th:        Cole Allen, Carlisle, Ark., two bass, 8-2, $360
8th:        Caleb Wilson, Broussard, La., three bass, 8-0, $245
9th:        James Waller, Center, Texas, three bass, 7-15, $240
10th:     Lee Anne Powell, Lake Jackson, Texas, three bass, 7-13, $187
10th:     Velin Sims, Spring, Texas, three bass, 7-13, $187

Paul Gorzsas of Marshall, Texas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing an 8-pound, 5-ounce bass worth $100.

After three events, Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, now leads the 7 Brew Cowboy Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 744 points, while Lee Anne Powell of Lake Jackson, Texas, leads the Cowboy Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 691 points.

The top 45 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. 22-24 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, 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 prize of a new Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, worth $33,500.

The 2026 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top seven, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2026 BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, YETI and Yuengling.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular BFL 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, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV, Game & Fish TV and Rumble, 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.