Chesterfield’s Gibbs Tops Co-Angler Division

HENRICO, Va. (July 14, 2025) – Boater Broderick Luckey of Lynchburg, Virginia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the James River. The tournament, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Piedmont Division. Luckey earned $3,213 for his victory.

Luckey continues an incredible run this season. He’s now earned three BFL wins this year, including back-to-back victories on Smith Mountain in March. On the James, Luckey got the win by running up the Chickahominy River – an area known for quality bass.

“I made a real long run and had four spots that I knew had big ones on it,” he said. “I just knew that they were there, but they were hard to get to bite with numerous other boats on them. I kind of pushed through the pressure and kind of forced them to bite, just staying consistent in the areas that I knew had good ones.”

It was a rinse and repeat approach. Luckey made pass after pass on four key areas, which included a “one-cast deal,” a stretch of docks and a grass area – a little bit of everything. Every now and then, a fish would fire. Things really turned on once the tide got right, creating a window of action from about 11:30 to 1. Luckey says he went from catching one fish on each stop in an area to catching three or four once the shift happened.

“They bit best when the water was moving; when the tide started to come back in,” Luckey said. “We’ve had a lot of rain, so the tide never really fell out. I think that hurt the bite in the morning. When the tide started to come back in those fish started to bite. So it was just kind of a waiting game.”

Luckey was hush about some of his key baits, and for good reason. The Shenandoah Division competes on the James next weekend and he’s hunting another W. He did reveal that he used a Yamamoto Senko, a swim jig and a jerkbait. He credits persistence and hours of graphing during practice for his success this week.

“It was really cool, especially this one meant a lot because I’ve won three on my home lake (Smith Lake),” he said. “But to go somewhere else and get the win it makes me feel like I’m not just a one-trick pony on my home body of water. It feels awesome, and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going and maybe get one more this year.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 18-10, $3,213
2nd:       Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 17-11, $1,557
3rd:       Ed Milton, Chester, Va., five bass, 15-10, $1,037
4th:        David Perdue, Wirtz, Va., five bass, 14-15, $726
5th:        Frank Poirier, North Prince George, Va., five bass, 14-8, $623
6th:        Raymond Jones, III, Mocksville, N.C., five bass, 14-6, $571
7th:        Harrison Baker, Quinton, Va., five bass, 14-2, $493
7th:        Rob Uzzle, Hampton, Va., five bass, 14-2, $993 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
9th:        Micah Mitten, Powhatan, Va., five bass, 14-0, $415
10th:     Brandon Buttner, Montpelier, Va., five bass, 13-14, $363

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Shannon Breeding of Moneta, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $365.

Dean Gibbs of Chesterfield, Virginia, won the co-angler division and $1,739 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Dean Gibbs, Chesterfield, Va., three bass, 9-13, $1,739
2nd:       Tim Seery, Chesapeake, Va., three bass, 9-11, $778
3rd:       Levi Stanley, Fuquay Varina, N.C., three bass, 8-6, $521
4th:        Bobby Kennedy, Matoaca, Va., three bass, 7-12, $363
5th:        Cornell Badra, Clarksburg, Md., three bass, 7-11, $311
6th:        Tracy Gravely, Petersburg, Va., three bass, 7-5, $285
7th:        Timothy Kinder, Fairfax, Va., three bass, 7-4, $259
8th:        Doug Griles, Providence Forge, Va., three bass, 7-3, $233
9th:        Mekye Barnes, Knightdale, N.C., three bass, 7-2, $208
10th:     Travis Owens, Hurt, Va., three bass, 6-15, $182

Gibbs also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $182, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Chris Brummett of Lynch Station, Virginia, now leads the Fishing Clash Piedmont Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 956 points, while Derek Stanley of Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, leads the Fishing Clash Piedmont Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 949 points.

The next event for BFL Piedmont Division anglers will be held Aug. 23-24, at the James River out of Henrico, Virginia. 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. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Norman out of Huntersville, North Carolina 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.

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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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.