HENRICO, Va. (July 21, 2025) – Boater Brian LaClair of Denton, Maryland, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 13 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 Shenandoah Division. LaClair earned $4,745 for his victory.

The tide could not have set up much better for LaClair. His goal was to fish areas where the tide was at least three-quarters of the way out, because the low tide best positions fish to feed. He immediately started up north on a low tide then followed the tide out, working his way downstream using a Lowrance tide chart to time his arrival in each area.

“The tide worked all the way down the river,” he said. “I just ran the tide once it got to a certain point. I fished all my areas then I moved another 10 or 12 miles down the river. Those fish were feeding good in all the places I went.

“I just tried to utilize all my time throughout the whole river and the day. That was it.”

LaClair caught most of his weigh-in fish on a brown jig, with a drop-shot tossed in, too.

“I was fishing hard cover, all wood, no grass, no nothing else,” he said. “Just laydowns, drop-offs, wood. That’s all I’ve been fishing.”

The top 11 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Brian LaClair, Denton, Md., five bass, 18-13, $4,745
2nd:        Jason Holder, Powhatan, Va., five bass, 16-3, $2,214
3rd:        Michael Downes, South Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 16-1, $1,978 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:         Logan Buttolph, Doswell, Va., five bass, 15-9, $1,133
5th:         Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 15-2, $886
6th:         Austin Burton, North Prince George, Va., five bass, 15-1, $775
6th:         Keith Estes, Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 15-1, $775
8th:         Brian Bersik, Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 14-14, $814
9th:         Jonathan Hamilton, Newburg, Md., five bass, 14-13, $907
10th:       Raymond Jones III, Mocksville, N.C., five bass, 14-12, $491
10th:       Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., five bass, 14-12, $491

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tournament winner Brian LaClair and boater Jonathan Hamilton of Newburg, Maryland, split the Berkley Big Bass Boater award, each taking home $317 for catching a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

Fan Zhang of Arlington, Virginia, won the co-angler division and $2,531 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 11 co-anglers finished:

1st:         Fan Zhang, Arlington, Va., three bass, 11-6, $2,531
2nd:       Roland Burton, Hopewell, Va., three bass, 9-0, $1,157
3rd:        Thomas Driscoll, Annandale, Va., three bass, 8-12, $738
4th:        Glenn Eskin, Henderson, N.C., three bass, 8-11, $517
5th:        Jeff Turner, Morris, Ill., three bass, 8-9, $424
5th:        David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., three bass, 8-9, $524
7th:        Joe Dixon, Alton, Md., three bass, 8-5, $332
7th:        Douglas Washburn, Bracey, Va., three bass, 8-5, $332
7th:        Zack Queeney, Atco, N.J., three bass, 8-5, $332
10th:      John Robinson, Montpelier, Va., three bass, 8-1, $245
10th:      Dubi Mejia, Geoergetown, Del., three bass, 8-1, $245

Zhang also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $317, catching a bass that weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Broderick Luckey of Lynchburg, Virginia, now leads the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 935 points, while Douglas Washburn of Bracey, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 896 points.

The next event for BFL Shenandoah Division anglers will be held Sept. 6-7, at the Potomac River out of Marbury, Maryland. 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. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on the James River out of Richmond, Virginia. 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.