Arkansas’ Jones Tops Co-Angler Division

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (Sept. 22, 2025) – Boater Austin Rose of Mena, Arkansas, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 3 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hamilton. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Rose earned $12,177, including a $7,000 Phoenix Bonus, for his victory.

Rose said he discovered a “pretty substantial pattern” in practice leading up to the tournament when he found a jig bite using a homemade jig. That pattern, as it turns out, was also very specific, according to Rose.

“Every fish that I found was on a break line running east to west, and the fish were on the north side of the break,” Rose said. “The south side of it wasn’t near as good as the north side. It also had to be on the first 100 yards of the break facing the main lake.”

Rose said he targeted bass in 8 to 15 feet of water around brush, stumps and docks in practice.

“On the first day of the tournament, it got really tough for me,” Rose said. “Right out of the gate I lost two that were over 4 pounds. I figured that would end up biting me in the end, but it didn’t end up hurting me too bad. Then, before weigh-in, I lost one pushing 5 pounds.”

Rose said Sunday he broke off two bass but had three substantial culls in the last 30 minutes of competition.

I caught two of those late and told my co-angler, ‘I really wish I had those two from yesterday.’ I just needed a kicker – a 5-pounder. And then I got that bite and ended up breaking it off.

“It was a pretty fun day on the water,” Rose said. “Not clean fishing, but I ended up getting it done.

“This is a life-long dream of mine, a big win for me,” Rose added. “This is my first year fishing as a boater, and it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Austin Rose, Mena, Ark., 10 bass, 27-3, $12,177 (includes $7,000 Phoenix Bonus)
2nd:      Chris Cusick, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 24-10, $2,539
3rd:       Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 24-9, $1,694
4th:        Cody Burke, Greenbrier, Ark., 10 bass, 24-6, $1,185
5th:        Bryce Boatright, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 23-8, $1,015
6th:        Lance Freeman, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 23-5, $931
7th:        Justin Bean, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 22-11, $846
8th:        Samuel Mitchell, Kiowa, Okla., 10 bass, 21-8, $762
9th:        Zach Ward, Cabot, Ark., 10 bass, 21-7, $1,314
10th:     Carl Cole, Little Rock, Ark., 10 bass, 21-1, $592

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Zach Ward of Cabot, Arkansas, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $637.

Jody Jones of Harvey, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and $2,858 Sunday, after bringing six bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., six bass, 12-2, $2,858
2nd:      Eian Odle, Willow Springs, Mo., six bass, 12-1, $1,269
3rd:       Blake Defoor, Waldron, Ark., six bass, 11-5, $896
4th:        Mark King, Gurdon, Ark., six bass, 11-0, $592
5th:        Randy Allen, Russellville, Ark., six bass, 8-13, $508
6th:        Demarcus Armstrong, Pittsburg, Texas, six bass, 8-12, $465
7th:        John McCullar, Benton, Ark., five bass, 8-7, $423
8th:        Eli Garrison, Ward, Ark., five bass, 8-6, $381
9th:        Michael Lucas, Forrest City, Ark., four bass, 7-9, $339
10th:     Johnny Crider, Fulton, Ark., five bass, 6-9, $296

Jody Jones of Harvey, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $319, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 4 ounces.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Brian Bean of Hot Springs, Arkansas, won the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,312 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Eli Garrison of Ward, Arkansas, won the Fishing Clash Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,310 points and earned the $500 payout.

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, 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 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, RFD-TV 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.