Illinois’ Nega Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division

SANDUSKY, Ohio (August 31, 2026) – Boater Matthew Davis of Morenci, Michigan, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 41 pounds, 14 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine at Lake Erie. The tournament was the fifth and final event of the 2026 season for the BFL Buckeye Division. Davis earned $4,170 for his victory.

“I didn’t get a whole lot of bites – I only had five keepers Saturday, so I kind of switched up my area a bit,” said Davis, who overcame a deficit of around two and a half pounds after Day 1 to secure the win on Day 2. “I tried to find some protected water where I could move around a little bit easier.

“Sunday I just kind of eased out there and kind of gauged the wind and the waves, and started out the morning fishing a little shallower with a crankbait,” Davis said.

Davis said he caught “one or two fish” before he turned his Garmin LiveScope on at 10:30 and ran circles in an area where he caught most of his fish, Sunday.

“It started out pretty hot when I turned my LiveScope on,” Davis said. “I caught three of my good fish in the first hour then had a bit of a lull. Then I caught my last two with about 15 or 20 minutes left to go in my ’Scope period. After that, it was all about taking my time getting back to weigh-in.”

Davis said he relied on a drop-shot rig, tipped with a green-pumpkin Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Flat Worm, with a ½-ounce weight, fished in 12 to 17 feet of water during his LiveScope period.

“The lake’s been fishing tough,” Davis said. “The guys ahead of me after the first day are really good fishermen there, and I knew they’d have to stumble a little bit for me to have a chance. I felt like once I hit 21 or 22 pounds that I was going to have a chance (to win).

“I’ve been fishing BFLs since I started as a co-angler back in high school in 2016,” Davis went on to say. “I’ve been fishing as a boater now for three or four years. It feels great to get one done and get a win under my belt. I’ve put a lot of time in learning Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Matthew Davis, Morenci, Mich., 10 bass, 41-14, $4,170
2nd:        Ty Fain, Springfield, Ohio, 10 bass, 37-5, $2,130
3rd:         Luke Pecjack, Mount Morris, Penn., 10 bass, 36-13, $1,110
4th:         Jeremy Reese, Powell, Ohio, 10 bass, 36-8, $910
5th:         Grant Gallagher, Port Clinton, Ohio, 10 bass, 35-8, $770
6th:         Eric Cook, Marblehead, Ohio, 10 bass, 35-2, $740
7th:         David Horstman, Adrian, Mich., eight bass, 33-13, $800
8th:         Drew Six, Clinton, Ohio, nine bass, 31-12, $670
9th:         Lawrence Clontz, Trenton, Ohio, eight bass, 29-2, $1,140 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
10th:       Seth Fricke, Oxford, Ohio, 10 bass, 28-14, $600

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Michael Spaulding Jr. of Dundee, Michigan, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $300.

Joseph Nega of Chicago, Illinois, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,085 Sunday after bringing a two-day total of six bass to the scale that weighed 23 pounds, 14 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Joseph Nega, Chicago, Ill., six bass, 23-14, $2,085
2nd:        Greg Elswick, Goshen, Ind., six bass, 21-3, $1,065
3rd:         Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, six bass, 20-9, $705
4th:         Brian Ruetz, Toledo, Ohio, six bass, 19-14, $455
5th:         Ryan Sykes, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 18-10, $385
6th:         Trey Lawrence, Imperial, Mo., six bass, 17-5, $370
7th:         Jeffrey Smith, West Chester, Ohio, six bass, 16-11, $350
8th:         Scott Standafer, Milford, Ohio, six bass, 16-8, $335
9th:         Darick Cook, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 15-14, $320
10th:       Eddie Dean, Point Pleasant, W.V., four bass, 15-8, $450

Eddie Dean of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass worth $150.

With all five events in the division now complete, Chris Martinkovic of Hamilton, Ohio, won the 7 Brew Buckeye Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,320 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Austin Herbst of Hamilton, Ohio, won the Buckeye Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,276 points and earned the $500 payout.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, now qualify for the Oct. 8-10 BFL Regional tournament on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. 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 2027 BFL All-American will take place June 5-7, at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, and is hosted by Experience Kissimmee.

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 Nicotine Pouches, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PiranhO2, 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, 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.