EUFAULA, Ala. (Oct. 12, 2026) – Boater Clayton Ellis of Saltillo, Mississippi, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on Lake Eufaula. The tournament, hosted by Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce, concluded Friday. For his win, Ellis won $57,000, including a Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000 and a $7,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus.

Severe weather resulting from Hurricane Isaias arrived in the Eufaula area late Friday night and continued through Saturday. As a result, the final day of the Lake Eufaula Regional was cancelled, according to BFL Tournament Director Leroy Hensley. Official results for the event were determined at the conclusion of the Day 2 weigh in.

The Lake Eufaula event served as the Regional championship for the BFL Choo Choo, Gator, Mississippi and South Carolina divisions. The field included the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in each division based on point standings, plus each division’s tournament winners. The top seven boaters and co-anglers at each regional and the Wild Card qualify for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American. The highest-finishing boater and co-angler from each regional and the Wild Card at the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American qualify for the 2027 Toyota Series Championship. The 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American boater champion qualifies for REDCREST 2028.

“I found some areas in practice, and focused two and a half of my four practice days catching them shallow,” Ellis said. “When (my Livescope) is off I like to fish shallow. So, I really focused on that shallow bite for about 70% of my practice and that ended up being where the bulk of my weight came from.”

Ellis said he fished fast and hard on the lower end of Eufaula, then used his Livescope period to cull out smaller fish. He switched between a Dirty Jigs No-Jack Swim Jig when fishing shallow grass and skipped a Dirty Jigs flipping jig and a Strike King Denny Brauer jig when fishing around docks and wood. His ’Scope period bait of choice was a Hideup Coike Fullcast Creature Bait.

Ellis said he had 17 ½ pounds in the livewell before he turned his Livescope on Thursday, but it was slow going until the last 45 minutes of fishing, when he caught two 3-pounders. He left the area to save those fish for Saturday, the last day of the tournament. However, Saturday’s competition was cancelled, and Ellis returned to the area holding the 3-pounders on Friday.

“I smooth blistered them,” Ellis said. “I caught as many of them as I could catch. I’ve lost twice this year by ounces, so I really didn’t figure I would win. I just wanted to keep catching 3-pounders and make the All-American. I just kept ‘ouncing’ my way up.’”

Those ounces added up, and Ellis edged second place by only 1 ounce.

“Man, this feels great,” Ellis said. “I’ve been waiting on (a big win) all year. I led our Super Tournament after Day 1, and I let that one fall apart. I was trying to play hero ball and just overdid it. If I had just caught some 3-pounders and played it a little safer, it would have worked out a little better.”

The top seven boaters who qualified for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:         Clayton Ellis, Saltillo, Miss., 10 bass, 36-4, $57,000 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
2nd:        Dylan Quilatan, Windermere, Fla., 10 bass, 36-3, $8,800
3rd:         Taylor Parker, Lake View, Ala., 10 bass, 36-2, $2,950
4th:         Tracen Phillips, Lake Placid, Fla., 10 bass, 33-6, $1,770
5th:         Tanner Schultz, Lexington, S.C., 10 bass, 32-4, $1,180
6th:         Kennie Steverson, Umatilla, Fla., 10 bass, 31-8, $1,060
7th:         Hunter Davidson, Reform, Ala., 10 bass, 30-13, $940

The remaining top 10 finished:

8th:         Bryar Chambers, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 30-5, $820
9th:         Chandler Ray, Bainbridge, Ga., 10 bass, 29-9, $700
10th:       Lake Johnson, Trinity, Ala., 10 bass, 29-7, $940

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Lake Johnson of Trinity, Alabama, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $350 for landing a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, the biggest of the tournament.

Pop Catalin of Cookeville, Tennessee, won the co-angler division Friday after bringing a two-day total of six bass weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces, to the scale. Catalin earned the top co-angler award of a Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, worth $33,500.

The top seven co-anglers who qualified for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:         Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., six bass, 15-15, $33,500
2nd:        James Roye, Altamont, Tenn., six bass, 15-1, $4,350
3rd:        Thor Schwiegerath, Apopka, Fla., six bass, 15-0, $1,650
4th:         Mitchell Bond, Collins, Miss., six bass, 14-13, $885
5th:         Mike Tucker, Yalaha, Fla., six bass, 14-9, $590
6th:         Jason Ries, Columbia, S.C., six bass, 13-8, $530
7th:         Matthew Gunn, Lake Mary, Fla., six bass, 13-14, $470

The remaining top 10 finished:

8th:         Richard Bailey, Florence, Ala., five bass, 13-4, $410
9th:         Randy Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-0, $350
10th:       Marrell Deering, Rome, Ga., six bass, 13-0, $295

Thor Schwiegerath of Apopka, Florida, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $175.

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.