BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (April 23, 2026) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats will continue the 2026 season next week with the third and final event of the Southern Division, April 30-May 2, at Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia – the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake Seminole.

The three-day tournament, hosted by Visit Bainbridge, will feature a roster of the region’s best bass-fishing pros and co-anglers competing for a top prize of up to $100,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor plus $5,000 in the co-angler division.

Experienced on the lake, boater Landon Tucker of Adel, Georgia, has high hopes for this event. Last year’s Toyota Series event was held about a week earlier, and it took huge weights – the top five all averaged more than 22 pounds per day.

“It’ll be full postspawn, I think,” said Tucker. “They spawned pretty hard a couple of weeks ago. They’ll be out in the trees; there might be a couple on ledges. It’s going to take some weight. A guy I know had about 28 there Saturday in about 3 hours.”

When it comes to Lake Seminole, Tucker loves it because of the challenges the reservoir offers.

“I love the grass, I love the trees,” he said. “I don’t care about bouncing my boat off the trees. It’s intimidating for people who don’t know it, but I’ve been there my whole life. There are so many different things you can do.”

Expect the fishing throughout the week to be pretty good, and for power and finesse techniques to play. Obviously, a minnow and a Coike will be key players for offshore fish at some points in time. But offshore bass there can also fall for a crankbait or a Carolina rig, and you don’t absolutely need LiveScope to fish in the timber in Spring Creek.

“Before ‘Scope, we used to do it all the time with an a-rig or old-school big worms,” said Tucker. “You can still catch ‘em in the trees without it.”

Last year, multiple pros caught 27 pounds or better at least one day of the event, and the weights were astronomical. But that was with full days of forward-facing sonar, not just three hours as is the case this year.

“It’ll be a smashfest, I think,” said Tucker. “That three hours we get will be very key. But if you get a school of them in the trees, you can do it pretty quick.”

This year, Tucker thinks that 22 pounds a day, which works out to 66 pounds total, ought to put you where you need to be to win.

Anglers will take off each day at 7 a.m. CT, launching from the Earle May Boat Basin, located at 100 Boat Basin Circle in Bainbridge. Weigh-ins will also take place at the Earle May Boat Basin, starting at 3 p.m. daily. Fans are invited to attend in person and can also stay connected by following the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily updates on MajorLeagueFishing.com.

In Toyota Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event, scaling up for every 20 boats over 160 and down for every boat below 160. With a 160-boat field, pros fish for a top prize of up to $75,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of up to $100,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, plus $5,000 cash.

The 2026 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern and Southwestern – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the five divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and qualification to REDCREST 2027. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2026 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 5-7 on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee, and is hosted by Explore Pickwick Lake & Hardin County Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, YETI and Yuengling.

For complete details and updated information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets on 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.