South Carolina’s Rikard Claims Co-Angler Division

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 6, 2025) – Boater Carson Orellana of Mooresville, North Carolina, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 31 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on Lake Norman Presented by Mando Deodorant . The tournament, which was hosted by Visit Lake Norman, Visit Charlotte & Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation, concluded Saturday. For his win, Orellana earned a prize package valued at $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200hp Mercury or Suzuki outboard.

The Lake Norman event served as the Regional championship for the BFL South Carolina and Piedmont divisions. The field included the top 60 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each division’s tournament winners. The top three boaters and co-anglers have also now qualified for the 2026 BFL All-American.

Orellana said he felt confident on his home waters of Lake Norman for the Regional championship and knew how he wanted to fish during the event, but had to make adjustments on the water.

“I started out trying to force a topwater bite that never came to fruition,” Orellana said. “Then I switched to offshore brushpile fishing and ended up catching pretty much everything skipping docks with a TrueSouth Custom Lures ½-ounce jig in a color named Dyer Special.

“On the second day, I did catch a big fish on a TruSouth Custom Lures V-Twin buzzbait,” Orellana added. “The brushpiles never worked out, and I think that’s because we had a week of cold weather before the tournament that pulled the fish shallow. And I’d rather fish offshore, because I feel I have a little bit of an advantage there.”

Orellana said he covered a lot of water during the tournament and fished up to 50 docks for a single bite. Skipping docks proved to be a productive grind for him, and bass would strike when he least expected it.

“With the weather and high winds we had on the first day I knew there would be a big bag caught,” Orellana said. “I figured if I was lucky and caught 15 or 16 (pounds) the first day that the weather would lay down a lot on Day 2, and usually when the weather lays down, it takes a lot less weight to do well.

“My goal was to do well the first day and then move out offshore the next day and scrap out 13 pounds or so to have a chance to win,” Orellana added. “I just got really lucky the second day and had a pretty good bag pretty early.”

Orellana said he slowly upgraded his limit Saturday and caught a 3- and 4-pounder in the last hour of the day that sealed his win.

“It’s been a while since I’ve won a tournament so this is pretty awesome, especially on my home lake,” Orellana said. “You always expect to do well at home, but you never expect to win, because winning is such a tough thing to do. Everything just has to come together.”

The top three boaters who qualified for the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:        Carson Orellana, Mooresville, N.C., 10 bass, 31-8, $50,000
2nd:       Cody Hoyle, Mooresboro, N.C., 10 bass, 30-12, $6,496
3rd:       Jack Story, Atlanta, Ga., 10 bass, 29-14, $3,381

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:

4th:        Hayden Seabolt, Dawsonville, Ga., 10 bass, 29-7, $2,235
5th:        Cole Huskins, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 29-6, $1,512
6th:        Travis Donaldson, Cleveland, N.C., 10 bass, 27-4, $2,387
7th:        Logan Anderson, Sherrills Ford, N.C., 10 bass, 25-15, $1,762 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
8th:        Kaden Buchmann, Troutman, N.C., 10 bass, 25-4, $1,138
9th:        Dalton Dowdy, Newberry, S.C., 10 bass, 24-13, $1,013
10th:     Shane Lineberger, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 24-12, $951

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Travis Donaldson of Cleveland, North Carolina, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $1,000 for landing a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces – the biggest of the tournament.

Jeff Rikard of Leesville, South Carolina, won the co-angler division Saturday after bringing a two-day total of six bass weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces, to the scale. Rikard earned the top co-angler award of $12,586 for his victory.

The top three co-anglers who qualified for the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:

1st:        Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., six bass, 17-5, $12,586
2nd:       Dan Marin, Appling, Ga., six bass, 13-8, $3,240
3rd:       Alan Poston, Travelers Rest, S.C., six bass, 13-4, $1,682

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

4th:        Mark Lee, Gastonia, N.C., six bass, 13-1, $1,059
5th:        Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., six bass, 12-15, $797
6th:        Chuck Bagwell, Laurens, S.C., six bass, 12-11, $685
7th:        Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., six bass, 11-15, $723
8th:        Larry Freeman Jr., La Crosse, Va., five bass, 11-2, $1,060
9th:        Tracy Gravely, Petersburg, Va., six bass, 11-2, $498
10th:     Zahreed McClinton, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 11-0, $467

Larry Freeman Jr. of La Crosse, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $500.

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, now 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, PirahnO2, 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.