Mull Picks Up Fourth Career Victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Lake Shelbyville
Swansea’s Ken Landreth Tops Co-Angler Division
SHELBYVILLE, Ill. (June 23, 2025) – Boater Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Illinois, caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win the Major League Fishing (MLF) Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Shelbyville. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Illini Division. Mull earned $5,203, including a lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Bonus contingency award, for his victory.
Mull leaned into his offshore roots to take home the win on Lake Shelbyville, putting together a methodical approach that relied on his electronics, confidence in a handful of spots, and a 1–2 punch of a jig and Carolina rig.
“I actually started the morning with a bit of a different plan,” he said. “I was heading toward a shoreline I’d marked, but I called an audible and pulled off before I got there. I ended up backing out and targeting offshore wood – stumps, laydowns, that sort of thing. Most of the fish I caught were sitting in about six to eight feet of water.”
Jeremy utilized forward-facing sonar to pick apart his areas, dialing in isolated pieces of cover and slowly working his baits to provoke bites. His winning fish came on a green pumpkin jig and matching Strike King Rage Bug trailer, as well as a Carolina rig, which helped him feel out the bottom and stay locked into the strike zone.
“It was probably fifty-fifty between the jig and the Carolina rig,” he added. “I think I ended up with eight keepers total. Nothing crazy, just slow and steady. I wasn’t around a lot of people – I just covered water, stayed patient, and picked off the better bites when they showed up.”
Though he didn’t bring in a giant bag, every bite mattered, and his consistency ultimately gave him the edge. His win at Shelbyville was especially meaningful, given the proximity to home – just an hour away – and the fact that offshore fishing is squarely in his comfort zone.
“Shelbyville’s close, so I know it pretty well, but I hadn’t really fished it much lately. I’ve been spending more time on smaller lakes,” Jeremy said. “But this kind of offshore stuff — that’s really my style.”
With the Illini Division headed to Rend Lake and Kentucky Lake next, Jeremy’s sights are set on qualifying for the regional at the Quad Cities. Despite a slow start to the season, he’s got momentum now, and a fresh trophy to prove it.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 14-8, $5,203 (included $2,500 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
2nd: Andrew Harper, Shelbyville, Ill., five bass, 13-5, $1,702
3rd: Todd Blakeman, Chatham, Ill., five bass, 13-3, $1,026
4th: Garrett McDowell, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 12-5, $631
5th: Hunter Russell, Salem, Ill., five bass, 12-3, $541
6th: Corey Bohlmann, Le Roy, Ill., five bass, 12-2, $496
7th: Joshua Tyner, Spencer, Ind., five bass, 12-1, $451
8th: Robert Davis, Bethalto, Ill., five bass, 11-13, $405
9th: Bobby McMullin, Pevely, Mo., five bass, 11-12, $360
10th: Greg James, Carterville, Ill., five bass, 11-6, $299
10th: Chase Johnson, Quincy, Ill., five bass, 11-6, $299
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
James Jones of Bumpus Mills, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $300.
Ken Landreth of Swansea, Illinois, won the co-angler division and $1,352 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Ken Landreth, Swansea, Ill., three bass, 7-6, $1,352
2nd: Ryan Murphy, Paris, Ill., three bass, 6-14, $726
3rd: Arthur Brown, Jefferson City, Mo., three bass, 6-13, $450
4th: Dan Brown, Glenarm, Ill., one bass, 6-10, $442
4th: Brandon Depew, Odin, Ill., three bass, 6-10, $292
6th: Wayde Fehr, Fairbury, Ill., three bass, 6-7, $248
7th: Austin Bloemer, Effingham, Ill., three bass, 6-4, $225
8th: Gary Huber II, Saint Charles, Mo., three bass, 6-3, $203
9th: Nathan Hunhoff, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 6-2, $180
10th: Dale Renth, Macoutah, Ill., three bass, 6-1, $150
10th: Matt Chumbler, Carbondale, Ill., three bass, 6-1, $150
Dan Brown of Glenarm, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $150, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Andrew Harper of Shelbyville, Illinois, now leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 730 points, while Matt Chumbler of Carbondale, Illinois, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 723 points.
The next event for BFL Illini Division anglers will be held June 21 – the Phoenix BFL at Rend Lake Presented by Suzuki Marine in Whittington, Illinois. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
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. 3-4BFL Regional tournament on the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. 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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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.