Tennessee’s Nolen Tops Co-Angler Division

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 12, 2025) – Boater Levi Kohl of Edinburg, Illinois, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes out of Gilbertsville, Kentucky . The tournament, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, was the second event of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Kohl earned $3,804 for his victory.

While Kohl weighed in a limit that included four smallmouth bass, his winning strategy felt like old-school Kentucky Lake largemouth ledge fishing.

“We ran down around the middle of the lake around the Kenlake area,” he said. “I had a school down there on a ledge, and we caught ’em on a crankbait, a Carolina rig and a few on a jighead minnow.”

The crankbait was a Strike King 6XD. Kohl, who’s originally from Illinois, is now a junior business major at Murray State University and a member of the Racer bass club. He plans to move full time to the Murray, Kentucky, area after graduating to pursue a career in the fishing industry.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Levi Kohl, Edinburg, Ill., five bass, 22-13, $3,804
2nd:       Grant Meisenhelter, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 21-14, $1,902
3rd:       Clint Knight, Russellville, Ky., five bass, 21-0, $1,267
4th:        Harlan Thomas, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 19-11, $888
5th:        Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 19-8, $761
6th:        Jeff DeFew, Benton, Ky., five bass, 18-4, $697
7th:        Toby Corn, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 17-5, $634
8th:        Josh Dowdy, Mayfield, Ky., five bass, 17-0, $571
9th:        Sam Boss, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 16-13, $507
10th:     Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., five bass, 16-12, $444

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Lonnie Bowlin of Benton, Illinois, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $505.

Daniel Nolen of Lexington, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $2,154 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Daniel Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., three bass, 12-1, $2,154
2nd:      Marcus Mann, Benton, Ky., three bass, 10-5, $1,051
3rd:       Josh Mileur, Murphysboro, Ill., three bass, 9-11, $634
4th:        Adam Lucas, Cape Girardeau, Mo., three bass, 9-3, $444
5th:        Damon Brown, Mayfield, Ky., three bass, 9-0, $380
6th:        Sam Mann, Gillbersville, Ky., three bass, 8-10, $349
7th:        Zach Falder, Sedalia, Ky., three bass, 8-3, $317
8th:        Jack Ryan, Salem, Ill., three bass, 8-1, $285
9th:        Scott Gill, Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 7-6, $254
10th:     Peyton Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., two bass, 7-3, $222

Nolen also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $252, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Levi Kohl of Edinburg, Illinois, now leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 498 points, while Daniel Nolen of Lexington, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash LBL Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 494 points.

The next event for BFL LBL Division anglers will be held June 14, at Kentucky-Barkley Lakes out of Gilbertsville, Kentucky. 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. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, Tennessee. 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. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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