BUCHANAN, Tenn. (Sept. 23, 2026) – The Murray State University duo of Mark Bixler of Murray, Kentucky, and Drew Morgan of Noblesville, Indiana, won the MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Kentucky Lake Tuesday with a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 2 ounces. The victory earned the club $2,000 and qualification into the 2027 MLF College Fishing National Championship.

Bixler said the opportunity to compete on their home waters of Kentucky Lake was one he and Morgan knew they couldn’t pass up. When a schedule change moved the MLF College Fishing event to Kentucky Lake, the two immediately made plans to compete in what would be their final regular-season college tournament.

“We were texting each other immediately, saying, ‘We have to fish that,'” said Bixler. “Being that it was our last regular-season college event, it was on our home pond, and we were able to walk away with the win, I could not ask for a better college event to win.”

The duo entered the tournament with plenty of confidence after spending the previous weekend competing in the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash on Kentucky Lake, which Bixler said served as an extended practice session.

Although they hadn’t connected with the caliber of fish needed to contend for the Big Bass Bash title, the numbers from that event were encouraging. The teammates knew they could put together a solid limit, but finding one big bite would likely determine whether they could contend for the win.

With storms approaching and temperatures dropping, conditions that concerned some competitors played right into their hands.

“There was a weather system moving in, so we knew it was going to be a good day,” said Bixler. “We anticipated we would be able to get around that 17- to 19-pound mark pretty easily, but ultimately, it was just going to come down to whether we could catch at least one really big one.”

Their winning strategy was what Bixler described as “calculated junk fishing.” Rather than relying on one productive area or pattern, the pair covered water efficiently, targeting isolated stumps, brush and rock piles. With fall bass scattered throughout the lake and fishing pressure accumulated over the summer, Bixler said the key was maximizing the number of new fish they could reach throughout the day.

Their primary weapon was an old-school spinnerbait, a presentation they had dialed in a week before the tournament.

“A lot of people might have thought I was joking when I said on stage that we caught them on a spinnerbait, but I wasn’t,” said Bixler. “There’s the minnow craze and everything right now, and the fish have seen a lot of that, so they’re super pressured to it. When they’re in that fall funk, it can be hard to get them to eat some of those baits.”

Once they established the spinnerbait bite, the challenge became trusting the pattern and committing to it throughout the tournament. Instead of slowing down or abandoning their approach, they continued running fresh cover and putting the bait in front of as many fish as possible.

For the teammates, the victory was a fitting conclusion to their regular-season college careers and a memorable accomplishment for their university’s fishing program. With the 2027 Columbia PFG College Fishing National Championship still ahead, the Kentucky Lake win provided one final regular-season highlight on the waters they know best.

“Winning that event was absolutely amazing,” said Bixler. “It’s the biggest win I think we’ve had from our team in a long time. To be able to do that as kind of our last hurrah before the national championship, we couldn’t ask for a better tournament.”

The top 10 teams finished:

1st: Murray State University – Mark Bixler, Murray, Ky., and Drew Morgan, Noblesville, Ind., five bass, 21-2, $2,000
2nd: Carson-Newman University – Connor Crawford, Crawfordville, Fla., and Carter Cunningham, Dawsonville, Ga., five bass, 20-12, $1,000
3rd: Troy University – Ryder Krueger, Myakka City, Fla., and Tristan Whittaker, Troy, Ala., five bass, 19-15, $700
4th: Bethel University – Evan McCloud, Union City, Tenn., and Caleb Neu, Johnston, Iowa, five bass, 19-7, $600
5th: University of West Alabama – Mason Carden, Shelby, Ala., and Dylan Sorrells, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 19-4, $500
6th: Murray State University – Levi Kohl, Edinburg, Ill., and Grant Meisenhelter, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 18-7
7th: Carson-Newman University – Kaden Casey, Clarksville, Tenn., and Dakota van Weelden, Burnettsville, Ind., five bass, 17-13
8th: University of West Alabama – Cooper McDonald, Dahlonega, Ga., and Hayden Seabolt, Dawsonville, Ga., five bass, 17-10
9th: Tarleton State University – Bryce Atkinson, Marble Falls, Texas, and Jacob Renelt, Cedar Park, Texas, five bass, 17-4
10th: Wabash Valley College – Lane Argo, Edinburg, Ill., and Kyson Bradley, Newton, Ill., five bass, 16-9

Complete results for the entire field, along with the full list of National Championship Qualifier teams can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Kentucky Lake was hosted by the Paris-Henry County Industrial Committee. The next tournament for MLF College Fishing anglers will be the Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Lake Guntersville Presented by Jenko Fishing, Sept. 25 in Guntersville, Alabama.

The 2026 MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia season features college teams from across the country competing in six regular-season open tournaments, plus the Columbia PFG College Fishing Heavy Hitters all-star event. The top 15 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2027 Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia National Championship.

Proud sponsors of MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Columbia PFG, Epic Baits, Mercury, MillerTech, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PiranhO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing 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.