Virginia’s Picucci Earns Win in Co-Angler Division

HENRICO, Va. (July 20, 2026) – Boater Chris Baldwin of Lexington, North Carolina, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the James River . The tournament, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Baldwin earned $3,280 for his victory.

Baldwin said that after an unproductive practice he decided to fish a brand new area that he hadn’t tried during practice. The decision paid off for Baldwin, as three of his final weigh fish – including one that weighed 4 pounds and one that came close to 5 – came from that area.

“I fished some other areas and caught a 3-pounder up the river near Richmond earlier in the morning,” said Baldwin. “I had three good fish at 8 or 9 o’clock. I said, ‘Man, if I put two more 2-pounders with it, I’ll be in good shape.’

“I ended up putting two more 2-pounders with it, and then at the end of the day I caught a 5-pounder with 10 minutes to go,” Baldwin went on to say.

Baldwin said during practice he had success flipping and also caught fish on a bladed jig “when the tide got right.”

“We started out the tournament with a high tide, and it fell all day, instead of starting out low and getting higher,” Baldwin said. “I think that really helped the flipping bite. No (Garmin) LiveScope was involved, no Coikes, just old-school flipping a (Zoom) Brush Hog.”

Continuing his unconventional “old-school” methods of catching fish, Baldwin said late in the day he broke off a crankbait, then broke off a Brush Hog and grabbed the last rig he had on his deck – a spinning rod with a drop-shot rig. He cast it and caught the 5-pounder with tournament time running out.

“I thought I had a chance then,” Baldwin said. “My co-angler said, ‘Man, that’s a big one. You won this thing.’ I just told him I had a chance.

“This feels great,” Baldwin added. “It’s been 13 years since I’ve won one of these.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $3,280
2nd:      Brian Laclair, Denton, Md., five bass, 17-11, $1,420
3rd:       Eric Picucci, Midlothian, Va., five bass, 17-4, $740
4th:        Thomas Milton, Chester, Va., five bass, 17-1, $700
5th:        Zachary Bodsford, North Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 15-0, $530
6th:        Ron Rousseau, Raleigh, N.C., four bass, 14-0, $460
7th:        Michael McCrickard, Smithfield, Va., five bass, 13-6, $450
8th:        Rodney French, Virginia Beach, Va., five bass, 13-4, $630
9th:        Frank Poirier, North Prince George, Va., five bass, 13-1, $410
10th:     Louis Martinez, Warrenton, Va., five bass, 12-7, $400

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Rodney French of Virginia Beach, Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 6-pound, 8-ounce bass worth $200.

Zach Picucci of Powhatan, Virginia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,540 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Zach Picucci, Powhatan, Va., three bass, 9-11, $1,540
2nd:      Larry Freeman Jr., La Crosse, Va., three bass, 8-11, $710
3rd:       Frank Daniels, Dover, Del., three bass, 8-8, $370
4th:        Chris Moore, Mechanicsville, Va., three bass, 7-12, $300
5th:        Michael Garrett, Buena Vista, Va., three bass, 7-9, $265
6th:        Dante Gray, Ruther Glen, Va., three bass, 7-7, $230
7th:        Nathan Sullivan, Fredericksburg, Va., three bass, 7-5, $330
8th:        Stephen Barr, Wilmington, N.C., three bass, 7-0, $215
9th:        Shaquille Freeman, Farmville, Va., three bass, 6-14, $210
10th:     Joshua Torres, Port Tobacco, Md., three bass, 6-13, $200

Co-angler winner Picucci also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $100.

After four events, Brian Laclair of Denton, Maryland, now leads the 7 Brew Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 977 points, while Michael Garrett of Buena Vista, Virginia, leads the Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 951 points.

The top 45 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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. 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 prize of a new Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, worth $33,500.

The 2026 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top seven, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2027 BFL All-American will take place June 5-7, at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, and is hosted by Experience Kissimmee.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, Mystik Lubricants, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PiranhO2, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, YETI and Yuengling.

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