Ypsilanti’s Bucciarelli Tops Co-Angler Division

TRENTON, Mich. (June 30, 2025) – Boater Ty Fain of Springfield, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Detroit River Presented by Lew’s. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Michigan Division. Fain earned $4,385 for his victory.

“I made a long boat ride all the way out to Pelee (an area on the Canadian side of Lake Erie),” Fain said. “I fished anywhere from 10 to 20 foot of water. I fished a little bit on the north shore of Lake Erie, too, and I caught 20 to 25 fish all on a drop-shot.”

Fain’s decision to run out to the famed Pelee area came down to his history in that part of the lake, and “just being comfortable” in that area. Of course, it helped that the weather was nice enough for him to make it there and back in a reasonable amount of time. The trip left him about 2 1/2 hours to fish around Pelee and a couple more hours on the north shore. His primarily lures included smallmouth staples like a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm and Flatnose Minnow.

“I would say they were decently spread out,” added Fain about the smallmouth bass he was targeting. “It wasn’t like a real tight group of fish or anything like that.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Ty Fain, Springfield, Ohio, five bass, 23-3, $4,385
2nd:       Cody Kelley, Plainwell, Mich., five bass, 22-10, $2,193
3rd:       Aaron Jagdfeld, Rochester, Mich., five bass, 22-9, $2,063 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Nolan Mandel, Kimball, Mich., five bass, 22-5, $1,023
5th:        Brock Vogel, Perrysburg, Ohio, five bass, 22-2, $877
6th:        Lucas Toliver, Paw Paw, Mich., five bass, 21-9, $804
7th:        Joshua Barr, Louisville, Ohio, five bass, 20-0, $731
8th:        Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 19-15, $585
8th:        Cody Dawson, Mount Vernon, Ohio, five bass, 19-15, $585
8th:        Clinton Moring, Fort Wayne, Ind., five bass, 19-15, $585

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jesse Hickman of Waynesville, Ohio, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $620.

Terry Bucciarelli of Ypsilanti, Michigan, won the co-angler division and $2,593 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top 12 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Terry Bucciarelli, Ypsilanti, Mich., three bass, 12-15, $2,593
2nd:       Brian Ruetz, Toledo, Ohio, three bass, 12-3, $1,096
3rd:       Rosario Murello, Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 12-1, $730
4th:        Cody Salzmann, Southgate, Mich., three bass, 11-13, $512
5th:        Mark Lyons, Marion, Ind., three bass, 11-7, $439
6th:        Steve Doak, Sylvania, Ohio, three bass, 11-3, $402
7th:        James Welch, Litchfield, Maine, three bass, 10-15, $415
8th:        Klaus Kuester, Forest Park, Ill., three bass, 10-14, $329
9th:        Philip Castrodale, West Bloomfield, Mich., three bass, 10-11, $292
10th:     Scott Sims, Morgantown, Ind., three bass, 10-10, $232
10th:     Ryan Legg, Parma, Ohio, three bass, 10-10, $232
10th:     Stephen Waggoner, New Whiteland, Ind., three bass, 10-10, $232

Joseph Gnaster of Crown Point, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $310, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to winning the event, Ty Fain of Springfield, Ohio, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Terry Bucciarelli of Ypsilanti, Michigan, leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.

The next event for BFL Michigan Division anglers will be held July 12, at the Detroit River out of Trenton, Michigan. 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. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. 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.