Missouri’s Keller Wins Co-Angler Division

KIMBERLING, Mo. (April 6, 2026) – Boater Kolton Dauber of Osage Beach, Missouri, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Table Rock Lake Presented by Precision Sonar. The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Ozark Division. Dauber earned $2,960 for his victory.

Dauber calls Lake of the Ozarks his home lake but said he is “really familiar” with Table Rock. He said he didn’t let rain on tournament day deter him from going about his business.

“It was raining so hard I didn’t even go two miles from the boat ramp,” the 19-year-old Dauber said. “I pulled into a little pocket and threw a (Z-Man Evergreen) Jack Hammer ChatterBait on a flat and caught a 5-pounder right off the bat.”

Dauber said he then relocated down the lake a couple more miles into the White River and threw the white ChatterBait in pockets that had started to get muddy. He also used a PB&J-colored ½-ounce jig to entice strikes.

“And that’s where it went down,” Dauber said. “I just started catching them; it was every tree in a little pocket.”

Dauber said he caught 12 keepers before noon, but he never thought he had enough weight to be in contention for a win.

“It had been taking more than 20 pounds to win in every tournament there every weekend,” Dauber said. “I thought I needed one more fish to make it happen. But I’m glad it all worked out.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kolton Dauber, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 18-2, $2,960
2nd:      Ryan Stagner, Robertsville, Mo., five bass, 17-11, $1,700
3rd:       Cody Miller, Shell Knob, Mo., five bass, 17-8, $770
4th:        Jacob Christeson, Theodosia, Mo., five bass, 17-4, $620
5th:        Cody Huff, Ava, Mo., five bass, 16-11, $550
6th:        Clint Williams, Fayetteville, Ark., five bass, 16-9, $480
7th:        John Hammersmith, Branson, Mo., five bass, 16-5, $460
8th:        Corbin Bailey, Camdenton, Mo., five bass, 16-3, $440
9th:        Eric Olliverson, Shell Knob, Mo., five bass, 16-1, $920 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
10th:     Jeffrey Barrickman, Forsyth, Mo., five bass, 15-15, $410

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Ryan Stagner of Robertsville, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $200.

Jake Keller of Springfield, Missouri, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,480 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Jake Keller, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 9-7, $1,480
2nd:      Lincoln Cowell, Bondurant, Iowa, three bass, 9-5, $750
3rd:       Gary Huber II, Saint Charles, Mo., three bass, 9-1, $385
4th:        Rich Carpenter, Parkville, Mo., three bass, 8-8, $310
5th:        Scott Stallings, Glencoe, Okla., three bass, 8-2, $275
6th:        Eric Mahn, Herculaneum, Mo., three bass, 8-0, $240
7th:        Troy Stumfoll, Fort Scott, Kan., three bass, 7-15, $230
8th:        Thad Hewitt, Delaware, Okla., three bass, 7-14, $320
9th:        Chuck Teegardin, Fenton, Mo, three bass, 7-13, $260
10th:     Joe Dietz, Ofallon, Mo., three bass, 7-12, $205

Jarod Shelton of Centralia, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $100.

After two events, Cody Miller of Shell Knob, Missouri, now leads the 7 Brew Ozark Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 498 points, while Gary Huber II of Saint Charles, Missouri, leads the Ozark Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 493 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. 22-24 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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 2026 BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism.

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, PirahnO2, 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.