Illinois’ Rogers Tops Co-Angler Division

WHITTINGTON, Ill. (July 20, 2026) – Boater Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Illinois, caught a total of five bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Rend Lake . The tournament, hosted by Seasons Lodge at Rend Lake, was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Illini Division. Mull earned $5,460, including a $2,500 Phoenix bonus, for his victory.

Mull entered the tournament fresh off a victory at the Lake Shelbyville BFL event on June 27.

“I drew out as the last boat and was worried about not being able to get on anything that I wanted to get on,” Mull said. “But I actually ended up starting right where I wanted to, and it started out good with a 5-pounder right off the get-go. Then my co-angler caught one almost 5 and then a 2-pounder.

“It got tough after that,” Mull went on to say. “We just picked one up here and one there. About every hour and a half, I’d get a bite. It was just a grinder. Keep your head down and cover water.”

Mull’s limit of five bass were the only keepers he managed to pull from the south end of Rend during the tournament. He fished shallow – 1½-feet to 4-feet of water – and caught his limit using a jig and a Hideup Coike Fullcast Creature Bait.

“I caught my fifth fish in the last hour and told my co-angler, ‘I don’t know if I’ve won it or not, but I feel a lot better now,’” Mull said.

Mull notched his sixth BFL win with this back-to-back victory.

“This is wild,” Mull said. “It’s like every decision I make, lately, and everything I do just keeps going right. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m at a loss for words.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 20-1, $5,460 (includes $2,500 Phoenix bonus)
2nd:      Tim Davis, East Alton, Ill., five bass, 15-10, $1,500
3rd:       Garrett McDowell, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 15-5, $870
4th:        Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., five bass, 14-7, $770
5th:        Scott Neighbors, Makanda, Ill., five bass, 14-6, $550
6th:        Greg Mullins, Mount Vernon, Ill., four bass, 12-7, $480
7th:        William Walker, Zeigler, Ill., five bass, 11-13, $460
8th:        Toby Corn, Paducah, Ky., four bass, 10-7, $440
9th:        Jeremy Dhom, Teutopolis, Ill., four bass, 10-6, $420
10th:     Jerry Walker, Zeigler, Ill., three bass, 10-2, $410

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jeremy Richardson of Benton, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $200.

Elmo Rogers of Albion, Illinois, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,630 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Elmo Rogers, Albion, Ill., three bass, 12-3, $1,630
2nd:      Rowdy King, Shelbyville, Ill., three bass, 9-1, $750
3rd:       Michael Harvel, Jonesboro, Ill., three bass, 8-7, $385
4th:        Andy Hille, Effingham, Ill., three bass, 8-5, $310
5th:        Thomas Heintz, Marion, Ill., three bass, 7-14, $275
6th:        Nicholas Dewald, Florissant, Mo., two bass, 7-13, $240
7th:        Addison Eggertsen, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 7-3, $230
8th:        Logan Houba, Red Bud, Ill., three bass, 6-15, $215
8th:        Brett Anderson, Woodlawn, Ill, three bass, 6-15, $215
10th:     David Bunton, Iuka, Ill., two bass, 6-8, $205

Co-angler winner Rogers also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award, landing a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass worth $100.

After four events, tournament winner Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Illinois, now leads the 7 Brew Illini Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 984 points, while Gage Elder of Decatur, Illinois, leads the Illini Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 964 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 Kentucky-Barkley Lake in Calvert City, Kentucky. 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.