Ashland’s Jones Earns Win in Co-Angler Division

MONTICELLO, Ky. (May 18, 2026) – Boater Isaac Peavyhouse of Jamestown, Tennessee, caught five bass weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Cumberland . The tournament was the third of five events of the season for the BFL Mountain Division. Peavyhouse earned the top prize of $3,280 for the win.

Peavyhouse pieced together a multi-stage pattern to earn the win on Lake Cumberland, targeting fish from the mid-lake area down to the dam with a mix of topwater, finesse and forward-facing sonar techniques. He got off to a fast start early in the morning, boating several quality keepers on a custom-built walking topwater bait that he pours and paints himself.

“I caught probably six or seven pretty good keepers on topwater for the first two hours,” Peavyhouse said. “It’s just a chrome walking-style bait that I make myself.”

As the morning progressed, Peavyhouse adjusted by targeting brush with a Ned rig, where he added a couple more key fish before entering his forward-facing sonar period later in the day. During that final stretch, he upgraded multiple times using a jighead minnow presentation.

“I culled up a couple times during my scope period,” he said. “I caught probably 20 to 25 keepers total and caught them all day pretty much.”

Peavyhouse also mixed in a Megabass Magdraft swimbait, which produced his biggest bass of the tournament. The diverse approach allowed him to adapt as conditions changed and maximize bites throughout the day.

“The topwater caught quite a few, then I caught several on the Ned rig,” he said. “But I caught my biggest one on the Magdraft.”

The victory marked the fifth win of Peavyhouse’s MLF career.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $3,280
2nd:      Jason Smith, Union, Ky., five bass, 14-11, $1,920 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
3rd:       Branden Grubb, Lily, Ky., five bass, 14-10, $740
4th:        Dustin Bishop, Mount Vernon, Ky., five bass, 13-10, $600
5th:        Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 13-9, $530
6th:        Billy Hall, Russell Springs, Ky., five bass, 12-10, $460
7th:        Greg Perry, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $450
8th:        Freddy Adkins, East Bernstadt, Ky., five bass, 12-5, $430
9th:        Lucas Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 11-15, $405
9th:        Bradley Stringfield, Oliver Springs, Tenn., five bass, 11-15, $405

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Seth Rittenberry of Cookeville, Tennessee, earned the $200 Berkley Big Bass boater award with a bass weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces.

Brent Jones of Ashland, Kentucky, won the co-angler division on Saturday at Lake Cumberland, as he caught a three-bass limit weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces. Jones earned $1,390 for his victory.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Brent Jones, Ashland, Ky., three bass, 7-13, $1,390
2nd:      Glenn Alan Ruth, Frankfort, Ky., three bass, 7-12, $540
2nd:      Doug Back, Jackson, Ky., three bass, 7-12, $540
4th:        Timothy Ernst, Winchester, Ky., three bass, 7-9, $350
5th:        Kevin Conner, Mitchell, Ind., three bass, 7-1, $265
6th:        Michael Anderson, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 6-15, $230
7th:        Mitchell Green, Crandall, Texas, three bass, 6-13, $230
8th:        John Rediess, Smiths Grove, Ky., three bass, 6-12, $215
9th:        Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., three bass, 6-6, $210
10th:     Barry King, Liberty, Ky., three bass, 6-4, $200

Jimmy Rhodus of Versailles, Kentucky, and Timothy Ernst of Winchester, Kentucky, tied for the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award as each weighed in a bass totaling 3 pounds, 9 ounces to split the $100 prize.

After three events, Greg Perry of Byrdstown, Tennessee, now leads the 7 Brew Mountain Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 725 points, while Pop Catalin of Cookeville, Tennessee, leads the Mountain Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 735 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 Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee. 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.