Vermont’s Lowell Tops Co-Angler Division

MASSENA, N.Y. (July 12, 2025) – Boater Josh Kauffman of Marysville, Pennsylvania, caught a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the St. Lawrence River Presented by Lew’s . The tournament, hosted by the Town of Massena, was the second event of the season for the BFL Northeast Division. Kauffman earned $6,026, including the lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

Anchored by a 6-pound, 1-ounce smallmouth bass that earned the Berkley Big Bass award, Kauffman’s limit came entirely from a single 100-yard stretch near Clayton. The key spot is about 90 minutes from launch, but it was worth the trip. It’s an area Kauffman knows to have bigger bass. And since he’s already in prime shape to make a Regional through the South Carolina Division, where he sits in second place, Kauffman wanted to fish this one to win.

“The morning was pretty slow,” he said. “It was slick calm with no wind. I don’t think they were really chewing too much. Then the wind started picking up maybe around 9 or 10. For me, that’s when they started chewing. It seemed like when it was slick they wouldn’t bite.”

The timing worked to perfection. Kauffman had to fish behind some anglers in a different tournament. Once he got on the key spot – with a bit of breeze added in – he spent nearly an hour and 45 minutes working on that school of fish.

“These fish are coming off beds,” he said. “There’s still a couple up shallow on bed, but I think they’re starting to get to summer patterns. They’re starting to get a little deeper. This spot was an in-between area. It was 15 to 20 feet. What’s important about it is it’s right along the main river channel, where it drops off to 65 or 70 feet.”

Kauffman could actually see on his sonar new fish sliding up onto the ledge to actively feed. With the area replenishing, he worked back and forth repeatedly, eventually landing about 20 keepers.

Key baits included a jig, Carolina rig and drop-shot for dragging on bottom. He also fished a minnow-style bait with forward-facing sonar.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Josh Kauffman, Marysville, Pa., five bass, 25-8, $6,026 (includes $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:       Joseph Thompson, Coatesville, Pa., five bass, 22-4, $1,678
3rd:       Carl Sickles, Morgantown, W. Va., five bass, 21-5, $1,052
4th:        Jason Shipton, Muncy, Pa., five bass, 20-8, $683
4th:        Jesse Spellicy, Gouverneur, N.Y., five bass, 20-8, $683
6th:        Jonathan Robla, Lisbon, N.Y., five bass, 20-7, $579
7th:        Steve Baillargeon, Blakeslee, Pa., five bass, 20-3, $526
8th:        Ronald Penders Jr., Webster, N.Y., five bass, 19-9, $473
9th:        Travis Nale, Pasadena, Md., five bass, 19-8, $421
10th:     Troy Adamosky, Butler, Pa., five bass, 18-14, $368

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Kauffman caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $370.

John Lowell of Orwell, Vermont, won the co-angler division and $1,763 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 13 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        John Lowell, Orwell, Vt., three bass, 13-15, $1,763
2nd:       Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., three bass, 13-11, $839
3rd:       Nicholas Yeung, Simcoe, Ont., three bass, 12-13, $526
4th:        Isaac Hastings, Schenectady, N.Y., three bass, 12-3, $368
5th:        Logan Bloomfield, East Berlin, Pa., three bass, 12-1, $316
6th:        Randall Given, Laurel, Del., three bass, 11-10, $289
7th:        Kenneth Ibberson, Blackwood, N.J., three bass, 11-4, $363
8th:        Chris Slater, Boston, Mass, three bass, 11-2, $237
9th:        Devon Norwood Kitson, Montclair, N.J., three bass, 11-0, $186
9th:        Joseph Amberg Jr., Hawley, Pa., three bass, 11-0, $186
9th:        Jarrett Albert, Dillsburg, Pa., three bass, 11-0, $186

Lowell also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $185, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Joseph Thompson of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, now leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 485 points, while Chris Slater of Boston, Massachusetts, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 491 points.

The next event for BFL Northeast Division anglers will be held Aug. 2, at Lake Champlain out of Plattsburgh, Vermont. 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 the James River in Richmond, Virginia. 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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.