Rampey Earns 12th Career BFL Victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Lake Hartwell Presented by Suzuki Marine

Honea Path’s Henderson Wins Co-Angler Division

SENECA, S.C. (April 13, 2026) – Boater Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, brought five bass to the scale weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell Presented by Suzuki Marine . The tournament, hosted by Visit Oconee SC, was the third of five events of the season for the BFL South Carolina Division. Rampey earned $9,710, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix bonus, for his victory.

Rampey pieced together a mixed “junk-fishing” pattern to catch his winning limit.

“It was honestly kind of tough – it wasn’t as good as I thought it’d be,” Rampey said. “I was doing a little bit of everything – targeting a little bit of herring bite, a little bit of dirty-water bite and a little bit of bed fishing. Pretty much a junk-fishing deal.”

Rampey rotated through multiple baits and adjusted throughout the day, catching numbers but needing to sift through smaller fish to find quality bites.

“I caught probably 20 fish all day, but not the quality of normal,” Rampey said. “I caught a lot of smaller ones on Saturday – 12-inchers, and a bunch of 2½- to 3-pounders.”

The key moment came on a bed fish that produced the biggest bass of the event and ultimately anchored his winning limit.

“The big one came off the bed on a white (Z-Man) Z-Craw on a jig,” Rampey said. “That fish was the key – she was just mad about the jig being in there.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:          Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $9,710 (includes $7,000 Phoenix bonus)
2nd:        Tanner Schultz, Lexington, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $1,250
3rd:         Brad Benfield, Demorest, Ga., five bass, 14-6, $670
4th:         Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., five bass, 14-4, $550
5th:         Logan Buttolph, Doswell, Va., five bass, 14-2, $490
6th:         Harl Romine, Grant, Ala., five bass, 14-1, $430
7th:         Chase Carey, Hoschton, Ga., five bass, 13-15, $420
8th:         Joseph Tucci, Salem, S.C., five bass, 13-12, $410
9th:         Kerry Partain, Elberton, Ga., five bass, 13-8, $390
10th:       Robert Holland, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 12-13, $380

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Rampey also earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award honors with a 5-pound, 1-ouncer worth $200.

Kevin Henderson of Honea Path, South Carolina, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,205 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:          Kevin Henderson, Honea Path, S.C., three bass, 8-2, $1,205
2nd:        David McCarter, Gresham, S.C., three bass, 7-14, $775
3rd:         Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., three bass, 7-10, $305
3rd:         Jeffery Stout, Dalzell, S.C., three bass, 7-10, $305
5th:         Michael Smith, Belton, S.C., three bass, 7-3, $245
6th:         Gregory Littles Sr., Irmo, S.C., three bass, 6-13, $212
6th:         Wesley Trotter, Lancaster, S.C., three bass, 6-13, $212
8th:         Tina Berg, Lancaster, S.C., three bass, 6-12, $205
9th:         Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 6-11, $200
10th:       Dan Marin, Appling, Ga., three bass, 6-10, $190

David McCarter of Gresham, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 2-ounce bass worth $100.

After three events, Logan Buttolph of Doswell, Virginia, now leads the 7 Brew South Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 728 points, while Travis Ruff of Connelly Springs, North Carolina, leads the South Carolina Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 728 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. 8-10 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula. Alabama. 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 FacebookInstagram 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.

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