Laurel’s Chastain Tops Co-Angler Division

DEMOPOLIS, Ala. (May 5, 2025) – Boater Hunter Davidson of Reform, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Demopolis. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Davidson earned $3,347 for his victory.

Winning just about any bass tournament usually requires reacting to changing conditions. Sometimes those changes are subtle. Then, there are changes like Davidson and the rest of the field encountered on Demopolis.

“The water came up 4 feet last night,” he said. “It was in the trees. The fish I found yesterday (Friday) were gone. So I started in there, and I had like four small fish. I decided to leave pretty quick after I saw how high the water was. I went into another hole that was pretty hard to get in, and I ended up catching all my weight in there off of grass on a swim jig.”

Davidson used a shallow ditch to access the tucked-away area. Because the bass were locked in on the morning shad spawn, bailing on his first area early was a key decision, leaving Davidson enough time to capitalize on the shad spawn bite in what turned out to be his winning area. Davidson caught his fish on C&B Custom Jigs swim jigs in white and black/blue.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Hunter Davidson, Reform, Ala., five bass, 13-3, $3,347
2nd:      David Wesson, Southside, Ala., five bass, 12-4, $1,623
3rd:       Donald Griffith, Robertsdale, Ala., five bass, 11-14, $1,582 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Zeke Gossett, Pell City, Ala., five bass, 11-12, $758
5th:        Tim Fox, Meridian, Miss., five bass, 11-4, $649
6th:        Joshua Cameron, Meridian, Miss., five bass, 11-2, $985
7th:        Timothy Travis, Tuscaloosa, Ala., five bass, 10-8, $541
8th:        Tim Ferguson, Pelham, Ala., five bass, 10-5, $487
9th:        Stihl Smith, Alexander, Ala., five bass, 10-2, $433
10th:     Chad Hall, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 9-13, $379

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Joshua Cameron of Meridian, Mississippi, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $390.

Larry Chastain of Laurel, Mississippi, won the co-angler division and $1,623 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Larry Chastain, Laurel, Miss., three bass, 7-0, $1,623
2nd:      Tom Nelson, Tuscaloosa, Ala., three bass, 6-8, $812
3rd:       Cody Clowdus, Lincoln, Ala., three bass, 6-1, $705
3rd:       Curtis Hillman, Eufaula, Ala., three bass, 6-1, $460
5th:        Gunter Williams, Linden, Ala., three bass, 5-12, $325
6th:        Ken Grice, Gallion, Ala., three bass, 5-8, $298
7th:        Jeff Turner, Morris, Ill., three bass, 5-1, $271
8th:        Brad Mahan, Clanton, Ala., three bass, 5-0, $230
8th:        Barry Jones, Verbena, Ala., three bass, 5-0, $230
10th:     Phillip Easterling, Clanton, Ala., three bass, 4-14, $189

Cody Clowdus of Lincoln, Alabama, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $195, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 6 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After three events, Joe Minor of Clanton, Alabama, now leads the Fishing Clash Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 725 points, while Larry Chastain of Laurel, Mississippi, leads the Fishing Clash Bama Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 722 points.

The next event for BFL Bama Division anglers will be held June 7, at Neely Henry Lake out of Gadsden, Alabama. 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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Logan Martin Lake in Lincoln, 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 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. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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.