Mountain City’s Norris Tops Co-Angler Division

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (May 19, 2025) – Boater Dale Pelfrey of Rockwood, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces, Sunday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Cherokee Lake . The tournament, hosted by Visit Jefferson County, Tennessee, was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Pelfrey earned $5,613, including the lucrative $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.

Pelfrey hadn’t been to Cherokee in months prior to launching for the tournament, so he just splashed the boat and went fishing. He wound up putting together a two-part pattern to get the win.

“The shad spawn was the big deal this morning,” he said. “I caught my two best fish on a shad spawn. And then I backed it up with a drop-shot later in the day. It was tough to get bit today. I ended up catching eight keepers total. I think three of the ones I weighed in were on a (swim) jig, and the other two were on the drop-shot.”

Pelfrey targeted the shad spawn around marinas but said that bite fizzled out pretty quick. He left the marinas and stayed in the same general area of the lake after he switched to the finesse pattern. His limit was comprised of five largemouth bass.

The top 11 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Dale Pelfrey, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 17-2, $5,613 (includes $2,500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd:      Justin Botts, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 13-12, $1,557
3rd:       Bobby Drinnon, Rogersville, Tenn., five bass, 13-6, $1,037
4th:        Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $726
5th:        Greg McDavid, Blountville, Tenn., five bass, 13-0, $623
6th:        Travis Bowen, Duffield, Va., five bass, 12-6, $571
7th:        Ben Cully, Jefferson City, Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $519
8th:        Corey Smith, Hazard, Ky., five bass, 12-3, $467
9th:        Zachary Francis, Abingdon, Va., four bass, 11-9, $415
10th:     Ryan Davidson, Branchland, W.Va., four bass, 11-8, $345
10th:     Bryce McDonald, Paintsville, Ky., five bass, 11-8, $345

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Dustin Dyer of Johnson City, Tennessee, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $365.

Timmy Norris of Mountain City, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and $1,739 Sunday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Timmy Norris, Mountain City, Tenn., three bass, 9-3, $1,739
2nd:       Brad Barton, Middlesboro, Ky., three bass, 7-8, $778
3rd:       Chris Seese, Ten Mile, Tenn., three bass, 7-7, $521
4th:        Tim Martin, Jonesborough, Tenn., three bass, 7-5, $337
4th:        Brent Jones, Ashland, Ky., three bass, 7-5, $337
6th:        Kirk Miles, Crossville, Tenn., three bass, 6-14, $285
7th:        Owen Stamm, Morristown, Tenn., three bass, 6-7, $259
8th:        Joey Boling, Walland, Tenn., three bass, 6-3, $320
8th:        Kasey Hunley, Sharps Chapel, Tenn., three bass, 6-3, $220
10th:     Isaac Mueller, Knoxville, Tenn., two bass, 6-2, $182

Timmy Norris of Mountain City, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $182, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After four events, Jeremy Gordon of Rutledge, Tennessee, now leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 987 points, while Kasey Hunley of Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 964 points.

The next event for BFL Volunteer Division anglers will be held Sept. 20-21, at Watts Bar in Spring City, Tennessee. 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. 24-25 BFL Regional tournament on Dale Hollow Lake in Byrdstown, 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 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.