Greenwood’s McDougal Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division

BIRDSEYE, Ind. (May 18, 2026) – Boater Frank McClain of Scottsburg, Indiana, caught a total of five bass weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Patoka . The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. For his victory, McClain earned the top payout of $4,000.

McClain used a two-part pattern to earn the victory at Lake Patoka, capitalizing on an early-morning shad spawn before moving upriver later in the day to finish out his limit. Targeting main-lake points during the morning hours, McClain relied heavily on topwater presentations to trigger feeding fish.

“There was a good shad spawn going on, and it was mostly topwater bites,” McClain said.

Throwing a Evergreen SB-style topwater bait along with a jerkbait, McClain focused on productive points until the morning bite faded around 10 a.m. After that, he made a move upriver where he switched gears and flipped shallow cover to add key fish to his total.

“I went up the river and was able to flip and catch a couple more keepers,” he said. “I ended up catching eight keepers today and luckily culled out a couple of small ones.”

McClain credited both timing and local knowledge for helping him put together the winning pattern.

“A little luck finding some good points and a good shad spawn,” he said. “And I know the lake pretty good up the river, and I had some good spots where I knew I could pick up some good fish.”

The victory marked the ninth BFL win of McClain’s career.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Frank McClain, Scottsburg, Ind., five bass, 19-11, $4,000
2nd:      Richard Ison, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 18-12, $2,500 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
3rd:       Blake Knies, Jasper, Ind., five bass, 17-14, $1,100
4th:        Patrick Myers, Lebanon, Ind., five bass, 17-8, $800
5th:        Chris Myers, Madison, Ind., five bass, 17-6, $700
6th:        Rich Fye, Galveston, Ind., four bass, 16-14, $787
6th:        Scott Sledge, Greenwood, Ind., five bass, 16-14, $587
8th:        Randy French, Laurel, Ind., five bass, 16-9, $550
9th:        Dave Tinsman, Losantville, Ind., five bass, 16-1, $775
10th:     Nick Uebelhor, Jasper, Ind., five bass, 15-13, $500

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Rich Fye of Galveston, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass, worth $200.

Greenwood, Indiana’s Brennan McDougal won the co-angler division at Lake Patoka on Saturday with a three-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, McDougal brought home the top co-angler prize of $2,000.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Brennan McDougal, Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 11-8, $2,000
2nd:      Ben Gilbert, Mooresville, Ind., three bass, 11-5, $1,000
3rd:       Tony Burke, Bloomington, Ind., three bass, 11-4, $550
4th:        Brian Ferguson, Louisville, Ky., three bass, 10-15, $500
5th:        David Prater, Franklin, Ohio, three bass, 10-8, $350
6th:        Jericho Laney, Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 10-4, $300
7th:        Yaounde Howard, Bolingbrook, Ill., three bass, 10-3, $282
7th:        Nathaniel Hester, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 10-3, $282
9th:        Josh Weber, West Harrison, Ind., three bass, 10-1, $260
10th:     Derrik Cornett, Scottsburg, Ind., two bass, 9-8, $250

Rich Fye of Galveston, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass worth $200.

After two events, Blake Knies of Jasper, Indiana, now leads the 7 Brew Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 496 points, while Derrik Cornett of Scottsburg, Indiana, leads the Hoosier Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 491 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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes in Calvert City, Kentucky. 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.