Virginia’s Ragland Tops Co-Angler Division

HENDERSON, N.C. (May 4, 2026) – Boater Lucas Murphy of West Columbia, South Carolina, caught five bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kerr Lake . The tournament, hosted by the Vance County Tourism Development Authority, was the third of five events of the season for the BFL North Carolina Division. Murphy earned $9,690, including the $7,000 Phoenix MLF contingency bonus, for his victory.

“I didn’t practice at all. I didn’t even rig anything up,” Lucas said. “I just showed up at the ramp, put the boat in the water and just went fishing.”

The temperature at takeoff hovered near 50 degrees, and wind and rain greeted anglers early.

“Normally this time of year there will be a shad spawn, and you can catch them on a spinnerbait,” Murphy said. “But that shallow spinnerbait bite didn’t seem to be happening.”

Murphy said he changed his approach and backed off of the shad spawn hotspots, thinking bass may be lurking nearby. He soon caught a few decent bass on a jerkbait. He saved his forward-facing sonar period for later in the day, hoping it would warm enough to motivate bass to bite.

“I turned it on and went to work and caught some on a drop-shot rig as well as a jighead minnow,” Murphy said. “After I caught a 4-pound spot on the jerkbait I was encouraged because I had confidence in my afternoon plan.

“Then on the second spot I rolled up to a spot near Buggs Island using my (Garmin) Livescope and I caught a 3½-pounder, which is a big one on Buggs Island,” Murphy went on to say. “A fish over 3 pounds is not getting culled out there.”

Murphy said he had 14½ pounds in the afternoon and knew he had an outside shot at a win. He fired his bait at a brushpile and two bass began fighting over it. The winner Murphy landed weighed 4¼ pounds – Murphy’s personal best bass on Buggs Island – and gave him enough weight for the win.

“This feels awesome,” said Murphy, who now has four BFL wins under his belt. “I’m not taking it for granted, and this will never get old. This fish trophy is one of the most coveted trophies out there. It looks nice on a mantle, and I’m very glad to have another.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., five bass, 16-14, $9,690 (includes $7,000 Phoenix bonus)
2nd:      Logan Anderson, Sherrills Ford, N.C., five bass, 16-1, $1,530
3rd:       Rodney Bell, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 15-11, $635
3rd:       Jason Barnes, Concord, N.C., five bass, 15-11, $785
5th:        Ben Dalton, Bracey, Va., five bass, 15-9, $480
5th:        Evan White, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., five bass, 15-9, $480
7th:        Tom Wilkinson, Oxford, N.C., five bass, 14-13, $430
8th:        Aaron Falwell, Rustburg, Va., five bass, 14-12, $420
9th:        Ryan Pardue, Elkin, N.C., five bass, 14-1, $400
10th:     Gray Williams, Oxford, N.C., five bass, 14-0, $390

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Logan Anderson of Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass worth $200.

Phillip Ragland Jr. of Rustburg, Virginia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,695 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Phillip Ragland Jr., Rustburg, Va., three bass, 8-12, $1,695
2nd:      Justin Bach, Kannapolis, N.C., three bass, 8-9, $665
3rd:       Dustan Hudson, Grover, N.C., three bass, 8-1, $350
4th:        Larry Freeman Jr., La Crosse, Va., three bass, 7-14, $285
5th:        Mark Hughes, Salisbury, N.C., three bass, 7-12, $255
6th:        Nathan Ewing, Denver, N.C., three bass, 7-9, $225
7th:        Thomas Pennell III, Boiling Springs, S.C., three bass, 7-5, $220
8th:        Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 7-3, $210
9th:        Dale Surrett, Midland, N.C., three bass, 7-2, $200
10th:     Marvin Godard, Charlotte, N.C., three bass, 6-10, $195

Ragland also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 3-pound, 13-ounce bass worth $100.

After three events, Daniel Sparks of Kingstown, North Carolina, now leads the 7 Brew North Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 726 points, while Todd Huntley of Inman, South Carolina, leads the North Carolina Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 734 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 Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. 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.