Linn Creek’s Shawn Kowal Wins Toyota Series 7 Brew Plains Division Angler of the Year Title

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (June 21, 2026) – The final day of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event on Lake Dardanelle was full of drama, and weigh-in for both competitions was very tense. On the pro side, Drake Hemby took the lead on Day 2 and was well on his way to a 20-pound average for the event. However, on Day 3, he only mustered 13 pounds, 14 ounces for a 54-11 total. Still, it was good enough for the win and to pocket $29,329 and lock in a spot at the Toyota Series Championship.

Narrowly finishing second, Evan Sutton tallied 54-5 over three days, while Drew Porto locked up third with 52-14. With the conclusion of the Plains Division season, Shawn Kowal  took home 7 Brew Angler of the Year honors.

Hemby squeaks out the win
A former collegiate angler for Carson-Newman University, Hemby is no stranger to Dardanelle, and he’s had some close calls before. Come weigh-in, he thought he was headed for another near miss.

“I’m a little shocked, to be honest with you,” he said. “I didn’t think there was any way I was going to have enough.”
But he did, and combined with a recent Top 25 in the Toyota Series event at Eufaula, Hemby might be making some headway at a career on the water instead of fixing boats for Smoky Mountain H2O Sports.

“I really wanted to give it a shot; it’s been a dream of mine forever,” said Hemby. “I fished the Opens last year and got my teeth kicked in. I decided to go a different route this year, and I haven’t had the best year, but the past few events have been good. I feel like mentally, I’m a little bit over the hump. If it keeps going like this, I’ll keep trying.”

Diverse gameplan does the trick
With a good ‘Scope strategy and some good fish in the grass, Hemby did a little of everything on Dardanelle this week.

“I started out this morning on a place I found yesterday afternoon in the grass and caught a 9-pound limit, which was nice to take the pressure off a little bit,” he said. “Then we went and fished some stuff that my co-angler had. He’s from here, and he had a lot of confidence in it.”

Later in the morning, Hemby fired up his LiveScope.

“I turned my ‘Scope on, and it took me 2 1/2 hours of my ‘Scope period to get my first bite,” he said. “Then in the last 30 minutes, I caught three big ones and didn’t catch anything after that. I was fishing brush, stumps and little hard spots that I found in practice. It was pretty simple.”

The end result was by no means a huge weight total, but it proved just enough to get the win.

Shallow, Hemby used a 3/8-ounce Boogerman Buzzbait in white, which accounted for his kicker on Day 1. He also threw a 3/8-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer in golden shiner, and when he had his electronics lit up, he used a Hideup Coike Fullcast with an Owner Stinger treble and a 3/32-ounce weight. He threw everything on 20-pound Seaguar InvizX.

The top 10 pros at the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake Dardanelle finished:

1st:        Drake Hemby, Brentwood, Tenn., 15 bass, 54-11, $29,329
2nd:      Evan Sutton, Highland, Ill., 15 bass, 54-5, $11,365
3rd:       Drew Porto, Greenbrier, Ark., 15 bass, 52-14, $8,799
4th:       Wayne Dixon, Morrilton, Ark., 15 bass, 52-5, $7,332
5th:       Jarred Thompson, Vilonia, Ark., 15 bass, 52-3, $7,099
6th:       Hunter Baughman, Judsonia, Ark., 15 bass, 49-4, $5,866
7th:       Mat Higby, Lamar, Ark., 15 bass, 48-12, $5,133
8th:       Tripp Berlinsky, Saint Cloud, Fla., 15 bass, 48-8, $5,399 (includes $1,000 Phoenix Bonus)
9th:       Jackson Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 15 bass, 48-7, $3,666
10th:     Matt Tucker, Pottsville, Ark., 15 bass, 47-10, $2,933

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Pro Zack Freeman of Russellville, Arkansas, earned Thursday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass Award with a bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces, while Jarred Thompson of Vilonia, Arkansas, won Friday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass Award with a bass weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces.

Dennis Young of Olathe, Kansas, won the co-angler division Saturday at Lake Dardanelle with a three-day total of 12 bass weighing 35 pounds, 12 ounces. Young earned the top co-angler prize package worth $33,550, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers at the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake Dardanelle finished:

1st:        Dennis Young, Olathe, Kansas, 12 bass, 35-12, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd:      Randy Allen, Russellville, Arkansas, 11 bass, 34-5, $3,910
3rd:       Robert Jacuzzi, Mount Ida, Ark., 14 bass, 33-10, $3,008
4th:       James Edmonds, Hot Springs Village, Ark., 13 bass, 31-0, $2,732
5th:       Mason Chambers, Galena, Mo., 13 bass, 29-14, $2,256
6th:       Lawson Lewis, Knoxville, Ark., 12 bass, 29-6, $1,880
7th:       Alan Bernicky, Dardanelle, Ark., 11 bass, 28-15, $1,604
8th:       Blake Defoor, Waldron, Ark., 11 bass, 26-0, $1,316
9th:       Dakota Ball, Connersville, Ind., 13 bass, 25-7, $1,128
10th:     Freeland Peterson, Henley, Mo., 10 bass, 24-10, $940

Co-angler Randy Allen of Russellville, Arkansas, earned Thursday’s Berkley Big Bass co-angler award on Day 1 with a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass to earn the $150 prize, while Friday’s Day 2 $150 co-angler award went to Mike Foelsch of O’Fallon, Missouri, who weighed in a 4-pound, 15-ounce bass.

With all three Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division now complete, pro Shawn Kowal of Linn Creek, Missouri, won the 7 Brew Plains Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 712 points, while Freeland Peterson Henley, Missouri, won the Plains Division Co-Angler of the Year race, with 760 points.

The three-day Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake Dardanelle was hosted by the Russellville Tourism & Visitors Center. It was the third and final regular-season tournament for the Toyota Series Plains Division. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will be a Northern Division event, the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Potomac River, June 25-27 in Marbury, Maryland. For a complete schedule of events, visit  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2026 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern and Southwestern – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the five divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and qualification to REDCREST 2027. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2026 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 5-7 on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee, and is hosted by Explore Pickwick Lake & Hardin County Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 MLF Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Mercury, MillerTech, 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 information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets on 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.