South Carolina’s Huntley Earns Win in Co-Angler Division

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 16, 2026) – Boater Kaden Buchmann of Troutman, North Carolina, caught a total of five bass weighing 19 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Norman. The tournament, hosted by Visit Lake Norman, was the first of five events of the season for the BFL North Carolina Division. Buchmann earned $3,150 for his victory.

Buchmann said he targeted “high-percentage” areas in the south end of Lake Norman, like an offshore brushpile in clear water he described as “not super deep.” As the day progressed, he made his way north and said he landed a total of 10 to 12 keepers.

“It all happened pretty quickly,” Buchmann said. “I pulled up to a place and pulled a couple of rods out of the rod locker, but the water was too clear and too shallow, so I kept moving. I pulled up on my second place and caught a couple of 2-pounders and lost a big one. My next place I caught a couple of 3½-pounders and lost another big one.

“At that point it was still early in the morning, about 10 or 10:30, so I settled down and caught one more big one on a Shane’s Baits 5th Element Umbrella Rig,” Buchmann went on to say. “After that I just tried to help my co-angler out the rest of the day.”

Buchmann felt pretty confident in his chances of securing a win due to tough conditions – no wind and clear skies. He also said what he had in his livewell was better than any weight he had seen come across the scale in recent tournaments.

“This win was awesome,” Buchmann said. “I told my co-angler at one point in the morning, ‘Man, I may not even turn my LiveScope on today. I may as well win it without it. I’ve got a pretty good chance to do that.’ So, I did.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kaden Buchmann, Troutmann, N.C., five bass, 19-8, $3,150
2nd:      Shane Lineberger, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 17-15, $2,090 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
3rd:       Jake Monti, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 16-3, $810
4th:        Chad Sims, Lancaster, S.C., five bass, 15-14, $850
5th:        Michael Stephens, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 14-6, $580
6th:        Aaron Digh, Maiden, N.C., five bass, 14-1, $500
7th:        Chris Goodwin, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 13-12, $480
8th:        Christian Johnson, Denver, N.C., five bass, 13-11, $460
9th:        Cole Huskins, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 13-3, $440
10th:     Brandon Trulli, Evans, Ga., five bass, 12-15, $420

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Chad Sims of Lancaster, South Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass worth $200.

Todd Huntley of Inman, South Carolina, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,575 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., three bass, 9-3, $1,575
2nd:      Harley Rudisill, Cherryville, N.C., three bass, 8-10, $795
3rd:       Kiel Guin, Hickory, N.C., three bass, 8-9, $405
4th:        John Richardson, Winston-Salem, N.C., two bass, 7-8, $425
5th:        Jason Pulver, Mooresville, N.C., three bass, 7-4, $290
6th:        Dale Surrett, Midland, N.C., three bass, 7-3, $250
7th:        Wayne Smelser, Wytheville, Va., three bass, 6-4, $240
8th:        Mark Hughes, Salisbury, N.C., three bass, 5-13, $230
9th:        Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., three bass, 5-10, $220
10th:     Colby Shuping, Boomer, N.C., two bass, 5-9, $210

John Richardson of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass worth $100.

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, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV and Game & Fish TV, 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.