Farley, Williams Tie for Top Spot in Co-Angler Division

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (March 3, 2025) – Boater Kaden Buchmann of Troutman, North Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Norman . The tournament, hosted by Visit Lake Norman, Visit Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, was the first event of the season for the BFL North Carolina Division. Buchmann earned $4,684 for his victory.

Buchmann spent all winter fishing Lake Norman. So he was well prepared for Saturday’s BFL event.

“It’s my home lake, so I know a lot of the high-percentage places for big fish,” he said. “I pretty much ran as many high-percentage places as I could in the wind, because it was blowing – at least in the later part of the day. I never tried to fish for a limit to just barely cull. I was always fishing for the win.”

According to Buchmann, there was never a particular lure, pattern or area that worked best. He junk-fished all day, running from spot to spot over a 10-mile stretch of the lake. He caught them on a variety of lures, including a Muffin Top Jig and a Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer.

In his limit, McDonald had a 5 1/2-pound largemouth that really helped his cause, and that wasn’t the only kicker that propelled him to the top.

“I don’t think I had a bass until probably 10 o’clock,” McDonald added. “I kind of made a little switch when the sun got up and just kind of ran with it; kind of just followed what the lake told me. I caught a 4 1/2 when the wind really got hard. It was a 4 1/2-pound spot, and I caught it about 30 minutes before check-in.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Kaden Buchmann, Troutman, N.C., five bass, 19-6, $4,684
2nd:      Colby Cotterill, Alpharetta, Ga., five bass, 18-10, $2,059
3rd:       Brian Morgan, Maiden, N.C., five bass, 17-1, $1,374
4th:        Chris Goodwin, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 16-14, $1,461 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th:        Jake Monti, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 15-12, $824
6th:        Michael Wilson, Burnsville, N.C., five bass, 15-3, $755
7th:        Isaac Ledford, Dallas, N.C., five bass, 15-0, $686
8th:        Chad Sims, Lancaster, S.C., five bass, 14-14, $618
9th:        Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 14-9, $514
9th:        Mitch Drew, Gold Hill, N.C., five bass, 14-9, $514

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Buchmann caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $565.

Kevin Farley of Landrum, South Carolina, and Jonathan Williams of Marshville, North Carolina, tied for the win in the Strike King co-angler division Saturday, after each bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Farley and Williams both pocketed $1,517.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Kevin Farley, Landrum, S.C., three bass, 8-5, $1,517
1st:        Jonathan Williams, Marshville, N.C., three bass, 8-5, $1,517
3th:        Robert Derrick Jr., Charlotte, N.C., three bass, 8-1, $951
4th:        Alex Moss, Lambsburg, Va., three bass, 7-9, $416
4th:        Mekye Barnes, Knightdale, N.C., three bass, 7-9, $516
4th:        Dalton Marlow, Maiden, N.C., three bass, 7-9, $416
7th:        Casey Cornelius, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 7-7, $320
7th:        Mohammad Alshamali, Durham, N.C., three bass, 7-7, $320
9th:        Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., three bass, 7-1, $270
10th:     Hunter Alexander, China Grove, N.C., three bass, 6-13, $236

Robert Derrick Jr. of Charlotte, North Carolina, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $277, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

In addition to earning the win, Kaden Buchmann of Troutman, North Carolina, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash North Carolina Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Kevin Farley of Landrum, South Carolina, and Jonathan Williams of Marshville, North Carolina, share the lead in the Fishing Clash North Carolina Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points apiece.

The next event for BFL North Carolina Division anglers will be held March 22, at Lake Wylie in York, South Carolina. 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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina. 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 Sports 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.