North Carolina’s Roten Claims Co-Angler Division

MARBURY, Md. (Sept. 8, 2025) – Boater Rick Hawkins of Roanoke, Virginia, caught a total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 5 ounces, over two days to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Super Tournament (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Potomac River . The tournament, hosted by Charles County Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, was the fifth and final regular-season event of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Hawkins earned $6,230 for his victory.

“I had decided I was going to slow down and jig fish and drop-shot fish and really pick the cover apart,” Hawkins said. “I did that and only got five bites Saturday and seven bites on Sunday. Most of the guys who were fishing grass were catching tons of fish, just not large fish. That was the difference. I was fishing for the large bite.”

Hawkins said his baits of choice were a Missile Baits jig in green pumpkin or black and blue, and an oxblood-colored Missile Baits Magic Worm. He focused his efforts on deeper banks and drop-offs north of Mattawoman Creek that featured wood, rock or grass or a combination of the three.

Hawkins said he didn’t have a bite until 10 o’clock on Sunday morning, but his first bass checked in at 5 pounds.

“I thought, ‘Well, that’s a good start,’” Hawkins said. “And about every hour I would get another bite. And each fish I caught was fairly large. I didn’t catch them on the same spot; I just pounded away and kept switching banks. When I caught my fourth fish, I knew I had a chance to win. I needed just one more bite.”

Hawkins said he managed two more bites, resulting in a cull and the win.

“The Potomac River has been somewhat of a thorn in my side for quite some time,” Hawkins said. “When I was younger, I won a lot of tournaments on the Potomac, and now I’m getting a little further along in age. I wondered when (the Potomac) was going to give me a little bit of something again, and it finally did.

“I’m shocked, really, that it actually happened,” Hawkins added. “I thought when I was getting the quality bites I could have a chance. That’s the difference on the Potomac – the bigger bite. You either need a kicker fish or a good average. Well, I kind of had two kickers, and everything else was kind of large, too.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Rick Hawkins, Roanoke, Va., 10 bass, 33-5, $6,230
2nd:      Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 30-3, $3,215
3rd:       Tom Bateman, Welcome, Md., 10 bass, 29-13, $2,577
4th:        Andrew George, Poplar Branch, N.C., 10 bass, 29-9, $1,954 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)
5th:        Richard Hodges Jr, Camden, N.C., 10 bass, 29-1, $1,246
6th:        Jackson Pleasant, Four Oaks, N.C., 10 bass, 28-8, $1,142
7th:        Brandon Miskell, Vienna, Va., 10 bass, 27-14, $1,038
8th:        Aaron Dixon, Bel Alton, Md., 10 bass, 27-0, $934
9th:        Thomas Milton, Chester, Va., 10 bass, 26-14, $831
10th:     Lenny Baird, Stafford, Va., 10 bass, 26-7, $727

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

James Maupin of Stanardsville, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 7 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $855.

James Roten of West Jefferson, North Carolina, won the co-angler division and $3,115 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of six bass to the scale that totaled 18 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        James Roten, West Jefferson, N.C., six bass, 18-8, $3,115
2nd:      John Lambert, Fredericksburg, Va, six bass, 16-7, $1,557
3rd:       Nathan Routzahn, Myersville, Md., six bass, 16-4, $1,040
4th:        Akira Okuyama, Rego Park, N.Y., six bass, 15-14, $727
5th:        Cornell Badra, Clarksburg, Md., six bass, 15-1, $623
6th:        Jeff Bender, Glenshaw, Pa., six bass, 14-8, $571
7th:        Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md., six bass, 14-2, $519
8th:        Hampton Robinson, Bealeton, Va., six bass, 14-2, $467
9th:        Eric Nelson, Gainesville, Va., six bass, 14-2, $415
10th:     Zhengrong Tang, Berwyn, Pa., six bass, 14-1, $790

Zhengrong Tang of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $427, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces.

With all five events in the division now complete, boater Broderick Luckey of Lynchburg, Virginia, won the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 1,309 points and earned the $1,000 prize, while Hampton Robinson of Bealeton, Virginia, won the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 1,251 points and earned the $500 payout.

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. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on James River in Richmond, Virginia. 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.

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 Sport 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, 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.