New York’s Tiano Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. (Aug. 24, 2026) – Boater Michael Morrin of Waterloo, New York, caught five bass weighing 25 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Cayuga Lake . The tournament was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Northeast Division presented by 3rd Deck Brewing Co. Morrin earned $2,890 for his victory.

Morrin lives 10 minutes from Cayuga Lake and said he fishes it regularly. He won a local team tournament the weekend before the BFL event and said conditions were the same and he had a gameplan.

“Living here, I feel like I know where to be and when to be there in any given weather condition,” Morrin said. “I went and ran some community stuff right out of the gate just to kind of get the baits wet and get some fish in the boat. It was a great start to the day.”

Morrin said he began on the north end of Cayuga and migrated to midlake later in the day. He fished in the eight- to 14-foot range with what he referred to only as a “moving bait.” He said he targeted grass, but not as deep as he usually would this time of year on Cayuga.

“I had a waypoint I could sit on that had grass the last time a BFL was here, but there was none this time,” Morrin said. “I could move in 30 yards, and the grass would be up to the top. It just changes every year. It’s crazy.”

Morrin said he culled eight or nine times during the tournament out of 30 keepers during the day. He boated more than 16 pounds on his first spot and then landed a 7-5 that took the tournament’s big bass honor on a spot he said was always good for one fish. The 7-5 bass put him at more than 21 pounds at 7:15 a.m.

Morrin hoisted his third BFL trophy with the win and said he had been looking forward to the Cayuga BFL event for a while.

“When I saw this on the schedule, I absolutely circled it in red,” Morrin said. “I said, ‘This is it right here. I’m winning this tournament.’

“I turned 50 on Monday and I said, ‘A win here couldn’t be a better birthday present for myself,’” Morrin went on to say. “It was so weird. I knew I would win this. I just knew it.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Michael Morrin, Waterloo, N.Y., five bass, 25-7, $2,890
2nd:        Rein Golub, Pittsford, N.Y., five bass, 22-0, $1,330
3rd:         Brian Egan, Fairport, N.Y., five bass, 21-5, $700
4th:         Matt Russell, Elkton, Md., five bass, 20-9, $570
5th:         John Lorenzo, Kane, Penn., five bass, 19-12, $510
6th:         Troy Coney, Endicott, N.Y., five bass, 19-8, $450
7th:         Keith Moyer, Canfield, Ohio, five bass, 18-12, $430
8th:         Codea McCathran, Mansfield, Ohio, five bass, 18-11, $420
9th:         Jordan Sypeck, Weston, Penn., five bass, 18-6, $400
10th:       Thomas Tennity, Newark, N.Y., five bass, 17-15, $390

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Tournament winner Morrin earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 7-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $200.

Christy Tiano of Hudson, New York, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,345 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 14 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:         Christy Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., three bass, 14-13, $1,345
2nd:        Jack Adams, Wynantskill, N.Y., three bass, 14-10, $665
3rd:         Jason Staib, Wilmington, Del., three bass, 12-7, $350
4th:         Jeff Turner, Morris, Ill., three bass, 12-2, $285
5th:         Cole Bernier, Saylorsburg, Penn., three bass, 10-12, $255
6th:         Lamar Spade, Saylorsburg, Penn., three bass, 10-10, $225
7th:         Gabriel Vazquez, Clifton Springs, N.Y., three bass, 10-8, $220
8th:         John Stoughtenger, Waterloo, N.Y., three bass, 10-7, $210
9th:         Zachary Lynn, South Williamsport, Penn., three bass, 9-10, $200
10th:       Chris Hurley, Carlisle, Penn., three bass, 9-6, $195

Zachary Wonder of Martinsburg, West Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass worth $100.

After four events, Joseph Thompson of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, now leads the 7 Brew Northeast Division presented by 3rd Deck Brewing Co. Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 944 points, while Chris Hurley of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, leads the Northeast Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 961 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. 8-10 BFL Regional tournament on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. 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 2027 BFL All-American will take place June 5-7, at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, and is hosted by Experience Kissimmee.

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, PiranhO2, 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.