Century Club well represented at BFL All-American

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Last year, Major League Fishing created the Century Club to honor anglers who have competed in 100 or more tournaments hosted by MLF and its predecessors, regardless of the level. While plenty of touring pros received the commemorative coins sent to Century Club anglers, the bulk of the 1,200-plus members are those who primarily compete in more local tournaments – namely, the Phoenix Bass Fishing League.

Thus, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the field for this week’s BFL championship, the All-American Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hamilton, includes several Century Club members. In all, nine boaters and five co-anglers competing in the pinnacle grassroots event have attained Century Club status.

Here’s a list of all 14 Century Club members who took the water Thursday morning as well as a few of their stories.

Baldwin is most veteran of the veterans

Of the Century Club members fishing on Hamilton, none has competed in as many events or won as much money as Chris Baldwin. The North Carolina native has amassed an impressive $433,800 over a career that has spanned 268 events, with the vast majority of his success coming at the BFL level.

Baldwin first experienced tournaments while competing alongside his father in team events in the 1980s and 90s. In 1997, at age 17, he took his first stab at the Red Man Trail, the precursor to the BFL. It didn’t take him long to find success. In the fall of ’97, he won the Region 3 championship on Lake Sinclair, earning nearly $80,000 and his first All-American berth. He went on to finish second on the Upper Mississippi River, netting another $30,000. The following year, he successfully defended his Regional crown on Sinclair and then again finished as the runner-up when the All-American returned to the Upper Mississippi.

Eventually, Baldwin found out that qualifying for the All-American wasn’t so easy – he didn’t return until 2008. Still, this will be his eighth appearance, second-most of anyone in the field. Every year, he said returning to the All-American is his No. 1 goal.

“In the BFLs, that’s the ultimate goal, the All-American,” he said. “In the Regionals, that’s when you dig your heels in – that’s when it counts. The regular tournaments, yeah, I go fishing, get lucky maybe to win one, fine. If I don’t, as long as I make the points, make the Regional, and then go down there and make the Top 6, that’s the ultimate goal.”

Over the course of his nearly 30-year career, Baldwin has racked up six wins and an astounding 75 Top 10s. The 45-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s now qualified for the All-American in three straight years and four of the past five (and done so on three different fisheries – the Potomac River, the James River and, most recently, Kerr Lake), which he attributes to the fishing instincts he’s honed through the years.

“The more you do it, the better you get at it,” he said. “People ask me, ‘How do you keep catching them and winning and making the All-American?’ And I’m like, ‘Man, I really don’t know. I just go fishing and don’t overthink it.’ I’ve got friends that are like way over my head about bass fishing, and they fish really, really smart, and I think I fish really stupid. I don’t think about it as much. I just let the fish tell me what’s going on. Go out there and practice hard, and if I catch them through here, I go back and try to catch them again.” 

At this point, the true ultimate goal for Baldwin is not just getting to the All-American but winning one. He’s come close, having finished in the Top 5 four different times.

Still, as badly as he would like to hoist the trophy and take home the $120,000 top prize, Baldwin noted that there’s a lot of money to be made with a solid performance on Hamilton. He’s earned more than $100,000 in his All-American career. He’s hoping to add a nice chunk to that total this week.

“The All-Americans, it was a little disappointing not winning,” Baldwin said. “I had two seconds at La Crosse. It’s disappointing, but it’s still $30,000.

“Some of my buddies are like, ‘I just go to win.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you’re going to get your feelings hurt a lot.’ I go to do good. If I cut a check, a Top 10, a Top 5, I’m happy, because it’s so hard to win. I’ve got way more seconds and thirds and fourths and fifths than I do firsts. But second pays all right.”

Schrumpf has never forgotten BFL roots

Since he got his start as a BFL boater in 2005, Colby Schrumpf has competed at every tournament level offered by FLW and MLF. The Illinois native has fished Toyota Series events, competed on the FLW Tour and Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit/Invitationals and even spent a season on the Bass Pro Tour in 2024.

That’s often made for a busy schedule. But through it all, Schrumpf has always made time for the BFLs. Over the past 20 years, he’s fished multiple Illini Division events in all but three of them, usually competing in the full five-event schedule.

“My dad generally fishes as a co-angler, so it’s a good way for us to get together and travel to an event,” Schrumpf explained. “And I run a Phoenix boat, and prior to that, I ran a Ranger boat, so I always qualified for the contingencies. So, even without practice on the local lakes, I always felt like a couple hundred dollar entry fee was well worth the opportunity to spend one day on the water and potentially win $10, 11, 12 thousand with the contingencies.”

Schrumpf, who just hit the 150-tournament milestone, said his favorite part of tournament fishing has been all the places it’s taken him to and the people he’s met along the way.

“I live in Illinois, but I’m from right near St. Louis, and it’s always exciting to leave that area in January and February and head generally either to Texas or southern Florida, something like that,” Schrumpf said. “So, it’s just always been good opportunities to get away and explore different parts of the country at prime times. And the same thing goes, like, end of the summer, we’re typically going up to upstate New York. The fisheries up there are unreal, and it’s beautiful country. So, it’s just a good way for me to travel around the country, fish the best lakes, and you meet a ton of good people along the way.”

Even though he was competing on tour last year, Schrumpf fished in three Illini Division events. Finishes of fifth, sixth and 20th were enough to earn him a spot in the Regional on the Mississippi River out of the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. While Schrumpf had never fished that portion of the river before, he noted that he’s always liked tough tournaments, and he managed to grind his way to a fifth-place finish with a three-day total of 36, 15 ounces. That landed him a spot in his second career All-American, his first coming in 2011.

Hamilton represents another new destination for Schrumpf. He said competing in the All-American is special to him because not only does it offer a guaranteed payout at no cost, but with only 49 boaters in the field, the chances are pretty good to earn a five-figure payday.

“It’s a good opportunity for a lot of these weekend type anglers to fish a higher level tournament where you’re guaranteed money to compete and show up,” he said. “And then the payouts are incredible. Especially with the contingencies, if you’re in the Top 5, I think you’re bringing home like $17,000 or above. In my mind, that’s unreal.”

Haraguchi is co-angler king

Gary Haraguchi didn’t start bass fishing until he was nearly 40 years old, and he’s never owned a boat. Yet he’s racked up more than $350,000 in earnings across more than 200 career tournaments.

Haraguchi is one of the most successful co-anglers in MLF/FLW history. Originally from California, he started competing in tournaments in the late 1990s and has been at it ever since, amassing five wins and 46 Top 10s.

“I grew up salmon fishing and striped bass fishing, and I saw (bass fishing),” Haraguchi said. “I was like, ‘hey, that looks kind of like fun.’ So, I thought, I’ll try to get into that. But I didn’t know anybody who fished for bass or fished tournaments, so I was like, ‘how am I going to learn?'”

The answer was competing as a co-angler. While Haraguchi said he “took my lumps” early in his career, he eventually became a force from the back of the boat. He ranks third on the all-time co-angler earnings list in Toyota Series and BFL competition. Between his consistent success and the ease of competing as a co-angler, he’s never felt a need to try and compete from the front of the boat.

“I got into the bass fishing later in life – I was probably closer to my 40s – so I was working and everything else,” Haraguchi said. “So, it just works out better. Now, I’m older and retired, but it’s just a little easier (to be a co-angler). I mean, there’s a lot to it as it is, as a co-angler, but with a boat, it’s just that much more. I don’t have the time for that.”

Since the BFLs don’t have a West Coast division, Haraguchi didn’t get a chance to qualify for the All-American until after he relocated to Tennessee a few years ago. In his first All-American appearance, on Lake Hartwell in 2023, he finished second.

“I’m hoping to jump up one more spot this tournament,” he said with a laugh.

Looking back across his career, Haraguchi said he’s most proud of his five wins. The most recent of those, in the 2024 Wild Card on Cherokee Lake, earned him a spot in the field on Hamilton.

Haraguchi, who has competed in multiple Forrest Wood Cups and Toyota Series Championships as a co-angler, said the exclusivity of the All-American field sets it apart.

“It’s probably one of the toughest tournaments to make, to qualify,” he said. “Just the prestige of it – it’s the deal.”