HENRICO, Va. – Boater Thomas Milton of Chester, Virginia, caught a total of five bass weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce, Sunday to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the James River. The tournament, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Piedmont Division. Milton earned $3,080 for his victory.
“I practiced for two days and didn’t really find anything, anywhere,” Milton said. “I figured my best bet with the clouds would be to run down to the Chickahominy (River) and throw a frog all day.”
Milton said he focused his plan of attack at lily pads on the middle section of the Chickahominy and used a bluegill-colored frog as his bait of choice.
“I had a lot of confidence in that color, because at one point I opened my livewell and there were two dead bluegill in there. The frog and the morning bite were key,” Milton said. “The sun came out about 11:00, and I never got another bite.”
Milton said he caught 10 keepers on his home waters during the tournament, and his confidence was running high when at 9 o’clock he put a 6-pounder in the livewell followed by another quality keeper three casts later.
“I was still fishing hard,” Milton said. “I know firsthand this river can be very good to some people, and I kind of tend to fish with the ‘never enough’ mentality.”
The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Thomas Milton, Chester, Va., five bass, 26-1, $3,080
2nd: Brandon Miskell, Vienna, Va., five bass, 17-11, $1,420
3rd: Ron Rousseau, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 16-10, $740
4th: Ben Dalton, Bracey, Va., five bass, 16-2, $600
5th: Andrew George, Poplar Branch, N.C., five bass, 16-1, $1,030 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
6th: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 15-8, $460
7th: Conrad Manuel, Pilot Mountain, N.C., five bass, 14-14, $450
8th: Aaron Dixon, Bel Alton, Md., five bass, 14-9, $430
9th: Ben Reynolds, Callands, Va., five bass, 14-4, $410
10th: Steve Allender, Fallston, Md., five bass, 14-2, $400
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Tournament winner Milton earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing his 6-pound, 8-ounce bass worth $200.
Zach Picucci of Powhatan, Virginia, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,440 Sunday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 10 ounces.
The Top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Zach Picucci, Powhatan, Va., three bass, 9-10, $1,440
2nd: Timothy Kinder, Fairfax, Va., three bass, 9-1, $810
3rd: Eric Nelson, Gainesville, Va., three bass, 8-14, $370
4th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., three bass, 8-6, $400
5th: Ryan Spivey, Fairfax, Va., three bass, 8-4, $265
6th: Adam Oxendine, Pembroke, N.C., three bass, 7-7, $230
7th: Lenny Baird, Stafford, Va., three bass, 7-6, $230
8th: Tracey Gravely, Petersburg, Va., three bass, 7-3, $215
9th: Larry Freeman Jr., La Crosse, Va., three bass, 7-1, $205
9th: Michael Abel, Moyock, N.C., three bass, 7-1, $205
Timothy Kinder of Fairfax, Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass worth $100.
After four events, Conrad Manuel of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, now leads the 7 Brew Piedmont Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 959 points, while Allen Haigh of Prospect Hill, North Carolina, leads the Piedmont Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 977 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 3-5, 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, Piranh02, 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.