COLUMBIA, S.C. – After Day 2 of the 43rd annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Championship Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Murray, the Top 10 is now set for Championship Saturday and it’s shaping up to be a great day on the MLFNOW! livestream. One of the best lakes in the southeast U.S. right now, Lake Murray has showed off in a big way, and the boaters and co-anglers are putting together impressive weights even with only three hours of forward-facing sonar.
Staying on top, Jack Story of Atlanta, Georgia, backed up his strong start on Day 1 with 21 pounds, 2 ounces on Day 2 for a 44-1 total. In second, local favorite Lucas Murphy of West Columbia, South Carolina, hammered out 22-5 to move up from seventh, and William Bates of Alpharetta, Georgia, stayed steady in third with 19-14 and a 41-1 total.
Link to Photo of Day 2 Leader Boater Jack Story
Link to Photo of Day 2 Co-angler Leader Jordan Smith
Link to Morning Photo Gallery: Gunning for the Top 10 on Day 2 of the All-American
Link to Afternoon Photo Gallery: Settling the score on Day 2 of the All-American
Link to HD Video of Day 2 Weigh-In
The youngest boater in the field and a first-time qualifier in the All-American, Story is a prototypical electronics whiz and a herring expert, having grown up on Lake Lanier. On Day 1, he caught all his weight during his three hours with LiveScope, but that was not the case on Day 2.
“It was kind of a struggle,” Story said. “I cut my ‘Scope on this morning, and it wasn’t bad. I think I had like 14 pounds on four, and I had two I wanted to keep and two I wanted to get rid of. It got down to where there were 30 minutes left, I was like, ‘I’ve got to do something.’ So, I was scrambling. I caught one 3 1/2-pounder to finish my limit.”
Still, 17 pounds on Lake Murray doesn’t go far.
“Yesterday, I didn’t catch any fish with no ‘Scope,” he said. “So, I knew I needed to lock in. I cut my ‘Scope off at like 9:45 this morning. The clouds started rolling in, and that made me feel a lot better about how the day was about to go. I ran to a place I had put a mark down on the school in practice, where I thought they were. I threw over it, nothing. I looked over to my left, I cast up across the point, and my fluke got blown out of the water by my biggest fish of the day – a 5 1/2-pounder. I could have caught a 7 1/2 with ‘Scope and I would not have been as happy as I was with that 5 1/2. I was beyond joyful.”
Story culled again with a 3 1/2-pounder he caught off a grass line. Aside from those two key fish, eight of his 10 bass have come with LiveScope off a single point.
“I wish I could catch the fish on the brushpiles, because honestly, they look pretty big. But they’ve been hammered,” Story said. “I feel like the biggest fish right now are on the community holes. I have one super obvious point, and for some reason, nobody else has been fishing it. That’s where I’ve weighed most of them – it’s a really special place.”
Tomorrow, Story will look to lock down an All-American title before his 19th birthday and before he’s taken a single class at Carson-Newman University. With dreary, possibly rainy conditions in the forecast, he’s looking forward to laying it all on the line.
“I couldn’t have drawn it up any better,” he said. “I’m not saying I’ll catch them, but it’s going to give me the best chance I could have.”
The Top 10 boaters advancing to the final day of the 2026 All-American on Lake Murray are:
1st: Jack Story, Atlanta, Ga., 10 bass, 44-1
2nd: Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., 10 bass, 42-1
3rd: William Bates, Alpharetta, Ga., 10 bass, 41-1
4th: Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., 10 bass, 40-10
5th: Tom Frink, Southside, Ala., 10 bass, 40-3
6th: Landon Lawson, Jonesborough, Tenn., 10 bass, 40-1
7th: Matt McCluskey, Ashburn, Va., 10 bass, 39-6
8th: Brooks Anderson, Marietta, Ga., 10 bass, 38-3
9th: Zeke Gossett, Pell City, Ala., 10 bass, 37-2
10th: Cody Mackie, McMinnville, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-4
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Gavin Clevenger, Knoxville, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-15, $3,000
12th: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-12, $3,000
13th: Aspen Martin, White, Ga., 10 bass, 34-5, $3,000
14th: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., 10 bass, 33-12, $3,000
15th: Nicholas Seitz, Monclova, Ohio, 10 bass, 32-8, $3,000
16th: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-4, $3,000
17th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 32-0, $3,000
18th: Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., 10 bass, 31-15, $3,000
19th: James Willoughby, Gulfport, Miss., 10 bass, 31-13, $3,000
20th: Michael Murphy, Gilbert, S.C., 10 bass, 31-11, $3,000
A full list of boater results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 189 bass weighing 614 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 44 boaters on Friday. The catch included 33 five-bass limits.
Co-angler Jordan Smith of Middletown, Ohio, crossed the stage with a three-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 15 ounces to lead the co-angler division at Lake Murray after Day 2, with a two-day total of six bass weighing 21 pounds, 12 ounces. Mason Franklin of McCalla, Alabama, sits in second place with a two-day total of 19-12 and Wayne Smelser of Wytheville, Virginia, ended the day in third with 18-15.
The Top 10 co-anglers advancing to the final day of competition at the 2026 All-American on Lake Murray are:
1st: Jordan Smith, Middletown, Ohio, six bass, 21-12
2nd: Mason Franklin, McCalla, Ala., six bass, 19-12
3rd: Wayne Smelser, Wytheville, Va., six bass, 18-15
4th: Tyson Giesbrecht, Gurley, Ala., five bass, 18-14
5th: James Ramsey, Boaz, Ala., six bass, 17-8
6th: Zachary Howell, Tipton, Iowa, six bass, 17-6
7th: Dustin Forrest, Knob Lick, Ky., six bass, 17-4
8th: Jordan Clayton, Archer City, Texas, four bass, 15-13
9th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., six bass, 15-10
10th: Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., six bass, 15-9
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Jimmy Rhodus, Versailles, Ky., six bass, 15-5, $1,500
12th: Nolan Clark, Apex, N.C., six bass, 15-0, $1,500
13th: Mason Pike, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 14-11, $1,500
14th: Kaleb Turner, Hartwell, Ga., six bass, 13-8, $1,500
15th: Richard Williams, Sutherland, Va., five bass, 13-2, $1,500
16th: Benjamin Roop, Tullahoma, Tenn., five bass, 13-1, $1,500
17th: Wayne Crouch, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 12-14, $1,500
18th: Dylan Phillips, Albany, Ohio, five bass, 12-13, $1,500
19th: Jared Jones, Denver, N.C., three bass, 12-11, $1,500
20th: Rick Jerman, Springfield, Va., five bass, 12-8, $1,500
A full list of co-angler results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 85 bass weighing 248 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 39 co-anglers on Friday. The catch included 17 three-bass limits.
The three-day All-American, hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism, showcases the nation’s best weekend grassroots anglers, awarding the winning boater a top prize of up to $120,000 – and an automatic qualification to REDCREST 2027, MLF’s most prestigious event – and the winning co-angler a top prize of $50,000.
The final 10 boaters and co-anglers will launch on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. ET from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity. Saturday’s Championship weigh-in will be held at the park and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and encouraged to follow the event’s online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The full field of 47 boaters and 47 co-anglers competed on Days 1 (Thursday) and 2 (Friday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is now cut to just the Top 10 boaters and co-anglers, based on two-day total cumulative weight, and the final 10 anglers compete on Championship Saturday. The boater and co-angler that catch the heaviest three-day total weight will be crowned the 43rd Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champions.
The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine was 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 event winners, advanced to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they competed to finish in the top three, which then advanced them to compete in the 2026 BFL All-American. The field also includes the top eligible finisher from each of seven The Bass Federation (TBF) divisions in the 2026 TBF National Championship.
Television coverage of the 2026 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine will premiere this fall on CBS Sports. The full television air schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
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.