COLUMBIA, S.C. – After Day 1, the 43rd annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Championship Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Murray is off to a rollicking start. As she is wont to do, Lake Murray showed out in a big way – the top 11 boaters all caught better than 18 pounds to get things going. Nearly half the field caught 15 pounds, and the top six all weighed 20 pounds or more.
In the lead on the boater side, Jack Story of Atlanta, Georgia, set the pace with 22 pounds, 15 ounces, and he’s closely followed by Caz Anderson of Haysville, North Carolina, with 21-12 and William Bates of Alpharetta, Georgia, with 21-3.
Link to Photo of Day 1 Leader Boater Jack Story
Link to Morning Photo Gallery: Going hard on Day 1 of the All-American
Link to Afternoon Photo Gallery: Hitting the scales on Day 1 of the All-American
Link to HD Video of Day 1 Weigh-In
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.
By noon on Day 1, Story was on the hunt for more fish for Day 2. The youngest boater in the field, Story is missing his high school graduation to fish the All-American, which seems like a pretty easy call considering how well things are going. Schooled on herring lakes in the southeast like Lanier and Hartwell, Story is the perfect fit for this sort of event.
“Practice was pretty insane – the conditions were better than they were today,” he said. “But today was fun. I’m happy with it – you can’t be mad about it.”
Of course, despite a great practice and a great Day 1, Story knows that with limited sonar, there aren’t many guarantees on Lake Murray right now. A couple lost fish or one bad stop could really change a day.
“I told my dad, my biggest fish should not have come in the boat, and I lost one bigger that I felt should have come in the boat,” he said. “So, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow – we’ll find out.”
Though Story didn’t put in a mega session of pre-practice, the Carson-Newman University commit is plenty familiar with Murray.
“I’ve been coming here since I was little, before LiveScope was around,” he said. “But I’ve never been this time of year to fish offshore. I caught everything on a Zoom Fluke. That’s pretty much all there was to it – just winding a Fluke.”
“Just winding a Fluke” may not encompass all the nuance, as Story has learned from one of the best and is trying to follow in the footsteps of some past All-American champions.
“It’d be pretty cool to win, especially after Emil Wagner and Paul Marks Jr. won it,” said Story. “I’m pretty close to Emil; he honestly taught me how to fish with LiveScope. It would be pretty cool to win this, especially after he did.”
The Top 20 boaters after Day 1 of the 2026 All-American on Lake Murray are:
1st: Jack Story, Atlanta, Ga., five bass, 22-15
2nd: Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., five bass, 21-12
3rd: William Bates, Alpharetta, Ga., five bass, 21-3
4th: Caleb Black, McAlester, Okla., five bass, 20-11
5th: Tom Frink, Southside, Ala., five bass, 20-8
6th: Brooks Anderson, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 20-2
7th: Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., 19-12
8th: Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 19-4
9th: Cody Mackie, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 18-9
10th: Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 18-3
11th: Aspen Martin, White, Ga., five bass, 18-2
12th: Matt McCluskey, Ashburn, Va., five bass, 17-15
13th: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 17-4
13th: Jeremy Gordon, Rutledge, Tenn., five bass, 17-4
15th: Carson Orellana, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 17-3
16th: Landon Lawson, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 16-13
17th: Zeke Gossett, Pell City, Ala., five bass, 16-8
18th: Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 16-6
19th: James Willoughby, Gulfport, Miss., five bass, 16-2
19th: Riley Harris, Orange, Texas, five bass, 16-2
A full list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 203 bass weighing 658 pounds even caught by the 47 boaters on Thursday. The catch included 35 five-bass limits.
Co-angler Tyson Giesbrecht of Gurley, Alabama, grabbed the early lead in the co-angler division at Lake Murray on Thursday with a three-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces. Giesbrecht will start Day 2 of competition Friday with a three-pound lead over second-place co-angler Wayne Smelser of Wytheville, Virginia, who weighed in three bass totaling 12 pounds, 3 ounces.
The Top 20 co-anglers after Day 1 of the 2026 All-American on Lake Murray are:
1st: Tyson Giesbrecht, Gurley, Ala., three bass, 15-3
2nd: Wayne Smelser, Wytheville, Va., three bass, 12-3
3rd: Jordan Clayton, Archer City, Texas, three bass, 10-5
4th: Preston Williams, Tallahassee, Fla., three bass, 9-15
5th: Jordan Smith, Middletown, Ohio, three bass, 9-13
6th: Mark Lee, Gastonia, N.C., three bass, 9-5
7th: Mike Swetland, Tamaroa, Ill., three bass, 9-0
8th: Mason Franklin, McCalla, Ala., three bass, 8-9
9th: Dustin Forrest, Knob Lick, Ky., three bass, 8-3
10th: James Ramsey, Boaz, Ala., three bass, 8-2
11th: Jimmy Rhodus, Versailles, Ky., three bass, 7-5
12th: John McCullar, Benton, Ark., two bass, 7-1
12th: Benjamin Roop, Tullahoma, Tenn., three bass, 7-1
14th: Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., three bass, 6-14
15th: Dylan Phillips, Albany, Ohio, three bass, 6-12
15th: Zachary Howell, Tipton, Ind., three bass, 6-12
15th: Aiden Roberson-Barber, Livingston, Tenn., two bass, 6-12
18th: Nolan Clark, Apex, N.C., three bass, 6-10
19th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., three bass, 6-8
20th: Richard Williams, Sutherland, Va., two bass, 6-7
Overall, there were 93 bass weighing 256 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 47 co-anglers on Thursday. The catch included 20 three-bass limits.
Anglers will launch each day at 6:30 a.m. ET from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity. Weigh-in each day 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 livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The full field of 47 boaters and 47 co-anglers compete on Days 1 (Thursday) and 2 (Friday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is 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.