WINNECONNE, Wis. – Boater Kevin Ruh of Onalaska, Wisconsin, caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Wolf River Chain. The tournament was the third of five events of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Ruh earned $4,910 for his victory, including a $2,500 MLF Phoenix contingency bonus.
Ruh said the key to his third career BFL victory was staying flexible and making the most of his limited practice window. He spent two days on the Wolf River Chain the previous weekend, then had just a six-hour window Friday to fine-tune his plan. While he didn’t feel completely dialed in, Ruh said he found enough “samples and clues” to know where he wanted to spend his time.
“I wasn’t super dialed in,” Ruh said. “I had some samples and some clues in one spot. I thought I could get on some good fish late in the day, and I just junk-fished my way through the morning.”
Ruh relied on a mix of history and instinct to build his limit, catching his fish from four different areas without the use of forward-facing sonar. He said he did not have his graph on the boat during the event, forcing him to rely on traditional fishing and decision-making throughout the day. After getting a couple of fish in the boat, he continued making adjustments and pieced together a mixed bag.
Ruh said his biggest decision came late in the day, when increasing wind nearly kept him from returning to his best big-fish area. Ruh ultimately decided to make the move anyway, knowing that spot gave him his best chance to win.
When he arrived, the fish had shifted about 50 yards from where they had been the previous weekend. Once he relocated them, Ruh upgraded multiple times, including a final half-pound improvement near the end of the day that helped seal the victory.
“I wasn’t even going to go do my big-fish area because it got so windy,” Ruh said. “I decided, ‘Why not try to win the tournament?’ Those are the biggest fish, and I still had time.”
The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 15-8, $4,910 (includes $2,500 Phoenix Bonus)
2nd: Rick Bosshard, Hartland, Wis., five bass, 15-1, $1,250
3rd: Tyler Fitch, Fall River, Wis., five bass, 14-15, $870
4th: Geoff Williams, New London, Wis., five bass, 14-8, $550
5th: Luke Shrader, Monticello, Ky., five bass, 13-9, $590
6th: Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-7, $430
7th: Casey Goode, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-5, $415
7th: Wyatt Becker, West Salem, Wis., five bass, 13-5, $415
9th: Reid Runkel, Silver Lake, Wis., five bass, 13-0, $385
9th: Noah Lindus, Woodville, Mich., five bass, 13-0, $385
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Tyler Fitch of Fall River, Wisconsin, earned the $200 Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 4-pound, 12-ounce bass.
Jason Swanson of Waterloo, Iowa, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,255 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 6 ounces.
The Top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jason Swanson, Waterloo, Iowa, three bass, 10-6, $1,305
2nd: Nick Kramersmeier, Johnston, Iowa, three bass, 8-14, $625
3rd: Pat Herolt, Citrus Springs, Fla., three bass, 8-13, $335
4th: Shaun Hansen, Spring Grove, Minn., three bass, 8-9, $275
5th: Giarley Gonzalez, Big Bend, Wis., three bass, 8-6, $245
6th: Gage Griffin, Lake Forest, Ill., three bass, 8-4, $215
7th: Adam Beckwith, Madison, Wis., three bass, 8-1, $210
7th: Matthew Vang, Milwaukee, Wis., three bass, 7-14, $205
9th: Todd Earnest, Ham Lake, Minn., three bass, 7-12, $195
9th: Logan Kurth, Pound, Wis., three bass, 7-12, $195
Swanson also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a bass weighing 5 pounds even to earn the $100 prize.
After three events, boater Wyatt Becker of West Salem, Wisconsin, now leads the 7 Brew Great Lakes Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 738 points, while Jason Swanson of Waterloo, Iowa, leads the Great Lakes Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 737 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. 22-24 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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.
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, PirahnO2, 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.