SHELBYVILLE, Ill. – Boater Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Illinois, caught a total of five bass weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Shelbyville. The tournament was the third of five events of the season for the BFL Illini Division. Mull earned $5,280, including a $2,500 Phoenix bonus, for his victory.
“I had a terrible practice,” Mull said. “I got one bite late in the last hour of practice that kind of keyed me in to what I thought they may be doing. I had that one bite, and I just ran with that, and it actually resulted in a very good tournament.”
Mull said he fished mid-lake to the dam and relied on a green pumpkin 3/8-ounce Strike King Denny Brauer Baby Structure Jig to trigger strikes in 6 to 8 feet of water. High water had left the old bank line of green brush submerged, and Mull focused his jig on the brush on the old bank line. Mull said his method accounted for 15 keepers during the tournament.
“All day long I kept thinking I needed one more big one,” Mull said. “I had my biggest bite with an hour left to go, and it was almost a 4-pounder, but even still at that point I thought, ‘I need one more big one.’ You never feel like you’ve got enough.”
His weight of 16-8, however, proved to be enough, and Mull recorded his fifth BFL win on Lake Shelbyville.
“This feels wonderful,” Mull said. “I love Shelbyville. It’s one of the better lakes around here, but it can be a very tough lake, too. I’ve spent a lot of time on it, and getting another win there is great.”
The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 16-8, $5,280 (includes $2,500 Phoenix bonus)
2nd: Jon Kringer, Cowden, Ill., five bass, 14-3, $1,420
3rd: Matthew Warren, Benton, Ill., five bass, 12-14, $740
4th: Robert Neff, Roodhouse, Ill., five bass, 12-12, $600
5th: Chandler Larson, Dekalb, Ill., four bass, 11-2, $730
6th: Garrett McDowell, Windsor, Ill., four bass, 9-13, $460
7th: Dan Shoraga, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 9-6, $450
8th: Larry Caldwell, Saint Peters, Mo., four bass, 9-4, $430
9th: Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., four bass, 9-1, $410
10th: Marion Cordes, Sullivan, Ill., three bass, 8-5, $400
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Chandler Larson of Dekalb, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass worth $200.
Andy Hille of Effingham, Illinois, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,390 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 2 ounces.
The Top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Andy Hille, Effingham, Ill., three bass, 10-2, $1,390
2nd: Michael Ratts, Iuka, Ill., three bass, 9-12, $810
3rd: Tyler Madlem, Kalamazoo, Mich., three bass, 8-1, $370
4th: Brandon, Depew, Odin, Ill., three bass, 7-14, $300
5th: Scott Payne, Ingraham, Ill., three bass, 7-9, $265
6th: Ken Landreth, Belleville, Ill., two bass, 6-14, $230
7th: John Schuessler, Decatur, Ill., three bass, 6-9, $230
8th: Jojo Johnson, Benton, Ill., three bass, 5-13, $215
9th: Tad Cain, La Place, Ill., two bass, 5-6, $210
10th: Scott McCleery, Winchester, Ill., three bass, 5-5, $200
Michael Ratts of Iuka, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass worth $100.
After three events, tournament winner Mull now leads the 7 Brew Illini Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 734 points, while Gage Elder of Decatur, Illinois, leads the Illini Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 729 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. 15-17 BFL Regional tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lake in Calvert City, Kentucky. 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, 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.