GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – Boater Zach Hedges of Utica, Kentucky, caught a three-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Kentucky-Barkley Lake. The tournament, hosted by Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL LBL Division. Hedges earned $2,590 for his victory.
Hedges, who is only 19 years old, began his morning using his Garmin LiveScope for the first three hours of the day to target schooling bass. He headed south toward Paris Landing to what he thought would be his most promising school and landed 12 pounds in his first hour of fishing.
“I ran some more schools after that and even after my LiveScope period hoping I could pick up one or two more,” Hedges said. “But that never happened. So, I went back to my starting school and caught one that went almost 4 pounds and that one put me at 13 pounds.”
Hedges said he targeted the schools on ledges with a spoon as well as a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm on a shaky-head rig. His method produced around 30 keepers during the day, but Hedges said he wasn’t confident in his chances for a win.
“I figured I was going to be the first or second guy out of reach of winning it,” Hedges said. “I really thought it would take more than 13 pounds. This just feels amazing – feels really good.”
The Top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Zach Hedges, Utica, Ky., three bass, 13-1, $2,590
2nd: Jon Fatheree, Grantsburg, Ill., three bass, 12-10, $1,530
3rd: Sam Boss, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 12-9, $700
4th: Brad Galbreath, Ashland City, Tenn., three bass, 11-12, $570
5th: Cody Santel, Benton, Ky., three bass, 11-9, $610
6th: Toby Corn, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 11-5, $450
7th: Noah Morgan, Russellville, Ky., three bass, 11-3, $430
8th: Sam Lashlee, Camden, Tenn., three bass, 11-0, $420
9th: Ryan Kirkpatrick, Benton, Ky., three bass, 10-11, $400
10th: Damon Brown, Mayfield, Ky., three bass, 10-4, $390
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Jon Fatheree of Grantsburg, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass worth $200.
Kristin Hamilton of Mount Washington, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,295 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 14 ounces.
The Top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Kristin Hamilton, Mount Washington, Ky., three bass, 10-14, $1,295
2nd: Daniel Nolen, Lexington, Tenn., three bass, 9-9, $665
3rd: Matt Chumbler, Carbondale, Ill., three bass, 9-2, $400
4th: Brian Huber, St. Charles, Mo., three bass, 8-2, $285
5th: Joey Cambron, Morganfield, Ky., three bass, 7-13, $255
6th: Jaren Frick, Boaz, Ky., three bass, 7-9, $225
7th: Owen Ray, Spring City, Tenn., three bass, 7-8, $220
8th: Josh Mileur, Murphysboro, Ill., three bass, 7-0, $210
9th: Corey Green, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 6-14, $200
10th: Micah Walker, Murphysboro, Ill., three bass, 6-11, $195
Michael League of Sparta, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $100.
After four events, Noah Morgan of Russellville, Kentucky, now leads the 7 Brew LBL Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 989 points, while Marcus Mann of Benton, Kentucky, leads the LBL Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 964 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 Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee. 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.