CANNELTON, Ind. (June 9, 2025) – Boaters Todd Hensley of New Albany, Indiana, and Chris Wilkinson of Farmersburg, Indiana, each caught a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to tie for the win at the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River at Rocky Point. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. Hensley earned $3,416, which includes contingency prizes, while Wilkinson earned $2,916.

A couple heavy storms the day before the tournament had a big impact on both winners, muddying up waters and limiting where they could get bit.

“I didn’t fish the main Ohio River,” Hensley said. “I fished in the creeks, and I was just targeting large stumps that the bass are spawning on.”

In practice, Hensley located three creeks where he could get bit. He fished his primary area in the morning and caught all his keepers on a tube.

“After that, about noon, I went to other areas and they were just so blown out by the rain, there was just nothing to catch there,” he added.

For Wilkinson, it was basically the same.

“Everything I was wanting to do kind of went to the wayside and muddied up,” he said. “This morning I just kind of went fishing. I went to an area where I did have one or two bites in practice, and I caught one there pretty early and just kind of stuck it out through the day.

“All my fish came off of wood, either laydowns or stumps,” he added. “I caught two early on a Hook Some Bass spinnerbait. And the rest came on a Natural Forage Flapper Hog.”

This makes 52 top-10 finishes and 11 wins for Wilkinson in a BFL career spawning two decades.

“It took me 10 years to figure it out though,” he joked. “The first 10 didn’t count. It (winning) just makes me want to keep going for more. Whenever it’s not special is when I’ll be done. I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.”

For Hensley, this is BFL win No. 4 and his 38th top-10 finish.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:        Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., five bass, 11-1, $3,416
1st:        Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 11-1, $2,916
3rd:       Jeffery Johnson, Austin, Ind., five bass, 9-8, $1,897 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Justin Berger, Murray, Ky., five bass, 9-3, $907
5th:        Chris Leclere, Cannelton, Ind., five bass, 9-1, $778
6th:        Kenny Hornsby, Goshen, Ohio, five bass, 9-0, $713
7th:        Brandon Barker, Magnet, Ind., five bass, 8-6, $648
8th:        Stacey Edwards, Milton, Ky., five bass, 8-4, $583
9th:        Kevin Meunier, Lamar, Ind., five bass, 8-3, $519
10th:     Brad Hostetler Jr., Franklin, Ind., five bass, 8-1, $454

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jeremy Johnson of Austin, Indiana, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $525.

Adam Troyer of Brownsburg, Indiana, won the co-angler division and $2,206 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1st:        Adam Troyer, Brownsburg, Ind., three bass, 7-13, $2,206
2nd:      Mason Bohland, Noblesville, Ind., three bass, 5-14, $972
3rd:       Martin Bryant, North Vernon, Ind., three bass, 5-8, $699
4th:        Aaron Powell, Leitchfield, Ky., three bass, 5-6, $454
5th:        Adam Lohr, Boonville, Ind., three bass, 5-5, $389
6th:        Daniel Fromme, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 5-0, $356
7th:        David Prater, Franklin, Ohio, three bass, 4-11, $324
8th:        Charlie Kuebler, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 4-10, $292
9th:        Stu Laughead, Vine Grove, Ky., three bass, 4-9, $243
9th:        Dan Pardue, Morgantown, Ind., three bass, 4-9, $243

Troyer also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $262, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

After two events, Jamil Abdullah of Indianapolis, Indiana, now leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 485 points, while Martin Bryant of North Vernon, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 489 points.

The next event for BFL Hoosier Division anglers will be held June 28, at Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Indiana. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.

The top 60 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. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Kentucky-Barkley Lakes out of Paris, 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 award of $20,000.

The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is 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 tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.