SPRING CITY, Tenn. – Boater Kenneth Owens of Bean Station, Tennessee, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Watts Bar Lake. The tournament, hosted by Rhea County Department of Tourism – Fish Spring City, was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Owens earned $2,140 for his victory.

Owens said he focused on the lower end of the lake, and after practicing for two days had a good plan for the tournament.

“I caught a limit on the first stop,” Owens said. “It was topwater, swimbaits and jigs – I probably caught them on five different baits. I had about 15 pounds then and just culled up after that.”

Owens caught 12 keepers during the tournament, seven of which came early in the morning. Owens said he thought it would take more than 20 pounds to win the event, so he kept grinding to cull fish all day.

“It’s hard to predict because weights are so tight in tournaments,” Owens said. “There have been times I thought I had enough to win and it turned out I wasn’t even close.

“I hadn’t fished any of the Major League Fishing tournament for a while,” Owens went on to say. “I used to, then I spent some time away and focused on buddy team trails. But I decided to get back into MLF tournaments, and to get the win is a pretty great feeling.”

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing. com.

Bradley Stringfield of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award after landing a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $200.

Billy Farck of Harriman, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,020 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 10 pounds, 8 ounces.

Larry Griffith of Harriman, Tennessee, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $100.

After two events, Blake Wheat of Rockwood, Tennessee, now leads the 7 Brew Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 487 points, while Keith Gunsauls of Dandridge, Tennessee, leads the Volunteer Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 490 points.

The top 45 boaters and coanglers 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 Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia.

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 coanglers 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 longestrunning championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American.

The 2026 BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism.