From the Major League Bass Tour
Boater Landon Lawson of Jonesborough, Tennessee, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 47 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on LakeMurray Presented by Mando Deodorant.
The tournament, which was hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism, concluded Saturday. For his win, Lawson earned a prize package valued at $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200hp Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The Lake Murray event served as the Regional championship for the BFL North Carolina and Savannah River divisions. The field included the top 60 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each division’s tournament winners.
Lawson practiced for the Lake Murray tournament for two days and said he caught 16 or 17 pounds a day but wasn’t really on the bass well enough to be confident. On the first day of competition, he asked his co-angler if there were any spots he wanted to try fishing.
“We ran to his place, and the wind was blowing on it,” Lawson said. “I had never fished this spot on Lake Murray. I had fished around it and on both sides of it but had never fished this spot. I just took off Scoping, and there were big ones swimming everywhere.
“I hadn’t caught anything in practice before 10 o’clock, but on Day 1 I caught 22 pounds before 9:30,” Lawson added. “Every fish wasn’t big, but every one out of five would be a big one.”
Lawson said he rotated baits on the mid-lake spot between a Rapala Crush City Freeloader and a drop-shot rig, fished in 15 to 30 feet of water. After his early limit, he spent the rest of his day searching for other areas that might be productive for the tournament. Lawson said he didn’t find anything of interest to him that had the potential of his Day 1 spot – he couldn’t seem to catch a bass that weighed more than 3 1/2 pounds.
“On Day 2 I hunkered down in that same spot and just sat,” Lawson said. “I just let the wind blow me and fished as many cane piles and brush piles as I could.
“I know that lake is full of big ones, and a 27-pound bag can be had there,” Lawson went on to say. “This time of year, it’s a little tougher. On the second day, around 3 o’clock, I had a 3.6-pound fish in the livewell along with a 5-pounder and a couple of 4-pounders to go with them. I ended up hooking one that jumped four feet in the air, and it was as thick as a basketball. I looked at my co-angler and said, ‘This is her. This is the ball game.’ I landed her and she weighed 5-something. It was incredible.”
For his victory, Lawson now qualifies to compete in the 2026 Phoenix BFL All-American.
Jeff Knight of Lancaster, South Carolina, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $1,000 for landing a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces – the biggest of the tournament.
Kaleb Turner of Hartwell, Georgia, won the co-angler division Saturday after bringing a two-day total of six bass weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce, to the scale. Turner earned the top co-angler award of $15,461 for his victory.
Trevor Lewis of Wake Forest, N.C. caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $500.
The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine was 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, now 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 43rd annual BFL All-American. The BFL All-American will take place May 28-30, 2026, at Lake Murray in Columbia, and is hosted by the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board.
