TRENTON, Mich. (June 30, 2025) – Boater Ty Fain of Springfield, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Detroit River. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Michigan Division. Fain earned $4,385 for his victory.
“I made a long boat ride all the way out to Pelee (an area on the Canadian side of Lake Erie),” Fain said. “I fished anywhere from 10 to 20 foot of water. I fished a little bit on the north shore of Lake Erie, too, and I caught 20 to 25 fish all on a drop-shot.”
Fain’s decision to run out to the famed Pelee area came down to his history in that part of the lake, and “just being comfortable” in that area. Of course, it helped that the weather was nice enough for him to make it there and back in a reasonable amount of time. The trip left him about 2 1/2 hours to fish around Pelee and a couple more hours on the north shore. His primarily lures included smallmouth staples like a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm and Flatnose Minnow.
“I would say they were decently spread out,” added Fain about the smallmouth bass he was targeting. “It wasn’t like a real tight group of fish or anything like that.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Ty Fain, Springfield, Ohio, five bass, 23-3, $4,385
2nd: Cody Kelley, Plainwell, Mich., five bass, 22-10, $2,193
3rd: Aaron Jagdfeld, Rochester, Mich., five bass, 22-9, $2,063 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Nolan Mandel, Kimball, Mich., five bass, 22-5, $1,023
5th: Brock Vogel, Perrysburg, Ohio, five bass, 22-2, $877
6th: Lucas Toliver, Paw Paw, Mich., five bass, 21-9, $804
7th: Joshua Barr, Louisville, Ohio, five bass, 20-0, $731
8th: Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 19-15, $585
8th: Cody Dawson, Mount Vernon, Ohio, five bass, 19-15, $585
8th: Clinton Moring, Fort Wayne, Ind., five bass, 19-15, $585
Jesse Hickman of Waynesville, Ohio, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $620. Terry Bucciarelli of Ypsilanti, Michigan, won the co-angler division and $2,593 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 12 co-anglers finished:
1st: Terry Bucciarelli, Ypsilanti, Mich., three bass, 12-15, $2,593
2nd: Brian Ruetz, Toledo, Ohio, three bass, 12-3, $1,096
3rd: Rosario Murello, Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 12-1, $730
4th: Cody Salzmann, Southgate, Mich., three bass, 11-13, $512
5th: Mark Lyons, Marion, Ind., three bass, 11-7, $439
6th: Steve Doak, Sylvania, Ohio, three bass, 11-3, $402
7th: James Welch, Litchfield, Maine, three bass, 10-15, $415
8th: Klaus Kuester, Forest Park, Ill., three bass, 10-14, $329
9th: Philip Castrodale, West Bloomfield, Mich., three bass, 10-11, $292
10th: Scott Sims, Morgantown, Ind., three bass, 10-10, $232
10th: Ryan Legg, Parma, Ohio, three bass, 10-10, $232
10th: Stephen Waggoner, New Whiteland, Ind., three bass, 10-10, $232
Joseph Gnaster of Crown Point, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $310, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
In addition to winning the event, Ty Fain of Springfield, Ohio, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Terry Bucciarelli of Ypsilanti, Michigan, leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.
The next event for BFL Michigan Division anglers will be held July 12, at the Detroit River out of Trenton, Michigan.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-detroit-63025.html
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