TRENTON, Mich. (July 28, 2025) – Boater Aaron Jagdfeld of Rochester, Michigan, caught a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Detroit River. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Michigan Division. Jagdfeld earned $3,926 for his victory.
“I’ve been chasing another one of these for a while,” said Jagdfeld, whose last win came in an MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing event back in 2021. “To finally get it done feels incredible – especially on such a stacked body of water like this one.”
Jagdfeld made the long run north and set up on Lake St. Clair, where he committed to covering as much water as possible. He struck early with two big bites in the morning, but things quickly cooled off under cloudy skies. Rather than panic or hunker down, Jagdfeld stayed mobile – a decision that proved to be the turning point in his day.
“It was a grind for a while,” he said. “The bite just shut down, but I had a spot in the back of my mind that I’d seen in practice. When the sun finally popped out around noon, I had a hunch those fish might lift off the bottom, and that’s exactly what they did. I pulled up and saw them five feet off the bottom, and they were tanks.”
Jagdfeld’s winning area was isolated and unpressured, a stark contrast from the boat traffic he faced earlier in the day.
“In the morning I was around a bunch of guys, but in the afternoon I didn’t see another boat,” he said. “I think that really helped. I was able to settle in and focus on getting the right bites.”
Armed with forward-facing sonar and a Rapala Crush City Freeloader rigged on a VMC Hybrid jighead, Jagdfeld picked apart the water column and put together a limit of heavyweight smallmouth that ultimately sealed the deal.
“That setup was key,” he explained. “The Freeloader let me target those fish when they were suspended just off the bottom, and I was able to trigger some really aggressive bites.”
In total, Jagdfeld estimates he caught about 30 fish over the course of the day. His co-angler also found success, bringing in three quality bass for 8-1/4 pounds. While many anglers made the move to St. Clair due to a tougher bite elsewhere, Jagdfeld believes the timing of his decision was the difference.
“St. Clair’s just starting to turn on right now, and I think I hit it right,” he said. “It’s only going to get better over the next few weeks, but today I had it all to myself when it counted.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Aaron Jagdfeld, Rochester, Mich., five bass, 25-5, $3,926
2nd: Chris Hellebuyck, White Lake, Mich., five bass, 23-0, $1,963
3rd: Nolan Mandel, Kimball, Mich., five bass, 22-9, $1,309
4th: Julian Sweet, Flint, Mich., five bass, 22-6, $916
5th: Trent Wilt, Manitou Beach, Mich., five bass, 21-12, $785
6th: Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 21-11, $720
7th: Noah Stauffer, Gowen, Mich., five bass, 21-9, $654
8th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 20-14, $589
9th: Brock Vogel, Perrysburg, Ohio, five bass, 20-8, $523
10th: Matt Mosby, Dryden, Mich., five bass, 20-7, $458
Boater Matt Mosby of Dryden, Michigan, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $530. Mark Lyons of Marion, Indiana, won the co-angler division and $1,963 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Mark Lyons, Marion, Ind., three bass, 12-13, $1,963
2nd: Erick Schenavar, Newport, Mich., three bass, 11-12, $981
3rd: Justen Fain, Springfield, Ohio, three bass, 11-11, $655
4th: Terry Bucciarelli, Ypsilanti, Mich., three bass, 11-9, $458
5th: Dan Beach, Clarkston, Mich., three bass, 11-8, $377
5th: Albert Davis, Wayne, Ohio, three bass, 11-8, $377
7th: Cullan Parker, Lorain, Ohio, three bass, 11-6, $327
8th: Robert Hernandez, Canton, Mich., three bass, 11-5, $294
9th: Scott Davis, Morenci, Mich., three bass, 10-15, $262
10th: Max Sato, Troy, Mich., three bass, 10-14, $229
Co-anglers Anthony Gilmore of Livonia, Michigan, and Adam Suliman of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, both caught bass weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces, to split the co-angler Berkley Big Bass award of $265.
After three events, Nolan Mandel of Kimball, Michigan, now leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 745 points, while Scott Sims of Morgantown, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 728 points.
The next event for BFL Michigan Division anglers will be held Aug. 23 at the Detroit River out of Trenton, Michigan.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-detroit-river-72825.html
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