LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2026) – Boater Travis Young of Polk City, Florida, caught five bass weighing 28 pounds even to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Harris Chain of Lakes. The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Gator Division Presented by Merman’s Revenge. Young earned $7,640, including a $2,500 Phoenix bonus, for his victory.
Young said when he wants to fish for fun he heads to the Kissimmee Chain, but has put in hours at the Harris Chain as well – a ‘decent bit, but not a ton’. He said he found fish during practice holding in a canal in Little Lake Harris and he decided that would be his starting spot.
Saturday morning, he started the tournament in the canal and by 8:20 a.m. had more than 20 pounds of bass in the livewell. By 9:20 he had more than 22 pounds. At that point, he decided that canal was pretty good and decided to stay there all day.
“I was junk fishing,” Young said. “I was fishing seawall mainly. I also threw around natural stuff. I threw the tackle box – a wacky rig, buzzbait, frog, ChatterBait, underspin. I actually threw a grub for a little while, and a shaky-head rig.”
Young said he caught 20 bass during the course of the tournament, and he weighed in two bass that fell for a Chatterbait, two on a frog and one on the buzzbait.
“I knew it was going to take a bag to win,” Young went on to say. “I was thinking I needed 15 pounds for a check. I was surprised at how low the weights were. At 20 pounds, my co-angler said, ‘You should be in the top 10.’ When I hit 25 pounds he said, ‘Ok, you’ve got a trophy.’ When I hit 27 or 28, he said I should have first place, and I agreed.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Travis Young, Polk City, Fla., five bass, 28-0, $7,640 (includes $2,500 Phoenix bonus)
2nd: Sean Wooten, Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 26-11, $2,480
3rd: Tyler Sheppard, Yulee, Fla., five bass, 20-14, $1,200
4th: Kennie Steverson, Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 19-4, $950
5th: Tyler Nekolny, Coral Springs, Fla., five bass, 19-3, $1,020
6th: Roger Wheeler, Chipley, Fla., five bass, 17-7, $675
6th: Evrett Hunter, Nokomis, Fla., five bass, 17-7, $675
8th: Danny Inabnett, De Leon Springs, Fla., five bass, 16-13, $630
9th: Gage Foster, St. Cloud, Fla., five bass, 16-8, $590
10th: Robert Burlew, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 16-6, $560
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Tyler Nekolny of Coral Springs, Florida, earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing a 9-pound, 12-ounce bass worth $200. Tim Endris of Salt Springs, Florida, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,520 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Tim Endris, Salt Springs, Fla., three bass, 15-10, $2,520
2nd: Chris Nickle, Sanford, Fla., three bass, 13-5, $1,340
3rd: Steve Roller, Fort Thomas, Ky., three bass, 12-14, $600
4th: Steve Cornell, Crestview, Fla., three bass, 11-5, $625
5th: Jordan Elmore, Saint Petersburg, Fla., three bass, 11-4, $410
6th: Anthony Valachovic, Coral Springs, Fla., three bass, 11-2, $345
7th: Mike Tucker, Yalaha, Fla., three bass, 10-8, $330
8th: William Norris II, Ocoee, Fla., three bass, 10-5, $315
9th: Dorian Weber, Wellington, Fla, three bass, 10-3, $300
10th: Pat Herolt, Citrus Springs, Fla., three bass, 10-1, $280
Steve Cornell of Crestview, Florida, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing an 8-pound, 4-ounce bass worth $100.
After two events, Dylan Quilatan of Windermere, Florida, now leads the 7 Brew Gator Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 485 points, while Jordan Elmore of Saint Petersburg, Florida, leads the Gator Division Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 495 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-harris-22326.html
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