MOUNT IDA, Ark. (March 23, 2026) – Boater Jon Paulovich of Benton, Arkansas, caught a total of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Ouachita. The tournament was the second of five events of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Paulovich earned $3,640 for his victory.
Paulovich’s strategy for the event changed over the course of three days of practice before the tournament. He looked at fishing for spawning fish on the beds but decided he wouldn’t be able to win the tournament that way. So, he relied on a pattern that presented itself just before competition began.
“I found something late Friday where I could catch a few fish pretty quickly,” Paulovich said. “So, I ran to that first thing and picked up four fish doing that.
“I caught a 6-pounder Wednesday on some inside grasslines, so I went back out to the main lake and started doing that again, and that’s when I caught the big one that went 6-12,” Paulovich went on to say. “I didn’t catch that one until 12:20, and that was my fifth fish. Then I just upgraded from there. It was a really good day.”
Paulovich caught his biggest bass on a Carolina rig, but he preferred not to reveal his specific bait.
“It’s something people around here don’t throw, I can tell you that,” Paulovich said. “It’s something I picked up when I was fishing a tournament down at (Sam) Rayburn 10 years ago. And for whatever reason, it just works. I think it’s because the fish just don’t see it here. It’s not the typical lizard that everybody throws around here.”
Paulovich said he also found a Megabass Magdraft Swimbait, a bait that typically produces big bites, to be productive.
“At the very end of the day I was running back to weigh-in and I saw a point where the wind was blowing on it,” Paulovich said. “I pulled up and threw the Magdraft on the point, and one just crushed it. As I was culling out a fish I told my co-angler, ‘Put your life jacket on. We have got to go.’ And that’s the fish that won it for me. I culled up a pound with that one.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jon Paulovich, Benton, Ark., five bass, 18-1, $3,640
2nd: Scott Hardin, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 17-13, $1,680
3rd: Chris Darby, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 17-1, $850
4th: Matt Baker, Glenwood, Ark., five bass, 16-12, $930
5th: Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 16-7, $600
6th: Justin Bean, Benton, Ark., five bass, 15-14, $1,020 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
7th: Keith Green, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 15-6, $500
8th: Bobby Ammons, Waldron, Ark., five bass, 14-9, $480
9th: Derek Sandlin, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $460
10th: Timmy Cook, Haskell, Ark., five bass, 14-0, $430
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Paulovich’s 6-pound, 12-ounce lunker was the biggest of the day and earned the $200 Big Bass Boater award. Alan Bernicky of Dardanelle, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,970 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 9 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Alan Bernicky, Dardanelle, Ark., three bass, 9-15, $1,970
2nd: Derek Dixon, Pearcy, Ark., three bass, 9-5, $840
3rd: Jason Phillips, Rison, Ark., three bass, 9-4, $525
4th: Michael Brown, Arkadelphia, Ark., three bass, 8-10, $340
5th: Mark King, Gurdon, Ark., three bass, 8-9, $300
6th: Blake Ward, Sherwood, Ark., three bass, 7-15, $260
7th: Christian Knight, Alexander, Ark., three bass, 7-11, $250
8th: Edward Hendricks, Conway, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $240
9th: Buddy Rudolph, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 7-0, $230
10th: Jimmy Welch, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 6-14, $215
Jason Phillips of Rison, Arkansas, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 4-pound, 12-ounce bass worth $100.
After two events, Matt Baker of Glenwood, Arkansas, now leads the 7 Brew Arkie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 497 points, while Alan Bernicky of Dardanelle, Arkansas, leads the Arkie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 500 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-ouachita-32326.html
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