WHITTINGTON, Ill. (July 20, 2026) – Boater Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Illinois, caught a total of five bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Rend Lake. The tournament was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Illini Division. Mull earned $5,460, including a $2,500 Phoenix bonus, for his victory.
Mull entered the tournament fresh off a victory at the Lake Shelbyville BFL event on June 27.
“I drew out as the last boat and was worried about not being able to get on anything that I wanted to get on,” Mull said. “But I actually ended up starting right where I wanted to, and it started out good with a 5-pounder right off the get-go. Then my co-angler caught one almost 5 and then a 2-pounder.
“It got tough after that,” Mull went on to say. “We just picked one up here and one there. About every hour and a half, I’d get a bite. It was just a grinder. Keep your head down and cover water.”
Mull’s limit of five bass were the only keepers he managed to pull from the south end of Rend during the tournament. He fished shallow – 1½-feet to 4-feet of water – and caught his limit using a jig and a Hideup Coike Fullcast Creature Bait.
“I caught my fifth fish in the last hour and told my co-angler, ‘I don’t know if I’ve won it or not, but I feel a lot better now,’” Mull said.
Mull notched his sixth BFL win with this back-to-back victory.
“This is wild,” Mull said. “It’s like every decision I make, lately, and everything I do just keeps going right. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m at a loss for words.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 20-1, $5,460 (includes $2,500 Phoenix bonus)
2nd: Tim Davis, East Alton, Ill., five bass, 15-10, $1,500
3rd: Garrett McDowell, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 15-5, $870
4th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., five bass, 14-7, $770
5th: Scott Neighbors, Makanda, Ill., five bass, 14-6, $550
6th: Greg Mullins, Mount Vernon, Ill., four bass, 12-7, $480
7th: William Walker, Zeigler, Ill., five bass, 11-13, $460
8th: Toby Corn, Paducah, Ky., four bass, 10-7, $440
9th: Jeremy Dhom, Teutopolis, Ill., four bass, 10-6, $420
10th: Jerry Walker, Zeigler, Ill., three bass, 10-2, $410
Jeremy Richardson of Benton, Illinois, earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass worth $200. Elmo Rogers of Albion, Illinois, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $1,630 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Elmo Rogers, Albion, Ill., three bass, 12-3, $1,630
2nd: Rowdy King, Shelbyville, Ill., three bass, 9-1, $750
3rd: Michael Harvel, Jonesboro, Ill., three bass, 8-7, $385
4th: Andy Hille, Effingham, Ill., three bass, 8-5, $310
5th: Thomas Heintz, Marion, Ill., three bass, 7-14, $275
6th: Nicholas Dewald, Florissant, Mo., two bass, 7-13, $240
7th: Addison Eggertsen, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 7-3, $230
8th: Logan Houba, Red Bud, Ill., three bass, 6-15, $215
8th: Brett Anderson, Woodlawn, Ill, three bass, 6-15, $215
10th: David Bunton, Iuka, Ill., two bass, 6-8, $205
Co-angler winner Rogers also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award, landing a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass worth $100.
After four events, tournament winner Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Illinois, now leads the 7 Brew Illini Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 984 points, while Gage Elder of Decatur, Illinois, leads the Illini Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 964 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-rend-72026.html
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