Major League Fishing At Lake Of The Ozarks! Top Anglers To Compete This Weekend

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — Hundreds of boaters will descend on Lake of the Ozarks this week to compete in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League for the top prize of $60,000. 

The Phoenix BFL, presented by T-H Marine's Great Lakes, Hoosier, LBL, and Okie divisions, will close out the 2023 season in Osage Beach from Oct. 19-21.

Hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association, the three-day regional tournament will feature the top 45 boaters and co-anglers, plus tournament winners from all four divisions, battling it out for prizes including a Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000. There will also be lucrative contingency awards, including up to an additional $7,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus. Strike King co-anglers will compete for a top prize of $50,000, including the same Phoenix bass boat. Winners will be determined by the heaviest three-day catch.

The top six finishers in each regional will qualify for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing: the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The highest finishing boater from each division will also receive a $1,000 bonus, and the highest finishing co-angler from each division will receive a $500 bonus.

Typical Lake of the Ozarks fall patterns were not really in play at the MLF Toyota Series event earlier in October, but cooler temperatures should have the fish transitioning into their traditional autumn routine. Jigs, creature baits, and plastic worms will all be popular options for tournament competitors, as will topwater and squarebill crankbaits. A 14- to 16-pound-a-day average over the three-day competition will likely be needed by boaters seeking to advance to the All-American. The winner is projected to have about 44 to 48 pounds.

Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. each day from Public Beach No. 2 at the  State Park (711 Public Beach Road in Osage Beach). Weigh-ins will also be held at the landing and will begin at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the action online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2023 Phoenix BFL consisted of 24-divisions devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season and five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, advance to one of six Phoenix BFL Regionals. The 2024 BFL All-American will be held May 29-31 at Cherokee Lake in Jefferson County, Tenn.

The top boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division will also earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and ultimately the Bass Pro Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Sponsors of the 2023 league include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news, and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Ky., the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement, and fish care.