Emil Wagner wins the BFL Regional on Clarks Hill with 55-10

Emil Wagner of Marietta, Georgia, won the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional on Clarks Hill Lake, which ended Saturday, Oct. 17, out of Appling, Georgia. According to Major League Fishing, Wagner had a three-day total of 15 bass for 55 pounds, 10 ounces. His prize package was worth $57,100: a Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower outboard plus a $7,000 Phoenix MLF bonus. Emery Burnett of Appling was second with 50-1 and also won big bass with a 7-pound, 5-ounce fish. Nolan Holloway of Madison, Georgia, was third with 47-0.

Wagner told MLF that wind, water clarity and fishing pressure made him rethink how he usually fishes a herring lake. He used forward-facing sonar each day from about 9 a.m. to noon, and he weighed eight fish caught with it and seven without. He flipped and skipped jigs to bushes and docks, threw topwater and a crankbait, and fished a Neko rig and a shaky head around rocks. He said he caught his three biggest bass on the windy last afternoon with the sonar turned off.

Keith Gunsauls of Dandridge, Tennessee, won the co-angler division with nine bass for 24 pounds even and a Phoenix 518 Pro worth $33,550. The event was the regional championship for the Bulldog, North Carolina, Shenandoah and Volunteer divisions. The top seven boaters and co-anglers from the regional qualify for the 2027 Phoenix BFL All-American, and Wagner said getting back to that event mattered to him.

Photo: Major League Fishing (Phoenix BFL Regional on Clarks Hill Lake, Oct. 17, 2026).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Major League Fishing — Marietta’s Wagner earns victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional on Clarks Hill Lake (Oct. 19, 2026).