Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships

Michigan angler and former Bassmaster Elite Series^® pro earns $5,000 at the 2024 B.A.S.S. ^® Nation Championship on Oklahoma’s famed Grand Lake. 

It’s no secret that blue-collared anglers are the lifeblood of tournament bass fishing. Many anglers work long hours throughout the week, waking up early and coming home late to take care of their families and hopefully make just enough scratch to enter some tournaments every now and then.

That’s exactly the story of 37-year-old Luke Gritter from Otsego, Mich., who runs a residential construction company that has been in his family for over 60 years. The knuckle-busting labor and late nights allowed him to qualify for the 2024 B.A.S.S.^® Nation Championship on Grand Lake. Just as you’d expect, the long drive to Oklahoma didn’t stop him from an impressive 19th-place finish in exceptionally challenging conditions.

“I did pre-practice on Grand but before that, I’d never seen the lake in my life,” Gritter said. “We got nine inches of rain in the two days of official practice, so everything most of us found was totally washed out by the time the tournament started. The top-half of the lake was super muddy but there were a few creeks down the lake that were much cleaner.”

With this knowledge, he relied heavily on a run-and-gun approach. He knew he could catch decent keepers as far south as Duck Creek while pitching around the backs of pockets and drains, but that meant a lot of cranks and trust in his Yamaha 250-horsepower V6 V MAX SHO^®.

“I was jumping around like crazy, but I didn’t really have a choice,” Gritter said. “I’d fish five minutes in one little creek and bounce to the next one. Then, I’d make a long run back to the upper end of Grand Lake to the dirty water, and that’s where I normally caught my bigger ones.”

The outboard Gritter is currently running happens to be his third Yamaha, and the Michigan angler didn’t have any reservations about his strategy.

“Man, these outboards are just so reliable,” he said. “The hole shot is amazing, and the service is super easy. I can’t remember a single time I’ve had to sit on the sidelines or at a service trailer waiting for motor work. No matter what the pattern is and regardless of where I feel like I need to run, the last thing I worry about is my outboard.”

For his finish, Gritter earned a solid $5,000 check from the Yamaha Power Pay program, making his solid finish even sweeter. It’s safe to say he’s sold on the performance, dependability and fuel mileage of these outboards.

There are dozens of collegiate, amateur and semi-pro tournament trails sanctioned by the Yamaha Power Pay program. To become eligible for bonus payouts, anglers have to register. It’s free to sign up and just like Luke Gritter, you don’t have to place first in your tournament to cash in on the Power Pay money. To learn more, please visit https://yamahapowerpay.com/.