Sorrow and Head post convincing victory at TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship
ANDERSON, S.C. — There is no sorrow when you’re head of the pack on the final day of the TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship.
In fact, smiles abounded for Peyton Sorrow and Dalton Head on Thursday after they posted a commanding win on Lake Hartwell.
The tandem, representing the Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Fall Series, caught limits of five bass on both days of the derby, giving them a total of 10 bass for 38 pounds, 9 ounces. That was more than 5 pounds heavier than their closest competitors and it secured Sorrow and Head the $50,000 cash prize awarded to the winning duo on this 76,450-acre reservoir along the South Carolina/Georgia border.
Both Sorrow, 21, and Head, 22, compete for the University of Montevallo (Ala.) bass fishing team. Sorrow is from Abbeville, S.C., less than 40 miles southeast of historic Green Pond Landing, and he cut his teeth fishing on Hartwell. Head, a native of Moody, Ala., often travels north with his teammate to try his luck at one of America’s most-fabled bass fisheries.
The pair fished with that sort of knowledge and confidence in the Team Championship. After catching 22-13 on Day 1 (good for a 4 1/2 -pound cushion on the field), they followed with 15-12 on what proved to be a difficult day for most anglers. A 2 1/2-hour fog delay complicated matters with boats not taking off until 10 a.m. Thursday morning.
“Yesterday we had a really quick start and that helped relax us,” Head said. “Today, when we didn’t start quickly, it kind of felt like the wheels were spinning off. But we just kept plunking away and it eventually worked out for us.”
Sorrow said he and Head had nine bites between them on Thursday, when Hartwell’s bite was altered beneath heavy cloud cover and temperatures that didn’t climb out of the 40s. In all, 115 of the teams caught limits on Thursday when 163 had limits a day earlier.
“We weighed two largemouth and three (spotted bass) today,” Sorrow said. “Of the nine bites, two were nonkeepers and two others were extremely small. The five we weighed really counted today.”
That certainly was a different scenario than seen on Wednesday, when Head lit into a 6-3 largemouth early and Sorrow hooked a 5-12 late in the day to pad their lead.
“We were throwing a crawfish-colored jig and a green pumpkin Neko worm in anywhere from 15 feet of water to 8 feet of water,” Sorrow said. “We were putting the trolling motor down and stopping at anything that looked good, whether it was a steep drop on a point or a long, flat point. We’d move really slow and try to pick it apart … Some of the fish were suspended and some were so tight to the bottom you couldn’t see them.”
With the victory, Sorrow and Head advance to the Classic Fish-Off portion of this tournament, to be held Friday and Saturday on Hartwell. The Top 5 tandems in the Team Championship (10 anglers in all) have had their weights zeroed and they’ll fish individually, with the leader after Saturday’s weigh-in claiming the last spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour when it’s held March 13-15 on the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.
Joining them in the Fish-Off are, second, Bradley Day and Justin Raines, Lake Hartwell 5 Alive No Scope, 33-5, $17,000; third, Xander Patton and Austin McCall, Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Scope Trail, 33-1, $12,000; fourth, Hudson Choquette and Barrett Choquette, Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation, 31-15, $8,000; and fifth, Fisher Anaya and Ryan Anaya, Alabama Bass Trail, 31-8, $6,000.
The Anayas, a father-son team, also reached the 2024 Team Championship at Kentucky Lake.
Brad Stalnaker and Chris Lumpkin, of Georgia-based Berry’s Team Trail, weighed the heaviest bass at Hartwell — a 6-4 they boated on Wednesday that earned them a $500 prize. Anderson Jones, of the South Carolina-based Palmetto Boat Center Series, won the Garmin Rewards Trolling Motor Award of $500 for being the top angler using that equipment in the tournament. Jared Whitt, of West Virginia-based Ferguson’s Great Outdoors Trail, won the Garmin Rewards Electronics Award of $500.
In all, 200 teams from 48 different states and three other countries qualified for the Team Championship via their respective team trails. A total of $120,000 was divided among the Top 50 teams competing at Lake Hartwell.
Barrett Newton and Wesley Kent were disqualified from the 2025 TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship for violation of Rule No. 5, Part III, regarding receiving information from a noncompetitor about catching bass on tournament waters during a no-information period.
Historic Green Pond Landing, 470 Green Pond Road, in Anderson, S.C., is home to the 2025 TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship and Classic Fish-Off. Day 1 of the Fish-Off is set to begin at 7:20 a.m. ET on Friday. Weigh-in is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Visit Anderson and Green Pond Landing are hosting the week’s events.
2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Team Championship Title Sponsor: TNT Fireworks
2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Series Title Sponsor: Mercury
2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Series Presenting Sponsor: Lowrance
2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Series
2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Series
2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Series
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2025 TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship 12/3-12/4
Lake Hartwell, Anderson SC.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Peyton Sorrow – Dalton Head Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Fall Serie 0
Day 1: 5 22-13 Day 2: 5 15-12 Total: 10 38-09
2. Bradley Day – Justin Raines Lake Hartwell 5 Alive No Scope 0
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 16-05 Total: 10 33-05
3. Xander Patton – Austin Mccall Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Scope Trai 0
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 17-04 Total: 10 33-01
4. Hudson Choquette – Barrett Choquette Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation 0
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 17-00 Total: 10 31-15
5. Fisher Anaya – Ryan Anaya Alabama Bass Trail 0
Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 15-03 Total: 10 31-08
6. Avery Padgett – David Fincher Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation 0
Day 1: 5 17-15 Day 2: 5 13-07 Total: 10 31-06
7. Damien Willis – Tyler Kiker Alabama Bass Trail 0
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 11-11 Total: 10 29-15
8. Alex Korol – Cameron Alldredge Empire Team Trail 0
Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 16-04 Total: 10 29-11
9. Peyton Dunn – Luke Mcguffin Palmetto Boat Center 0
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 14-01 Total: 10 29-10
