The BFL Wild Card is an annual event held at the conclusion of the BFL postseason as a last-chance opportunity to make the All-American. It’s open to BFL contestants who pay an entry fee prior to the tournament for all five tournaments in a division, fish two or more tournaments in the same division, and do not make a Regional championship. Sixty-four boaters and co-anglers competed in this season’s Wild Card tournament.
Clevenger capitalized on homefield advantage and a seasonal shift in fishing regulations to seal up the Wild Card win in front of the hometown fans. In the fall, anglers are allowed to keep five smallmouths over 15 inches, while summertime regs on Cherokee limit anglers to just one smallie over 18.
“Obviously, I’ve spent quite a bit of time out there, with it being pretty much my home lake for my whole life,” he said. “I kind of knew with the smallmouth being in play, I knew the areas that played more with smallmouth versus a mix of both. And I knew how the smallmouth were biting from when the BFL (Volunteer Division Super Tournament) got cancelled previously. So I kind of just stayed in the few areas that I knew bigger ones lived, but also knew where tournament history had been won. I stayed in those areas and found some stuff that people weren’t really fishing as much as the obvious stuff.”
When Clevenger was prepping for the Super Tournament in September, he found fish setting up a bit deeper on current breaks. Now that the current has reduced and the weather has cooled, the fish have moved shallower.
He rotated through a handful of areas, using Garmin LiveScope and a Queen Tackle 3/16- or 1/4-ounce jighead to “scope” quality keeper smallmouth each day. One of the keys, however, was not getting too dialed in. Instead, Clevenger stayed flexible, rotated around and reacted to what he saw each day.
“Day one was very, very rough,” Clevenger said. “I had one bass at 12 o’clock, and I kind of knew it was going to be that way from how practice had went. I was on more of a later-in-the-day bite, I would say. So day one was pretty tough. I was confident in what I was doing and that I was doing the right thing for the bite that I was on, so I just stuck with it all day and managed to catch my fifth keeper on day one at 3:30. I was due in at 4.”
Day two, Clevenger enjoyed a morning turnaround – and some last-minute heroics once again.
“It actually started out a little better than I expected,” he said. “I had two by like 9:30, 10 o’clock, and then I kind of went and sampled some stuff. I ended up rolling up on a point at like 11:30 and filled my limit by 12:30. I jumped off a couple big ones, but then after that I kind of knew that I had a chance to do something special, being on my home place. I pulled up on a point and wound up culling two times off the point, and this was by about 2 o’clock. And then I knew my best chance at catching a 3-plus-pounder was down the lake closer to the area where I’d found a lot bigger fish. I actually ended up pulling up at a place that I’ve known about for a while and I didn’t check until day one of the tournament. I ended up catching a 3-pounder and one right at 4. I caught those at like 3:45, and I was due in at 4:30.”
The late culls helped boost the Abu Garcia College Fishing angler up from second place to first for the Wild Card win and a shot at his first All-American title.
Gary Haraguchi of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, won the Strike King co-angler division Saturday after bringing a two-day total of four bass weighing 9 pounds, 3 ounces, to the scale. For his win, Haraguchi won $1,127.
The top six Strike King co-anglers who qualified for the 2025 All-American finished:
1st: Gary Haraguchi, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 9-3, $1,127
2nd: Hunter Tibbetts, Centreville, Va., three bass, 5-9, $563
3rd: Andrew Rogers, Johnson City, Tenn., two bass, 5-8, $376
4th: D. Michael Lowe, Clinton, Tenn., two bass, 5-2, $263
5th: Joe Yocum, Commercial Point, Ohio, two bass, 4-6, $225
6th: Bill Hockaday, Nashville, Ark., one bass, 3-15, $564
The rest of the top 10 finished:
7th: Richard Hooter, Natchitoches, La., two bass, 3-12, $188
8th: Marcus Dudley, Twinsburg, Ohio, one bass, 3-1, $169
9th: Nicholas Ploussard, Saint Francis, Minn., one bass, 3-0
10th: William Lewis, Jacksonville, Fla., one bass, 2-11
Bill Hockaday of Nashville, Arkansas, won the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $107 for catching a bass that weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
The father-son duo of Trevor and Alex Prince caught a mixed bag of spotted and largemouth bass weighing 17-lbs 15-ounces to win the 13th Annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament on Lake Hartwell. This was the Prince’s first time fishing the Bonus Bucks Owners event, though the 2023 Tundra they drove to legendary Green Pond Landing in is the fourth Tundra Trevor Prince has owned.
“I’ve always liked the look of Toyota Tundras and you can’t beat the reliability,” the elder Prince said. “All you have to do is put gas in them and go! That’s why I’ve continued to buy one after another… they are rock solid. I’ve won some money through Bonus Bucks over the years, too, so it’s been great to finally fish a Toyota Owners event. It certainly lived up to the hype.”
Alex Prince drives a 2016 Tundra and echoed his dad’s praise of Toyota’s reliability and the towing power of their Tundras. Alex is set to fish the Bassmaster Opens in 2025 for the first time as a boater and relished the opportunity to win a tournament while standing on the Bassmaster Stage.
This first-class no entry fee event feels equal parts family reunion as it does a hotly contested tournament. Toyota rolls out the red carpet for participants with catered meals, meet and greets with Team Toyota pros, and incredible registration prizes from brands like Strike King, Bass Pro Shops, Yamaha Outboards, and Costa Sunglasses on top of a truckload of Toyota Fishing Team swag.
Beautiful Lake Hartwell, Anderson County, and the unparalleled Green Pond Landing facility were a new destination for this event and proved terrific hosts for this annual celebration of Toyota owners and Bonus Bucks members.
“This was such a well ran event and a great time to get to share together,” Trevor said. “I couldn’t believe all the great stuff we got at registration. I told Alex Saturday night that even if we didn’t get a check, we already cashed in with all the gear. I can’t wait to fish this again next year.”
The pair of Princes’ fish a lot of tournaments each year, sharing a love of competitive fishing coupled with the chance to spend quality time together. The Blue Ridge, Georgia natives consider Lake Lanier and Chatuge Lake their home waters, but Hartwell is less than two hours from their house and has always been a fishery they’ve gelled with.
The spotted bass aficionados employed forward facing sonar to find groups of bass chasing schools of bait in 15 to 50 feet of water, leaning on a unique hardbait – the SPRO Sashimmy Swimmer - to trick their fish into biting.
“We caught a few on jigs this morning but it was pretty slow until about noon,” Alex Prince said. “This afternoon the fish started setting up right, suspending over brush and getting in the right mood to bite. That’s when they started chewing the sashimmy.”
The Prince’s bested second place by just three ounces to take home the tournament trophies, $5,000 in prize money, new Lew’s rod and reel combos along with the Costa Compete + Conserve bonus.
Toyota Bonus Bucks remains a premier contingency program whether you fish weekend tournaments or at the professional level. With over 620 supported events, you’re leaving money on the table if you don’t tow your boat with a Toyota tow vehicle. To learn more about Bonus Bucks or the annual Toyota Owners Tournament, follow this link: https://www.toyotatrucksbonusbucks.com/.
After finishing last in the 2023 event at South Carolina’s Winyah Bay, the Texas anglers came to town seeking Redfish and Redemption. With a three-day aggregate total of 32 pounds, 9 ounces, it was mission accomplished.
“When we left home, I told Tony I didn’t want to finish dead last; we wanted to come and show everyone that we deserve to be here,” Moreno said. “And not just because we did well in (the Elite Fishing Series, through which they qualified), but that we can catch fish and adjust to the adversities we dealt with.”
After a rocky start, which put them in ninth place with a Day 1 limit of 7-14, Moreno and Viator regrouped and posted a Day 2 effort of 11-10 and moved up to third. Championship Sunday saw them step on the gas and box two chunky reds that went 6-9 and 6-8.
With that final limit of 13-1, Moreno and Viator edged Day 2 leaders Michael Frenette and Mark Robinson by 10 ounces and claimed the $75,000 top prize.
“It’s overwhelming. I’m at a loss for words,” Viator said. “I didn’t start seriously tournament fishing until about four or five years ago. When you first start out, you think ‘I’m as good as everybody else,’ but then you realize you’re not as good as everybody else.
“To be able to come in here and fish against a field like this and come out on top, I never thought that I would get to the point where I could do that. It makes you feel good to know that you can compete at this level.”
Wiping back tears, Moreno added: “It’s truly surreal. I’m choked up and I don’t even know how to respond. Since I started tournament fishing professionally three years ago, I’ve been so close in so many tournaments, but this is the icing on the cake.
“This is the most sought-after title in all of redfishing. My hat’s off to these other anglers (in the field). This is just unreal.”
As Viator explained, his team’s victory hinged on scrapping Plan A and committing to Plan B. After catching decent redfish in what Viator described as shallow broken marsh habitat in the upper bay, he and Moreno committed their first day and part of the second to this area.
“When we went in there on Days 1 and 2, we couldn’t catch a fish over 3 1/2 pounds other than Gary’s Day 1 fish that was almost 5 pounds,” Viator said. “We hit several spots the morning of Day 2 and Gary looked at me and said, ‘We gotta make a move.’
“We had looked on the other side of the bay (the east side of St. Vincent Island), but we hadn’t done much prefishing there. I said, ‘This isn’t working. There’s no big fish here. There’s a lot of freshwater, maybe they’re over there.’”
Making about a 20-mile run, Moreno and Viator “hopscotched” a few spots with no success. Venturing closer to West Pass (separating St. Vincent from St. George Island, the bay’s primary barrier island), they selected a promising area on the island’s sandy perimeter with flats dropping into deeper water.
“Gary’s not a deep-water fisherman. He’s a sight fisherman,” Viator said of his team’s initial reservations. “But we got over there, and the water was not only clear, but it was clear deep — you could see 4 to 5 feet deep.”
Moreno said the fish were ready and two good ones promptly participated.
“We went from a 5-pound limit to 11-10 in 6 minutes,” he said.
Moreno said he and Viator sight fished their reds with 1/2-ounce Bagley silver spoons. Success, he said, relied on true teamwork and a strategy designed to cover all opportunities.
“We tried to make long casts, but also have somebody at the ready for short pitches as we drifted down the shoreline,” Moreno said. “When a fish came up and the opportunity presented itself, somebody was always ready to reel up and make a cast.”
Spending all of Day 3 in the St. Vincent Island/West Pass waters, Moreno and Viator quickly stuck a pair of hefty reds that went 6-8 and a 6-9. Taking the unofficial lead within a couple hours of takeoff, they held off all challengers and sealed the deal.
Frenette and Robinson kept themselves near the top from Day 1 by placing third with an opening round limit of 10-2. Adding 13-4 — the event’s biggest limit — they moved into first before turning in a Day 3 catch of 8-9 and finishing second with 31-15.
Also fishing near the Gulf of Mexico, Frenette and Robinson split their time between the Government Cut jetties and the West Pass area. They used 1-ounce jigging spoons in the former and threw 1/2-ounce weedless gold spoons in the latter.
“We caught our two biggest fish on Day 3 jigging at Government Cut,” Robinson said. “It was a little slow. The current didn’t start until later and we had to stay too long.
“We (hooked) two big fish at West Pass, but we lost them at the net.”
The hybrid team of Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Palaniuk and redfish tournament pro Chris Cenci finished third with 29-4. Their daily weights were 9-6, 13-0 and 6-14.
“We did what we did, but I felt like we could have done a little better, but that’s fishing,” Cenci said. “We had an OK first day, a really good second day and today we caught a decent number of fish, but they were all small.”
After doing much of their work the first two days with a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Chatterbait Jackhammer in the golden shiner color and a 4.75 X Zone Lures Swammer, they caught their final-round fish on popping corks rigged with Cenci’s Slayer Inc. paddle tails.
The local sponsor of the 2024 Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter was Florida’s Forgotten Coast.
2024 Redfish Cup Championship Title Sponsor: Yamaha 2024 Redfish Cup Championship Presenting Sponsor: Skeeter Boats
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com
2024 Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter 10/25-10/27
Apalachicola Bay, Apalachicola Bay FL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler
1. Gary Moreno - Tony Viator
Day 1: 2 07-14 Day 2: 2 11-10 Day 3: 2 13-01 Total: 6 32-09
2. Mark Robinson - Mike Frenette
Day 1: 2 10-02 Day 2: 2 13-04 Day 3: 2 08-09 Total: 6 31-15
3. Brandon Palaniuk - Chris Cenci
Day 1: 2 09-06 Day 2: 2 13-00 Day 3: 2 06-14 Total: 6 29-04
4. Fred Myers III - Cody Chivas
Day 1: 2 11-00 Day 2: 2 06-07 Day 3: 2 09-10 Total: 6 27-01
5. John Garrett - Chad Manning
Day 1: 2 08-05 Day 2: 2 09-14 Day 3: 2 08-07 Total: 6 26-10
6. Carter Myers - James Drysdale
Day 1: 2 08-06 Day 2: 2 06-01 Day 3: 2 12-01 Total: 6 26-08
7. Ryan Rickard - Patrick Marsonek
Day 1: 2 11-04 Day 2: 2 07-02 Day 3: 2 07-09 Total: 6 25-15
8. Kevin Akin - Clark Jordan Jr
Day 1: 2 06-04 Day 2: 2 07-02 Day 3: 2 09-08 Total: 6 22-14
9. Shane LeHew - Michael Goodwine
Day 1: 2 08-09 Day 2: 1 02-13 Day 3: 2 09-03 Total: 5 20-09
10. Justin Atkins - Krista Miller
Day 1: 2 08-06 Day 2: 2 07-01 Day 3: 1 02-05 Total: 5 17-12
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 0 20 89-08
2 0 19 84-06
3 0 19 87-03
----------------------------------
0 58 261-01
EARLY, Texas (Oct. 27, 2024) – After three tough days in the Elimination Round on O.H. Ivey, professional anglers competing in the Major League Fishing (MLF) General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops this week in Early, Texas, headed to a new fishery on Sunday.
Brownwood Lake was the playing field for the three two-man teams competing in Match 1 of the Knockout Round at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq, where teams were met with flooded willow grass, flat reeds and other emergent vegetation.
It was a closely contested day – just 1 pound, 4 ounces separated the top two teams at the end of the day – but as SCORETRACKER® expired, it was the Team Coign duo of Jeff Sprague and Bryan Thrift that stood alone atop the leaderboard. Team Coign caught 17 bass weighing 30 pounds, 2 ounces to pace the field and advance to the Championship Round on Tuesday. Also advancing in second place was Team Builders FirstSource – Alton Jones Jr. and Ott DeFoe – who boated 15 bass totaling 28-14. Team Knighten Industries ( Brent Chapman and Wesley Strader) was eliminated from the competition.
Team Coign boated a 2-3 within the first seven minutes of competition to get off to a quick start Sunday morning. The duo started the day targeting fish in willow grass and stayed with that pattern throughout the day.
Team Builders FirstSource took the lead at the end of the first period and held it for most of the second period but couldn’t hold off Team Coign, who rallied toward the end of Period 2 to take over the top spot once again, holding it for the remainder of the competition day.
“When you come to Central or West Texas, you think of rocky, canyon-type lakes like Falcon Lake, Lake Amistad or those types of reservoirs,” said Sprague in his post-game interview. “But then you get to Lake Brownwood, and it’s an oasis. It’s so crazy with all the vegetation.”
“It’s an absolutely beautiful lake,” Thrift interjected. “Even when you get up there in the grass, there’s rock under the water. It’s the bassiest-looking lake I’ve fished in a long time.”
Team Coign had pretty much locked up its Championship Round bid by the start of the third and final period, but the duo decided to keep pushing for the top spot.
“We don’t know where we will be fishing the Championship Round, and there’s a possibility of coming back to Lake Brownwood, but we decided to just pour it on in that final period,” said Sprague. “This was such a fun day of fishing, and in that last period, with the pressure off, we just had a great time.”
“It’s not like what we were doing was a specific thing that we knew we could come back to either,” Thrift added. “We would go back through an area where we didn’t get a bite and get four bites – or hit a spot where we had several bites and get nothing. This was just late summer fishing, running the bank and the grass, trying to pick off some of those bluegill feeders that were still hanging around.”
“This was opportunistic fishing at its best,” Sprague added. “It’s not every day that you get to go fishing with your buddy and someone as good as Bryan is, so it’s been a great day.”
Thrift caught a few fish on a topwater frog and on a swim worm, but it was Sprague that did most of the heavy lifting, catching 15 bass totaling 25-11 to make up the bulk of the team’s total weight and end the day atop the leaderboard.
“Bryan and I did a lot of damage today, and the key to our success was a basic swim jig (paired with) the Lake Fork Lure Co. Pro Craw, honey-craw colored – one of my brand-new, signature series baits,” said Sprague. “We could see bluegill high in the water column, and the fish were feeding on them in the water willow all day long, so this bait was just the ticket we needed. We’re going to take it with us into the Championship Round and see if we can’t do some damage with it on Tuesday.”
The top two teams now advancing to the Championship Round at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq are:
1st: Team Coign, 17 bass, 30-2
Jeff Sprague, Wills Point., 15 bass, 25-11
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., two bass, 4-7
2nd: Team Builders FirstSource, 15 bass, 28-14
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., eight bass, 15-6
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, seven bass, 13-8
Eliminated from competition are:
3rd: Team Knighten Industries, nine bass, 14-13
Brent Chapman, Quivira, Kan., seven bass, 11-14
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., two bass, 2-15
Overall, there were 41 bass weighing 73 pounds, 13 ounces caught by the three teams in the first match of the Knockout Round on Lake Brownwood. Sprague caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a 4-pound, 3-ounce largemouth, only the second bass over 4 pounds caught all week.
The Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq is hosted by Visit Early and takes place over six days in west-central Texas. The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning.
The second match of the Knockout Round will take place Monday, featuring Team 7 Brew (Justin Lucas/Brent Ehrler), Team Lucas Oil (Jacob Wheeler/Dustin Connell) and Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches (Luke Clausen/Martin Villa). Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The Patriot Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they entered the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches featured four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Tuesday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2024 Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq.
The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.
Television coverage of the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes in March 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
Alex and Scott Richmond may live quite a ways apart these days, but the father-son duo made it a point to spend some quality time together and make the trek to Lake Hartwell to enjoy the storied Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament.
A bittersweet part of growing older often comes in the form of physical detachment from your loved ones. Whether we graduate college or take on a new trade after our formative school years, it’s not uncommon to have to move away from the folks you love most.
Case in point, Alex Richmond and his dad, Scott.
Alex grew up fun-fishing with his dad but quickly gained a passion for tournament bass fishing. Not only did he fish on his high school team but he also enjoyed a collegiate fishing career at Grand Valley State in Grand Rapids, Mich.
With his father, Scott, living just outside of Chicago and Alex now residing in North Carolina, fishing time together has been admittedly scarce. But the duo figured out a way to coordinate their schedules this year and share a boat together at the 2024 Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament on Lake Hartwell.
They were in a dark corner of a hotel parking lot the evening after registration and any angler could tell they were taking their preparation seriously.
“We practiced this morning for a few hours and it was actually pretty good,” Alex said. “It has been a lot better than we were expecting, so we’re feeling optimistic. But with this cold front coming in, who knows what could unfold tomorrow.”
When probed about the fishing conditions and potential strategies on the table for tomorrow’s main event, both Alex and Scott kept coming back to one very specific thing.
“Man, this has been so much fun and so enjoyable already,” Scott said. “To be able to fish and spend time with my son is such a blessing. This is my first Tundra and it won’t be my last. I can’t even feel the boat behind me while I’m towing and have had zero issues. And to be able to come to an awesome event like this and meet our favorite pros like Mike Iaconelli and Gerald Swindle is icing on the cake. We got to talk about hunting for a while with Gerald and he is such a down-to-earth person. We had a lot in common and it’s great to know that he’s just another guy like us.”
For Scott, it might have been a 13-hour drive through busy cities and all kinds of big-city traffic. But when he finally reached the autumn dogwoods nestled between the towering pines of Anderson, S.C., nothing else mattered. He had his boy with him, in the same boat, doing what they love most together.
The Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament has some great raffles and gear, even for the most discerning angler, but what’s not talked about enough is the connections, and in this case, reconnections it makes among both family and friends.
Whether the Richmonds catch anything today or not, you can rest easy knowing Scott will be wearing a smile as wide as the Seneca River watching his boy fish and enjoying some much-needed one-on-one time. That’s a gift only the Great Outdoors can offer and for that, the Richmonds are eternally thankful.
Bait change puts Rickard and Marsonek atop Redfish Cup Championship field
APALACHICOLA, Fla. — Ryan Rickard knew that a second title would not be spoon-fed to him, so he and partner Patrick Marsonek played a savvy game and positioned themselves well with a 2-fish limit of 11 pounds, 4 ounces that leads Day 1 of the Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter at Apalachicola Bay.
Qualifying through the Power-Pole National Redfish Tour presented by Mercury, Rickard and Marsonek hold a 4-ounce lead over defending champions Cody Chivas and Fred Myers III.
Three years ago, at the event’s revival, following a lengthy hiatus, Rickard partnered with Bassmaster Elite Series standout Chris Zaldain to notch the win at Port Aransas, Texas. This time around, Rickard and Marsonek employed a similar strategy based on adjusting to fish behavior and bait refinement.
As Rickard explained, he and his partner were most encouraged by expectations exceeded.
“The big thing for us is we had not caught a fish over 4 pounds in practice, so our target weight today was 10 pounds, just to keep us around,” he said. “Today, we fished all new stuff that we didn’t even practice on.
“We just said, ‘We don’t have anything else (productive), so we’re going to go to this other stuff that looks fishy.’ Coming up with 11-4, I am thrilled with that weight today. We’re going to be right where we need to be to make a run at this thing.”
Without question, the most important decision the leaders made was to bench their starting lineup and switch to a different presentation.
“In practice we caught all of our fish except one on a spoon,” Rickard said. “They wouldn’t touch a spoon today, so we had to really kind of improvise on what we were doing.
“We were fishing more sand and oysters today versus the grass and potholes we had been fishing. We went to paddle tails (on leadhead jigs), and that’s what got it done today.”
Typically, spoons are an easy sell to redfish, as their flash and wobble mimic one of their favored forage items — pinfish. However, Rickard believes the bold presence may have been a little too intrusive during the first round’s sunny, calm conditions.
“We were slow rolling our (paddle tails), so maybe they were just keyed in on something different and they didn’t want to chase something down,” Rickard said.
Noting that a Z-Man MinnowZ in the New Penny color rigged on a 3/8-ounce Z-Man Trout Eye jig produced best, Marsonek said the bait change yielded nearly immediate results.
“The fish were aggressive; we could sight fish them,” he said. “We caught some of our fish right off the trolling motor. The fish were acting right, but getting around them was the issue.”
That access challenge was twofold: depth and habitat.
“We had to navigate through oyster bars when the water finally started to get low,” Marsonek said. “We the tide got right; the fish started coming out of the grass. We definitely put some scratches on Ryan’s boat.”
Marsonek said the area that produced the leading weight was thin on numbers, but the fish he and Rickard found were quality reds.
“We had scattered fish, but obviously the right fish,” Marsonek said. “We expanded off of what we had in practice, and tomorrow we’re going to have something to go back to.”
Placing second with 11-0, Chivas and Myers enjoyed a double-dose of 5 1/2-pounders that bit artificial shrimp on leadheads during the last hour of competition. Those two fish came from an area that Myers knows well. The key was patiently waiting for the afternoon’s low tide.
“We grinded today in a 3- to 4-mile area and it wasn’t looking too hot,” Chivas said. “We caught tons of smaller fish, but we stayed true to what we were going to do, and it worked out late for us.”
Myers said he was closely monitoring the tide levels all day, and when he felt the window of opportunity was opening, he suggested a move to a particular spot.
“As soon as we got around some moving water, we started catching some good fish,” Myers said. “They started coming really quick, and the two biggest fish we caught were really close to the same area.
“I feel confident that there are more fish that are just as big, if not bigger in there. One cast can make the difference in the area that we’re in. There are some big fish that live in there, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to go back in there and duplicate or have a really big bag.”
Referencing the impacts of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall just east of Apalachicola on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 storm, Myers said: “Fishing is just tough for everybody after the high water from the storm. But we caught plenty of fish to get us through, I think, and we’re going to try our best to catch that weight again and maybe a little more.”
Michael Frennette and Mark Robinson are in third place with 10-2. They started their day by fishing 1-ounce jigs in one of the passes linking Apalachicola Bay to the Gulf of Mexico but found success after pulling the plug and shifting gear to a completely different game plan.
“We were originally fishing between 22 and 32 feet of water and trying to match the hatch with a very small bait those fish were eating,” Frennette said. “When that (didn’t work), we went back to what we do naturally in Louisiana.
“We went to a very shallow area that was close to deep water where the fish could feel comfortable moving up to a flat to feed and then drop down into deeper water.”
Robinson said he and Frennette caught their fish on 1/2-ounce weedless gold spoons. They sight fished a few of their reds, but most came at the end of long casts.
Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. ET at Scipio Creek Marina. The weigh-in will be held at the marina at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday’s tournament coverage begins at 8 a.m. on FS1 and runs through noon. Saturday’s LIVE coverage will continue on Bassmaster.com. Sunday’s coverage begins at 8 a.m. on FS1 and runs through 12:30 p.m. Sunday’s LIVE coverage will continue on Bassmaster.com. All coverage times are ET.
The local sponsor of the 2024 Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter is Florida’s Forgotten Coast.
2024 Redfish Cup Championship Title Sponsor: Yamaha 2024 Redfish Cup Championship Presenting Sponsor: Skeeter Boats
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com
2024 Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter 10/25-10/27
Apalachicola Bay, Apalachicola Bay FL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler
1. Ryan Rickard - Patrick Marsonek
Day 1: 2 11-04 Total: 2 11-04
2. Fred Myers III - Cody Chivas
Day 1: 2 11-00 Total: 2 11-00
3. Mark Robinson - Mike Frenette
Day 1: 2 10-02 Total: 2 10-02
4. Brandon Palaniuk - Chris Cenci
Day 1: 2 09-06 Total: 2 09-06
5. Shane LeHew - Michael Goodwine
Day 1: 2 08-09 Total: 2 08-09
6. Justin Atkins - Krista Miller
Day 1: 2 08-06 Total: 2 08-06
6. Carter Myers - James Drysdale
Day 1: 2 08-06 Total: 2 08-06
8. John Garrett - Chad Manning
Day 1: 2 08-05 Total: 2 08-05
9. Gary Moreno - Tony Viator
Day 1: 2 07-14 Total: 2 07-14
10. Kevin Akin - Clark Jordan Jr
Day 1: 2 06-04 Total: 2 06-04
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 0 20 89-08
----------------------------------
0 20 89-08
Four teams compete on O.H. Ivie for second day, Team Builders FirstSource catches 11 bass weighing 22-12 to win second match of Elimination Round
EARLY, Texas (Oct. 25, 2024) – Team BuildersFirstSource – made up of pros Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, and Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas – were considered a favorite by many industry pundits coming into the third event of the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops in Texas. Jones is a Texas native with extensive experience in the region, and of DeFoe’s four career victories on the Bass Pro Tour, three have come on Texas fisheries.
After a second consecutive tough day on O.H. Ivie, the famed west-central Texas reservoir, DeFoe and Jones demonstrated why they are a team to be reckoned with. The Team Builders FirstSource duo caught 14 bass weighing 22 pounds, 12 ounces, to claim the top spot in the second match of the Elimination Round at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq.
The victory advances the team to the Knockout Round, where they will be joined by the Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches duo of Luke Clausen and Martin Villa, who finished the day in second. Clausen and Villa combined to catch 11 bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces – just 6 ounces ahead of Team Ferguson. Team Ferguson (Randy Howell and Nick LeBrun) and Team Kubota (Justin Cooper and Edwin Evers) were eliminated from the competition.
“Fishing was tough, but man, what a day it was,” Jones said in his post-game interview. “Most likely people are going to look at the weights on SCORETRACKER® and think, ‘Man, that doesn’t really look any fun at all.’ But Ott and I had a blast today.
“We fished dirt shallow in some of the fresh, flooded green bushes and grass, and it was a really unique bite. The fish were feeding on dragonflies. I know it sounds crazy, but I witnessed it dozens of times today.”
Like the first elimination match on Thursday, anglers found the bass extremely shallow and way back in the thickest grass that they could fish.
“It was so hard to fish,” DeFoe said. “Alton and I were talking earlier – if you land 80% of them, you’re happy. Just because of how much stuff we’re fishing in. And a lot of those fish showed themselves to us, coming up and feeding in the back of the little pockets. But they were tough to get to.”
DeFoe and Jones mainly used a 1-2 punch of a buzzbait and a frog, but they also added a couple fish on a wacky rig.
“We threw the buzzbait in the thinner, more open stuff. Then when it would get really thick and dense, we caught some key fish on the frog,” Jones said. “I was throwing a white one all day – I broke two off. We really lived and died by the topwater today, and luckily, we lived.”
DeFoe and Jones now advance to Match 1 of the Knockout Round on Sunday, while Clausen and Villa will compete in Match 2 of the Knockout Round on Monday.
“It was a good start to Texas for us. We didn’t catch a lot of big ones like O.H. (Ivie) is known for, but we got enough to keep us in it,” DeFoe went on to say. “I feel like we really kind of figured them out at the end, and hopefully we’ve got a little pattern that we can carry into the future rounds.”
“Yeah, if they send us back here, I feel like we have a really good idea of what to go look for,” Jones Jr. added. “I’d feel really confident. But, if not, a lot of the terrain and brush around here looks the same. And they’ve all had rain, so I would expect a similar opportunity even at other lakes. But you never know.”
The top two teams from the second match of the Elimination Round at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq that advance to the Knockout Round are:
1st: Team Builders FirstSource, 14 bass, 22-12
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 7-4
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, nine bass, 15-8
2nd: Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches, 11 bass, 17-11
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 8-12
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., six bass, 8-15
Eliminated from competition are:
3rd: Team Ferguson, 11 bass, 17-5
Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., eight bass, 12-12
Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., three bass, 4-9
4th: Team Kubota, five bass, 11-6
Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., zero bass, 0-0
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., five bass, 11-6
Overall, there were 41 bass weighing 69 pounds, 2 ounces caught by the four teams in the second Elimination Round match on O.H. Ivie Lake. Team Kubota pro Edwin Evers caught a 4-pound, 7-ounce largemouth that was the Berkley Big Bass of the day.
The Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq is hosted by Visit Early and takes place over six days in west-central Texas. The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning. Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.
As a part of the event, on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to join MLF pros, Visit Early and the Texas Forest Service (TFS) for Fishing with the Pros at the TFS inaugural Arbor Day event. The event will be held at Town Center Lake, located at 109 Kelcy Way in Early, and will provide local youth and community members an opportunity to fish up close and personal alongside MLF pros. Tackle and bait will be provided and the event is free and open to the public.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The Patriot Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Tuesday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2024 Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq.
The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.
Television coverage of the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes in March 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
With a three-day total of 45 pounds, 13 ounces, Texas pro Nick Brown earned his first NPFL victory at the Chompers/NPFL Stop #5, presented by Bait-Wrx. Brown kicked things off with 11 pounds, 11 ounces on day one, followed by the event's biggest bag on day two—21 pounds, 8 ounces, anchored by a 6-pound, 5-ounce kicker. In addition to the $100,000 prize, Brown earned an extra $5,000 as the highest-placing Bass Cat Boats owner.
After a slow day one, Brown returned to an area he had high hopes for, and on day two, the magic happened. His big day pushed him into the lead and gave him the confidence to stick with his plan on the final day.
“That flat looked so good in practice, and it was loaded with stumps and laydowns, with a gravelly/silty bottom. The fish were moving into it during the event, but in practice and on day one, it was a dead zone.”
On the final day, he settled in and waited for the sun to come out and the breeze to pick up. Just as the fish started to bite, the locals moved in and confined his area to five to seven targets, making it hard to fish effectively and move around.
“There were thirty or so pieces of brush in there, and at one point, there were people everywhere,” he said. “I had those two fish this morning and decided to leave it alone and try something else for a while. It was funny; that big fish I caught early came on a log I had fished hard. I made four casts with a buzzbait and a few casts with a jig, and on my first cast with that glide bait, she ate it—getting wrapped around limbs and all over the place. It was wild.”
Returning to his area at 2 p.m. this afternoon paid off. As he fished around, targeting some of the isolated timber, he made his way to a couple of nice-looking pieces of wood he had yet to get a bite from this week.
“Pretty quickly, I caught my third keeper, a three-pounder, and right after that, I lost one over six that hit my buzzbait and rolled it—I thought I had blown it. I fished around in a big loop and came back to the same tree. My very next flip in there with a little structure jig, and I caught my last keeper, giving me four.”
Despite the ups and downs of the event and not having a limit on the first and final day, he is thrilled to turn his season around and automatically qualify for the NPFL Championship.
“It feels great,” he concluded. “I had to make a top twelve at the final two events to even come close to qualifying for the championship, and now I do not have to worry. I am also the first NPFL angler to win from a Bass Cat, which is awesome as those guys support the league. I started running a Suzuki this year too; it’s a great combo. What a great week.”
Webster Comes One Fish Away
Alabama angler Joseph Webster finished second with a three-day total of 45 pounds, 8 ounces. Consistent throughout, he posted 14 pounds on day one, followed by 16 pounds, 2 ounces on day two. On the final day, his four-fish bag weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces, including a 5-pound kicker, falling just 5 ounces short of the win.
Coming into the event on day one, Webster had a solid game plan. With a tough bite and less-than-ideal conditions, he was confident that his area would provide the opportunity to catch five fish each day and put him in contention for the win.
“Everything I caught in practice was a decent fish. I only got a few bites, but that was enough,” he said. “I rotated between a plopper, a Berkley Choppo, and a jig. On day one, I hooked and landed six; on day two, the same thing; and today I hooked five and landed four—and that last lost fish, with 20 minutes left, cost me.”
With the presence of big gizzard shad in his three-mile stretch of water, the larger fish were holding on the shallow cover—docks, bluffs, rocks, points, etc.—which prompted him to upsize his baits.
“I threw a big Choppo and a big jig because I think the little ones wouldn’t want to touch it,” he added. “It was simple: when it was cloudy, I threw white, and when the sun came out, I swapped to black.”
Webster excels under tough conditions, and the mindset of knowing he may only get five bites doesn’t bother him. Knowing that he had found the fish to win and secure a spot in the NPFL Championship on Lake Hartwell, he went to work.
“I like playing the mind game; I can fight through the slow points,” he concluded. “The hard part was that you never knew where the bites were going to come from. They were on so much different stuff, and I fished my whole area and everything in between. The area was good enough; it held up for me—almost.”
Trent Palmer caught the biggest bass of the day, a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass, earning him the Power Pole Big Fish award.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, which will grant the winner the year’s final berth into the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic, was originally scheduled to take place on Louisiana's Ouachita River. However, due to critical, unforeseen repair work being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Columbia Lock and Dam just south of Monroe, La., the Team Championship is relocating to Tennessee's Kentucky Lake.
The emergency work has caused significant disruptions to normal river operations, impacting water levels and navigability which would directly affect both the safety and overall experience of the anglers. As a result, the decision was made to move the championship to an alternate location to ensure the event can proceed without compromising the quality of competition or the experience for participants.
In consideration of the local resources and the challenges created by the dam repairs, B.A.S.S. officials have selected Tennessee's Kentucky Lake as the new venue for the final B.A.S.S. tournament of 2024. The 160,000-acre reservoir, located on the Tennessee River, has hosted numerous B.A.S.S. events over the years and most recently hosted the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Kentucky Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops in April of this year. The event dates will remain the same beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and concluding Saturday, Dec. 7. The off-limits period and the no-information rule will go into effect on Saturday, Nov. 16.
Registration will remain open to qualified teams until Friday, Nov. 15. Updated information will be relayed to all official Bassmaster Team Trails; please check with your trail director for updated information.
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
When it comes to fishy families, you’d be hard pressed to find a household with more bass on the brain than the Robinson’s. Marty, the patriarch, has won nearly a million dollars throughout his 17-year career and his eldest son Marshall joined him on the Bass Pro Tour in 2024 after being crowned the Rookie of the Year in the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and qualifying for the BPT in 2023 at nineteen years young.
Then Mitchell, the youngest Robinson won the Bassmaster High School National Championship in 2023 and is set to fish the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals in 2025. And while she may not fish professionally, because someone has to keep these boys in line, mama Iris Robinson can catch ‘em, too.
The Robinson’s are South Carolina natives with a plethora of experience on Lake Hartwell and they all drive Toyota Tundras. In fact, the Robinson’s have purchased eight Toyota tow vehicles spanning back to start of Marty’s professional career in 2007 and have collected tons of Toyota Bonus Bucks checks over the years. So, who better to preview the 13th Annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament set for Lake Hartwell this weekend than the Robinson family?
Q – What would be your target weight to win the Toyota Owners Tournament this weekend?
Marty – “I’d say it’ll take a mixed bag of spotted bass and largemouth to win. Probably 19-lbs or even high nineteens to win this thing.”
Marshall – “I’m going to say 18-lbs of mostly spotted bass, maybe one big largemouth mixed in.”
Mitchell – “I’ve seen lots of brim up shallow lately so I’m thinking it’ll take a big bag, 20-lbs or more, to win on Sunday. At least two big largemouth mixed in with three chunky spots.”
Q – As locals, what is something about Lake Hartwell that most people might not know?
Marty – “Believe it or not, these are some of the hardest fish in the country to catch with forward facing sonar (FFS). We really don’t know why either, but even Drew Gill has said so. These fish with all the pressure they get and there being no current in this fishery, they just are so finicky to catch.”
Marshall – “This is a place that you should be weeding through a lot of fish to get your target weight. Hartwell is not really a lake you look for five or six big bites a day to do well… you need to be catching numbers.”
Mitchell – “My insight is the fish here will get a lot shallower than you would think, even with warm water temperatures this time of year.”
Q – What are two patterns or techniques you expect top finishers to employ on Hartwell this weekend?
Marty – “I’m going to say a topwater bite early in the morning will key and then you gotta put scoping a jighead minnow (using forward facing sonar) in there nowadays.“
Marshall – “This is the time of year bass start eating crawfish and getting back on a jig bite pretty strong. And with this being a one-day tournament, consistency won’t be key, so I think someone could smash a big bag on a buzzbait in the back of a creek somewhere.”
Mitchell - “There should still be some stained water due to the hurricane rains we had a few weeks ago, so a chatterbait up shallow in the backs (of creeks) could be good. And scoping the timber edge way offshore for those big roamer spots would be another focal point of mine. Those spotted bass are bigger and usually easier to catch because they don’t setup on a spot, they just pull up on the edge of that timber for a few minutes at a time.”
Q – Why should tournament bass anglers drive a Toyota tow vehicle?
Marty – “Man, there are a lot of reasons to drive a Toyota but my number one is they are low to no maintenance vehicles. I ain’t got time to worry about working on a truck, I want to be on the water catching fish. In almost 20 years of towing with a Tundra, I’ve never had to worry about my truck.”
Marshall – “You can make extra money through Toyota Bonus Bucks in all kinds of tournaments. They are great trucks that add a little cash to your pocket, it’s a no brainer.”
Mitchell - “They are super smooth trucks when it comes to towing your boat and just the ride in general. They look good, tow great, and they crank every time.”
While fall fishing is known for producing numbers of bass, big fish can be scarce. The remedy would be to use a big fish technique to specifically target them and forget the schoolers that are eating peanut shad offshore.
Autumn is the top time for froggin’ in many regions of the country as aquatic vegetation has reached its peak growth, forming solid mats across the tops of grass beds. This cover waits enticingly for bass that are starting to migrate back to the shallows for the fall feeding frenzy.
Mind your vegetative varieties for maximum effect. Hydrilla stems are hard, the leaves crunchy, and when water levels are normal-to-low, these mats can be all but impossible for fish to blast through and grab your lure well enough to get hooked. If the grass is already thinning or if water levels suddenly rise and, therefore, stand the hydrilla stalks up vertically, then game on!
Dance that same frog over matted milfoil, peppergrass or eel grass and bass should be able to track it much better and when they strike, they will be able to swallow the frog much more deeply, resulting in solid hookups.
The ultimate froggin’ cover is duck weed. These miniscule floating plants form an ultra-thin surface layer that shades bass below and offers no protection to critters scurrying overhead. Duck weed can blow-in around any cover that would already hold shallow bass, making the spot that much better.
Don’t just think of extensive blankets of greenery when looking for frog fishing opportunities. Isolated sawdust mats are popular flipping and pitching targets, but if the debris canopy is thin enough, frogs are on the menu here too.
Water levels in many places are at their highest in autumn due to ‘king tides’ in coastal regions and just plain old wet weather that tapers off as we ease out of another hurricane season. ‘Open water’ frogs have become a deal in recent years. These sleek models that walk like an old-fashioned spook can be used to nibble the edges of any cover. They skip well back under overhangs and docks, and they glide right through the limbs of gnarly laydowns, making them perfect for fishing around flooded cover of all types as bass move up to gorge on bait before the coming of colder weather.
One tip for fooling more bass on a frog: slow down and pick apart the most obvious targets.
“I mostly just use a frog to work one single piece of cover when I already know there should be a bass there,” noted Major League Fishing veteran pro Cliff Crochet when I shared a boat with him. “If I’m working a big area and I don’t know where to throw, I use a soft plastic buzzing toad. But a hollow bodied frog, like this Bobby’s Perfect Frog from Snagproof, I use that the same way I might use a jig to flip into a specific spot, but in this case the fish are feeding towards the surface,” explained the former deputy from Pier Part Louisiana - where the TV series Swamp People was filmed - in his thick Cajun accent. “Plus, I can throw that frog way back in there while staying off the spot with my boat, so I don’t spook those shallow fish.”
Crochet quickly demonstrated his point by drawing a vicious blow up from a bass that, after a braid-screeching tug of war, pushed the scale to over 6 pounds. It was a scene that would repeat often as Crochet called his shots and caught a stout limit in short order.
One bonus to froggin’ for upsized bass in autumn is you’re still likely to catch good numbers of fish too. But the big idea is to catch big fish.
On that note, gear up for the fight. Heavy braided line and the type of rod that can handle it are key. Something in the range of 7’3”-to- 7’6” is ideal. These days I find myself reaching for a 7’4” medium heavy power rod with a fast action tip. In spite of the name, Lew’s Custom Lite models are great for this salad-tossing tug of war. Another great model is the 7’4” Lee Livesay HFX signature series made by Halo.
I spool my Lew’s Hypermag reel, 7.5:1 gear ratio, with 65lb braid and fish with confidence around any cover.
And remember, when a fish eats, give it about a two-count before slamming those double hooks home.
O.H. Ivie challenges four teams as Team Knighten Industries boats 10 bass totaling 16 pounds, 15 ounces to pace field and earn Elimination Round victory
EARLY, Texas (Oct. 24, 2024) – Perhaps no fishery in the country has garnered more recent public attention than Texas’ O.H. Ivie Lake. And with good cause – the reservoir has tallied dozens of largemouth bass weighing in at 13 pounds or more over the past three years as a part of the Toyota ShareLunker program managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries Division.
Thursday demonstrated to the world that even though giants lurk beneath the waters, sometimes they can still be pretty difficult to catch.
The third General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops event of the 2024 season launched from O.H. Ivie and Early, Texas, Thursday, and the four teams competing at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq faced a challenging playing field. Recent water level fluctuations made the fishing extremely tough for the eight pros competing on the fishery, and the big ones never came out to play.
The Team Knighten Industries duo of Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, and Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kansas, paced the field and caught 10 bass totaling 16 pounds, 15 ounces to win the first match of the Elimination Round by a 1-pound, 3-ounce margin. Also advancing to the Knockout Round in second place is the 7 Brew Coffee team of Guntersville, Alabama’s Justin Lucas and Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, who caught 12 scorable largemouth bass weighing 15-13.
“It feels awesome to get the win today,” Chapman said in his post-game interview. “It was tough, but what a blast. Today was a good reminder. Here we are on a phenomenal fishery for big fish, but you have to take what the day has to offer you. We could have went out and tried to ‘Scope and maybe found something, but we stuck with our strengths, and it paid off.”
The Strader-Chapman duo caught the majority of their fish way back in some shallow, grassy cover. They were on their way to fish another location when they took a shortcut that ended up being a wrong turn. They ended up fishing in the thick cover and added five scorable bass in the final hour and 15 minutes – including a 1-15 with just two minutes remaining – to overtake Lucas and Ehrler.
“Wow, what a freaking move, dude,” Strader said. “Who said getting lost can’t turn into good things? We were catching them so shallow – like 6 inches deep. It was stupid. But today was a grinder. The most challenging part was being able to get (through the grass) to where you could get to the bank.”
Strader caught two scorable bass in the first period – one on a buzzbait and one on a spinnerbait. He added three more on a buzzbait in Period 2. In the final period, Strader caught one on a buzzbait and two on a frog, while Chapman tallied his two scorables with a frog as well.
“There is nothing that beats a buzzbait in the fall,” Strader said. “I like a big one that clacks the head, and I used a black toad (trailer). I threw it on a 7-foot, 5-inch crankbait rod, but it’s a heavy cranking rod – so it has a little bit of tip so you can get that bait in their mouth when they pull away from it – and a Lews Custom Tournament Light reel.”
Team Knighten Industries will now move on to the first match of the Knockout Round on Sunday, while Team 7 Brew Coffee will compete Monday in Knockout Round Match 2.
“I’m excited to get back out here with Wesley and laugh a little more and do this all over again,” Chapman said.
The top two teams from Elimination Round Match 1 at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq that advance to the Knockout Round are:
1st: Team Knighten Industries, 10 bass, 16-15
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., eight bass, 13-13
Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., two bass, 3-2
2nd: Team 7 Brew Coffee, 12 bass, 15-13
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 12-15
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., two bass, 2-14
Eliminated from competition are:
3rd: Team REDCON1, four bass, 6-8
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., three bass, 5-5
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., one bass, 1-3
4th: Team U.S. Air Force, two bass, 2-9
Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., two bass, 2-9
James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., zero bass, 0-0
Overall, there were 28 bass weighing 41 pounds, 13 ounces caught by the four teams on the first day of the Elimination Round on O.H. Ivie Lake. Team Knighten Industries pro Wesley Strader caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 2 pounds, 14 ounces.
The Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq is hosted by Visit Early and takes place over six days in west-central Texas. The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning. Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The Patriot Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Tuesday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2024 Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq.
The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.
Television coverage of the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes in March 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
SHREVEPORT, La. — For the second year in a row, Tennessee’s Rus Snyders has won the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year title, accumulating 730 points throughout the five-event season. Along with a customized trophy, Snyders earned a prize of $5,000.
It is the first time in Kayak Series history an angler has repeated as Angler of the Year.
“I’m just grateful to do what I love,” Snyders said. “We had big-time attendance at all of the events this year. I’m guessing there were an average of 200 anglers this year. Most of the top kayak anglers committed to the Kayak Series this year. It was the most talent we’ve had in these tournaments.”
Virginia’s Casey Reed finished second with 717 points, Ohio’s Jason Isaacs finished third with 711 points, Mississippi’s Clint Pippen was fourth with 709 points and Massachusetts’ Derek Brundle was fifth with 707 points.
“I respect Casey a lot,” Snyders said. “He is a great angler and very respectful. There have been a number of times where we have shared water, and he is a guy that I know will treat others the way he wants to be treated.”
As a Dakota Lithium angler, Snyders has watched the company grow over the last couple of years and has been grateful for the support they have given him and the kayak industry as a whole.
“Dakota Lithium has been a big supporter of kayak fishing for a number of years now. It is how they got their foot in the door and have evolved into working with Bassmaster not only in the Kayak Series, but (with their) bass boat series too. They are a huge supporter of kayak fishing, and they take care of their pro staff. They put a lot into helping us with a number of different things, and their support means a lot to me.”
Fishing out of his Bonafide PWR 129 with a Torqeedo motor, Snyders wanted to make sure he fished consistently all year long, and he certainly accomplished that goal by cashing checks in four of the five events. The one tournament that he didn’t cash a check in — the final event of the season on Caddo Lake/Lake Bistineau — he missed out by only two places.
“I only had one Top 5, but I had the consistency of being able to cash a check. That was a big part of my goal. I played it safe a few times just to make sure I got a limit and solid fish rather than swing for the fences.
“I couldn’t have picked a better schedule,” he added.
As a shallow-water power angler, the 2024 schedule set up perfectly for Snyders. However, a variety of different strategies came into play this year for the California native who currently resides in Tennessee, including several finesse presentations. But a squarebill crankbait was what he used whenever he needed to get a quality bite.
Just like in past years, Snyders made winning Angler of the Year a priority, and he set the tone for the season with a 12th-place finish at Lake Murray. One big catch in particular late on the second day propelled him into check range and gave him positive momentum for the following events.
“Within the last half hour of that second day, I caught a 22-incher,” he explained. “Getting a last-minute big bass like that is always something that stands out. It gave me that positive energy and momentum (and that) can really carry on into the next tournament.”
Then came a weather-shortened Possum Kingdom event where Snyders veered slightly out of his comfort zone to notch a fourth-place finish in central Texas.
“There were some giant bass caught. I caught one that was nearly 10 pounds in practice,” he said. “It was one of the few tournaments where I ended up using my electronics a little more. I used LiveScope and worked a shaky head and Texas-rigged worms in brushpiles that were in 5 to 12 feet of water.”
Two of his favorite fisheries were next on the schedule, a May event at Lake Guntersville and a July event at the Susquehanna River. He finished ninth and 10th respectively in those events but used very different techniques to earn checks. On Guntersville, the crankbait shined, while a weightless Senko was his primary presentation at the Susquehanna.
“I had a little more of a finesse approach at the Susky,” he said. “I let the Senko drift with the current. I had to find as many ambush points as I could in practice and hit as many waypoints as I could.”
He then sealed the title with a 21st-place finish at Caddo Lake/Lake Bistineau, where he mined the vast cypress swamps for quality keepers.
“I’m not sure there is a better place to fish in the fall,” he said. “I really love fishing cypress trees. It is one of my favorite things to do.”
2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Yamaha Rightwaters 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Partner: MotorGuide, YakGear 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Sponsor: Dakota Lithium
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S., the worldwide authority on bass fishing, and Castaway Coffee have partnered to offer the B.A.S.S. Kickin’ Blend, an exclusive, highly caffeinated coffee boasting nearly twice the amount of caffeine as a regular cup of coffee. A portion of every bag of the medium-roast B.A.S.S. Kickin' Blend will go to support the conservation efforts of B.A.S.S.
"Castaway Coffee is committed to fueling adventures while preserving the environment," said Castaway Coffee Conservation Coordinator and Co-Founder Laura M. Sixto. "Our partnership with B.A.S.S. will amplify our impact supporting initiatives that address key issues such as habitat conservation, aquatic invasive species and responsible fishing practices within the bass fishing community."
“We’re very excited to be partnering with Castaway Coffee on this unique brew,” said Phillip Johnson, B.A.S.S.’s Chief Operating Officer. “In our role as a conservation leader, we want to continue to work with brands that have a like-minded approach to preserving the sport and the waters we all fish.”
The B.A.S.S. Kickin’ Blend joins Castaway Coffee’s lineup of custom blends alongside Café Cubano Espresso, Guatemalan Delight, Monsoon Malabar, Breakfast Blend and Dark Roast. Castaway Coffee also offers flavored coffees, including Paradise Crunch, Hazelnut, Bourbon Infused Coffee, Pumpkin Pie and Holiday Blend.
Castaway Coffee subscribers can also save 5% on Café Cubano Espresso, Dark Roast and Breakfast Blend by subscribing to regular deliveries at castawaycoffee.com.
About Castaway Coffee
At Castaway Coffee our mission is to keep providing you with the best coffee you’ll ever drink. We also think it’s important to give back. For each bag of Castaway Coffee sold, we give a portion of sales to environmental initiatives and other worthy causes. Castaway Coffee has joined the 1% for the Planet initiative, which reinforces our commitment to our community, our customers and our planet. We are committed to addressing the health of our oceans — a focus that is at the core of our organization’s mission. We’re excited to partner with other like-minded organizations working to solve the most urgent environmental issues.
We’re not just talk; our co-founder, marine artist Steve Diossy, has helped to raise millions for oceanographic research, conservation and education by creating artwork such as the 1998 “Protect Wild Dolphins” license plate and the 2021 “Protect Marine Wildlife” license plates for the state of Florida. Coastal living is all about the water, and Castaway Coffee is committed to doing what we can to help protect our oceans and waterways.
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
WILKESVILLE, Ohio — The National Professional Fishing League and Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board (CCLMC) are announcing that the NPFL will complete its 2024 season on South Carolina’s Lake Murray out of Newberry, South Carolina, December 11-13. The tournament was previously scheduled for the St. Johns River out of DeLand, Florida, but high waters and unsafe conditions following two major hurricanes required that the venue be changed.
“There are mixed emotions with this announcement,” said NPFL President Brad Fuller. “We’re disappointed that we cannot move ahead with plans to fish the St. Johns River and work with the wonderful team at the West Volusia Tourism Advertising Authority, but weather and river conditions meant that we first had to reschedule that event and that we now must relocate it. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to go to historic Lake Murray and finish our season on a fishery that we’ve been targeting for some time and that promises to be a fantastic setting for our season finale.”
Georgia Turner, Executive Director of the West Volusia Tourism Advertising Authority in DeLand, Florida, said, “We're disappointed that the schedule didn’t work out this year due to weather conditions, but we look forward to having the NPFL back very soon!”
The 2024 NPFL season will conclude at Lake Murray, the "Jewel of South Carolina" — a reservoir that has hosted numerous major fishing championships through the years. Created nearly a century ago, the lake offers 50,000 surface acres and 650 miles of shoreline for the NPFL pros to spread out and target largemouth bass using a wide variety of baits and techniques.
“We're glad we could step up to the challenge and work this prestigious professional fishing league season finale into our schedule. We know Lake Murray will deliver a challenging event to the professional anglers and that the final weights will be strong,” said Miriam Atria, CCLMC President/CEO.
About the National Professional Fishing League
The National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) was founded to bring competitive fishing to a broader audience and offer anglers a platform to compete at the highest level. The NPFL is committed to fostering integrity, competition, and innovation in the sport, providing anglers and fans alike with an exciting and unique experience.
Media Contact: Ken Duke — (407) 574-1898 or ken@tnpfl.com.
Murray State College, in working with the TBF, is hosting the 2024 Open Junior College National Championship. Find out more tournament details and get signed up:
Tournament Details
When – November 14th and 15th
Where – Lake Eufaula, Eufaula Oklahoma
Ramp Location – Nicholes Point Pavilion Dabbs Rd, Eufaula, Ok 74432
Both days - Take off / Weigh-in – 7:00 am or safe light. 3:00 pm weigh-in (No Max boat field for this tournament.) “Combined Weight for 2 days”
Scottsboro, AL (October 22, 2024) – If you dig into the history of tournament bass fishing, you’ll find the blood, sweat, and tears of a dedicated group of anglers and hard-working folks in Alabama. Front and center, you’ll find the late Ray Scott, the genius behind the first professional bass fishing tournaments dating back to the 1960s.
Years after the launch of the Bassmaster Series and the Bassmaster Classic (aka "The Super Bowl of Bass Fishing"), numerous other national pro bass fishing circuits popped up, many of which still exist today, like Bassmaster itself, MLF, NPFL, and several others.
Well, meet a new, first of its kind, organization founded in Scott's home state of Alabama, a group called Unified Pros: a nonprofit, with no ownership, promising to be the biggest news in tournament bass fishing since those early days of Ray Scott, Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, and other passionate anglers who birthed a new professional sport and subsequently created a billion-dollar-plus industry across the world.
Working hand-in-hand, Unified Pros and the State of Alabama will launch its first tournament, the Ultimate Angler Championship—October 5-11, 2025 on Lake Guntersville, near Scottsboro, Alabama, with a guaranteed 1st Place payout of $500,000—the largest pot in bass fishing's history—and a total of over 1 million in cash payouts.
Alabama Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth said, “The Ultimate Angler Championship is not just a fishing tournament; it is an opportunity to unite anglers from diverse backgrounds, highlighting their talents while fostering camaraderie and mutual respect for a sport we all love in the place where tournament bass fishing began…the great state of Alabama.”
Alabama State Senate Majority Leader, Steve Livingston, said "Alabama offers outdoor recreational activities unlike any other place in the world, and we are committed to conserving our abundant, God-given natural resources. We are absolutely thrilled to host The Ultimate Angler World Championship in Scottsboro, as we put Alabama on the map for competitive fishing and will continue to raise funds for further conservation initiatives."
The Ultimate Angler Tournament is being modeled after The Masters golf tournament, and will be open to qualifying college anglers, amateurs, and pros. The tournament winner will be the first and only champion crowned across multiple bass fishing leagues and tournament trails.
The tournament will take place October 5-11, 2025 on Lake Guntersville near Scottsboro, Alabama.
Unified Pros is a nonprofit alliance of professional athletes. Through sanctioned competitions, charity events, and membership, the organization aims to elevate a love for outdoor competition while raising awareness for fisheries, habitats, and their continued conservation. Through collaborative partnerships with esteemed organizations such as the Major League Fishing Anglers Association (MLFAA), Bassmaster Professional Anglers, National Professional Fishing league (NPFL), NFL Professional Players Association (NFLPA), MLB Players Association (MLBPA), NBA Players Association (NBAPA), and Professional Golfers Association (PGA), Unified Pros aims to create Pro-Pro events that bring together professionals from various sports disciplines in unique and competitive formats.
These events will not only offer major payouts to winners, but also serve as platforms to raise awareness for outdoor activities and conservation efforts.
By harnessing the collective influence of these athletic associations, Unified Pros envision creating extraordinary experiences that unite athletes, build camaraderie, and promote the importance of preserving our outdoors and fisheries.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. officials have announced the schedule for the revamped 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN, and the schedule features eight events — including some vintage tournament stops for the organization — across two divisions.
For 2025, Opens anglers placing in the Top 50 in each division’s Angler of the Year race will advance to the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series. This stand-alone series will feature three events, spanning from September through November, where anglers will compete to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series. The Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series schedule will be released at a later date.
“We are proud of the diversity of this schedule,” said Executive Director of Tournaments Hank Weldon. “Each division works its way from south to north as the year goes along and mixes in different kinds of fisheries from highland reservoirs to river systems to tidal fisheries as well. At the end of the Opens, we should have a very diverse and tested group ready to move into the EQs.”
The schedule begins Jan. 23-25 at Clarks Hill Reservoir in Evans, Ga. This event marks the first time an Open event has visited the fishery, which is the third-largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi River. Featuring more than 400 miles of shoreline, Clarks Hill is referred to by Georgians as “Georgia’s Freshwater Coast.”
After a break of more than two months, Division 1 will pick up competition again April 16-18 at Tombigbee River in Columbus, Miss., a stop that hasn’t appeared on a Bassmaster schedule since 2004. Arkansas pro Mark Davis brought 62-4 to the scales to win that event by a massive 15-pound, 1-ounce margin over Kevin VanDam.
“Visit Columbus, partnering with the city of Columbus and Lowndes County, is thrilled to welcome Bassmaster and its anglers,” said Frances Glenn, tourism director for Columbus-Lowndes Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We cannot wait to show off our beautiful town and great fishing on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. A tournament of this size is a huge economic boost not only for our hospitality partners, but our area as well. Columbus is known for its warm Southern hospitality, and we are looking forward to welcoming a national tournament.”
Division 1 then heads to Upper Chesapeake Bay in North East, Md., July 23-25. Elite Series pro Aaron Martens picked up a 2015 victory at Chesapeake Bay with a total of 70 pounds, 2 ounces. The Division then heads over to St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y., July 31-Aug. 2, which claimed the No. 1 spot overall on the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes list for its deep, clear waters that are famous for chunk smallmouth.
Division 2 kicks off its season Feb. 13-15 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. The 114,000-acre Sam Rayburn ended up No. 7 in the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes: Central list for producing giant largemouth consistently. The next stop for Division 2 will be a familiar one, as the Opens return to Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley in Paris, Tenn., March 6-8.
Division 2 then takes a swing to a destination that has not been visited by Opens competitors in nearly a decade — Norfork Lake in Mountain Home, Ark., April 3-5, where anglers will find plentiful bass in more than 22,000 acres of crystal blue water set in the Ozark Mountains.
The final stop of Division 2 will be Aug. 14-16 on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., where in 2024 22-year-old Easton Fothergill fished his home waters to win an Open event with a weight of 49-13. The 2024 stop was the first visit for the Opens to Leech Lake.
“I absolutely circled this one on the calendar,” Fothergill said after winning the Leech Lake event. “Being 30 minutes away (from home) and the first time B.A.S.S. has come to Leech Lake and Walker, Minnesota — I’ve spent so much time out here through my childhood; it means the world to me to pull off the win on my home lake.”
Also new for the 2025 Opens and EQ Series, the new electronics rule for 2025 that was implemented for the Elite Series will also apply for the Opens. That includes standardization practices that allow for only one live transducer connected to the trolling motor shaft and capping total screen inches at 55. Complete details of the 2025 Opens format can be found at Bassmaster.com.
2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN
Division 1
Date
Location
Clarks Hill Reservoir
Jan. 23-25
Evans, Ga.
Tombigbee River
April 16-18
Columbus, Miss.
Upper Chesapeake Bay
July 23-25
North East, Md.
St. Lawrence River
July 31-Aug. 2
Waddington, N.Y.
Division 2
Date
Location
Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Feb. 13-15
Jasper, Texas
Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
March 6-8
Paris, Tenn.
Norfork Lake
April 3-5
Mountain Home, Ark.
Leech Lake
Aug. 14-16
Walker, Minn.
Chronological
Clarks Hill Reservoir
Jan. 23-25
Evans, Ga.
Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Feb. 13-15
Jasper, Texas
Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley
March 6-8
Paris, Tenn.
Norfork Lake
April 3-5
Mountain Home, Ark.
Tombigbee River
April 16-18
Columbus, Miss.
Upper Chesapeake Bay
July 23-25
North East, Md.
St. Lawrence River
July 31-Aug. 2
Waddington, N.Y.
Leech Lake
Aug. 14-16
Walker, Minn.
Registration will open Nov. 18 at 9 a.m. CT at Bassmaster.com for pro angler B.A.S.S. members, Nov. 19 for Single Division - Life and B.A.S.S. Nation members and Nov. 20 for Single Division - B.A.S.S. members who want to participate in the Opens.
For full details of the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN please visit Bassmaster.com.
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
Since we’ve started our fishing travel consultancy, we’ve focused on maintaining a list of goals, a sort of moral code of what we want our purpose to be. For example we’ve vowed to do the following:
Send you to the best places at the best times;
Make sure that you get the best service, but never pay a penny more than you’d pay by booking directly with the outfitter;
Hook you up with likeminded people, or hosted trips, as appropriate;
And keep you aware of trends in gear, clothing and travel options.
There’s a flip side to all of those rules, though. We have to ensure that we maintain certain ethical standards and rules. Too many people in the fishing business are unscrupulous or simply don’t care once they have your money. We’ve been scammed by such operators on a small level, and we know many more anglers who’ve gotten a bad taste of fishing travel in other ways as the result of poor business practices.
We can’t control whether the fish bite or how big they are, but we can ensure that you have the best possible chance of having a great trip. Here are six things we WON’T DO under any circumstances — our ultimate goal is to make sure that the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is everything you’d hoped, or to make sure that trip number 200 is the best one ever:
We Won’t Let You Spend Too Much – We know that both your time and money are precious resources. We value both in our own lives, and we work to preserve as much as we can while still getting the most out of our fishing and travel experiences. If you need to upgrade some portion of your package or your gear, we’ll tell you so, and we’ll explain why, but ultimately the choice is yours. We will treat your money as carefully as we’d treat our own – helping you find the best possible deals, best flights, and all sorts of other hacks to ensure that you have money left over for the next trip.
We Won’t Let You Go Unprepared – We perform tireless (bordering on obsessive) research and you’re the beneficiary of those efforts. Usually that means we’ve been to a place multiple times, but when we haven’t we’ll go the extra mile – checking trip reports, calling experts, dialing in the tackle, clothing and transportation choices so that little is left to chance. We don’t want you to get there and suffer because you didn’t know it was going to rain or because the only lizard color they’ll eat is watermelon or because local merchants don’t take American Express, or aren’t open on Sundays. We’ll send you a dossier ahead of time, and if any questions are still unanswered we’re on call 24/7 and will track down accurate information.
We Won’t Let You Go on the Wrong Trip — Part of the information-gathering process comes down to understanding the physical demands and accommodation requirements of each individual angler. If you can’t stand on a rocking boat, we won’t send you tuna popping. If you can’t hike into a remote stream, we might still send you to Alaska, but tell you to forego the difficult fly-in options. If you don’t like heat, we won’t recommend that you visit the Amazon for peacock bass. We want to get you fishing, but it’s our obligation to tell you if we think that something is not going to be to your liking. Ultimately, you can override that advice, but we won’t hold our tongues.
We Won’t Let You Go Places that Disrespect Staff or the Environment – We’re often heading to places that are distant from us geographically and culturally. We are guests on their soil and on their waters. It’s important to us to respect their hospitality and to make sure that it’s there for generations to come. We won’t book with outfitters or lodges who don’t have that same attitude. We want the guides and other staff to reflect our values and we need to show them equal courtesy.
We Won’t Lie to You – Some outfitters and booking agents will tell you exaggerated stories of fish counts and once-in-a-lifetime trophies as if they’re virtually guaranteed. They take the best day a given fishery has ever had and build it up by 20% or more. They’ll tell you that the average size of the fish is equal to what most people would consider a giant. Our goal is to be as straightforward as possible about ranges of numbers and ranges of sizes based on our firsthand experiences whenever possible – and on reliable sources when not possible. If anything, we aim to under promise and overdeliver.
We Won’t Let You Further the Lies – If we’re not there with you, we want to hear all of your great fish stories from the trips we set up (and even some we don’t) in all of their excruciating detail. This is what we live for: not just our own on-the-water success, but also that of people we know and like. But what we need from you in return is a pledge to do the same. We need to pass along your information to our next group of travelers, who will rely upon it in preparing the same way you relied on information from your predecessors. It’s part of the circle of success.
If this approach appeals to you and you want to travel and fish, please email us today at fishmore@halfpastfirstcast.com and let’s get the process moving in the right direction.
The 2024 Alabama Bass Trail Championship, was held on October 18-19 at Lay Lake. This highly anticipated event brought fierce competition from the best of the best in team fishing. Teams qualified for this no-entry-fee event with a guaranteed $50,000 first-place prize plus another $50,000 paid out though 25th place. The top 75 teams from the north and south divisions plus 5 college teams, 5 couple teams, 5 student teams, and the 10 winners from the divisional tournaments make up the 175 teams all converging on Lay Lake for the two-day shootout.
The event featured changing fishing conditions, with the cool October weather scattering the fish out and making locating fish tough for anglers. Each morning anglers were greeted with foggy conditions. Day two began with a 45-minute fog delay. This caused anglers looking for the early morning bite to possibly miss an opportunity to catch them up shallow early. Lay Lake provides an abundant population of spotted and largemouth bass. Teams used a mix of various strategies to target largemouth and spotted bass. Teams reported having to fish shallow and deep to put together a solid limit. Lots of teams said they just went “junk fishing” to locate and catch fish in the changing conditions. As the competition progressed, consistency would play a key role. The anglers that were able to make adjustments and catch fish consistently for two days ended up on top.
During the final day's weigh-in, the tension in the air grew as the Phoenix Boat Hot Seats took center stage, occupied by Bret Harrel and Tyler Smart, the current leading team with 30.91 pounds. As the weigh-in progressed, each team brought their bags to the state trying to surpass their weight and dethrone them from the hot seats. One by one, teams crossed the stage, but none were able to achieve a significant enough gain on the final day to claim control of the Phoenix Boats Hot Seats. The anticipation built as only two teams remained. The team of Nicholas Turner and Joe Lay were the day one leaders, and they were the last team to cross the state. They needed only 13.51 pounds to win. When they dropped their catch on the scales it totaled 14.03. Enough to take the lead and win the $50,000 as the 2024 Alabama Bass Trail Champions. It was a thrilling and unforgettable conclusion to an intense competition.
The Champs Nicholas Turner and Joe Lay are locals on the lake and beat the local lake curse to take home the win. They spent lots of time fishing their history on the lake. They described their style this weekend as “junk fishing. They used a variety of baits, including soft plastics, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and trick worms, without any specific standout bait. We really mixed it up.” The deck of their boat was covered with rods rigged for every opportunity. They spent lots of time just covering water. Lots of teams reported the fishing was tough and when asked why Joe shared “It just hasn’t got cold enough and the water temp is just not there, there are a few shallow fish they just aren’t all there. There are a few fish offshore, lots of fish are suspended currently floating around and scattered in between. This lake has lots of timber in it the lake is up a little right now and you can not see the timber above the surface and the only way to learn it is to just go fishing. The guys that do that will learn there are sweet spots in the timber and can be very productive. There are several of those places across the lake and you can only find them by taking the time to learn it.” They went out on day two as the tournament leaders after catching 17.40 on day one. They caught a couple fish early but spent lots of time moving around trying to locate fish. The team shared, “we had a special small little area that we were able to get a key spot off every day. We had the plan to pull up the trolling motor at 3:30 and we caught the biggest fish and culled us up at the last minute.” They culled up to the winning weight of 31.43.
The Second Place Team of Bret Harrell and Tyler Smart are no strangers to the top of the leaderboard in the ABT Championship. They have fished the ABT Championship 4 times, and this is their 3rd top five. They have some heartbreaking finishes but have proven they are included in the best of the best in team fishing. The team shared “We both have been working a lot and we came down the previous two Sundays and found some shallow grass that had some fish. We basically found a creek up here close and a couple of pockets on the lower end. The plan was to fish one day in each area. The cold front moved in this week and the water dropped 12 degrees and the fish were still in the same places but seemed really lethargic. We just went junk fishing in those areas and we caught two or three solid fish in each area. The down-the-river area was a pocket in a creek with docks and grass mixed in. We primaly used a Spro Frog and Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver. The area was really close to deep water. We were sitting in 10 feet of water and casting up to 3 feet. The second area was a little shallower in the back of the creek. The area had a little bit of grass and rock. We went with these plans but every time we tried to build on the plan, it just wouldn’t pan out and we had to try something else.” They ended day one in 15th place with 13.76 and sat in the hot seats for a long time. The team shared “we hoped if we do lose it is more than by a half of a pound because yesterday we lost a fish that would have given us that and maybe more” They end up with another top five finish in second place and collcted a $10,000 payday.
The third-place team of Walker Brown and Sloan Pennington shared that practice for them “was not good” Walker shared “I grew up here and now live in North Alabama, but I still consider Lay Lake as my home lake. I thought the two days we spent practicing were going to be better. We practiced all the stuff we used to catch them on and both days we ended up not catching them. Normally this time of year, I would expect to throw a spook all day and you can catch 18 pounds plus a day.” The team shared, “On tournament day we abandoned the practice plan and just went fishing today. On day one we didn’t fish a single thing we fished in practice and on day two we didn’t fish a single thing from day one. We caught everything we weighed in on a Green Pumpkin on a Davis shaky head and flipped the grass with a Green Pumpkin NetBait B-Bug on a 1oz weight. Yesterday we lost a couple of fish that should have had us close to 18-pounds we lost a 4-pounder at the boat and a 3.5 right at the net. Going out today we were excited and planned on flipping all day long we didn’t catch anything early so the fog delay didn’t hurt us. We felt we were in a position that if we did catch two of those that we lost yesterday we would be in a good place and knocking on the door to win. Today we only ended up catching only one of those but at the end of the day in the last 15 minutes, we culled with a 3-pound spot and another 2.5 spot.” Their total weight for two days was 30.21 pounds. With their third-place finish, they collected $5,000 payday.
The event marked another successful chapter in Alabama Bass Trail history, solidifying Lay Lake’s reputation as a premier fishing destination. Visit the www.alabamabasstrail.or for more coverage and highlights from this unforgettable day on the Alabama Bass Trail!
Download and listen to the ABT Podcast on your favorite Podcast app by searching for “Alabama Bass Trail Podcast.” The podcast is released each week on Tuesday. The 2024 Alabama Bass Trail Sponsors Include: Phoenix Boats, AMFirst, Landers - McLarty Chevrolet, McGraw - Webb Chevrolet, Rapala, VMC, Crush City, Buffalo Rock, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Jack's, Garmin, Alabama State Parks, Halo Fishing, Snag proof, NetBait, Bait Fuel, TH Marine Supplies, Power-Pole, Pro Guide Batteries, American Trailer Rental, Yamaha, Anheuser-Busch, Big Bite Baits, American Baitworks, E3 Sports Apparel and FishAlabama.org
Arkansas’ Sloan Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
TEXARKANA, Texas (Oct. 21, 2024) – Boater Zack Fogle of Longview, Texas, caught a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 48 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on Wright Patman Lake . The tournament, which was hosted by the City of Texarkana, Texas, concluded Saturday. For his win, Fogle earned a prize package valued at $67,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, $10,000 and the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus.
The Wright Patman event served as Regional championship for BFL Region 6. The field included the top 45 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each of the tournament winners, from the 2024 Arkie, Cowboy, Mississippi and Okie divisions. The top six boaters and co-anglers have qualified for the 2025 BFL All-American, which will be held on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 29-31.
Fogle’s winning strategy was to get away from the fishing pressure concentrated around obvious targets on Wright Patman’s shoreline.
“It’s a very shallow fishery; pretty much the whole lake,” he said. “Out in the middle of the lake it’s even 8 to 10 foot in some places. Typically, everything (fishing patterns) is around the bushes, laydowns and all that kind of shallow bank cover type of stuff. But as I was practicing for the tournament, everyone was up there around that stuff fishing, and I knew it wouldn’t hold up through the whole event. So I kind of backed off and started looking for brush piles and the bigger stumps off the bank that were holding fish.”
Fogle marked about 200 brush piles for the tournament. His better brush piles were in 10 to 12 feet of water and produced 12 of his 15 keepers. He also targeted some stumps in about 5 feet of water, and even those were out off the bank away from other anglers.
His strategy each day was to start on a spot within sight of takeoff and milk that area until about 10 a.m. Then, he switched to a run-and-gun strategy the rest of the day to cull up his weight.
On day one, it worked perfectly. He had a 3-pounder and another keeper in the livewell before the entire field was done launching and a limit by 8 a.m. He started out in third place with 17 pounds, 4 ounces. Day two was similar. Fogle sacked up a limit by 8:20 and then culled his way to another 17-pound daily weight, which put him in first place by 10 ounces.
“The last day got extremely tough,” he said. “It got tough on everyone. I didn’t get a limit until about 12:30. On my starting spot, I only caught two that morning. I was a little worried, feeling the pressure of everything. I just kept my head down and ran through my stuff and ended up getting my limit. Around 2:05, I pulled back on my starting spot because it was close to takeoff, and I culled my final time and actually broke off a big fish in a brush pile. I was really concerned that was going to cost me the tournament because I only had 14 pounds. I came in, and it turns out the guy really close to me, Cody (Ross), he actually had the same weight as me – 14-4. So that 10-ounce lead I had basically held through the last day.”
Fogle caught most of his fish on a Texas-rigged 10 1/2-inch Zoom Ol’ Monster worm. He also caught one keeper on a jerkbait and a couple on lighter Texas rigs. Now in his sixth BFL season, Fogle is headed to the All-American for the first time.
“I’m super excited about it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. It (Lake Hamilton) is not terribly far from me. It’s only four hours from here, so it’s pretty exciting. I’ve heard it’s a very fun tournament to fish.”
The top six boaters who qualified for the 2025 All-American finished:
Brad Smith of Longview, Texas, won the Berkley Big Bass boater award and $1,000 for landing a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces.
Mark Sloan of Harrison, Arkansas, won the Strike King co-angler division Saturday after bringing a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 3 ounces, to the scale. His $50,400 prize package included a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The top six Strike King co-anglers who qualified for the 2025 All-American finished:
7th: Russell Malone, Grove, Okla., 11 bass, 21-15, $1,300
8th: Jonathan Dotson, Dover, Ark., eight bass, 21-11, $700
9th: Wes Ledbetter, Coweta, Okla., eight bass, 17-4, $600
10th: Levi Nix, Weatherford, Okla., six bass, 14-12, $550
11th: Zack Nick, Lufkin, Texas, seven bass, 14-10, $500
12th: Buck Blackwell, Pine Bluff, Ark., seven bass, 13-0, $500
The top-finishing co-angler from each division (not including the winner) earned a $500 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Arkie: Nathan Hall, Hensley, Ark., 4th Place, $500 Cowboy: Robert Massey, Calhoun, La. 2nd Place, $500 Mississippi: Joe Cornelius, Corinth, Miss., 17th Place, $500 Okie: Russell Malone, Grove, Okla., 7th Place $500
Zachary Morrow of Lonsdale, Arkansas, won the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award and $500 for catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
Kentucky’s Smith Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
SPRING CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 21, 2024) – Boater Tanner Hadden of Appling, Georgia, caught a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds even to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Regional on Watts Bar Lake Presented by recteq . The tournament, which was hosted by the Rhea County Department of Tourism – Fish Spring City, concluded Saturday. For his win, Hadden earned a prize package valued at $65,805, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, $10,000 and the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus.
The Watts Bar event served as Regional championship for BFL Region 5. Originally scheduled for Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia, the event moved due to the impacts of the recent hurricanes. The field included the top 45 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each of the tournament winners, from the 2024 Choo Choo, Music City, Piedmont and Volunteer divisions. The top six boaters and co-anglers have qualified for the 2025 BFL All-American, which will be held on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 29-31.
Hadden is a senior business management major at the University of South Carolina-Union. He actually signed up to fish the entire Choo Choo Division for the first time this year just for a shot at making this Regional, since it was originally scheduled for nearby Clarks Hill. Obviously, the storms changed the plans, but that didn’t slow down Hadden.
“It all worked out in the end,” he said.
Getting the W started with adapting to conditions.
“From all the flooding, a lot of the lake was blown out,” he said about Watts Bar. “There were only a few areas of the lake that were clean. One of them was by the boat ramp, so I pretty much figured I’d stick around in that area.”
In addition to the muddy water, anglers had to deal with a cold front – a tough combo anywhere, anytime of year. The cold, muddy conditions pushed the fish off the bank. Hadden relocated them about 50 feet out suspended on the edge of some grass over about 15 feet of water. Schools of bait were suspended in these areas, too.
“I fished two half-mile banks for three days pretty much,” he said. “That was it. And they were in the same pocket. I pretty much fished one creek arm all week.”
The mornings were slow all week. In fact, most days the fish didn’t turn on until after 11. On day two, it was closer to 1 p.m. The most interesting part was how defined the bite window was each day. Hadden saw fish on his sonar all day long, but they just wouldn’t bite until after the sun got up and something triggered them to get active. Each day, he experienced a similar flurry of activity.
“At 11 the first day I went through one stretch and caught three 4-pounders within like 30 minutes to an hour,” he said. “And then the second day, I struggled until 1. They didn’t start biting until 1 because it got colder the second day. At 1 o’clock, I caught two 3 1/2-pounders back to back off that same stretch.
“The third day it was like 11 o’clock when I got on one stretch and just started catching them. I caught pretty much everything I caught in like 15 minutes. It was a timing deal.”
Hadden’s limits included a mix of species. Day one, he weighed four largemouths and a 4 1/4-pound smallmouth as part of his 18-pound, 11-ounce limit. Day two, his three biggest keepers were three different species – largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. Hadden weighed 14-11. The final day, he weighed in a 13-10 limit of five largies to move into first place for the win and his shot at the 2025 All-American.
The top six boaters who qualified for the 2025 All-American finished:
The top-finishing boater from each division (not including the winner) earned a $1,000 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Music City: Nathan Reynolds, Nashville, Tenn., 4th Place, $1,000 Choo Choo: Jeremy York, Conyers, Ga., 3rd Place, $1,000 Piedmont: John Wiese, Charlotte, N.C., 24th Place, $1,000 Volunteer: Dustin Dyer, Johnson City, Tenn., 2nd Place $1,000
Matt VanMeter of Grant, Alabama, won the Berkley Big Bass boater award and earned the $1,000 prize.
Corey Smith of Hazard, Kentucky, won the Strike King co-angler division Saturday after bringing a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 39 pounds, 1 ounce, to the scale. His $50,000 prize package included a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The top six Strike King co-anglers who qualified for the 2025 All-American finished:
The top-finishing co-angler from each division (not including the winner) earned a $500 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Justin Stephenson of Jasper, Alabama, won the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award and earned the $500 bonus.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
A heavy influx of runoff from the recent hurricanes was still making its way into Lake Chickamauga when the collegiate anglers arrived. The resulting current and muddy waters were the biggest factors in the outcome.
“We had a really good pattern going – a main-lake pattern – and I think everybody else kind of missed it just because the water was really muddy out there,” said Shaw. “It didn’t look good. We were just running main-lake current breaks, and we were also fishing some submerged grass.”
The submerged grass was hydrilla in 5 to 10 feet of water. For the current-related pattern, the UNA anglers targeted anything that formed an eddy along the main-lake bank, including some shallow points where the fish could forage in the flows. Their best areas were near the mouths of large creeks.
King and Shaw fished a milk run of about 30 to 40 spots, cycling back through any that produced good fish. Their primary lures were a Picasso Bait Ball Jr. umbrella rig and a 5-inch Zoom Swimmer.
“It was just really hard to catch them just because the water was dirty,” added Shaw. “You just had to put it right on their head to catch them.”
The top 10 teams finished:
1st: University of North Alabama – Gage King, Birchwood, Tenn., and Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 28-9, $2,000
2nd: University of Montevallo – Connor Bell, Lisbon, N.Y., and Nicholas Dumke, Grand Rapids, Minn., five bass, 19-13, $1,000
3rd: University of Montevallo – Miller Dowling, Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Mason Kornegay, Buhl, Ala., five bass, 19-8, $700
4th: Kentucky Christian University – Ethan Burnette, Monticello, Ky., and Cameron Dials, Lovely, Ky., five bass, 19-4, $600
5th: University of Montevallo – Brody Robison, Dawson, Ala., and Peyton Sorrow, Abbeville, S.C., five bass, 18-10, $500
6th: Florida Gateway College – Seth Jones, Havana, Fla., and Bryson O’Steen, Live Oak, Fla., five bass, 18-10
7th: University of North Alabama – Samuel Schmitz and Nick Staub, both of Germantown, Tenn., five bass, 18-6
8th: University of Montevallo – Luke Davis, Bishop, Ga., and Kaden Raichel, Scottsburg, Ind., five bass, 18-2
9th: University of Montevallo – Mathias Boerboom, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., and Jacob Swanson, Farmingham, Mass., five bass, 18-1
10th: Adrian College – Mathias Dahline, Howell, Mich., and Henry Vincent, Richmond, Ind., five bass, 17-15
The top 12% of teams qualified for the 2025 National Championship. A full list of qualifiers and complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Chickamauga Presented by Suzuki Marine was hosted by Fish Dayton – Rhea Economic & Tourism Council. It was the final event of the 2024 College Fishing season. The 2025 season kicks off at Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia, on February 14.
The 2024 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI season features college teams from across the country competing in nine regular-season tournaments. The top 12 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2025 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
A field of 37 teams competed Saturday in the no-entry-fee tournament, which was hosted by Fish Dayton – Rhea Economic & Tourism Council. In MLF High School Fishing competition, the top 10 percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top three teams that advanced to the 2025 High School Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Cartersville High Fishing Team, Cartersville, Ga., Bill Gaines and Owen Wiggins, five bass, 17-10
2nd: Kingston Fishing Team, Kingston, Tenn., Hayden Barnett and Camdyn Cranfill, five bass, 13-6
3rd: Kingston Fishing Team, Kingston, Tenn., Jackson Daugherty and James Lane, five bass, 12-15
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
4th Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Ill., JD McBroom and Carter Pjesky, five bass, 12-10
5th Galatia High School, Galatia, Ill., Brian Gibbs and Mace Ridgeway, five bass, 11-12
6th Smoky Mountain Anglers, Tennessee, Carson Holbert and Cooper Moon, four bass, 10-3
7th Alcoa Fishing Team, Tennessee, Tanner Howerton and Ainsley Lynn, four bass, 7-3
8th Gordon Lee High School, Chickamauga, Ga., Bryson Johnson and Eli Massey, four bass, 6-13
9th Richland County High School, Olney, Ill., Drake Koester and Jakoby Vandyke, two bass, 6-8
10th Salem Community High School, Salem, Ill., Peyton Bumgardner and Ben Ryan, two bass, 6-4
MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing presented by Tackle Warehouse tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and are open to any MLF and TBF Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10 percent of teams at each Open event, along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships, advance to the High School Fishing National Championship. Tournaments held on or before May 6, 2024, advance teams to the 2024 National Championship. Tournaments held after May 6, 2024, advance teams to the 2025 National Championship.
The 2025 Abu Garcia High School Fishing National Championship & World Finals events will take place June 25-27, at Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. The High School Fishing National Champions each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice and advance to the 2025 MLF Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing Presented by Tackle Warehouse include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular High School Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, 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.
Right after he booked the house, Jensen realized he had overlooked something. He thought initially only Caddo Lake was legal fishing waters, but soon discovered Bistineau was fishable water for the tournament as well.
“Honestly, it didn’t click that Bistineau was even one of the places we could fish. I read it, but it never registered in my brain,” Jensen explained.
So, when tournament week rolled around, Jensen found himself making an 80-mile one-way trek to Lake Bistineau every day, which turned out to be the winning move for the YouTuber known as “Flukemaster.”
With a total of 198.5 inches, Jensen claimed the top spot at the final Kayak Series event of the season, earned $11,000 in prize money and a trip to the 2025 Yamaha Rightwater Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship scored by TourneyX. The Georgia angler caught 98.25 inches on Day 1 before landing 100.25 inches on the final day to edge out Texas angler Matthew Scotch by 1/2 inch and Day 1 leader Abby Abbondanza by 1.5 inches.
“This wasn’t even my goal,” Jensen said. “My goal was a Top 5 because I knew I didn’t want to fish Lake Hartwell for the Georgia B.A.S.S. Nation State Championship. Hartwell and I never get along. But I told my travel partner before the tournament started that I knew what was going on on the lake. When I know what is going on all over the lake, I am deadly. That doesn’t happen very often. I can think of two other times that has happened, and I won both of those tournaments. It was pretty neat to feel that again.”
While he has fished the lakes several times, the shallow-water nature of the fisheries does not set up for his offshore style of fishing. But when Jensen realized he could go to Lake Bistineau, he was excited for one main reason: Each year, the lake is drawn down several feet in an attempt to combat the invasive Giant Salvinia that have infiltrated the lake.
The drawdown concentrates the bass in more predictable places, Jensen said, which helped him find his primary area.
Jensen spent six days of practice on Bistineau, only spending one day on Caddo to check some of the areas he fished during an August scouting trip. Each day on Bistineau, he landed over 90 inches while his lone day at the latter produced only 70 inches.
“I was catching 90 inches just searching. I went to Caddo and hit what I knew and caught 70 inches and said, ‘Nope.’ I made the decision that night to commit to Bistineau no matter what,” he said.
His best area was at the back of a long drain where the bass were funneling in and out. The middle of the drain was as deep as 4 feet, but many of the bass were up in 2 to 3 feet of water around cypress trees, laydowns and stumps. He also saw what looked like bluegill beds on his Lowrance SideScan, but those turned out to be little depressions he believes the bass were making to find hard bottom to find relief from the current.
“I’m guessing 5,000-plus acres of that lake drains down into this (area) when they draw it down,” he said. “So, all of the bass in those acres pulled down into this deeper ditch. I found it on Monday, and when I went to check it again on Wednesday, they had moved a little deeper because the lake had dropped about an inch.”
A Nichols Lures Pulsator spinnerbait with white willowleaf blades caught all of his bass. Jensen only had one in his kayak during practice, but luckily a friend was traveling to the tournament a few days later and was able to pick a couple up on his way into town.
“I caught 40 or 50 on one of those spinnerbaits before it broke,” he said. “White on white in dirty water just shows up a lot better whether it is sunny or cloudy.”
On Day 1, Jensen landed six bass in six casts to open Day 1 and left the area alone after that. Late in the day, he landed a key 20-incher, a bass that broke his spinnerbait as Jensen was netting it.
He returned to his primary on Day 2 and caught around 20 bass, but his tournament-defining catch came with 15 minutes to go before lines in. As he made his way out of the ditch, Jensen pitched his spinnerbait to a nearby stump and hooked up with a 20.5-inch largemouth that lifted him to the 100-inch mark.
“They weren’t biting right today,” Jensen said. “You had to bump what they were on, and you couldn’t kill the bait right at the log. You had to reel it two or three more times and then kill it, and then the bass would hit it on the way down.”
Scotch, meanwhile, landed 96 inches on Day 1 before landing 102 inches on Day 2, the biggest bag of the final day. He also used a spinnerbait, which he paired with an XCite Baits ShadNasty Swimbait trailer. In the afternoons, he would switch to a bluegill-colored spinnerbait when the bass buried themselves in the shade.
He opened the tournament fishing the same area as Jensen, but with not nearly the same amount of success. With one bass at 12:30 p.m., Scotch made a long run to an area he has fished in the past and filled out a limit.
“I went 9 miles. I just had to get down to that area,” he said. “As soon as I got down there, I started putting them in the boat. It was an awesome three hours of fishing.”
On Day 2, Scotch started in that same area and caught better quality bass. Each bass in his limit measured over 20 inches.
“Today I didn’t mess around. I went straight there and started hammering on them,” he said.
After leading Day 1 with a staggering 102.75 inches, Abbondanza caught 94.25 inches on Day 2 to finish in third place. The Pennsylvania angler lost two key bass in the morning hours of the final day but finished the day with two key culls to jump back into the Top 3.
Abbondanza caught all of his bass in one main area of Caddo Lake using a Bama craw-colored Z-Man Tungsten ChatterBait Elite EVO.
“It was one of those areas that just kept reloading,” he said. “It is a great lake.”
Along with a fourth-place finish, West Virginia’s Jody Queen caught the $500 Big Bass of the Tournament, a 22.75-inch largemouth he caught on Day 1.
A full list of results from the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series at Caddo Lake/Lake Bistineau scored by TourneyX can be found here.
2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Yamaha Rightwaters 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Partner: MotorGuide, YakGear 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Sponsor: Dakota Lithium
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — 2024 saw B.A.S.S. kickstart the BassmastHER program, a new initiative with the goal of creating a space for female anglers at all levels to learn new fishing skills within a supportive community. B.A.S.S. hosted workshops that ran concurrently with three Bassmaster Elite Series events across the 2024 season, and 2025 will see the program expand its offerings to create even more workshop opportunities across the country.
2024’s events were held in conjunction with the Elite Series tournaments at St. Johns River in Palatka, Fla., Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., and St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y. The expanded list of 2025 BassmastHER workshops includes:
“As a dad who is teaching his two young girls to fish, I am excited that the BassmastHER program will introduce more females to the sport of bass fishing,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson. “I am thankful for our partners at Toyota for their continued support, and I believe together we can continue to grow this great program.”
Although gender does not dictate how successful you can be on the water, it helps to have a like-minded support system for education, travel, inspiration and ideation. BassmastHER was created to build a passionate community of female anglers, inspire confidence when you make it to the water's edge and to be the conduit for creating lifetime friends and memories.
BassmastHER workshops are conducted by BassmastHER ambassadors Anastasia Patterson, Kristine Fischer and Maggie Jo Carsello, along with fishing experts from the Bassmaster staff. Topics at the workshops will range from bass fishing fundamentals to casting for accuracy, getting familiar with a bass boat or kayak, bank fishing and discussing industry and sponsorship opportunities. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with other female anglers at the workshops.
“Being a part of BassmastHER is bigger than just me — it’s every little girl, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend who has a passion for fishing,” said Patterson. “They are all a part of this initiative to get more women out there and go fishing. The workshops are a great space to learn, lead, network and contribute to plant seeds to grow the community of female anglers and hopefully see more women out on the water.”
Virtual BassmastHER workshop educational material, articles and how-to pieces can be found at Bassmaster.com. Women interested in attending workshops, telling their story or asking fishing-related questions are encouraged to reach out to BassmastHER on any of their social channels, including a private Facebook page for female anglers to network with each other and establish community, or email bassmasther@bassmaster.com.
The BassmastHER workshops are for all skill levels, but participants must be at least 14 years old. Workshops are only $25 to attend and space is limited, so it is first come, first serve.
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
WILKESVILLE, Ohio — The National Professional Fishing League has formally scheduled six of its seven tournament events for 2025 — including the second NPFL Championship — in what promises to be an exciting and competitive season. Another regular season event and the final dates for the Championship will be announced when finalized.
“Creating our tournament schedule is one of the most challenging things we do each year,” said NPFL President Brad Fuller. “Our complete regular season schedule for 2025 should be ready very soon, but we’re excited to announce what’s already been secured. We think it’s the best schedule we’ve ever assembled, and it promises to deliver a year of competition, content, and camaraderie to further elevate the League for our fans, our partners, and our anglers.”
Santee Cooper (South Carolina), March 6-8
In March, the NPFL will revisit legendary lakes Marion and Moultrie (often referred to as “Santee Cooper” for the rivers they impound) out of Clarendon County, South Carolina, March 6-8. Launch and weigh-in will take place at the John C. Land III Landing.
Santee Cooper was the site of a 2023 event won by local favorite Patrick Walters. Lake Marion produced the state record largemouth bass (16 pounds, 2 ounces) in 1949. These two historical bass fisheries were impounded in the 1940s, cover more than 170,000 surface acres and are renowned for lunker largemouths and heavy cover.
Douglas Lake (Tennessee), May 22-24
The NPFL will pay its first visit to 30,400-acre Douglas Lake out of Dandridge Tennessee, May 22-24. Launch and weigh-in will take place at Dandridge Boat Ramp in Jefferson County.
“We are incredibly excited to host the National Professional Fishing League on Douglas Lake in 2025,” said Lauren M. Hurdle, Director of Tourism for Jefferson County. “The tournament could not be scheduled for a better time of year, as it will really showcase just how amazing this fishery is. Douglas Lake is a tournament destination, but this will be its first time hosting an NPFL event, and it will be exciting to see what these anglers are able to do on these waters.”
Douglas Lake is widely regarded as one of the best bass fishing lakes in the country. It features both largemouth and smallmouth bass.
Lake Eufaula (Oklahoma), June 18-20
For the second time in two years, the NPFL will go west to Oklahoma and Lake Eufaula, June 18-20. The massive U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment was completed in 1964 and covers 105,500 acres. Launch will be at Xtreme Cove Marina and weigh-in will be at Nichols Point.
“We are looking forward to welcoming NPFL back to Eufaula for the 2025 season,” said City Manager Jeb S. Jones. “Recreation is our economic engine, and we are excited to have NPFL as a community partner.”
In 2023, Lake Eufaula was the site of the closest finish in league history with Louis Fernandes taking the title by virtue of a tiebreaker over Will Harkins. The fishing can’t get any closer than that, but a return to Eufaula promises plenty of drama and a tight competition.
To Be Announced, July 31 – August 2
The NPFL is finalizing location and host details for an event in the northeast, July 31 – August 2. The League has yet to hold an event in this region, renowned for large, plentiful and aggressive smallmouth bass.
Logan Martin Lake (Alabama), September 25-27
In its continuing effort to shake up conventional tournament scheduling, the NPFL will return to the site of the 2024 season opener — Logan Martin Lake in Oxford Alabama — but this time in the fall, September 25-27. Launch will be at Lincoln’s Landing each morning, and weigh-ins will be held in Oxford.
“The City of Oxford looks forward to hosting the National Professional Fishing League again in 2025,” said Mayor Alton Craft. “Oxford’s inaugural partnership with the NPFL in 2024 proved to be a success for both as it boosted our local tourism and economy, while the visiting professional anglers found a variety of ways to engage and entertain our youngsters, senior citizens, and everyone in between. We are pleased to welcome back this positive, family-friendly experience which brings together good sportsmanship, community spirit, and the fun of fishing.”
Will Harkins claimed the win in 2024 out of the largest field of anglers in NPFL history. That event was in March under tough conditions with high, muddy water. A fall tournament should present new challenges and opportunities for league anglers.
NPFL Championship — Lake Hartwell (South Carolina), Fourth Quarter of 2025
The NPFL’s second Championship will be its third visit to Lake Hartwell and Anderson, South Carolina. The venue is not only one of the fishing friendliest in the country, but the 55,900-acre lake offers the kind of angling diversity that make it a true test of the best, suitable for the league’s premier event.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to host the NPFL Championship at Green Pond Landing, Lake Hartwell, and Anderson County,” said Neil Paul, Executive Director of Visit Anderson, and a leading advocate for professional angling events. “We’ve hosted the NPFL twice for regular season events and could not be more impressed with the impact they made on our community. The opportunity to host their second Championship is an honor and a privilege. The leadership of Anderson County has provided us with a world class facility in Green Pond Landing as well as the resources to be able bring the NPFL Championship to our community. We take a great deal of pride in providing a championship caliber experience to our guests and look forward to providing the NPFL, the anglers, their families, and industry support with a memorable experience in our community.”
Hartwell was the site of NPFL events in April of 2022 and May of 2024. A fall tournament on the big Savannah River reservoir will guarantee that a wide variety of baits and methods will be in play for the 40-plus anglers in the field, all with their eyes on the biggest prize the NPFL has to offer — the gold Championship trophy and a six-figure payday.
“Final details of the 2025 NPFL season will be announced as soon as possible,” said Fuller. “We wanted to get this information out to stakeholders and prospective anglers now so that decisions can be made for next year.
“The challenge of putting our schedule together only after other leagues have made their announcements means that we can avoid unnecessary and unproductive conflicts, but it also means that things may come together later than we’d like and without every last detail being nailed down. Nevertheless, we work to ensure that our angler and sponsor partners can move forward with confidence and commitment.”
About the National Professional Fishing League
The National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) was founded to bring competitive fishing to a broader audience and offer anglers a platform to compete at the highest level. The NPFL is committed to fostering integrity, competition, and innovation in the sport, providing anglers and fans alike with an exciting and unique experience.
Media Contact: Ken Duke — (407) 574-1898 or ken@tnpfl.com.
Scottsboro, AL (October 18, 2024) – Unified Pros announced today the fourth addition to its Athlete Advisory Board, decorated professional angler, Kevin VanDam. Retired NFL defensive tackle, Bill Maas, retired MLB pitcher, Josh Beckett and retired PGA golfer, Brett Wetterich have previously been announced as board members.
Kevin VanDam is a 2018 Bass Fishing Hall of Fame inductee, seven-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year, FLW Angler of the Year, four-time Classic Champion, twenty-five-time Bassmaster winner and three-time MLF winner. “Unified Pros’ mission will elevate the sport of bass fishing to the position it deserves,” said VanDam. “By pairing professional anglers with professional athletes from other sports, for tournaments around the country, Unified Pros is taking bass fishing to places it’s never been before. Match that with a focus on charity and conservation and you’ve got a recipe for success.”
Unified Pros is a nonprofit alliance of professional athletes. Through sanctioned competitions, charity events, and membership, the organization aims to elevate a love for outdoor competition while raising awareness for fisheries, habitats, and their continued conservation. Unified Pros envisions an inclusive world where athletes collaborate and compete in the outdoor arena to create transformative experiences that make a lasting impact on individuals, communities, professional athletes, and the sport of bass fishing.
Through collaborative partnerships with esteemed organizations such as the Major League Fishing Anglers Association (MLFAA), Bassmaster Professional Anglers, National Professional Fishing league (NPFL), NFL Professional Players Association (NFLPA), MLB Players Association (MLBPA), NBA Players Association (NBAPA), and Professional Golfers Association (PGA), Unified Pros aims to create Pro-Pro events that bring together professionals from various sports disciplines in unique and competitive formats. These events will not only offer major payouts to winners, but also serve as platforms to raise awareness for outdoor activities and conservation efforts.
By harnessing the collective influence of these athletic associations, Unified Pros envision creating extraordinary experiences that unite athletes, build camaraderie, and promote the importance of preserving our outdoors and fisheries.
Hosted on Grand Lake, Costa’s first amateur-only bass tournament draws 150 teams, benefits freshwater conservation
Jupiter, FL – October 17, 2024 –
Every bass angler who has competed in a tournament has dreamed of a late day flurry that wins them the tournament, especially when the fishing is slow. It only takes five casts to put the winning fish in the boat, right? Those five casts could happen in the last hour of the day just as easily as the first hour, and that’s exactly what Preston “Kojak” Cook and Micah Littlejohn experienced en route to winning the inaugural Costa Bass Derby held on Grand Lake, October 13th 2024.
Littlejohn and Cook junk-fished their way to a limit of over 19-lbs, most of which was caught in the final hour after sitting on only two bass in their livewell until 1:30PM. The northeast Oklahoma natives and Grand Lake locals won the $15,000 grand prize payout, and chose Friends of Reservoirs to receive an additional $1,000 donation from Costa.
The Conservation payout is a core component of Costa’s popular Compete + Conserve contingency program, which pays a bonus to the highest placing angler wearing Costa Sunglasses in over 300 bass tournaments across the country each year. In addition, each Compete + Conserve winner chooses one of five conservation partners to receive an allotted donation from Costa that directly benefits freshwater conservation.
This was the first annual Costa Bass Derby, hosted in partnership with Academy Sports + Outdoors, which drew 150 amateur teams, like Cook and Littlejohn, who have been wearing Costas for years, and were eager for the chance to support the brand and fish a high-payout event on one of their home lakes.
“I bought my first pair of Costas over fifteen years ago and I bet I’ve had at least 10 pairs since,” Cook shared. “Both Micah and I have several different lens colors and just like we’ve heard the pros talk about, we change lenses based on the conditions. My favorite frame is the Cat Cay and Green Mirror is my favorite lens color, unless it’s low light, then Sunrise Silver Mirror is the deal for me.”
Cook owns a meat processing plant in Miami, Oklahoma and Littlejohn works as a physical therapist assistant. The duo fish several tournaments together each year, and they also do a lot of fishing with their spouses, who are equally as passionate about fishing and the culture that revolves around bass tournaments. Like many recreational bass anglers across the country, they look forward to getting on the water during the weekends and fish as many tournaments as possible.
“I’m sure my wife will want to fish this with me next year… this event had such an awesome atmosphere,” Littlejohn said. “There is nothing like this that comes to Grand Lake for us weekend anglers, and we fish dozens of tournaments in the area as well as several tournament trails on Grand Lake. From the gift bags at registration, having pros like Jason Christie hanging out with us, and the payouts being good from top to bottom, it was truly a great experience.”
For information on future Costa Bass Derby events, or to learn more about Costa Compete + Conserve, visit https://www.costacompeteandconserve.com/. If you own a pair of Costas, it’s completely free to register and you can win extra payouts if you compete in supported tournaments.
To shop Costa Sunglasses’ full collection of performance, lifestyle and optical eyewear, and learn more about its commitment to conservation, visit costasunglasses.com.
About Costa Sunglasses
More than 40 years ago, a group of anglers created Costa Sunglasses to stand up to the harsh light, unforgiving salt and rough conditions of a day at sea. The gear they made was up to the task, and it’s been on the water ever since. Today, Costa combines its superior 580® lens technology with unparalleled fit and durability to make the highest-quality sunglasses and prescription eyewear for adventures on the water. Committed to protecting the watery world it calls home, sustainability and conservation is woven throughout everything they do. From building products made of responsible materials, to Costa-owned initiatives like Kick Plastic® and #OneCoast, and its partnerships with 40+ mission-aligned conservation organizations, Costa inspires its community to help protect the earth’s resources and #SeeWhatsOutThere. Find out more on Costa’s website and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter at @CostaSunglasses.
Bass Pro Tour anglers compete as two-man teams on unknown west-central Texas fisheries in third event of season, all six days of competition livestreamed and filmed for broadcast on Outdoor Channel
Hosted by Visit Early, the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will feature 12 two-man teams of professional anglers from the Bass Pro Tour competing at fisheries in the region that are unknown to the competitors until they arrive to the launch ramp each morning.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Major League Fishing and some of the world's best anglers to Early, Texas,” said Denise Hudson-Brian, Tourism Director for Visit Early. “It’s exciting to feature the best in the sport, showcasing their skills in our area's diverse fisheries and exploring the fantastic experiences that Early and Brown County offer. We’re confident this event will have a substantial economic impact on our local hotels, restaurants and businesses throughout the competition and into the future.”
The General Tire Team Series is livestreamed daily, meaning every cast and every catch is covered live and fans can watch teammates work together to break down a new body of water in real time. The MLFNOW! broadcast is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and on Rumble. The broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition at the Patriot Cup from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT.
In keeping with traditional MLF Cup protocols, Early, Texas was not revealed to Team Series anglers until 30 days prior to the start of the tournament. All fishable waters within 60 miles of Early then went off limits to anglers. Fans watching the MLFNOW! livestream will find out the day’s competition waters right along with the anglers each morning, and then watch all the action unfold live as teams work together and share their knowledge as they compete for the Patriot Cup and to claim a part of a season-long purse of more than $720,000.
“Well, I don’t know where exactly we’re heading, but we grow big ones in Texas and there are a couple of lakes within the 60-mile limit that are absolute giant factories,” said Wills Point, Texas pro Jeff Sprague, who will be fishing alongside Bryan Thrift for Team Coign. “This is a really exciting Team Series event to go to. It won’t be like the northern fisheries where you catch 100 fish a day. But we have the potential to see some absolute giants here.”
Sprague said he expects the fish will be fully into their fall patterns by the time the tournament begins.
“We have a cool system coming in this week, which is really going to change things up,” Sprague said. “Water temperatures are already down into the high 70s around here, and that cold front is going to drop the temperatures a bit more. It will really set those fall patterns in motion.
“The bass will be chasing the baitfish,” he continued. “We’ll see a lot of topwater action, a lot of crankbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits – just power-fishing. And you can still throw the finesse stuff at them, chasing the bait balls. That’s one of the things that make this event so cool – we don’t know which pattern is going to be the strongest. And every cast has the potential to catch a giant.”
Despite the potential to catch giant bass and the numerous different patterns available, Sprague said he’s most excited to be sharing the boat again with Thrift, who was his partner last month at the Heritage Cup in Wisconsin. Although they had a disappointing event and didn’t advance past the Elimination Round, Sprague said he thinks their experience fishing together will be beneficial in this tournament.
“We learned so much from each other at the last event,” Sprague said. “Even though we’ve fished together a lot as friends, we’d never competed together on the same boat, and we learned a lot. I feel like we’ll work together, better, and fish faster and more efficiently at this one. I’m more excited for this one than I have been in quite a while.”
The 12 teams that will compete in the General Tire Team Series Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq in Early, Texas are:
Team 7 Brew Coffee:
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
Team B&W Trailer Hitches:
Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C.
Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas
Team Builders FirstSource:
Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn.
Team Coign:
Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.
Team Ferguson:
Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La.
Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala.
Team Knighten Industries:
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn.
Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.
Team Kubota:
Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La.
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Team Lucas Oil:
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Team REDCON1:
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches:
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash.
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va.
Team Star brite:
Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala.
Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark.
Team U.S. Air Force:
Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La.
James Elam, Tulsa, Okla.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to join MLF pros, Visit Early and the Texas Forest Service (TFS) for Fishing with the Pros at the TFS inaugural Arbor Day event. The event will be held at Town Center Lake, located at 109 Kelcy Way in Early, and will provide local youth and community members an opportunity to fish up close and personal alongside MLF pros. Tackle and bait will be provided and the event is free and open to the public.
The MLF General Tire Team Series Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will also air on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting March 29, 2025, airing from 2 to 4 p.m. EDT. The complete television schedule for the 2024 General Tire Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
Spencer Shuffield Finishes Second, Martin DeHaven Tops AAA Division
Laughlin, Nev. – October 16, 2024 –– The first two days of the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open presented by Ranger Boats and Mercury had proven to be the shootout that was predicted. As the 172-boat field ventured out on to the waters of Lake Mohave in Laughlin, Nev. for Championship Wednesday less than two pounds separated the day two leader Bryant Smith (43.84 pounds) and second place pro, Kyle Grover (41.88 pounds), the defending Champion.
Like most events, the one thing that is a certainty is that once the field gets accustomed to the conditions, they will change. The first two days featured barely a breath of wind, and the water’s surface resembled a mirror. The final day brought winds in in the 10 mile per hour range which added a wrinkle to the narrative of the event.
The question remained as to which of would be able to maintain the quality results they had to date, or would they fall to the hard charging efforts of pros like third place pro Spencer Shuffield (40.99 pounds), fourth place pro Josh Bertrand (40.16 pounds) or fifth place Julius Mazy (40.03 pounds).
The answer to that question would be Smith. The Roseville, Calif. pro bagged 20.90 pound of Lake Mohave smallmouth bass to push his final weight to 64.74 pounds to earn the top prize of a fully rigged 2024 Ranger Z520R powered by a Mercury ProXS 250 equipped with Lowrance Electronics, Bioenno Lithium Batteries, Power Pole Charge, Megaware Keelguard and DD26 Accessories valued at more than $90,000. Along with the Ranger / Mercury prize boat, the $70,000 winner’s share of the payout brings his total package to $160,000.
Shuffield finished second after posting a 21.10-pound limit of smallmouth bass to bring his total to 62.09 pounds for the Championship. 2023 U.S. Open Champion Kyle Grover caught a 19.61-pound limit to finish third for the event with 61.49 pounds. Arizona pro Joe Uribe Jr. weighed 19.89 pounds to post 58.62 pounds and finish fourth while Shane Edgar posted 19.44 pounds to finish with 57.29 pounds to round out the top five.
Bryant reported that his practice period started slow, but that he began to put the pieces of the puzzle together as his pre-tournament scouting progressed. “It took me a while, but I was able to find them in the same areas I fished last year, but had to make adjustments,” he said. “I targeted smallmouth that had sand, grass and bait in the main bowl and my depth varied from the 10 to 20-foot range.”
He caught his fish using a green pumpkin Stike King Half Shell on a drop shot rig. He set it up on a 6’10-inch Alpha Angler DSR spinning rod designed by Elite Series pro Brandon Palaniuk, a Lew’s Custom Lite spinning reel spooled with 10-pound-test braided main line to a 6-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon Leader. His Half Shell was rigged on a size 4 Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook and 3/8 and 1/2-ounce Tour Grade Tungsten Drop Shot Weights.
He said he had dreams of winning the U.S. Open for many years. “Every serious angler from the West dreams of being the U.S. Open Champion, and it has been for me for years,” he said. “Now I can say that I am the winner and is something that hasn’t hit me yet, but this is absolutely humbling; I can’t believe it.”
Like Smith, Shuffield fished on the bottom as well. He fished in the main bowl himself and targeted edges where short grass and rock were inhabited by baitfish. “I fished a dropshot rig on a 7’3” medium-light Ark Reinforcer spinning rod with 15-pound white Yozuri Super Braid with a 10-pound-test T7 Fluorocarbon and a Baby Too,” he said. “I also Ned rigged a 7’1” Reinforcer with the same line and caught all of my fish on those two setups using my Livescope to find those edges.”
This marks the second time Shuffield has placed second in the U.S. Open and finishing fourth in his other attempt. “I am thrilled to have another strong finish out here, but to come close again makes me want it even more,” he said. “I just wasn’t able to chase Bryant down, but gosh I really want to win this tournament.”
Martin DeHaven, who led the AAA Division after day one, become the AAA Division Champion by posting at three-day total of 51.42 pounds. Zack Hayes finished second for the championship with 51.14 pounds, he was followed in third position by Dean Yamagata with 51.10 pounds. Fourth place went to Larry Llanes with 49.91 pounds and Nicolas Skerston finished fifth with 49.82 pounds.
Other than Smith who is already a Bassmaster Elite Series Pro, and any others who may be double qualified, the Golden Tickets to the 2025 Bassmaster BASS Nation National Championship will be awarded to the top five Pro and AAA anglers and will finalize the season long WON Bass Angler of the Year competition to see who will receive guaranteed slots into the 2025 Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers.
Daily takeoffs and weigh-ins occurred at Katherine Landing at Lake Mohave Marina in Bullhead City, Ariz. with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open Awards happened at the Tropicana Hotel Laughlin.
The 2024 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada culminates with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October 14-16, 2024. The full schedule of the five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 31–Feb. 2, Lake Shasta - Champion Nick Wood – 47.42 pounds
April 17-19, Clear Lake – Austin Bonjour – 83.28 pounds
May 15-17, Lake Havasu – Joe Uribe Jr. – 57.31 pounds
Sept. 18-20, Lake Mead – Julius Mazy – 45.24 pounds
Oct. 14-16, U.S. Open at Lake Mohave – Bryant Smith – 64.74 pounds
The 2024 WON Bass Northern California Lake Mead Open was brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Phenix Rods, Yamamoto Baits, Bill Lewis Lures, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad, Bioenno Power, DD26 Fishing, SOG Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Gamma Line, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine, PRP and Signature Gates.
Local presenting sponsors were Visit Laughlin and Katherine Landing
SAN ANTONIO, TX (October 16, 2024) – With the completion of the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open last weekend, the Association of Collegiate Anglers has now contested two events during its historic 20th season. Stop two of the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series took place October 12-13 at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR. At the registration meeting on Friday night, prior to the start of the event, the ACA named three more anglers to its 2024-25 All-Academic Team.
Here are the three anglers who were selected:
Briar Dodson – University of Montevallo
Mason Bohland – Purdue University
Jake Krauth – University of North Alabama
Balancing school work and time on the water is a demanding challenge for all college anglers. Excelling in the classroom is an even greater accomplishment. It is because of this hard work and required dedication that the ACA has created the All-Academic Team to call attention to, and reward, student anglers for their success in the classroom.
Briar Dodson – University of Montevallo, Sophomore, Business Major
The first angler to be highlighted in this feature is Briar Dodson. Briar is a sophomore at the University of Montevallo majoring in Business. He received multiple nominations to be named to the All-Academic Team. Briar is described as a deserving angler who goes above and beyond his call of work to find success in the classroom and on the water, while also working.
Mason Bohland – Purdue University, Senior, Design Construction and Integration Major
The second angler to be featured in this article also received multiple nominations for the All-Academic Team. Mason Bohland is a senior at Purdue University. He is majoring in Design Construction and Integration. In his time at Purdue, Mason has displayed diligent work ethic to earn the respect of his professors and classmates. He has also served as an officer for the Purdue bass fishing team, through which he has worked to coordinate multiple “take a kid fishing days” and holiday toy drives.
Jake Krauth – University of North Alabama, Sophomore, Marketing Major
Jake Krauth is a Sophomore at the University of North Alabama. He has managed to demonstrate a high level of academic success while pursuing a degree in Marketing. Like each of the recipients of this award, Jake goes above and beyond to balance his course work and time spent on the water. Along with diligent work in the classroom, Jake also looks out for his peers to encourage them and make them better as well.
At each ACA tournament during the 2024-25 season, 3 nominees will be selected to the All-Academic Team for that event. Throughout the season, a total of 12 student anglers will be selected to the All-Academic Team. Each of the 12 selected nominees will be presented at that specific tournament, of which they’ll receive a valuable prize package, exposure on ACA social media platforms and television series, as well as have the opportunity to be named the Academic All-American at the end of the season.
All-Academic Team members and the overall award recipient will be selected based on their all-around performance in the classroom, to include overall GPA, as reviewed by ACA staff through a diligent process.
To find out more information about the program and nominate an angler, click here.
Team Toyota pro Kevin VanDam might have taken a step back from professional fishing tours but his schedule and love for the outdoors remain steadfast.
Anyone who archery hunts will be familiar with the following term.
“Just breathe.”
This is taught to us all at an early age as we hone our skills as an archer. When looking through the sights of your bow-and-arrow setup, it’s important to take some deep breaths before releasing the string. We are all stewards of the outdoors and we take great pride in making the land better for all living creatures. That comes with a lot of blood, sweat and tears through the years but it’s a responsibility we’re all more than willing to bear.
Mother Nature has blessed us. We feel it’s necessary and appropriate to return the favor.
This simple breathing exercise allows us to slow our heartbeat, collect our nerves, steady our hands and make the most ethical shot of which we’re capable. We simply owe it to the animal.
So when Team Toyota pro Kevin VanDam, who has amassed more than $7.3 million in professional bass-fishing tournament winnings throughout his career talks about his recent “retirement” from professional-level bass fishing, he likens it to his passion for archery hunting.
“I felt like it was just time to step back and breathe a little bit,” VanDam said. “My wife and two boys have sacrificed so much throughout the past 33 years; I owe it to them to slow down and just take a few deep breaths. Being a professional touring angler, you don’t really have any flexibility in your schedule. If there’s a tournament, you have to be there. Anniversaries, illness, family obligations… It doesn’t really matter. You have to make a living and I totally understand it. That’s the game I signed up to play. But I was at a point in my career when it was simply time to slow down and breathe.”
The support of VanDam’s wife has been essential to his legendary career. She has done so much for him throughout his career, he wants an opportunity to return her many favors.
“My wife and I still haven’t been on a trip to celebrate our 30th anniversary and that has been several years ago now,” VanDam said. “She has never been the type of person to want the limelight but in the background, she has been absolutely essential to everything in my career and life in general. From business, to sponsor communication, to raising two outstanding young men, it has been a total team effort.”
Although some folks might consider his recent career move a retirement announcement, VanDam doesn’t see it that way whatsoever. While he might be done competing in the national-level tours, he’s as busy—if not busier—than he’s ever been. The key difference, however, is the manageability of his new schedule. He still has a lot of media work and sponsor events to attend, along with filming his new TV show The VanDam Experience, which is sure to be a hit, but these days he finally has the ability to bend and flex his schedule to enjoy more time with his cherished family.
If anyone in the outdoor industry has earned that right, it would be Kevin VanDam.
As he heads to the Michigan deer woods this fall, he’ll do so with an unfamiliar ease that doesn’t include (quite as much) constant phone ringing and things of the sort. He’ll quietly crunch through the frost-covered leaves and grass in the darkness, climb up that old hardwood tree filled with memories of past hunts and finally, for once in his adult life…
He will sit.
And just breathe.
Whether the rutting whitetails bound his way or he simply spends the early morning hours observing the antics of nearby racoons, squirrels, turkeys, hawks or eagles, watching the world wake up is something that will never lose its luster to the bass-fishing icon. To us, an outdoor legend is sitting in that treestand but during that brief period, all creatures are equal and on a level playing field.
“I’ve been blessed to watch the world wake up most days of my adult life and there is simply nothing like it,” VanDam said. “The tranquility of each morning just brings a calmness over me I cannot accurately describe. Knowing that my family and I have put the hard work into making this land rich in gooseberry, elderberry, clover and fruit- and nut-producing trees unveils a pride I simply cannot match. The outdoors are absolutely everything to us and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The legend we watched on television all those years is, in fact, human. And as he enjoys the fruits of his labor and professionalism, we can all rest easy knowing we have a true outdoorsman and steward of the sport watching over and protecting our woods and waters.
A USA Bass team with plenty of tour-level accolades and a lot of experience in international competition is in Italy this week for the 18th edition of the Bass World Championship. Competition among 15 nations gets under way on Thursday at Lake Bolsena, about 75 miles outside Rome.
The American squad is seeking its third straight title in the event. Five of the six team members were on last year’s gold medal-winning team at Lake Sabor in Portugal.
Scott Martin, who’s served as the USA Bass captain for the past several international competitions (including the recent Pan-American Championship in Canada), will again lead the American contingent. The Bassmaster Elite Series competitor and former FLW Tour Angler of the Year and FLW Championship winner will share a boat with ex-B.A.S.S. AOY Scott Canterbury.
MLF Bass Pro Tour stars Jacob Wheeler (the top-ranked angler in the world for five years running) and Dustin Connell will again form a powerhouse pairing. Wheeler captured his third BPT points title in the past four seasons in 2024 and won two regular-season events, and Connell claimed his second REDCREST Championship at Lay Lake and triumphed in the season opener at Toledo Bend Reservoir.
BPT veteran Fred Roumbanis and Elite Series angler Joey Cifuentes will be in the other American boat. Cifuentes, who replaces Hall-of-Famer David Fritts, is the only U.S. angler who wasn’t in Portugal in 2023, but earlier last year he’d teamed with Larry Nixon (another Hall-of-Famer) to take top honors in the Pan-American Championship in their home state of Arkansas.
“Having Joey on the team this year is a good call,” Martin said. “From what we can tell, it’s going to be an offshore bite and an electronics-based event for the most part, and Joey’s good with that.
“I think we’ve got a really strong team this year. Jacob and Dustin can do everything and if there’s a bite with a big swimbait or something off the wall like that, Fred can unlock that big-time. Myself and Canterbury both have a lot of experience fishing grass, so we’ve got a lot of bases covered.”
Other countries slated to compete are the host Italians, along with Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, Spain, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Lake Bolsena, an ancient body of water formed by a volcano, is in Veterbo Province. It covers 28,000 acres with a maximum depth of nearly 500 feet. Largemouth were introduced in the 1970s and the population has thrived ever since, growing both in terms of numbers and size of the individual specimens.
It has clear water, lots of grass and a myriad of depth changes.
“It’s not going to be a shoreline deal – there’s grass and some other vegetation, and out past that it’s suspended fish,” Martin said. “This might be the hardest one for us to win just because we don’t have any experience there. The Italians, of course, have spent a lot of time there, and so have other teams like Spain and Germany.
“There are subtle depth changes in that grass that aren’t going to show up on a map and it takes time to find those really good sweet spots. It’s difficult to do that in two days of practice.”
Last year, the Americans won a tiebreaker over Germany for the gold after both countries finished with 67 points. The points total is the sum of the finishes among the field of each of the country’s three pairs – the lower the number, the better.
The tiebreaker was total weight for the event (higher is better for that) and the three American duos compiled 73.57 pounds. Germany had 69.09.
Italy, led by the gold medal-winning tandem of Luca Vittorio Della Ciana and Jimmy Ashlock, claimed the team bronze with 98 points.
This year’s event includes an opening ceremony following Tuesday’s initial practice day. After another practice round on Wednesday, competition will take place from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Fans can follow the Bass World Championship event at:
Day One Leader Kyle Grover in Second place with 41.88 pounds
Laughlin, Nev. – October 15, 2024 –– For the second day in a row, the conditions for the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open presented by Ranger Boats and Mercury were hot and slick. Temperatures pushing the 100-degree mark with very little breeze meant that anglers would likely find conditions similar to the first day when the field presented nine limits that eclipsed 20 pounds and nearly 30 limits that topped 18 pounds.
Kyle Grover, the defending U.S. Open Champion set the pace on day one with 22.15 pounds and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Bryant Smith opened his tournament with 22.14 pounds. The two pacesetters employed different approaches with Grover covering water and Smith working over one area for most of the day.
What effect the conditions, and the heavy fishing pressure would have on the anglers’ ability to get consistent bites would have to be seen. What would also be a topic of discussion was if the leaders, who were both in the first flight on the opening day, would be able to get into their areas, or did they have enough real estate to adjust with being in the last flight on day two.
The answer to those questions is that both of the top anglers would perform well, but that they would flop positions. Smith leapt into the lead by posting a 21.70-pound limit on the day to bring his total weight to 43.84 pounds while Grover connected with a 19.73-pound creel to fall just less than two pounds behind his Northern California competitor at a total weigh of 41.88 pounds.
Arkansas Bass Pro Tour angler Spencer Shuffield, competing in his third U.S. Open caught 21.25 pounds to leap from 11th place after day one into third place with 40.99 pounds. Josh Bertrand, who won the 2022 U.S. Open caught a 19.45-pound limit to bring the Arizona pro’s two-day total to 40.16 pounds, good for fourth place. Julius Mazy, who won the Lake Mead Open last month vaulted from 29th place to fifth place when the Arizona pro crushed a 22.18-pound limit, the heaviest of the event thus far, to bring his total weight to 40.03 pounds.
Bryant said that he targeted isolated targets using his Lowrance Active Target II and a drop shot presentation. “I was able to keep using the program I did yesterday and catch about the same weight I did yesterday,” he said. “With the slick conditions, I decided that finesse fishing would be the best approach and I’m using my Lew’s Custom Lite Reel and Alpha Angler DSR spinning rod, 6-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon and a drop shot Strike King Half Shell; it’s been my go-to smallmouth setup for a long tie; I’m going with my confidence approach.”
Bryant reported catching 20 keepers today and feels optimistic about tomorrow. “I feel like I have enough water to have the right moves tomorrow, and I have a backup plan if the winds pick up, so I’m looking forward to the final day,” he said. “I’m entering the final day in the lead of the U.S. open and as a Western angler, winning this tournament is something I’ve dreamt of for a long time.”
Grover reported having a better overall day of fish catching than he did on day one but found his quality harder to locate. “I probably culled three 17-pound limits today but was only able to bring two four pounders to the scales,” he said. “I did cost my partner a big one this morning, I tied a new leader on his spinning gear, and he hooked a big one and broke it off, so I tied a bad knot. It’s my fault, but that probably cost me a pound by the end of the day.”
He said he feels relaxed going into the final day, even with the possibility of repeating as champion. “I know the pressure of going out in the lead after last year so I will go out there tomorrow with less pressure on me tomorrow,” he said. “I feel pretty comfortable because I am using both finesse and power fishing patterns, so whatever the wind does, I feel like I’ll be okay.”
In the AAA division, Matt Moler partnered with his pro Cody Steckel to bring 20.90 pounds to the scale to take the lead with 39.72 pounds. Nick Dulleck moved to second place with 39.46 pounds after his 21.25 pounds with Shuffield. Chuck Kavros posted 20.12 pounds to finish third with a total weight of 39.08 pounds. Day One AAA Leader Martin DeHaven moved to fourth place by bringing 16.39 pounds with a total weight of 38.54 pounds while Zack Hayes rounded out the top five with 35.64 pounds after bringing 18.64 pounds to the scales.
Daily takeoffs occur at safe light from Katherine Landing at Lake Mohave Marina in Bullhead City, Ariz. with daily weigh-ins at the U.S. Open stage located at Katherine Landing beginning at 3:00PM Pacific.
The 2024 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada culminates with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October 14-16, 2024. The full schedule of the five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 31–Feb. 2, Lake Shasta - Champion Nick Wood – 47.42 pounds
April 17-19, Clear Lake – Austin Bonjour – 83.28 pounds
May 15-17, Lake Havasu – Joe Uribe Jr. – 57.31 pounds
Sept. 18-20, Lake Mead – Julius Mazy – 45.24 pounds
The 2024 WON Bass Northern California Lake Mead Open is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Phenix Rods, Yamamoto Baits, Bill Lewis Lures, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad, Bioenno Power, DD26 Fishing, SOG Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Gamma Line, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine, PRP and Signature Gates.
Local presenting sponsors are Visit Laughlin and Katherine Landing
Bryant Smith in Second place with 22.14 pounds after Opening Round
Laughlin, Nev. – October 14, 2024 –– For the third consecutive year, Lake Mohave serves as the playing field for the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open presented by Ranger Boats and Mercury. The 42nd holding of the premier bass fishing event in the Western United States always draws the attention of the industry. Following the official practice period, several anglers in the field expressed the thought that there could be some heavy stringers presented at the Katherine Landing scales.
Despite the fact that the conditions were pushing the century mark, which is seasonably warm for October, the field reportedly found the bass population of Lake Mohave to be in a cooperative mood. Even with light winds and slick conditions, there were several patterns that were producing at all depths across the lake.
With so many available options, that left some questions as to who would be able to capitalize and take control of the event. With the potential for a shootout, who would discover the key to unlock the lake and open what is expected to be a shootout for the champion’s prize of a 2024 ranger Z520R powered by a Mercury ProXS 250.
Day one proved to be impressive as nine bags eclipsed the 20-pound mark, but it was the defending champion, Kyle Grover and his AAA partner Martin DeHaven who topped the field with 22.15 pounds on day one. Though his limit was very impressive, he holds a scant, 1/100th of a pound lead over Bassmaster Elite Series pro Bryant Smith, who partnered with his AAA David King to weigh 22.14 pounds to finish in second place for the day. Smith’s fellow Elite Series pro Chris Zaldain and his AAA partner David Oyler stand in third place with 20.87 pounds. Another former U.S. Open Champion, Josh Bertrand and his partner Gary Wasson posted 2.71 pounds to finish fourth and pro Steven Mack and his AAA Dan Davis rounded out the top five with 20.66 pounds.
Grover was content with his day one performance but felt it would fall short of holding the lead after he weighed-in during the first flight. “I caught them well, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough today,” he said. “I ran all over the lake and tried to find one me better quality fish, but it just didn’t happen.”
The defending champion said that he had to use multiple techniques to bag his limit. “I’ve found the fish doing several different things in all depths, so I had to junk fish all day – I caught my keepers on four different baits in four different areas,” he said. “I was a little nervous about the short day today but I’m in the last flight tomorrow so I’m hoping I can capitalize on that a little bit more.”
Smith took a different approach with the slick conditions on Lake Mohave today. “I fished slow today and most of my fish came from one area,” he said. “I ran around a little bit in the afternoon but stayed in my primary area and worked things methodically. I feel pretty good about tomorrow, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Daily takeoffs occur at safe light from Katherine Landing at Lake Mohave Marina in Bullhead City, Ariz. with daily weigh-ins at the U.S. Open stage located at Katherine Landing beginning at 3:00PM Pacific.
The 2024 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada culminates with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October 14-16, 2024. The full schedule of the five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 31–Feb. 2, Lake Shasta - Champion Nick Wood – 47.42 pounds
April 17-19, Clear Lake – Austin Bonjour – 83.28 pounds
May 15-17, Lake Havasu – Joe Uribe Jr. – 57.31 pounds
Sept. 18-20, Lake Mead – Julius Mazy – 45.24 pounds
The 2024 WON Bass Northern California Lake Mead Open is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Phenix Rods, Yamamoto Baits, Bill Lewis Lures, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad, Bioenno Power, DD26 Fishing, SOG Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Gamma Line, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine, PRP and Signature Gates.
Local presenting sponsors are Visit Laughlin and Katherine Landing
The top 75 teams in the points in each division (North and South) and the winners of the regular season events will qualify automatically for the ABT Team Championship. Plus, the top 5 high school student teams, top 5 college teams, and top 5 couples teams overall will automatically advance to the Championship. To be eligible for the championship, teams must enter all five qualifying events in their respective division. Check out the Live Stream both days starting at 7 am on Alabamabasstrail.org
The Santee Cooper event served as Regional championship for BFL Region 4. The field included the top 45 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each of the tournament winners, from the 2024 Bama, Bulldog, Gator and North Carolina divisions. The top six boaters and co-anglers have qualified for the 2025 BFL All-American, which will be held on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 29-31.
For the safety of the anglers, Major League Fishing proactively cancelled day one of the Santee Cooper event due to extreme winds caused by Hurricane Milton. But it was actually lingering effects of Hurricane Helene that had the biggest impact on this tournament.
Around the time anglers started practicing, lake managers dropped the bottom out of the fishery, lowering it by about 5 1/2 feet to make room for runoff into the system. Then the runoff arrived, raising the lake level each day through practice and the event.
According to Grooms, who lives on Santee Cooper, water level fluctuations like this are rare. It made a drastic impact on the fishery.
“The lake was pristine,” he said, referring to conditions before the storm. “There was a lot of grass. It was crystal clear, like an aquarium. Over the last four or five days it has come up a foot a day. So that rise in water brought orange mud water. It was the nastiest, foamy looking and there was all this debris.
“There was a lot of grass in the lake,” he added. “What happened when it went low and came back up, it was so much inflow that it was just current – like a strong current of muddy water. It ripped out a bunch of the grass. The conditions were tough.”
On top of that, a cold front arrived on day one, and it was 37 degrees in the morning.
“It hasn’t been that cold since last April. All the conditions you don’t want with bass fishing occurred here within one week.”
Mother Nature rolled out a real challenge for the Regional qualifiers, but that’s kind of the point, right? Fall fishing is all about navigating changing weather and seasonal transitions, and the best anglers in their region should be challenged for a shot at grassroots fishing’s biggest tournament.
Grooms adapted, using his knowledge of good grass beds and some solid logic regarding the current conditions.
“I tried to find the cleanest water I could find,” he said. “There was one little strip I found that was 500 yards wide by 500 yards long.”
Within that stretch, he targeted a clumpy mix of hydrilla and eelgrass. There were actually a lot of fish in the area, but they got tougher to catch as the tournament went on. On day one, Grooms caught an impressive 19-pound limit – the biggest limit of the tournament – anchored by a pair of 5-pound, 10-ounce bass.
On day two, the area had shrunk in half, with muddy water moving in and forcing Grooms to slide closer to the bank to stay in the cleaner water. That was a challenge too, because he was catching his fish where clean water and grass met in about 6 feet. Grooms realized the fish weren’t moving with that clearer water, and he caught only 14 pounds, 8 ounces fishing a bit shallower on the final day. Still, it was enough to get the win by a half-pound over Scott Wiley Jr.
Grooms caught all his fish on a junebug-colored Zoom Speed Worm.
“It was weighted, and I was slow-rolling it and just ticking the grass,” Grooms said. “If you weren’t making contact with grass you weren’t getting bit. So that was the main thing.”
Grooms navigated quite the mix of challenges to earn a trip to his first All-American. You could credit the win to his local knowledge, a great strategy or his willingness to buckle down in one area and grind it out. He said all those things played a part, but so did something else.
“The power of prayer,” he said. “It works.”
The top six boaters who qualified for the 2025 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:
The top-finishing boater from each division (not including the winner) earned a $1,000 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Bama: Scott Wiley Jr., Bay Minette, Ala., 2nd Place, $1,000 Bulldog: Jamie M. Fountain, East Dublin, Ga., 3rd Place, $1,000 Gator: Matt Wieteha, Miami, Fla., 12th Place, $1,000 North Carolina: Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., 4th Place $1,000
Gary Givens of Semmes, Alabama, and Chad Smith of Buckhead, Georgia, tied for the Berkley Big Bass Boater award, each landing a bass that weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces. They each took home $500 for their share of the prize.
Justin Lemaster of Royston, Georgia, won the Strike King co-angler division Saturday after bringing a two-day total of eight bass weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces, to the scale. His $50,000 prize package included a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200hp Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The top six Strike King co-anglers who qualified for the 2025 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:
1st: Justin Lemaster, Royston, Ga., eight bass, 16-10, $50,000
2nd: Jeffrey Webb, Watkinsville, Ga., eight bass, 15-15, $4,788
3rd: Tony Stevens, Monroe, Ga., seven bass, 15-9, $2,145
4th: Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., six bass, 14-5, $1,286
5th: Tim Greene, Loganville, Ga., seven bass, 12-15, $858
6th: Daniel Arnberg, Auburn, Ala., six bass, 12-12, $1,272
The rest of the top 12 finished:
7th: John Burt Jr., Montgomery, Ala., four bass, 12-5, $686
8th: Shaun Ireland, Lake Worth, Fla., six bass, 11-14, $1,100
9th: Curtis Hillman, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 11-6, $515
10th: Caleb Gwaltney, Athens, Ala., five bass, 11-4, $472
11th: Chad Cleckner, Spring Lake, N.C., five bass, 10-9, $929
12th: Josh McCrimmon, Nashville, Ga., five bass, 10-8, $679
The top-finishing co-angler from each division (not including the winner) earned a $500 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Bama: Daniel Arnberg, Auburn, Ala., 6th Place, $500 Bulldog: Jeffrey Webb, Watkinsville, Ga., 2nd Place, $500 Gator: Shaun Ireland, Lake Worth, Fla., 8th Place, $500 North Carolina: Chad Cleckner, Spring Lake, N.C., 11th Place $500
Brody Bowen of Cleveland, Georgia, and Jeff Turner of Morris, Illinois, tied for the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award. They each took home $250 for catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
The Mississippi River event served as Regional championship for BFL Region 3. The field included the top 45 boaters and co-anglers based on point standings, plus each of the tournament winners, from the 2024 Great Lakes, Hoosier, Illini and Michigan divisions. The top six boaters and co-anglers have qualified for the 2025 BFL All-American, which will be held on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 29-31.
Winning this tournament earned Brueggen an incredible 10th BFL All-American qualification, adding to an already stellar BFL career that includes 11 victories and 67 top-10 finishes in 155 events fished since 2002. Brueggen has been a mainstay of the Great Lakes Division the entire time, earning Angler of the Year honors six times in a 12-season span from 2009 to 2020. This season, he finished runner-up in the AOY race to earn his shot at the Regional in Quad Cities.
All but one of Brueggen’s tournament wins have come on river systems – mostly the Mississippi River out of his hometown on La Crosse. He put all that river knowhow to work early preparing for this year’s Regional.
“I started figuring it (the winning pattern) out a year ago when the schedule came out,” he said. “I came down and practiced. And I came down before cutoff and practiced. I figured out that I could try to fish shallower than everybody to possibly get an advantage.”
The biggest challenge he encountered was the fact that this stretch of river doesn’t have the weeds that he’s used to fishing in La Crosse. He ended up deciphering a milk run of shallow main-river current-related spots.
“I didn’t think I could win,” he added. “I caught enough keepers (in practice) that I knew there were groups of fish up shallow. This week I caught bigger fish than I expected to catch. I did not hook many in practice, and I did not realize I was on that many fish.”
On day one, Brueggen caught 13 pounds, 3 ounces from some logs using a Texas rig. He felt like 12 pounds per day would be enough for a high finish, so he laid off the fish early. On day two, he caught some big ones early and filled out a limit of 15-1, which was the biggest single-day weight of the event. With a good limit in the box, he quit fishing early again.
“Because I caught a good weight every day early, I didn’t expand, so I hadn’t seen my other water in four or five days,” Brueggen said. “So Saturday it was really weird when I didn’t have them early and had to go fishing again. I didn’t catch my last two decent ones until 1:30.”
A final-day weight of 14-4 gave Brueggen the win with a cushion of more than 3 pounds.
With next season’s Regional also scheduled for the Quad Cities stretch of the Mississippi River, the champ was hesitant to reveal too much about where he caught his fish, other than the spots were small. He actually thought they’d be one-fish spots, but he was able to catch multiple keepers off some of them.
He used the Texas rig on day one because he couldn’t fish the logs the way he wanted to with a shallow crankbait. From there, his primary lures were a crankbait and a Head Hunter Nasty 50/50 spinnerbait. The spinnerbait produced nine of his keepers in three days.
Looking ahead to All-American No. 10, Brueggen, who clearly has a fierce competitive streak, shared how he feels about the opportunity: “Pressure, honestly. The last couple I haven’t made top 10s in, and it bothers me.”
As if he has anything to prove, he’ll get a chance to right the top-10 ship next May.
The top six boaters who qualified for the 2025 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:
The top-finishing boater (not including the winner) from each division earned a $1,000 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Great Lakes: Adam Crigger, LeClaire, Iowa, 2nd Place, $1,000 Hoosier: William Briere, Mooresville, Ind., 12th Place, $1,000 Illini: Travis Boley, Weldon, Ill., 3rd Place, $1,000 Michigan: Cody Kelley, Plainwell, Mich., 4th Place $1,000
Drake van Dike of Livonia, Michigan, won the Berkley Big Bass Boater award and $1,000 for landing a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, the biggest of the tournament.
Brent Jones of Okeana, Ohio, won the Strike King co-angler division Saturday after bringing a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 30 pounds, 6 ounces, to the scale. His $50,000 prize package included a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200hp Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The top six Strike King co-anglers who qualified for the 2025 Phoenix BFL All-American finished:
The rest of the top 12 who made the cut to fish on Saturday finished:
7th: Dominick Dinovo, Joliet, Ill., 12 bass, 23-4, $755
8th: Thomas Bridges, Kankakee, Ill., 11 bass, 22-13, $661
9th: Kim Sapetti, Chatham, Ill., nine bass, 20-3, $566
10th: Timothy Wittren, Ontario, Wis., nine bass, 18-1, $519
11th: Hayden Swain, Tamaroa, Ill., six bass, 14-13, $472
12th: David Ondrla, Elmhurst, Ill., seven bass, 13-15, $472
The top-finishing co-angler (not including the winner) from each division earned a $500 bonus for placing highest in the event. Those anglers included:
Great Lakes: Mark Folsom, Waterville, Iowa, 5th Place, $500 Hoosier: Billy French, Hamilton, Ohio, 4th Place, $500 Illini: Ross Davis, St. Elmo, Ill., 2nd Place, $500 Michigan: Brian Townley, Wyoming, Mich., 3rd Place $500
Dante Johnson of Gurnee, Illinois, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award worth $500.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters 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.
About Major League Fishing
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, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 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.
Location:
Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia
Weigh in Site: NEW SITE - SEE MAP AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
Mariners Landing, 1217 Graves Harbor Trail, Huddleston, VA 24104
Guaranteed Overall Grand Prize: $55,600
2024 NITRO® Z18 rigged with a Mercury® 150L Pro XS outboard, Minn Kota® Ultrex® 24V, 80-lb, Bow Humminbird® HELIX™ 9 SI G4N with GPS, Console Humminbird® HELIX™ 8 SI G4N with GPS, Hot Foot throttle, genuine two tone cover, tandem-axle upgrade 2 brakes, 14" tire/wheel upgrade with spare. NITRO® trailer w/powder-coat finish & GALVASHIELD® Impact corrosion & chip protection. To learn more about NITRO® boats visit the website atNitro.com.
Early Entry Rods: $25,000 Fenwick Eagle Series Casting Rod, Model #EGLB73MH-FC, Value $99.95
Early entry rods go to the first 250 three day and two day online entrants. Youth entry is not eligible for a free rod. See the Fenwick Eagle rod details here.
Early entry promo rods may be picked up on the day listed below or during any tournament day. Please do not call our offices related to early entry rods. There is a rod counter at the top of each event page. Rods are gone when counter shows zero. We will post the date the counter goes to zero on the site. *Another angler may pick up your rod for you if you're unable to be present.
Rod Pick Up: Thursday October 17th from 4 - 6 pm at Mariners Landing, 1217 Graves Harbor Trail, Huddleston, VA 24104.
You may also pick up rods on any of the tournament days.
Fenwick Eagle Rod Features:
24/30 ton graphite blend with proprietary reinforcing resin
Fenwick designed reel seat fits the crux of your hand for a custom natural feel
Stainless steel guide frames with thin zirconia inserts
Multi-material full length grips for the best blend of feel, balance and durability
Event Registration:
Registration for an Event closes at 9:00 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the beginning of the Event for a three-day entry. There will be no morning registration on Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday of the Event. Participants may register online prior to the Event or in person at the designated time above during rod pickup. Once an event begins, participants that register late online on must do so before 9:00 p.m. on Friday and before 6 p.m. on Saturday for the remaining days and must also adhere to the off limits rules listed in section 6.02. Click here to see rule 6.02
Text System:
You may enter yourself in the text system for this event by texting the word fallsml to the number (833) 933-1717. We will enter your number in the system, but some carriers block this type of message, so by entering yourself this will prevent the chance of being blocked. Also, if you have previously opted out of our system, you will have to put yourself back in the system by texting the above keyword. If you opt-out we cannot put you back in the system.
Android users: If you have an android and you aren't receiving texts from us, you will need to search the number (833) 933-1717 in your text app and accept that it is not spam.
Start Time:
Due to the varying times of year that we host our tournaments, we will notify everyone of the start time the day prior to the start of the tournament. We will notify you via text message. Start time (first cast) for each tournament will be safe light and set by the tournament director. You may launch and be on the water but you may not begin fishing until we notify you of first cast. Please do not call our offices related to start time. We will post start fishing time on this page and text out the time the week of the event. You will also be sent a live leaderboard link once the event starts.
Weigh in Times: All days of event
8-9am, 9-10am, 10-11am, 11am-12pm, 12-1pm, 1-2pm, 2-3pm.
Participants less than 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or adult with written parental permission. (Written parental permission must be provided to Event staff prior to the start of the Event) Participants under the age of 18 years may not fish alone in the Event.Junior Division for 2024.
Participants 12 and under will compete for a top 3 event payout, at a reduced entry fee. The entry fee for the entire event is $75 (regardless of the number of days fished) and we will pay three places for the top three bass weighed in during the event. Anglers 13 and over will compete for full payouts and pay full entry fees.
9th ranked Drury University finishes in 2nd, and 3rd ranked LSU-Shreveport claims 3rd
RUSSELLVILLE, AR (October 13, 2024) – Tournament competition has concluded at Lake Dardanelle for the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open. The second stop of the 2024-25 season for the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, the Association of Collegiate Anglers’ historic 20th season, saw 262 boats travel to Russellville, AR to compete in the nationally televised, no-entry-fee, double points event that awarded over $20,000 in prizes and contingencies.
Tripp Berlinsky and Bryce Dimauro from 8th ranked University of North Alabama won the major event with a two-day total of 30.96 pounds. The duo entered today in 4th place, roughly 1.50 pounds behind the 1st place team going into today from Murray State College.
By finishing in 1st place Berlinsky and Dimauro earn a $1,000 Bass Pro Shops gift card, $1,000 Garmin credit, $500 AFTCO gift card, Rapala tackle package, 2 pairs of Bajio Sunglasses, 2 Turtlebox speakers, and 2 Trailer Valet hitches. The pair also claimed the $500 ACA logo contingency. All total, the 1st place victory pays the UNA anglers close to $5,000 in prizes and contingencies. The tournament victory also earns UNA 1,750 points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
Finishing in second place were Cade Lipham and Caleb Coleman from 9th ranked Drury University. The anglers representing the team from Springfield, MO weighed in 14.50 pounds of Lake Dardanelle bass on Day 2 to move up 10 spots from 12th on Day 1. By finishing in 2nd with a two-day total of 29.60 pounds, Lipham and Coleman earn a $700 Bass Pro Shops gift card, $300 AFTCO gift card, Rapala tackle package, 2 pairs of Bajio Sunglasses, and 2 Trailer Valet hitches. The duo also claimed the $200 G2 Gemini Jersey Contingency Bonus, as being the highest-placing jersey wearer.
Rounding out the Top 3 are Miles Smith and Levi Thibodaux from 3rd ranked LSU-Shreveport. With a two-day total of 28.66 pounds, the Montevallo anglers earned a $550 Bass Pro Shops gift card, $200 AFTCO gift card, Rapala tackle package, two pairs of Bajio Sunglasses, and two Trailer Valet hitches. Miles claimed both Garmin Tournament Rewards Contingencies, paying out a total of $500 for being both the highest-placing Force Trolling Motor user, as well as the Garmin exclusive bonus.
The field of elite anglers found great success out on Lake Dardanelle throughout both days of tournament competition at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open. Over two days, 249 of the 262 teams weighed in fish. The bass were biting well with warm early fall conditions. The weights were also very strong, as this year’s winning weight was the highest of any event the ACA has contested here during the fall.
The AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open was the second ACA double points event of the season to count towards the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. As referenced earlier, the winning team received 1,750 points, and schools were eligible to receive points for the their two highest-finishing teams inside of the Top 150 of the final tournament standings. 8th ranked UNA placed two teams in the Top 10 (1st, 9th), and so too did 7th ranked University of Montevallo (5th, 6th) Later this week, the ACA will release the latest points update for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
Parker Brown from Southern Methodist University claims Overall Big Bass with a fish weighing 5.99 pounds. That big fish pays out a new Power-Pole.
The Top 10 finishing teams in the final tournament standings receive automatic qualification into the 2025 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
The ACA would like to thank the Russellville Tourism and Visitors Center for their hospitality this week in hosting all of these college anglers, and to the staff at Lake Dardanelle State Park for their assistance as well. This event marks over 10 years of which the ACA has been hosting major college events on Lake Dardanelle.
ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — A little over a year ago, Easton Fothergill sat in a hospital room in Birmingham, Ala., with an infected mass in his brain, wondering if he would ever be able to bass fish again. Now, he has achieved a lifelong goal of becoming a Bassmaster Elite Series angler.
The Grand Rapids, Minn., native claimed the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers Angler of the Year title with a total of 1,606 points, earning himself an invite to the 2025 Elite Series roster and a $45,000 check. His remarkable season included two victories at Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma and his home fishery of Leech Lake, as well as five more Top 25 finishes in Opens competition.
“It was super cool how it unfolded. I really didn’t think I was capable of this, but here we are,” Fothergill said. “(Opens pro Cody Meyer) came to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Minn., when I was in eighth grade, and I went up to him and met him. I told Cody that, and he didn’t remember it, but it was a really big moment for me. He is someone I have always looked up to, and for me and him to go neck and neck was a super cool experience.”
Representing the University of Montevallo, he became the first College Classic Bracket champion to advance to the Elite Series in their first Opens season.
“The craziest part is, without winning the Classic Bracket, I wouldn’t have even been here this year,” he said. “Then to come here and have the year that I had, it is a crazy feeling.”
He entered the final event of the season at Lake Martin with a slim lead over longtime pro Meyer, who also happens to be one of Fothergill’s mentors. While Meyer made the final day, Fothergill finished the season with a 17th place finish, earning enough points to wrap up the title on Day 2.
“These were the first tournament days of the whole season where I really felt nerves. I was sitting there shaking going out because I wanted to win Angler of the Year so bad,” he said. “It wasn’t a good feeling trying to accomplish my job on the water.”
Fothergill has certainly learned a lot as an Opens angler, but recognizing when to value points over victories went a long way in determining his fate.
“I have grown leaps and bounds as an angler,” he said. “Just changing my mindset of trying to win every tournament to sometimes, ‘Hey, I have to grab a limit just to grab some points.’ You have to play the long game in the Opens; I learned that pretty quickly at Santee Cooper. I bombed Day 2 of that tournament because I had a really good Day 1 and some big bed fish. I went all in on those bed fish to try and get a Top 10 and it really bit me.
“But I learned from my mistake there and made sure I had limit holes at each tournament.”
Fothergill opened the season at Lake Okeechobee with a certain amount of imposter syndrome. “Am I good enough to be here?” was a thought that often crossed his mind as he looked around and saw anglers like Meyer, Dakota Ebare, Randall Tharp and Scott Martin. He notched a seventh-place finish at Okeechobee, which gave him some much-needed confidence.
“I felt like the complete underdog at Okeechobee,” Fothergill explained. “Feeling like I maybe didn’t belong and wasn’t ready yet. To have that good finish there changed my mind set, and I felt like, ‘OK, I might be able to do this.’”
But even with that finish and then an 11th at Lake Ouachita, those thoughts continued to linger, especially after his 83rd-place finish at Santee Cooper Lakes. The next event at Logan Martin, however, turned the season around as Fothergill scrapped his initial game plan and followed his instincts to notch a 25th-place finish. He then won at Lake Eufaula, again giving him a sign he can hang with the rest of the field.
“I honestly don’t know if that feeling has totally disappeared, but my win at Eufaula was when I finally thought I was good enough to compete at this level,” he said. “I thought those first couple tournaments might have been a fluke. I kept having good finishes and it didn’t feel real.
“But Eufaula was really not in my comfort zone with how muddy it was and how it laid out,” he continued. “To have that good of a finish, that is really what showed me I’m versatile enough to compete and maybe make things happen.”
Following his instincts the rest of the season, he said, is largely the reason he can call himself an Elite Series qualifier.
“Moments like Logan Martin where I made a complete game plan change on Day 2 and threw everything out the window to do something new, it was stuff like that all season that made the difference,” he said. “It was just gut feelings. Trusting that all year long has led me to this.”
Now, Fothergill will set his sights on the 2025 Elite schedule, something he has dreamed about since he was a child.
“Just to spend every day on the water with all of the guys I have watched on TV my whole childhood is something I’m super looking forward to, and hopefully I can make a career out of it,” he said.
Fothergill’s Top 4 Presentations from 2024
A Neko rig
A jighead minnow
A Drop Shot
A Jig.
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — Lake Martin was the last place in the world Bobby Bakewell thought he would clinch a Bassmaster Classic berth, but it turns out it was the perfect place.
The Orlando, Fla., native landed 13 pounds, 12 ounces on the final day of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN to earn a comeback victory with a three-day tally of 35-15. He anchored his bag with a 4-10 largemouth, which earned Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament honors.
“I’m going to have to make room on the mantle,” he said. “That Classic berth is so sweet. It hasn’t really set in yet. After practice, I was ready to get done with this one. Now, I’m really happy we are done with this one.”
Alabama’s Josh Butler finished second with a total of 34-2 while Texas pro Dakota Ebare finished third with 32-13. Will Davis Jr, who led the first two days of the tournament, fell to fourth on the final day with a total of 32-11.
Admittedly, Bakewell is not a buzzbait guy, but it was the presentation that carried him through the week, particularly the final two days. When he arrived at Lake Martin, he unwrapped a ½-ounce Greenfish Tackle Toad Toter buzzbait sent to him by 44 Tackle, not knowing it would be the bait that would change his life.
He used several different trailers, including a Bruiser Baits Crazy Craw and then a Zoom Horny Toad when he ran out of Crazy Craws. Some form of white or silver was his best producing color. Using a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy baitcaster and an 8:5:1 reel spooled with 40-pound-test Yo-Zuri braid, Bakewell used a steady retrieve.
Bakewell reeled that buzzbait along shallow seawalls in 3 feet of water and less, where he could see the bottom. The bottom also had to have rock — it couldn’t be clean clay. As the sun rose, the shade line became even more important.
“I started running it and I started getting bit, so it worked out,” he said. “I’m not a buzzbait guy. It was fun, though. I threw a Whopper Plopper and I just didn’t get many bites, and the buzzbait, I got more bites with it. So, I just ran with it. Ninety eight percent of the bass I caught bit within three cranks of the reel handle.”
A ½-ounce Bakewell Custom Jig with a Bruiser Baits Crazy Craw produced a couple of good bass as well as a Bruiser Baits Rad Shad.
Practice was not particularly kind to Bakewell, but one buzzbait bite toward the end of practice gave him a starting spot for Day 1. He mixed in the buzzbait and then some offshore brushpiles to catch 9-14. The shallow bite was much better on Day 2, as he received seven buzzbait bites in the span of an hour.
To start Day 3, Bakewell fished an area he had never fished before that he had found looking at his maps at 10:30 the night before. He landed a couple of keepers to start the day, but a cast next to a dock produced the big largemouth, which turned out to be the highlight of Bassmaster LIVE coverage.
“I was going through a little bit of a dry spell and started thinking that I should have gone to water I had fished before. Then I hooked that giant,” he said. “It was crazy. I was trying to decide whether to let the boat ram the dock or go for the bass, and I chose the bass. I’m so glad I did, too.”
After filling out his limit, Bakewell suffered a long lull, but in the last hour he caught two bass over 2 pounds along a shade line to bolster his bag.
“I kind of knew I didn’t have enough,” he said. “I had almost admitted defeat. I hadn’t got bit in hours. I got to a shady pocket, and I picked up the buzzbait and a 2.80 ate it. A pound here is huge. I ran to another shady pocket across the way and caught a 2-pound spot that culled out a 1.60. It was little decisions like that that were the difference this week.”
With bags of 9-7, 14-5 and 10-6, Butler wrapped up the tournament in second, just over a pound short of his second Opens victory of the season. While he caught plenty of bass on the final day, the Hayden, Ala., native couldn’t get a 3-pounder to eat.
“It is a little bittersweet. You don’t have a lot of opportunities to (win),” the Logan Martin champion said. “You have to have a 4½-pounder here. I was lacking that today. I had a 2½-pounder, and I started really well early. I thought I could catch some quality bass this afternoon flipping boat docks. It just didn’t happen. I caught 30 fish flipping docks, and they were all rats.”
Most of the tournament Douglas tossed a translucent Whopper Plopper around deeper seawalls that had at least 5 feet of water next to them, as well as boat ramps and the corners of boat docks.
“That was definitely a morning deal,” he explained. “That seemed to last the first three hours of the morning. After 9:30, it pretty much died. Then I locked a jig in my hand, occasionally a Senko, and fished as many docks as I could to get it in front of a big one. Yesterday I did that more than once.”
Ebare, meanwhile, landed bags of 12-7, 9-1 and 11-5 to finish his season with his second Top 10 of the season. The Brookeland, Texas, pro adjusted his strategy every day of the tournament. The first morning, the topwater bite was crucial for Ebare, but on Days 2 and 3 he needed to adjust after the morning bite dissipated.
“Points seemed to be key, no matter what you were doing,” he said. “Whether you were fishing out deep or in 6 inches of water, points were key. Some had wood mixed in, others had brush and rockpiles. The bass were definitely concentrating on those points.”
His two best bass on Day 3 came off of a rockpile. He caught the first one using a glidebait before landing his biggest bass of the day with a jig paired with a Strike King Scounbug. A topwater bait, a Strike King Baby Z-Too and 2.5 Rage Swimmer were also key baits.
The Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifiers points race was finalized at the end of the Day 3 weigh-in. Easton Fothergill earned the title with 1,606 points while Idaho pro Cody Meyer finished second with 1,591 points and Alabama’s Tucker Smith finished third with 1,516 points. Georgia’s Paul Marks and Emil Wagner finished fourth and fifth with 1,512 points and 1,505 points respectively. California’s Andrew Loberg finished sixth with 1,495 points followed by Ebare in seventh with 1,494 points, Arkansas’ Beau Browning in eighth with 1,466 points and Canadian Evan Kung in ninth with 1,463 points.
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com
2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN (originally Lake Hartwell) 10/10-10/12
Lake Martin, Alexander City AL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Bobby Bakewell Orlando, FL 15 35-15 200 $27,683.00
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 5 13-12
2. Josh Butler Hayden, AL 15 34-02 199 $10,773.00
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 14-05 Day 3: 5 10-06
3. Dakota Ebare Brookeland, TX 15 32-13 198 $14,580.00
Day 1: 5 12-07 Day 2: 5 09-01 Day 3: 5 11-05
4. Will Davis Jr Childersburg, AL 15 32-11 197 $7,541.00
Day 1: 5 13-00 Day 2: 5 11-09 Day 3: 5 08-02
5. Cody Meyer Eagle, ID 15 32-04 196 $19,003.00
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 10-01 Day 3: 5 10-06
6. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 15 31-11 195 $15,464.00
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 10-05 Day 3: 5 09-11
7. Brady Vernon Sterrett, AL 15 30-13 194 $5,925.00
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 10-02 Day 3: 5 09-12
8. Yui Aoki Minamitsurugun JAPAN 15 30-06 193 $5,387.00
Day 1: 5 11-06 Day 2: 5 10-08 Day 3: 5 08-08
9. Byron Kenney Jr Monticello, GA 15 30-03 192 $5,387.00
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 5 10-13 Day 3: 5 08-01
10. Kyle Palmer Winchester, TN 15 28-12 191 $5,387.00
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 10-06 Day 3: 5 06-15
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Bobby Bakewell Orlando, FL 04-10 $750.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 110 578 973-04
2 113 578 996-12
3 10 50 96-14
----------------------------------
233 1206 2066-14
ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — Will Davis Jr. insists the fishing is brutally tough on Lake Martin, but right now he is making the most of the bites he has received.
The Sylacauga, Ala., native continues to lead the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 9 ounces. After leading Day 1 with 13-0, Davis added 11-9 on the second day, thanks in part to the biggest spotted bass — a 3-6 — he’s caught out of the lake in several years.
“It is brutal out there. I didn’t think it was going to be good,” Davis said. “I said, ‘My gosh, I didn’t know they lived here like that.’ It has been a long time since I’ve seen one that big. It’s probably been 10 years.”
Fellow Alabama pro Josh Butler is second with 23-12 followed by Florida’s Bobby Bakewell in third with 22-3.
Although a weak cold front pushed through the area early in the week, sunny and seasonably warm temperatures have prevailed over middle Alabama. Plenty of bass have been caught, but catching keepers and quality is much more difficult.
For the most part, Davis has stuck to the bank, primarily targeting docks that are located anywhere from 2 to 20 feet of water. Garmin LiveScope has revealed which docks hold bass and which ones aren’t worth fishing. A Davis Baits Wood Jig paired with a 2¾-inch Big Bite Chunk has been his best bait, as well as a popper-style bait.
Each creek he goes into fishes differently, he said, and the different water clarities set the bass up differently. One thing that is constant, however, is the sun positioning the bass under docks as it gets high in the sky.
“Each creek is fishing differently in some aspect. Some fish are shallower in some creeks, and some fish are deeper in some creeks. It is very weird,” he explained. “The water color has a lot to do with it. The clearer it is the deeper they seem to be, and the dirtier it is the shallower they are.”
Davis caught eight keepers total on Day 1, and Day 2 wasn’t much better. Around midday, he only had two bass in the livewell, which forced him offshore for a while.
“I could feel the tires shredding,” he said. “I finally just started running new water and remembered, to do well here you have to run new water. You cannot repeat the milk run every day. You can go to the same area, but not the same stuff.”
There, he caught two spotted bass with a drop shot before fishing new shallow areas the rest of the day. His big spotted bass came late in the day and put on a show for the Bassmaster LIVE audience.
“I pulled up there and told (my cameraman) John, ‘This is a big one,’” Davis said. “I fired that jig up under there and the bass ran down there to it and thumped it. I set the hook, and he didn’t get it. I fired it back over there, and the bait went down and she hit it before it hit the bottom. I knew it was a good one. It is one you have to have in this tournament.”
After landing a respectable 9-7 on Day 1, Butler caught the tournament's biggest bag so far, a 14-5 mixed bag that included several quality spotted bass. Butler, who has already won an Open this season at Logan Martin, is just 13 ounces behind Davis.
“I had to put my head down and stay in the same area I fished yesterday,” Butler said. “I got fortunate this morning and caught an almost 4-pound spot. Just what you have to have here. I was shocked it was a spotted bass. I broke a couple off; it could have been an even better day. In the last hour, I caught a 3-pound spot and another 2½-pounder.”
The Hayden, Ala., native has focused his efforts close to the bank, targeting as many seawalls and docks he can find. The seawalls that have deeper water around them have produced better quality bass.
“The dock bite doesn’t pick up until 10:30 or 11 o’clock, but after that it is lights out. This afternoon, I ran to an area and every single dock had fish on it. It was a lot of fun.”
Bakewell embarked on a similar comeback, as he caught 12-5 on Day 2 to add to his 9-14 Day 1 tally. A key topwater bite unfolded for the Floridian, which got his day off to a positive start.
“I got six or seven bites this morning on a buzzbait, which I didn’t get yesterday,” he said. “From there, I got lucky and caught a fish on a jig at the end of the day. Every bass I caught was out of an area I had never made a cast around in my life.”
Bakewell has mixed in both a shallow-water and offshore strategy so far. He has started his days shallow, taking advantage of the three-hour topwater window around certain types of seawalls. He then went and fished offshore brushpiles that were located in less than 30 feet of water.
Louisville, Tenn., boater Chris Whitson caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a 3-11 largemouth. Davis continues to hold the overall lead with his 4-9 largemouth from Day 1.
Georgia’s Chad Stahl won the co-angler division with a two-day total of 10-7. Japanese angler Satoshi Yaguchi finished second with 10-1 while North Carolina’s David Waack finished third with 10-1. Georgia’s Jason Law caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament, a 3-8 bass that earned him $250.
Texas angler Niko Romero clinched the non-boater points race with 1,614 points followed by Jimmy O’Brien in second with 1,530 and Jason Barber in third with 1,523 points.
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com
2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN (originally Lake Hartwell) 10/10-10/12
Lake Martin, Alexander City AL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Will Davis Jr Childersburg, AL 10 24-09 200
Day 1: 5 13-00 Day 2: 5 11-09
2. Josh Butler Hayden, AL 10 23-12 199
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 14-05
3. Bobby Bakewell Orlando, FL 10 22-03 198
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 12-05
4. Byron Kenney Jr Monticello, GA 10 22-02 197
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 5 10-13
5. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 10 22-00 196
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 10-05
6. Cody Meyer Eagle, ID 10 21-14 195
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 10-01
7. Yui Aoki Minamitsurugun JAPAN 10 21-14 194
Day 1: 5 11-06 Day 2: 5 10-08
8. Kyle Palmer Winchester, TN 10 21-13 193
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 10-06
9. Dakota Ebare Brookeland, TX 10 21-08 192
Day 1: 5 12-07 Day 2: 5 09-01
10. Brady Vernon Sterrett, AL 10 21-01 191
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 10-02
11. Dalton Smith Taylorsville, KY 10 21-01 190 $4,848.00
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 10-12
12. James Niggemeyer Van, TX 10 20-13 189 $3,771.00
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 10-12
13. Brent Shores Boise, ID 10 20-11 188 $3,232.00
Day 1: 5 10-06 Day 2: 5 10-05
14. Adam Rasmussen Sturgeon Bay, WI 10 20-09 187 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 09-09
15. Derek Lehtonen Woodruff, SC 10 20-09 186 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 5 09-15
16. Kyle Weisenburger Columbus Grv, OH 10 20-05 185 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 09-12
17. Easton Fothergill Grand Rapids , MN 10 19-15 184 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 5 10-04
18. Chad Grigsby Maple Grove, MN 10 19-15 183 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 10-01
19. Chase Clarke Virginia Beach, VA 10 19-12 182 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 09-09
20. Beau Browning Hot Springs National Pa 10 19-10 181 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 5 10-11
21. Austin Cranford Norman, OK 10 19-10 180 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 5 10-10
22. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 10 19-09 179 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 10-03
23. Ty Faber Pagosa Springs, CO 10 19-08 178 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 09-07
24. Jack Dice Lynchburg, VA 10 19-08 177 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 09-12
25. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 10 19-06 176 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-03 Day 2: 5 10-03
26. Joey Nania Cropwell, AL 10 19-04 175 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 09-01
27. Emil Wagner Marietta, GA 10 19-03 174 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 09-09
28. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 10 19-01 173 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 09-05 Day 2: 5 09-12
29. Tyler Campbell Martin, GA 10 18-15 172 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 5 10-06
30. Jacob Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 10 18-12 171 $2,693.00
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 5 08-12
31. Jack York Emory, TX 10 18-12 170 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-08 Day 2: 5 09-04
32. Darold Gleason Many, LA 10 18-11 169 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 5 09-00
33. Andrew Loberg Grant, AL 10 18-11 168 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 09-01
34. Allen Brooks Canton, GA 10 18-10 167 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 06-02
35. Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 10 18-10 166 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 10-04
36. Garrett Warren Scottsboro, AL 10 18-09 165 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 5 10-10
37. Bailey Bleser Burlington, WI 10 18-09 164 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 08-11
38. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 10 18-09 163 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 08-11
39. Tristan McCormick Burns, TN 10 18-09 162 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-02 Day 2: 5 09-07
40. Connor Jacob Auburn, AL 10 18-08 161 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 5 09-04
41. Parker Guy Ocilla, GA 10 18-07 160 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 09-10
42. Masayuki Matsushita Porter TX JAPAN 10 18-05 159 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 5 09-06
43. Chris Whitson Louisville, TN 10 18-04 158 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 07-03 Day 2: 5 11-01
44. Sam Hanggi Knoxville, TN 10 18-04 157 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 10-01
45. Blake Smith Lakeland, FL 10 18-03 156 $2,155.00
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 5 08-15
46. Chris Blanchette Edisto Island, SC 10 18-00 155
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 08-06
47. Freddy Palmer Estill Springs, TN 10 17-15 154
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 09-08
48. Cliff Pace Ovett, MS 10 17-15 153
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 5 09-03
49. Jake Maddux Roswell, GA 10 17-14 152
Day 1: 5 07-05 Day 2: 5 10-09
50. Trey Swindle Cleveland, AL 10 17-12 151
Day 1: 5 08-10 Day 2: 5 09-02
51. Josh Wiesner Fon du Lac, WI 10 17-11 150
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 5 09-06
52. Andrew Harp Linden, TX 10 17-10 149
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 5 09-05
53. Brock Belik Orchard, NE 10 17-10 148
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 5 08-14
54. Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 10 17-09 147
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 07-08
55. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 10 17-09 146
Day 1: 5 09-03 Day 2: 5 08-06
56. Ish Monroe Oakdale, CA 10 17-08 145
Day 1: 5 07-11 Day 2: 5 09-13
57. Logan Johnson Jasper, AL 10 17-08 144
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 5 09-04
58. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 10 17-05 143
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 5 09-00
59. Matt Messer Warfield, KY 10 17-05 142
Day 1: 5 08-14 Day 2: 5 08-07
60. Kyle Metzger Pearl River, LA 10 17-04 141
Day 1: 5 07-02 Day 2: 5 10-02
61. Colden Baker Ridgeway, SC 10 17-04 140
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 08-13
62. Elijah Benson Dahlonega, GA 10 17-03 139
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 5 08-14
63. Sean Clayton Seneca, SC 10 17-02 138
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 08-05
64. Laker Howell Guntersville, AL 10 17-01 137
Day 1: 5 08-11 Day 2: 5 08-06
65. Trevor McKinney Noble, IL 10 16-09 136
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 5 07-13
66. Avery Williams Murrells Inlt, SC 10 16-09 135
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 5 08-01
67. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 10 16-08 134
Day 1: 5 07-12 Day 2: 5 08-12
68. Matt Adams Oxford, AL 10 16-07 133
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 07-00
69. Kyle Austin Ridgeville, SC 10 16-06 132
Day 1: 5 06-08 Day 2: 5 09-14
70. Bryan Partak Marseilles, IL 10 16-04 131
Day 1: 5 07-08 Day 2: 5 08-12
71. Cody Stahl Barnsville, GA 10 16-02 130
Day 1: 5 07-10 Day 2: 5 08-08
72. Dylan Quilatan Windermere, FL 10 16-02 129
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 07-11
73. Paul Bouvier Kingston CANADA 10 16-01 128
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 5 08-02
74. Scout Echols Monticello, AR 10 15-15 127
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 5 07-03
75. Zach Goutremout Chaumont, NY 10 15-14 126
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 07-11
76. Paul Browning Monahans, TX 10 15-13 125
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 5 07-13
77. Yukihiro Sawamura Harker Heights, TX 10 15-09 124
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 5 07-09
78. Brian Post Janesville, WI 10 15-05 123
Day 1: 5 06-09 Day 2: 5 08-12
79. Blake Schroeder Whitehouse, TX 10 15-04 122
Day 1: 5 07-07 Day 2: 5 07-13
80. Greg Bohannan Bentonville, AR 10 15-02 121
Day 1: 5 07-04 Day 2: 5 07-14
80. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 10 15-02 121
Day 1: 5 07-04 Day 2: 5 07-14
82. Jacob Bigelow Cecil, WI 10 15-01 119
Day 1: 5 07-01 Day 2: 5 08-00
83. Mike McClelland Blue Eye, MO 10 14-15 118
Day 1: 5 06-15 Day 2: 5 08-00
84. Danny Ramsey Trinidad, TX 9 14-13 117
Day 1: 4 05-02 Day 2: 5 09-11
85. Chris Beaudrie Princeton, KY 10 14-13 116
Day 1: 5 06-10 Day 2: 5 08-03
86. Trey Schroeder Theodosia, MO 10 14-13 115
Day 1: 5 06-15 Day 2: 5 07-14
87. Tommy Dunaway Havana, FL 10 14-11 114
Day 1: 5 06-11 Day 2: 5 08-00
88. Bo Thomas Edwardsburg, MI 10 14-09 113
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 06-03
89. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 10 14-04 112
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 5 06-00
90. Daisuke Kita Ostu Shiga JAPAN 10 14-04 111
Day 1: 5 06-03 Day 2: 5 08-01
91. Jimmy Washam Stantonville, TN 9 14-03 110
Day 1: 4 04-11 Day 2: 5 09-08
92. Kevin Dritschler Prosper, TX 10 14-02 109
Day 1: 5 07-08 Day 2: 5 06-10
93. Bird Jones Loxahatchee, FL 9 14-01 108
Day 1: 4 04-01 Day 2: 5 10-00
94. Charlie Hartley Grove City, OH 10 14-00 107
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 5 05-00
95. Dylan Mayo Athens, TX 10 13-15 106
Day 1: 5 06-10 Day 2: 5 07-05
96. Doc Wootton Collierville, TN 10 13-12 105
Day 1: 5 07-12 Day 2: 5 06-00
97. Bryan Finch Belton, TX 10 13-12 104
Day 1: 5 07-08 Day 2: 5 06-04
98. Billy Gilbert Hamburg, NY 10 13-10 103
Day 1: 5 06-05 Day 2: 5 07-05
99. Woo Daves Spring Grove, VA 10 13-06 102
Day 1: 5 07-05 Day 2: 5 06-01
100. Cole Drummond Effingham, SC 10 13-05 101
Day 1: 5 06-12 Day 2: 5 06-09
101. Destry Ford Tuscaloosa, AL 9 13-00 100
Day 1: 5 06-07 Day 2: 4 06-09
102. Satoshi Egawa Fort Lee, NJ 10 12-15 99
Day 1: 5 06-12 Day 2: 5 06-03
103. Allen Armour Cumming, GA 10 12-14 98
Day 1: 5 06-02 Day 2: 5 06-12
104. Chancy Walters West Des Moines, IA 10 12-10 97
Day 1: 5 06-02 Day 2: 5 06-08
105. Brayden Rakes Winston Salem, NC 10 12-08 96
Day 1: 5 07-02 Day 2: 5 05-06
106. Rick Pierce Mountain Home, AR 8 12-06 95
Day 1: 3 03-15 Day 2: 5 08-07
107. Sho Egawa Osaka JAPAN 10 12-02 94
Day 1: 5 05-10 Day 2: 5 06-08
108. Lance Owen Greer, SC 10 12-00 93
Day 1: 5 05-12 Day 2: 5 06-04
109. Clint Leonard Jr Saint Cloud, FL 10 11-10 92
Day 1: 5 05-15 Day 2: 5 05-11
110. Al Trapp Inverness, FL 10 11-09 91
Day 1: 5 06-03 Day 2: 5 05-06
111. Chris Lighthizer Zanesville, OH 10 11-05 90
Day 1: 5 05-15 Day 2: 5 05-06
112. Chris Hellebuyck White Lake, MI 8 10-12 89
Day 1: 3 04-07 Day 2: 5 06-05
113. Anastasia Patterson Sumter, SC 9 09-05 88
Day 1: 4 03-09 Day 2: 5 05-12
114. Joey Hanna Corsicana, TX 6 09-02 87
Day 1: 1 00-15 Day 2: 5 08-03
115. Mike Mayo Athens, TX 8 08-15 86
Day 1: 5 05-12 Day 2: 3 03-03
116. Matt Molitor Canton, IL 8 08-11 85
Day 1: 5 05-15 Day 2: 3 02-12
117. Mark Guhne Hixson, TN 6 07-15 84
Day 1: 3 03-08 Day 2: 3 04-07
118. Garrett Rocamora Lake wales, FL 5 06-10 83
Day 1: 5 06-10 Day 2: 0 00-00
119. Harry Moore Valley, AL 2 03-00 82
Day 1: 2 03-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
120. Teb Jones Yalaha, MS 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
120. Chuck Pippin Jr Gotha, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 110 578 973-04
2 113 578 996-12
----------------------------------
223 1156 1970-00
2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN (originally Lake Hartwell) 10/10-10/12
Lake Martin, Alexander City AL.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Chad Stahl Barnesville, GA 6 10-07 200 $7,254.00
Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 3 04-13
2. Satoshi Yaguchi Ibaraki Gun JAPAN 6 10-01 199 $1,707.00
Day 1: 3 05-06 Day 2: 3 04-11
3. David Waack Cary, NC 6 10-01 198 $1,280.00
Day 1: 3 05-01 Day 2: 3 05-00
4. Jonathan Barnette Jasper, AL 6 09-15 197 $928.00
Day 1: 3 04-11 Day 2: 3 05-04
4. Riku Hayashi Ritto Shiga JAPAN 6 09-15 197 $928.00
Day 1: 3 05-04 Day 2: 3 04-11
6. Jimmy Fellegy Mustang, OK 6 09-15 195 $854.00
Day 1: 3 04-12 Day 2: 3 05-03
7. Niko Romero Coldspring, TX 6 09-12 194 $811.00
Day 1: 3 05-00 Day 2: 3 04-12
8. Gary Haraguchi Murfreesboro, TN 6 09-11 193 $768.00
Day 1: 3 04-01 Day 2: 3 05-10
9. Jason Law Tifton, GA 6 09-06 192 $954.00
Day 1: 3 05-09 Day 2: 3 03-13
10. Sakae Ushio Tonawanda, NY 6 09-02 191 $640.00
Day 1: 3 04-07 Day 2: 3 04-11
11. Sawyer Hunt Springfield, GA 6 08-12 190 $597.00
Day 1: 3 03-05 Day 2: 3 05-07
12. Andrus Kung Pickering CANADA 6 08-12 189 $555.00
Day 1: 3 03-08 Day 2: 3 05-04
13. Tadd Davis Colon, MI 6 08-12 188 $469.00
Day 1: 3 05-03 Day 2: 3 03-09
14. Stephen Mickle Pell City, AL 6 08-12 187 $427.00
Day 1: 3 03-12 Day 2: 3 05-00
15. Marrell Deering Rome, GA 6 08-11 186 $384.00
Day 1: 3 04-07 Day 2: 3 04-04
16. Hayden Spradling Gilbert, AZ 6 08-08 185 $341.00
Day 1: 3 03-15 Day 2: 3 04-09
17. Macoy Fisher Clewiston, FL 5 08-05 184 $320.00
Day 1: 3 05-07 Day 2: 2 02-14
18. Keith Gunsauls Dandridge, TN 6 08-04 183 $320.00
Day 1: 3 04-14 Day 2: 3 03-06
19. Jordan McDonald Jackson, GA 6 08-03 182 $320.00
Day 1: 3 04-06 Day 2: 3 03-13
20. Jason Barber Gun Barrel City, TX 6 08-01 181 $320.00
Day 1: 3 04-14 Day 2: 3 03-03
21. Brandon Parson Erwin, NC 5 07-14 180 $299.00
Day 1: 2 02-08 Day 2: 3 05-06
22. Andrew Fuller Marietta, GA 5 07-14 179 $299.00
Day 1: 3 04-15 Day 2: 2 02-15
23. Alex Watts Salem, VA 6 07-12 178 $299.00
Day 1: 3 03-13 Day 2: 3 03-15
24. Troy Mims Suwanee, GA 6 07-10 177 $299.00
Day 1: 3 03-09 Day 2: 3 04-01
25. Daniel Vasquez Boynton Beach, FL 5 07-09 176 $299.00
Day 1: 3 04-05 Day 2: 2 03-04
26. Richard Greene Ocala, FL 5 07-08 175 $256.00
Day 1: 3 04-15 Day 2: 2 02-09
27. Jason George Farragut, TN 6 07-07 174 $256.00
Day 1: 3 04-09 Day 2: 3 02-14
28. Brandon Clayton Haslet , TX 6 07-07 173 $256.00
Day 1: 3 03-00 Day 2: 3 04-07
29. Todd Lee Jasper, AL 6 07-07 172 $256.00
Day 1: 3 03-08 Day 2: 3 03-15
30. John Sanderlin IV Chesapeake, VA 6 07-06 171 $256.00
Day 1: 3 04-04 Day 2: 3 03-02
31. Jimmy Obrien Southampton, NY 5 07-05 170 $235.00
Day 1: 2 03-00 Day 2: 3 04-05
32. Tristan Bramblett Tiger, GA 6 07-04 169 $235.00
Day 1: 3 03-10 Day 2: 3 03-10
33. Eddie Kidd Fort Moore, GA 5 07-03 168 $235.00
Day 1: 3 04-02 Day 2: 2 03-01
34. Gordon Smith Clover, SC 5 07-02 167 $235.00
Day 1: 3 05-02 Day 2: 2 02-00
35. Kristian Johnson Belvidere, NJ 4 06-13 166 $235.00
Day 1: 1 01-02 Day 2: 3 05-11
36. Don Harvey Franklin, TN 6 06-12 165 $235.00
Day 1: 3 02-14 Day 2: 3 03-14
37. William Baker Ridgeway, SC 5 06-11 164 $235.00
Day 1: 2 02-02 Day 2: 3 04-09
38. Bill Hutchison Jr. Bessemer, AL 5 06-09 163 $235.00
Day 1: 2 01-12 Day 2: 3 04-13
39. Andy Simm Piney Flats, TN 5 06-08 162 $235.00
Day 1: 2 02-07 Day 2: 3 04-01
40. Thomas Abraham Winchester, TN 4 05-07 161 $235.00
Day 1: 3 04-10 Day 2: 1 00-13
41. Lee Stewart Raeford, NC 4 05-07 160
Day 1: 3 04-08 Day 2: 1 00-15
42. Tiffany Leal Austin, TX 5 05-06 159
Day 1: 2 01-13 Day 2: 3 03-09
43. Adler Odle Willow Springs, MO 4 05-05 158
Day 1: 3 03-04 Day 2: 1 02-01
44. Bryce Kelly Lakeland, FL 4 05-03 157
Day 1: 3 04-00 Day 2: 1 01-03
45. Byong Lee Stedman, NC 4 05-00 156
Day 1: 3 03-14 Day 2: 1 01-02
46. Austin Nelson Apopka, FL 3 04-09 155
Day 1: 1 01-09 Day 2: 2 03-00
47. Charles Bowman II Kernersville, NC 3 04-07 154
Day 1: 3 04-07 Day 2: 0 00-00
47. Wes Burchfiel Granite Falls, NC 3 04-07 154
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 04-07
49. Matt Champion Scottsville, NY 3 04-05 152
Day 1: 2 03-07 Day 2: 1 00-14
50. Tristian Dupuis Shreveport, LA 4 04-04 151
Day 1: 3 03-05 Day 2: 1 00-15
51. Will Major Port Allen, LA 3 04-00 150
Day 1: 3 04-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
52. Ricky Fulk Shenandoah, VA 2 03-13 149
Day 1: 1 01-15 Day 2: 1 01-14
53. Kyle Jenkins Summerville, SC 3 03-08 148
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 03-08
54. Albert Jones Jr Covington, GA 3 03-01 147
Day 1: 3 03-01 Day 2: 0 00-00
55. Mikki Sprenkle Linden, NC 2 02-09 146
Day 1: 2 02-09 Day 2: 0 00-00
56. Ronald Miller Attalla, AL 2 02-07 145
Day 1: 1 00-15 Day 2: 1 01-08
57. Steve Deyton Forest City, NC 2 02-06 144
Day 1: 1 01-05 Day 2: 1 01-01
58. Bobby Williams Salisbury, NC 2 01-10 143
Day 1: 1 00-12 Day 2: 1 00-14
59. Cody Koehler Acworth, GA 1 01-05 142
Day 1: 1 01-05 Day 2: 0 00-00
60. Carl Hunter Snellville, GA 1 00-15 141
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 00-15
61. Donald Biggs Murphysboro, IL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
61. Chris Earles Lady Lake, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
61. Shawn Martin Weirsdale, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
61. Ethan Puller Guthrie, OK 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 42 149 209-12
2 36 134 191-00
----------------------------------
78 283 400-12
Both lakes are familiar destinations for kayak anglers, as both Kayak Bass Fishing and Hobie BOS have hosted important events there in the past. Multiple limits over 90 inches have been landed in fall and spring events, as well as several 100-inch daily totals and a 25.25-inch largemouth that was scored during a 2019 event.
To the west of Shreveport, Caddo Lake straddles the border of Louisiana and Texas and features a variety of cover for bass to hang around, including a multitude of cypress trees, lily pads, hyacinth, offshore grass and salvinia.
With a sizable slot limit for largemouth on the lake, many larger bass boat events stay away from Caddo, but with a catch-measure-release format, it is a perfect destination for kayak anglers.
A slightly smaller Lake Bistineau is east of Shreveport but offers plenty of big-bass opportunities as well. The lake is full of cypress trees, making it a shallow-water angler’s dream.
With the fall feed beginning in earnest, bladed jigs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits will likely come into play around shallow cover as well as flipping and pitching presentations.
Heading into the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series at Caddo Lake/Lake Bistineau scored by TourneyX event, reigning Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Rus Snyders leads the AOY race once again with 730 points. He is followed by Casey Reed in second with 717 points, Massachusetts angler Derek Brundle in third with 707 points, Curtis Vance III in fourth with 703 points and Matthew Conant in fifth with 699 points. Ryan Nye is sixth with 696 points, Clint Pippen is seventh with 679 points, Jake Angulas is eighth with 678 points, BassmastHER ambassador Kristine Fischer is ninth with 676 points and John Tibbens is 10th with 670 points.
2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Yamaha Rightwaters 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Partner: MotorGuide, YakGear 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Sponsor: Dakota Lithium
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
Davis anchored his bag with the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a unicorn 4-9 largemouth he caught with a Davis Baits Wood Jig and a Big Bite chunk.
While he’s known as more of a Coosa River stick, the two-time B.A.S.S. Nation Series champion knows plenty about Lake Martin and the importance of landing a kicker bite. He only landed eight bass all day, but they were the right ones.
“I just know from being around here that you aren’t going to win out there ’Scoping,” he said. “You have to have both the dock or brush deal and the ‘Scoping deal going to win. The lake is full of fish — a large population of small spotted bass. The largemouth population is about nonexistent.”
After the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused devastating damage to the upstate of South Carolina and the Lake Hartwell area, tournament officials made the decision to move the final Open of the year to Alabama.
Sunny skies have prevailed thus far, but a cold front pushed through just before the tournament, bringing cooler nights with it. Lake levels are also higher than normal, but the water is starting to fall, throwing another wrench into the equation. Water temperatures have started around 75 degrees and then warmed to 83 degrees, which has Davis thinking the bass aren’t quite to their fall patterns yet.
“The water is dropping a little bit right now, so some of the big ones pull up to eat bream while some of them fall back to hang out in front of the shade. It is really hard to pattern them right now,” Davis said. “My biggest one came out of 20 feet of water and my other big one came out of 2 feet of water. They are still in that pre-fall transition. With the water dropping, too, I think it has the bass a little confused.”
Starting the morning on a couple of shallow bars, Davis landed several keeper spotted bass before moving to the bank to fish docks. The first two hours of the morning have provided some of his better bites, but he has also noticed a bite window that occurs after noon.
“I went four hours today without a bite,” he said. “When the sun got high, it pushed the bass under the docks. There was a lot of wind on a lot of my stuff today and I couldn’t fish it like I wanted to.”
Davis added around 13 pounds has been the winning weight for most of the local tournaments lately. He anticipates Day 2 will be a tougher day, and running new water will be important.
“In a 100-boat field, 9½ pounds gets you paid most of the time here,” he said. “A big bag down here this time of year is 15 pounds. That is a giant bag. You have to run new water here. The big ones don’t replenish on this lake, and they never have.”
Hailing from Georgia, Brooks landed a limit measuring 12-8 to finish the day in second place. While Lake Lanier is his home fishery, another lake in his home state helped him break down Lake Martin.
“I have a lake house at Lake Nottely and it is identical to this place,” Brooks said. “I love it. I probably caught 20 bass today just fishing. I imagine it will be difficult for me to duplicate; I got two lucky bites. I should catch a lot of fish.”
Brooks filled out his limit within the first 30 minutes of the day and culled up by ounces throughout the day. Late in the day he landed his biggest bass, a 3-9 largemouth that bolstered his bag. Two primary presentations produced the majority of his bites.
“I have it focused in a little bit,” he said. “I’m not LiveScoping. I’ve been fishing really shallow.”
Entering the day in seventh in the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers race, and needing a good day to feel comfortable in the Top 9, Ebare landed 12-7 to land in third place.
“I’m thankful for the way it worked out,” he said. “I started out the morning trying to get a big bite, and I was fortunate to do that. It really settled me down and I changed my whole game plan (after that). I fished the rest of the day in a way I didn’t even practice for.”
Ebare took advantage of a morning bite and filled out his limit, which gave him the confidence to change his strategy and hunt for big bass. He has three baits that have caught bass.
“I really slowed down and picked some stuff apart. I expanded on what I thought was going on. I got more bites doing what I was doing than I anticipated,” he said. “There is definitely bait in the areas, and I used the wind to my advantage for sure.”
After Day 1, Minnesota’s Easton Fothergill leads the Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifiers race with 1,597 points while Cody Meyer is second with 1,592 points. Georgia’s Paul Marks is third with 1,513 points followed by Emil Wagner in fourth with 1,504 points and Andrew Loberg in fifth with 1,500 points. Ebare is sixth with 1,494 points, Tucker Smith is seventh with 1,492 points and Evan Kung is eighth with 1,456.
If the tournament ended today, Alabama’s Matt Adams would be the final angler to clinch an Elite Series invite with 1,454 points while Beau Browning would be the first man out with 1,443 points.
The full field of 121 anglers will launch from Wind Creek State Park beginning at 6:30 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. The co-angler champion will be crowned at the end of the Day 2 weigh-in while the Top 10 boaters will advance to Championship Saturday. Live coverage will air on FS2 Friday from 8 a.m. to noon ET and on FS1 Saturday from 8-11 a.m.
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com
2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN (originally Lake Hartwell) 10/10-10/12
Lake Martin, Alexander City AL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Will Davis Jr Childersburg, AL 5 13-00 200
Day 1: 5 13-00
2. Allen Brooks Canton, GA 5 12-08 199
Day 1: 5 12-08
3. Dakota Ebare Brookeland, TX 5 12-07 198
Day 1: 5 12-07
4. Cody Meyer Eagle, ID 5 11-13 197
Day 1: 5 11-13
5. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 5 11-11 196
Day 1: 5 11-11
6. Kyle Palmer Winchester, TN 5 11-07 195
Day 1: 5 11-07
7. Yui Aoki Minamitsurugun JAPAN 5 11-06 194
Day 1: 5 11-06
8. Byron Kenney Jr Monticello, GA 5 11-05 193
Day 1: 5 11-05
9. Adam Rasmussen Sturgeon Bay, WI 5 11-00 192
Day 1: 5 11-00
10. Brady Vernon Sterrett, AL 5 10-15 191
Day 1: 5 10-15
11. Derek Lehtonen Woodruff, SC 5 10-10 190
Day 1: 5 10-10
12. Kyle Weisenburger Columbus Grv, OH 5 10-09 189
Day 1: 5 10-09
13. Brent Shores Boise, ID 5 10-06 188
Day 1: 5 10-06
14. Dalton Smith Taylorsville, KY 5 10-05 187
Day 1: 5 10-05
15. Chase Clarke Virginia Beach, VA 5 10-03 186
Day 1: 5 10-03
15. Joey Nania Cropwell, AL 5 10-03 186
Day 1: 5 10-03
17. Ty Faber Pagosa Springs, CO 5 10-01 184
Day 1: 5 10-01
17. Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 5 10-01 184
Day 1: 5 10-01
17. James Niggemeyer Van, TX 5 10-01 184
Day 1: 5 10-01
20. Jacob Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 5 10-00 181
Day 1: 5 10-00
21. Bobby Bakewell Orlando, FL 5 09-14 180
Day 1: 5 09-14
21. Bailey Bleser Burlington, WI 5 09-14 180
Day 1: 5 09-14
21. Chad Grigsby Maple Grove, MN 5 09-14 180
Day 1: 5 09-14
24. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 5 09-14 177
Day 1: 5 09-14
25. Jack Dice Lynchburg, VA 5 09-12 176
Day 1: 5 09-12
26. Easton Fothergill Grand Rapids , MN 5 09-11 175
Day 1: 5 09-11
26. Darold Gleason Many, LA 5 09-11 175
Day 1: 5 09-11
28. Chris Blanchette Edisto Island, SC 5 09-10 173
Day 1: 5 09-10
28. Andrew Loberg Grant, AL 5 09-10 173
Day 1: 5 09-10
28. Emil Wagner Marietta, GA 5 09-10 173
Day 1: 5 09-10
31. Jack York Emory, TX 5 09-08 170
Day 1: 5 09-08
32. Matt Adams Oxford, AL 5 09-07 169
Day 1: 5 09-07
32. Josh Butler Hayden, AL 5 09-07 169
Day 1: 5 09-07
34. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 5 09-06 167
Day 1: 5 09-06
35. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 5 09-05 166
Day 1: 5 09-05
36. Connor Jacob Auburn, AL 5 09-04 165
Day 1: 5 09-04
36. Blake Smith Lakeland, FL 5 09-04 165
Day 1: 5 09-04
38. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 5 09-03 163
Day 1: 5 09-03
38. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 5 09-03 163
Day 1: 5 09-03
40. Tristan McCormick Burns, TN 5 09-02 161
Day 1: 5 09-02
41. Austin Cranford Norman, OK 5 09-00 160
Day 1: 5 09-00
41. Charlie Hartley Grove City, OH 5 09-00 160
Day 1: 5 09-00
43. Beau Browning Hot Springs National Pa 5 08-15 158
Day 1: 5 08-15
43. Masayuki Matsushita Porter TX JAPAN 5 08-15 158
Day 1: 5 08-15
45. Matt Messer Warfield, KY 5 08-14 156
Day 1: 5 08-14
46. Sean Clayton Seneca, SC 5 08-13 155
Day 1: 5 08-13
46. Parker Guy Ocilla, GA 5 08-13 155
Day 1: 5 08-13
48. Brock Belik Orchard, NE 5 08-12 153
Day 1: 5 08-12
48. Scout Echols Monticello, AR 5 08-12 153
Day 1: 5 08-12
48. Trevor McKinney Noble, IL 5 08-12 153
Day 1: 5 08-12
48. Cliff Pace Ovett, MS 5 08-12 153
Day 1: 5 08-12
52. Laker Howell Guntersville, AL 5 08-11 149
Day 1: 5 08-11
53. Trey Swindle Cleveland, AL 5 08-10 148
Day 1: 5 08-10
54. Tyler Campbell Martin, GA 5 08-09 147
Day 1: 5 08-09
55. Avery Williams Murrells Inlt, SC 5 08-08 146
Day 1: 5 08-08
56. Colden Baker Ridgeway, SC 5 08-07 145
Day 1: 5 08-07
56. Freddy Palmer Estill Springs, TN 5 08-07 145
Day 1: 5 08-07
56. Dylan Quilatan Windermere, FL 5 08-07 145
Day 1: 5 08-07
59. Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 5 08-06 142
Day 1: 5 08-06
59. Bo Thomas Edwardsburg, MI 5 08-06 142
Day 1: 5 08-06
61. Elijah Benson Dahlonega, GA 5 08-05 140
Day 1: 5 08-05
61. Andrew Harp Linden, TX 5 08-05 140
Day 1: 5 08-05
61. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 08-05 140
Day 1: 5 08-05
61. Josh Wiesner Fon du Lac, WI 5 08-05 140
Day 1: 5 08-05
65. Logan Johnson Jasper, AL 5 08-04 136
Day 1: 5 08-04
65. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 5 08-04 136
Day 1: 5 08-04
67. Zach Goutremout Chaumont, NY 5 08-03 134
Day 1: 5 08-03
67. Sam Hanggi Knoxville, TN 5 08-03 134
Day 1: 5 08-03
69. Paul Browning Monahans, TX 5 08-00 132
Day 1: 5 08-00
69. Yukihiro Sawamura Harker Heights, TX 5 08-00 132
Day 1: 5 08-00
71. Paul Bouvier Kingston CANADA 5 07-15 130
Day 1: 5 07-15
71. Garrett Warren Scottsboro, AL 5 07-15 130
Day 1: 5 07-15
73. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 07-12 128
Day 1: 5 07-12
74. Doc Wootton Collierville, TN 5 07-12 127
Day 1: 5 07-12
75. Ish Monroe Oakdale, CA 5 07-11 126
Day 1: 5 07-11
76. Cody Stahl Barnsville, GA 5 07-10 125
Day 1: 5 07-10
77. Kevin Dritschler Prosper, TX 5 07-08 124
Day 1: 5 07-08
77. Bryan Finch Belton, TX 5 07-08 124
Day 1: 5 07-08
77. Bryan Partak Marseilles, IL 5 07-08 124
Day 1: 5 07-08
80. Blake Schroeder Whitehouse, TX 5 07-07 121
Day 1: 5 07-07
81. Woo Daves Spring Grove, VA 5 07-05 120
Day 1: 5 07-05
81. Jake Maddux Roswell, GA 5 07-05 120
Day 1: 5 07-05
83. Greg Bohannan Bentonville, AR 5 07-04 118
Day 1: 5 07-04
83. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 5 07-04 118
Day 1: 5 07-04
85. Chris Whitson Louisville, TN 5 07-03 116
Day 1: 5 07-03
86. Kyle Metzger Pearl River, LA 5 07-02 115
Day 1: 5 07-02
86. Brayden Rakes Winston Salem, NC 5 07-02 115
Day 1: 5 07-02
88. Jacob Bigelow Cecil, WI 5 07-01 113
Day 1: 5 07-01
89. Mike McClelland Blue Eye, MO 5 06-15 112
Day 1: 5 06-15
90. Trey Schroeder Theodosia, MO 5 06-15 111
Day 1: 5 06-15
91. Cole Drummond Effingham, SC 5 06-12 110
Day 1: 5 06-12
91. Satoshi Egawa Fort Lee, NJ 5 06-12 110
Day 1: 5 06-12
93. Tommy Dunaway Havana, FL 5 06-11 108
Day 1: 5 06-11
94. Chris Beaudrie Princeton, KY 5 06-10 107
Day 1: 5 06-10
94. Dylan Mayo Athens, TX 5 06-10 107
Day 1: 5 06-10
94. Garrett Rocamora Lake wales, FL 5 06-10 107
Day 1: 5 06-10
97. Brian Post Janesville, WI 5 06-09 104
Day 1: 5 06-09
98. Kyle Austin Ridgeville, SC 5 06-08 103
Day 1: 5 06-08
99. Destry Ford Tuscaloosa, AL 5 06-07 102
Day 1: 5 06-07
100. Billy Gilbert Hamburg, NY 5 06-05 101
Day 1: 5 06-05
101. Daisuke Kita Ostu Shiga JAPAN 5 06-03 100
Day 1: 5 06-03
101. Al Trapp Inverness, FL 5 06-03 100
Day 1: 5 06-03
103. Allen Armour Cumming, GA 5 06-02 98
Day 1: 5 06-02
103. Chancy Walters West Des Moines, IA 5 06-02 98
Day 1: 5 06-02
105. Clint Leonard Jr Saint Cloud, FL 5 05-15 96
Day 1: 5 05-15
105. Chris Lighthizer Zanesville, OH 5 05-15 96
Day 1: 5 05-15
105. Matt Molitor Canton, IL 5 05-15 96
Day 1: 5 05-15
108. Mike Mayo Athens, TX 5 05-12 93
Day 1: 5 05-12
108. Lance Owen Greer, SC 5 05-12 93
Day 1: 5 05-12
110. Sho Egawa Osaka JAPAN 5 05-10 91
Day 1: 5 05-10
111. Danny Ramsey Trinidad, TX 4 05-02 90
Day 1: 4 05-02
112. Jimmy Washam Stantonville, TN 4 04-11 89
Day 1: 4 04-11
113. Chris Hellebuyck White Lake, MI 3 04-07 88
Day 1: 3 04-07
114. Bird Jones Loxahatchee, FL 4 04-01 87
Day 1: 4 04-01
115. Rick Pierce Mountain Home, AR 3 03-15 86
Day 1: 3 03-15
116. Anastasia Patterson Sumter, SC 4 03-09 85
Day 1: 4 03-09
117. Mark Guhne Hixson, TN 3 03-08 84
Day 1: 3 03-08
118. Harry Moore Valley, AL 2 03-00 83
Day 1: 2 03-00
119. Joey Hanna Corsicana, TX 1 00-15 82
Day 1: 1 00-15
120. Teb Jones Yalaha, MS 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
120. Chuck Pippin Jr Gotha, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 110 578 973-04
----------------------------------
110 578 973-04
2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN (originally Lake Hartwell) 10/10-10/12
Lake Martin, Alexander City AL.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Chad Stahl Barnesville, GA 3 05-10 200
Day 1: 3 05-10
2. Jason Law Tifton, GA 3 05-09 199
Day 1: 3 05-09
3. Macoy Fisher Clewiston, FL 3 05-07 198
Day 1: 3 05-07
4. Satoshi Yaguchi Ibaraki Gun JAPAN 3 05-06 197
Day 1: 3 05-06
5. Riku Hayashi Ritto Shiga JAPAN 3 05-04 196
Day 1: 3 05-04
6. Tadd Davis Colon, MI 3 05-03 195
Day 1: 3 05-03
7. Gordon Smith Clover, SC 3 05-02 194
Day 1: 3 05-02
8. David Waack Cary, NC 3 05-01 193
Day 1: 3 05-01
9. Niko Romero Coldspring, TX 3 05-00 192
Day 1: 3 05-00
10. Andrew Fuller Marietta, GA 3 04-15 191
Day 1: 3 04-15
10. Richard Greene Ocala, FL 3 04-15 191
Day 1: 3 04-15
12. Jason Barber Gun Barrel City, TX 3 04-14 189
Day 1: 3 04-14
12. Keith Gunsauls Dandridge, TN 3 04-14 189
Day 1: 3 04-14
14. Jimmy Fellegy Mustang, OK 3 04-12 187
Day 1: 3 04-12
15. Jonathan Barnette Jasper, AL 3 04-11 186
Day 1: 3 04-11
16. Thomas Abraham Winchester, TN 3 04-10 185
Day 1: 3 04-10
17. Jason George Farragut, TN 3 04-09 184
Day 1: 3 04-09
18. Lee Stewart Raeford, NC 3 04-08 183
Day 1: 3 04-08
19. Charles Bowman II Kernersville, NC 3 04-07 182
Day 1: 3 04-07
19. Marrell Deering Rome, GA 3 04-07 182
Day 1: 3 04-07
19. Sakae Ushio Tonawanda, NY 3 04-07 182
Day 1: 3 04-07
22. Jordan McDonald Jackson, GA 3 04-06 179
Day 1: 3 04-06
23. Daniel Vasquez Boynton Beach, FL 3 04-05 178
Day 1: 3 04-05
24. John Sanderlin IV Chesapeake, VA 3 04-04 177
Day 1: 3 04-04
25. Eddie Kidd Fort Moore, GA 3 04-02 176
Day 1: 3 04-02
26. Gary Haraguchi Murfreesboro, TN 3 04-01 175
Day 1: 3 04-01
27. Bryce Kelly Lakeland, FL 3 04-00 174
Day 1: 3 04-00
27. Will Major Port Allen, LA 3 04-00 174
Day 1: 3 04-00
29. Hayden Spradling Gilbert, AZ 3 03-15 172
Day 1: 3 03-15
30. Byong Lee Stedman, NC 3 03-14 171
Day 1: 3 03-14
31. Alex Watts Salem, VA 3 03-13 170
Day 1: 3 03-13
32. Stephen Mickle Pell City, AL 3 03-12 169
Day 1: 3 03-12
33. Tristan Bramblett Tiger, GA 3 03-10 168
Day 1: 3 03-10
34. Troy Mims Suwanee, GA 3 03-09 167
Day 1: 3 03-09
35. Andrus Kung Pickering CANADA 3 03-08 166
Day 1: 3 03-08
35. Todd Lee Jasper, AL 3 03-08 166
Day 1: 3 03-08
37. Matt Champion Scottsville, NY 2 03-07 164
Day 1: 2 03-07
38. Tristian Dupuis Shreveport, LA 3 03-05 163
Day 1: 3 03-05
38. Sawyer Hunt Springfield, GA 3 03-05 163
Day 1: 3 03-05
40. Adler Odle Willow Springs, MO 3 03-04 161
Day 1: 3 03-04
41. Albert Jones Jr Covington, GA 3 03-01 160
Day 1: 3 03-01
42. Brandon Clayton Haslet , TX 3 03-00 159
Day 1: 3 03-00
43. Jimmy Obrien Southampton, NY 2 03-00 158
Day 1: 2 03-00
44. Don Harvey Franklin, TN 3 02-14 157
Day 1: 3 02-14
45. Mikki Sprenkle Linden, NC 2 02-09 156
Day 1: 2 02-09
46. Brandon Parson Erwin, NC 2 02-08 155
Day 1: 2 02-08
47. Andy Simm Piney Flats, TN 2 02-07 154
Day 1: 2 02-07
48. William Baker Ridgeway, SC 2 02-02 153
Day 1: 2 02-02
49. Ricky Fulk Shenandoah, VA 1 01-15 152
Day 1: 1 01-15
50. Tiffany Leal Austin, TX 2 01-13 151
Day 1: 2 01-13
51. Bill Hutchison Jr. Bessemer, AL 2 01-12 150
Day 1: 2 01-12
52. Austin Nelson Apopka, FL 1 01-09 149
Day 1: 1 01-09
53. Steve Deyton Forest City, NC 1 01-05 148
Day 1: 1 01-05
53. Cody Koehler Acworth, GA 1 01-05 148
Day 1: 1 01-05
55. Kristian Johnson Belvidere, NJ 1 01-02 146
Day 1: 1 01-02
56. Ronald Miller Attalla, AL 1 00-15 145
Day 1: 1 00-15
57. Bobby Williams Salisbury, NC 1 00-12 144
Day 1: 1 00-12
58. Donald Biggs Murphysboro, IL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
58. Wes Burchfiel Granite Falls, NC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
58. Chris Earles Lady Lake, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
58. Carl Hunter Snellville, GA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
58. Kyle Jenkins Summerville, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
58. Shawn Martin Weirsdale, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
58. Ethan Puller Guthrie, OK 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 42 149 209-12
----------------------------------
42 149 209-12
Fall Fishing can bring some of the best fishing of the entire season, but with that great fishing comes the need to stay comfortable in cold and wet fall weather. No matter what your choice of species or tackle is, having warm hands is the key to a successful day. While big, bulky waterproof gloves can keep your hands warm, they often make it challenging to operate baitcast or spinning tackle. On the other hand, thin gloves offer dexterity but fail to keep your hands warm and dry. AFTCO has solved that challenge with the new Breakwater gloves, and they will make your fall fishing drier and warmer. The Breakwater waterproof fishing gloves are made with a 100% waterproof membrane to keep water out and comfort locked in. They are soft to the touch on the outside and very comfortable from a 4-way stretch fabric construction. This gives your hands the ability to move and easily operate spinning or baitcast reels. These gloves allow you to feather your baitcast reel to make any cast or finesse spin the lightest line on a spinning reel. The palms and insides of the fingers have a tacky finish that provides extraordinary grip on any surface in the wettest of conditions. While soft and flexible on the outside, the construction inside the Breakwater glove features a 100% waterproof membrane to ensure your hands stay dry, no matter how much it rains or storms.
Effective use of electronics when fishing or boating has never been more important, and the Breakwater gloves optimize your efficiency with your electronics in bad weather with touch screen compatible fingertips on the thumbs and index fingers of each glove.
No more having to take your gloves off to make an electronics adjustment or send a text on your phone. The Breakwater gloves have arrived just in time for fall and winter fishing and are available in three sizes: medium, large, and x-large.
AFTCO angler Mark Zona tested these gloves last fall and winter and was impressed by the performance he found with the Breakwater gloves in cold and wet weather. “If my hands get cold in harsh conditions, I’m done. After testing the Breakwater gloves, being cold or wet is zero concern. Two words—warm and dry!!!”, said Mark Zona.
Family-owned and operated, the American Fishing Tackle Company (AFTCO) represents unparalleled quality, performance, and reliability when it matters most. Worn across the globe, AFTCO's performance fishing clothing and fishing rain gear is designed to handle the harshest elements. Whether you're a tournament bass angler looking to stay dry in a late fall downpour, or an offshore weekend warrior seeking protection from the sun's harmful UV rays, AFTCO keeps you fishing comfortably.
AFTCO reflects a legacy of firsts. From former company Chairman Milt Shedd's pioneering conservation achievements, to the invention of the roller guide and the introduction of the world's first pair of true fishing shorts, AFTCO provides conservation leadership and innovative products proven to deliver performance on the water. Our passion for the outdoors goes beyond our product offering because of an unwavering commitment to help protect our fishing resources and angler rights. Through our 10% Pledge to Protect and Conserve, your purchase of any AFTCO product directly supports conservation initiatives.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (October 10, 2024) – In just a few short days, the Association of Collegiate Anglers will contest another event during its historic 20th season. The second stop of the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series is the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open. The no-entry-fee, nationally televised, double points tournament will be contested at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR on October 12-13, 2024. More than 250 teams comprised of the top collegiate anglers in the nation are set to be on-hand. The full field will compete for two days in hopes of claiming their share of the over $20,000 in prizes and contingencies on the line, as well as double points to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
Official practice begins on Thursday, with the final day of official practice and mandatory tournament meeting happening on Friday. Saturday and Sunday will be official competition days, with weigh-in and takeoff happening at Lake Dardanelle State Park. Live weigh-in will be streamed each afternoon on the ACA website. Official weigh-in will begin at 3:00 PM on Day 1 and 1:00 PM on Day 2. The ACA website and social media pages will also provide detailed coverage, including a live blog, event insight, important links, and more.
Lake and weather conditions have been stable leading up to the event, which should allow anglers to easily pattern these Lake Dardanelle bass. Like any typical fall morning pattern, topwaters will be a great option early. As the day progresses, shad pattern moving baits and soft plastics will be good options. Each of these styles and presentations will work well around any of the cover that can be found out on Lake Dardanelle. Read a complete lake preview at this link.
The latest episode of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiate Bass Podcast featured Arkansas Tech University angler Mat Higby. Mat, along with his fellow teammate, won this event in 2022. Tune in to this episode as we preview the event and talk about current lake conditions.
The total payout for the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open exceeds $20,000 in prizes and contingencies. The no-entry-fee AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open will pay out the Top 20 places in the final standings, several exact places, and a Power-Pole to the Overall Big Bass. This prestigious prize payout is comprised of product and gift cards from companies including Bass Pro Shops, AFTCO, Garmin, Power-Pole, Rapala, Turtlebox, Trailer Valet, and Bajío Sunglasses. Click here to view the complete prize list.
The Top 10 finishing angler pairings at the 2024 AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open automatically qualify to compete in the 2025 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops. These qualified angler pairing entries must compete at Lake Hartwell next May as the same angler pairing that competed at the 2024 AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open.
The AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open will be the second ACA double points event to count towards the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. First place will receive 1,750 points, and schools will be eligible to earn points for their two highest-finishing teams inside of the Top 150 of the final tournament standings.
21 of the Top 25 teams are registered to compete at Lake Dardanelle this upcoming weekend. For teams that have two high finishes, there is potential for them to earn well over 3,000 points. 1st place Carson-Newman University leads 2nd ranked Bethel University by just less than 500 points, and 3rd through 8th are separated by less than 1,000 points, and sixth through 25th are only 3,000 points apart. Given that the standings are stacked so tightly now, there will be an opportunity for teams to make major moves in the rankings.
Live coverage for the event will begin with the Live Blog on the final day of official practice on Friday. The live blog will also be active during both days of tournament competition. As mentioned above, live weigh-in will be streamed on the ACA website both afternoons. Also, follow along with ACA social media channels for additional coverage and content.
Ever Green’s new Last Ace 140 Swim sets new highwater mark in the swimbait category.
FOOTHILL RANCH, CA (October 4, 2024) – Fish aren’t getting any dumber. We can only imagine how fish must’ve hammered the first spoons and crude hardbaits that were developed in the late 1800’s. Since, manufacturers, along with their sophisticated prototyping and production technologies, have efforted to stay in front of getting, shall we say, busted by the fish.
Swimbaits are one of the more recent bait-styles trying to keep ahead of the fish universe’s learning curve. Characteristics include baitfish silhouettes; mix of authentic and agitating patterns; and a seductively nonchalant motion that makes fish think, “you gotta be kidding me.”
Fact is, though, fish – bass in particular – have been seeing this same old movie for over a decade. Subsequently, to win back their attention, even a swimbait design demands improved authenticity. And that’s precisely what Ever Green has done with their new Last Ace 140 Swim.
At 5.5-inches, the Last Ace 140 Swim falls just within the ‘big swimbait’ category. And it’s a warranted designation, too, as the realistic swimbait caters to bass of all pedigrees. (Although everyone knows swimbaits are especially deadly on monster fish.)
“The larger profile of the Last Ace 140 Swim provides that special caloric motivation for a big bass to attempt its next meal,” said DAIWA Field Marketing Manager, Chris Martin, with a hint of darkness in his voice.
Several features make Ever Green’s Lace Ace 140 Swim a standout amongst swimbaits, but it’s line-through design leads the list. It sports an internal harness in the head to guide an angler’s leader easily through the bait and onto the provided Ever Green custom black nickel plated treble hook, which was specifically chosen to maximize the natural presentation, while providing the best possible hook-up ratio. The line through design removes any leverage the fish might have against a traditional fixed hook, which can be shaken loose during battle.
The Last Ace 140 Swim performs best as a “chuck and wind” slow-rolling bait in the upper- and mid- water column. Nail weights can be added behind the internal harness for bottom rolling, too.
The Last Ace 140 Swim’s saltless formula produces a durable lure that’s supple enough to create lifelike action on a slow roll or fast retrieve. Diverse and detailed colorways enhance the lures attractiveness, while its pronounced 3D eyes provide realism and an easily identifiable target for bass. Its enhanced cosmetics are finished with accurate and textured fins.
For Daiwa’s latest color catalog and/or information on Daiwa dealers in your area, call Daiwa’s Customer Service Department at 562-375-6800 or e-mail inquiries to: CSR@Daiwa.com. The URL for Daiwa’s web site is daiwa.us
Scottsboro, AL (October 9, 2024) – Unified Pros announced today the third addition to its Athlete Advisory Board, retired PGA Tour Professional, Brett Wetterich. The advisory board will consist of a representative from the NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA and the professional fishing world. Retired NFL defensive tackle, Bill Maas and retired MLB pitcher, Josh Beckett have previously been announced as board members.
Brett Wetterich played on The PGA Tour from 2000-2010 and led the Masters Tournament at the halfway point in 2007. Wetterich draws the connection between the sports of golf and fishing saying “It’s not hard to understand why so many pro golfers also love to fish. The pace, strategy and individual nature of both sports are very similar. Unified Pros will undoubtedly draw many professional golfers looking for a fun and productive way to spend their time off the course.”
Unified Pros is a nonprofit alliance of professional athletes. Through sanctioned competitions, charity events, and membership, the organization aims to elevate a love for outdoor competition while raising awareness for fisheries, habitats, and their continued conservation. Unified Pros envisions an inclusive world where athletes collaborate and compete in the outdoor arena to create transformative experiences that make a lasting impact on individuals, communities, professional athletes, and the sport of bass fishing.
Through collaborative partnerships with esteemed organizations such as the Major League Fishing Anglers Association (MLFAA), Bassmaster Professional Anglers, National Professional Fishing league (NPFL), NFL Professional Players Association (NFLPA), MLB Players Association (MLBPA), NBA Players Association (NBAPA), and Professional Golfers Association (PGA), Unified Pros aims to create Pro-Pro events that bring together professionals from various sports disciplines in unique and competitive formats. These events will not only offer major payouts to winners, but also serve as platforms to raise awareness for outdoor activities and conservation efforts.
By harnessing the collective influence of these athletic associations, Unified Pros envision creating extraordinary experiences that unite athletes, build camaraderie, and promote the importance of preserving our outdoors and fisheries.
APALACHICOLA, Fla. — The letters R-E-D begin both the target species and the term of motivation that drove Gary Moreno and Tony Viator to victory at the Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter at Apalachicola Bay.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, which will grant the winner the year’s final berth into the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic, was originally scheduled to take place on Louisiana's Ouachita River. However, due to critical, unforeseen repair work being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Columbia Lock and Dam just south of Monroe, La., the Team Championship is relocating to Tennessee's Kentucky Lake.
SHREVEPORT, La. — For the second year in a row, Tennessee’s Rus Snyders has won the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year title, accumulating 730 points throughout the five-event season. Along with a customized trophy, Snyders earned a prize of $5,000.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — 2024 saw B.A.S.S. kickstart the BassmastHER program, a new initiative with the goal of creating a space for female anglers at all levels to learn new fishing skills within a supportive community. B.A.S.S. hosted workshops that ran concurrently with three Bassmaster Elite Series events across the 2024 season, and 2025 will see the program expand its offerings to create even more workshop opportunities across the country.
ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — A little over a year ago, 
No more having to take your gloves off to make an electronics adjustment or send a text on your phone. The Breakwater gloves have arrived just in time for fall and winter fishing and are available in three sizes: medium, large, and x-large.
