Minke manages minute lead in Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake
WALKER, Minn — Kyle Minke knew his opportunities would be slim, but capitalizing on what he had to work with yielded a 22-pound Day 1 limit that leads the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN.
On a tight leaderboard that finds only 1 1/2 pounds separating first place from 10th, Minke holds a 1-ounce advantage over second-place Tommy Parker.
“I got lucky today; I only got six bites and they were definitely the right ones,” Minke said.
Minke, who makes his home in Lindsrom, Minn., focused his efforts on smallmouth, but he admitted that was not his preference.
“I wanted to fish for largemouth so bad, but I know you can’t win with them, so I stuck with the smallmouth game all day,” Minke said.
Fortunately, a productive morning gave him the confidence to continue pressing for improvement.
“I had a limit by noon, so it kinda made me comfortable to just keep working at it and I ended up getting one more big bite,” Minke said. “You just have to find the ones that want to bite.”
Sticking with the standard Leech Lake game plan of targeting boulders, Minke worked in depths ranging from 6 to 15 feet.
“I varied my depth with the wind,” Minke said. “I think the wind will push (the smallmouth) a little shallower on the windy side of stuff, so I was basing my approach on that.
“I was just running the boulders I had marked in practice. Maybe it was just good timing.”
Minke said he spent two hours on his starting spot. That location produced two of his keepers, as did his second and third spots.
“I had three main areas, all of them were miles apart,” Minke said. “I spent my day in the north and mid-lake regions. I don’t think these regions get as pressured as the (popular) south end, but it still gets pressure; there were tons of bots all over it today.”
Minke said he identified his targets during practice by side scanning likely areas in an effort to locate isolated boulders that other anglers might overlook. Even with such promising sites identified, Minke said he still had to play a flexible game.
“Usually the single boulders are better, but they really get smart when they get pressured like a week straight like they have,” Minke said. “There was actually a tournament here last weekend, too, so when they get pressured hard, they start to use other areas near the isolated boulders.
“You don’t see them sitting on boulders because they’re hiding so good. You have to cast to them so they’ll show themselves.”
Minke said he rotated through a 3-bait arsenal that included a jighead minnow, a drop shot and a Ned rig. All of those options produced bites and with each, accurate proved essential.
“You really only get one chance at these fish,” Minke said. “Every once in a while you’ll get a second chance, but that first cast has to be on target.”
The tournament’s scheduled start was postponed from Thursday to Friday due to a hazardous wind forecast. The event was shortened to two days, with the full field fishing both days.
Looking ahead to Championship Saturday, Minke said this: “I know that (my Day 1 spots) aren’t going to produce again, so I’ll probably run a bunch of new stuff.”
Hailing from Delano, Minn., Parker is in second place with 21-15. He attributes his opening-round success to versatility and adjustment.
“I tried throwing the classic jighead minnow application, a drop shot and things like that and I could see them come out for it, but they just weren’t committing,” Parker said. “After a couple hours of that, I started throwing some weird, unique things that they would eat.
“I’m fishing in the same areas as everyone else, but I’m showing them fish something different.”
Parker kept his bait details under wraps, but he noted that he’s shaking something different than most of his competitors.
“I burned probably 3/4 of a tank (of gas) today,” Parker said of his mobile game plan. “I ran all over the place.
“I actually got sick during practice and I was only able to practice a day and a half. I didn’t find a whole lot but it looks like I found the right ones.”
Jamie Bruce of Kenora, Ontario is in third place with 21-13. Anchoring his bag with a 5-14, Bruce said he spent a lot of time running his big engine.
“I fished the entire lake twice,” he said. “I have a 49-gallon tank in my Lund and I have no gas left. I had to econo cruise in, because I thought I was going to run out.
“I’ve never fished so hard in my life, just because of how many targets you have to hit to find (an active) zone. It took most of the day to find it, but we found her.”
While most competitors have been targeting smallmouth around particular rock structure, Bruce took a different approach. He looked for schools of small yellow perch and shiners and fished fast with a 3/8-ounce Smeltinator jighead with a 3.75-inch Rapala Crush City Jerk.
Bruce is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 5-14.
Pake South of Winnsboro, Texas leads the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN Division 2 points standings with 741 points. Fisher Anaya of Eva, Ala., is in second with 739, followed by Tanner Hadden of Appling, Ga., with 725, Nic Rand of Paw Paw, Mich., with 722, and Austin Cranford of Moore, Okla., with 693.
Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6 a.m. Central Time at Walker Public Dock. The weigh-in will be held at the dock at 2 p.m.
Coverage of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN will be available on Bassmaster.com each day of the tournament. Roku will carry Bassmaster LIVE on Championship Saturday.
This event is being hosted by the Leech Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN 8/14-8/16
Leech Lake, Walker MN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Kyle Minke Lindsrom, MN 5 22-00 200
Day 1: 5 22-00
2. Tommy Parker Delano, MN 5 21-15 199
Day 1: 5 21-15
3. Jamie Bruce Kenora Ontario CANADA 5 21-13 198
Day 1: 5 21-13
4. Trey Schroeder Theodosia, MO 5 21-09 197
Day 1: 5 21-09
5. Austin Cranford Moore, OK 5 21-03 196
Day 1: 5 21-03
6. Brennan Flick West Monroe, LA 5 21-02 195
Day 1: 5 21-02
7. Blaine Bunney Claremore, OK 5 20-13 194
Day 1: 5 20-13
7. Danny McGarry Newcastle CANADA 5 20-13 194
Day 1: 5 20-13
9. Jace Lindsay Beckville, TX 5 20-10 192
Day 1: 5 20-10
10. Tanner Hadden Appling, GA 5 20-08 191
Day 1: 5 20-08
11. Jack York Emory, TX 5 20-07 190
Day 1: 5 20-07
12. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 5 20-05 189
Day 1: 5 20-05
12. Nic Rand Paw Paw, MI 5 20-05 189
Day 1: 5 20-05
14. Chase Clarke Virginia Beach, VA 5 20-04 187
Day 1: 5 20-04
14. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 5 20-04 187
Day 1: 5 20-04
14. Brian Post Janesville, WI 5 20-04 187
Day 1: 5 20-04
14. Pake South Winnsboro, TX 5 20-04 187
Day 1: 5 20-04
18. Buddy Benson Dahlonega, GA 5 20-01 183
Day 1: 5 20-01
18. Emil Wagner Marietta, GA 5 20-01 183
Day 1: 5 20-01
20. Bryan Finch Belton, TX 5 19-15 181
Day 1: 5 19-15
21. Laker Howell Guntersville, AL 5 19-10 180
Day 1: 5 19-10
22. Miles Burghoff Dayton, TN 5 19-08 179
Day 1: 5 19-08
23. Bailey Bleser Burlington, WI 5 19-06 178
Day 1: 5 19-06
24. Ian Waterer East Selkirk CANADA 5 19-03 177
Day 1: 5 19-03
25. Matt Pangrac Shawnee, OK 5 19-01 176
Day 1: 5 19-01
26. Dalton Smith Taylorsville, KY 5 19-00 175
Day 1: 5 19-00
27. Tommy Wood Peregian Springs AUSTRA 5 18-13 174
Day 1: 5 18-13
28. Nick Dumke Grand Rapids, MN 5 18-08 173
Day 1: 5 18-08
29. Wyatt Marler Oldfield, MO 5 18-06 172
Day 1: 5 18-06
30. Ethan Fields Carlyle, IL 5 18-05 171
Day 1: 5 18-05
31. Easton Fothergill Grand Rapids , MN 5 18-03 170
Day 1: 5 18-03
32. Jason Pruess Haysville, KS 5 18-02 169
Day 1: 5 18-02
33. Brad Jelinek Lincoln, MO 5 17-10 168
Day 1: 5 17-10
34. Fisher Anaya Eva, AL 5 17-09 167
Day 1: 5 17-09
35. Jimmy Washam Stantonville, TN 5 17-08 166
Day 1: 5 17-08
36. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 5 17-04 165
Day 1: 5 17-04
37. Colby Dark West Monroe, LA 5 17-03 164
Day 1: 5 17-03
38. Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 5 17-01 163
Day 1: 5 17-01
39. Jonathan Pimentel Camdenton, MO 5 17-00 162
Day 1: 5 17-00
40. Aaron Jagdfeld Rochester Hills, MI 5 16-15 161
Day 1: 5 16-15
41. Kenny Mittelstaedt Minnetonka, MN 5 16-14 160
Day 1: 5 16-14
42. Dylan Akins Flowery Branch, GA 5 16-13 159
Day 1: 5 16-13
43. Andy Hribar Lakeville, MN 5 16-11 158
Day 1: 5 16-11
43. Jeff Somers Otsego, MN 5 16-11 158
Day 1: 5 16-11
45. Bo Thomas Edwardsburg, MI 5 16-09 156
Day 1: 5 16-09
46. Chad Grigsby Maple Grove, MN 5 16-08 155
Day 1: 5 16-08
47. Jacob Policka Twin Lake, MI 5 16-07 154
Day 1: 5 16-07
47. Casey Scanlon Eldon, MO 5 16-07 154
Day 1: 5 16-07
47. Jack Tindel III Orange, TX 5 16-07 154
Day 1: 5 16-07
50. Chancy Walters West Des Moines, IA 5 16-06 151
Day 1: 5 16-06
51. Joe Wieberg Freeburg, MO 5 16-05 150
Day 1: 5 16-05
52. Bryan Partak Marseilles, IL 5 16-04 149
Day 1: 5 16-04
53. Caz Anderson Hayesville, NC 5 16-03 148
Day 1: 5 16-03
54. Jacob Bigelow Cecil, WI 5 16-02 147
Day 1: 5 16-02
54. Anthony Garcia Los Angeles, CA 5 16-02 147
Day 1: 5 16-02
56. Dillon Harrell New Caney, TX 5 16-02 145
Day 1: 5 16-02
57. Sam Hanggi Knoxville, TN 5 16-01 144
Day 1: 5 16-01
58. Chris Beaudrie Princeton, KY 4 16-01 143
Day 1: 4 16-01
59. Rylan Hamlin Jackson, MI 5 16-00 142
Day 1: 5 16-00
60. Kyle Palmer Winchester, TN 5 15-13 141
Day 1: 5 15-13
61. Jack Dice Lynchburg, VA 5 15-12 140
Day 1: 5 15-12
62. Tyler Lubbat Wheeling, IL 5 15-10 139
Day 1: 5 15-10
62. Dylan Mayo Athens, TX 5 15-10 139
Day 1: 5 15-10
62. Danny Ramsey Trinidad, TX 5 15-10 139
Day 1: 5 15-10
65. Brock Bila Republic, MO 5 15-09 136
Day 1: 5 15-09
65. Michael Corbishley Raleigh, NC 5 15-09 136
Day 1: 5 15-09
65. Steve Lee Minneapolis, MN 5 15-09 136
Day 1: 5 15-09
68. Jason Barber Gun Barrel City, TX 5 15-08 133
Day 1: 5 15-08
68. Ish Monroe Oakdale, CA 5 15-08 133
Day 1: 5 15-08
68. Travis Peterson Bemidji, MN 5 15-08 133
Day 1: 5 15-08
71. Matt Baker Glenwood, AR 5 15-07 130
Day 1: 5 15-07
72. Evan Poroznik Nestleton Station Ontar 5 15-06 129
Day 1: 5 15-06
73. Tai Au Glendale, AZ 5 15-05 128
Day 1: 5 15-05
73. Doug Chapin Tigerton, WI 5 15-05 128
Day 1: 5 15-05
75. Jeff Johnson Bemidji, MN 5 15-04 126
Day 1: 5 15-04
75. Clint Knight Russellville, KY 5 15-04 126
Day 1: 5 15-04
75. Nathaniel Melgaard Elk Mound, WI 5 15-04 126
Day 1: 5 15-04
78. Brandon Ackerson Afton, OK 5 15-02 123
Day 1: 5 15-02
78. Scott Isaacs Ladonia, TX 5 15-02 123
Day 1: 5 15-02
80. Alex Heintze Denham Springs, LA 5 15-01 121
Day 1: 5 15-01
81. Darold Gleason Leesville, LA 5 15-00 120
Day 1: 5 15-00
82. Easton Lindus Woodville, WI 5 14-15 119
Day 1: 5 14-15
82. Jacob Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 5 14-15 119
Day 1: 5 14-15
84. Luke Clausen Otis Orchards, WA 5 14-13 117
Day 1: 5 14-13
84. Blake Schroeder Bullard, TX 5 14-13 117
Day 1: 5 14-13
86. Harmon Marien Eagle River, WI 4 14-13 115
Day 1: 4 14-13
87. Ty Faber Pagosa Springs, CO 5 14-12 114
Day 1: 5 14-12
88. Lance Crawford Broken Bow, OK 5 14-11 113
Day 1: 5 14-11
89. Ethen Preston Tower City, ND 5 14-10 112
Day 1: 5 14-10
90. Andy Dassow Medford, WI 5 14-09 111
Day 1: 5 14-09
90. Bailey Gay Union, KY 5 14-09 111
Day 1: 5 14-09
92. Chris Groh Spring Grove, IL 5 14-08 109
Day 1: 5 14-08
92. Billy McDonald Greenwood, IN 5 14-08 109
Day 1: 5 14-08
92. Dan Welsh Elko New Mrkt, MN 5 14-08 109
Day 1: 5 14-08
95. Riley Nielsen Salt Lake City, UT 5 14-07 106
Day 1: 5 14-07
95. Brock Reinkemeyer Warsaw, MO 5 14-07 106
Day 1: 5 14-07
97. Josh Gauthier Petawawa CANADA 5 14-06 104
Day 1: 5 14-06
97. Kyle Metzger Pearl River, LA 5 14-06 104
Day 1: 5 14-06
97. Yukihiro Sawamura Harker Heights, TX 5 14-06 104
Day 1: 5 14-06
100. Kurt Chelminiak Delafield, WI 5 14-05 101
Day 1: 5 14-05
100. Jordan Knutson Saint Croix Falls, WI 5 14-05 101
Day 1: 5 14-05
100. Brad Leuthner Victoria, MN 5 14-05 101
Day 1: 5 14-05
100. Joey Nania Cropwell, AL 5 14-05 101
Day 1: 5 14-05
104. Satoshi Egawa Fort Lee, NJ 5 14-04 97
Day 1: 5 14-04
104. Mike McClelland Blue Eye, MO 5 14-04 97
Day 1: 5 14-04
106. Josh Wiesner Fon du Lac, WI 5 14-01 95
Day 1: 5 14-01
107. Adam Rasmussen Sturgeon Bay, WI 4 14-01 94
Day 1: 4 14-01
108. James Niggemeyer Van, TX 5 14-00 93
Day 1: 5 14-00
109. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 5 13-15 92
Day 1: 5 13-15
109. Blake Smith Lakeland, FL 5 13-15 92
Day 1: 5 13-15
111. Kollin Crawford Broken Bow, OK 5 13-13 90
Day 1: 5 13-13
111. Kevin Dritschler Prosper, TX 5 13-13 90
Day 1: 5 13-13
113. Cameron Mattison Benton, LA 5 13-12 88
Day 1: 5 13-12
114. Paul Browning Monahans, TX 5 13-10 87
Day 1: 5 13-10
115. Brooks Anderson Marietta, GA 5 13-09 86
Day 1: 5 13-09
115. Joey Teofilo Richmond Hill Ontario C 5 13-09 86
Day 1: 5 13-09
115. Nathan Thompson Eagan, MN 5 13-09 86
Day 1: 5 13-09
118. Sean Lofgren Forest Lake, MN 5 13-08 83
Day 1: 5 13-08
118. Hunter Wendt Pequot Lakes, MN 5 13-08 83
Day 1: 5 13-08
120. Evan Cox-VanVliet Loveland, CO 5 13-07 81
Day 1: 5 13-07
120. Andy Newcomb Camdenton, MO 5 13-07 81
Day 1: 5 13-07
122. Brian Bengtson Bloomington, MN 5 13-06 79
Day 1: 5 13-06
122. Freddy Palmer Estill Springs, TN 5 13-06 79
Day 1: 5 13-06
122. Ryan Thompson Seymour, MO 5 13-06 79
Day 1: 5 13-06
125. Billy Billeaud Lafayette, LA 5 13-04 76
Day 1: 5 13-04
125. Cody Bird Granbury, TX 5 13-04 76
Day 1: 5 13-04
127. Chris Hellebuyck White Lake, MI 5 13-03 74
Day 1: 5 13-03
127. Andrew Loberg Guntersville, AL 5 13-03 74
Day 1: 5 13-03
127. Jim Moynagh Outing, MN 5 13-03 74
Day 1: 5 13-03
127. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 5 13-03 74
Day 1: 5 13-03
131. Kevin Ledoux Choctaw, OK 5 13-02 70
Day 1: 5 13-02
132. Brian Neal Big Lake, MN 4 13-02 69
Day 1: 4 13-02
133. Christian Ostrander Turlock, CA 5 13-00 68
Day 1: 5 13-00
134. Justin Oppegard Eagan, MN 5 12-14 67
Day 1: 5 12-14
134. Jaden Parrish Liberty, TX 5 12-14 67
Day 1: 5 12-14
136. Michael Lebsack Duluth, MN 5 12-12 65
Day 1: 5 12-12
136. Chris Miller Spirit Lake, IA 5 12-12 65
Day 1: 5 12-12
136. Matt Molitor Canton, IL 5 12-12 65
Day 1: 5 12-12
139. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 5 12-11 62
Day 1: 5 12-11
139. Charlie Wright Becker, MN 5 12-11 62
Day 1: 5 12-11
141. Josh Butler Hayden, AL 4 12-11 60
Day 1: 4 12-11
142. Brent Shores Savannah, TN 5 12-10 59
Day 1: 5 12-10
143. Allan Nail Sand Springs, OK 5 12-09 58
Day 1: 5 12-09
143. Joey Punko Broomfield, CO 5 12-09 58
Day 1: 5 12-09
145. Timothy Matt Lake Village, IN 5 12-08 56
Day 1: 5 12-08
145. Lucas Ragusa Gonzales, LA 5 12-08 56
Day 1: 5 12-08
145. Niko Romero Coldspring, TX 5 12-08 56
Day 1: 5 12-08
148. Andrew Behnke Fond Du Lac, WI 5 12-07 53
Day 1: 5 12-07
149. John Murray Spring City, TN 5 12-06 52
Day 1: 5 12-06
149. Kane Weekley Davie, FL 5 12-06 52
Day 1: 5 12-06
151. Matt Stefan Junction City, WI 5 12-05 50
Day 1: 5 12-05
152. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 5 12-04 49
Day 1: 5 12-04
153. Logan Johnson Jasper, AL 5 12-03 48
Day 1: 5 12-03
153. Teb Jones Yalaha, MS 5 12-03 48
Day 1: 5 12-03
155. Gary Hall Wardville, OK 5 12-01 46
Day 1: 5 12-01
155. Trent Palmer Cumming, GA 5 12-01 46
Day 1: 5 12-01
157. Lane Olson Forest Grove, OR 5 11-15 44
Day 1: 5 11-15
158. Greg Bohannan Bentonville, AR 5 11-14 43
Day 1: 5 11-14
158. Bj Miller Adams, NE 5 11-14 43
Day 1: 5 11-14
158. Aaron Yavorsky Palm Harbor, FL 5 11-14 43
Day 1: 5 11-14
161. Joe Titus Bemidji, MN 4 11-14 40
Day 1: 4 11-14
162. Dave Parsons Yantis, TX 5 11-12 39
Day 1: 5 11-12
162. Johno Roberts Golden, CO 5 11-12 39
Day 1: 5 11-12
164. Ryan Michl Newton, IL 5 11-11 37
Day 1: 5 11-11
165. Neal Gilmore Magnolia, TX 5 11-09 36
Day 1: 5 11-09
165. Daniel Vega Lake Park, IA 5 11-09 36
Day 1: 5 11-09
167. Mike Mayo Athens, TX 5 11-08 34
Day 1: 5 11-08
168. Lunday Nornberg Little Falls, MN 3 11-07 33
Day 1: 3 11-07
169. Keith Tuma Brainerd, MN 4 11-05 32
Day 1: 4 11-05
170. Drake Hemby Tallbot, TN 3 11-03 31
Day 1: 3 11-03
171. Ken Day Kennewick, WA 5 11-01 30
Day 1: 5 11-01
172. Josh Douglas Isle, MN 5 10-15 29
Day 1: 5 10-15
173. Brett Cannon Kiln, MS 3 10-15 28
Day 1: 3 10-15
174. Joey Hanna Corsicana, TX 4 10-11 27
Day 1: 4 10-11
175. Jonathon VanDam Gobles, MI 3 10-04 26
Day 1: 3 10-04
176. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 5 10-02 25
Day 1: 5 10-02
177. Nick Trim Galesville, WI 5 10-00 24
Day 1: 5 10-00
178. Doc Wootton Collierville, TN 5 09-15 23
Day 1: 5 09-15
179. Mark Condron Murfreesboro, TN 4 09-12 22
Day 1: 4 09-12
180. Sho Egawa Osaka JAPAN 3 09-10 21
Day 1: 3 09-10
181. Matthew Kennedy Littlefork, MN 5 09-09 20
Day 1: 5 09-09
182. Kobie Koenig Cohassett, MN 3 09-09 19
Day 1: 3 09-09
183. Julius Mazy Vinemont, AL 5 09-06 18
Day 1: 5 09-06
184. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 3 09-03 17
Day 1: 3 09-03
185. Brennan Berglund Zimmerman, MN 4 09-01 16
Day 1: 4 09-01
186. John Hammersmith Branson, MO 3 08-14 15
Day 1: 3 08-14
187. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 4 08-13 14
Day 1: 4 08-13
188. Michael Harlin Gravois Mills, MO 3 08-07 13
Day 1: 3 08-07
189. Ryan Teigen West Fargo, ND 3 08-00 12
Day 1: 3 08-00
190. Anastasia Patterson Sumter, SC 4 07-11 11
Day 1: 4 07-11
191. Mike Johnson Park Rapids, MN 4 07-08 10
Day 1: 4 07-08
191. Wyatt Wisian Ardmore, OK 4 07-08 10
Day 1: 4 07-08
193. Wyatt Burkhalter Coker, AL 2 07-06 8
Day 1: 2 07-06
194. Jacob Welch Jefferson City, MO 4 07-03 7
Day 1: 4 07-03
195. Trevor McKinney Noble, IL 2 07-01 6
Day 1: 2 07-01
196. Denny Fiedler Wabasha, MN 2 05-15 5
Day 1: 2 05-15
197. Philip Roesener Choctaw, OK 2 05-09 4
Day 1: 2 05-09
198. Chase Carey Hoschton, GA 2 05-07 3
Day 1: 2 05-07
199. Jack Hakala Esko, MN 3 05-00 2
Day 1: 3 05-00
200. Chad Schauf Sparta, WI 2 04-12 1
Day 1: 2 04-12
201. Garrett Wurm Monticello, MN 2 04-06 0
Day 1: 2 04-06
202. Yui Aoki Minamitsurugun JAPAN 2 04-04 0
Day 1: 2 04-04
202. Nate Caldwell Fort Collins, CO 2 04-04 0
Day 1: 2 04-04
204. Kara Pasma Golden Valley, MN 2 03-12 0
Day 1: 2 03-12
205. Dewayne French Mammoth Spring, AR 2 03-12 0
Day 1: 2 03-12
206. Troy O'Rourke Bentonville, AR 1 02-01 0
Day 1: 1 02-01
207. Trevor Stevenson Coon Rapids, MN 1 01-05 0
Day 1: 1 01-05
208. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
208. Travis Ledford Tuttle, OK 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
208. A.J. Menssen Bloomington, IL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
208. Christian Nash Allons, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
208. Rick Pierce Mountain Home, AR 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
208. Tim Sprouse Clarksville, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 168 957 2885-08
------------------------------
168 957 2885-08
Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast Set for B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® Next Week
5-hour ENERGY® announced as Presenting Sponsor of First MLF Fishing Clash Team Series event of season
PORT HURON, Mich. (Aug. 14, 2025) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops is set to kickoff the 2025 season next week at Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast with the season-opening B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY®.
5-hour ENERGY® joins Major League Fishing for the first time as the presenting sponsor of the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup, marking the brand’s debut in the professional bass fishing arena. Known for fueling go-getters across the country, 5-hour ENERGY’s entry into the sport underscores the shared values of endurance, focus and high performance – qualities that define both MLF anglers and the brand’s loyal consumers.
“Major League Fishing is a perfect collaboration for us. Their high-energy competitions truly align with our brand and our fans,” said Leah Key, President of Living Essentials, LLC, the maker of 5-hour ENERGY® products. “Anglers know that early mornings and long days on the water require focus and a fast and effective energy boost. That’s where our portable and tasty 5-hour ENERGY shots really deliver.”
Hosted by Discover the Blue Michigan's Thumbcoast, the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® is the first of the four-event Fishing Clash Team series. In keeping with traditional MLF Cup protocols, Port Huron, Michigan, was not revealed to Team Series competitors until six weeks prior to the start of the tournament. All fishable waters within 60 miles of Port Huron 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.
“We are thrilled to welcome Major League Fishing's Team Series to Michigan's Thumbcoast,” said Terra Damchuk, Director of Sports and Groups for Discover the Blue Michigan’s Thumbcoast. “Our beautiful waterways provide the perfect backdrop for this exciting competition. We can't wait for the anglers to experience the incredible fishing opportunities and our vibrant community that make our region so special. We look forward to welcoming the MLF team and anglers next week.”
On Day 1 in Port Huron, RFD-TV will broadcast the full day of competition live – a special one-time feature to kick off the season and new broadcast partnership. For the rest of the season, RFD-TV will carry the final period of each day’s competition. Every day of every event will still stream in full on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps, RFD-TV Now, Game & Fish TV, and Rumble, with post-produced episodes starting in January 2026 on Outdoor Channel.
The 12 teams that will compete in the Fishing Clash Team Series B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® at Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast are:
Team 7Brew Coffee:
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas
Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas
Team B&W Trailer Hitches:
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas
Team BUBBA:
Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La.
John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky.
Team Ferguson:
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
Team Fishing Clash:
Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C.
Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo.
Team Knighten:
Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn.
Colby Miller, Elmer, La.
Team Kubota:
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif.
Team Lucas Oil:
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
Team O’Reilly Auto Parts:
Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich.
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va.
Team Smokey Mountain:
Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz.
Team StarTron:
Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala.
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.
Team YETI:
Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
The MLF Fishing Clash Team Series B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® will also air on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting January 3, 2026. The complete television schedule for the Fishing Clash Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, NITRO Boats, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Smokey Mountain Caffeinated Pouches, Star brite, Toyota, YETI and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
About 5-hour ENERGY® Shots
Since launching in 2004, the 5-hour ENERGY® brand and its iconic 2-fl oz. shot has become a household staple for its ability to help you feel alert and get you through whatever each day brings. Find more information about 5-hour ENERGY®, which is widely available in convenience, grocery, retail, club stores, and online outlets, at 5hourENERGY.com.
Seasonal movement critical in Bassmaster Elite finale at Upper Mississippi River
LA CROSSE, Wis. — To catch fish, you have to know where they are. But looking past that obvious truth, knowing where they are often requires an understanding of where they’re going.
Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Pat Schlapper said that principle will factor keenly into the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River.
Competition days will be August 21-24 with daily takeoffs from the Loggers Baseball Stadium at Copeland Park at 7 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day back at the park at 3 p.m.
“It’s the time of year when mornings are starting to get cool and fish are probably going to transition into fall stuff,” Schlapper said. “In my opinion, it’s probably going to be at the early stages of (the transition).
“I think you’ll see the main channel play. I think you’ll see backwaters play. A little bit of everything will be going on. I think it should be a good tournament.”
As Schlapper explained, the fall transition finds fish heading toward the sites that they’ll use to ride out winter’s harshness. The fish move gradually, but steadily, and they do their best to fill their bellies along that course.
“Both smallmouth and largemouth want to feed, but they’ll typically set up on different places depending on where they’re moving to,” Schlapper said. “In certain areas, you will catch a mix of fish off a spot; or one day, it’ll be smallmouth on a spot, and the next day, it’ll be largemouth.
“That happened the last time we were at La Crosse, and that’s all about those fish migrating. You could definitely catch both on the same type of (main-river) stuff, but you’re not gonna go find a school of smallmouth way in a backwater on a patch of duckweed.”
In terms of calculating the course to those cold-season destinations, Schlapper said smallmouth typically winter on slackwater areas of the main-river channel. Largemouth tend to hunker down in heavily vegetated areas close to deep water.
The last time the Elite Series visited La Crosse in 2022, heavy rains sent muddy plumes into the Mississippi. Finding ribbons and pools of cleaner water proved essential to many anglers’ success, and Schlapper’s looking for the same importance this year.
“That’s always a major factor on the river,” he said. “That’s what the vegetation does, especially the eelgrass; it’ll really help filter out the water. Current, vegetation and clean water — those are the biggest things that dictate where fish are going to be.”
Wing dams, the rock walls positioned along the river to direct current inward and prevent siltation of the navigational channel, will be a popular target.
As Schlapper notes, these structures create prime feeding opportunities for fall fish, so some anglers will likely base at least some of their game plan on running several wing dams until they find active fish.
Another of the Upper Mississippi’s distinctive habitat scenarios comprises deeper water edging up to a shallow sandy ledge. These “sand breaks” offer prime feeding spots for fish — especially smallmouth bass — to run up and gobble the local forage, but it’s all about timing.
“Sand is always a factor down there, but it’s one of the more difficult things to figure out,” Schlapper said. “You could win on sand if you found the right deal, but unless you know where the good stuff is, it’s really hard to find that stuff.
“Somebody might be fishing down a stretch of vegetation and the fish come up busting and they find a spot like that. I’ve fished (the Upper Mississippi) for over 20 years and that’s one of the hardest things to find, because there’s so much of it and so much of it looks good, but the fish are not always there.”
Having closely monitored water levels, Schlapper said: “Overall, the water has been higher than normal pretty much all summer. It’s been dropping, but then all of a sudden, it’ll rain a bunch and then it’ll come back up. Unless something crazy happens, I think it’s gonna be a little higher than the last time we were there.”
Schlapper said a high river will expand opportunities, as fish — mostly largemouth — push farther into shoreline cover. That’s particularly relevant, as this year’s flourishing vegetation offers expansive habitat.
Top largemouth baits include frogs, swim jigs, bladed jigs, Texas-rigged flipping baits and Carolina rigs. Smallmouth anglers typically throw a mix of topwater walkers or poppers, swimbaits, Fluke-style baits and lipless baits.
The Upper Mississippi usually delivers plenty of fish, and most anglers will catch their limit, but those bigger fish of 3-plus pounds are the difference-makers. Hefty largemouth and smallmouth roam this fishery, but finding such kickers can prove challenging.
At the 2022 event, Maryland pro Bryan Schmitt found just enough to edge out 2024 Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year Chris Johnston by just 4 ounces, winning the event with a total of 63-4. Schlapper said he expects this year’s weights to be tight at the top of the leaderboard.
“I’ve been following the weights for local tournaments pretty closely this year, and I think if you can stay in that 16 1/2 to 16 3/4 pounds a day (range), I think you would have a chance at winning,” Schlapper said. “As far as making the cut, I really think that 13 (pounds) a day will do it.”
Those that excel in this final Elite event of the 2025 season will do so by figuring out those seasonal movements, finding ways to tempt bigger-than-average fish and capitalizing on every bite.
Live coverage of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River will be available on Bassmaster.com Thursday and Friday beginning at 8 a.m. ET and running until 3 p.m. Roku will have coverage on Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Noon to 3 p.m. Coverage on Saturday will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com from Noon to 3 p.m. Championship Sunday coverage can be found on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. with afternoon action to follow on Bassmaster.com.
This event is being hosted by Explore La Crosse.
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Maggie Jo Outdoors: The Magic of Local Tournaments
Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships
The big bass, big stage, and big dreams of Bassmaster and other national tournament trails provide a pathway for anyone with ambition to compete at the highest levels of tournament fishing. That’s the pinnacle of bass fishing, but the culture of bass fishing tournaments is perhaps best represented at a weeknight jackpot with a few dozen anglers talking fishing in a half empty boat ramp parking lot, eager for a couple hours on the water after work.
Depending on what part of the country you live they may be called fruit jars, wildcats, week-nighters, jackpots, derbies, or opens, but regardless of the region this community of anglers looks and feels about the same. BassmastHER ambassador Maggie Jo Carsello will be the first to tell you, there is something special about weeknight derbies and local tournaments.
“Small, local tournaments are my favorites because they are almost always lighthearted and fun,” Carsello said. “You don’t have to have a $80,000 bass boat with all the latest gadgets for this kind of fishing, any old Jon boat or bass boat with an operational livewell will get the job done. Everyone gets to know each other, and it really does become a tight-knit community.”
Juggling a fulltime job, content production for her burgeoning social media, and her role as a BassmastHER representative keeps Maggie Jo plenty busy; but she still fits as many local tournaments into her weekly routine as possible. Her longtime boyfriend Andrew is the tournament director for the Madison Bass Club and Maggie is his right-hand woman.
The two run their Wednesday night tournament trail from 5:00PM to 8:00PM each week, along with select weekend tournaments that span the more traditional timeframe of sunrise until 2:00 or 3:00PM. Maggie and Andrew also squeeze in competing in a Tuesday night league and try for at least one team tournament each weekend.
There is no lack of opportunity and Maggie believes there is no better place for an angler to get their feet wet with fishing competition than at the local level.
“It’s always intimidating to try something new but people who are passionate about fishing want to see the sport grow and are quick to be supportive,” the Team Toyota pro offered. “I started out as one of the only females in our hometown trail but now there are lots of lady anglers competing. These tournaments are welcoming and these days there are more resources to get involved than ever.
“You can find a regional Facebook fishing group to join and ask questions in. You can become part of your local bass club, or your high school and college fishing team if you’re still in school. If you’re struggling to make connections, go to a local weigh-in and don’t be afraid to be a beginner. It’s an easy way to strike up conversation and it’ll help you feel more comfortable.”
Maggie has been obsessed with the outdoors for as long as she can remember and has been fishing local tournaments around her home in Wisconsin for close to decade, but she got her start in tournament fishing through many of the tips she laid out.
“I was introduced to tournament fishing in college at UW Stephens Point,” Carsello said. “I joined the school fishing club and made some great friends. I was convinced to fish a bar-league muskie tournament where I met a super friendly man named Greg who kind of took me under his wing. I was super inexperienced, but he had a young daughter and was gracious with his time.
“He invited me to fish my first bass tournament, the Waupaca Open on the Waupaca Chain O’ Lakes. We didn’t win the tournament or anything, but we had such a good time! That experience opened my eyes to bass tournaments, which has gone on to become a huge part of my life.”
The community feel and low-stress nature of local bass tournaments is what lured Maggie in and remains her favorite aspect of competing ‘around the house’. These events offer anglers the opportunity to scratch their competitive itch without a cutthroat, “me-first” undertone.
Where you want to beat your peers, but once you’re standing around the scales at the end of the evening, you’re the first to cheer on and congratulate one another. A scene where competitors are quick to lend a hand if mechanical issues arise. You can find these examples at all levels of bass fishing, but the seeds are planted and grown at local tournaments.
“Every week when we show up to host a tournament and fish, I am just reminded of the love I have for fishing,” Carsello beamed. “Whether there are 70 boats or 14 boats doesn’t really matter, it’s just an excuse to chase some fish, have some fun and spend time together.”
The low-cost, low-stress, and welcoming nature of local tournament trails is why so many people start their competitive fishing journey here. Some aspire to compete at higher levels, and they may move to bigger stages, while others may fish the same tournament trails their entire lives.
That’s the beauty of fishing. It’s a recreational hobby that can be whatever you want it to be. For some, an hour of fishing may be best spent kicked back in a lawn chair on a shady bank, watching a bobber with a worm wiggling a few feet below. Others may need the competition of a smaller-scale tournament to satisfy their fishing desires, and some will not be content until they chase their fishing passions all the way to highest levels of competition.
Strong roots grow tall trees, and the community of local tournaments have grown many of bass fishing’s biggest names. Regardless of where you want to end up with your fishing pursuits, these local events are a great place to start.
Has Tournament Fishing Gone Soft?
By Vance McCullough, AC Insider
The following is not intended to criticize any tournament directors or organizations.
I have a strong respect for those who must make tough calls on short notice while the rest of us have forever to dissect, and often criticize, those decisions. And of course, hindsight is 20/20.
But questions remain. So, here’s some food for thought:
How many tournament days have Bassmaster Opens anglers lost this year, specifically in Division 2? How many PTO days have these anglers, many of whom are balancing their ‘day job’ with their dream job, had to burn? Time sacrificed by themselves and their families. Vacations not taken with the kids. Time set aside to pursue the American Dream but now spent playing cards or twiddling thumbs. Money spent on lodging and food. An investment of time and money forever spent.
Bassmaster arranged the current Opens divisions and the associated EQ tournaments in part to develop and promote a more professional corps of anglers coming up through the pipeline. Is safe boat handling not a required skill for a professional angler?
This morning was supposed to see the launch of the final 2025 Bassmaster Open event of Division 2. To this point, only one of the 3 tournaments in this division has been completed as planned. In fact, 2 of the 3 three-day tournaments have been stripped down to single-day shootouts. Hardly a test of the best over multiple days with changeable conditions.
Can the winners fish, well enough to compete at an elite level, under varied weather conditions? We don’t know. We do know they can watch a screen as long as the waves are flat enough to keep their high-tech transducer below the surface.
There’s a number of very capable, seasoned pros trying to requalify for the Elite Series via the Opens. These guys cut their teeth on windy waters under threatening skies and, occasionally, ideal conditions wherein they could really show off. If conditions nullified a preferred technique, these anglers figured out a work-around and somebody always found the solution. We all learned along with them and became better, smarter anglers.
Everybody won.
In today’s softer, gentler environment a stiff breeze has become cause for concern. But extreme risk aversion is a fast path to irrelevancy.
Do we want drivers to crash? No. But NASCAR would not be the spectacle it is without such eye-catching carnage. Nobody tuned in to watch Evel Knievel successfully jump something as small as a picnic table. When he botched the landing on a 141-foot attempt over the fountain at Cesar’s in Las Vegas, the footage of even his failure became legendary. And when he cleared 50 cars in the LA Coliseum, 35,000 live fans went nuts as he brought his Harley to a safe landing.
It's good to fail occasionally, as long as we’re reaching for something worth grabbing.
“Safety first,” you say?
Maybe. But anglers in Division 2 of the Bassmaster Opens have, at the time of this writing, fished a mere 5 days out of 10 scheduled competition rounds.
The Bassmaster Kayak Series has only lost 2 days out of a scheduled 10. And they’re fishing from kayaks, not high horsepower motors on seaworthy bass boats with real time weather updates.
At the very least, the cancellation of so much competition under a variety of weather threats has had the effect – intended or not – of promoting those anglers who need calm waters to effectively use their favored electronics whether they have a secondary strength to fall back on or not. Can these guys power fish, relying on blind faith that they will grind their way into a winning sack of bass? There’s a list of veteran pros who’ve proven they can. They are fighting, often with a family depending on them, to get back on the Tour level and they’ve had exactly 5 days so far to do so. And every one of those days has been favorable for the young tech bros who have a deep well of somebody else’s money to keep their career ambitions afloat.
I don’t wish to infer that there are any intentions on the part of B.A.S.S., it’s leadership or sponsors to rig the playing field in anybody’s favor, but rather to raise a voice of concern over how the general softness of our society may be hurting the spirit of true competition and the bravery historically required to compete at bass fishing’s highest level.
So what were the forecast conditions that warranted cancelation of yet another tournament round? My weather app called for 13 mph peak sustained winds. And that isn’t expected until two hours after weigh in starts. As I type this, the wind is blowing at a rate of a single mile per hour with ‘gusts’ to 3 mph an hour before the scheduled weigh time. Bassmaster states that the National Weather Service forecasted gusts of up to 25 mph.
Does this qualify as extreme weather?
Your thoughts, opinions and opposing points of view are welcome (another throwback to an era when people were tougher and could handle constructive criticism and lively debate).
Keith Carson’s kinda stinky good luck Vexus® hat
Unlike a lot of anglers, Keith Carson doesn’t feel the least bit cursed by having a banana in his boat. Matter of fact, in case you need one, he often keeps more than one of the potassium-rich treats onboard to share. Just don’t ask to borrow his somewhat stinky, once bright red, now badly sun-bleached, good luck Vexus® Boats hat.
“I started wearing this particular Vexus hat in December before the 2025 season kicked-off, and I’ve been wearing it ever since. It’s got me three Top10s, and helped me qualify for REDCREST. So yea, I definitely think it’s good luck,” says the always jovial Floridian, and best friend of fellow Vexus pro, John Cox.
Carson and Cox started running around together at age 14, mostly on BMX bicycles in the year 2000, and when they discovered a mutual love of bass fishing, the bikes got shelved for aluminum boats. They towed their first shared aluminum boat around with a 1984 Chevrolet Caprice that Carson’s grandma gave him.
Now, as two of the top pros in America, not much has changed. Their penchant for aluminum versus fiberglass is stronger than ever.
“Part of our reliance on aluminum boats started with the fact neither John nor I came from money. So, aluminum boats were always more affordable, but when we discovered we could take them into water others couldn’t access in a heavier glass boat, and that we could catch fish they couldn’t get to, our love of aluminum grew even greater,” says Carson.
“This will sound like a promotional plug, but I swear to you the biggest factor in my recent Top 10s on both the Potomac River and Saginaw Bay was the boat. My AVX2100 floats about 4” shallower than most pros’ fiberglass boats. Not to mention, I’m not afraid to drive it over top of things they wouldn’t dare drive over in a glass boat,” grins Carson.
And while Keith Daffron, Hunter Baird, and the good folks at Vexus promise to ship him a handful of fresh hats, Carson is just fine remaining loyal to the sun-bleached model that’s brought him so much good fortune the past eight months.
“Shaylee bought one of those hat washing things you can use to clean a ball cap in a dishwasher or washing machine. We tried it, but it’s still a little stinky, and I’m okay with that. It tells me we didn’t wash all the good luck out of it,” laughs Carson in conclusion.
The Voyager Jacket and Pant is your Everyday Essential.
Jacksonville Beach, FL – August 12,2025 – Gill, a leading innovator in high-performance outerwear, is proud to share the Voyager Suit, a lightweight and versatile waterproof solution for unpredictable weather. The Voyager Suit, consisting of the Voyager Jacket and Pant, is designed to provide dependable wet weather protection for both everyday use and your outdoor adventures like fishing and hiking.
The Voyager Suit is crafted from Gill's exclusive XPLORE® 2-layer waterproof and breathable fabric, ensuring exceptional comfort and performance in changeable conditions. Its minimalist design makes it suitable for a wide range of activities, while its robust features provide reliable protection from the elements.
Voyager Key Features:
- Lightweight and packable design
- XPLORE® 2-layer waterproof and breathable fabric
- PFAS-Free water repellent finish
- Adjustable hood, hem, and cuffs for customizable protection on jacket
- Adjustable ankle closures on pant
- Reverse-coil front zip with internal storm guard
- Zippered pockets for secure storage
The Voyager Pant complements the Voyager Jacket, offering instant, lightweight waterproof protection when it's needed most. Utilizing XPLORE® 2-layer waterproof and breathable fabric, the Voyager features a PFAS-Free water repellent finish and adjustable ankle closures to ensure a dry and comfortable fit.
"We are thrilled to share the Voyager Suit to our customers," said Travis Watson, Fishing Sales Manager. "This suit represents our commitment to providing high-quality, performance-driven apparel that can be relied upon in any weather. Whether you're navigating city streets, fishing the bank after work or exploring the great outdoors, the Voyager Suit will keep you dry and comfortable."
The Voyager Suit is now available for purchase at gillfishing.com.
About Gill
Trusted on the water for 50 years Gill did not start as a brand or business, it started as a solution to find better more capable sailing clothing using the best fabrics possible. Combined with innovative design to increase performance and tested on elite athletes in the most challenging of conditions it means you can rely on Gill on or off the water – only you limit how you use our products.
Our collection of fishing apparel and gear is specially designed to cover all bases, with fishing clothing and accessories that can truly help you focus on the task at hand, rather than worrying about protecting your body and staying comfortable. Our fishing apparel comes with the best design features and fabrics to allow you to stay warm, dry, and able to concentrate fully on your fishing. Engineered for all elements.
Yamaha Power Pay Rewards Bassmaster College Champions
Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships / Photo Credit: Bassmaster
On top of making college fishing history in more ways than one, Lander University anglers Garrett Smith and Andrew Blanton won the Yamaha Power Pay bonus for the 2025 Strike KingÒ BassmasterÒ College National Championship on beautiful Lake Cherokee in the hills of east Tennessee.
The Lander University Bearcats won an additional $5,000 from Yamaha’s popular contingency program for being the highest finishing team with an eligible Yamaha outboard on their boat. Smith and Blanton became the first two-time National Champions in Bassmaster’s storied college series. They also won the 2024 Championship on Lake Hartwell.
Smith and Blanton narrowly edged out the team of Andrew Turner and James Sumrell during a sudden death fish-off following day three, due to the two teams being tied at the conclusion of the weigh-in. They caught a legal keeper within five minutes of the start of the first-ever overtime, buttoning up their first-place finish in dramatic fashion.
The younger team of Turner and Sumrell (Carson-Newman) ultimately fell to second, but also earned a $1,250 Yamaha Power Pay bonus for being the second highest placing team running an eligible Yamaha. Highlighting one of the many benefits of Yamaha Power Pay; there are numerous opportunities to earn additional money even if you don’t place first.
The back-to-back National Champions fished out of Garrett Smith’s new Falcon boat powered by a Yamaha 250-HP V MAX SHOÒ. Smith was deliberate when buying his new boat and motor package this offseason, after not being eligible for Power Pay during the 2024 championship.
“I was able to get into a new boat for the 2025 season, and I specifically made sure it was powered by a Yamaha so we’d be eligible for Power Pay,” Smith explained. “We missed out on the Power Pay bonus last year, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again! Contingencies like Yamaha offers are so clutch for us college anglers. Bonus payouts go a long way for any angler, but especially at the college level. Yamaha is the way to go for sure.”
A smart decision from Smith, a fifth-year senior who is currently pursuing his master’s in business administration after graduating last year with a degree in Business Marketing. However, Smith’s satisfaction with his Yamaha motor goes beyond contingency payouts.
“I’ve found this Yamaha gets my boat up on pad a lot quicker than other brands I’ve run in the past,” Smith offered. “I’m a shallow water guy, so being able to jump up on pad in skinny water just saves me so much idling time and stress. It has really helped me be a lot more efficient and trust my equipment more this year.”
The ability to safely and efficiently get his Falcon Boat on plane in shallow water may have mitigated some of Smith’s stress throughout the 2025 college fishing season, but it’s safe to say the nail-biting end to the championship on Cherokee induced plenty of anxiety for Smith, Blanton, and Lander University.
Out of all the bass the duo from Lander caught in their college fishing careers, who would have thought a 17-inch largemouth from Lake Cherokee caught within shouting distance from the launch ramp would go down as the most memorable fish catch of their lives?
If you compete in fishing tournaments in high school, college, or in one of the over 600 supported tournaments across the country each year, you should sign up for Yamaha Power Pay. Register online, find more information on the program, and peruse the full list of events and payouts through this link: https://yamahapowerpay.com/ or send an email to [email protected].
Healthy Leech Lake will demand diligence for Bassmaster Opens anglers
WALKER, Minn. — In the Ojibwe language, the name translates to “lake abundant with blood suckers,” but anglers competing in the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN will find this vast northern Minnesota fishery abounding in rod-bending opportunity.
Competition days will be August 14-16 with daily takeoffs from Walker Public Dock at 6 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day at the same location at 2 p.m.
Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro and reigning Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour champion Easton Fothergill calls Leech his home lake, and his resounding victory at the 2024 Open at Leech demonstrated not only his local knowledge, but also the lake’s potential. Fothergill, who’s set to defend his title, expects Leech Lake to turn in another impressive performance.
“The lake is full of (forage) right now,” Fothergill said. “As we all know, it’s loaded with crawfish and there’s also a ton of perch in the lake right now.”
Sounds promising, and it is. However, fishing such a well-provisioned lake can, at times, feel like selling hot dogs at a dinner buffet.
“The lake is extremely healthy, top to bottom, in terms of fish populations and bait,” Fothergill said. “The lake is in great shape right now and that can make for tough fishing at times, just because of how much food there is in the system.
“To compete with all the bait in the ecosystem, some anglers like to go big in their profiles, some like to go small. Some go with bright colors. There’s a whole lot of different philosophies on how to combat that.”
With several major rivers and lesser streams feeding its form, Leech Lake benefits from daily freshening. With pollen season in the rearview mirror, Fothergill said the water quality/clarity should remain stable.
Noting that he expects the entire lake to be in play, Fothergill breaks the Leech Lake options into two main categories: the deep, rocky basin with big, isolated boulders and the shallow, muddy bays sprouting with wild rice fields, lily pads and other aquatic plants.
“They’ll be biting in both areas, so just pick your poison,” Fothergill said. “You can go anywhere in the lake right now and catch a bass.”
Expanding the opportunity, Leech offers quality smallmouth and largemouth bass. Last year, Fothergill boated the event’s biggest fish — a smallmouth that went 6-4. For brown or green fish, 5 pounds is considered big.
“Leech Lake is very similar to Lake Champlain (New York/Vermont), because the forward-facing sonar definitely puts the smallmouth a little more in play,” Fothergill explained. “That being said, the size of largemouth is definitely there to compete. If someone could make a perfect game plan, I think they could make a run at it, if they found largemouth.
“With largemouth, milfoil has been introduced in the last couple of years, so that’s going to create another dynamic.”
Last year, extreme winds postponed Day 1 and shortened the tournament to a two-day schedule. Lacking any meteorological limitations, anglers will need to plan on mobility.
During his 2024 winning effort, Fothergill fished nearly the entire lake and hit several dozen waypoints. He’s certain this year will require the same level of diligence.
“The fish will be set up on the summer haunts,” Fothergill said. “If we have wind, you could definitely win on one spot, but if it’s calmer conditions, you’ll need at least a couple spots to be able to pull off a win.
“The bite varies day to day; the fish move more on this lake than any lake I’ve ever seen, so you definitely have to take each day as a new day and break it down. It’s very hard to make a consistent game plan on that lake.”
Anglers targeting the largemouth will likely flip shallow cover, fling frogs across the emergent vegetation and throw ChatterBaits. For smallmouth, the standard mix of drop shots, Ned rigs and jighead minnows will handle much of the work.
Given the lake’s healthy condition and robust fish populations, Fothergill believes a competitor will need 21 pounds a day to make the Championship Saturday cut. For a winning weight, he’s looking for a three-day total of 72 pounds.
Options will be many, but Fothergill said consistency will demand an open-minded approach. Success will hinge on alertness and adaptation.
“You have to be willing to move with the conditions and attack it like a new lake every day.”
Coverage of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN will be available on Bassmaster.com each day of the tournament. Roku will carry Bassmaster LIVE on Championship Saturday.
This event is being hosted by the Leech Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Major League Fishing Reveals 2026 Toyota Series Schedule
BENTON, Ky. (Aug. 12, 2025) – Major League Fishing (MLF) announced today the schedule for the 2026 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats , set to kick off in February on Alabama’s famed Lake Guntersville and wrap up in November with the Toyota Series Championship on Pickwick Lake – a Bill Dance Signature Lake – in Counce, Tennessee.
“The 2026 Toyota Series schedule builds on the momentum of an incredible 2025 season,” said MLF Toyota Series Tournament Director Mark McWha. “We’re confident that the 2026 schedule is set to deliver both high-level competition and the chance for grassroots anglers to shine on major stages. From legendary fisheries to exciting new opportunities, the upcoming season is shaping up to be one of the best yet for our anglers and fans.”
As one of the premier tournament trails in the country, the Toyota Series offers the highest payouts at the lowest entry fees available nationally. The series gives anglers the opportunity to compete in familiar regional waters for lucrative awards and advancement to the nationally televised Toyota Series Championship.
For Hardin County and Pickwick Landing State Park, the Toyota Series Championship’s return underscores the strong partnership between MLF, Tennessee State Parks and local tourism leaders – a relationship that continues to spotlight the fishery’s reputation as a premier fishing destination.
“Explore Pickwick Lake/Hardin County Tourism is pleased once again to host Major League Fishing for the Toyota Series Championship out of Pickwick Landing State Park, Tennessee,” said Beth Pippin, Tourism Executive Director. “Our partnership with Tennessee State Parks and MLF is a valuable opportunity in our efforts to continue our reputation as a national fishing destination. This economic impact drives our economy through sales tax, lodging tax, restaurants and other small businesses engagement, making MLF's time here a boost to our revenue.”
At the championship, professional anglers will compete for a top prize of up to $235,000, including a $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus, while co-anglers will vie for a Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat powered by a 115-horsepower outboard, valued at $33,500.
The winning pro at the 2026 Toyota Series Championship will also earn a coveted invitation to REDCREST 2027, the Bass Pro Tour championship event, where a top prize of $300,000 is on the line.
2026 MLF Toyota Series Schedule:
Central Division
Feb. 18-20* Lake Guntersville Guntersville, Ala.
March 31 – April 2** Pickwick Lake Counce, Tenn.
Hosted by Explore Pickwick Lake/Hardin County Tourism
May 13-15* Lake Eufaula Eufaula, Ala.
Hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce
Northern Division
June 25-27 Potomac River Marbury, Md.
Hosted by the Charles County Government, Dept. of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism
July 30 – Aug. 1 St. Lawrence River Massena, N.Y.
Hosted by the Town of Massena
Aug. 27-29
Hosted by the City of Plattsburgh & Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau
Plains Division
Mar. 10-12** Lake of the Ozarks Osage Beach, Mo.
Hosted by the City of Osage Beach
April 9-11 Kentucky Lake Gilbertsville, Ky.
Hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau
June 18-20
Hosted by the Russellville Tourism & Visitors Center
Southern Division
Jan. 29-31 Lake Okeechobee Clewiston, Fla.
Hosted by the Hendry County Tourism Development Council
March 4-6* Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Kissimmee, Fla.
April 30 – May 2 Lake Seminole
Southwestern Division
Feb. 12-14
March 26-28 Grand Lake Grove, Okla.
June 11-13 Arkansas River Muskogee, Okla.
Toyota Series Championship
Nov. 5-7 Pickwick Lake Counce, Tenn.
Hosted by Explore Pickwick Lake/Hardin County Tourism
*Wednesday-Friday event
**Tuesday-Thursday event
Full program rules and details for the 2026 MLF Toyota Series will be announced later this year.
For complete details and updated information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Toyota Series on the MLF5 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, RFD-TV, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Joplin’s Kyle Kitts Earns Third Career Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Arkansas River
Oklahoma’s Logan and West Top Co-Angler Division
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (Aug. 11, 2025) – Boater Kyle Kitts of Joplin, Missouri, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Arkansas River. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Okie Division. Kitts earned $4,009 for his victory.
Kitts did all of his damage with a 5/8-ounce chartreuse-and-white spinnerbait fitted with Indiana and Colorado blades, targeting wood in the dirtier water.
“I was just fishing laydowns, stumps, and wood targets,” Kitts said. “The stuff I practiced last week muddied up, so I went to where I had the most confidence and just locked that big blade in my hand all day.”
Although he covered a lot of water, Kitts said nearly all of his fish came from just two key areas.
“I fished more than that, but really only caught them out of those two spots,” he said. “I probably caught eight to 10 fish all day, and the bigger ones all came on that spinnerbait.”
Kitts’ day wasn’t without adversity – his trolling motor broke down around noon, forcing him to end his day early.
“I wasn’t confident at all coming in,” he admitted. “I figured some guys would be locking down and bringing back some bigger weights, and I thought I only had around 16 pounds. I really felt like I was one or two bites short.”
Instead, the weight was enough to secure the win and add another trophy to his resume – his third career BFL victory.
“It feels great to get the win, especially here, because I don’t normally do well on the Arkansas River,” Kitts said. “The key was just committing to that spinnerbait and not putting it down.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Kyle Kitts, Joplin, Mo., five bass, 17-8, $4,009
2nd: Nick Kincaid, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 16-8, $2,005
3rd: Ronnie Allen, Chouteau, Okla., five bass, 16-6, $1,336
4th: Kevin Slate, Eufaula, Okla., five bass, 16-5, $935
5th: William Gaddis, Afton, Okla., five bass, 15-4, $802
6th: Jeff Clark, Van Buren, Ark., five bass, 14-11, $735
7th: Wyatt Ryan, Ada, Okla., five bass, 14-7, $668
8th: Mick Fenn, Grove, Okla., five bass, 13-11, $601
9th: Dillon Roberts, Oologah, Okla., five bass, 13-9, $535
10th: Lane Stephens Owasso, Okla., five bass, 12-13, $445
10th: Devin Freeman, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 12-13, $445
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Dakotah Edwards of Talala, Oklahoma, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $550.
James West of Spiro, Oklahoma, and Steven Logan of Hugo, Oklahoma, both brought three bass to the scale totaling 8 pounds, 6 ounces, to tie for the win in the co-angler division Saturday. The duo split the first and second place payouts, each earning $1,504 for their share of the victory.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: James West, Spiro, Okla., three bass, 8-6, $1,504
1st: Steven Logan, Hugo, Okla., three bass, 8-6, $1,504
3rd: Markus Mills, Norman, Okla., three bass, 8-4, $668
4th: Mason Eudy, Muskogee, Okla., three bass, 8-2, $468
5th: Bryan Schuster, Oklahoma City, Okla., three bass, 7-14, $401
6th: Mark Johnson, Weleetka, Okla., three bass, 7-12, $351
6th: Ryan Doel, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 7-12, $351
8th: Fred Fielder, Afton, Okla., three bass, 7-11, $284
8th: Robert Shedrick, Blanchard, Okla., three bass, 7-11, $284
10th: Berton Pritchett, Gentry, Ark., three bass, 7-10, $234
Porky Roberts of Morris, Oklahoma, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $275, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Nick Kincaid of Brookeland, Texas, still leads the Fishing Clash Okie Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 985 points, while James West of Spiro, Oklahoma, leads the Fishing Clash Okie Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 958 points.
The next event for BFL Okie Division anglers will the two-day Super Tournament Presented by Suzuki Marine, held Sept. 6-7, at Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 10-11 BFL Regional tournament on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.
The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Brandon Palaniuk: Family and Fishing
By Walker Smith, Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships
The dawn breaks over the lake, a thin veil of mist hanging low over the water and Brandon Palaniuk is already out there, his Skeeter boat slicing through the quiet. His mind and eyes are steady, constantly scanning on the search for fish but his heart is elsewhere—back at the camper, where his two daughters, 3 and almost 2 years old, are likely stirring, their soft voices filling the air with the kind of chaos that makes him smile.
His wife, Tiff, is there too, the unyielding force who keeps their world from unraveling. For this Team Toyota pro, the road from sleeping in the bed of his truck in his early days to building a life with his girls is a raw, emotional journey; one that’s reshaped his soul as much as it has his days.
Years ago, Palaniuk was a lone dreamer, a young angler with nothing but a fire in his gut. He’d pull into tournament sites, crawl in the truck bed and call it home—what he now jokingly refers to as the “Tundra Suites.”
Those were gritty days, filled with the ache of long drives and the uncertainty of chasing a dream.
“When I was sleeping in the back of the Tundra, I always wanted to know what my life would look like in ten years,” he says, his voice becoming much more solemn.
Back then, it was just him, the open road and a relentless hunger to make it as a pro. Every cast felt like a gamble, every tournament a chance to prove he belonged. The solitude of those nights under the stars was both a burden and a fuel, pushing him to keep going, to keep believing.
Now, that dream has a new shape, one that’s messier, louder and infinitely more alive. It’s in the laughter of his daughters, whose tiny hands and boundless energy have turned his world upside down. It’s in the quiet strength of his wife, who holds their family together through the grind of the tournament trail.
“It’s not even a possibility without my wife, Tiff,” Palaniuk says. “There are times where our lifestyle, sponsor obligations, everything, comes together and it’s almost like she’s raising them as a single parent. Having a rock-solid wife is everything for a professional angler.”
This life—part fishing, part family, all heart—is what he’s built and it’s a far cry from those long nights in the bed of his Tundra.
The heartbeat of the road
Before kids, Brandon and Tiff were a two-person team, a well-oiled machine tearing across the country, boat in tow. They moved fast, lived lean and thrived on the rhythm of the road.
“Me and Tiff traveled so long being just the two of us, we could drive all day and get places quickly,” he recalls, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
They’d camp under wide skies, plan strategies over gas station coffee enroute to tournaments from Florida’s swamps to New York’s glacial lakes. It was a life of freedom, but also of focus—every mile, every cast, was about building something bigger.
Then came their daughters and everything changed. Their camper, once a mobile base for two, is now a rolling home, stuffed with stuffed animals, sippy cups and the sweet chaos of toddlerhood.
“With two little ones, we need to give ourselves two days to get places sometimes,” Palaniuk says. “We don’t do iPads and phones. We try to let their beautiful little brains be creative. I can’t imagine not having them.”
The long drives aren’t just about covering ground anymore—they’re about pit stops for snacks, impromptu sing-alongs and the patience to answer a 3-year-old’s endless questions. The camper is a sanctuary of sorts, a place where crayon scribbles decorate the table and bedtime stories echo off the walls. It’s exhausting, exhilarating and everything Palaniuk never knew he needed.
The grind of the fishing life hasn’t changed—long days on the water, sponsor commitments, the pressure to perform. But adding two daughters to the mix has made it a different kind of hard.
“Our lifestyle is difficult as it is and then you throw kids in the mix, it has its challenges,” he says. “But it’s proof that the most difficult things in life are the most rewarding.”
There are moments when the weight of it all feels heavy—the missed naps, the late-nights after a tournament. But when Palaniuk steps off the boat and his daughters run to him, their tiny arms wrapping around his legs, it’s like the world rights itself. Those girls are his compass, their joy a reminder of why he keeps going.
Tiff is the heartbeat of this life. While Brandon’s out on the water, she’s the one keeping the camp humming—making meals, wiping tears and turning chaos into order. She’s the one who makes sure the girls are fed, dressed and loved, even when the road feels endless.
“She’s my rock,” Palaniuk says, his voice softening. “I can focus on fishing because I know she’s got everything else handled.”
Tiff’s strength isn’t loud—it’s in the quiet moments, the way she packs lunches or braids hair while juggling a phone call with a sponsor. She’s the one who makes this wild, beautiful life possible, and Palaniuk knows it.
A heart remade
Fatherhood has stretched Palaniuk’s heart in ways he never imagined. The man who once lived for the thrill of a big bite now finds himself undone by a toddler’s babbling.
“You learn a certain level of patience and selflessness when you have kids,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed being around kids, whether it was coaching wrestling or being around nieces and nephews. But when you’re set in your ways professionally, then you make changes—that’s difficult. But it’s worth it.”
That patience, made from sleepless nights and toddler logic, has seeped into his fishing.
“Patience-wise, it makes sitting on one place on a dead-end canal on Okeechobee seem easy!” he laughs.
“I always wanted to have kids,” he says. “I also knew I didn’t want to have kids and never see them.”
That fear—of missing out on their lives—drives him to be present, to soak up every hug, every bedtime story. He and Tiff are deliberate about raising their girls to dream without limits.
“We want our girls to know that the only limits we have are the ones we put on ourselves,” he says. “I want them to be dreamers and have a positive impact on society.”
A dream redefined
Palaniuk’s dream used to be about making it, about proving he could stand among the best in bass fishing. He’s done that, carving out a career that’s taken him from Idaho to the biggest stages in the sport. But the dream has grown, reshaped by the love of his family.
“We slowly built out a lifestyle together and it just comes together through hard work,” he says.
It’s not a glossy life—it’s late-night drives, busy campgrounds and the constant juggle of fishing and fatherhood. But it’s theirs, built on sweat and love, with Tiff by his side and their daughters lighting the way.
When he’s out on the water, Palaniuk carries them with him. Every cast is for them—to show his girls what it means to chase something you love, to never give up.
The Tundra Suites are now a distant memory, replaced by a camper filled with the warmth of family.
“It’s tough at times and it’s chaotic,” he says. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This is home.”
And in that home, surrounded by the laughter of his girls and the strength of his wife, Palaniuk has found a dream bigger than any blue trophy—a life full of love, purpose and the kind of joy that makes every struggle worth it.
McKinney puts finishing touches on wire-to-wire victory at Lake St. Clai
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — The Yokohama Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair certainly hasn’t been difficult for Trey McKinney, but after three days of competition the second-year pro didn’t know how many big smallmouth were left in his best area.
His questions were quickly answered on Championship Sunday as McKinney caught a 6 pound, 2-ounce smallmouth within the first several minutes of fishing, putting the exclamation point on a dominating performance.
The 20-year-old from Carbondale, Ill., claimed his second Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series trophy in wire-to-wire fashion, catching 96 pounds, 1 ounce over four days at Lake St. Clair. It is the heaviest winning weight in Bassmaster competition at Lake St. Clair and the fifth heaviest winning weight in a smallmouth event in B.A.S.S. history.
“It was an incredible week,” McKinney said. “Once I caught those fish this morning, I was so excited. It was a pretty awesome day. When I got to my spot, I made three casts and that 6-2 came up and smoked it.”
The victory just adds to an already stunning resume. In just two years at the highest level, McKinney has two titles (2024 Lake Fork, 2025 St. Clair), nine Top 10s in 17 events and a runner-up finish at the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. That doesn’t include the four Top 10s he racked up in the 2023 Bassmaster Opens.
Opening the tournament third in Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year, McKinney is now in a tie with Canadian pro Chris Johnston with 690 points heading into the final event at the Upper Mississippi River.
McKinney was in control from the jump at St. Clair, landing 24-11 on Day 1 before adding limits weighing 23-10, 23-15 and 23-13 to his tally the next three days to beat second-place Logan Parks by over 5 1/2 pounds.
“The cool thing about it was, I didn’t really have them found. And we fished around everybody. The thing I’m proud of this week is putting my head down and being able to out-fish everyone. It was a really good area if no one else was fishing it, but with everyone out there, you saw a quarter of the fish and they were hard to get to bite. So it was a pretty big achievement to (do that).”
Spending most of his tournament on the outer edges of Anchor Bay, targeting patches of short sand grass that mixed with a type of taller vegetation in 15 to 18 feet of water. In the expansive area, the 2024 Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year caught most of his 4 1/2 to 5-pound smallmouth in a 100-yard stretch of his half mile to mile long drift.
Most of the bass he saw were either single smallmouth or small groups of smallmouth. As the day progressed, those bass would rise in the water column and roam.
“There is a river that dumps into the lake that carries cold water from the lake above it (Huron). You can’t see the current, but I figured it moved through this area,” McKinney explained. “I was about a mile from the mouth of the river. It is set up just right with the hard sand and then a (mixture) of sand grass and tall grass.
“I had one waypoint where I would always see a good one.”
In practice, McKinney generated bites with a perch-colored 6th Sense Saltwater Shindo Shad, but as the tournament pressure ramped up in Anchor Bay, he needed to adjust his bait selection. A 6th Sense prototype dice bait paired with a No. 4 Gamakatsu G Finesse hook with a 1/32-ounce nail weight was his best finesse presentation.
He tossed that bait on a 7-foot-1 medium-fast action St. Croix Legend Tournament X2 with a Lew’s Custom Speed Spool spinning reel. He connected his light braid to either a 10-pound Seaguar Tatsu leader or a 10-pound Seaguar Gold fluorocarbon leader.
“They haven’t seen it before,” he said. “When they see it, they don’t really know what it is. It is weird. As the tournament went on, they got more wise to it.”
A smaller jighead minnow setup and a spybait also caught key bass. A St. Croix Legend Tournament was his choice of rod for the minnow.
His early morning 6-2 on Championship Sunday was by far the biggest smallmouth he landed this week, and it gave McKinney a tremendous boost of confidence for the rest of the day.
“When I hooked into it, I didn’t know it was that big until it fully jumped out of the water,” McKinney said. “That fish was unbelievable. When I got my hands on it and in the boat, I about done a backflip.”
He wasted no time filling out the rest of his limit, landing close to 20 pounds by 9 a.m. From there, he added several more 4-pounders to his team before noon to reach his final tally. Unfortunately, boat pressure from a local derby scattered the smallmouth in his best area, making for a tough afternoon.
“Thank goodness we took off early enough to beat those guys there,” he said.
Parks claimed his best finish of his Elite Series career, finishing second with a four-day total of 90-6. The Auburn, Ala., pro opened the tournament just above the cutline with 19-12, Parks rocketed up the leaderboard on Day 2 with 25-9 and backed it up with limits weighing 22-5 and 22-12.
“Obviously I would love to be holding the big trophy,” Parks said. “I had one of the most unbelievable days of fishing ever on Day 2. I just went from there and stayed in that area.”
On Day 1, Parks spent most of his time towards the main lake but moved into the shallows of Anchor Bay on Day 2 and stayed in the area the rest of the tournament. While other places had grass fully covering the bottom, the area Parks found was mostly a hard sand bottom with isolated clumps of grass.
A 1/4-ounce or 3/8-ounce drop shot with a 5-inch Berkley MaxScent Flatnose Minnow in watermelon magic was his best presentation while a 1/4-ounce jighead minnow and a Berkley Stunna also came into play.
On Championship Sunday, Parks saw as many big fish as he had all week but couldn’t get them to bite nearly as well as he did on the second day.
“Yesterday was tough, and I feel like my day was a lot better today,” Parks said. “I caught big ones to start out and thought it was going to go down. It was so frustrating because I knew they were there, but they would just follow the bait to the trolling motor but not bite.
“I saw the biggest smallmouth of my life, and it was 5 feet from me. It nipped the tail of my bait and swam off.”
With bags of 22-13, 23-1, 21-2 and 21-1, Kyoya Fujita finished third with a total of 88-1. Fishing pressure took a toll on Fujita’s best area, making it harder for him to trick finicky smallmouth into biting.
“The waves were big today,” Fujita said.
The two-time Elite Series champion primarily used a Jackall King Jimmy Henge, a new dice style bait on a 1/4-ounce drop-shop weight. To winch the smallmouth to the boat, Fujita connected a 16-pound Daiwa fluorocarbon leader to a 30-pound main-line braid.
McKinney and Rathdrum, Idaho pro Brandon Palaniuk both caught 6-2 smallmouth on Championship Sunday, splitting the daily Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day and Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament awards, each earning a $1,500 bonus.
Ontario pro Evan Kung, Kentucky’s Matt Robertson and Parks also earned $1,000 bonuses for their daily Phoenix Boat Big Bass of the Day.
Alabama’s Tucker Smith earned the $2,000 Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament bonus for his 26-2 limit of smallmouth from Day 2.
Carl Jocumsen earned the $1,000 BassTrakk contingency award for accurate reporting.
Parks was also the highest place entrant to the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, earning the $3,000 bonus while Paul Mueller earned the $2,000 bonus as the second-highest entrant.
Fujita earned the $2,500 Yamaha PowerPay bonus for the highest finishing entrant running a Yamaha Outboard while Palaniuk earned a $1,500 PowerPay bonus.
McKinney and Johnston are tied for the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year lead with 690 points with one tournament remaining in the Elite Series season. Fujita is third with 650 points, Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat is fourth with 648 points and Patrick Walters in fifth with 638 points. Taku Ito, Will Davis Jr., Tyler Williams, Parks and Paul Marks round out the Top 10.
The Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair was hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission.
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair 8/7-8/10
Lake St. Clair, Macomb County MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 20 96-01 104 $102,500.00
Day 1: 5 24-11 Day 2: 5 23-10 Day 3: 5 23-15 Day 4: 5 23-13
2. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 20 90-06 103 $21,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 25-09 Day 3: 5 22-05 Day 4: 5 22-12
3. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 20 88-01 102 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-13 Day 2: 5 23-01 Day 3: 5 21-02 Day 4: 5 21-01
4. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 20 87-02 101 $13,500.00
Day 1: 5 24-00 Day 2: 5 20-00 Day 3: 5 20-05 Day 4: 5 22-13
5. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 20 86-14 100 $13,250.00
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 21-04 Day 3: 5 22-08 Day 4: 5 23-01
6. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 20 85-00 99 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 21-03 Day 3: 5 21-10 Day 4: 5 20-13
7. Cole Sands Johnson City, TN 20 84-06 98 $10,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 22-09 Day 3: 5 20-04 Day 4: 5 20-08
8. Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 20 82-12 97 $12,300.00
Day 1: 5 21-15 Day 2: 5 26-02 Day 3: 5 18-13 Day 4: 5 15-14
9. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 20 81-06 96 $10,200.00
Day 1: 5 22-07 Day 2: 5 21-00 Day 3: 5 20-10 Day 4: 5 17-05
10. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 20 80-15 95 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 22-09 Day 3: 5 21-04 Day 4: 5 17-00
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 05-14 $1,000.00
2 Logan Parks Auburn, AL 05-13 $1,000.00
3 Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANADA05-11 $1,000.00
4 Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 06-02 $500.00
4 Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 06-02 $500.00
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 06-02 $1,000.00
Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 06-02 $1,000.00
RAPALA CRUSHCITY MONSTER BAG
Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 26-02 $2,000.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 99 499 1949-07
2 100 500 1945-09
3 50 250 979-07
4 10 50 205-00
------------------------------
259 1299 5079-07
Wheeler Earns 10th Career Bass Pro Tour Win at Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay
Tennessee pro clinches AOY title for $100,000, then catches 42 bass weighing 110 pounds to win tournament and take home top prize of $150,000
BAY CITY, Mich. (Aug. 10, 2025) – Jacob Wheeler couldn’t help himself.
Time had already run out in Toyota Stage 7 Presented by Ranger Boats on Saginaw Bay with Wheeler atop SCORETRACKER®, his 10th career Bass Pro Tour win secured. Yet after Wheeler addressed the MLFNOW! viewers and offered some thank yous to those who had helped him get his tournament fishing start growing up in Indiana, he picked his rod back up and pitched a topwater frog back to the clump of reeds and lily pads in front of his boat, trying to elicit one more blowup.
That summed up Wheeler’s week on Saginaw Bay. Needing only to finish 27th or better to secure his fourth Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title in the past five seasons, he could have played it safe, then celebrated and gone through the motions after he secured the hardware on Friday. Instead, he not only made Sunday’s Championship Round but overcame an early 22-pound deficit to Todd Faircloth and willed his way to a win in a three-way battle with Faircloth and Edwin Evers . His total of 110 pounds even on 42 scorable bass ultimately topped Faircloth by 7-6.
For the win, Wheeler earned $150,000 – he’ll leave Saginaw Bay with $250,000 and two trophies thanks to his AOY victory. The dream end to yet another dominant season left even Wheeler, who is no stranger to recapping victories, short for words.
“I still don’t know what to say, to be honest with you,” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t even believe it half the time. I just go fishing and things happen. I’m just speechless. It’s crazy, it really is.”
Wheeler took his first lead of the Championship Round with about 10 minutes left in Period 2. From there, he and Faircloth traded blows, the top spot on SCORETRACKER® changing hands six times during the final period. Wheeler finally took the lead for good by catching a 2-11 with 40 minutes left, then added five more scorable bass to pull away.
In typical Wheeler fashion, he pointed not to those bites that earned him win No. 10 but a series of decisions that started on the opening day of the event.
Wheeler spent the first period of Day 1 fishing for smallmouth on the outer edges of the competition boundary. Using a drop-shot and forward-facing sonar, he stacked up nearly 52 pounds, then spent the rest of the day largemouth fishing amid the shallow vegetation that lines Saginaw Bay. In the third period, he hit a key area that yielded more than 30 pounds in about 90 minutes.
On the second day of qualifying, he once again sampled both shallow largemouth and offshore smallmouth, this time starting on the green fish. Like the rest of the field, he found the smallmouth bite to be getting tougher, making it difficult to justify the hour or so it would take to travel from largemouth habitat to smallmouth waters (or vice versa).
So, Wheeler committed to frogging for largemouth during the Knockout Round. While he finished third, easily advancing to Championship Sunday, he knew the area he’d fished, which he shared with Brent Ehrler, wasn’t likely to hold up for another day.
“After basically sharing one stretch with Ehrler, I’m like, I’m not going to win this tournament sharing fish, especially after we beat on them this bad,” Wheeler said. “It was just not going to happen. I knew we’d probably catch some fish there in the morning, and then after that, it was going to be all about making the right decisions, and I’m going to have to have some stuff that I can get away from.”
Sunday morning, Wheeler (and just about everyone else in the Top 10) found the bite slower than a day prior. Faircloth, on the other hand, landed on an offshore school of largemouth and piled on 17 scorable bass for 44-3 in the opening hour and a half. At that point, he’d more than doubled every other angler on the water. He finished the first period with 50 pounds exactly, 17-4 ahead of Wheeler.
Wheeler knew he needed to find a fresh spot. He considered loading his boat on the trailer and heading for smallmouth waters. But first, he figured he’d check the area that had produced for him on Thursday afternoon. He hadn’t been back since, figuring no other angler would find it since it was only accessible with a long idle.
At first, Wheeler couldn’t relocate his fish. A couple times in the second period, he wondered aloud whether to stay or go. Eventually, a few hundred yards away from where he’d caught them on Day 1, he started to get bites in bunches. In the span of 1 hour, 22 minutes, he boated 13 scorable bass for 33-12 and climbed all the way to the top of SCORETRACKER®.
“When I found them, it was pretty apparent that they all decided to show up right there,” he said. “And I knew when that sort of happened and we caught them like that, there’s a good chance we can win this tournament.”
Wheeler targeted a mixture of reeds and lily pads in about a foot of water, catching almost all his bass with a frog but mixing in a Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug. The key to his area, he believes, was that it wasn’t full of submerged vegetation.
“You had a lot of reeds and pads there that were really clean, meaning there wasn’t a lot of grass that was choking them out,” he explained. “Even though it was super, super shallow, it was a deal where they could swim around and they could live in there; they had room to swim around. Where if you have choked out pads or reeds, they’re not as good. A little bit of grass is good, but not a whole lot of grass.”
As the third period ticked by and he and Faircloth remained neck-and-neck, Wheeler leaned on his ample experience in tight Bass Pro Tour finishes. Not only had he hoisted nine red trophies entering this event, he’s fallen just short a few times, too, including a pair of runner-up finishes this season.
Instead of skewing his decision-making, the pressure sharpened it. Wheeler, the ultimate competitor, entered “kill mode.”
“I know what it takes to win,” Wheeler said. “When I get in those positions, I get in kill mode. You do everything to push you mentally to keep your mind sharp and make the right cast, and every cast matters and every fish matters. You get it to where you’re just like locked and trained to focus on that.”
The last key decision he made was leaving the spot where he’d relocated his fish from Day 1. Perceiving that the bass had noticed his presence and scattered, Wheeler trolled out toward his starting spot and then back again, picking off a few bass on the way. He arrived at the juice with about an hour left and promptly caught eight more scorable bass.
“I didn’t stay in there,” he said. “I went back out and I was able to catch a few and sort of settle back down and come back in the last hour basically and close it out.”
While Wheeler is no stranger to the winner’s circle, this victory carries significance for a few reasons. For one, it’s his first national win on a frog, one of his favorite techniques and something he said he “cut my teeth doing.”
It also represented the perfect ending to a season-long redemption tour. Earlier this year, he finished in the top six at Lake Conroe, the Harris Chain of Lakes and Lake Murray – all fisheries where he’d failed to make the Knockout Round during previous BPT visits. While he’d fared better in his first event on Saginaw Bay, finishing eighth in the 2023 regular-season finale, Wheeler had to watch another angler, Matt Becker, hoist both the Stage 7 and AOY trophies after that event. Finishing second to Becker by 4 points, that’s the only time in the past five years Wheeler’s campaign hasn’t ended with AOY hardware in hand.
He admitted that was on his mind this week. This time, Wheeler made sure it was him who gets to ride off into the offseason as a double winner.
“It definitely gave me a sour taste in my mouth,” he said. “I caught them and Top 10’d, but I just didn’t perform that week. I had a bad Championship Day... So, I was focused and determined that this one wouldn’t get me. I controlled my own destiny that day, and I lost, which is what it’s about. Thankfully, I didn’t have the Angler of the Year pressure on me (today), but I was able to focus and just call it good.”
The top 10 pros at the Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats finished:
1st: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 42 bass, 110-0, $150,000
2nd: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 40 bass, 102-10, $45,000
3rd: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 36 bass, 86-10, $35,000
4th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 26 bass, 66-2, $30,000
5th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 25 bass, 61-2, $25,000
6th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 23 bass, 58-0, $23,000
7th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 23 bass, 54-12, $22,000
8th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 21 bass, 49-15, $21,000
9th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 18 bass, 45-7, $20,500
10th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 18 bass, 43-6, $20,000
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 272 scorable bass caught weighing 678 pounds even by the final 10 pros on Sunday.
Pro Cole Floyd won Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 4-pound, 6-ounce largemouth that he caught on a Strike King Rage Tail Cut-R-Worm in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
The four-day Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats was hosted by Go Great Lake Bay and the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and featured 66 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $150,000 top prize, a share of the $6.49 million season purse, and valuable AOY points in hopes of qualifying for the Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
Television coverage of the Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 15 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Tennessee’s Hatfield Paces Knockout Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay
Final 10 anglers set for Championship Sunday showdown, heaviest one-day total to win top prize of $150,000
BAY CITY, Mich. (Aug. 9, 2025) – Toyota Stage 7 Presented by Ranger Boats on Saginaw Bay evolved into a full-fledged power fishing slugfest during Saturday’s Knockout Round. The 10-angler Championship Round field is now set for what should be a wide-open race to hoist the final Bass Pro Tour trophy of the 2025 season, with anglers almost certainly needing to hit triple digits to give themselves a chance.
One of eight anglers to eclipse 80 pounds Saturday, pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, led the way with 97 pounds, 14 ounces on 43 scorable bass. Three other pros – Bryan Thrift, Jacob Wheeler and Spencer Shuffield – finished within 10 pounds of his total. Those hammers and the rest of the top nine finishers will be joined by Qualifying Round winner Edwin Evers on- Sunday for the final day of the Bass Pro Tour season.
After a surprising stumble at Stage 6 on the Potomac River, where he finished last, Hatfield entered Stage 7 on the wrong side of the bubbles to requalify for the Bass Pro Tour in 2026 and make next year’s REDCREST field. Knowing he’d need a strong finish to accomplish those objectives, he never eased off the gas during the two-day Qualifying Round, trying to earn the automatic berth to the Championship Round awarded to the winner but never quite catching Evers.
As a result, he entered Saturday unsure how many fish would still be willing to bite in his best area. That concern was quickly assuaged, as he stacked up more than 28 pounds in the opening hour and 42-1 in the first period.
“I was concerned about having enough fish left,” he said. “Obviously (Zack) Birge found that one group of fish. That one group of fish is a giant school. And had I had it to myself the whole tournament, I feel like I could have probably won the thing. It’s pretty dumb what’s over there. And today, I caught 30-something pounds out of there, and he caught 30-something pounds as well, and then we kind of went our separate ways.”
From there, Hatfield sampled a few other places that had produced during the Qualifying Round, then explored some new water. Just about all of it proved bountiful. Primarily wielding a swim jig and mixing in a bladed jig and a topwater, he got to witness a lot of ferocious bites and winch bass out of heavy cover.
“My hands hurt and my ribs hurt from setting the hook,” he said. “But it’s awesome.”
Hatfield thinks of himself as a strong smallmouth angler, but a scouting trip to Saginaw Bay before it went off limits convinced him that the smallmouth couldn’t compete with the sheer number of shallow largemouth in the fishery. That proved prescient – the 19 anglers competing Saturday weighed 504 scorable largemouth compared to just 13 smallmouth.
Rather than green ones versus brown ones, the question Sunday will be whether fishing around the emergent vegetation that lines Saginaw Bay or targeting submerged offshore grass patches is the way to win. Hatfield has done his damage around the shallow reeds. He said the key has been relocating the schools of bass as they move throughout the cover.
“It seems like those groups of fish are moving within those reeds,” Hatfield explained. “It's like they move 300, 400 yards in a day’s time. They’ll be out on the edge schooling, and then they’ll be up in it eating a swim jig.”
After putting nearly 300 pounds on SCORETRACKER® through three days, Hatfield remains unsure whether he has enough fish left to compete for the win. But he’s optimistic that he found some new areas late Saturday that might not be getting as much pressure.
“I found a place early on the third period where there was a bunch,” he said. “I kind of just started skipping through some of it after I caught a couple here, a couple there. But they’d come up schooling, and it’s hard to say how many of them are in there.”
Hatfield guessed it’ll take at least 120 pounds during the Championship Round to win the $150,000 top prize. The keys to getting there will be not spending too much time searching for those schools and landing a high percentage of the bass that bite.
“I think you’ve just got to land on the right groups of fish early, and you’ve got to land all of them that bite and just have everything go your way,” he said.
The good news for Hatfield is that, regardless of whether he weighs a bass on Sunday, he’s secured his spots on the BPT roster and in REDCREST for 2026. However, he’s not taking the pressure off himself just yet. After tasting victory at Heavy Hitters earlier this season, he’s hungrier than ever for a regular-season Bass Pro Tour win.
“I’m going to try to just keep the same mindset, keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m not going to change anything up too much. I’ll probably have more pressure on me tomorrow now than I’ve had all week just because I know I have a chance to win, and when you get those chances, you want to seal the deal. I’ve been able to a couple times, but to get a Bass Pro Tour trophy would be super special.”
The top nine pros from the Knockout Round that now advance to Championship Sunday on Saginaw Bay are:
1st: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 43 bass, 97-14
2nd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 37 bass, 94-11
3rd: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 33 bass, 88-7
4th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 34 bass, 88-4
5th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 33 bass, 84-14
6th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 32 bass, 83-7
7th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 33 bass, 82-7
8th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 36 bass, 81-15
9th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 33 bass, 78-5
*QR Winner: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Eliminated from competition are:
11th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 31 bass, 73-13, $15,900
12th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 31 bass, 72-8, $15,800
13th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 28 bass, 69-14, $15,700
14th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 20 bass, 49-12, $15,600
15th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 17 bass, 44-0, $15,500
16th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 19 bass, 43-6, $15,400
17th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 17 bass, 41-11, $15,300
18th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 17 bass, 41-5, $15,200
19th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 16 bass, 40-0, $15,100
20th: Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, seven bass, 16-9, $15,000
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 517 scorable bass caught weighing 1,273 pounds, 2 ounces, by the 19 pros on Saturday.
Pro Mark Daniels Jr. won Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, boating a 4-pound smallmouth in Period 1. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
Hosted by Go Great Lake Bay and the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the four-day event features 66 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $150,000 top prize, a share of the $6.49 million season purse, and valuable AOY points in hopes of qualifying for the Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, Evers advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the remaining 19 anglers competed to finish in the top nine to join Evers in Sunday’s Championship Round. In Sunday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.
The final 10 anglers will arrive Sunday morning at 5:15 a.m. ET to the Golson Boat Launch, located at 1598 N. Johnson St. in Bay City, Michigan. The Bass Pro Tour trailering policy has been enacted for this event, so anglers will depart the Golson Boat Launch at 6:15 a.m. to one of nine optional launch ramps located around the fishery. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and Rumble.
On Sunday, Aug. 10, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Wenonah Park at 103 Center Ave., in Bay City for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel. The event also includes a youth fishing derby and a casting contest.
The Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.
Television coverage of the Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 15 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
McKinney continues smallmouth master class, increases lead on Day 3 at Lake St. Clair
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — When Trey McKinney is at his best, the 20-year-old can dissect one big area of a body of water and find where the bigger bass are within that location.
That strategy has worked to perfection through three days of the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair as McKinney has combed through one area to catch a three-day total of 72 pounds, 4 ounces.
“I do like this style of fishing,” he said. “I know I’m going to see fish, and if I do my thing right, they are going to be pretty nice ones. I’m an area guy. I find an area and find where they go within that area. (This lake) is fitting my style pretty well.”
The second-year pro from Carbondale, Ill., has never trailed in this tournament, opening the tournament with 24-11 before catching 23-10 on Day 2. His leads were just ounces over the second-place angler the first two days, but with a 23-15 limit of smallmouth on Semifinal Saturday, he increased his lead to 4-10 over Logan Parks.
In total, McKinney now has nine Top 10 finishes in Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series competition and is five quality smallies away from winning his second blue trophy in as many years. The 2024 Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year also finds himself in an unofficial tie for first in the 2025 Progressive Angler of the Year race with five days left of competition.
“We’ve done good for three days,” McKinney said. “We’ve got one more day to go. It hasn’t been terribly hard, but it hasn’t been easy either. I keep thinking, ‘Do I have enough to still catch 21 or 22 pounds?’ I don’t really know. There is a lot of stuff going on. You can stumble really bad here, and that is the scary part. We’ve been on top of them the last few days, but tomorrow is a scary animal.”
McKinney has spent all his time weaving between other competitors in a large section of Anchor Bay where short sand grass mixes with taller vegetation. While he has landed keepers elsewhere, one half mile to a mile long drift has produced the bulk of his weight and the majority of his 4 1/2-pound to 5-pound smallies have come around a 100-yard stretch within that drift.
“I caught my three big ones today in the same 100-yard stretch and saw quite a few more big ones,” McKinney said. “Every time I go through there, I see a good one.”
In several instances, McKinney has had to chase a 5-pounder with his forward-facing sonar, making multiple casts to the bass before it decided to commit to his presentation. He chased one particular bass for 300 yards before it bit.
Three baits have come into play, including a 5-inch jighead minnow and an unnamed finesse bait with a 1/32-ounce nail weight.
That unmanned bait was key to his Day 3 success.
“I threw it out there and the first one shot up and ate it. That was a 4 1/2,” McKinney said. “I threw it back out there and a 4 1/4 eats it. Then another 4 1/4 ate it. I went back to my big fish hole, threw it out there, and caught a 4-13. I don’t think a lot of people are throwing it and it is something I like.”
The first two days, McKinney was able to find success early in the day. While Day 3 wasn’t painfully slow by any stretch, it did take McKinney most of the day to catch every bass that made his team. In fact, with a half-hour to go before check-in, he landed his biggest bass of the day, a smallmouth that registered 5-0 on BassTrakk.
“I caught one big one in the morning, one big one around 9 or 10, and my last one (late),” he explained. “I caught fish all day, but I didn’t catch the big ones all day.”
McKinney’s best area has also produced big bags for several of his competitors, and he has noticed the smallmouth have become less willing to bite with each passing day.
“I’ve never seen fish that are as educated as these,” he remarked. “We are going to do the same thing tomorrow though. I’m probably going to hunker down more tomorrow. I know that area has them, and if I land on them, I can catch 5-pounders.”
Parks jumped into second on Semifinal Saturday, adding 22-5 to his 19-12 and 25-9 limits to increase his total to 67-10. Although consistently in the Top 50 all year, this is the Auburn, Ala., pro’s first Top 10 of the year.
After spending much of the first day out in deeper water, Parks moved shallow on Day 2 and caught 20 of his 25 pounds in one main area. That same area produced the bulk of his weight again today, although the smallmouth were a bit more finicky on Semifinal Saturday.
“I was worried going into today that they may not reload and they really didn’t. There are still some there, but they are really wise. They didn’t like my drop shot nearly as much today and I had to break out the Berkley Stunna, which is terrifying. Smallmouth and treble hooks don’t mix well. Luckily, I caught one big one that ate it headfirst and then jumped off a nice one.”
With three bass in the livewell, Parks made several moves to achieve a limit, losing several key smallmouth in the process. After several trying hours, the former College Series champion returned to his best area with an hour to go and landed a 5-pounder and a 4 1/2-pounder.
“We made some major upgrades there. They definitely seem to bite there in the afternoon,” Parks said. “I’m going to learn from what I did today and not waste as much time tomorrow.”
With bags of 22-13, 23-1 and 21-2, Japanese pro Kyoya Fujita remained in third place with a total of 67-0. It is Fujita’s fifth Top 10 of the season.
Fujita noted the fishing pressure in his area has made it tougher and tougher to get a bite. While he saw several 5-pounders on his forward-facing sonar, he could not get them to bite and only brought 4-pounders back to weigh-in.
“Very, very tough today,” the two-time Elite Series champion said. “They chase but not bite.”
One bait has done much of his damage: a drop shot rigged with a new bait from Jackall.
Ontario pro Evan Kung caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 3, a 5-11 smallmouth. Kentucky’s Matt Robertson holds Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament honors with his 5-14 from Day 1.
Carl Jocumsen earned the $1,000 BassTrakk contingency award for accurate reporting.
McKinney and Johnston are tied for the Progressive Angler of the Year lead with 690 points followed by Fujita in third with 650 points. Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat is fourth with 648 points and Patrick Walters in fifth with 638 points. Taku Ito, Will Davis Jr., Tyler Williams, Parks and Paul Marks round out the Top 10.
The Top 10 anglers will launch from Brandenburg Park at 7 a.m. ET Sunday and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The winner will claim the $100,000 first-place prize as well as a coveted blue trophy. Bassmaster LIVE coverage on Sunday will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com from Noon to 3 p.m.
The Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair is being hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission.
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
-30-
Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, mpascal@
2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair 8/7-8/10
Lake St. Clair, Macomb County MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 15 72-04 104
Day 1: 5 24-11 Day 2: 5 23-10 Day 3: 5 23-15
2. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 15 67-10 103 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 25-09 Day 3: 5 22-05
3. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 15 67-00 102
Day 1: 5 22-13 Day 2: 5 23-01 Day 3: 5 21-02
4. Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 15 66-14 101
Day 1: 5 21-15 Day 2: 5 26-02 Day 3: 5 18-13
5. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 15 64-05 100 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 24-00 Day 2: 5 20-00 Day 3: 5 20-05
6. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 15 64-03 99 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 21-03 Day 3: 5 21-10
7. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 15 64-01 98
Day 1: 5 22-07 Day 2: 5 21-00 Day 3: 5 20-10
8. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 15 63-15 97
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 22-09 Day 3: 5 21-04
9. Cole Sands Johnson City, TN 15 63-14 96
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 22-09 Day 3: 5 20-04
10. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 15 63-13 95
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 21-04 Day 3: 5 22-08
11. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15 63-11 94 $7,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 21-02 Day 3: 5 22-07
12. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 15 63-10 93 $7,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 23-07 Day 3: 5 19-09
13. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 15 63-00 92 $7,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-14 Day 2: 5 20-13 Day 3: 5 20-05
14. Easton Fothergill Grand Rapids , MN 15 62-15 91 $7,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-14 Day 2: 5 21-12 Day 3: 5 18-05
15. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 15 62-11 90 $7,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-06 Day 2: 5 18-11 Day 3: 5 21-10
16. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 15 62-11 89 $6,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 21-05 Day 3: 5 20-05
17. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 15 62-09 88 $6,500.00
Day 1: 5 22-02 Day 2: 5 21-02 Day 3: 5 19-05
18. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 15 62-02 87 $6,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 23-09 Day 3: 5 20-06
19. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 62-02 86 $6,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 20-01 Day 3: 5 21-07
20. Timothy Dube Nashua , NH 15 61-15 85 $6,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 18-13 Day 3: 5 21-15
21. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 15 61-15 84 $6,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 20-07
22. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 15 61-05 83 $6,000.00
Day 1: 5 23-03 Day 2: 5 19-12 Day 3: 5 18-06
23. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 15 61-04 82 $6,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-11 Day 2: 5 19-08 Day 3: 5 20-01
24. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 15 61-02 81 $6,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 21-12 Day 3: 5 18-05
25. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 15 60-15 80 $6,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-08 Day 2: 5 19-12 Day 3: 5 19-11
26. Dakota Ebare Brookeland, TX 15 60-11 79 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 23-01 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 18-04
27. Emil Wagner Marietta, GA 15 60-11 78 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 18-12 Day 3: 5 20-12
28. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 15 60-09 77 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-15 Day 2: 5 21-05 Day 3: 5 18-05
29. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 15 60-05 76 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 20-04 Day 3: 5 20-07
30. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 15 59-15 75 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 22-14 Day 2: 5 17-07 Day 3: 5 19-10
31. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 15 59-15 74 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 20-07
32. Andrew Loberg Guntersville, AL 15 59-13 73 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 17-07
33. Cody Meyer Eagle, ID 15 59-11 72 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 20-00 Day 3: 5 19-00
34. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 15 59-10 71 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 20-00
35. Cody Huff Ava, MO 15 59-10 70 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 19-09
36. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 15 59-07 69 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-07 Day 2: 5 20-11 Day 3: 5 18-05
37. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 15 59-06 68 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 20-14 Day 3: 5 18-09
38. John Cox Debary, FL 15 59-00 67 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 19-08 Day 3: 5 19-06
39. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 15 58-14 66 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 21-11 Day 3: 5 18-01
40. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 15 58-12 65 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 19-01 Day 3: 5 18-05
41. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 15 58-11 64 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 22-13 Day 2: 5 16-10 Day 3: 5 19-04
42. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 15 58-10 63 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 22-04 Day 2: 5 18-08 Day 3: 5 17-14
43. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 15 58-07 62 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 21-09 Day 3: 5 18-01
44. Seth Feider Elko New Market, MN 15 58-05 61 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-12 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 18-00
45. Kyle Welcher Valley, AL 15 58-02 60 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-00 Day 2: 5 19-14 Day 3: 5 18-04
46. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 15 57-15 59 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 17-11
47. Chris Zaldain Boyd, TX 15 57-13 58 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-07 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 17-12
48. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 15 57-13 57 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 17-09
49. John Garrett Union City, TN 15 56-14 56 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 17-03
50. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 15 55-14 55 $5,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 19-01 Day 3: 5 16-02
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 05-14 $1,000.00
2 Logan Parks Auburn, AL 05-13 $1,000.00
3 Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANADA05-11 $1,000.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 99 499 1949-07
2 100 500 1945-09
3 50 250 979-07
------------------------------
249 1249 4874-07
McKinney maintains Day 2 lead, takes control of AOY race
McKinney maintains Day 2 lead, takes control of AOY race
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — Trey McKinney has been more nervous during the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair than any tournament in his short career. Country music helps ease that anxiousness, and it seemed like on Day 2, the smallmouth enjoyed the sound of fiddles and steel guitars too.
“Country music makes me fish better, especially when I get out there and have a knot in my stomach,” the 20-year-old said.
The second-year pro from Carbondale, Ill., maintained his lead on Day 2 at Lake St. Clair, landing a limit weighing 23 pounds, 10 ounces on Friday to increase his two-day total to 48-5, anchoring his bag with a 5-8 smallmouth. McKinney’s lead over second place Tucker Smith is just 4 ounces, but the gap between him and third place Kyoya Fujita is almost 2 1/2 pounds.
Not only that, McKinney took the unofficial lead in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. That is partially to blame for his nervousness. The 2024 Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year could have won AOY in 2024 as well had it not been for self-inflicted errors.
“I’m coming in early and making sure I have all my T’s crossed,” McKinney said. “It’s not that I mean to do something, but one thing can make it all go away. I just want to make sure nothing happens, whether it be boat problems or losing fish.”
Winning was not the main focus for McKinney this week at St. Clair, given he was third in the points race entering this tournament. He did, however, land his personal best smallmouth, a 6-13 that indicated something special could go down.
“I didn’t see it coming. I was going to try and catch 22 every day and be good,” he said. “That fish was one perch away from being 7 pounds. I figured I might have a chance if there were a few more around, and I have caught my big one around that area every day. But, there are less and less every day.”
Opening the tournament with a limit weighing 24-11, McKinney has been targeting a specific bottom composition in Anchor Bay where short sand grass mixes with the taller grasses.
Using his forward-facing sonar, he has noticed many of the smallmouth begin their day feeding on the bottom. As the sun rises, the smallmouth rises in the water column, making it easier for McKinney to see and cast to.
While he hasn’t been able to predict when they will happen, McKinney has noticed bite windows emerge throughout the day.
“You’ll have a lull, and then at Noon you’ll have a hot streak,” he said. “It is weird. At one point in the day, I caught every bass I threw at. A half an hour later, nothing.”
Four baits have produced the bulk of his weight, but it has been difficult to dial in a specific forage to mimic.
“They just see something and eat it,” he explained. “They spit up crawfish, perch, minnow, anything they can find. I wish I could figure it out. I think the bigger ones eat perch.”
It was a slower start for McKinney on Day 2, landing only 18 pounds in the first couple hours of the day. Around noon though, he landed his two best smallmouth, a 4 1/2-pounder and the 5-8 on back-to-back casts. Later in the day, McKinney located a big smallmouth on his FFS and followed it for a quarter mile but couldn’t get it to commit to his bait.
“That was a new little area,” McKinney said. “I looked at my map and said, ‘Okay, this is where they were, where are they going to be?’ Maybe the fish moved out from where the boat pressure is, and it can work for me tomorrow.”
After landing 21-15 on Day 1 to land in 13th, Smith rocketed up the leaderboard with a tournament-best 26-2 limit of smallmouth to increase his total to 48-1.
“I didn’t expect this at all. I caught a giant yesterday, a 5 1/2, and that was the biggest one I had caught out here,” the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series rookie said. “I was just excited to have two 5-pounders today and then I caught three more. It was just mind-blowing today.”
Although he struggled in the early morning, the Alabama pro stopped in an area where he caught a couple good ones on Day 1 and landed a 5-pounder around mid-morning. Another move produced three smallies over 5 pounds before the Auburn grad landed his final 5-pounder in a different spot later in the day.
Smith has discovered one contour range the bigger smallmouth seem to be setting up around, with two baits coaxing most of the bass into biting.
“There are specific feeding times for each place,” Smith said.
Fujita, meanwhile, landed 23-1 to add to his 22-13 Day 1 showing, keeping him on pace to make his second Championship Sunday at Lake St. Clair after finishing seventh in 2023.
“Good day, but very tough,” Fujita said. “The fish are very smart.”
A mix of grass and sand in 11 feet of water has been the key for the two-time Elite Series champion. He has pitched one bait to those areas, but only if he can see a smallmouth he believes to be 4 or 5 pounds on his Garmin LiveScope.
On Day 2, he filled out his limit by 10 a.m. and made several key culls throughout the day. His goal for Semifinal Saturday is to top Smith’s Day 2 mark.
“I try (to catch) 26 pounds,” he remarked.
Auburn, Ala., pro Logan Parks landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a 5-13 smallmouth that anchored his 25-9 Day 2 limit. It was just an ounce short of the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament, a 5-14 caught by Kentucky pro Matt Robertson on Day 1.
McKinney leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 690 points followed by Canadian pro Chris Johnston with 677 points. Fujita in third with 650 points followed by Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat in fourth with 648 points and Patrick Walters in fifth with 638 points. Will Davis Jr., Taku Ito, Parks, Tyler Williams and Paul Marks round out the Top 10.
The Top 50 anglers will launch from Brandenburg Park at 7 a.m. ET Saturday and return for weigh-in at 3:10 p.m. The Top 10 anglers at the conclusion of weigh-in will advance to the championship round and compete for the $100,000 first-place prize as well as a coveted blue trophy.
Bassmaster LIVE coverage on Saturday and Sunday will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com from Noon to 3 p.m.
The Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair is being hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission.
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
-30-
Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, mpascal@
2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair 8/7-8/10
Lake St. Clair, Macomb County MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 10 48-05 104
Day 1: 5 24-11 Day 2: 5 23-10
2. Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 10 48-01 103
Day 1: 5 21-15 Day 2: 5 26-02
3. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 10 45-14 102
Day 1: 5 22-13 Day 2: 5 23-01
4. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 10 45-05 101 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 25-09
5. Easton Fothergill Grand Rapids , MN 10 44-10 100
Day 1: 5 22-14 Day 2: 5 21-12
6. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 10 44-01 99
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 23-07
7. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 10 44-00 98 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 24-00 Day 2: 5 20-00
8. Cole Sands Johnson City, TN 10 43-10 97
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 22-09
9. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 10 43-07 96
Day 1: 5 22-07 Day 2: 5 21-00
10. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 10 43-04 95
Day 1: 5 22-02 Day 2: 5 21-02
11. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 10 42-15 94
Day 1: 5 23-03 Day 2: 5 19-12
12. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 10 42-13 93
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 21-12
13. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 10 42-11 92
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 22-09
14. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 10 42-11 91
Day 1: 5 21-14 Day 2: 5 20-13
15. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 10 42-09 90
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 21-03
16. Dakota Ebare Brookeland, TX 10 42-07 89
Day 1: 5 23-01 Day 2: 5 19-06
17. Andrew Loberg Guntersville, AL 10 42-06 88
Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 22-00
18. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 10 42-06 87
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 21-05
19. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 10 42-04 86
Day 1: 5 20-15 Day 2: 5 21-05
20. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 10 41-12 85
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 23-09
21. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 10 41-08 84
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 20-03
22. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 10 41-05 83
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 21-04
23. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 10 41-04 82
Day 1: 5 21-08 Day 2: 5 19-12
24. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 10 41-04 81
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 21-02
25. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 10 41-03 80
Day 1: 5 21-11 Day 2: 5 19-08
26. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 10 41-02 79
Day 1: 5 20-07 Day 2: 5 20-11
27. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 10 41-01 78
Day 1: 5 22-06 Day 2: 5 18-11
28. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 10 40-13 77
Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 21-11
29. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 10 40-13 76
Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 20-14
30. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 10 40-12 75
Day 1: 5 22-04 Day 2: 5 18-08
31. Cody Meyer Eagle, ID 10 40-11 74
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 20-00
32. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 10 40-11 73
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 20-01
33. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 10 40-07 72
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 19-01
34. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 10 40-06 71
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 21-09
35. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 10 40-05 70
Day 1: 5 22-14 Day 2: 5 17-07
36. Seth Feider Elko New Market, MN 10 40-05 69
Day 1: 5 21-12 Day 2: 5 18-09
37. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 10 40-04 68
Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 21-14
38. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 10 40-04 67
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 18-15
39. Chris Zaldain Boyd, TX 10 40-01 66
Day 1: 5 21-07 Day 2: 5 18-10
40. Cody Huff Ava, MO 10 40-01 65
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 20-03
41. Timothy Dube Nashua , NH 10 40-00 64
Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 18-13
42. Emil Wagner Marietta, GA 10 39-15 63
Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 18-12
43. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 10 39-14 62
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 20-04
44. Kyle Welcher Valley, AL 10 39-14 61
Day 1: 5 20-00 Day 2: 5 19-14
45. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 10 39-12 60
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 19-01
46. John Garrett Union City, TN 10 39-11 59
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 18-15
47. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 10 39-10 58
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 21-07
48. John Cox Debary, FL 10 39-10 57
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 19-08
49. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 10 39-08 56
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 20-02
50. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 10 39-07 55
Day 1: 5 22-13 Day 2: 5 16-10
51. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 10 39-05 54
Day 1: 5 20-08 Day 2: 5 18-13
52. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 10 39-05 0
Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 20-04
53. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 10 39-05 52
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 19-04
54. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 10 39-04 51
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 18-08
55. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 10 39-03 50
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 20-10
56. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 10 39-03 49
Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 5 19-12
57. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 10 39-02 48
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 18-14
58. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 10 39-02 47
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 19-12
59. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 10 38-12 46
Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 5 19-05
60. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 10 38-07 45
Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 18-08
61. Bryan New Leesville, SC 10 38-05 44
Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 19-15
62. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 10 38-03 43
Day 1: 5 19-05 Day 2: 5 18-14
62. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 10 38-03 43
Day 1: 5 18-14 Day 2: 5 19-05
64. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 10 37-15 41
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 18-02
65. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 10 37-14 40
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 20-09
66. Randy Howell Guntersville, AL 10 37-08 39
Day 1: 5 17-08 Day 2: 5 20-00
67. Beau Browning Hot Springs National Pa 10 37-05 38
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 19-01
68. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 10 37-03 37
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 17-09
69. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 10 37-02 36
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 20-12
70. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 10 37-02 35
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 19-04
71. Ben Milliken Omaha, NE 10 37-01 34
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 19-07
72. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 10 37-01 33
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 18-08
73. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 10 36-15 32
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 20-08
74. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 10 36-10 31
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 20-13
75. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 10 36-08 30
Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 5 17-01
76. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 10 36-05 29
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 19-14
77. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 10 36-05 28
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 16-08
78. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 10 36-02 27
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 21-03
79. Cliff Pace Ovett, MS 10 35-12 26
Day 1: 5 18-14 Day 2: 5 16-14
80. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 10 35-12 25
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 18-09
81. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 10 35-11 24
Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 17-05
82. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 10 35-11 23
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 18-02
83. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 10 35-08 22
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 17-05
84. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 10 35-06 21
Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 17-10
85. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 10 35-00 20
Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 15-14
86. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 10 34-12 19
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 16-07
87. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 10 34-07 18
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 18-13
88. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 10 34-07 17
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 16-09
89. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 10 34-03 16
Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 15-02
90. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 10 33-15 15
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 15-14
91. Wes Logan Springville, AL 10 33-12 14
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 18-13
92. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 10 33-09 13
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 18-04
93. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 10 33-08 12
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 17-08
94. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 10 33-07 11
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 18-02
95. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 10 33-04 10
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 14-08
96. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 10 32-09 9
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 15-15
97. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 10 32-08 8
Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 14-12
98. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 10 31-15 7
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 14-09
99. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 10 31-10 6
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 16-02
100. Blake Capps Muskogee, OK 9 30-07 5
Day 1: 4 12-11 Day 2: 5 17-12
101. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 05-14 $1,000.00
2 Logan Parks Auburn, AL 05-13 $1,000.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 99 499 1949-07
2 100 500 1945-09
------------------------------
199 999 3895-00
Evers Wins Qualifying Round, Wheeler Clinches Fourth AOY Title at MLF Bass Pro Tour
Wheeler Advances from Qualifying Round and clinches fourth BPT Angler of the Year title in five years, Evers catches 216-5 to win Qualifying Round and advance straight to Sunday’s Championship Round
BAY CITY, Mich. (Aug. 8, 2025) – After a scorching opening day on Saginaw Bay, the bite somehow got even better on Day 2 of Toyota Stage 7 Presented by Ranger Boats. Pro Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, led the way, cracking the 100-pound mark for the second day in a row and adding 105 pounds, 2 ounces on 43 scorable bass to bring his two-day total to 216-5.
Pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, put up a fight for the Qualifying Round win and the automatic Championship Round berth that comes with it, but Evers ultimately pulled away to top SCORETRACKER® by more than 17 pounds. His two-day tally is the third-highest Qualifying Round weight in BPT history, just 6-7 shy of Michael Neal’s record set in 2021 on Lake St. Clair.
Meanwhile, Harrison, Tennessee pro Jacob Wheeler was content to let others duke it out for the Qualifying Round win, but he solidified the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title. Wheeler’s fourth Bass Pro Tour points crown in the past five years earned him another $100,000 and put him in even more elite historical company.
Catching 88 bass over 2 pounds and more than 200 pounds total across two days would be any angler’s idea of fun. But the fact that Evers caught just about all those fish on a buzzbait made this Qualifying Round stand out amid his storied, 25-year touring career.
“It was a lot of fun,” Evers said. “I know I have never caught that many bass on a topwater two days in a row. It was incredible.”
Evers has wrestled in the past with deciding whether or not to push for a Qualifying Round win. While pros Bryan Thrift and Keith Carson – the anglers who bookended Evers on the leaderboard to start the day – opted not to keep the pedal to the floor, Evers thinks earning the Championship Round berth will be worth leaning on his best area again Friday.
For one thing, he noted that he hasn’t seen any competitors fishing nearby, so he thinks the area will get a chance to rest Saturday. He’s optimistic it might even reload with some fresh fish.
He also entered the season finale needing a high finish to climb from 43rd place in the points standings into the top 29, which would earn him a spot in the field for REDCREST 2026. He figured the best way to get there was to guarantee himself a place in the Top 10.
“Nobody else is in that area,” Evers said. “Those fish can rest tomorrow. And for me to make REDCREST, I have to be in the Top 10. So, to chance tomorrow and something not going right, I just thought that was the thing to do.”
The Top-10 finish will be Evers’ first in a regular-season BPT event since May of 2023 (although he finished fifth at Heavy Hitters this year). The 13-time winner said putting himself in contention to hoist another trophy feels good.
If he can sneak into the REDCREST field, it’ll feel even better. The 2019 REDCREST champ has only missed out on one championship event in his career (the 2010 Bassmaster Classic), and his top goal every season is to put himself in the championship field.
“It’s just something that through my whole career I’ve been able to hang my hat on,” Evers said. “I’ve made it with the exception of one time – and there’s a big story behind that. It’s part of my testimony. The one year I didn’t make it, I took a Catch a Dream kid fishing the exact week of the championship. And I’ve just always felt like that’s what I’m supposed to do is be at those championships. And I don’t want to not make one.”
Wheeler’s reign continues
By finishing the Qualifying Round in 11th place and earning a spot in the Knockout Round field, Wheeler ensured that he’ll finish ahead of runner-up pro Jake Lawrence of Paris, Tennessee, in the Angler of the Year standings. The triumph marks Wheeler’s fourth Bass Pro Tour AOY crown (to go along with titles in 2021, 2022 and 2024) and adds to his fast-growing case to be considered one of the best tournament anglers of all time. He’s now one of just five pros to win four or more tour-level Angler of the Year awards and the third ever to win four in a five-year span, joining Bass Fishing Hall of Famers Roland Martin and Kevin VanDam.
Wheeler has now made the Knockout Round in six of seven events on the season, and he has a chance to make it six Top 10s as well. He opened the season with a fifth-place finish at Lake Conroe, then finished sixth at the Harris Chain. He wound up second at both Stage 3 on Lake Murray and Stage 4 on Chickamauga and Nickajack before breaking through to win his ninth BPT event on Kentucky Lake.
Shortly after lines out, Wheeler reflected on his journey from an aspiring angler growing up in Indiana to the undisputed top pro in the world.
“This is what’s crazy to me: Starting where I started, with no boat and going up through the junior program, qualifying through the BFL All-American and winning the BFL All-American, I basically had a 1 in a million shot that there was a chance that I would be out here fishing professionally,” Wheeler said. “My parents didn’t have a whole lot; I didn’t have a whole lot. And so, to be in this position in this sport, I don’t take that lightly.”
The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on Saginaw Bay are:
1st: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 88 bass, 216-5
2nd: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 83 bass, 199-1
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 61 bass, 161-5
4th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 61 bass, 153-13
5th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 64 bass, 152-11
6th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 62 bass, 147-7
7th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 60 bass, 145-8
8th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 59 bass, 144-1
9th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 59 bass, 141-6
10th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 55 bass, 134-12
11th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 50 bass, 134-2
12th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 53 bass, 125-10
13th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 54 bass, 124-1
14th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 49 bass, 123-13
15th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 48 bass, 121-11
16th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 48 bass, 119-3
17th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 46 bass, 118-13
18th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 44 bass, 117-2
19th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 46 bass, 115-13
20th: Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, 49 bass, 115-5
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 1,309 scorable bass weighing 3,219 pounds, 4 ounces caught by the 66 pros on Friday.
Pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, earned Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, catching a 4-pound, 8-ounce largemouth on a frog in Period 2 to earn the prize. Berkley awards $1,000 each day to the angler that weighs in the heaviest bass.
Hosted by Go Great Lake Bay and the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the four-day event features 66 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $150,000 top prize, a share of the $6.49 million season purse, and valuable AOY points in hopes of qualifying for the Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, Evers will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 19 anglers compete to finish in the top nine and join Evers in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.
Anglers will arrive each morning at 5:15 a.m. ET to the Golson Boat Launch, located at 1598 N. Johnson St. in Bay City, Michigan. The Bass Pro Tour trailering policy has been enacted for this event, so anglers will depart the Golson Boat Launch each morning at 6:15 a.m. to one of nine optional launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to the Golson Boat Launch each evening, following the end of competition at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and Rumble.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9-10, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Wenonah Park at 103 Center Ave., in Bay City for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day. The event also includes a meet and greet with Paw Patrol's Skye and Marshall, a youth fishing derby and a casting contest.
The Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.
Television coverage of the Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 15 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
McKinney unlocks the right cadence to lead Day 1 at St. Clair
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. –— In his first three years as a Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series angler, Trey McKinney has come to realize a northern smallmouth bass is smarter than a southern largemouth. On Day 1 of the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair, McKinney found the right cadence to trick five big brown fish into biting.
The 20-year-old phenom from Carbondale, Ill., leads the 101 Elite Series field with 24 pounds, 11 ounces, anchoring his bag with a 5-10 smallmouth. McKinney’s lead over second-place Matt Robertson is just 11-ounce while Will Davis Jr. trails by 1-8.
“I’ve never been nervous for a tournament, but I was nervous for this one,” McKinney said. “I think the main thing will be staying consistent on finding new areas as the days go on.”
Despite reports of a tougher than usual bite, Lake St. Clair once again proved why it is one of the best smallmouth lakes in the country. Forty-four anglers landed limits of 20 pounds or better on Day 1 and 100 anglers landed a five-bass limit. Two pounds separates the leader from 16th-place Pat Schlapper.
To prepare for this tournament, the 2024 Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year spent several days on Lake Michigan. While Lake St. Clair and Lake Michigan are vastly different fisheries, McKinney has learned smallmouth have the same tendencies no matter which body of water they are in.
That realization has helped the young angler quickly get a grip on northern fisheries.
“Smallmouth are smallmouth. They have the same instincts,” he explained. “A lot of it is cadence. They are sight feeders. Everyone says largemouth are smarter, but I think smallmouth are smarter. When you present your bait, it has to look so natural for a big one to eat it. How you present the bait to them is the difference between them eating it and bumping it.”
McKinney’s morning started off with a bang, landing a 4-pounder right off the bat and then the 5-10 smallmouth. He followed that with a 4-12 before moving around and filling out his bag by noon. From there, he went to practice, landing several 4-8’s that didn’t help before calling it quits for the day.
“To compete in this tournament, you have to have all smallmouth over 4 pounds,” McKinney remarked.
Outside of his morning area, McKinney stayed on his trolling motor looking for a specific bottom composition. A mix of tall and short grasses, combined with sand, has been the best combination for him so far. Three baits produced his best bites.
“As long as the bottom looks right with the grass and the sand, I’ll keep going,” he said.
While the way he is fishing can be inconsistent, McKinney caught enough fish on Day 1 to feel confident about his chances moving forward. His goal is to catch as many bass over 4 1/2 pounds as he can the next three days.
“If I can catch 22 1/2 pounds from here on out, I still have a shot,” he said.
Robertson, meanwhile, anchored his 24-pound Day 1 limit with a 5-14 smallmouth, the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day. The Kuttawa, Ky., pro opened the morning by landing 17 pounds before moving to an area he felt had better quality bass and making several upgrades using two different baits.
“I took a chance and tried to get two or three big ones the rest of the day,” Robertson said. “It was good enough and I’m going to do it all day tomorrow.”
Two different baits produced his weight, but one bait has been key to getting his bigger bites in his best area.
“It is a day-by-day thing, one area is definitely keyed in on one bait,” he explained. “It is a little different from what most people are fishing. So, I mean, that deal I’ve got it dialed.”
Davis Jr., meanwhile, caught the majority of his 23-3 in an hour flurry around mid-morning. Around 9:30 a.m., he drifted through an area and landed two 4-pounders before boating a 5-8 and a 5-4 on back-to-back casts. He landed one more 4-pounder before the bite died.
“That was it,” he said.
A Big Bite Baits Thresher Worm on a drop shot and a Big Bite Jerk Minnow on a Davis Bait Company jighead were his best producers. Late in the day, the Sylacauga, Ala., native said he found a bait that better quality smallmouth would bite and lost two good ones before coming to weigh-in.
McKinney leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 690 points followed by Canadian pro Chris Johnston with 662 points. Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat is third with 651 points followed by Kyoya Fujita in fourth with 646 points and Davis Jr. in fifth with 646 points. Patrick Walters, Taku Ito, Bill Lowen, Shane LeHew and Paul Marks round out the Top 10.
The full field will launch from Brandenburg Park beginning at 7 a.m. and return for weigh-in at 3:10 p.m. The Top 50 anglers after the Day 2 weigh-in will advance to Semifinal Saturday before the Top 10 anglers compete on Championship Sunday.
Bassmaster LIVE will run from 8 a.m. ET until 3 p.m. on Bassmaster.com. Roku will carry coverage on Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Noon to 3 p.m. Coverage on Saturday and Sunday will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com from Noon to 3 p.m.
The Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair is being hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission.
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, mpascal@
2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair 8/7-8/10
Lake St. Clair, Macomb County MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 5 24-11 104
Day 1: 5 24-11
2. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 5 24-00 103 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 24-00
3. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 5 23-03 102
Day 1: 5 23-03
4. Dakota Ebare Brookeland, TX 5 23-01 101
Day 1: 5 23-01
5. Easton Fothergill Grand Rapids , MN 5 22-14 100
Day 1: 5 22-14
5. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 5 22-14 100
Day 1: 5 22-14
7. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 5 22-13 98
Day 1: 5 22-13
7. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 5 22-13 98
Day 1: 5 22-13
9. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 5 22-07 96
Day 1: 5 22-07
10. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 5 22-06 95
Day 1: 5 22-06
11. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 5 22-04 94
Day 1: 5 22-04
12. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 5 22-02 93
Day 1: 5 22-02
13. Tucker Smith Birmingham, AL 5 21-15 92
Day 1: 5 21-15
14. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 5 21-14 91
Day 1: 5 21-14
15. Seth Feider Elko New Market, MN 5 21-12 90
Day 1: 5 21-12
16. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 5 21-11 89
Day 1: 5 21-11
17. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 5 21-08 88
Day 1: 5 21-08
18. Chris Zaldain Boyd, TX 5 21-07 87
Day 1: 5 21-07
19. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 5 21-06 86
Day 1: 5 21-06
19. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 5 21-06 86
Day 1: 5 21-06
21. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 5 21-05 84
Day 1: 5 21-05
21. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 5 21-05 84
Day 1: 5 21-05
23. Timothy Dube Nashua , NH 5 21-03 82
Day 1: 5 21-03
23. Emil Wagner Marietta, GA 5 21-03 82
Day 1: 5 21-03
25. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 5 21-01 80
Day 1: 5 21-01
25. Cole Sands Johnson City, TN 5 21-01 80
Day 1: 5 21-01
27. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 5 21-01 78
Day 1: 5 21-01
28. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 5 20-15 77
Day 1: 5 20-15
29. John Garrett Union City, TN 5 20-12 76
Day 1: 5 20-12
29. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 20-12 76
Day 1: 5 20-12
31. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 5 20-11 74
Day 1: 5 20-11
31. Cody Meyer Eagle, ID 5 20-11 74
Day 1: 5 20-11
33. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 5 20-10 72
Day 1: 5 20-10
33. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 5 20-10 72
Day 1: 5 20-10
35. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 5 20-08 70
Day 1: 5 20-08
36. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 5 20-07 69
Day 1: 5 20-07
37. Andrew Loberg Guntersville, AL 5 20-06 68
Day 1: 5 20-06
38. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 5 20-04 67
Day 1: 5 20-04
39. John Cox Debary, FL 5 20-02 66
Day 1: 5 20-02
39. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 5 20-02 66
Day 1: 5 20-02
39. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 5 20-02 66
Day 1: 5 20-02
42. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 5 20-01 63
Day 1: 5 20-01
42. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 5 20-01 63
Day 1: 5 20-01
44. Kyle Welcher Valley, AL 5 20-00 61
Day 1: 5 20-00
45. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 5 19-15 60
Day 1: 5 19-15
45. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 5 19-15 60
Day 1: 5 19-15
47. Cody Huff Ava, MO 5 19-14 58
Day 1: 5 19-14
48. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 5 19-13 57
Day 1: 5 19-13
48. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 5 19-13 57
Day 1: 5 19-13
50. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 5 19-12 55
Day 1: 5 19-12
51. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 5 19-10 54
Day 1: 5 19-10
51. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 5 19-10 54
Day 1: 5 19-10
53. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 5 19-07 52
Day 1: 5 19-07
53. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 5 19-07 52
Day 1: 5 19-07
53. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 5 19-07 52
Day 1: 5 19-07
56. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 5 19-06 49
Day 1: 5 19-06
56. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 5 19-06 49
Day 1: 5 19-06
58. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 5 19-05 47
Day 1: 5 19-05
59. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 5 19-02 46
Day 1: 5 19-02
59. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 5 19-02 46
Day 1: 5 19-02
61. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 5 19-01 0
Day 1: 5 19-01
61. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 5 19-01 44
Day 1: 5 19-01
63. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 5 18-14 42
Day 1: 5 18-14
63. Cliff Pace Ovett, MS 5 18-14 42
Day 1: 5 18-14
65. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 5 18-13 40
Day 1: 5 18-13
66. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 5 18-12 39
Day 1: 5 18-12
67. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 5 18-09 38
Day 1: 5 18-09
67. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 5 18-09 38
Day 1: 5 18-09
69. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 5 18-06 36
Day 1: 5 18-06
69. Bryan New Leesville, SC 5 18-06 36
Day 1: 5 18-06
69. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 5 18-06 36
Day 1: 5 18-06
72. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 18-05 33
Day 1: 5 18-05
73. Beau Browning Hot Springs National Pa 5 18-04 32
Day 1: 5 18-04
73. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 5 18-04 32
Day 1: 5 18-04
75. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 5 18-03 30
Day 1: 5 18-03
75. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 5 18-03 30
Day 1: 5 18-03
75. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 5 18-03 30
Day 1: 5 18-03
78. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 5 18-01 27
Day 1: 5 18-01
79. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 5 17-14 26
Day 1: 5 17-14
79. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 5 17-14 26
Day 1: 5 17-14
81. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 5 17-12 24
Day 1: 5 17-12
81. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 5 17-12 24
Day 1: 5 17-12
83. Ben Milliken Omaha, NE 5 17-10 22
Day 1: 5 17-10
84. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 5 17-09 21
Day 1: 5 17-09
85. Randy Howell Guntersville, AL 5 17-08 20
Day 1: 5 17-08
86. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 5 17-06 19
Day 1: 5 17-06
87. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 5 17-05 18
Day 1: 5 17-05
88. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 5 17-03 17
Day 1: 5 17-03
89. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 5 16-10 16
Day 1: 5 16-10
90. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 5 16-07 15
Day 1: 5 16-07
90. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 5 16-07 15
Day 1: 5 16-07
92. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 5 16-06 13
Day 1: 5 16-06
93. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 5 16-00 12
Day 1: 5 16-00
94. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 5 15-13 11
Day 1: 5 15-13
95. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 5 15-10 10
Day 1: 5 15-10
96. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 5 15-08 9
Day 1: 5 15-08
97. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 5 15-05 8
Day 1: 5 15-05
97. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 5 15-05 8
Day 1: 5 15-05
99. Wes Logan Springville, AL 5 14-15 6
Day 1: 5 14-15
99. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 5 14-15 6
Day 1: 5 14-15
101. Blake Capps Muskogee, OK 4 12-11 4
Day 1: 4 12-11
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 05-14 $1,000.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 100 504 1967-11
------------------------------
100 504 1967-11
Bryan Thrift Leads Early at MLF Bass Pro Tour Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats
North Carolina pro catches 48 bass weighing 127 pounds, 11 ounces to grab early lead, six pros break 90-pound mark
BAY CITY, Mich. (Aug. 7, 2025) – The vast waters of Saginaw Bay yielded a little bit of everything on Day 1 at Toyota Stage 7 Presented by Ranger Boats. While much of the Bass Pro Tour field power fished for largemouth, some used finesse tactics to catch smallmouth and a few combined both approaches during Thursday’s opening day of qualifying.
All of the above tactics produced bunches of bass. Pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, led the way, boating 48 scorable bass for 127 pounds, 11 ounces. One of four pros to top the 100-pound mark on the day, he leads Talala, Oklahoma’s Edwin Evers by 16-9. Thrift’s banner day saw him catch the most scorable bass, amass the most weight and tie for Berkley Big Bass honors with a 4-11 largemouth.
“I didn’t expect it to be that good,” Thrift said. “I thought I could catch some bass, but I never thought I could catch them that good.”
Meanwhile, it took nearly 55 pounds to claim a spot above the 20th-place elimination line. The field as a whole wrangled 1,278 scorable bass totaling more than 3,100 pounds – easily the highest totals for a competition day during the 2025 season.
While Thrift lives more than 700 miles away from Saginaw Bay, he’s clearly taken a liking to this portion of Lake Huron. The North Carolina native made the Championship Round when the Bass Pro Tour first visited the fishery in 2023, finishing ninth. Even though that event was contested with a five-fish limit as opposed to the current every-fish-counts format, Thrift was able to pick up where he left off, catching largemouth around isolated offshore grass patches.
Thrift thinks the featureless nature of the inner bay aligns with his wheelhouse because it allows him to idle and scan for sneaky offshore spots, which he’s long been one of the best at maximizing.
“It’s pretty shallow and featureless, not a lot of contours, and I can spend time looking for stuff with that Humminbird Side Imaging and find some of that isolated structure,” he said. “Luckily, it’s holding a few largemouth.”
Thrift started Day 1 on a spot that produced for him in 2023, then ran a few other areas that set up the same way. Whereas he only got about 10 to 12 scorable bites per day two years ago, Thrift found the grass patches teeming with largemouth. He attributes that to the low water level, theorizing that it prompted some of the bass to move from the ample emergent vegetation that lines the bay to deeper habitat.
“I’ve got to imagine that’s what put as many fish out there this time versus last time we were here,” he said. “Last time we were here, I was only catching 10 or 12 per day, but it was a lot of 3-pounders, 3½-pounders. And today, it was just a lot of 2½ to 2-15s.”
As good as Thrift’s opening day was, he doesn’t believe he’s found the winning formula just yet. He caught all of his weight off four spots Thursday, and he doubts they can hold up across four days of competition. He’s also concerned that the wind, which is forecast to blow harder each day, could hurt his bite. As a result, he’s still not sure whether he’ll use the second day of qualifying to scout for new spots or push to win the Qualifying Round, thus earning an automatic trip to Championship Sunday. Ideally, he’d like to do both.
“I’m going to let the wind decide what I do,” Thrift said. “I would like to go practice. I’d also like to win the round, make that guaranteed Championship berth. But I know I don’t have enough fish for four days, for sure. There’s absolutely no way. I don’t see how I can keep catching that many bass off of it. So, I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I’m going to play it by ear.”
The top 20 pros in after Day 1 on Saginaw Bay are:
1st: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 48 bass, 127-11
2nd: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 45 bass, 111-3
3rd: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 44 bass, 109-13
4th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 43 bass, 100-4
5th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 35 bass, 94-0
6th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 39 bass, 93-8
7th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 34 bass, 87-2
8th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 30 bass, 71-4
9th: Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 30 bass, 70-13
10th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 27 bass, 69-12
11th: Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, 29 bass, 69-4
12th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 28 bass, 68-13
13th: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 23 bass, 65-13
14th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 23 bass, 64-10
15th: Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., 27 bass, 64-5
16th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 24 bass, 59-15
17th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 24 bass, 58-11
18th: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 22 bass, 58-8
19th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 24 bass, 57-8
20th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 22 bass, 54-15
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 1,278 bass caught weighing 3,156 pounds, 10 ounces, by the 66 Bass Pro Tour anglers on Thursday. Both the number of bass caught and the total weight were new season-high totals for the circuit.
Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was a four-way tie – with two different fish species. Tournament leader Bryan Thrift and pro Marshall Robinson both weighed in largemouth bass totaling 4 pounds, 11 ounces, while pros Mark Daniels Jr. and Nick LeBrun both weighed in 4-pound, 11-ounce smallmouth bass to each earn a share of the award. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.
Hosted by Go Great Lake Bay and the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the four-day event features 66 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $150,000 top prize, a share of the $6.49 million season purse, and valuable AOY points in hopes of qualifying for the Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The full field of anglers compete in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the pro with the heaviest two-day total will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers that finish 2nd through 20th will advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.
Anglers will arrive each morning at 5:15 a.m. ET to the Golson Boat Launch, located at 1598 N. Johnson St. in Bay City, Michigan. The Bass Pro Tour trailering policy has been enacted for this event, so anglers will depart the Golson Boat Launch each morning at 6:15 a.m. to one of nine optional launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to the Golson Boat Launch each evening, following the end of competition at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and Rumble.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9-10, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Wenonah Park at 103 Center Ave., in Bay City for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day. The event also includes a meet and greet with Paw Patrol's Skye and Marshall, a youth fishing derby and a casting contest.
The Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.
Television coverage of the Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 15 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Newport® Launches NT600: Redefines Electric Outboard Performance
Stockton, CA – August 7, 2025 – Newport proudly announces the official launch of its most powerful and technologically advanced system to date: the NT600 Electric Outboard Motor, a 6-horsepower equivalent electric outboard designed for serious anglers and boaters. Purpose-built to pair seamlessly with the brand-new 48V LoPRO Lithium Battery, this high-performance duo represents the latest evolution in Newport’s pursuit of clean, quiet, and intelligent marine power.
The NT600 is the shining star of Newport’s 2025 new product introductions, delivering best-in-class performance with GPS-integrated readouts on its full color screen, Bluetooth connectivity, and a high-efficiency brushless motor, all in a compact, portable package. It’s a system made for anglers who demand power without the noise, maintenance, or emissions of gas.
“This is a huge milestone for us,” said Howie Strech, Brand Marketing Manager at Newport. “The NT600 is more than just our most powerful motor, it’s a showcase of Newport’s ability to push the envelope in the electrification of small fishing vessels. From the intuitive color display to the built-in GPS and seamless integration with our LoPRO battery platform, this is a step into the future of angling.”
At the core of the system is the newly released 48V70Ah LoPRO Lithium Battery, a sleek, lightweight, low-profile powerhouse built specifically to maximize the NT600’s performance. Offering advanced energy density and intelligent power management in a compact form factor, the LoPRO simplifies 48V systems for anglers seeking plug-and-play efficiency.
“We didn’t just want to release a bigger battery, we wanted to redefine what a 48V system could look and feel like,” said Jason Kardas, Head of Product Development at Newport. “The LoPRO is the result of extensive R&D and field testing. It’s compact, powerful, and built to work in perfect harmony with the NT600. Together, they offer the ultimate electric boating experience.”
Together, the NT600 and LoPRO battery exemplify Newport’s unwavering focus on innovation, field-tested functionality, and angler-first design. This launch reaffirms Newport’s leadership in electric marine propulsion, opening new possibilities for shallow-water access, silent stealth fishing, and all-day confidence on big water.
About Newport
Newport is the leading innovator in next-generation electric small boat systems, providing anglers with powerful, reliable, and hassle-free solutions for over a decade. From cutting-edge electric motors and high-performance lithium batteries to durable, purpose-built boats, Newport delivers a complete system designed for seamless integration and peak performance on the water. Built for anglers who demand efficiency and reliability, Newport eliminates the noise, maintenance, and hassle of traditional setups so you can focus on what matters. The way forward is electric. Visit www.newportvessels.com.
Fishing Clash Named Title Sponsor of MLF Team Series
BENTON, Ky. (Aug. 7, 2025) – Major League Fishing (MLF), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced today that Fishing Clash, one of the world’s most popular mobile fishing games, has signed on as title sponsor of the MLF Team Series. Now officially named the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, the innovative two-man competition will kick off the 2025 season August 24-29, in Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast.
Fishing Clash has been a proud MLF partner since 2023 and now deepens its investment by aligning with one of the league’s most dynamic and exciting series.
“We’re proud to continue our collaboration with Major League Fishing – a partnership that not only deepens our engagement with the angling community but also strengthens Fishing Clash’s presence in the U.S.,” said Andrzej Ilczuk, CEO of Ten Square Games. “Our previous campaigns with MLF led to a significant increase in installs and player engagement, confirming that MLF’s passionate fan base aligns perfectly with our audience. Becoming Title Sponsor of the Team Series is a natural next step – one that allows us to authentically connect with millions of fishing enthusiasts and bring the sport to life across digital and real-world experiences.”
The MLF Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops will feature four Cup events in 2025 – the Challenge, Heritage, Patriot, and Summit Cups – with 12 two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour anglers competing for a share of $560,000 in prize money.
Each six-day event will be streamed live on MLFNOW!®, with every catch, cast and strategic decision unfolding in real-time as teams break down unfamiliar waters and adapt together on the fly. Televised coverage of each event will air as six original two-hour episodes on the Outdoor Channel beginning in Q1 of 2026.
The 2025 season will kick off with the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup, held August 24–29 in Port Huron, Michigan – a premier smallmouth destination nestled on the shores of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River.
Fans can follow the action live on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and Rumble, with hosts Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney breaking down every minute of competition on MLFNOW!®.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Team Series include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, NITRO Boats, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Smokey Mountain Caffeinated Pouches, Star brite, Toyota, YETI and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
About Fishing Clash
Fishing Clash was launched in October 2017 and remains one of the most popular fishing titles on mobile. Featuring realistic fishing spots from around the globe, Fishing Clash offers a true-to-life multiplayer simulation experience that attracts millions of players.
The game was developed by Ten Square Games – one of the leading developers of free-to-play mobile games. The company was founded in 2011 in Wrocław, Poland, and has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2018. The TSG Group includes the Rortos studio in Verona. Its portfolio features Fishing Clash – one of the world’s top 3D fishing games, Hunting Clash – a realistic hunting simulator, Real Flight Simulator, and the rapidly growing Wings of Heroes. On July 3, 2025, the Group released its latest global title – Trophy Hunter . With a team of around 300 professionals, TSG consistently raises the bar in mobile gaming, delivering immersive and realistic experiences to millions of players worldwide.
BFHOF has awarded scholarships under its Fishery Management Scholarship
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For Immediate Release – 8.6.25 – For the third consecutive year, the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (BFHOF) has awarded scholarships under its Fishery Management Scholarship Program. This program aims to provide financial support and encouragement to high school and college bass anglers pursuing careers in fields that will directly contribute to healthy fisheries, essential access, and clean rivers, lakes and reservoirs, consistent with the BFHOF’s mission.
The eight selected applicants will each receive $2,500 to pursue their studies. The recipients include:
- Reagan Davis -- Carleton University
- Cole Hofstadt -- Bemidji State University
- Noah Lieberman -- Missouri State University
- Colby Munrow -- Arkansas Tech University
- Kate Norrid -- Auburn University
- Garrett Page -- South Georgia State College
- Riley Schuldt -- University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
- Alexa Wasankari -- Clemson University
“The response to this program continues to be exceptional,” said incoming BFHOF Board President Bruce Stanton. “We have a dedicated Conservation/Education Committee, led by Board Member and BFHOF inductee Gene Gilliland, and they gave great care in choosing the recipients. Based on the results achieved by previous years’ grantees, and their long-term career goals, we know that our supporters made a difference that aligns perfectly with the Hall’s mission of celebrating, promoting, and preserving bass fishing. Healthy fisheries are a prerequisite for a healthy sport.”
The awardees consist of high school seniors committed to enrolling in a four-year college or university program, as well as undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in a four-year college, university, or accredited graduate program with a declared or planned major in biology, aquatic ecology, fisheries, marine science, or a closely related natural resources field.
“Every year we wonder whether we’ll get the same high caliber of applications that we got before,” Gilliland said. “And every year our independent panel of distinguished individuals involved in fishery management across the U.S. and Canada is impressed with the consistency and the passion of these young people.”
Gilliland also thanked the panel members, who include: Phil Morlock, Director of Government Affairs for the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association; Chris Horton, Senior Director of Fisheries Policy for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation; Ross Self, Chief of Inland Fisheries for the South Carolina DNR; and Dr. Mark Rogers, Tennessee Cooperative Fishery Research Unit Leader at Tennessee Tech University.
“As I’ve said before, the future of our sport, our fisheries and this program remain bright. In fact, they’ve never been brighter,” Gilliland added.
Financial support for this program is made possible by the support the Hall receives from past inductees, professional anglers competing on the B.A.S.S and MLF tournament trails, bass anglers nationwide who support the Hall’s annual online auctions, and many leading companies involved in the bass fishing industry.
The Hall will announce details and application requirements for the 2026 Fishery Management Scholarship program later this year.
The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame will honor the Class of 2025 at its annual induction ceremony on Sept. 25 at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium, adjacent to the Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, Mo. Randy Hopper, Craig Lamb and William Shakespeare Jr. will be inducted.
###
About the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (BFHOF)
Celebrating its 25th year, the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization led by a volunteer board of directors, dedicated to celebrating, promoting, and preserving the sport of bass fishing. The Hall’s inductees and historical memorabilia are showcased in Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. For more information about the road to induction, the Hall’s impact on the community, or to get involved, visit www.BassFishingHOF.com.
or contact BFHOF executive director Barbara Bowman at [email protected].
Bill Dance Giant Bass Open expands to offer anglers all over the country chances at cash and prizes
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — After the tremendous success of their Bill Dance Giant Bass Open tournament series in Tennessee the past two years, the management team of the Bill Dance Giant Bass Open have unveiled a new event that’s open to anglers of all ages, in all regions of the country.
The Bill Dance Nationwide Giant Bass Open is a year-long tournament with a format that’ll make every big bass you catch a little more important.
Maybe a lot more important.
“Whether you’re fishing out of a boat, a kayak or off the bank, you could be reeling in giant cash and prizes through the Bill Dance Nationwide Giant Bass Open,” said Dance, who’s been a superstar in the fishing industry for more than a half-century. “It’s only $44.99 for an entire year — a full year. Think about that. You’ll spend more than that taking your family out for a movie in one night.”
Here’s how the tournament works:
Anglers can sign up by visiting the website FishingChaos.com, creating a profile, and paying the $44.99 entry fee for the region of their choice and then decide whether to fish in the length division or weight division. When they catch a bass that meets the criteria for their region, they’ll earn membership into the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club.
Members will receive a unique commemorative coin that’s bound to be the envy of trophy cases everywhere, plus a window decal that identifies them as a member of the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club. Winners from each region and division will receive cash prizes and all additional anglers that joined the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club each month will go into that month’s drawing for even more cash and prizes. Monthly prizes and payout will be determined by the number of nationwide entrants and will eventually include a 21-foot fiberglass bass boat and a Ford F-250 truck given away at the end of the year.
Every cast you make — for a solid year from your entry date — will literally be part of its own tournament.
“The beauty of the format is that every big fish counts,” said Shane Frazier, CEO of the Giant Bass Open organization that has grown by leaps and bounds since the first two-day tournament was held in October 2023. “We’ve all been practicing for tournaments and caught a big fish and thought, ‘Man, that one would have really helped me on tournament day.’ Now, it will.
“You can even be fishing a tournament, catch a big fish and get double credit for it. You can win money in the tournament you’re fishing and also enter your catch in the Giant Bass Open. We like to say, it makes every cast count for the next 365 days after you sign up. It is literally a 24/7/365 scenario.”
The tournament is only open to public waters, and the criteria is different for each of the five regions to join the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club:
Central — Length 21 inches; Weight 5 1/2 pounds
Northeast — Length 21 inches; Weight 5 1/2 pounds
Southeast — Length 22 inches; Weight 7 pounds
West — Length 21 inches; Weight 5 1/2 pounds
Nationwide/Big 3 (California, Florida, Texas) — Length 24 inches; Weight 9 pounds.
In each division, all fish entered with a minimum length of 18 inches or minimum weight of 4 pounds gives anglers an additional chance at the year-end drawing, but they will not provide entrance into the Bill Dance Big Bass Club. The year-end prizes will be determined by the number of nationwide entrants and could include a Ford F-250 truck and a 21-foot fiberglass bass boat.
“The length element has become such a big thing, especially with kayak anglers,” Frazier said. “The Fishing Chaos site has always allowed anglers to enter fish based on length, but I think we are the first tournament to accept weight on Fishing Chaos. I think it’s great to be able to offer both.”
Anglers must decide when they enroll which division — weight or length — they’d like to fish. Then they can consult the rules section at Fishing Chaos to learn the acceptable bump boards for measuring fish and the preferred digital scales for weighing. A special code will be provided each month by Fishing Chaos and must be visible in each photo submission.
Entrants must also select the region they want to fish. But if they make a trip out of that region, they have the option of switching their membership to another region temporarily through the Fishing Chaos App.
No live bait is allowed, and participants must possess all required fishing permits and licenses. Top-level pros from the Bassmaster Elite Series, Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour and National Professional Fishing League are eligible to fish, but not eligible for the end-of-the-year grand prizes.
Once the number of nationwide entrants reaches 50,000, a special winner’s-only, no-entry fee Championship tournament will be held on a Bill Dance Signature Lake in Tennessee for the Top 10 anglers from every state who submit the five longest fish and the five heaviest fish for the year. The tournament will have a minimum payout of $100,000 — and like the year-end drawings, top-level pros will not be eligible for the event.
“We wanted to make fishing fun, affordable and accessible, and we believe we have accomplished all of these things with this exciting new format” said Dance, who beams with excitement anytime he talks about the new venture. “Once you join, every cast counts — whether you’re fishing from a boat or from the bank, day or night, you’re entered in a tournament that could lead to a win anytime you have a bait in the water.
“That’s exciting to me — and I truly believe it’ll be exciting to anglers everywhere.”
Frazier believes the addition of the nationwide tournament will also increase angler participation in the Bill Dance Giant Bass Open circuit in Tennessee. Those tournaments, which are held on Bill Dance Signature Lakes, feature hourly weigh-ins with more than 230 cash prizes over the course of each two-day event in the adult and youth divisions.
The tournaments have experienced incredible growth in just one year. 2024 was the inaugural season where they had more than 1,700 anglers from 26 states comes and fish. Through two-thirds of the 2025 season they have seen a 24% growth YoY.
For information about the big-fish tournaments being held on Bill Dance Signature Lakes, visit giantbassopen.com. For more information on the new nationwide format, visit gbonationwide.com.
Five simple steps to win!
- Sign up at FishingChaos.com and pay your membership fee of $44.99 (good for 12 months).
- Choose the region of the country you’ll be fishing and whether you want to compete in the length or weight division.
- Go fishing! A lot!
- When you catch a bass that meets the criteria for your region, take a photo following the instructions given by Fishing Chaos.
- Wait to be notified at the end of the month to see if you’ve won.
Scroggins Eyes REDCREST Qualification at Saginaw Bay
By Walker Smith, Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships
Terry “Big Show” Scroggins, the gregarious Florida native and Team Toyota pro, is gearing up for a pivotal week at Toyota Stage 7 of the Bass Pro Tour presented by Ranger Boats on Saginaw Bay. With crucial Angler of the Year points on the line, Scroggins is on a mission to secure his spot in REDCREST 2026.
For a veteran angler whose career has spanned two decades, this tournament feels like a homecoming, despite being roughly 1,200 miles from his Florida roots. Saginaw Bay’s grass-filled shallow waters mirror the Florida fisheries Scroggins has long mastered, setting the stage for a potential “Big Show” performance.
“This place is slap-full of largemouth bass; the population is just outstanding,” Scroggins said. “In this every-fish-counts format, I think most anglers will target them because of the sheer quantity that lives here.”
Saginaw Bay, a sprawling arm of Lake Huron, is a fishery that has quickly earned its status among anglers. Its vast expanse—over 1,100 square miles—hosts a robust largemouth population nestled in dense vegetation, reminiscent of Florida’s famed Lake Okeechobee. Scroggins, a shallow-water specialist with a knack for dissecting grass, sees this as his kind of playground.
“This fishery really reminds me of Okeechobee, which may sound strange but it’s the truth,” he said. “The biggest difference, however, is that this place has a bunch of really big rocks in it which is kinda scary. It can get a little sketchy because these big boulders are right under the surface now due to the low water. So, we’re all going to have to be extra careful when running from spot to spot.”
The low water levels, currently several feet below normal, add a layer of complexity to the tournament. The reduced depth has pulled some of the bay’s abundant grass—eel grass, pepper grass and patches of milfoil—out of play, making the largemouth bite “a bit more finicky,” according to Scroggins.
His strategy? Focus on isolated cover that concentrates fish.
“The water is low right now which does make the largemouth bite a little tougher,” he explained. “They love to live in all the grass and reeds here, but the low water takes some of that out of the equation. So I’m looking for isolated areas that will concentrate them a bit more.”
Scroggins’ approach aligns perfectly with his Florida-honed skill set. Known for his prowess in shallow, vegetation-heavy environments, he’s built an outstanding career on flipping, chatter baiting, punching and frogging through thick cover. Scroggins has proven he can “hit a lick” when conditions suit his style.
“I’ve been seeing quite a bit of eel grass, pepper grass and a little milfoil mixed in,” Scroggins noted. “I doubt I’ll fish over three feet deep. That’s right up my alley, so I’m looking forward to a really fun tournament. It’s a special fishery because the smallmouth here are big but not as plentiful, so I don’t think you’ll see them targeted as much.”
For Scroggins, the stakes are high. Sitting near the REDCREST qualification line, a strong finish is critical to punching his ticket to the 2026 championship. His practice sessions have been promising, with a focus on covering water to eliminate unproductive areas.
“I need to have a good one here to qualify for REDCREST and I had a pretty good practice,” he said. “I’m covering a whole bunch of water, trying to eliminate as much dead water as possible.”
Scroggins’ game plan is classic “Big Show”: keep the trolling motor down, work through shallow grass beds and throw a variety of baits to trigger bites. He’s likely to lean on techniques like flipping soft plastics, throwing vibrating jigs or buzzing a frog across matted vegetation—tactics that have served him well in Florida fisheries like the St. Johns River and the Kissimmee Chain over the years. His ability to read grass and adapt to changing conditions, honed over decades of fishing Florida’s diverse waters, could give him an edge in Saginaw Bay’s challenging environment.
The low water and hazardous rocks add a navigational challenge, but Scroggins is no stranger to sketchy conditions. His resilience is legendary, whether it’s battling cold fronts, mechanical issues or the unpredictable nature of bass.
Beyond the competition, Scroggins embodies the sacred camaraderie of professional fishing. Known for helping competitors with mechanical issues or sharing a batch of pizzas with the service crew, he’s a fan favorite who brings a bit of Southern hospitality to every event. His love for the sport extends off the water, where he enjoys grilling, meticulously tinkering with custom baits and blasting old-school country music.
As Saginaw Bay hosts its second Bass Pro Tour event, fans can expect an electric atmosphere. For Scroggins, though, the focus is singular: catch enough largemouth to climb the leaderboard and secure his REDCREST spot.
Fresh off Tackle Warehouse Invitational, Massena Now Readies for MLF Toyota Series at St. Lawrence River
MASSENA, N.Y. (Aug. 5, 2025) –The Major League Fishing (MLF) Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats is set to visit Massena, New York, next week, Aug. 14-16, for the second event of the Northern division – the Toyota Series at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Suzuki Marine.
The three-day tournament, hosted by the Town of Massena, will feature a roster of the region’s best bass-fishing pros and co-anglers competing for a top prize of up to $100,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor plus $5,000 in the co-angler division.
With the smallmouth bass moving into their post-spawn patterns, anglers competing in the upcoming tournament at the St. Lawrence River should expect a deep-water showdown, according to recent Top-10 finisher and Tackle Warehouse Invitational pro Shaw Grigsby.
Grigsby, who just wrapped up a strong performance on the St. Lawrence during the Tackle Warehouse Invitational last week, said the river is shifting into a classic post-spawn phase and anglers would be wise to follow the fish out deep.
“When we were there, the fish were just finishing up spawning and were in transition,” Grigsby explained. “There were still some shallow, but a lot had already moved deep. As the days went on, that shallow bite faded fast.”
Now, with another week of summertime progression, Grigsby predicts most of the action during the Toyota Series stop will come from offshore zones – specifically, current seams, points and eddies in the river’s expansive main channel.
“The main channel has these little points and seams where current hits and rolls around structure. It creates these back eddies, and the fish love to sit in those seams where bait drifts right to them,” said Grigsby. “I think that’s going to be the deal – drop-shot rigs, Ned rigs, that kind of finesse approach in deep water.”
While a few competitors may manage to catch fish up shallow, Grigsby believes top finishers will be those who can stay dialed into the deeper bite.
“You can always catch some up shallow, but I don’t think that’ll hold up for a top-10 finish,” he said. “The guys who stick with the deep stuff are going to be the ones bringing in big bags every day.”
As for what it will take to win, Grigsby isn’t sugarcoating it.
“You better have over 20 pounds a day just to get a check,” he said. “To really compete, you’re looking at 23 to 26 pounds a day. The fishery is just that good – full of giants.”
Anglers will begin each day at 6 a.m. ET, launching from the Massena Intake Boat Launch at 1415 State Hwy 131 in Massena. Weigh-ins will take place at the same location, starting at 2 p.m. daily. Fans are invited to attend in person and can also stay connected by following the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily updates on MajorLeagueFishing.com.
In Toyota Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event, scaling up for every 20 boats over 160 and scaling down for every boat below 160. With a 160-boat field, pros fish for a top prize of up to $75,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of up to $100,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard plus $5,000 cash.
The 2025 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern and Southwestern – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the five divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2026. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2025 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 6-8 on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma, and is hosted by the City of Grove Convention & Tourism Bureau.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Register for the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley
SAN ANTONIO, TX (August 5, 2025) – The 2025-26 season will mark the Association of Collegiate Anglers’ 21st season of the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. The first event of this new season will be the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley. A major nationally televised, double points event, this no-entry-fee tournament will be contested at Kentucky Lake in Henry County and Paris, TN on September 20-21, 2025.
“Having just completed our historic 20th season as college fishing’s longest-running national tournament trail, we are excited for a new school year and season to begin,” said Wade Middleton, ACA Director and CarecoTV President. “Kentucky Lake has hosted numerous ACA events throughout the years, and we look forward to the 2025 installment of this renowned tournament.”
In 2024, the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley fielded an event record-breaking number of anglers. A total of close to 600 anglers from across the country traveled to Henry County and Paris, TN to compete.
The 2025 tournament will boast a total payout of well over $20,000 in prizes and contingencies. Anglers will also be competing for double points to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
The Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley is a two-day, big bass format event consisting of a total of seven weigh-in sessions. On the first day of tournament competition, there will be four weigh-in sessions, with each session paying out the Top 10 biggest bass for that hour. During Day 2, there will be three weigh-in sessions. The first two sessions will pay out the Top 10 biggest bass, and the final session of the day will award prizes to the Top 20.
On Day 2 of tournament competition, anglers will be permitted to use only Berkley baits. The Berkley baits only rule on Day 2 creates a lot of excitement and buzz amongst the anglers. The award-winning lineup of Berkley baits is comprised of hard baits and soft plastics that can catch prize winning Kentucky Lake bass on any cast. Multiple times in the past, the overall biggest bass of the event has been caught on Day 2 of tournament competition.
“Each year, we highly anticipate the start of a new season,” said Kyle Curry, ACA Managing Director. “With the new season comes the first opportunity for anglers to get on the water, as well as earn valuable points to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.”
The 2025 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley will be the first ACA double points event to count towards the 2025-26 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. 1st place will earn 1,750 points for their respective school. Teams will be eligible to earn points for their two highest-placing fish inside of the Top 150.
Follow this link to register.
Minocqua, Wisconsin Revealed as Second Stop of 2025 MLF Team Series
Hosted by the Minocqua Area Visitors Bureau, the Heritage Cup marks the second event of the 2025 MLF Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, which includes the Challenge, Heritage, Patriot, and Summit Cups, each featuring 12 two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour anglers competing for a share of $560,000 in prize money.
All six days of competition will be available to watch live on MLFNOW!®, offering fans a front-row seat to every hookset, decision and adjustment as teams explore new fisheries and adapt in real time. The final period of each day of competition will be broadcast live from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET on RFD-TV, and each event will also be featured in a series of six original, two-hour episodes set to premiere on Outdoor Channel in the first quarter of 2026.
The 12 teams competing in the Knighten Industries Heritage Cup were selected through an angler draft during Stage 5 of the Bass Pro Tour. The lineup features a mix of fan favorites and powerhouse duos, including standout pairings such as Jacob Wheeler & Mark Daniels Jr., Ott DeFoe & Andy Montgomery and Matt Becker & Spencer Shuffield.
The 12 teams that will compete in the Knighten Industries Heritage Cup in Minocqua, Sept. 14-19 are:
Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.
Team Ferguson:
Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La.
Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C.
Team StarTron
Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill.
Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C.
Team Fishing Clash:
Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla.
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash.
Team Lucas Oil:
James Elam, Tulsa, Okla.
Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La.
Team Knighten:
Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn.
Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark.
Team Kubota:
Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio
Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn.
Team O’Reilly:
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala.
Team 7Brew:
Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.
Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala.
Team BUBBA:
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn.
Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C.
Team Smokey Mountain:
Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla.
Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
Team B&W:
Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas
Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga.
A second draft will take place during Stage 7 of the Bass Pro Tour this week to determine teams for the Patriot Cup (Oct. 22–27) and Summit Cup (Nov. 16–21).
Fans can follow the action live on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and Rumble, with hosts Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney breaking down every minute of competition on MLFNOW!®.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Team Series include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, NITRO Boats, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Smokey Mountain Caffeinated Pouches, Star brite, Toyota, YETI and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on the MLF Team Series, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Major League Fishing, RFD-TV Join Forces to Bring Bass Fishing to National TV
MLF’s Team Series to Air Live on RFD-TV Beginning Aug. 24
BENTON, Ky. (Aug. 4, 2025) – In a landmark move for outdoor sports and Rural Media Group, Major League Fishing (MLF) and RFD-TV announced today an exclusive broadcast partnership that will bring live tournament coverage from the MLF Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops to a national television audience for the first time.
Starting Sunday, August 24, RFD-TV will air the final period of all 24 Team Series matches live – delivering the most intense, high-stakes moments of MLF competition straight into living rooms across the country. Final-period broadcasts will air from 2:30 to 5 p.m. ET, and unlike any other televised bass tournaments, the winner of each match will be crowned live as teams strive to survive and advance to the championship round. In addition, RFD-TV will kick off its coverage with a special full-day broadcast of Day 1 of the opening Team Series event of the season, the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup from Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast , airing live from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 24.
This partnership is more than just a programming decision. It’s a bold step forward for both organizations. It marks MLF’s first live presence on a linear television network since Emmy-winning announcer Joe Buck, baseball analyst Bob Brenly and Forrest L. Wood called the action live on FOX during the 1999 Ranger M1 Millennium, the first time a bass fishing tournament appeared live on linear TV. The historic Nov. 7, 1999, broadcast reeled in more than 2 million viewers. The 2025 MLF Team Series heralds Rural Media Group’s return to live sports broadcasting, building on a legacy that once included over 600 live rodeo events annually.
“This partnership is a major milestone for Major League Fishing and for the sport of professional bass fishing,” said Jim Wilburn, President of Sales for MLF. “Our fans will now be able to watch live tournament action unfold on a national broadcast television network. RFD-TV’s reach and commitment to rural and outdoor programming make them the perfect partner to help us bring the excitement of the Team Series to more households than ever before.”
Raquel Gottsch Koehler, Chief Marketing & Creative Officer and Co-Owner of RFD-TV, sees the partnership as part of a broader mission.
“This is about more than live sports. It’s about honoring tradition while embracing what’s next,” Koehler said. “At RFD-TV, we’ve always been committed to amplifying voices and stories that too often go unheard, and the story of professional bass fishing is one of grit, strategy and relentless passion. We’re extremely proud that RFD-TV will bring that story live to a national broadcast audience.”
The 2025 MLF Team Series is made up of four Cups – the Challenge Cup (Aug. 24–29), Heritage Cup (Sept. 14–19), Patriot Cup (Oct. 22–27), and Summit Cup (Nov. 16–21) – each featuring six action-packed matches with Bass Pro Tour anglers paired in two-man teams. Designed for television, the format delivers nonstop action, dramatic swings, and SCORETRACKER® leaderboard shakeups that make for compelling live viewing.
Each live broadcast will be produced by MLF’s award-winning production partner, Winnercomm, in HD and delivered to RFD-TV, ensuring the same standard of excellence fans have come to expect from MLFNOW!® livestream coverage. RFD-TV will hold exclusive linear broadcast rights during the live airing window, while fans can also stream the final periods live on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps, RFD-TV Now, Game & Fish TV, and Rumble. MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps, and Rumble will stream the entirety of each event. Post-produced episodes of the Team Series will continue to air on the Outdoor Channel, Discovery and Vice.
The agreement also includes a dynamic mix of promotional support from both partners, including tune-in spots across MLF digital and linear platforms, dedicated features on RFD-TV’s Market Day Report and Rural Evening News, and a one-hour “MLF 101” special airing from RFD-TV’s Nashville studios in August.
“This collaboration embodies what’s possible when tradition meets innovation,” Wilburn said. “We’re not just broadcasting bass fishing – we’re elevating the platform for anglers, sponsors and fans alike, and we’re doing it together.”
For complete details and updated information on the MLF Team Series, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
About RFD-TV
Launched in 2000, RFD-TV is the flagship television network of Rural Media Group, Inc., and the only 24-hour network dedicated to serving the needs of rural America. An independent, family-owned and operated media network, RFD-TV features a mix of agribusiness reporting, equine programs, rural lifestyle shows, and traditional country music. The network produces more than six hours of live news every weekday from state-of-the-art studios located in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards in Texas and on iconic Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. RFD-TV is available nationwide via DISH, DIRECTV®, AT&T U-Verse, Comcast, Charter Spectrum, and other major providers, as well as online at watchrfdtv.com and through RFD-TV Now, Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, and Sling TV.
Matt Arey’s Balancing Act - Final Swing of Bassmaster Elite Season
By Walker Smith, Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships
As the dog days of summer give way to the promise of fall, Team Toyota pro Matt Arey finds himself in a familiar juggling act. The Bassmaster Elite Series veteran is gearing up for the final "swing" of the 2025 season, with practice for the St Clair event looming large, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for his other passion: deer hunting. For Arey, a North Carolina native known for his methodical approach and relentless work ethic, this time of year is a high-wire act of preparation, focus and anticipation.
"Fishing is my job, so even though I’m looking forward to deer season, I focus much more on fishing this time of year," Arey said, his voice carrying the cadence of a man who’s spent decades balancing dual obsessions.
The St. Clair Elite marks a critical point in Arey’s season. Lake St. Clair, a sprawling fishery straddling the U.S.-Canada border, is a smallmouth bass mecca that demands precision, adaptability and a deep understanding of the lake’s nuances. For Arey, preparation for this tournament is an all-consuming endeavor, one that requires him to lean heavily on his experience and cutting-edge technology.
"Practice for St. Clair starts this week," Arey said. "I’ve been in the boat a lot lately preparing for the next swing. When I go up North, I get really OCD about checking my motor bolts and all my screws in the boat due to the potential of rough water. Also, licensing purchases take a surprising amount of time because you have to have three different licenses depending on where you decide to fish."
Arey’s attention to detail is well respected among his peers. The big water of St. Clair, coupled with the logistical challenges of navigating international fishing regulations, mean that every aspect of his gear and strategy must be dialed in. He’s not taking any chances, especially on a fishery where conditions can change in an instant.
"This tournament is going to be dominated by technology, finesse and history, in my opinion," Arey said. "I’ll be relying heavily on my Lowrance Active Target 2. I can see myself employing jerkbaits, underspins, single swimbaits and drop shots."
Lake St. Clair’s reputation as a world-class fishery is well-earned but it’s not without its challenges. The lake’s vast expanses of subtle humps, grass beds and sand flats create a complex puzzle for anglers. Add in the heavy fishing pressure from both recreational and competitive anglers and the smallmouth bass that call St. Clair home are becoming increasingly wary.
"It seems like on St. Clair, the fish get tougher to catch each time we visit due to fishing pressure," Arey noted. "But heck, I can’t blame anyone for wanting to fish there. It’s an incredible fishery!"
Arey expects the tournament to unfold in a post-spawn pattern with fish congregating around key structural elements.
"St. Clair consists of a lot of humps and grass," he said. "It’s a super cool fishery. The big sand flats also play big-time where the gobies and perch live. I can’t wait to get up there and have a great time chasing those brown bass.”
A different kind of hunt
While Arey’s immediate focus is on the Elite Series, his mind occasionally drifts to the rolling hills of his North Carolina hunting properties, where another season is fast approaching. Deer season, for Arey, is more than a hobby—it’s a way of life that complements his competitive fishing career. But with a demanding tournament schedule and welcomed family responsibilities, finding time to prepare for bow season, which opens on September 13 in his home state, requires careful planning.
"I get too busy with my fishing career and family," Arey admitted. "When it comes to prep for deer season, I have to designate a specific time to knock it out and get done with it. That’s kind of how my brain works."
This year, Arey and a friend dedicated an entire July weekend to getting ahead of the game.
"My friend and I spent a whole weekend in July to get everything done," he said. "Putting cameras out, hanging stands, trimming limbs and all of that not-so-fun stuff."
The effort paid off. Arey’s trail cameras are now in place, his stands are hung, and his properties are primed for the season.
"Everything is out and ready," he said. "I just need some bigger deer on camera, though!"
Arey’s approach to deer hunting is as meticulous as his fishing. He and his neighbor manage roughly 750 acres, where they maintain food plots and mineral sites to support a healthy deer population. But this year, Arey is taking a measured approach to his harvest strategy.
"This year is kind of a weird in-between year on my properties," he explained. "From what I’ve seen, they’re all beautiful deer, but we’re going to let all the bucks walk probably."
But Arey’s trail cameras have already revealed some exciting activity, with bucks forming large bachelor groups—a sight that never fails to captivate him each late-summer season.
"The bucks are in big-time bachelor groups right now," he said. "One group has seven bucks, and the other group has six bucks. That’s so cool to see. I will never get tired of it."
The balancing act
For many anglers, the Bassmaster Elite Series is a singular pursuit, a year-long marathon that demands unwavering dedication. But for Arey, the rhythm of his life is defined by the interplay between fishing, family and hunting: three pursuits that feed his soul in different ways. The challenge lies in finding harmony between the three, especially during the late summer when seasons collide.
Arey’s ability to compartmentalize is key. His fishing preparation is a masterclass in focus—hours spent on the water, fine-tuning equipment and studying lake maps. His Lowrance Active Target 2, a cornerstone of his St. Clair strategy, allows him to visualize fish and structure in real time, giving him an edge in a fishery where inches can separate a check from a blank.
That mental discipline is what sets Arey apart, both on the water and in the woods. Whether he’s chasing a tournament paycheck or waiting for a whitetail to step into a shooting lane, Arey approaches each challenge with the same intensity and preparation. His ability to pivot between the two worlds—fishing and hunting—speaks to his deep connection to the outdoors and his knack for thriving under pressure.
Kevin VanDam Selects USA Bass Team With Experience, Youth - And Chemistry
State College, PA – August 4th, 2025: The six-angler team that will represent the United States next month at the 19th edition of the World Black Bass Championships in South Africa will be a mix of savvy veterans and emerging stars. According to coach Kevin VanDam, who hand-picked the squad, it also contains a big dose of the unquantifiable but highly sought team sports concept known as “chemistry.” VanDam, the sport’s all-time winningest competitor, took on his role with USA Bass late last year. The Sept. 4-6 event at Arabie Dam in Limpopo, South Africa will be the team’s first under his watch.
The team will be split into three duos who’ll fish together each day. Those pairings will consist of Jacob Wheeler and Kyle Welcher, Scott Martin and Logan Parks, and Ott DeFoe and Drew Gill.
“I think we’ve put together a really strong team,” VanDam said. “International competition has gotten really good, but I expect our guys to do exceptionally well and we expect to win. For the rest of the world, the biggest bullseye is on Team USA, but our expectations are high and we’re pretty confident that we’re up for the task.
“Our team has a lot of experience, and also some younger guys who are really good anglers. One of the things that (USA Bass) came to me for help with is chemistry, and that’s a big factor. When you put two guys together in a boat, they have to complement each other.”
He noted that the nature of international competition is in direct contrast to the manner in which tour-level anglers normally operate. “All the guys have fished some team tournaments for fun and whatnot, but usually they’re a one-man show and they’re used to keeping things secret. In this format, being a six-man team, there can’t be any secrets.
“From watching the MLF Team Series, one thing I noticed that really hurt certain teams was not really giving each other the most detailed information. That’s something I’m stressing – we have to communicate all the details and the intricacies we’re seeing. Telling somebody is not the same as showing them. The more info everybody gets, the faster they can learn and understand.”
The list of individual accomplishments for Team USA’s veteran contingent is lengthy: Wheeler has been the top-ranked angler in the world for more than half a decade; Martin has an FLW Championship and Angler of the Year title on his résumé; DeFoe is a Bassmaster Classic champion and Welcher has won a Bassmaster Elite Series AOY. Martin has extensive international experience, having captained the American squad in several events, and Wheeler was a headliner on some of those teams. As for the younger competitors, Gill was the runner-up in the Bass Pro Tour points last year and is third this season, and Parks won the Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open million-dollar tournament with fellow Elite Series angler Tucker Smith when both were students at Auburn University in 2021.
The competition will be preceded by three days of practice on Arabie Dam, a 3,200-acre impoundment on the Olifants River known for surrendering big bags (five-fish limits weighing in excess of 30 pounds are possible). It’ll be springtime in that part of the world and fish will be in the prespawn/spawn phase. “It’s a quality fishery,” VanDam said. “It has timber and rock, but really not much grass. It’ll probably fish a lot like the lakes in Mexico.
“It’s really pretty straightforward and it’s much smaller than the lakes our guys are used to competing on. One of the things we’ve already talked about strategy-wise is handling the (angling pressure). All of these guys are exceptional with electronics and that’ll be critical for finding the needles in the haystack.”
For more Information on all our USA Bass Fishing Team visit: www.usangling.org/bass
Or follow the USA Bass Team on Facebook: www.facebook.com/usabassorg
Bassmaster announces Nitro Boats and Bass Pro Shops as lead sponsors for new Elite Qualifiers Series
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In a partnership that reaffirms a shared commitment to conservation and the future of competitive bass fishing, Bassmaster is proud to welcome Nitro Boats and Bass Pro Shops as the title and presenting sponsors, respectively, of the newest professional tournament trail from B.A.S.S.: the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops.
This high-stakes, three-event series is designed to spotlight the next generation of Elite-level talent and provide a fast track to the sport’s biggest stages.
Anglers competing in the Elite Qualifiers Series will battle for more than just bragging rights — the Top 10 eligible anglers in Angler of the Year standings at the conclusion of the series will earn coveted spots in the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, while each event champion will punch their ticket to the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
The 2025 Elite Qualifiers tournament trail will feature three challenging fisheries:
- Sept. 18-20: Lake Champlain — Plattsburgh, N.Y.
- Oct. 2-4: Wheeler Lake — Decatur, Ala.
- Nov. 13-15: Lake Okeechobee — Clewiston, Fla.
The Elite Qualifiers Series promises not only fierce competition, but also top-tier fan engagement and storytelling across Bassmaster's robust media platforms.
To learn more about the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit Bassmaster.com.
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 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, [email protected]
Pennsylvania’s Knapp Picks Up Third Career Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Lake Champlain Presented by Lew’s
Delaware’s Given Earns Victory in Co-Angler Division
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Aug. 4, 2025) – Boater Jason Knapp of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Champlain Presented by Lew’s. The tournament, hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, was the third event of the season for the BFL Northeast Division. Knapp earned $3,756 for his victory.
Knapp took the scenic route Saturday, running more than 65 miles south on Lake Champlain to secure the win. The Pennsylvania boater targeted shallow-water largemouth in overlooked areas, flipping and casting homemade jigs to isolated stretches of unpressured grass. Knapp focused on milfoil in 3 to 4 feet of water and mixed patches of arrowhead pads and reeds in as shallow as 1 to 2 feet.
“My initial plan was to fish for both smallmouth and largemouth shallow,” Knapp said. “But the largemouth bite down south was too good to leave. I don’t think I saw another boat all day, I had it to myself.”
Knapp relied on black 3/4- and 1-ounce homemade jigs, pairing them with a green-pumpkin Strike King Rage Craw trailer. He caught 10 to 12 fish throughout the day, including a few smallmouth early that were later culled out as he upgraded with quality largemouth from his key stretches.
“The key to victory was definitely finding fish that weren’t being pressured,” Knapp said. “I had a few small stretches of grass that were holding the right ones, and being that far away from the crowd made all the difference.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jason Knapp, Uniontown, Pa., five bass, 23-14, $3,756
2nd: Noah Winslow, Naugatuck, Conn., five bass, 21-11, $1,878
3rd: Rob Cruvellier, Alburgh, Vt., five bass, 21-6, $1,253
4th: Jedediah Worthington, Morrisville, Vt., five bass, 21-2, $876
4th: Stephen Estes, Auburn, N.H., five bass, 21-1, $751
6th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 20-4, $689
7th: Josh Kauffman, Marysville, Pa., five bass, 20-2, $626
8th: Christopher Dam, Staatsburg, N.Y., five bass, 20-0, $563
9th: Tom Balachvili, Scarsdale, N.Y., five bass, 19-12, $501
10th: Ryan Latinville, Plattsburgh, N.Y., five bass, 19-9, $438
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Frank Poirier of Prince George, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $490.
Randall Given of Laurel, Delaware, won the co-angler division and $1,840 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Randall Given, Laurel, Del., three bass, 12-11, $1,840
2nd: Joseph Amberg Jr., Hawley, Pa., three bass, 11-11, $920
3rd: Jason Grey, Amherst, N.Y., three bass, 11-10, $612
4th: Brian Brockett, Pine Bush, N.Y., three bass, 11-7, $429
5th: Jared Leicht, Millville, N.J., three bass, 11-4, $353
5th: Logan Bloomfield, East Berlin, Pa., three bass, 11-4, $353
7th: Gerald Dam, Pine Plains, N.Y., three bass, 11-3, $307
8th: Leo Perez, Rosenhan, N.J., three bass, 11-2, $276
9th: Reshawn Lowe, York, Pa., three bass, 11-1, $245
10th: Timothy Rougier, Watertown, N.Y., three bass, 11-0, $215
Reshan Lowe of York, Pennsylvania, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $240, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Josh Kauffman of Marysville, Pennsylvania, now leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 717 points, while Gerald Dam of Pine Plains, New York, leads the Fishing Clash Northeast Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 723 points.
The next event for BFL Northeast Division anglers will be held Aug. 23, at Oneida Lake out of Brewerton, New York. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on the James River in Richmond, Virginia. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.
The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Upthagrove Goes Old School for Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Lake Erie Presented by Lew’s
Illinois’ Michalski Tops Co-Angler Division
SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 4, 2025) – Boater Pat Upthagrove of Monroe, Michigan, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine at Lake Erie Presented by Lew’s. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Buckeye Division. Upthagrove earned $3,766 for his victory.
Upthagrove leaned on his strengths – and a 90-minute run – to claim his first career win. With tough conditions across the main lake, Upthagrove made the long run to the Detroit River, a place he’s fished almost exclusively since moving near its mouth 11 years ago.
“Lake Erie has been fishing tough the past couple of weeks, and I knew the river was fishing more consistently,” Upthagrove said. “It’s my strength. I’m comfortable there, and you’re not constantly battling the elements like you are out on the lake.”
After an unproductive start in shallow water, Upthagrove shifted to deeper current breaks in 20 to 22 feet of water. Once he made the adjustment, the bite lit up. He caught roughly 50 fish in about 4½ hours using a swimjig and a Carolina rig matched with natural-colored soft plastics. While he credited both presentations, the biggest bites came on the swimjig.
The win was especially sweet for Upthagrove, who had compiled a string of top-five finishes on the Detroit River without breaking through.
“I’ve had a handful of seconds over the years, so this one felt really good,” he said. “It was nice to finally get the monkey off my back.”
Fishing with a self-described “old-school approach,” Upthagrove said he relies solely on basic electronics – a sonar unit and GPS.
“No offense to guys who use the newer technology, but I just enjoy my time on the water more this way,” he said.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., five bass, 22-4, $3,766
2nd: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 22-0, $1,883
3rd: Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 20-13, $1,256
4th: Grant Gallagher, Fremont, Ohio, five bass, 19-15, $774
4th: Wilson Burton, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 19-15, $774
4th: Lawrence Clontz, Trenton, Ohio, four bass, 19-15, $774
7th: Matthew Davis, Morenci, Mich., five bass, 19-1, $628
8th: Tyler Brown, Lakeside Marblehead, Ohio, five bass, 18-4, $565
9th: Josh Smith, Liberty, Ind., five bass, 16-10, $471
9th: Zach Maisch, Lima, Ohio, five bass, 16-10, $471
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Fourth-place finisher Lawrence Clontz of Trenton, Ohio, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $500.
Gary Michalski of Naperville, Illinois, won the co-angler division and $2,133 Saturday, with a three-bass limit that totaled 13 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Gary Michalski Naperville, Ill., three bass, 13-8, $1,883
2nd: Austin Brock, West Chester, Ohio, three bass, 10-15, $942
3rd: Douglas Shope, Arcanum, Ohio, three bass, 10-3, $627
4th: Greg Barnes, Morning View, Ky., three bass, 9-12, $439
5th: Alex Richardson, Cincinnati, Ohio, three bass, 9-7, $377
6th: Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, three bass, 9-6, $345
7th: Ryan Crider, Kettering, Ohio, three bass, 9-5, $314
8th: Chad McQueen, Fairfield, Ohio, three bass, 8-10, $282
9th: Brendon Thornburg, Muncie, Ind., three bass, 8-7, $251
10th: Jeffrey Smith, West Chester, Ohio, three bass, 8-2, $220
Co-angler winner Michalski also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $250, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Chris Martinkovic of Hamilton, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash Buckeye Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 975 points, while Jeff Campbell of Fairfield, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash Buckeye Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 931 points.
The final event for BFL Buckeye Division anglers will be held Sept. 13-14, at Mosquito Lake out of Cortland, Ohio. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.
The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Reagan and Moody win back-to-back Bassmaster High School National Championships
EVANS, Ga. — The Top 25 high school teams headed out for one more day on Clarks Hill Lake to determine the national champion. Slightly cooler and primarily overcast conditions presented the challenge of adjusting throughout the day.
The Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship is the most coveted high school tournament and anglers across the country came to give it their best shot. Due to high temperatures this week, anglers were limited to a three fish limit which tightened the weights and brought the final weigh-in to a close in dramatic fashion.
When the dust settled at the end of weigh-in, a familiar duo remained on top as Rex Reagan and Max Moody completed back-to-back National Championship victories. A 10 pound, 13 ounce final day limit clinched the title with a total of 36 pounds, 11 ounces.
“It’s unreal, I didn’t think it could happen, but it did,” said Reagan. Moody went on to add, “It’s kind of like last year, it hasn’t really set in on me just yet. I’m happy, but still don’t really realize what we’ve done.”
When comparing it to last year’s National Championship victory on Chickamauga Lake, the duo found this year to be tougher. “The reason was there were 40 or 50 boats fishing the same area,” said Reagan. “At Chickamauga we had everything to ourselves.”
The previous victory did give Reagan and Moody more confidence going into this week. “Last year showed us that we could do it, but this one showed everyone who thought last year could have been a fluke that we can do this on another place too,” said Moody.
This week was the first time the sophomores had seen Clarks Hill Lake and were faced with new conditions heading out on the final day.
“We were catching them suspended in about 150 foot of water,” said Reagan. “The rain, wind and clouds today definitely hurt them, they don’t like to suspend in the lower light conditions.”
“We used a 5-inch Zoom Winged Fluke and a Hog Farmer Smoke Shad on a 1/4-ounce Queen Tackle jig head,” said Reagan. “The main key of the week was to move faster than everyone else.”
When asked about when they thought they had a shot, Moody said. “When we got our limit, we knew we had a good shot, but we knew going into today that we had a good shot being up 4 ounces from the day before. It really hit us when we were standing in the weigh-in line listening to everyone’s weights.”
On par from the rest of the week, the Pickett County team had all solid average fish in their bag. “It’s been that way all week long, it was consistent in practice, and it was consistent in the tournament,” said Moody. “That’s really all you can ask for is consistently, that’s the way you’re going to do good in a tournament.”
The home lake team of Jack Story and Roper Putnam finished a close second with a three-day total of 35 pounds, 7 ounces. The duo remained extremely consistent ending both Days 1 and 2 in third place.
Being from Clarks Hill HS Fishing Team, Story and Putnam have spent a lot of time on the 71,000 acre body of water. “The first day of practice we went to the area that ended up being the best area,” said Putnam. “From there, we kind of knew how the tournament was going to go down.”
Story and Putman said they were fishing in the crowd of many of the top contenders. Even with only 25 boats on the water on the final day the team estimated 15 were still in the prominent area.
“We just couldn’t land the bites,” said Putnam. “We had a big fish everyday come off that would have helped a lot, but that’s a part of it.”
“When it’s your time, it’s your time. When you’re on that, you can’t do anything wrong. When it’s not, you do everything wrong”
Similar to a lot of the top contenders, the duo threw a jig head minnow, specifically a 1/4 and 3/8-ounce Bad Little Shad Head and a 5-inch Winged Fluke.
The cloud cover and boat pressure cause for slight adjustments on the final day. “They were a little higher in the water column, so we mixed a fluke in and that lighter minnow played a little more today,” said Putnam.
Even though it got progressively tougher, Story mentions, “We still probably caught 20 keepers. We never caught a kicker just all solid fish.”
Putnam just graduated high school this year and is headed to Lander University this fall. Story is going into his senior year and has plans to attend Carson Newman University the following year.
Third place went to Caige Bragg who posted three fish weights of 11-1, 13-3 and 10-9. The Springville Anglers junior fished solo the entire season and plans to do the same next year. Bragg did catch some of his key fish in the crowd with many of the other top finishers.
“I would start down there early in the morning around the dam, and I’d catch a few and then I had a different spot where I could run and catch one more better fish up the river.
“Today was a lot tougher, you had to look a lot longer to find them. A couple days ago you could catch a ton of them. Today, I didn’t have a limit until 12:30. The cloud cover along with the fishing pressure spread them out a lot.”
Bragg was concentrating on 25 to 30 foot of water looking for suspended fish both feeding on bait balls and floating by themselves.
Looking down the leaderboard, stacked weights were an understatement to say the least. Besides Reagan and Moody winning by over a pound, 3rd through 14th place were separated by only 15 ounces. All of the top 16 fish averaged over three and a half pounds, while the winners maintained over a four-pound average. Clarks Hill certainly showed out and again proved itself as a solid fishery especially under hot mid-summer conditions.
Visit Columbia County hosted this event.
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Platinum Sponsor: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager,334-414-8677, [email protected]
2025 Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship 7/31-8/2
Clarks Hill Lake, Evans GA.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Rex Reagan - Max Moody Pickett County High School Fishi 0
Day 1: 3 12-13 Day 2: 3 13-01 Day 3: 3 10-13 Total: 9 36-11
2. Jack Story - Roper Putnam Clarks Hill Hs Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 13-03 Day 2: 3 11-11 Day 3: 3 10-09 Total: 9 35-07
3. Caige Bragg - Springville Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 11-01 Day 2: 3 13-08 Day 3: 3 10-06 Total: 9 34-15
4. Carter Cunningham - Landon Glander Dawson County High Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 3 10-05 Day 2: 3 12-06 Day 3: 3 12-03 Total: 9 34-14
5. Hayden Seabolt - Dawson County High School - GA 0
Day 1: 3 12-10 Day 2: 3 11-15 Day 3: 3 10-04 Total: 9 34-13
6. Corbin Bornstein - Thomas James Lipscomb Academy 0
Day 1: 3 12-15 Day 2: 3 12-11 Day 3: 3 09-01 Total: 9 34-11
7. Hoyt Nicely - Connor Bower Hartley's Hawgs 0
Day 1: 3 12-02 Day 2: 3 11-15 Day 3: 3 10-07 Total: 9 34-08
8. Walker LaRue - Jackie Hatfield Alcoa Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 12-00 Day 2: 3 11-11 Day 3: 3 10-13 Total: 9 34-08
9. Hogan Benson - Jacob Clayton Chesnee High School Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 3 10-03 Day 2: 3 12-13 Day 3: 3 11-07 Total: 9 34-07
10. Elijah Coleman - Will Dombroskas Montgomery County High School 0
Day 1: 3 11-01 Day 2: 3 12-05 Day 3: 3 10-15 Total: 9 34-05
11. Peyton McAndrew - Cutler Wooten SML Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 11-15 Day 2: 3 11-02 Day 3: 3 11-02 Total: 9 34-03
12. Lake Johnson - Alabama Bass Academy 0
Day 1: 3 12-04 Day 2: 3 12-06 Day 3: 3 09-08 Total: 9 34-02
13. Logan Parker - Hudson Howell Cherokee Bass Team 0
Day 1: 3 11-14 Day 2: 3 11-07 Day 3: 3 10-12 Total: 9 34-01
14. Wyatt Richards - Colby Goforth Pickens County Bass Club 0
Day 1: 3 11-07 Day 2: 3 10-15 Day 3: 3 11-10 Total: 9 34-00
15. Kieran Stephenson - Grady Stanley Triangle Bass Club 0
Day 1: 3 12-01 Day 2: 3 10-06 Day 3: 3 10-15 Total: 9 33-06
16. Mason Taylor - Wesley Kent Dekalb Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 13-06 Day 2: 3 08-13 Day 3: 3 10-14 Total: 9 33-01
17. Easton Morrow - RJ Sanger IV LCS Viking Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 12-07 Day 2: 3 10-03 Day 3: 3 08-08 Total: 9 31-02
18. Presley Lannom - Trevor Sanford Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 11-07 Day 2: 3 12-03 Day 3: 3 07-07 Total: 9 31-01
19. Jacob Janning - Ben Wilson Jefferson High School 0
Day 1: 3 11-03 Day 2: 3 11-02 Day 3: 3 08-12 Total: 9 31-01
20. Eli Herring - Hunter Lee Greene County Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 13-06 Day 2: 3 11-06 Day 3: 3 05-11 Total: 9 30-07
21. Carson Falk - Trey Blackmon III Capital City High School Bass Hu 0
Day 1: 3 10-06 Day 2: 3 13-02 Day 3: 3 05-10 Total: 9 29-02
22. Miles Allen - Ethan Roths Saint Xavier High School 0
Day 1: 3 10-08 Day 2: 3 11-04 Day 3: 3 07-06 Total: 9 29-02
23. Jase Sparks - Landon Hullum Clarks Hill HS Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 12-00 Day 2: 3 11-02 Day 3: 3 05-15 Total: 9 29-01
24. Ellis Turner - Blalock Eskew Heard County Bass Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 11-15 Day 2: 3 10-13 Day 3: 2 03-13 Total: 8 26-09
25. Connor Crawford - Brody Beam Liberty County Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 12-14 Day 2: 3 09-02 Day 3: 2 03-09 Total: 8 25-09
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 197 646 1558-15
2 181 603 1539-02
3 23 73 228-06
------------------------------
401 1322 3326-07
Johnston’s big day earns Bassmaster Open win at St. Lawrence
WADDINGTON, N.Y. — Cory Johnston’s high standards kicked in the extra motivation he needed to turn in his best performance of the week and tally a three-day total of 74 pounds, 15 ounces to win the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River presented by SEVIIN.
With three decades of local fishing, the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series star from Otonabee, Canada took seventh place on Day 1 with 24-7 and gained three spots with a second-round limit of 24-1.
For many, that’s pretty good fishing. Not for Johnston.
“It’s crazy to say, but 24 pounds out here really isn’t a good day and anything over 25 is what you need to win,” Johnston said. “This is a special place.”
Taking his own advice, Johnston stepped on the gas and sacked up a final-round limit of 26-7 and came within an ounce of hitting that 25-pound average. He finished with a margin of 2-11 over Day 2 leader Zack Goutremout.
For his efforts, Johnston collected the top prize of $32,276 and earned a berth in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, to be held March 13-15 on the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.
“It’s just knowing the river and knowing what they get on,” Johnston said. “I just hit as many spots as I could until I ran into them.”
A week after his younger brother and fellow Bassmaster Elite Chris won a major event on the St. Lawrence River, Johnston notched his third victory on this renowned fishery. In 2024, he won the Humminbird Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River four months after topping the season-opening MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River.
“I always like to beat him, but watching him win (last week) was great,” Johnston said. “Now, I don’t have to hear him complain.”
Tapping into his intimate St. Lawrence knowledge, Johnston caught his fish on a variety of habitat features in what he termed shallow and deep zones.
“I caught them shallow on sand flats, rockpiles, weed edges all the way to 35 to 40 feet on little high spots, rocks and deeper weed edges,” Johnston said. “There’s not one specific thing that I fished.”
After a slow start, Johnston picked up steam late morning and started boating the quality fish he knew he needed.
“I hit about 12 spots today and the last one I stopped on had ’em,” he said. “I wish I had another hour or two to fish. That was my game plan, fish the stuff I had been fishing, catch what I could and then switch it up, do some shallow, and then go fish new stuff and see what happened.
“I caught a 5 1/2 and a 6 3/4, both shallow and a few 4-pounders. Definitely, my bigger ones came shallow.”
Johnston caught most of his fish on a drop shot with a tungsten weight and a 6th Sense Party Minnow on a BKK drop-shot hook that he designed. He also caught fish on a Ned rig.
Comparing this week’s river-only format to that 2024 Elite event, which allowed anglers to run from Waddington to Lake Ontario, Johnston said he put his preferences aside and fished the moment.
“You gotta fish what you can fish,” he said. “I’d prefer to run to the lake every single time, even if I only had 2 hours to fish. This river’s special, Waddington’s always been incredible. We’ve had some awesome tournaments here.”
Hailing from Chaumont, N.Y., Goutremout finished second with 72-4. He opened strong with a sixth-place Day 1 limit of 24-10, then took over the second day lead by adding 25-0. Championship Saturday yielded a final limit of 22-10.
“I have no regrets; I feel like I made all the right decisions, but today, I just didn’t get any big bites,” Goutremout said. “My big fish kinda left on me, so I went scrambling. I went to an area that didn’t have them on Day 1, but I had a gut feeling to go there today and I scraped up what I had.”
The first two days, Goutremout ran nearly to the tournament’s western limit and caught a solid limit on a deeper spot in about 45 feet on the U.S. side. He’d then move to the Canadian side of Wolfe Island to pick off a couple of his largest fish.
When that plan fizzled on Day 3, he shifted his focus to a different area, farther west. In 20 to 25 feet, he drug a 3/4-ounce finesse football jig with a 3-inch Berkley MaxScent Lil’ General. He also caught one keeper on a drop shot with the OSP dice bait in green pumpkin.
Erik Luzak of Fenelon Falls, Canada finished a close third with 72-3. Ending just an ounce behind Goutremout, Luzak posted an impressive comeback.
On Day 1, his limit of 20-13 put him in a three-way tie for 36th place. Day 2 saw Luzak catch 26-8 and rise to seventh. He closed out his campaign with a final day catch of 24-14.
Luzak caught his fish on a drop shot with a Lunkerhunt Twitch Witch minnow. He also caught keepers on a jig.
Ryan Lachniet of Gum Spring, Va., won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament for his Day 1 7 pound, 5 ounce lunker.
Lucas Lindsay of Auburn, Ala., leads the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN Division 1 points standings with 757. Lachniet is in second with 756, followed by Matt Adams of Guntersville, Ala., with 747, Tyler Campbell of Martin, Ga., with 737, and Connor Jacob of Guntersville, Ala., with 716.
The Top 50 anglers from the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN have qualified for the three-event Nitro Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers presented by Bass Pro Shops Series. With one event each in September, October and November, this Series will determine the 10 anglers that receive invitations to the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series. Read more about the 50 Elite Qualifiers here.
This event was hosted by the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
-30-
Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, mpascal@
2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River presented by SEVIIN 7/31-8/2
St. Lawrence River, Waddington NY.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 15 74-15 200 $32,276.00
Day 1: 5 24-07 Day 2: 5 24-01 Day 3: 5 26-07
2. Zach Goutremout Chaumont, NY 15 72-04 199 $12,910.00
Day 1: 5 24-10 Day 2: 5 25-00 Day 3: 5 22-10
3. Erik Luzak Fenelon Falls CANADA 15 72-03 198 $9,683.00
Day 1: 5 20-13 Day 2: 5 26-08 Day 3: 5 24-14
4. Lucas Murphy West Columbia, MI 15 71-10 197 $9,037.00
Day 1: 5 20-09 Day 2: 5 26-12 Day 3: 5 24-05
5. Ryan Lachniet Gum Spring, VA 15 70-14 196 $9,142.00
Day 1: 5 26-05 Day 2: 5 23-03 Day 3: 5 21-06
6. Kyle Austin Ridgeville, SC 15 70-03 195 $7,746.00
Day 1: 5 25-03 Day 2: 5 23-02 Day 3: 5 21-14
7. Caleb Hudson Lincolnton, GA 15 69-10 194 $7,101.00
Day 1: 5 24-13 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 22-15
8. Michael Neal Dayton, TN 15 69-02 193 $6,455.00
Day 1: 5 23-14 Day 2: 5 23-07 Day 3: 5 21-13
9. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 15 63-14 192 $6,455.00
Day 1: 5 25-00 Day 2: 5 22-04 Day 3: 5 16-10
10. John Hunter Jr Shelbyville, KY 14 57-11 191 $6,455.00
Day 1: 5 23-00 Day 2: 5 26-00 Day 3: 4 08-11
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Ryan Lachniet Gum Spring, VA 07-05 $750.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 133 673 2491-15
2 122 639 2413-01
3 9 49 211-09
------------------------------
264 1361 5116-09
Country Star Lauren Alaina to Headline Concert at The Ultimate Angler World Championship Bass Fishing Tournament
Family-Friendly Event Sponsored by the State of Alabama to Take Place October 11 at Goose Pond Colony on Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, AL
Scottsboro, AL [August 1, 2025] Country music powerhouse Lauren Alaina will bring her unmistakable voice and high-energy performance to the banks of Lake Guntersville this fall as the headline act for the inaugural concert at The Ultimate Angler World Championship Bass Fishing Tournament sponsored by The State of Alabama. The concert will take place on Friday, October 11th at the scenic Goose Pond Colony in Scottsboro, Alabama.
The concert is the culmination of a week-long celebration of competitive bass fishing, outdoor recreation, conservation, and Southern culture, all culminating in the first-ever Ultimate Angler World Championship. Lauren Alaina, a Grand Ole Opry member and platinum-selling recording artist known for hits like "Road Less Traveled", "Getting Over Him", and "Ladies in the '90s", will take the stage lakeside, bringing national spotlight and undeniable star power to this can’t-miss Alabama event.
Located on the shores of Lake Guntersville, Goose Pond Colony offers a picture-perfect backdrop for both the tournament and the concert, with family-friendly activities, an outdoor expo, food vendors, and interactive experiences planned throughout the week-long event. The championship tournament itself will feature elite anglers from around the country battling it out for the Ultimate Angler title on one of the most legendary bass lakes in the country.
Event tickets are $15 and are available at www.theultimateangler.org. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy the concert under the stars. The concert will begin at 6:00 p.m. with opening act Worth the Wait. Other tournament festivities begin earlier in the afternoon.
For more information on the Ultimate Angler Championship and concert details, visit www.theultimateangler.org
About Lauren Alaina:
Georgia native Lauren Alaina captured America’s hearts as a finalist on American Idol and has since become one of country music’s most celebrated female voices. With multiple No. 1 hits, award nominations, and a dynamic stage presence, Alaina continues to shine as a role model and entertainer across the nation.
About The Ultimate Angler:
The Ultimate Angler World Championship is a premier bass fishing event bringing together top-tier anglers for a high-stakes showdown on Lake Guntersville. Sponsored by the State of Alabama and Unified Pros, the tournament celebrates the state’s rich outdoor traditions, conservation efforts and unmatched freshwater fishing.
Contact: Susan Carothers
Director of Communications
Unified Pros, Inc.
Big smallmouth await Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series field at Lake St. Clair
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — Summer is in full swing in southern Michigan, which means the smallmouth are starting to feed up just in time for the 2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair according to Michigan native Aaron Jagdfeld.
“We had a late spring, so everything has been a little behind. But the last week or two, these bass are swinging into summer patterns and a lot more fish are getting grouped up,” said the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN angler. “They are getting fatter, and it should set up really well for the tournament.
“It would surprise me if someone put together a total somewhere in the high 90s and close to the 100-pound mark.”
Tournament days are scheduled for Aug. 7-10 with tournament headquarters located at Brandenburg Park in New Baltimore, Mich. The 101-boat field will launch at 7 a.m. ET each day and return for weigh-in beginning at 3 p.m. The field will be cut to the Top 50 anglers after the Day 2 weigh-in, and the Top 10 anglers after the third competition day will compete on Championship Sunday.
The winner earns the $100,000 first-place prize and a coveted blue trophy.
"We're excited to welcome the Elite Series back to one of the best bass fishing lakes on the planet — Lake St. Clair," said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel. "We're ready to shine the spotlight once again on our incredible freshwater asset to demonstrate that we've got a world-class fishery right here in Macomb County. So thank you to all involved for their efforts in making this event possible, and best of luck to all the visiting anglers. I look forward to another successful tournament."
Executive Director of the Detroit Sports Commission Marty Dobek added, “For nearly 25 years, the Detroit Sports Commission has worked to showcase the diversity of events and caliber of competition that Southeast Michigan has to offer. The Bassmaster Elite is a fantastic way to highlight our region's unique outdoor assets and reaffirm Southeast Michigan as a premier destination for world-class sporting events.”
The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series event will be held in conjunction with the Cheers to Chesterfield Festival, which will allow fans to enjoy a number of different activities and events before and after daily weigh-ins.
“We’re ready to bring the best of the best in bass fishing back to the shoreline of beautiful Anchor Bay,” said Chesterfield Township Supervisor Bradley Kersten. “The Bassmaster Elite Series is returning to Chesterfield Township and will be part of the Cheers to Chesterfield Festival at Brandenburg Park from August 7-10. It’s an incredible honor to have the nation’s eyes on Lake St. Clair and Macomb County once again. Beyond the excitement of the tournament, the festival will be packed with family fun — delicious food, live music, a kids zone and Friday night fireworks. So come for the bass, stay for the fun — because Chesterfield is the place to be!”
An angler favorite, Lake St. Clair is one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the country and has been a recurring destination for the Bassmaster Tournament Trails. Last year, the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN was held on St. Clair in July, and Elite Series pro Jay Przekurat won with over 75 pounds in the three-day tournament.
Jagdfeld has fished several tournaments on St. Clair this July, including wins at the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier presented by Lowrance that launched out of Monroe, Mich., and a BFL that launched out of the Detroit River.
In his last couple of weeks fishing there, the 24-year-old has seen more and more smallmouth move into their summer patterns. Void of structure, smallmouth in St. Clair tend to roam and hang around areas with hard sand and vegetation. Perch grass and cabbage are the predominant offshore grasses in the lake, and smallmouth will use both depending on the area of the lake.
Anchor Bay will be one of the most popular areas on the lake, as it was during the 2024 Bassmaster Open and an Elite Series event held here in 2023. Mitchell’s Bay sets up similarly to Anchor, and the smallies living in those two zones will likely be set up in 8 to 12 feet of water.
“Those fish get a lot of pressure. So it will be interesting to see how the guys adjust to that,” Jagdfeld said. “I can see half of the field ending up there, but if it is going to get won in there, it will be someone who is able to get away from other boats and adjust day by day.”
While plenty of healthy limits will be caught out of the Anchor Bay area, Jagdfeld believes someone who can unlock the bite in the deeper waters of the main lake could have the upper hand. Those bass tend to group up in 17 to 19 feet of water, and perch are the key forage.
“I think Canada will be a big player,” the Adrian College grad said. “Joey (Cifuentes) was the only one to figure it out and get away from anyone (during the 2023 Elite event), and if someone can do that this time, that is a ticket to winning this tournament.”
Due to higher water levels, the Detroit and St. Clair rivers have not made a meaningful impact in Bassmaster tournaments the last several years. That could change this go-round though, Jagdfeld said, as the river levels are back to normal and even dropping.
“It seems like the fish are rejuvenated there,” Jagdfeld said. “They are setting up on new areas and current breaks this year. The rivers have been fishing really well, and I can see those playing as well.”
Parts of Lake Erie and Lake Huron will also be in play this week, but Jagdfeld does not see those lakes producing any better than St. Clair.
“If you go to Erie and Huron, it is going to be more traditional smallmouth fishing with boulders and rocks,” he explained. “There are guys that prefer to do that, but it would be a long shot for one of them to play, especially since Erie has been fishing tough.”
A drop shot and a jighead minnow setup will be the primary presentations in this tournament, but Jagdfeld said he could see a Neko rig, mini jig, tube and a jerkbait coming into play as well.
After seven events, Przekurat leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 599 points followed by Canadian pro and 2024 Angler of the Year Chris Johnston in second with 596 points. Illinois pro Trey McKinney is third with 586 points, South Carolina’s Patrick Walters is fourth with 554 points and Indiana’s Bill Lowen is fifth with 548 points. Japan’s Kyoya Fujita, Alabama’s Will Davis Jr., Japan’s Taku Ito, North Carolina’s Shane LeHew and Georgia’s Paul Marks round out the Top 10.
Marks leads the Dakota Lithium Bassmster Rookie of the Year race with 515 points, while Alabama’s Tucker Smith sits in second with 452 points, and Minnesota’s Easton Fothergill is third with 436 points.
Live coverage of the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair will be available on Bassmaster.com Thursday and Friday beginning at 8 a.m. ET and running until 3 p.m. Roku will have coverage on Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Noon to 3 p.m. Coverage on Saturday and Sunday will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com from Noon to 3 p.m.
The Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair is being hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission.
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
River giant anchors Lachniet’s Bassmaster Open lead at the St. Lawrence River
WADDINGTON, N.Y. — Ryan Lachniet might have added a few grey hairs to his otherwise dark brown beard, but after enduring the stress storm that a 7-pound, 5-ounce smallmouth unleashed, the Gum Spring, Va., pro leads Day 1 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River presented by SEVIIN.
Sacking up an opening limit of 26-5, Lachniet leads South Carolina’s Kyle Austin by a pound and 2 ounces.
“When I got that (big fish) next to the boat, after fighting him for a couple of minutes, I tried to scoop him and he slipped out of my hand,” Lachniet recalled. “I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, come back.
“He swam down and fought for another 30 seconds and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, please don’t get off.’ When I grabbed him, I was like, ‘Wow, this thing is huge!’ It was a great day.”
Lachniet’s whopper smallie — his personal best — was particularly notable, given that the event’s tournament boundaries limit anglers to the river. Typically, St. Lawrence events that include Lake Ontario find the real studs coming from the easternmost of the Great Lakes.
“I would have had a good day without (the big fish),” Lachniet said. “I threw back a 4 and some high 3s, but it wouldn’t have had a day anything like that. I’m just super thankful. The Lord really blessed me with that one.”
Bagging such a moose well within the river showcased the incredible St. Lawrence fishery, largely regarded as North America’s premier smallmouth destination. Lachniet tapped into one particular area that ended up outperforming his expectations.
Lachniet said his main area comprised a mix of rock and sand in 6 to 10 feet. Locating this area last year, he caught a 6 3/4-pounder about 200 feet from where he caught his 7-5.
“It was incredible; I pulled up on my first spot and I only caught two 4-pounders there in practice, but it just went down,” Lachniet said. “I had 25 pounds in an hour and a half and after I got that 7, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
Lachniet said he ran about 3/4 of the way to the tournament’s western boundary, near the mouth of Lake Ontario and worked his way back downriver. Conventional wisdom says smallmouth favor calm, sunny conditions, but Day 1’s windy, overcast complexion did not seem to bother Lachniet.
“Honestly, I think it helped me because a lot of those fish were hard to catch in practice,” he said. “For some reason, almost every one I threw at this morning bit. It was great for a couple hours; they were all biting.
“I caught them all on a Megabass Vision 110 +1 jerkbait. That’s a terrifying way to land big smallmouth. When I was fighting that big one for a couple of minutes, it was stressful. But I got him in, so it was ok.”
Noting that he’ll give his key area another look on Day 2, Lachniet said he’ll do so with level-headed expectations.
“I definitely can’t do 26-5 again tomorrow, but I’ll just pull up there and see how it goes,” he said. “I’m hoping I can get around 20 off that spot and then just work my way (back toward the tournament site) the rest of the day.”
Catching a limit that went 25-3, Austin heads into Day 2 in second place. Working a long way from home, the Santee Cooper guide attributes his success to fishing like he does back home.
“I fished a lot of isolated boulders in 25 to 30 feet,” Austin said. “To me, it’s a lot like fishing highland reservoirs at home, or Santee where you’re fishing isolated cypress trees or brushpiles. I feel like that’s in my wheelhouse. That’s what I’ve done for years, even before (forward facing sonar).”
Austin started on a shallow spot in 8 to 9 feet and caught two of his limit fish. After that, he headed to an area dotted with those isolated boulders.
“It’s one big area of about 100 acres with lots of boulders out on the flats,” Austin said. “My LiveScope went out at 11 o’clock and smallmouth fishing for us southern guys is hard without that ’Scope.
“I went back shallow and actually caught a 5-pounder that really helped a lot. I caught all my fish on a drop shot with a Strike King Half Shell.”
Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kyoya Fujita is in third place with 25 pounds. Making the long run to the tournament’s western boundary, Fujita did most of his work along a trio of main river breaks that dropped from 12 feet to 18.
Hailing from Yamanishi, Japan, Fujita caught his fish on a drop shot rigged with a Jackall Yammy Fish in green pumpkin. Although he caught plenty of numbers, Fujita said quality catches were few and far between.
“It was very tough,” Fujita said. “I caught many 2-pound and 3-pound fish, but only one five 5-pounder. I caught one big fish in the morning and four in the afternoon.”
Lachniet is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 7-5.
Lachniet leads the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN Division 1 points standings with 760. Lucas Lindsay of Auburn, Ala., is in second with 740, followed by Tyler Campbell of Martin, Ga., with 728, Matt Adams of Guntersville, Ala., with 719 and Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., with 717.
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6 a.m. ET at Whitaker Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 2 p.m.
This event is being hosted by the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
-30-
Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, mpascal@
2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River presented by SEVIIN 7/31-8/2
St. Lawrence River, Waddington NY.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Ryan Lachniet Gum Spring, VA 5 26-05 200
Day 1: 5 26-05
2. Kyle Austin Ridgeville, SC 5 25-03 199
Day 1: 5 25-03
3. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 5 25-00 198
Day 1: 5 25-00
4. Caleb Hudson Lincolnton, GA 5 24-13 197
Day 1: 5 24-13
4. Alec Morrison Peru, NY 5 24-13 197
Day 1: 5 24-13
6. Zach Goutremout Chaumont, NY 5 24-10 195
Day 1: 5 24-10
7. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 5 24-07 194
Day 1: 5 24-07
8. Evan Kung Pickering Ontario CANAD 5 24-03 193
Day 1: 5 24-03
9. Cody Pike Powhatan, VA 5 24-01 192
Day 1: 5 24-01
10. Parker Guy Appling, GA 5 24-00 191
Day 1: 5 24-00
11. Michael Neal Dayton, TN 5 23-14 190
Day 1: 5 23-14
12. Tommy Wood Peregian Springs AUSTRA 5 23-09 189
Day 1: 5 23-09
13. Dante Piraino Baldwinsville, NY 5 23-05 188
Day 1: 5 23-05
14. River Lee Diboll, TX 5 23-01 187
Day 1: 5 23-01
15. John Hunter Jr Shelbyville, KY 5 23-00 186
Day 1: 5 23-00
16. Tommy Dickerson Orange, TX 5 22-13 185
Day 1: 5 22-13
17. Byron Hill Clermont, FL 5 22-11 184
Day 1: 5 22-11
18. Bo Thomas Edwardsburg, MI 5 22-10 183
Day 1: 5 22-10
19. Erik Brztowski Lemont, IL 5 22-08 182
Day 1: 5 22-08
20. Tyler Campbell Martin, GA 5 22-07 181
Day 1: 5 22-07
21. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 5 22-06 180
Day 1: 5 22-06
22. Brandon McMillan Clewiston, FL 5 22-05 179
Day 1: 5 22-05
22. Evan White Roanoke Rapids, NC 5 22-05 179
Day 1: 5 22-05
24. Dylan Fogarty Mechanicsburg, PA 5 22-05 177
Day 1: 5 22-05
25. Jacob Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 5 22-02 176
Day 1: 5 22-02
26. Adam Howell Embrun CANADA 5 22-01 175
Day 1: 5 22-01
26. Bryson Osteen Live Oak, FL 5 22-01 175
Day 1: 5 22-01
28. Ryan Salzman Huntsville, AL 5 21-13 173
Day 1: 5 21-13
29. Sam Hanggi Knoxville, TN 5 21-12 172
Day 1: 5 21-12
30. Casey Smith Victor, NY 5 21-11 171
Day 1: 5 21-11
31. Lucas Lindsay Auburn , AL 5 21-10 170
Day 1: 5 21-10
32. Cole Drummond Effingham, SC 5 21-07 169
Day 1: 5 21-07
32. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 5 21-07 169
Day 1: 5 21-07
34. Chase Clarke Virginia Beach, VA 5 21-07 167
Day 1: 5 21-07
35. Bardia Kamali Toronto CANADA 5 20-14 166
Day 1: 5 20-14
36. Chris Kingree Inverness, FL 5 20-13 165
Day 1: 5 20-13
36. Erik Luzak Fenelon Falls CANADA 5 20-13 165
Day 1: 5 20-13
36. Aaron Yavorsky Palm Harbor, FL 5 20-13 165
Day 1: 5 20-13
39. Connor Bell Lisbon, NY 5 20-10 162
Day 1: 5 20-10
40. Brennan Berglund Zimmerman, MN 5 20-09 161
Day 1: 5 20-09
40. Grae Buck Green Lane, PA 5 20-09 161
Day 1: 5 20-09
42. Lucas Murphy West Columbia, MI 5 20-09 159
Day 1: 5 20-09
43. Colden Baker Ridgeway, SC 5 20-08 158
Day 1: 5 20-08
43. Darold Gleason Leesville, LA 5 20-08 158
Day 1: 5 20-08
45. Matt Adams Guntersville, AL 5 20-07 156
Day 1: 5 20-07
45. Jonathon VanDam Gobles, MI 5 20-07 156
Day 1: 5 20-07
47. Shayne Berlo Mclean, VA 5 20-06 154
Day 1: 5 20-06
48. Lance Owen Greer, SC 5 20-05 153
Day 1: 5 20-05
49. John Duvall Madison, GA 5 20-04 152
Day 1: 5 20-04
50. Laker Howell Guntersville, AL 5 20-03 151
Day 1: 5 20-03
51. Dylan Akins Flowery Branch, GA 5 20-03 150
Day 1: 5 20-03
52. Matt Kelly Cambridge Ontario CANAD 5 20-02 149
Day 1: 5 20-02
52. Trey Schroeder Theodosia, MO 5 20-02 149
Day 1: 5 20-02
54. Liam Blake East Syracuse, NY 5 20-01 147
Day 1: 5 20-01
55. Connor Jacob Peoria, IL 5 19-15 146
Day 1: 5 19-15
56. Jesse Hilliard Delhi CANADA 5 19-14 145
Day 1: 5 19-14
57. Bobby Bakewell Orlando, FL 5 19-11 144
Day 1: 5 19-11
58. Ryan Broughman Corapeake, NC 5 19-09 143
Day 1: 5 19-09
59. Hayden Gaddis Dandridge, TN 5 19-07 142
Day 1: 5 19-07
60. Colt Blanton Piketon, OH 5 19-05 141
Day 1: 5 19-05
60. Christian Nash Allons, TN 5 19-05 141
Day 1: 5 19-05
62. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 5 19-04 139
Day 1: 5 19-04
63. Charlie Hartley Grove City, OH 5 19-04 138
Day 1: 5 19-04
64. Billy Gilbert Hamburg, NY 5 19-01 137
Day 1: 5 19-01
65. James Chandler Liberty, TX 5 19-00 136
Day 1: 5 19-00
66. Tristan McCormick Bon Aqua, TN 5 18-14 135
Day 1: 5 18-14
66. Tanner Visco Antioch, IL 5 18-14 135
Day 1: 5 18-14
68. Colin Deridder Freeport, MI 5 18-12 133
Day 1: 5 18-12
68. Rich Ortiz Fort Ann, NY 5 18-12 133
Day 1: 5 18-12
70. Josh Gauthier Petawawa CANADA 5 18-10 131
Day 1: 5 18-10
70. Micheal Stout Gallatin, TN 5 18-10 131
Day 1: 5 18-10
72. Cass Terrance Akwewsane, NY 5 18-09 129
Day 1: 5 18-09
73. Eric Stecker Quakertown, PA 5 18-08 128
Day 1: 5 18-08
74. Trey Swindle Cleveland, AL 5 18-08 127
Day 1: 5 18-08
75. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 5 18-07 126
Day 1: 5 18-07
76. Tyler Shawger Zanesville, OH 5 18-05 125
Day 1: 5 18-05
76. Mikey Weems Hull, TX 5 18-05 125
Day 1: 5 18-05
78. Jeremy Sadowski Voluntown, CT 5 18-05 123
Day 1: 5 18-05
79. Adam Rasmussen Sturgeon Bay, WI 5 18-04 122
Day 1: 5 18-04
80. Derrick Sadlowski Monaca, PA 5 18-04 121
Day 1: 5 18-04
81. Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 5 18-02 120
Day 1: 5 18-02
82. Luke Plunkett Pinson, AL 5 18-02 119
Day 1: 5 18-02
83. Buddy Benson Dahlonega, GA 5 17-14 118
Day 1: 5 17-14
83. Yukihiro Sawamura Harker Heights, TX 5 17-14 118
Day 1: 5 17-14
85. Brandon Coulter Knoxville, TN 5 17-13 116
Day 1: 5 17-13
85. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 5 17-13 116
Day 1: 5 17-13
87. Chris Blanchette Edisto Island, SC 5 17-12 114
Day 1: 5 17-12
88. Tanner Hadden Appling, GA 5 17-11 113
Day 1: 5 17-11
89. Michael Spaulding Jr. Dundee, MI 5 17-08 112
Day 1: 5 17-08
90. Joshua Weaver Macon, GA 5 17-05 111
Day 1: 5 17-05
91. William Kronander Brownsville, PA 5 17-03 110
Day 1: 5 17-03
92. Brady Vernon Sterrett, AL 5 17-02 109
Day 1: 5 17-02
93. Kristine Fischer Spring City, TN 5 16-13 108
Day 1: 5 16-13
94. Mike McClelland Blue Eye, MO 5 16-12 107
Day 1: 5 16-12
94. Matt Messer Warfield, KY 5 16-12 107
Day 1: 5 16-12
96. Donavan Carson Bluff City, TN 5 16-11 105
Day 1: 5 16-11
97. Lucas Toliver Paw Paw, MI 5 16-10 104
Day 1: 5 16-10
97. Wyatt Wisian Ardmore, OK 5 16-10 104
Day 1: 5 16-10
99. Dillon Falardeau Hixson, TN 5 16-09 102
Day 1: 5 16-09
100. Byron Kenney Jr Monticello, GA 5 16-08 101
Day 1: 5 16-08
101. Tyler Conde Chepachet, RI 5 16-04 100
Day 1: 5 16-04
102. Cody Ross Livingston, TX 5 15-14 99
Day 1: 5 15-14
103. Brooks Anderson Marietta, GA 5 15-12 98
Day 1: 5 15-12
103. Freddy Palmer Estill Springs, TN 5 15-12 98
Day 1: 5 15-12
105. Troy Coney Owego, NY 5 15-11 96
Day 1: 5 15-11
106. Tyler Malone Chunchula, AL 5 15-05 95
Day 1: 5 15-05
107. Josh Bragg Fayetteville, GA 5 15-05 94
Day 1: 5 15-05
108. Phil Kroll Otego, NY 5 15-03 93
Day 1: 5 15-03
108. Dylan Welton Middleville, MI 5 15-03 93
Day 1: 5 15-03
110. Kyle Weisenburger Columbus Grv, OH 5 15-01 91
Day 1: 5 15-01
111. Brayden Rakes Winston Salem, NC 5 15-01 90
Day 1: 5 15-01
112. Kristian Johnson Belvidere, NJ 5 14-15 89
Day 1: 5 14-15
112. Tyler Lubbat Wheeling, IL 5 14-15 89
Day 1: 5 14-15
114. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 5 14-10 87
Day 1: 5 14-10
114. Julius Mazy Phoenix, AZ 5 14-10 87
Day 1: 5 14-10
116. Cody Detweiler Guntersville, AL 5 14-09 85
Day 1: 5 14-09
117. Duke Nave Oxford, PA 5 14-08 84
Day 1: 5 14-08
118. Ryan Michl Newton, IL 5 13-14 83
Day 1: 5 13-14
119. Blaine Bunney Claremore, OK 5 13-09 82
Day 1: 5 13-09
120. Woo Daves Spring Grove, VA 5 13-05 81
Day 1: 5 13-05
121. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 5 13-04 80
Day 1: 5 13-04
122. Tommy Dunaway Havana, FL 5 13-00 79
Day 1: 5 13-00
123. Nick Mandes North Stonington, CT 5 12-15 78
Day 1: 5 12-15
124. Johnathan Crossland Chapin, SC 5 12-11 77
Day 1: 5 12-11
125. Parker Mott Winter Garden, FL 5 12-10 76
Day 1: 5 12-10
126. Cody Stahl Barnsville, GA 5 12-03 75
Day 1: 5 12-03
127. Clint Leonard Jr Saint Cloud, FL 5 12-02 74
Day 1: 5 12-02
128. Easton Lindus Woodville, WI 5 11-14 73
Day 1: 5 11-14
129. Hunter Eubanks Landrum , SC 5 11-08 72
Day 1: 5 11-08
130. Rick Greene Ocala, FL 4 11-03 71
Day 1: 4 11-03
131. Anastasia Patterson Sumter, SC 5 10-10 70
Day 1: 5 10-10
132. Chris Lighthizer Zanesville, OH 5 10-01 69
Day 1: 5 10-01
133. Mark Guhne Hixson, TN 5 09-14 68
Day 1: 5 09-14
134. Chris McCarthy Woonsocket, RI 5 09-01 67
Day 1: 5 09-01
135. Anthony Garcia Los Angeles, CA 4 09-00 66
Day 1: 4 09-00
136. Dave Miller Stratford, CT 5 07-00 65
Day 1: 5 07-00
137. Paul Bouvier Kingston CANADA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. Jason Carpenter Castle Pines, CO 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. Kyle Healey Almonte CANADA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. Teb Jones Yalaha, MS 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. TJ McKenzie Georgetown, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. Mike Penney Cameron, NC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. John Pollard Eclectic, AL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. Angel Rosario Kalamazoo, MI 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
137. Manny Sciberras Liberty Twp, OH 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 134 678 2508-11
------------------------------
134 678 2508-11
Dekalb Fishing Team and Greene County Bassmaster share Day 1 lead at High School National Championship
EVANS, Ga. — As a high school angler, making it to the Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship is the ultimate goal. Taking the Day 1 lead of this prestigious event (held on Georgia's Clarks Hill Lake) is everything you can hope for as a competitor, which is exactly what Mason Taylor and Wesley Kent of the Dekalb Fishing Team did early during weigh-in. However, Eli Herring and Hunter Lee of the Greene County Bassmasters wanted a piece of that lead as well.
At the conclusion of the Day 1 weigh-in, the Dekalb Fishing Team duo of Taylor and Kent share the lead with Herring and Lee of Greene County Bassmasters with a three-fish limit of 13 pounds, 6 ounces.
As seniors fishing their final Bassmaster High School National Championship, Taylor and Kent are thrilled to get off to such a great start.
“It’s awesome to get a great start like this,” said Taylor. “It’s such a neat feeling knowing we’re at the top of the leaderboard so far. It would really mean the world to be able to pull this thing off.”
Getting keeper bites was not a problem for the team from Central Tennessee, as they caught an estimated 20 keepers throughout the day. Needing just a three-fish limit, this meant plenty of culling throughout the day.
“We caught them all day to be honest,” said Kent. “We started out pretty quick this morning with 7 pounds or so by 7:30 or 8, then just put our heads down for the rest of the day.
“At about Noon I ended up catching that 5-11 which gave us the confidence to float around that area for the rest of the day. Then we ended up catching another 3 pounder and a 4 pounder, which was awesome.”
Knowing how tight the weights are at the top of the leaderboard, the Dekalb duo expects that they’ll need to be close to replicating their Day 1 weight over the next two days to have a chance to win.
“We have good hopes for tomorrow,” said Kent. “We really didn’t pressure our area too much today, but to do it again we’re just going to have fish clean and keep our heads down.”
Unlike Kent and Taylor, Greene County’s duo of Herring and Lee didn’t get a great number of bites, but the quality was certainly there.
“It was actually pretty tough, we didn’t get a ton of bites and really had to grind it out all day,” said Lee.
The team from Mississippi found an early morning pattern during practice, but due to the number of boats in their primary area, they had to punt on their plans and head to fish in deeper water.
“We only had 7 or 8 keeper bites, but they all turned out to be the right ones,” said Herring. “We kept it pretty simple with our approach as far as baits and really did most of our damage on one bait. Just putting our heads down was the key.”
Herring and Lee’s bag was anchored by a 6-10 game changer that was caught late in the morning.
“We only had three little small ones at the time that we caught that 6-10,” Herring said. “We pulled up to a point knowing there was a few brushpiles up there and on my first cast I hooked into that big one.
“It took us a while to get it in the boat, but when Hunter netted it we all went crazy because we knew how big of a deal it was to catch one that size here.”
Sitting at the top of the leaderboard is where you want to be after Day 1, but neither team can get too comfortable with local favorites Jack Story and Roper Putnam of Clarks Hill High School sitting just behind them in third place with 13 pounds, 3 ounces.
The big fish of the day was a 7-14 caught by the Liberty County Anglers team of Connor Crawford and Brody Beam.
The full field of 248 teams will launch from Wildwood Park beginning at 6 a.m. ET and will return for weigh-in starting at 2 p.m. The field will be cut to the Top 12 teams following the Day 2 weigh-in.
Visit Columbia County is hosting the events.
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Platinum Sponsor: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Anastasia Patterson: A Lowcountry Soul Chasing Her Fishing Dream
By Walker Smith, Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships
In the Lowcountry of Sumter, South Carolina, where the marsh grass dances in the salt breeze and the tidal creeks shimmer like veins of silver under the setting sun, Anastasia Patterson is living a dream woven into her soul since childhood.
A Team Toyota pro at just 26, her low-country drawl—warm as a Charleston summer—carries a passion for bass fishing that’s as deep as her faith. She’s not out here guiding trips or chasing paychecks; she’s chasing the love of a sport that’s shaped her heart, her character and her life.
With every cast, Patterson is winning over anglers across the country, not just with her skill but with a gratitude so profound it feels like a prayer, a testament to the spirit of the outdoors and the divine calling that keeps her hooked.
A childhood hooked on fishing
Down in the Lowcountry fishing is more than a pastime—it’s a sacred rite. For Anastasia Patterson, it’s been her heartbeat since she was barely old enough to toddle.
“I grew up hunting and fishing before I could walk,” she says, her voice rolling with the slow, syrupy cadence of Charleston. “My mom—she’s not the biggest fishing person by any means, but my dad would take me all the time. I’ve loved it since I was 4 years old. I was getting newspaper articles written about my love of fishing back when I was that age, believe it or not. It’s always been an integral part of my life.”
Picture a little girl, pigtails swinging, standing on a weathered dock with a rod taller than her, her dad’s steady hand guiding her as she reeled in her first bass from a pond. The water lapped at the pilings; the air hummed with cicadas and young Anastasia was smitten.
“The Lord kept calling me back to fishing, no matter what I did,” she says, her words heavy with the weight of destiny. “When I went to college, we didn’t have a college fishing team, but we convinced them to make one. And that was a huge catalyst.”
That team, born from her and others’ sheer love for the sport, was the spark that lit her path to the professional circuit, where she’s now a rising star apart of the BassmastHER movement.
A sport that shapes the soul
For Patterson, fishing isn’t about the fish—it’s about the lessons, the moments, the quiet revelations that come with every cast.
“I can think of a million ways this sport has shaped me,” she says. “Kristine Fischer and I are actually staying at an Amish farm in Maryland right now getting ready for a Bassmaster Open. We talk all the time about patience, kindness to yourself and other people on the water. I’ve also learned passion from the pursuit of wanting to do this for a living and in tournament fishing, I’ve learned everything from character to integrity. Each time I go fishing, I feel like the Lord reveals something new to me.”
Back at Anastasia’s roots, where the herons glide over the marsh and the sky burns pink at dusk, Patterson finds a classroom on the water. She’s learned to silence the inner critic that whispers after a bad tournament day, drawing strength from 2 Corinthians 10:12.
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
“Often times, it’s easy to compare yourself to what everyone else is doing,” she says. “Even though we’re fishing tournaments, you’re your own worst enemy. But I’ve learned that if I have a poor attitude going into day two after a bad day one, I’m already setting myself up for failure. No matter how long you fish, you’ll never know everything. I’ve had to learn to be kind to myself and give myself some grace.”
That grace extends outward, too.
“In being kind to myself, I’ve had to learn respect; you inherently give people an olive branch, and they may not give it back to you. And that’s okay,” she says.
In the competitive world of bass fishing, where rivalries can sting like a marsh mosquito, Patterson’s approach—rooted in faith and hospitality—sets her apart. She’s the angler who’ll offer a smile to a competitor, share a kind word with a fan or pause to pray over the water, all because she believes in living the love she feels from above.
A woman’s path in a man’s world
In a sport where women are still fighting for their place, Patterson’s journey has had its share of challenges.
“When it comes to being a woman, there are some tough times in this business,” she admits, her voice steady but candid. “When it comes to business, it definitely was a lot harder at one point to get taken seriously because some may think you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But Patterson doesn’t let the skeptics dim her fire.
“The Lord himself has haters, so if someone is displeased with what I’ve done out of good faith and character, I’ve just kind of learned to ignore any mean or nasty comments,” she says.
Her mantra, “Head up, hammer down,” is her rallying cry.
“No matter what happens in life, you have to keep your head up, whether it’s in the classroom or on the lake,” she explains. “You have to keep your head up for what the Lord has in store for you. And you have to hammer down, because you have to go all out.”
It’s a creed that carries her through the grind of tournaments or travel, the sting of a tough weigh-in and the weight of being a trailblazer in a male-dominated sport. With every cast, she’s proving that a South Carolina girl can hold her own—and then some.
MLF Bass Pro Tour to Close Out 2025 Season at Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay
A loaded field of 66 pros will battle on Saginaw Bay for $150K — catch every moment live at MajorLeagueFishing.com
BAY CITY, Mich. (July 29, 2025) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour (BPT) is set to wrap up its 2025 regular season with a high-stakes showdown in Bay City, Michigan, next week. The Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will take place Aug. 7-10, marking the final stop of the seven-event season.
Hosted by Go Great Lake Bay and the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the four-day event will feature 66 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $150,000 top prize, a share of the $6.49 million season purse, and valuable AOY points in hopes of qualifying for the MLF Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
“We are very grateful that the top professional bass anglers in the country are returning to Saginaw Bay, next week,” said Tim Shelton, Director of Sports Tourism for Go Great Lakes Bay in Michigan. “In 2023, the anglers enjoyed Bay City and felt very welcomed here. I encourage our community to come and enjoy the fun at the MLF Watch Party being held at Wenonah Park in downtown Bay City on Saturday and Sunday, August 9th & 10th.”
The tournament will feature numerous fan favorites, including reigning Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) and nine-time BPT champion Jacob Wheeler, back-to-back REDCREST 2024 & 2025 Champion Dustin Connell, Ott DeFoe, Skeet Reese – competing in the final regular-season tournament of his historic career – and Matt Becker, who won when the BPT last visited Saginaw Bay in 2023. The tournament will feature the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament is being filmed for broadcast later this year on Discovery.
Although this marks just the second time the BPT has visited Saginaw Bay, the fishery already holds legendary status among MLF fans. In 2023, rookie sensation Matt Becker delivered one of the most exciting finishes in BPT history, staging a dramatic final-day comeback to win both the tournament and the season-long Angler of the Year title. Becker landed the event’s biggest bag – a 22-pound, 11-ounce limit of smallmouth – and dialed in a pattern switching between largemouth and smallmouth near the Charity Islands.
“I’m excited to get back there, but this one’s going to fish way different than it did in 2023,” Becker said. “When we were here in 2023, we competed under the five-fish format. Now, with the format being every fish counts, I think we’re going to see a lot more largemouth bass in play. Just the sheer numbers of largemouth out there – they’re going to be a huge factor.”
Becker noted that while smallmouth remain a threat, especially near the Charity Islands and other offshore structure, the challenge of targeting them without forward-facing sonar during two of the three daily periods could limit their impact.
“Guys might be able to mix in some smallmouth early during the forward-facing sonar period,” he explained, “But unless you’re close to largemouth water, it’s going to be tough to run back and forth and stay competitive. If someone can find both species in the same area, that’s going to be huge.”
In addition to the strategic challenges of species management and format adaptation, Becker pointed to weather as the ultimate wild card on the Great Lakes. Wind, waves and accessibility could significantly impact how and where the pros fish throughout the event.
“Anytime you go to the Great Lakes, the weather is the ultimate factor,” he said. “Wind can shut down areas completely. Where and how guys can fish will change fast, so being able to adjust on the fly is going to be really important.”
As for what baits fans can expect to see on deck, Becker said his rotation will include a frog, a swimjig, and a handful of flipping options like a Yamamoto Senko, Flappin’ Hog, and the new Yama Bug. For smallmouth, Becker said the Yamamoto Hinge Minnow will be key when the opportunity arises.
“I think we’re going to see quite a few guys catch 20 to 30 scorable bass a day,” Becker said. “It’s going to be exciting – a lot of fish-catching, and the potential for some serious fireworks.”
Anglers will arrive each morning at 5:15 a.m. ET to the Golson Boat Launch, located at 1598 N. Johnson St. in Bay City, Michigan. The Bass Pro Tour trailering policy has been enacted for this event, so anglers will depart the Golson Boat Launch each morning at 6:15 a.m. to one of nine optional launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to the Golson Boat Launch each evening, following the end of competition at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9-10, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Wenonah Park at 103 Center Ave., in Bay City for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day. The event also includes a meet and greet with Paw Patrol's Skye and Marshall, a youth fishing derby and a casting contest.
The Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.
The full field of anglers will compete in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the pro with the heaviest two-day total will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers that finish 2nd through 20th will advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
Television coverage of the Toyota Stage 7 at Saginaw Bay Presented by Ranger Boats will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 15 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Rochester’s Jagdfeld Picks Up Second Career Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Detroit River Presented by Lew’s
Indiana’s Lyons Tops Co-Angler Division
TRENTON, Mich. (July 28, 2025) – Boater Aaron Jagdfeld of Rochester, Michigan, caught a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Detroit River Presented by Lew’s. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Michigan Division. Jagdfeld earned $3,926 for his victory.
“I’ve been chasing another one of these for a while,” said Jagdfeld, whose last win came in an MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing event back in 2021. “To finally get it done feels incredible – especially on such a stacked body of water like this one.”
Jagdfeld made the long run north and set up on Lake St. Clair, where he committed to covering as much water as possible. He struck early with two big bites in the morning, but things quickly cooled off under cloudy skies. Rather than panic or hunker down, Jagdfeld stayed mobile – a decision that proved to be the turning point in his day.
“It was a grind for a while,” he said. “The bite just shut down, but I had a spot in the back of my mind that I’d seen in practice. When the sun finally popped out around noon, I had a hunch those fish might lift off the bottom, and that’s exactly what they did. I pulled up and saw them five feet off the bottom, and they were tanks.”
Jagdfeld’s winning area was isolated and unpressured, a stark contrast from the boat traffic he faced earlier in the day.
“In the morning I was around a bunch of guys, but in the afternoon I didn’t see another boat,” he said. “I think that really helped. I was able to settle in and focus on getting the right bites.”
Armed with forward-facing sonar and a Rapala Crush City Freeloader rigged on a VMC Hybrid jighead, Jagdfeld picked apart the water column and put together a limit of heavyweight smallmouth that ultimately sealed the deal.
“That setup was key,” he explained. “The Freeloader let me target those fish when they were suspended just off the bottom, and I was able to trigger some really aggressive bites.”
In total, Jagdfeld estimates he caught about 30 fish over the course of the day. His co-angler also found success, bringing in three quality bass for 8-1/4 pounds. While many anglers made the move to St. Clair due to a tougher bite elsewhere, Jagdfeld believes the timing of his decision was the difference.
“St. Clair’s just starting to turn on right now, and I think I hit it right,” he said. “It’s only going to get better over the next few weeks, but today I had it all to myself when it counted.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Aaron Jagdfeld, Rochester, Mich., five bass, 25-5, $3,926
2nd: Chris Hellebuyck, White Lake, Mich., five bass, 23-0, $1,963
3rd: Nolan Mandel, Kimball, Mich., five bass, 22-9, $1,309
4th: Julian Sweet, Flint, Mich., five bass, 22-6, $916
5th: Trent Wilt, Manitou Beach, Mich., five bass, 21-12, $785
6th: Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 21-11, $720
7th: Noah Stauffer, Gowen, Mich., five bass, 21-9, $654
8th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 20-14, $589
9th: Brock Vogel, Perrysburg, Ohio, five bass, 20-8, $523
10th: Matt Mosby, Dryden, Mich., five bass, 20-7, $458
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Boater Matt Mosby of Dryden, Michigan, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $530.
Mark Lyons of Marion, Indiana, won the co-angler division and $1,963 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Mark Lyons, Marion, Ind., three bass, 12-13, $1,963
2nd: Erick Schenavar, Newport, Mich., three bass, 11-12, $981
3rd: Justen Fain, Springfield, Ohio, three bass, 11-11, $655
4th: Terry Bucciarelli, Ypsilanti, Mich., three bass, 11-9, $458
5th: Dan Beach, Clarkston, Mich., three bass, 11-8, $377
5th: Albert Davis, Wayne, Ohio, three bass, 11-8, $377
7th: Cullan Parker, Lorain, Ohio, three bass, 11-6, $327
8th: Robert Hernandez, Canton, Mich., three bass, 11-5, $294
9th: Scott Davis, Morenci, Mich., three bass, 10-15, $262
10th: Max Sato, Troy, Mich., three bass, 10-14, $229
Co-anglers Anthony Gilmore of Livonia, Michigan, and Adam Suliman of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, both caught bass weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces, to split the co-angler Berkley Big Bass award of $265.
After three events, Nolan Mandel of Kimball, Michigan, now leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 745 points, while Scott Sims of Morgantown, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 728 points.
The next event for BFL Michigan Division anglers will be held Aug. 23 at the Detroit River out of Trenton, Michigan. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 60 boaters and co-anglers in the division based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-4 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio. Boaters will fish for a top award of a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard worth $50,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $20,000.
The 2025 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 134 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying tournament winners, will advance to one of 12 BFL Regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top three, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Li Time Batteries, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Mystik Lubricants, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Johnston Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches
Canadian pro smashes limit weighing 24-9 Sunday to slam the door on tournament and win $80,000 top prize
MASSENA, N.Y. (July 27, 2025) – Canadian pro Chris Johnston continued his strong track record on the St. Lawrence River with an impressive wire-to-wire victory Sunday at Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches. Johnston weighed in 76 pounds, 1 ounce over three days, making long runs nearly to Lake Ontario each day to seal the win in dominant fashion.
The victory marked Johnston’s second career win at the FLW Tour or Invitationals level, his first coming in 2018 on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes. With this latest triumph, Johnston earned an $80,000 payday and further solidified his reputation as one of the top smallmouth anglers in the sport.
While several other anglers cracked the 67-pound mark – including Hayden O’Barr, Banks Shaw, Brent Anderson, and Clay Reece – none could keep pace with Johnston, who pulled away from the field with a stellar Day 2 performance.
Though the Johnston family’s success on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario may not be inevitable, this weekend made it feel pretty close.
After making a long run on Day 1, Johnston wasn’t exactly feeling the love from his favorite river early on.
“I went to some spots that were new to me, to be honest,” he said. “I found them in practice and made a long run to them, and they were pretty loaded in practice. I was pretty excited. And, I had four spots where I thought they were all 4 1/2-plus, and there were five to 10 fish per spot.
“Some of them were gone, some wouldn't bite, and the wheels started spinning,” he said. “It was 11:00. I had two hours left to fish. And I'm like, ‘I’ve got to get out of this area.’”
Luckily, Johnston is long on experience on the St. Lawrence, and he had some good backup stuff in the tank.
“I went to a different section of the river, and I landed on a couple spots, and they were biting every spot,” he said. “I just stayed in the other zone where I caught them at the end of the day, and it produced every day. I probably shouldn't leave that area again, to be honest.”
When his closest competition faltered on Day 2, Johnston was able to go into Day 3 with a solid lead. Though he didn’t immediately catch the winning bag, he wasn’t nervous for long.
“I've been super close many times on the St. Lawrence with MLF or FLW in the past,” he said. “I won my first Toyota Series here four or five years ago in Massena. This is my second time back, so it's been good to me. I’ve led on the St. Lawrence probably four or five times and blew it on the final day, so there's always a little nerves going out there, but catching a few early kind of took the nerves away and it made for a pretty good day fishing today.”
Fishing mostly familiar water, Johnston stayed fairly deep and drifted a lot and used LiveScope and a minnow some.
For drifting, Johnston mostly used a 3/8-ounce Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Tube, and he used a minnow on a 5.3-gram Gamakatsu Horizon Jig Head. Launching his baits on a Daiwa Tatula Elite with an 8-pound Seaguar Tatsu leader, he used 16-pound Seaguar PEX8 braid, which he thinks made a big difference in his presentations.
“It's the best [braid] I've ever used, but the key is being able to get your bait a long ways away from the boat,” he said. “Even ‘Scoping, my LiveScope is set out to 100 feet. I still have to cast further than that because the current sucks my bait down. When it's actually in the strike zone, it's usually 70, 80 feet from my boat, but you’ve got to cast 130 feet to get it down there.”
Running close to Ontario every day, Johnston mixed old standards with some new places and tweaks to come out on top yet again.
“I hit a couple spots that have been good to me in the past,” Johnston said. “I saw boats on them in practice, and there weren’t any in the tournament, which shocked me. But that’s part of the reason is because they're so hard to catch. So, just knowing they're there and just figuring out a way to get them to bite was the key this week, and then, finding a couple new areas.
“I'd never caught them on a few areas where I caught them in this tournament,” he added. “So, it's not just going to fish the same old water. You’ve got to relocate them every year, because it seems like if you find a new spot, they seem to bite a little better. They don't necessarily live there all year, but if they're there for a week and you can find them on that little staging point, you can put a little hurting on them.”
The top 30 pros at the Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches finished:
1st: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 76-1, $80,000
2nd: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., 15 bass, 68-8, $30,000
3rd: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 67-14, $20,000
4th: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., 15 bass, 67-9, $18,000
5th: Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., 15 bass, 67-3, $17,000
6th: Nick Hatfield, Chuckey, Tenn., 15 bass, 66-12, $16,000
7th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 15 bass, 66-7, $15,000
8th: Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 15 bass, 66-4, $14,250
9th: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 15 bass, 65-14, $13,000
10th: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 15 bass, 65-16, $13,000
11th: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 65-5, $10,750
12th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., 15 bass, 65-5, $10,000
13th: John Levesque, Nashua, N.H., 15 bass, 65-4, $10,000
14th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 15 bass, 65-4, $10,000
15th: Jordan Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., 15 bass, 64-9, $10,000
16th: Shaw Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla., 15 bass, 63-15, $10,000
17th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., 15 bass, 63-12, $10,000
18th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 15 bass, 62-10, $10,000
19th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 15 bass, 62-7, $10,000
20th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 15 bass, 62-2, $10,000
21st: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 61-8, $9,000
22nd: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., 15 bass, 61-8, $9,000
23rd: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 61-8, $9,000
24th: Blake Smith, Lakeland, Fla., 15 bass, 61-1, $9,000
25th: Joshua McGeary, Mount Pleasant, Pa., 15 bass, 60-10, $9,000
26th: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 58-5, $9,000
27th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 14 bass, 57-10, $9,000
28th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 15 bass, 56-12, $9,000
29th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 15 bass, 56-11, $9,000
30th: Gary Miller, Colborne, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 54-9, $9,000
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 149 bass weighing 620 pounds, 15 ounces caught by the final 30 pros on Sunday. The catch included 29 five-bass limits.
Although the season-long points titles were decided on Saturday, the final day of competition at Stop 6 of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals was needed to solidify the full roster of anglers earning Bass Pro Tour invitations. Pro Banks Shaw of Harrison, Tennessee, capped an outstanding rookie season by winning both the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year titles – a rare and impressive double crown.
Joining Shaw in the final points top five were pros Mitchell Robinson, Jacob Walker, Bobby Lane, and Dustin Smith. All but Lane – a current Bass Pro Tour pro – secured invitations to fish the 2026 Bass Pro Tour season. Should they accept, the new class of anglers brings a wealth of talent and momentum to the league, with several poised to make an immediate impact at the sport’s highest level.
The three-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches was hosted by the Town of Massena and featured professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and valuable points to qualify for the 2025 Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Championship in September. The full field of anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advanced to the final round on Championship Sunday.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 1 on CBS Sports Network.
The next event for Invitationals anglers will be the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Championship at the Mississippi River in La Crosse Presented by Phoenix Boats, set for Sept. 5-7 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Bubba, Deep Dive, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitationals updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Eigbrett wins weather-shortened Kayak Series at Lake Champlain
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Bailey Eigbrett entered the Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series at Lake Champlain presented by Native Watercraft with one goal; qualify for the 2026 Bassmaster Kayak National Championship in Knoxville.
Not only did he accomplish that goal, but he also claimed a big trophy to add to his mantle.
The Cheektowaga, N.Y., angler claimed the victory in his home state, landing a limit of smallmouth measuring 100.25 inches. Eigbrett’s total included three smallies measuring 20 inches, a 20.5-incher and a 19.75-incher, enough to edge out Pennsylvania's Nick Audi, who finished second with 100 inches.
“To win one of these is absolutely awesome. Knocking this one down in the home state is very special to me,” Eigbrett said.
Scheduled as a two-day event, anglers launched this morning hoping Day 2 on Lake Champlain would go on as planned. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas. Forecasts called for strong SSE winds on Sunday and guidance from the National Weather Service indicated an increasing risk for strong thunderstorms, forcing tournament officials to cancel the final day.
Anglers were notified through TourneyX around midday that Saturday would be the one and only day of the tournament. While disappointing, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, nor did it change Eigbrett’s approach.
“I was still going to throttle down on the fish regardless,” the Serious Angler Podcast host said. “I did think I would have a better shot to win today, because I didn’t know what I was going to do tomorrow with the wind.”
Saturday’s tournament hours featured sunny and mostly calm conditions across most of Lake Champlain, and the limits reflected that. Thirty-seven of the 158 angler field landed limits of 90 inches or better while the 86th-place finisher caught 80 inches. In total, 104 limits were recorded.
While an excellent largemouth fishery, Eigbrett knew smallmouth were going to be the key to winning. He focused most of his attention on a 300-yard stretch where smallmouth had a choice to either feed on schools of 6- to 7-inch alewives near the surface or perch hanging out near the bottom of the lake in 50 to 60 feet of water.
A Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow produced all his bites. For the smallmouth near the surface, he rigged the Mooch Minnow on a 3/16-ounce Owner Range Roller jighead. He used a 3/8-ounce Cipher tungsten jighead to get down to the perch eaters.
“A lot of the damage was done on the 3/8-ounce,” Eigbrett said. “A lot of the time they were traveling very high up in the water column or they would be on bottom eating bait and start rising toward the surface. I would time the cast so that when they were rising, my bait fell to them.
“I could tell on Live when they acknowledged my bait. I’d kill it, then start twitching it and reeling it back to the boat pretty quickly actually and make them chase it.”
Before heading out to his primary area, Eigbrett started on a hard break on the end of an island and landed his initial limit in short order. That initial limit, however, included one of his 20-inchers, something he was not expecting that spot to produce.
“It was just a limit spot full of 17 and 18-inchers,” he said. “My first cast was a 20-incher, a nice bonus fish. Really started the good vibes for the day.”
Once he had recorded his limit, he headed out to his primary area and by 8 a.m., he had landed two more 20-inch smallmouth.
“I started getting into some pretty good fish,” he said. “I was just doing figure 8’s with my MEGA Live 2 rigged on my Sniper Marine pole. I just tried to run into as many bass as I could and hoping for the big bites. When I caught my fourth 20-incher I knew I had a chance to do something special. I had never been able to catch 100 inches in a tournament, so it was pretty dang cool to do it in this event.”
Connecticut’s Ryan Nye finished third with 99 inches followed by Jake Angulas in fourth with 98.75 inches and Matt Kiefer in fifth with 98.25 inches. West Virginia’s Jody Queen landed a 21-inch largemouth, earning Big Bass of the Tournament honors and a $500 bonus as well as a sixth-place finish.
All 158 anglers earned points towards the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year race.
Final results from the Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series at Lake Champlain presented by Native Watercraft are scored by TourneyX and can be found here.
The Adirondack Coast and Discover Plattsburgh hosted this tournament.
2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Newport
2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series Presenting Sponsor: Native Watercraft2025 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 Progressive 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, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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Johnston Extends Lead, Shaw Clinches AOY at Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches
Canadian pro catches limit weighing 25-12 for second consecutive day to maintain control heading into final day
MASSENA, N.Y. (July 26, 2025) – At roughly 10:45 a.m. EST on Saturday, MLFNOW! analyst Rob Newell made the unofficial call as Canadian pro Chris Johnston wrestled with a fat St. Lawrence River smallmouth on Day 2 of Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches.
“I believe the Johnston beatdown is in full effect right now,” Newell quipped as Johnston fought the fish to the boat, referring to the Canadian pro’s 20-plus-pound morning and his burgeoning lead on the rest of the field.
That fish – a rotund 4 1/4-pound smallie built more like an Opah than a bass – resulted in a 3/4-pound cull that boosted Johnston to a 4-pound lead at the time. He would add to that lead shortly, culling up two more times in the next 90 minutes to cross the 25-pound mark and boost his cushion to 6 pounds. Johnston finished the day with 25-12 for the second straight day, giving him a two-day total of 51-8 and leaving Clay Reece (47-1), John Murray (44-14), Shaw Grigsby (44-12) and the rest of the Top 10 a tall hill to climb to catch the peerless Canadian pro.
“If your name is Johnston, you can lay claim to this river,” Newell said, referring to the success that Chris, his brother Cory and father Lynn have enjoyed on the St. Lawrence system for years.
Pro Banks Shaw, meanwhile, caught a modest bag of 17-5 to fall from second place to 11th. But while he’ll likely concede the battle on the St. Lawrence to Johnston, the Tennessee pro easily won the war: Shaw wrapped up the 2025 Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year titles by a wide margin. He’ll finish the season with a 60-plus-point gap over second place and take home bonuses of $50,000 for AOY and a Polaris Ranger 1000 UTV for ROY – plus an invitation to fish the Bass Pro Tour in 2026.
Heading into Saturday – the one day of competition without live sonar – many studious tournament fans had Johnston pegged as the most dangerous angler in the field. The Mercury pro’s knowledge of the St. Lawrence supplied him with a selection of key spots where he knew 5- and 6-pounders live. The potential speed bump, though, was that he was “maybe 50/50” in his confidence he could get them to bite.
“I wasn’t overly confident or thinking that it was a guarantee by any means,” Johnston said. “In the back of my mind, I knew that I could go catch maybe 19 to 22 pounds fishing some other stuff, but those places don’t have fish that will get you a 25 to 28 pounds. Fishing that way, you can easily not catch a fish. I didn’t go there knowing that I was going to catch 25 pounds.”
Johnston’s go-for-broke plan was rewarded quickly, though, as he connected with the first of a steady enough supply of 4 1/2- to 5-pounders while drifting big-fish haunts that he’s accumulated since he was 18 years old (“Doing it old school,” Johnston said). By 11 a.m., his livewell held over 22 pounds of smallmouth; it was up to 24 by noon, en route to the only 25-plus-pound bag of the day. Johnston’s morning success was in stark contrast to Day 1, when he struggled (by his standards) through much of the day before culling up to 25-12.
Johnston will head into Championship Sunday with an opportunity to collect his third major win on the St. Lawrence (he won a Toyota Series Northern Division event in 2021 and a Bassmaster Elite Series in 2023), and a chance to add $80,000 to his career winnings on a river that’s already accounted for roughly 25% of the $1.6 million he’s earned on the major tours to date.
“This is a fun tournament for me,” Johnston said. “It’s an awesome, high-stakes tournament where I don’t have to worry about points. I’m here to win. I can just go out and swing for the fences again (Sunday). I’m going with the same plan. I might fish one or two more areas that I didn’t get to Saturday and hit a couple spots that I can maybe fish a little more effectively with LiveScope. I may go out and catch 17, but I’m going to go where the big ones live and try to crack another 25-12.”
The top 30 pros advancing to the final day of competition on the St. Lawrence River are:
1st: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 51-8
2nd: Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., 10 bass, 47-1
3rd: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 44-14
4th: Shaw Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla., 10 bass, 44-12
5th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 44-8
6th: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., 10 bass, 44-6
7th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 10 bass, 44-1
8th: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., 10 bass, 43-11
9th: John Levesque, Nashua, N.H., 10 bass, 43-9
10th: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 10 bass, 43-3
11th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 10 bass, 42-14
12th: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-13
13th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 10 bass, 42-11
14th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 42-10
15th: Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 10 bass, 42-7
16th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 10 bass, 42-5
17th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 42-3
18th: Blake Smith, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 42-3
19th: Nick Hatfield, Chuckey, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-0
20th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 42-0
21st: Jordan Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 41-15
22nd: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-8
23rd: Joshua McGeary, Mount Pleasant, Pa., 10 bass, 41-8
24th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., 10 bass, 41-7
25th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., 10 bass, 41-6
26th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 41-3
27th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 40-14
28th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 bass, 40-12
29th: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 40-10
30th: Gary Miller, Colborne, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 40-8
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 433 bass weighing 1,578 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 87 pros Saturday. The catch included 85 five-bass limits.
Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to pro Jordan Wiggins of Cullman, Alabama, who brought a bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces to the scale.
The three-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is hosted by the Town of Massena and features professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition, the full field competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, now advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight.
The final 30 anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET Sunday from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena, New York. The Championship weigh-in will be held at the boat launch and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 1 on CBS Sports Network.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Bubba, Deep Dive, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitationals updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
Smith and Randan take the title at Junior Championship
EVANS, Ga. — With a Day 2 catch of 8 pounds, 7 ounces, Tennessee’s Scotts Hill High School Anglers Junior duo Parker Smith and Carson Randan claimed the 2025 Bassmaster Junior National Championship title at Clarks Hill Lake with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 7 ounces.
Parker and Smith, 14 and 13 years old, respectively, were in third place after the first day with a three-bass limit weighing 12 pounds. That had them a mere 3 ounces out of the lead. On Day 2, as the bite tightened up for just about everyone, they landed 8 pounds 7 ounces to win by 1-04 over the second-place Junior Keystone Bassmasters team of Weston Bouchikas and Luke Hoskinson.
The Scotts Hill team certainly aren’t strangers to winning: “Thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number,” said boat captain Nick Hart. “But this is the thirteenth tournament they’ve won this year, including some big ones. They fish all the time and they do the work that it takes to be great.”
Today that involved staying patient after losing a quality fish this morning that might’ve sealed the deal.
“That kind of hurt us early,” said Smith, “But we kept culling up and culling up and eventually we caught another big one.”
Every fish that they caught came LiveScoping minnow style bait comprised of a 3/16 ounce Berkley Fusion19 Hybrid Jighead with a 1/0 hook and a 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad in Electric Shad. They sprayed the soft plastic bait with Bang fish attractant and tied it on with a loop knot to allow it to roll better.
“My strength is scoping for big fish,” Smith continued. “Carson’s strength is fishing a jig or a worm or a shakey head, really finessing them. That’s why we work so well together.” They also capitalized on extreme patience honed through hundreds of hours on the water. Randan said that they maximized their fishing time by staying within 2 miles of the ramp and looking for bait balls that held aggressive fish.
Runners up Bouchikas and Hoskinson finished with a two-day total of 19-3, followed by Alabama’s Headland Junior High School team of Hayes Henderson and Caden Harris in third with 18-4.
Bouchikas and Hoskinson were the only team to catch a double digit bag today, with three Clarks Hill bass that totaled 10-3. No team had over 10 pounds each day.
To catch their Day 1 bag, the Oklahoma team ran a selection of the approximately 100 brush piles they’d marked in practice. Yesterday that put them in 11th place with 9 pounds even, not far out of the lead, but needing to improve their quality to make a run at the title.
Today they started off with that same pattern, but “we weren’t getting the right bites, so we starting ’Scoping bait balls with Damiki rigs,” Bouchikas reported. “We started catching decent fish right away.” Like the winners, they used a 5-inch Sakamata Shad, albeit in the Silver Shad pattern. They paired them with Queen Tackle Tungsten jigheads.
Boat captain Chris Bouchikas remains amazed by the young anglers’ maturity and talent: “There’s not a lot that they don’t do well,” he said. “I let them make their own decisions on the boat and they do a great job with it.”
They also got a special thrill late in the day when the team captained by Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series superstar Mike Iaconelli pulled up within a couple hundred yards and the pro’s son Vegas quickly caught a quality bass: “We got to witness Ike go off,” Chris recalled. “We heard him yell ‘Never give up!’ just going crazy. We all had goosebumps for at least 30 minutes.”
Despite catching 4 pounds less today than they did yesterday, Henderson and Harris saw their position in the standings rise from 6th to 3rd. Their strategy centered on running brush piles fairly close to the ramp.
Yesterday they amassed most of their damage with a Morning Dawn colored Roboworm 6-inch straight tail worm on a dropshot. Today a Chug Bug was their primary producer, as they caught only half as many fish. Despite the smaller bag, they had no regrets.
“We didn’t lose any fish,” Hayes said. “They were there, we just couldn’t catch them.”
They made no excuses, but surmised the increased fishing pressure and heavier winds made it a tougher bite.
Fifty-nine teams caught a three-bass limit today, a dozen fewer than yesterday’s count. One hundred five teams weighed in at least one bass today, and 115 of 120 had a fish at least one day.
Today’s big bass was a 5-12 largemouth brought to the scales by the team of Kendal Ward and Coleton Bradley of New Mexico, the fifth-place finishers. Memphis Johnson and Bryson Seal from Alabama’s Good Hope Fishing Team, the Day 1 leaders, caught the Big Bass of the Tournament yesterday, a 7-13 largemouth.
Visit Columbia County hosted this event.
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
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2025 Bassmaster High School Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
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.
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2025 Bassmaster Junior Championship 7/25-7/26
Clarks Hill Lake, Evans GA.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Parker Smith - Carson Randan Scotts Hill High School Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 12-00 Day 2: 3 08-07 Total: 6 20-07
2. Weston Bouchikas - Luke Hoskinson Junior Keystone Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 09-00 Day 2: 3 10-03 Total: 6 19-03
3. Hayes Henderson - Caden Harris Headland Jr High School - AL 0
Day 1: 3 11-02 Day 2: 3 07-02 Total: 6 18-04
4. Bennett Bullard - Kei Blaylock Trader Bills 0
Day 1: 3 10-03 Day 2: 3 07-14 Total: 6 18-01
5. Kendal Ward - Coleton Bradley New Mexico At Large 0
Day 1: 3 11-06 Day 2: 1 05-12 Total: 4 17-02
6. Cullen Sanders - Trace Nobles Liberty County Junior Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 12-02 Day 2: 2 04-15 Total: 5 17-01
7. Brady Williams - Miles Kearney Pickens County Jr. Dragons Fishi 0
Day 1: 3 09-08 Day 2: 3 07-07 Total: 6 16-15
8. Andrew Ziegler - Henry Freter Hartley's Hawgs Piglets 0
Day 1: 3 09-14 Day 2: 3 06-10 Total: 6 16-08
9. Will Crisman - Reed Crisman Buggs Island Elite Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 07-05 Day 2: 3 09-01 Total: 6 16-06
10. Memphis Johnson - Bryson Seal Good Hope Fishing Team - AL 0
Day 1: 3 12-03 Day 2: 3 04-02 Total: 6 16-05
11. Kannon Wood - Jackson Randall Jr Gulf Port High School 0
Day 1: 3 09-01 Day 2: 3 07-03 Total: 6 16-04
12. JT Cross - Jake Paradis L/A Junior Bassmasters - ME 0
Day 1: 3 08-08 Day 2: 3 07-09 Total: 6 16-01
13. Greyson Harper - Garreson Currie Topeka Jr Hawgs 0
Day 1: 3 11-14 Day 2: 3 04-00 Total: 6 15-14
14. Grayson Tassone - Cole Bryant Port City Junior Bass Masters 0
Day 1: 2 06-09 Day 2: 2 09-04 Total: 4 15-13
15. Easton Gray - Carter Shinn Arkansas YBN Northern 0
Day 1: 3 06-13 Day 2: 3 08-13 Total: 6 15-10
16. Piers Picou - Central Catholic - LA 0
Day 1: 3 07-03 Day 2: 3 08-05 Total: 6 15-08
17. Coop Caldwell - Konnor Macoubrie Team Fishing 4 Life 0
Day 1: 3 06-14 Day 2: 3 08-07 Total: 6 15-05
18. Carsen Sands - Dylan Shook Michigan A1 Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 05-13 Day 2: 3 08-10 Total: 6 14-07
19. Vegas Iaconelli - Wally Peer Iv Bass Nation Juniors 0
Day 1: 3 04-11 Day 2: 3 09-10 Total: 6 14-05
20. Kole Wingfield - Kline Wingfield Arkansas Youth Anglers Junior 0
Day 1: 3 08-15 Day 2: 3 05-03 Total: 6 14-02
21. Olivia King - Harper Krohn D'iberville Hs Warrior Bass Nati 0
Day 1: 3 08-14 Day 2: 3 05-01 Total: 6 13-15
22. Tommy Richards - Denver Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 08-02 Day 2: 3 05-09 Total: 6 13-11
23. Maddox Shaffer - Myles Shaffer Junior Garrett Bass Slayers 0
Day 1: 3 06-12 Day 2: 3 06-12 Total: 6 13-08
24. Easton Dickens - Isaiah Crockett New River Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 06-14 Day 2: 3 06-04 Total: 6 13-02
25. Easton Trotter - Cooper Thomas Rehobeth Jr High School Team 0
Day 1: 3 07-11 Day 2: 3 05-06 Total: 6 13-01
26. Cort Elrod - Riverside Middle School 0
Day 1: 3 07-07 Day 2: 3 05-07 Total: 6 12-14
27. Kallen Williams - Caden Wingfield 863 Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 05-09 Day 2: 3 06-14 Total: 6 12-07
28. Kenny Beale III - Henry Beale Foothills Jr. Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 04-13 Day 2: 3 07-08 Total: 6 12-05
29. Brady Wells - Zeke Brock Bath County Juniors 0
Day 1: 3 07-09 Day 2: 2 04-07 Total: 5 12-00
30. Crews Mcferrin - Colin Bourne Karns Jr High School 0
Day 1: 3 06-02 Day 2: 3 05-14 Total: 6 12-00
31. Deacon Keefe - Brayden Blair Reeths Puffer High School Fishin 0
Day 1: 3 04-15 Day 2: 3 06-14 Total: 6 11-13
32. Gunner Robbins - Drew Smith Livingston Academy Junior Bassma 0
Day 1: 3 05-07 Day 2: 3 06-06 Total: 6 11-13
33. John Brown - Blaine Summers Indiana Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 03-12 Day 2: 3 07-13 Total: 6 11-09
34. Hunter Beach - Austin Jefferson Denver Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 05-15 Day 2: 3 05-10 Total: 6 11-09
35. Colt Carmean - Gunner Vargeson Susquehanna Valley Jr Fishing Te 0
Day 1: 3 04-09 Day 2: 3 06-13 Total: 6 11-06
36. Layne Shoffiett - Jackson Lee Notre Dame Junior Bass Team 0
Day 1: 3 06-13 Day 2: 3 04-08 Total: 6 11-05
37. Gabe Holshouser - Gunner Edwards Roco Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 04-13 Day 2: 3 06-07 Total: 6 11-04
38. Cody Hails - Aiden Espinoza Denver Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 05-00 Day 2: 3 06-02 Total: 6 11-02
39. Truman Duhamell - Drake Wray Indian Creek Junior Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 3 05-14 Day 2: 3 04-13 Total: 6 10-11
40. Caleb Gurley - Keegan Smith Palmetto Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 06-00 Day 2: 3 04-09 Total: 6 10-09
41. Owen Stephens - Max Roy Russell County Jr Bass Club 0
Day 1: 3 07-12 Day 2: 2 02-12 Total: 5 10-08
42. Lane Nickles - Kohan Branyon Palmetto Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 05-04 Day 2: 3 05-04 Total: 6 10-08
43. Colby Christopher - Hudson Mcclure Oconee Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 3 06-02 Day 2: 3 04-05 Total: 6 10-07
44. Hayden VanWinkle - Ryan Skiles Rocky Mtn Bass Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 08-01 Day 2: 2 02-03 Total: 5 10-04
45. Colton Willging - Brody Heacock Dubuque Bass 0
Day 1: 3 08-06 Day 2: 1 01-13 Total: 4 10-03
46. Sullivan Kraft - Jude Pfeiffer Port City Junior Bass Masters 0
Day 1: 3 08-08 Day 2: 1 01-09 Total: 4 10-01
47. Jax Fuhrman - Max Decker Hawghead Bassmaster Juniors 0
Day 1: 3 04-12 Day 2: 3 05-05 Total: 6 10-01
48. Avery Watkins - Bentley Mchenry Wilson Christian Academy Juniors 0
Day 1: 3 06-10 Day 2: 2 03-06 Total: 5 10-00
49. Christopher Cox Jr. - Gage Chlomoudis Triangle Bass Club 0
Day 1: 3 08-00 Day 2: 2 01-15 Total: 5 09-15
50. Cullen Simon - Easton Stanley Little Cypress Mauriceville Jr 0
Day 1: 3 05-12 Day 2: 3 04-02 Total: 6 09-14
51. Heston Hoffman - Samuel Holland Topeka Jr Hawgs 0
Day 1: 3 06-09 Day 2: 3 03-04 Total: 6 09-13
52. Joseph Eskew - Nathan Banach Off The Hook Jr. Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 3 08-07 Total: 4 09-11
53. Camden Baker - Asher Hart Hartley's Hawgs Piglets 0
Day 1: 3 05-01 Day 2: 3 04-09 Total: 6 09-10
54. Lem Tate - Baylor Mccuiston West Union Bass Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 3 06-07 Day 2: 2 03-00 Total: 5 09-07
55. Brayen Barnhill - Reed Abrams 757 Bass 0
Day 1: 3 06-06 Day 2: 3 02-15 Total: 6 09-05
56. Kort Roberts - Katera Roberts Junior Keystone Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 05-14 Day 2: 3 03-07 Total: 6 09-05
57. Bentley Brown - Lawton Rollison Dixie Junior Bassmasters - FL 0
Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 3 03-08 Total: 6 09-02
58. Drew Oberhoffer - Cale Richman Dubuque Bass 0
Day 1: 3 04-04 Day 2: 3 04-13 Total: 6 09-01
59. Luke Mcandrew - Brody Witmer Sml Junior Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 05-08 Day 2: 3 03-08 Total: 6 09-00
60. Walker Brogdon - Pershing Glenn Gca Backlashers 0
Day 1: 3 05-00 Day 2: 2 04-00 Total: 5 09-00
61. Isaac Sprouse - Will Sprouse Gaffney Jr High School Fishing T 0
Day 1: 3 04-03 Day 2: 3 04-13 Total: 6 09-00
62. Bayne Robinson - Kade Stephenson Brookland Bass Bandits Jr 0
Day 1: 3 04-14 Day 2: 3 03-14 Total: 6 08-12
63. Colton Miller - Landon Lynch Brunswick Academy - VA 0
Day 1: 3 03-13 Day 2: 3 04-09 Total: 6 08-06
64. Knox White - Grayson Sanford Mt. Juliet Fishing - Juniors 0
Day 1: 2 02-06 Day 2: 3 05-14 Total: 5 08-04
65. Reese Forbes - Mason Grantham Jr. Southwest Bassmasters-Denham 0
Day 1: 3 05-03 Day 2: 2 03-01 Total: 5 08-04
66. Carson Stevens - Wesley Osuna Franklin County Jr Bass Team - T 0
Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 1 02-08 Total: 4 08-02
67. Jones Thode - Luca Docken Hutchinson High School 0
Day 1: 2 03-00 Day 2: 2 05-00 Total: 4 08-00
68. Case Thorn - Rodee Owen Lone Star Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 04-12 Day 2: 3 03-00 Total: 6 07-12
69. Tahlen Thomas-Hamm - Grifinn Thomas-Hamm Southside Junior Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 04-06 Day 2: 3 03-05 Total: 6 07-11
70. Brandon Carter - Cooper Potts Mt. Zion Fishing 0
Day 1: 1 03-14 Day 2: 2 03-12 Total: 3 07-10
71. Cody Aliff - Jon Parker Pope Triangle Bass Club 0
Day 1: 1 04-03 Day 2: 2 03-03 Total: 3 07-06
72. Bryson Agee - Gage Brasher Good Hope Junior Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 04-00 Day 2: 2 03-05 Total: 5 07-05
73. Alden Breland - Jaxon Godbold Vancleave High School 0
Day 1: 1 06-05 Day 2: 1 00-15 Total: 2 07-04
74. Granger Brasuell - Jude Nichols Aybn Northern Junior 0
Day 1: 3 04-14 Day 2: 2 02-05 Total: 5 07-03
75. Tj Mcqueen - Brayden Zohner Jackson County Homeschool 0
Day 1: 2 02-05 Day 2: 3 04-11 Total: 5 07-00
76. Jake Morgan - Miles Krieger Eureka Youth Club 0
Day 1: 2 03-03 Day 2: 1 03-12 Total: 3 06-15
77. Carsen Feinberg - Grant Klein New Hampshire Jr. Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 1 01-05 Day 2: 3 05-06 Total: 4 06-11
78. Jaxon Mcdaniels - Colin Nicholson Mon Valley Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 3 06-09 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 06-09
79. Liam Jeddry - Garret Bertuzzi Team Outcast Juniors 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 2 05-14 Total: 2 05-14
80. Jacob Murphy - Mason Peeler Roco Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 03-06 Day 2: 2 02-08 Total: 5 05-14
81. Chase Rogers - Rogan Alderman Bath County Juniors 0
Day 1: 3 05-01 Day 2: 1 00-12 Total: 4 05-13
82. Kaysen Smith - Jonah Osment Crescent High School Jr. Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 02-01 Day 2: 2 03-11 Total: 3 05-12
83. Brantley Faulkner - Christian Roche Piedmont Youth Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 1 01-06 Day 2: 1 04-04 Total: 2 05-10
84. Deacon Nyland - Isaiah Blattner Zeeland Fishhawx 0
Day 1: 1 02-07 Day 2: 2 03-01 Total: 3 05-08
85. Brayden Coussou - James Horne Buggs Island Elite Anglers 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 05-07 Total: 3 05-07
86. Jace Gilliam - Jett Gilliam Wayne Pioneers Junior Team 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 05-06 Total: 3 05-06
87. Burke Sorenson - Braden Royse Eureka Youth Club 0
Day 1: 2 03-02 Day 2: 2 01-15 Total: 4 05-01
88. Bill Young - Andrew Young Wolfe River Juniors 0
Day 1: 2 03-00 Day 2: 2 01-14 Total: 4 04-14
89. Owen Williams - Jase Quattlebaum Rehobeth Jr High School Team 0
Day 1: 2 02-02 Day 2: 1 02-09 Total: 3 04-11
90. Brady Terry - Graham Hall Buggs Island Elite Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 04-10 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 04-10
91. Cason Curry - Jaxon Curry Rocky Mtn Bass Anglers 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 2 04-04 Total: 2 04-04
92. Liam Johnson - Blaine Grassl Southern Illinois Future Jr Angl 0
Day 1: 1 02-08 Day 2: 1 01-10 Total: 2 04-02
93. Mason Samson - Luke Warbin Wmrhs Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 04-00 Total: 3 04-00
94. Oliver Williams - Corvin Katzban Eagleton Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 1 01-05 Day 2: 2 02-07 Total: 3 03-12
95. Bryce Stilen - Brett Nightingale Scott West Juniors 0
Day 1: 2 02-05 Day 2: 1 01-03 Total: 3 03-08
96. Brystol Marsh - Madison Riley Junior Garrett Bass Slayers 0
Day 1: 1 01-15 Day 2: 1 01-07 Total: 2 03-06
97. Blayne Gansner - Mathias Phipps Festus Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 2 03-03 Total: 2 03-03
98. Alexandre Tardif - Lucas Reid New Hampshire Jr. Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 1 00-04 Day 2: 2 02-12 Total: 3 03-00
99. Tripp Jackson - Trig Mchone Meigs Middle School Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 1 01-13 Day 2: 1 01-00 Total: 2 02-13
100. Dixon Heflin - Toby Potts Bedford County Youth Bass Club - 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 2 01-11 Total: 3 02-11
101. Ryan Baas - Kade Baas Dubuque Bass 0
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 1 01-05 Total: 2 02-09
102. Marshall Hyatt - Cooper Orton Good Hope Junior Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 1 01-03 Day 2: 1 01-01 Total: 2 02-04
103. Lliam Crisman - Wyatt Trihey Buggs Island Elite Anglers 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 2 02-02 Total: 2 02-02
104. Conner White - Drake Highsmith Junior Keystone Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 1 02-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 02-01
105. Jack Jaracy - Mason Maat Ct Bass Thunder 0
Day 1: 2 01-14 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 01-14
106. Jackson Feild - Camden Moody Mecklenburg Co Junior Bassmaster 0
Day 1: 1 01-07 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-07
107. Troy Cunningham - Austin Shroyer Mahomet Seymour Hs Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-04
107. Kam Sessions - Jasper Keogh Riley's Catch 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 01-04 Total: 1 01-04
109. Kaidyn Ruark - Hunter Helton Bath County Juniors 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 01-01 Total: 1 01-01
110. Fisher Arnold - Jackson Caudill Lakeland Junior Hawg Hunters 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-00
111. Colt Teague - Junior Keystone Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 1 00-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 00-15
112. Slade Smith - Landon Grigg Aybn Northern Junior 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 00-14 Total: 1 00-14
113. Carter Kulpa - Elliot Weeks Hartley's Hawgs Piglets 0
Day 1: 1 00-13 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 00-13
114. Grace Whiting - Mackenzie Vote Rogers High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 00-12 Total: 1 00-12
115. Briar Blackwood - Colt Green Good Hope Junior Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
115. Rhett Corley - Cole Cawthon Northwest Rankin Jr Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
115. Jase Cox - Bentley Oldfield Bath County Juniors 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
115. Broghan Kuhns - Rylee Brunson Junior Wildcats 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
115. Micajah Pickette - Brantley Rice Munford Fishing - Juniors 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
115. Kolton Scarlett - Hunter Nugent Frederick County Bass 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 71 255 550-00
2 59 250 474-05
------------------------------
130 505 1024-05
Falardeau claims wire-to-wire victory at Upper Chesapeake Bay
NORTH EAST, Md. — For 10 years, Dillon Falardeau served his country as an artillery officer in the Army National Guard. But when the time came to leave the service, the Rhode Island native knew – and has known since he was a toddler – he wanted to be a professional bass angler.
Using the skills he has built up fishing and guiding the Tennessee River, the 31-year-old put together a dominating performance at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by SEVIIN, catching a three-day total of 62 pounds, 13 ounces to claim his first title in a national level circuit.
“This is a dream come true. I’ve been dreaming about it for 30 years. I always wanted to get it done and now I’ve got the first one,” he said. “My whole plan was to try and go pro, I just needed to figure out how to make some money. I went on deployment and made enough money to give it a try.”
Alabama’s Lucas Lindsay finished second with 53-12, over 9 pounds behind Falardeau, while Florida’s Dave Frost earned third place with a total of 53-6.
Along with the $34,279 first-place prize and a trophy, Falardeau punched his ticket to the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour scheduled for March 13-15 on the aforementioned Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.
Falardeau had never fished a tidal river prior to this week, but it didn’t take him long to grasp where he needed to be during the tide cycles. Opening the tournament in the lead with 22-7, the Hixson, Tenn., pro landed 19-6 on Day 2 before catching 21-4 on Championship Friday, the biggest bag of Day 3 by a wide margin.
“The hardest thing was trying to catch a fish during the slack high tide,” Falardeau explained. “That is when I caught them today. But I felt super comfortable because it was current. I just treated it like the Tennessee River.”
That final day limit wouldn’t have been possible without a critical move. After spending three hours in his primary area on the south side of the Susquehanna Flats during the lower tide, and only one keeper bass to show for it, Falardeau decided it was time to move to an area on the north side of the flat that he had not yet fished during the tournament.
“On my (best) spot, I knew I had an hour window to catch one or two big ones. I hooked a big one and jumped it off. It took a little while to get that out of my head. After another hour, that window was gone and muddy water moved in. I knew I had to go find something else.
There, he found much cleaner water as well as a high spot in 2 feet of water that was breaking the momentum of the incoming tide. Keeping the boat in 4 feet of water, Falardeau landed every bass he brought back to Friday’s final weigh-in in a two-hour flurry around that high spot, including two 5-pounders and several 4-pounders.
“I put my trolling motor down and saw the water was clean and the current was moving. Right away I knew I made the right decision,” he said. “The wind calmed down for 30 minutes and 100 yards towards the middle of the flat I saw a slick coming across that was about 100 yards long. Usually when you see that it is because the current is rolling over. Sure enough, there was a current break, and it was lights out.”
The Chickamauga Lake guide used plenty of concepts he has learned about current and grass on the famous east Tennessee reservoir this week on the Upper Chesapeake Bay. During practice, he searched for areas with mixtures of aquatic vegetation and found largemouth hiding in holes within that vegetation. Although he didn’t use his forward-facing sonar to catch individual bass, he did use it to locate the voids in the grass as well as baitfish.
On the south side of the Flats, Falardeau rotated between several different sweet spots in 2 to 5 feet of water within a half-mile circle. All the bass in his Day 1 limit and four of the bass in his Day 2 limit were caught out of this area when the tide rushed out of the Bay in the afternoons. As he waited for the tide to get right, he would visit a separate grass line and fill out an 11 to 13-pound limit.
A 3/8-ounce black and blue Z-Man JackHammer paired with a 4.5 black and blue Hog Farmer Spunk Shad trailer produced the bulk of his bites. He tossed the Jackhammer on a Dobyns 736 extra-heavy glass rod paired with a Shimano Chronarch spooled with 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon.
Falardeau also caught a couple key largemouth on a chartreuse/black back Yo-Zuri squarebill crankbait and one quality keeper on a 3/8-ounce spinnerbait.
Not only is he Classic bound, Falardeau is eighth in St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN Division I points after three tournaments and almost certainly claimed his spot in the Elite Qualifier Division with the win.
Lindsay also found success on the south side of the Susquehanna Flats, landing the majority of his bass along a one mile stretch of the expansive shallow area. The Auburn, Ala. native opened the tournament in sixth with 19-13 before jumping to second with 19-6. He lost several big bites early on Day 3 and closed out the tournament with a limit weighing 14-9.
“I think everyone knew it was going to be won on the flats,” the Auburn University alum said. “I found a stretch that was a little over a mile long and I would drift over it with my Power Poles in the water to slow me down.”
Shorter grass, mostly eelgrass and peppergrass, were his most productive pieces of cover. Around those stretches, he rotated between 3/8, 1/2-ounce and 3/4-ounce green pumpkin Jackhammers paired with Yamamoto Zako trailers.
“When I found vibrant, green grass, that is when you would catch them.”
Frost caught limits weighing 16-14, 19-3 and 17-7 on the Susquehanna Flats to notch the second Top 3 finish of his Bassmaster career.
The Florida resident fished grass the entire tournament, with his best bait being a ChatterBait. To generate bites in deeper grass, he would yo-yo it almost like a blade bait. On the final day, however, the water color was just right to generate a topwater bite. Frost filled a limit early in the morning on a Heddon Super Spook and two more good largemouth on a Zoom Horny Toad.
“I was just looking at the water thinking it was right to throw a topwater,” Frost explained. “I hadn’t thrown a Horny Toad all week, I had to search for a hook to build one on. Five casts with it I caught one. Ten casts later I caught another one.
“This place, you need to adjust constantly,” he added.
Richard LeadBeater of Pitman, N.J., claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament honors with a 6-5 largemouth he landed on Day 2.
With three of the four tournaments completed, Lindsay leads the Division I points race with 570 points. Alabama’s Matt Adams is second with 563 points followed by Virginia’s Ryan Lachniet in third with 560 points, Georgia’s Cody Stahl in fourth with 553 points and Georgia’s Tyler Campbell in fifth with 547 points. Connor Jacob, Russ Lane, Falardeau, Chris Blanchette and Micheal Stout round out the Top 10.
The Top 50 after the finale on the St. Lawrence River next week will advance to the Elite Qualifier Division, a three-tournament gauntlet that will award 10 invites to the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series roster. New York’s Billy Gilbert is currently on the bubble with 410 points.
Discover Cecil County hosted this event.
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
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Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, mpascal@
2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by SEVIIN 7/23-7/25
Upper Chesapeake Bay, North East MD.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Dillon Falardeau Hixson, TN 15 62-13 200 $34,279.00
Day 1: 5 22-07 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 21-04
2. Lucas Lindsay Auburn , AL 15 53-12 199 $13,712.00
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 14-09
3. Dave Frost Mount Dora, FL 15 53-06 198 $10,284.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 19-03 Day 3: 5 17-05
4. Josh Bragg Fayetteville, GA 15 53-03 197 $9,598.00
Day 1: 5 22-03 Day 2: 5 14-03 Day 3: 5 16-13
5. Duke Nave Oxford, PA 15 53-01 196 $8,913.00
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 17-08 Day 3: 5 17-04
6. Easton Lindus Woodville, WI 15 51-13 195 $8,227.00
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 17-00 Day 3: 5 16-08
7. Matt Messer Warfield, KY 15 49-02 194 $7,541.00
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 5 14-12
8. Tyler Campbell Martin, GA 13 48-12 193 $6,856.00
Day 1: 5 17-15 Day 2: 5 21-11 Day 3: 3 09-02
9. Trey Richardson III Gambrills, MD 14 46-13 192 $6,856.00
Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 4 15-00 Day 3: 5 12-09
10. Steve Dimatteo Lancaster, PA 14 46-07 191 $6,856.00
Day 1: 5 22-05 Day 2: 4 12-10 Day 3: 5 11-08
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Richard Leadbeater Pitman, NJ 06-05 $750.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 121 682 1900-12
2 103 613 1653-07
3 9 48 151-10
------------------------------
233 1343 3705-13
Falardeau increases lead at Chesapeake Bay despite unfavorable winds
NORTH EAST, Md. — Since he was a little kid, Dillon Falardeau has dreamed of crossing the Bassmaster Classic stage. He’s now five quality bass away from making that dream a reality.
The Hixson, Tenn., pro caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces on Day 2 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by SEVIIN, increasing his two-day total to 41-9 after landing a tournament-best 22-7 on the first day of competition.
“It has always been a dream,” Falardeau said. “I wouldn’t even know what to do (if I win). It will be an emotional event if I do walk away with it. I knew today if I hunkered down and got three or four bites they would be good ones, and that is what happened.”
Falardeau will open Championship Friday with a 1-15 lead over Georgia’s Tyler Campbell, who climbed to second-place with a total of 39-10. Alabama’s Lucas Lindsay is third with 39-3.
A stronger than expected south wind blew through the Chesapeake Bay on Thursday, adding another challenging layer to a less than ideal tide cycle. Areas dirtied up and water levels rose during the high tide cycle in the morning before holding the low tide back in the afternoon.
Combine that with the fishing pressure in the Susquehanna Flats, Day 2 turned out to be a much tougher day for much of the field. Only three bags over 19 pounds crossed the stage and 18 fewer limits were caught by the 154 boat field today than yesterday.
Throughout the first two days of the tournament, Falardeau has focused on two main areas. His primary region is a half-mile circle located on the massive Susquehanna Flats. Within that circle, he has located three or four sweet spots with mixtures of vegetation in 4 to 6 feet of water and baitfish which have produced his best bites of the tournament, including a nearly 6-pound largemouth on Day 1.
The outgoing tide, which started late in the morning and lasted until after official tournament hours both days, has been Falardeau’s best bite window so far.
A Z-Man JackHammer paired with a 4.5 Hog Farmer Spunk Shad has triggered many of his better largemouth as well as an unnamed squarebill crankbait.
He has thrown those same two baits around his secondary area, a grassline in 2 to 4 feet of water he feels isn’t influenced nearly as much by the tide cycle.
“It is protected and has three types of grasses,” Falardeau explained. “I focused my whole practice on finding areas with three or four different types of grass.”
While he has landed close to 10 bass in that area, including his initial limit on Day 2, Falardeau’s bigger largemouth have all come from the flat.
Falardeau started Day 2 on the flat, but with the incoming tide and the wind blowing over his best spots, he quickly realized he needed to move to his secondary area. Once there, the Chickamauga Lake guide proceeded to fill out a limit within an hour and made one cull before moving back out to the flats.
“I had to at least try where I caught my big bag yesterday, but I could tell right away it wasn’t happening,” he said. “I went to my limit spot, caught a limit and a good one, and then bounced around waiting on the tide. Once the tide was right, I showed back up and hunkered down.”
When he returned to his best spots around 1 p.m., Falardeau found the bass biting and landed four 4-pounders to cull up to his final tally for the day. Still, he feels like his day could have been even better if the conditions were different.
“Just quality bass, and that's what lives on that spot,” he said. “The wind was pushing so much water into that area. You want it as low as possible. It makes them easier to find and catch. Even though the tide is going out, the wind got stronger and stronger and kept pushing more and more water in.”
After landing 17-15 on Day 1, Campbell jumped from 20th to second on Day 2 with a 21-11 limit of largemouth, the biggest stringer of the day. The Emmanuel University angler now finds himself in contention to qualify for his second-straight Bassmaster Classic after earning a spot in the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic at Ray Roberts presented by Under Armour after winning the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship.
Mixtures of grasses, star grass and hydrilla, have also been the key to success for Campbell this week. On Day 1, he caught his limit in deeper grass. Due to the wind, that spot was even deeper on Day 2, and Campbell was forced to move shallower into a more crowded area. That move paid off in a big way.
“I woke up this morning and thought I was going to be in trouble. Where I caught them yesterday was in 12 feet of water all day today. I knew I had to make some adjustments today. I slid up into a little area where I had some bites in practice. Once I settled in I got my first bite, and it was hot and heavy for the next hour.”
Without touching his trolling motor, Campbell caught the bulk of his weight between 8 and 9 a.m. using one specific technique he feels no one else is using. His area consists of three sweet spots, all within a cast of each other.
“I caught seven, and six of them were over 4 pounds. They were all cookie-cutter-butterballs,” he said. “I caught my last keeper almost at the crest of high tide.”
Lindsay has been the most consistent angler thus far, landing limits of 19-13 and 19-6 to finish Day 2 in third place with 39-3. The former Auburn University angler has also spent the majority of his time in the flats, finding success around shorter grass. Several baits helped him achieve his Day 1 limit, but a bladed jig was by far his most productive today.
Lindsay enjoyed a short flurry early in the day, landing three largemouth before 9 a.m., including a 5-pounder. After a long lull, he finished out his limit. Unfortunately, he was forced to head back to weigh-in early to preserve the health of his bass. He did suffer an 8-ounce dead-fish penalty, keeping him out of second-place.
Pitman, N.J.’s Richard Leadbeater claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors with a 6-5 largemouth he landed on Day 2, unseating Christian Nash’s 5-13 largemouth from Day 1 for Big Bass of the Tournament honors.
Through eight competition days, Lindsay leads the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN Division I points race with 569 points followed by Alabama’s Matt Adams in second with 563 points. Virginia’s Ryan Lachniet is third with 560 points, Campbell is fourth with 553 points and Georgia’s Cody Stahl is fifth with 553 points. The Top 50 in points after next week's St. Croix Bassmaster Open at St. Lawrence River presented by SEVIIN event will advance to the Elite Qualifier Division, where 10 anglers will receive an invite to the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series roster.
The Top 10 anglers will launch from North East Community Park at 6 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 2 p.m. The winner will punch their ticket to the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, given they have fished all four events in Division I.
Discover Cecil County is hosting the tournament.
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Pro-Guide Batteries named title sponsor of Bassmaster Elite Series finale and Screen of Knowledge for 2025 season
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. announced today that Pro-Guide Batteries has been named the title sponsor of the Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River, set for August 21-24 in La Crosse, Wis. In addition, Pro-Guide will serve as the official sponsor of the Screen of Knowledge, powering live broadcasts and in-depth tournament analysis for the remainder of the 2025 Bassmaster season.
The Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River, the final regular-season event of the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series season, is expected to be a thrilling finale with high stakes for anglers battling to qualify for the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour and cement their place in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
“Pro-Guide was founded with anglers in mind, and for 45 years we've been powering their pursuit of greatness,” said Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Pate Shumaker. “To be the title sponsor of the final Bassmaster Elite event in La Crosse is an incredible honor. It's our way of celebrating the grit, determination and passion that defines the sport — and giving back to the community that has helped build our brand from the ground up.”
In addition to title sponsorship of the Mississippi River event, Pro-Guide’s support of the Screen of Knowledge will bring fans closer to the action. This key feature of the Bassmaster LIVE broadcast delivers expert insights, real-time statistics and educational content throughout tournament coverage.
“Partnering with Pro-Guide Batteries — a brand built by and for anglers — is a perfect fit for B.A.S.S.,” said Phillip Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of B.A.S.S. “Their commitment to powering performance on the water and enhancing the fan experience off the water makes them a tremendous partner as we close out the Elite season and deliver world-class coverage to bass fishing fans everywhere.”
"We are thrilled to announce Pro-Guide Batteries as the title sponsor of the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series at Upper Mississippi River," said Marketing Manager for Pro-Guide Batteries, Craig Storms. "This partnership reflects our commitment to powering the passions of outdoor enthusiasts and aligns perfectly with the energy and dedication of the Bassmaster community. We look forward to being a part of the excitement on the water and supporting the sport's top anglers in their pursuit of excellence."
The Mississippi River event marks the first time Pro-Guide has served as a title sponsor for a Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series event, and it comes at a time when the company continues to expand its footprint among competitive and recreational anglers nationwide.
About Pro-Guide Batteries
Founded in 1980 and trusted by generations of anglers, Pro-Guide Batteries are engineered to meet the extreme demands of serious sportsmen. Whether you’re launching at dawn for a local club tournament or chasing big water on the Elite Series, Pro-Guide delivers the uncompromising reliability, power, and run time today’s boats and electronics require. As part of the Battery Outfitters family, Pro-Guide Batteries are backed by 45 years of energy storage expertise and a service-first approach that’s earned trust nationwide. Learn more at www.proguidebatteries.com.
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 Progressive 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, Bassmaster Junior Series, Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Bassmaster College Kayak Series, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast Revealed as First Stop of 2025 MLF Team Series
Hosted by Discover the Blue Michigan's Thumbcoast, the location revealed today marks the earliest public announcement of a Team Series host city in league history, part of a new strategy to expand promotion and build fan excitement around each event.
The MLF Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops will feature four Cup events in 2025 – the Challenge, Heritage, Patriot, and Summit Cups – with 12 two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour anglers competing for a share of $560,000 in prize money.
Each six-day event will be streamed live on MLFNOW!®, with every catch, cast and strategic decision unfolding in real-time as teams break down unfamiliar waters and adapt together on the fly. Televised coverage of each event will air as six original two-hour episodes on the Outdoor Channel beginning in Q1 of 2026.
The 12 teams competing in the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup were selected through an angler draft during Stage 5 of the Bass Pro Tour. Among the field are household names and powerhouse pairings like Edwin Evers & Skeet Reese, Michael Neal & Andy Morgan, and the father-son duo of Alton Jones Jr. & Alton Jones.
The 12 teams that will compete in the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup at Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast, Aug. 24-29 are:
Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La.
John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky.
Team StarTron:
Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala.
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.
Team 7Brew:
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas
Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas
Team Lucas Oil:
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
Team Ferguson:
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
Team O’Reilly Auto Parts:
Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich.
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va.
Team B&W Trailer Hitches:
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas
Team Smokey Mountain:
Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz.
Team Knighten:
Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn.
Colby Miller, Elmer, La.
Team YETI:
Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Team Fishing Clash:
Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C.
Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo.
Team Kubota:
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif.
The Heritage Cup will be held Sept. 14-19, and a second draft will take place during Stage 7 of the Bass Pro Tour to determine teams for the Patriot Cup (Oct. 22–27) and Summit Cup (Nov. 16–21).
Fans can follow the action live on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and Rumble, with hosts Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney breaking down every minute of competition on MLFNOW!®.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Team Series include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, NITRO Boats, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Smokey Mountain Caffeinated Pouches, Star brite, Toyota, YETI and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on the MLF Team Series, 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, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, 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 20 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.
