MOSES LAKE, Wash. – In a come from behind win, Darryl Burkhardt of Boring, Ore., who had finished outside of the top-10 on Day One, fished his way to victory on Championship Sunday at the 2026 BAM Northwest Pro-Am season-opener on Moses Lake.

His tournament total of 62.98 earned a grand prize package that included a Vexus Boat valued at $40,000 in the BAM Trail Mercury / Vexus Boats Pro-Am presented by Tackle Warehouse and conservation sponsor Fisherman’s Warehouse.

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“It’s been a long time and I’m really happy to finally get one under my belt,” said Burkhardt. “Without my Lord and Savior, I couldn’t be here and I thank him graciously.”

Over the course of the three-day bass battle, Burkhart put together five-fish limits each day over 20-pounds in a less-visited backwater area.

“I thought it would be crowded, but I a lot of folks must not have found it,” he said. “I threw finesse the first day for 21-pounds. The second day, I went back and the wind was blowing right into the bank, so I made a switch to a spinnerbait and basically never looked back.”

Burhardt and the spinnerbait camped on the area for the two final days, adding 21.11 and 20.82 to his Day One 21.05.

“I kept going back to the primary area and it just kept producing fish after fish after fish,” he recalled.

Yamamoto Senko

An old school presentation of a chartreuse and white Yamamoto Senko on a 1/16-ounce Charlie Brewer slider head tempted his first day’s catches. Burkhardt threw it on a Lews spinning rod and reel spooled with 30-pound braid.

Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper

His Nichols spinnerbait was equipped with silver willow leaf blades and trailed by a white and chartreuse Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper. It was a direct tie to braid and thrown on a Lew’s 761 medium-heavy rod with a Lews reel. Burkhardt revealed a slow presentation with a quick decision for his win.

“I was pitching it up to the tules, letting it fall to the bottom and then I would lift it off the bottom with a slow retrieve and they would hit it almost immediately,” he said. “The fish were right there on the face of the tules. If I didn’t get bit within the first two or three turns of the handle, I would burn it in and make another cast.”

Sweitzer Secures Co-Angler Win

Chad Sweitzer of Kelseyville CA

Maintaining his Day Two lead, California co Chad Sweitzer of Kelseyville, added a final day’s sack of 16.54 to his previous days 15.73 and 19.56 for a final weight of 51.74 to claim the co-angler victory and a cash payout of $4,000.

Although he only caught five keepers on the final day, Sweitzer made the win sound easy.

“I got here at 1 o’clock in the morning the day of the tournament and had never seen the lake the before,” he said. “I was just draggin’ a Senko”

Sweitzer tied his Senko to 12-pound Trilene fluorocarbon and fished it on a Western Angler Melones Neko rod paired to a Revo Rocket spinning reel.

His advice for co-angler success is to take advantage of the info that can be gained from the pro in front of the boat.

“They make a cast 6-feet over to the left, and when it comes my turn from the back of the boat, I’m trying not to cast to the exact same spot, so I’m covering different water,” he explained saying it was the luck of the draw but he “ended up landing on the better fish.”

The next opportunity to fish a BAM Northwest Pro-Am is at the second stop of the 2026 season on June 19-21 at Potholes Reservoir.

Registration is underway. Tune in to BAM social channels or the BamTrail.com website to sign up or follow the action.