Stahl’s perfect plan yields wire-to-wire win at Kissimmee Chain
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Intuition plus determination plus execution equalled a dominant victory for Cody Stahl, who tallied a three-day total of 74 pounds, 6 ounces and earned the wire-to-wire victory in the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Kissimmee Chain presented by Battery Tender.
“That is one heckuva way to start the season,” Stahl said. “It was just an unbelievable week.”
With all due respect to Stahl’s Top 10 competitors, the Barnsville, Ga., pro could’ve slept in this morning and still won the event, as he caught a Championship Saturday limit of 17-13 and finished with a 22-1 margin over second-place Stephen Browning.
En route to that enviable position, Stahl took the Day 1 lead with the event’s heaviest bag — a limit of 28-9. He’d back up that strong performance with an even 28 pounds to hold the lead and head into the final round with a 19-pound, 7-ounce advantage.
“If you would’ve told me I’d be sitting in first place with a 19-pound lead going into the third day, I’d put every single dollar in my bank account on saying that’s not possible,” Stahl said. “Ultimately, things just worked out and God blessed me with an amazing week.”
Clearly, Stahl would’ve lost that bet, but being wrong meant adding $38,731 to his account — and receiving an invitation to fish the 2027 Bassmaster Classic.
All week, Stahl focused on a prespawn staging area at the south end of Lake Toho. A good mix of grass species provided what he believed would offer appealing habitat that would attract the right size fish.
Stahl located this area in practice and, even though he caught only small male bass prior to the event, he believed the week’s weather and the approaching full moon (Feb. 1) would invite the larger prespawn females.
“In practice, I only found the bucks; I caught three in the 1-pound range right there, but I just had a feeling that this is where it’s gonna go down,” Stahl said. “I just made a gut call that this is the stopping point where they’re gonna fatten up before they go lay their eggs.
“On Day 1, I put my trolling motor down right there and made it work for three days.”
Stahl caught the majority of this fish by ripping a 3/4-ounce lipless crankbait through the grass with a 7-5 Fenwick extra-heavy, extra-fast rod and an 8.1:1 Abu Garcia STX reel carrying 20-pound fluorocarbon. That setup, he said, proved critical to his success.
“That setup really keeps your bait clean, especially with that 3/4-ounce bait,” Stahl said. “You have to keep your bait clean in a short amount of distance when you hit those grass clumps. Those bass are on the other side of those clumps and they’re not going to hit a bait when it’s full of grass.”
Championship Saturday’s weather complexion strongly contrasted that of Days 1 and 2. A severe cold from dropped air and water temperatures during practice and draped the tournament’s first two rounds with calm, clear “bluebird” conditions.
Day 3 dawned with gloomy gray skies, which drizzled occasional showers ahead of the next approaching front. Air temperatures only reached the mid-50s, nearly 10 less than the previous day’s warm afternoon, and the last three hours of the day saw 20-mph winds whipping local waters.
The first angler to catch a limit, Stahl had five keepers estimated at 14 1/2 pounds by 8:45. He caught plenty of quality fish, but he did not see a big kicker like the 9- and 8-pounder he caught on Days 1 and 2, respectively.
Adding another trophy to the one he earned in the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Mississippi River presented by SEVIIN, Stahl said he’s delighted to start the year qualified for the sport’s most prestigious event.
“I’m excited to get back to the Classic,” Stahl said.
Hailing from Hot Springs, Ark., Browning finished second with 52-5. His daily weights were 18-13, 17-4 and 16-4.
Taking a tip from Terry Scroggins, who finished seventh with 46 pounds, Browning spent most of his time fishing within eyesight of the tournament site at Lake Front Park – Big Toho Marina.
“Scroggins told me, ‘Somebody will make the Top 10 right here,’ and I said, ‘There’s no better person in the world to make the Top 10 right here than me!’” Browning chuckled. “I burned up a lot of gas the first day, but the last two days, I just made a big circle right out here.
“The Good Lord blessed me with enough bites to settle me down. I used my Garmin Force trolling motor way more than my Mercury engine.”
Browning caught his fish by crawling a Rapala DT-6 crankbait over grass in 6-7 feet. He did most of his work with the river shad color, but when he broke the bill on that bait, he switched to the chartreuse blue back pattern.
Bo Thomas of Edwardsburg, Mich., finished third with 49-6. Thomas weighed daily limits of 12-2, 20-6 and 16-14.
For most of the final day, Thomas caught his fish by slow rolling a homemade swim jig with a 3.8 Keitech swimbait trailer. A late-day decision yielded an upgrade that would lift him several spots on the leaderboard.
“It got really windy out there today, so with about 2 hours to go, I decided to leave my main area and head back toward the ramp and fish some community holes,” Thomas said. “I started throwing a jerkbait and I caught a 3-5 and culled out a 1-pounder. It was just making the right decisions and doing the right things.”
Jonathan Kelley of Old Forge, Pa., won the $500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for his 10-7.
Visit Kissimmee hosted this event.
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series
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2026 Bassmaster Opens Series
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series
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2026 Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Kissimmee Chain presented by Battery Tender 1/29-1/31
Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Kissimmee FL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Cody Stahl Barnsville, GA 15 74-06 200 $38,731.00
Day 1: 5 28-09 Day 2: 5 28-00 Day 3: 5 17-13
2. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 15 52-05 199 $15,492.00
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 17-04 Day 3: 5 16-04
3. Bo Thomas Edwardsburg, MI 15 49-06 198 $11,619.00
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 5 20-06 Day 3: 5 16-14
4. Jonathon VanDam Gobles, MI 15 48-14 197 $10,845.00
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 19-11 Day 3: 5 11-13
5. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 13 48-01 196 $10,570.00
Day 1: 3 15-10 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 14-07
6. Freddy Palmer Estill Springs, TN 14 47-11 195 $9,295.00
Day 1: 4 13-01 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 14-08
7. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 15 46-00 194 $8,521.00
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 11-07 Day 3: 5 13-14
8. Niko Romero Coldspring, TX 14 43-06 193 $7,746.00
Day 1: 5 10-12 Day 2: 5 21-03 Day 3: 4 11-07
9. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 13 41-02 192 $7,746.00
Day 1: 5 26-02 Day 2: 5 11-00 Day 3: 3 04-00
10. Noah Winslow Naugatuck, CT 13 37-06 191 $7,746.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 14-00 Day 3: 3 04-10
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BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT
Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 10-07 $500.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 95 682 1552-06
2 106 690 1554-15
3 7 45 125-10
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208 1417 3232-15
