Canada pro catches 25-12 limit to take early lead in three-day event
MASSENA, N.Y. (July 25, 2025) – Day 1 of Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches on the St. Lawrence River basically went to plan: Tons of big smallmouth hit the scales and Chris Johnston took the lead – the usual case on the big river. Weighing 25 pounds, 12 ounces, Johnston is only a few ounces ahead, and has many in hot pursuit – but so far, so good for the superlative Canadian pro.
In second, pro Banks Shaw basically put a bow on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year honors, sacking up 25-8 before 11 o’clock in the morning. In third, pro Hayden O’Barr also got over the quarter century mark with 25-3, and pros Clay Reece, Jacob Walker, Marshall Hughes and John Levesque all broke the 24-pound mark. In all, 13 pros weighed in over 23 pounds on Day 1 – a pretty impressive feat considering the runs many are making, and Day 2 could set up a fascinating final day.
Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 on-the-water: St. Lawrence River delivers on Day 1 of Invitationals Stop 6
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 1 from the St. Lawrence River
Running through all of Johnston’s accomplishments would take too much space, but he’s won at the top level in Florida and New York, and is coming off an AOY title on the Elite Series in 2024. Johnston won Angler of the Year way back in 2009, in his first season as a pro on the Toyota Series Northern Division – a sign of great things to come.
On Friday, Johnston said he got off to a slow start, well off his usual standard on the river.
“To be honest, it didn’t start out the way I wanted it to,” Johnston said. “I made a big run, and I think in my first four stops, which took me to about 11:00, I had three or four bass for, like, 8 pounds – nothing I wanted to weigh in.”
Then, Johnston turned it on.
“I switched it up, I went to a different area of the river, and I had four or five areas, and every one of those areas had some fish,” he said. “And I’d catch two or three off each spot.”
With forward-facing sonar off the table on Day 2, Johnston isn’t planning on playing for an easy limit – something some of his competition is looking to do.
“I’ll do a couple things different,” he said. “A couple of the areas I caught them, there was no ‘Scope today. But I’ll fish a couple areas I didn’t hit today that hopefully are not so much ‘Scope areas, but they’re big-fish areas. I could probably go to some areas and catch 19 to 22, but I don’t think I’m going to go that route. I’m going to go to areas where there’s 5s and 6s, but I may not get five. But I’m going to try it and see what happens. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
If the plan works out, Johnston could put a big gap between himself and some of the competition.
Pro Banks Shaw also had himself a day on the river. Doubting Shaw this year has been a sure way to sink a Phoenix Fantasy Fishing team. Despite never having been to the St. Lawrence before, the young pro got out to a hot start on Day 1 and basically locked down both points titles.
Suffice to say, he’s going to be a handful next year on the Bass Pro Tour.
After a good practice, Shaw’s day went even better than he thought it would.
“I started on my main place,” he said. “Actually I ended up losing one, I snapped one off right off the bat, it come out of the water, like a 5 or 6-pounder for sure. And that kind of got to me a little bit, but I was like, ‘Oh well, there’s plenty more down there.’ Like an hour and a half later, I had 25 pounds and I just kind of worked my way back toward the ramp and played it safe and looked for some new fish for tomorrow.”
Though Shaw could probably go back to his primary area and fish without LiveScope, he’s strongly considering locking up the points situation with a limit on Day 2 and leaving it at that.
“I think I can catch 15 pounds for sure,” he said. “I think that right there will have me in the cut, I would hope with, like, 40 pounds for two days, but I’d like to have 21 or 22. I’m going to decide on it. I might run to those fish I had today because they’re there. And I know I could grind out five bites, and they’re going to be five good bites. But it’s one of those deals where I just want to play it safe. Heck, I could go out there and break down tomorrow and not catch a fish and bump out of everything.”
Whatever he decides, the odds are good that Shaw will earn some hardware at weigh-in on Day 2 – his lead is too big. And if he comes in with another big bag, he’s likely to keep the heat on Johnston.
The top 20 pros after Day 1 on the St. Lawrence River are:
1st: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada., five bass, 25-12
2nd: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 25-8
3rd: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 25-3
4th: Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 24-13
5th: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., five bass, 24-10
6th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, five bass, 24-7
7th: John Levesque, Nashua, N.H., five bass, 24-0
8th: Bob Behrle, Shelby, Ala., five bass, 23-13
9th: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., five bass, 23-12
10th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., five bass, 23-10
11th: Nick Hatfield, Chuckey, Tenn., five bass, 23-5
12th: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., five bass, 23-3
13th: Hayden Marbut, Grant, Ala., five bass, 23-2
14th: Jimmy Washam, Stantonville, Tenn., five bass, 22-14
15th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., five bass, 22-9
16th: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., five bass, 22-8
17th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., five bass, 22-6
18th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., five bass, 22-4
19th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 22-3
20th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., five bass, 21-12
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 435 bass weighing 1,705 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 88 pros Friday. The catch included 86 five-bass limits.
Pro John Murray of Spring City, Tennessee, brought a bass weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces, to earn the Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award of $1,000.
The three-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is hosted by Richmond Region Tourism and features professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition, the full field compete 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, 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.
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena, New York. Weigh-ins 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 all three days of competition 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.