Missouri pro leads by slim 3-ounce margin, Top 25 set for final-day in competition for up to $235,000
GROVE, Okla. (Nov. 7, 2025) – If you want some indication of how tough and volatile the fishing is on Grand Lake right now, you need only look at the leaderboard turnover. On Day 2 of the 2025 Toyota Series Championship Presented by Phoenix Boats , only four pros in the Top 10 from Day 1 managed to stay there, and the top two pros fell out of it entirely.
Moving up into the lead, Justin Luetkemeyer weighed 15 pounds, 5 ounces on Day 2 for a 29-13 total, while Roger Fitzpatrick moved into second with 15-2 to bring his total to 29-0. In third, Greg Bohannan tallied 29-5, and even Lee Livesay in 10th is within 2 pounds of the lead.
Link to Photo Gallery of Toyota Series Championship Day 2 Highlights
The clear trend through two days is that it’s good to be from the Ozarks. While proficiency on Ozark waters was not a guarantee of success, seven of the top 15 pros are clearly at home in the region – and, by extension, at home wrangling bass around docks, rocks and all that Grand Lake offers.
On Day 1, Luetkemeyer put together a solid bag on docks – exactly what you’d expect out of the young Lake of the Ozarks guide.
“I had a good practice. I wasn’t getting a lot of bites, but I was up here in the dirty water flipping, and I felt pretty good,” he said. “It was a grind, but I was catching bigger fish. Yesterday went well, and I don’t know what changed today. Either they weren’t there, or they weren’t biting.
“At 1:30 this afternoon, I had one 3-pounder and two 14-inchers,” he said. “We made a big run down to the dam, found some schooling fish and caught ‘em pretty quick.”
Luetkemeyer was fishing in college not long ago and actually finished eighth in the Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship on Grand Lake in 2021, when the lake was partially iced over during practice and some teams broke out crappie jigs to catch the finicky bass. Now, he’s on the cusp of a huge payday if he can make the right calls tomorrow.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” he said. “A few hours ago, I was all upset because I didn’t think I was going to come close to making a check. But that’s why we never give up and why I love bass fishing.”
As for the game plan, it sounds like Luetkemeyer is going to set the flipping jig aside, at least to start.
“I’m probably going to start down (the lake) and maybe work my way back and see how it goes,” he mused. “But I think I’m going to run to the clear water tomorrow.”
The top 25 pros that advanced to the Championship Round on Grand Lake are:
1st: Justin Luetkemeyer, Osage Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 29-13
2nd: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., 10 bass, 29-10
3rd: Greg Bohannan, Bentonville, Ark., 10 bass, 29-5
4th: Shane Long, Willard, Mo., 10 bass, 28-14
5th: Travis Pitt, Niceville, Fla., 10 bass, 28-11
6th: Adam Boehle, Warrenton, Mo., 10 bass, 28-8
7th: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., 10 bass, 28-4
8th: Riley Harris, Orange, Texas, 10 bass, 28-3
9th: Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 28-0
10th: Lee Livesay, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 27-14
11th: Eli Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., 10 bass, 27-12
12th: Chad Mrazek, Montgomery, Texas, 10 bass, 27-10
13th: Chance Shelby, Denham Springs, La., 10 bass, 27-5
14th: Tyler Weberg, Eugene, Mo., nine bass, 26-14
15th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, 10 bass, 26-14
16th: Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-7
17th: Tucker Smith, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 26-7
18th: Benjamin Travis, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 26-7
19th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 26-5
20th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., 10 bass, 26-4
21st: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-3
22nd: Carter Nutt, Nashville, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-2
23rd: T.J. Martin, Claremore, Okla., 10 bass, 25-15
24th: Jack Daniel Williams, Kingsport, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-10
25th: Bradley Sullivan, Shawnee, Okla., 10 bass, 25-9
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 604 bass weighing 1,325 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 141 pros Friday. The catch included 94 five-bass limits.
After Day 2, both REDCREST 2026 berths were officially decided. Luca Vittorio Della Ciana of Perugia, Italy, secured the MLF International Division title, earning a $10,000 bonus and a coveted spot in REDCREST 2026. On the collegiate side, University of Montevallo’s Brody Robison of Dawson, Alabama clinched his own REDCREST qualification as the highest-finishing member of the College Fishing National Championship team. Both anglers will now advance to compete against the sport’s best at Table Rock Lake next spring, representing their divisions – and the next generation of Major League Fishing talent – on bass fishing’s most prestigious platform.
On the co-angler side, the race is just as tight or tighter. In first but tied by weight, Michael Luckey has 21-10 on nine fish. Technically in second, Glenn Hall also has 21-10 but on 10 fish. In third, Tommy Pritchard has tallied 21-5 through two days.
The top 25 co-anglers that advanced to the Championship Round on Grand Lake are:
1st: Michael Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 21-10
2nd: Glenn Hall, Wellsville, N.Y., 10 bass, 21-10
3rd: Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., 10 bass, 21-5
4th: Giovanni Ceccarelli, Rimini, Italy, 10 bass, 20-1
5th: Jeremy Bouldin, Kings Mountain, N.C., seven bass, 18-13
6th: Ben Burk, Norman, Okla., eight bass, 18-13
7th: Jakob Labelle, Hinesburg, Vt., eight bass, 18-7
8th: Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, seven bass, 17-3
9th: Will Lancett, Jacksonville, Ark., seven bass, 15-10
10th: Les Brandenburg, Springfield, Mo., eight bass, 15-8
11th: Joshua Paul, Oliver Springs, Tenn., five bass, 15-6
12th: Brian Durham, Dinwiddie, Va., seven bass, 15-6
13th: James Cobbs, Vinemont, Ala., seven bass, 15-2
14th: Mark King, Gurdon, Ark., eight bass, 15-1
15th: Ryan Steinhoff, Beulah, Colo., seven bass, 15-0
16th: Kenny Manning, Bethpage, Tenn., six bass, 14-15
17th: Jason Wiley, Swainsboro, Ga., six bass, 14-12
18th: Kyle Malone, Troy, Ohio, seven bass, 14-9
19th: DJ Pugh, Overland Park, Kan., seven bass, 14-2
20th: Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., seven bass, 14-0
21st: Scott Standafer, Milford, Ohio, eight bass, 13-13
22nd: Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., eight bass, 13-12
23rd: Alex Moore, Chester, Ill., six bass, 13-10
24th: Noah Dickneite, Freeburg, Mo., seven bass, 13-8
25th: David Johnson, Memphis, Tenn., seven bass, 13-3
The final 25 pros and co-anglers will take off Saturday at 7 a.m. CT from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16th Street, in Grove. Saturday’s Championship weigh-in will also be held at the park and will begin at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and also follow the action online through daily “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Hosted the City of Grove and the Grove Convention & Tourism Bureau, the championship event features more than 350 pros and co-anglers from around the world, competing for a top cash award of up to $235,000. The field is now cut to just the top 25 pros and co-anglers heading into the final day of competition, the culmination of the 2025 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats season.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble. T he 2025 Toyota Series Championship Presented by Phoenix Boats will air on VICE Sports January 4 and January 11, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET.
The full field of anglers competed on Days 1 and 2 of the event Thursday and Friday, with the top 25 pros and top 25 co-anglers based on cumulative weight from the first two days continuing to the third and final day on Saturday. The 2025 Toyota Series champions will be determined by the heaviest three-day total weight.
Pros and co-anglers can qualify for multiple contingency awards based on final standings in the championship, including the lucrative $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus for pros. The winning co-angler will earn a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.
The 2025 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consisted of five divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern and Southwestern – each holding three regular-season events, along with the MLF International division and the Wild Card. The highest finishing pro from each division at the championship will claim a $10,000 bonus. The bonus will go to the second-highest finishing pro in the division represented by the overall champion.
The 2025 Toyota Series Championship field features the top 25 pros, top 25 co-anglers and tournament winners from each of the five divisions; the top 25 pros and 25 co-anglers from the Wild Card division plus tournament winners; the highest finishing boater and co-angler from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Regional and the TBF at the All-American; the top three teams from the College Fishing National Championship; High School Fishing National Champions; TBF National Champions; and MLF International anglers from Canada, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.