Pitt Leads by 3-Ounce Margin in the Competition for up to $235,000
GROVE, Okla. (Nov. 6, 2025) – Day 1 of the 2025 Toyota Series Championship at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees Presented by Phoenix Boats was about as tough as predicted. No pros or co-anglers caught 20 pounds, and a mere 13 pounds went a very long way. On Day 2, things are set up for a ton of leaderboard movement, but at the top, pros Travis Pitt and Tyler Weberg set themselves apart.
Leading, Pitt sacked up 18 pounds, 14 ounces and Weberg tallied 18-11 for second. In third, Greg Bohannan weighed 16-3, and, helped by a 6-pounder, Brody Luckey fished his way into fourth with 15-15.
On the co-angler side, Ben Burk caught five for 12-9 for the lead and Tommy Pritchard sits in second with 11-12. Overall, limits were pretty hard to come by for co-anglers, and the leaderboard looks ripe for movement on Day 2.
Link to Photo Gallery of Toyota Series Championship Day 1 Highlights
Leading the way, Pitt currently sports a Florida address (and he came out of the Southern Division), but he’s originally from the west, calling Lake Mead home. A delivery driver who fished the Toyota Series for the first time in 2025, Pitt is in the mix for some pretty big things if he can put together another solid limit tomorrow.
“Practice was bad – the worst practice I’d ever had,” he said. “If you would have told me I’d have that today, I’d have said you were nuts. It felt like I was at Mead today. The wind, the stuff I was fishing, I just settled in. I had a couple places where I was getting some bites, and today, I had a limit by 9 o’clock – they were going nuts.”
Culling three times and catching at least two limits of keepers, Pitt reacted to what he’s used to seeing in the desert.
“It’s bait,” he said. “Normally, the bait will show up, and then you’ll see bass moving in. In theory, those areas will get better. I can’t speak to this place. I pulled into some areas today and the bait was just gone [to] who knows where.”
As such, he’s not ready to declare victory just yet.
“Tomorrow could be another story,” he said. “What I’m seeing, I think it might stay, but you don’t know. Today I backed off of my stuff. I started to burn it down, but I was like, ‘Dude, this is not the day to do that.’”
One thing is for sure: Really early in the process, Pitt could make his move east pay dividends.
“I moved to try to make a run at doing something like this,” he said. “I wanted to fish something that could possibly take me someplace else. At the end of the day, I hate working. The only time I’m happy is when I fish.”
As you’d expect on Grand Lake, Ozark talent is very present on the leaderboard, but, considering that he’s never fished a tournament on Grand before, Weberg might not be the likeliest candidate. That said, he put it together as well as anyone, and he’s got the right skills for the moment.
“I’m a bank power fisherman, and this lake sets up really good for how I like to fish,” he said. “I had a good practice, so, if the stars aligned, I knew somewhere in the 18- to 20-pound range was possible today. It’s fishing tough. I didn’t get a lot of bites today. It was pretty much about making every bite count.”
Weberg is not burning through numbers by any means.
“This lake has taught me a lot,” he said. “You can’t let it get to your head; you’ve just got to keep your nose down and keep going – go back to your spots, re-fish everything, and new fish pull up. I’m nervous about tomorrow. I know how tough this lake is fishing. Just as easily as you can go out and get a good limit, you can go out and blank right now.”
The three-day, no-entry-fee championship, hosted by the City of Grove and the Grove Convention & Tourism Bureau, features the nation’s best Toyota Series pros and international anglers, and is the culmination of the 2025 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats season.
The top 20 pros after Day 1 on Grand Lake are:
1st: Travis Pitt, Niceville, Fla., five bass, 18-14
2nd: Tyler Weberg, Eugene, Mo., five bass, 18-11
3rd: Greg Bohannan, Bentonville, Ark., five bass, 16-3
4th: Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 15-15
5th: Adam Boehle, Warrenton, Mo., five bass, 15-13
5th: Bradley Sullivan, Shawnee, Okla., five bass, 15-13
7th: Erik Luzak, Fenelon Falls, Ontario, five bass, 15-8
8th: Nicholas Dumke, Grand Rapids, Minn., five bass, 15-7
9th: Lee Livesay, Longview, Texas, five bass, 15-6
10th: Jack Daniel Williams, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 15-2
11th: Eli Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 15-1
11th: Chris Macy, Diamond, Mo., five bass, 15-1
13th: Justin Luetkemeyer, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 14-9
14th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., five bass, 14-8
15th: Matt McCluskey, Ashburn, Va., five bass, 14-6
15th: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 14-6
17th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., five bass, 13-15
17th: Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 13-15
19th: Shane Long, Willard, Mo., five bass, 13-14
19th: Mike Brueggen, Lacrosse, Wis., five bass, 13-14
19th: Brock Bila, Republic, Mo., five bass, 13-14
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 731 bass weighing 1,690 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 169 pros Thursday. The catch included 119 five-bass limits.
The 2025 Toyota Series Championship will determine not only the overall champion, but also which standout anglers advance to REDCREST 2026. Representing the college ranks, University of Montevallo teammates Brody Robison and Peyton Sorrow are in a head-to-head race for the coveted REDCREST berth – with Robison off to a strong start in 28th place after catching five bass for 13 pounds, 3 ounces, while Sorrow sits in 77th with 10 pounds, 12 ounces. On the international side, Scandiano, Italy’s Leonardo Benassi leads the global contingent, weighing in 13 pounds, 13 ounces on Day 1 to claim 22nd place – a promising start in his fourth Toyota Series Championship appearance.
Ben Burk of Norman, Oklahoma, leads the co-angler division with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Tommy Pritchard of Bargersville, Indiana, who weighed five bass totaling 11-12 to end the day in second place. Co-anglers are competing for a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard.
The top 20 co-anglers after Day 1 on Grand Lake are:
1st: Ben Burk, Norman, Okla., five bass, 12-9
2nd: Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., five bass, 11-12
3rd: Joe Lee, Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 11-7
4th: Michael Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 11-0
5th: Glenn Hall, Wellsville, N.Y., five bass, 10-15
6th: Giovanni Ceccarelli, Rimini, Italy, five bass, 10-14
7th: Leonardo Dini, Arezzo, Italy, five bass, 10-11
8th: Jakob Labelle, Hinesburg, Vt., five bass, 10-5
9th: James Cobbs, Vinemont, Ala., five bass, 10-0
10th: D.J. Pugh, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 9-13
11th: Brian Durham, Dinwiddie, Va., four bass, 9-11
11th: Ricky Sexton, Oliver Springs, Tenn., five bass, 9-11
13th: Kyle Malone, Troy, Ohio, four bass, 9-3
14th: Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., five bass, 9-2
15th: Ben Bromley, Odessa, Mo., four bass, 9-0
16th: Joseph Casale, Nutley, N.J., four bass, 8-14
17th: Alex Moore, Chester, Ill., three bass, 8-11
18th: Clayton Hale, Grove, Okla., five bass, 8-8
19th: Jason Wiley, Swainsboro, Ga., three bass, 8-6
19th: Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., five bass, 8-6
Anglers will take off daily at 7 a.m. CT from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16th Street, in Grove. Weigh-ins will 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.
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 compete 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.
Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., 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, PiranhO2, 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.