Texas pro Pake South won the lead on Day 2 of the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Battery Tender with a record breaking three-day total of 96 pounds, 15 ounces.
Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.
Feb. 21, 2026
South’s record performance seals Bassmaster Open win at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
JASPER, Texas — Pake South fell a little short of an ambitious goal, but along the way, he turned in a record-breaking performance to win the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Battery Tender with a three-day total of 96 pounds, 15 ounces.
On Day 1, the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series rookie from Winnsboro, Texas placed fifth with 28-1 and took over the lead with a Day 2 limit of 34-4. Championship Saturday saw him turn in his biggest bag — 34-10 — to seal the deal by a margin of 15-14 over Jace Lindsay.
“It was great; the lake impressed me this week,” South said. “I didn’t come into this one expecting to catch that much weight. I was expecting to have about 30 pounds a day, but to have back-to-back 34-pound days was a little bit more than I expected.”
South anchored his final limit with a 10-15 that bit shortly before 9 a.m. Knowing such quality lives in Rayburn, he said he had been looking forward to fishing this event since last fall.
“When the schedule came out last year, I said, ‘I’m gonna go try to win that one,’” South said. “I fished to win this week, not for points.”
For his efforts, South earned the $45,408 top prize. Anglers that compete in all four events of Division 1 or 2 receive an invitation to fish the 2027 Bassmaster Classic. Because South is not fishing a complete division, this event’s Classic berth goes to the Bassmaster Elite Series field.
Before the start of Day 3, South stated that he had his sights set on reaching the 100-pound mark. While that didn’t come to fruition, he still wrote his name in the record book.
South’s final weight broke the record for all-time heaviest winning total in a three-day Bassmaster event. Florida pro Scott Martin set the previous mark on February 3, 2024 by topping the Bassmaster Open at Lake Okeechobee with 90-6.
“I saw the fish to break 100 pounds on LiveScope today,” South said. “This lake is impressive.”
Notably, the event also saw Day 1 leader Riley Harris catch the heaviest five-bass limit in Bassmaster Opens history — 36-15. Harris finished eighth with 67-10.
Spending all three days in Ayish Bayou, South stayed relatively close to takeoff and maximized his fishing time. Targeting prespawn bass, he fished a drain accessing a spawning flat and worked various depths up to 15 feet.
“It was clay bottom with stumps and shellbeds; anything that looked good,” South said. “It was kind of all over the place. Some of the fish would be swimming down the edges of the drain, some of them would be swimming right down the middle.”
South caught all of his fish on a green pumpkin dice style bait. He Neko rigged the soft plastic bait on a 1/0 hook with a 3/32-ounce nail weight.
“After I got to 30 pounds, I was just throwing at big ones,” South said. “I was still seeing a lot of fish, but I wasn’t wasting time on the smaller ones. I was just hog hunting.”
When South realized he had eclipsed Martin’s record on BassTrakk’s unofficial standings, BassLIVE saw the leader boldly state: “It might get stupid. We’re at 28 pounds and I have three 3-pounders. We have a lot of room to grow.”
South’s bag certainly did grow, and while no one’s calling his effort “stupid,” that was his word and the meaning came true in a big way.
“This means the world to me,” said South, who placed eighth at the Lippert Bassmaster Elite at Lake Martin on February 15. “I’ve been so close to winning a big deal so many times. I had four or five Top 10s last year and I felt like I was right there on the verge of winning one, so it feels great to finally be able to seal the deal on one.”
Lindsay, who hails from Beckville, Texas finished second with 81-1. Holding that position all three days, his limit catches weighed 30-12, 26-9 and 23-12.
Sticking with the same game plan for three days, Lindsay looked for shallow hard spots along the side of drains. He used these spots to intercept pre spawners moving up with the favorable weather conditions.
“The fish are pulling into these drains getting ready to spawn and with this warmer weather, they’re moving out of the drains,” Lindsay said. “I was kinda cutting them off at the hard spots. I had a couple of brushpiles in the same area.”
Lindsay caught his fish on a Megabass Vision 110 +2 jerkbait, an 8-inch Deps Sakamata Shad on a 1/8-ounce jig head and a dice style bait.
Andrew Behnke of Fond Du Lac, Wis., finished third with 80-4. His daily weights were 21-4, 27-2 and 31-14.
Behnke spent most of his time in a saddle between a main lake island and a point. The spot had a drain running into it and a high, hard spot.
Shaking a 6 1/2-inch minnow on a Missile Baits Eye Roll jig head enticed several fish, but he did most of his final-round work by cranking a Strike King 8XD.
“There was a bunch of fish there; you just had to keep casting, keep casting and all of a sudden, you’d catch a big one and another big one,” Behnke said. “Then it would shut down and you’d have to wait it out.”
Harris and Behnke tied for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors, both with bass that weighed 11-14.
Lindsay leads the Turtlebox Bassmaster Opens presented by Battery Tender Division 2 points standings with 200 points. Behnke is in second with 199, followed by Brody Robison of Dawson, Ala., with 198, Kollin Crawford of Broken Bow, Okla., with 197 and Rylan Hamlin of Jackson, Mich., with 196.
Brock Bila of Republic, Mo. leads the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers presented by Bass Pro Shops standings with 363 points. Adam Rasmussen of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is in second with 352, followed by Dillon Falardeau of Hixson, Tenn., with 351, Grant Neubauer of Medford, Wis., with 334 and Laker Howell of Guntersville, Ala., with 329.
Jasper Development District No. 1 hosted this event.
2026 Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Battery Tender 2/19-2/21
Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Jasper TX.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Pake South Winnsboro, TX 15 96-15 0 $45,408.00
Day 1: 5 28-01 Day 2: 5 34-04 Day 3: 5 34-10
2. Jace Lindsay Beckville, TX 15 81-01 200 $18,163.00
Day 1: 5 30-12 Day 2: 5 26-09 Day 3: 5 23-12
3. Andrew Behnke Fond Du Lac, WI 15 80-04 199 $13,873.00
Day 1: 5 21-04 Day 2: 5 27-02 Day 3: 5 31-14
4. Brody Robison Dawson, AL 15 74-12 198 $12,714.00
Day 1: 5 25-04 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 27-10
5. Kollin Crawford Broken Bow, OK 15 70-14 197 $11,806.00
Day 1: 5 25-15 Day 2: 5 25-03 Day 3: 5 19-12
6. Fisher Anaya Eva, AL 15 70-13 0 $10,898.00
Day 1: 5 28-03 Day 2: 5 20-10 Day 3: 5 22-00
7. Rylan Hamlin Jackson, MI 15 68-00 196 $9,990.00
Day 1: 5 28-05 Day 2: 5 18-13 Day 3: 5 20-14
8. Riley Harris Orange, TX 15 67-10 195 $9,332.00
Day 1: 5 36-15 Day 2: 5 19-05 Day 3: 5 11-06
9. Colby Bryant Houston, TX 15 66-15 194 $9,082.00
Day 1: 5 26-06 Day 2: 5 23-00 Day 3: 5 17-09
10. Jack York Emory, TX 15 66-06 193 $9,082.00
Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 27-11 Day 3: 5 19-10
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BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT
Riley Harris Orange, TX 11-14 $250.00
Andrew Behnke Fond Du Lac, WI 11-14 $250.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 191 987 3121-09
2 190 989 2997-11
3 10 50 229-01
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391 2026 6348-05
