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Tuesday, December 16, 2025
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Deep spotted bass carry Story and Putnam to victory at Bassmaster High School Series at Smith Lake 

Brian Carter
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Deep spotted bass carry Story and Putnam to victory at Bassmaster High School Series at Smith Lake 

Jack Story and Roper Putnam of Clarks Hill High School Fishing Team have won the 2025 Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Smith Lake.

Photo by Solomon Glenn/B.A.S.S.

March 2, 2025

Deep spotted bass carry Story and Putnam to victory at Bassmaster High School Series at Smith Lake 

CULLMAN, Ala. — Jack Story and Roper Putnam from the Clarks Hill High School Fishing Team utilized skill sets from their home lakes to catch five spotted bass weighing 16 pounds, 12 ounces and win the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Smith Lake.

The victory at Smith Lake caps off an impressive two-week run for the Georgia duo. The weekend prior, Putnam and Story won two events on Lake Lanier, including a Georgia B.A.S.S. Nation tournament. 

“This feels awesome,” Putnam said. “Last year we finished second at Clarks Hill, and it means a whole lot to come back and win this one.”

Thomas Tumbull and Caleb Miller from Evangel Christian School finished second with 15-4 and Bryson Osment and Lohgan Gosnell from the Byrnes High School Fishing Club finished third with 14-14.

The 236 high school teams overcame a chilly start to the morning to land 60 limits and over 1,250 pounds of bass, although 61 teams unfortunately did not catch a keeper bass. 

Story spends much of his fishing time on Lanier while Putnam lives closer to Clarks Hill. But the combined knowledge of those two blueback herring fisheries helped the duo decipher the Alabama reservoir. 

“(We) caught 24.73 pounds in that tournament at Lanier last weekend and did the same exact thing today on Smith Lake,” Story said. 

“It is very similar,” Putnam added. “There are a lot of deep fish, a lot of spotted bass. It is what both of us really love to do.”

Putnam and Story spent their tournament targeting spotted bass that were chasing schools of blueback herring. Two zones in the water column were most productive: 10 to 15 feet of water and 45 to 55 feet of water. They rigged a 5-inch Zoom Winged Fluke on a ¼-ounce Greenfish Tackle Bad Little Shad jighead. 

“It didn’t fall too fast and didn’t fall too slow,” Putnam explained. “If you throw a lighter head it takes too long to get down there, and if you throw a heavier head they don’t react as well.”

The duo enjoyed a productive practice, catching 14 pounds per day. Putnam said they felt confident they could do well enough to qualify for the 2025 Strike King Bassmaster National Championship, but weren’t sure they could get enough quality bites to win. 

While they filled a limit early on, Story said they didn’t generate their better bites until later in the day when the wind picked up and the sun was higher in the sky. 

“It went well,” he said. “Once the sun got up, the deep fish started acting right and we started catching them.” 

Late in the day, Story landed a 3 ½-pound spotted bass that vaulted them over the 16-pound mark. That was when Putnam said he believed they had a legitimate shot to win the tournament. 

“We decided then to get back up the river and closer to the ramp,” he said. 

The duo will now set their sights on the 2025 Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship at Clarks Hill, a body of water they are very familiar with. 

“I’m going to put in a lot of time out there (in the coming months),” Putnam said. “It is going to be a good one.”

The Triangle Bass Club’s Jesse and Fisher Lancaster landed the Big Bass of the Tournament, a 4-8 that anchored their 13-5 10th-place stringer. 

Visit Cullman hosted the tournament.

2025 Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Smith Lake 3/2-3/2
Smith Lake, Cullman  AL.
Standings Day 1

    Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Jack Story – Roper Putnam                    Clarks Hill Hs Fishing Team           0
  Day 1: 5   16-12   Total:   5  16-12
2.  Thomas Turnbull – Caleb Miller               Evangel Christian School              0
  Day 1: 5   15-04   Total:   5  15-04
3.  Bryson Osment – Lohgan Gosnell               Byrnes High School Fishing Club       0
  Day 1: 5   14-14   Total:   5  14-14
4.  Corbin Bornstein – Thomas James              Lipscomb Academy                      0
  Day 1: 5   14-08   Total:   5  14-08
5.  Presley Lannom – Trevor Sanford              Mt. Juliet High School – TN           0
  Day 1: 5   14-07   Total:   5  14-07
6.  Barrett Newton – Landon Krauss               Upperman High School                  0
  Day 1: 5   13-14   Total:   5  13-14
6.  Owen Satterwhite – Nate Campbell             Ldhs Anglers                          0
  Day 1: 5   13-14   Total:   5  13-14
8.  Lake  Johnson – Beau England                 Alabama Bass Academy – AL             0
  Day 1: 5   13-08   Total:   5  13-08
9.  Carter Cunningham – Landon Glander           Dawson County High Fishing Club       0
  Day 1: 5   13-07   Total:   5  13-07
10. Jesse Lancaster – Fisher Lancaster           Triangle Bass Club                    0
  Day 1: 5   13-05   Total:   5  13-05
11. Seth Lash – Sawyer Lash                      Mortimer Jordan Hs Bass Club          0
  Day 1: 5   13-03   Total:   5  13-03
12. Gavin Seewald – Judson Touchstone            Hoover High School                    0
  Day 1: 5   13-01   Total:   5  13-01
13. Cooper Moon –                                Cartersville Fishing                  0
  Day 1: 5   13-00   Total:   5  13-00
14. Matthew Johnson – Tripp Tamasi III           Greenbrier High School                0
  Day 1: 5   12-12   Total:   5  12-12
15. Parker Batts – Brody Jones                   Jefferson County Patriot Anglers      0
  Day 1: 5   12-09   Total:   5  12-09
16. Hayden Barnett – Camdyn Cranfill             Kingston Fishing Team                 0
  Day 1: 5   12-08   Total:   5  12-08
17. Miles Allen – Ethan Roths                    Saint Xavier High School              0
  Day 1: 5   12-07   Total:   5  12-07
18. Zac Arnold – Ross Clark                      Good Hope Fishing Team – AL           0
  Day 1: 5   12-03   Total:   5  12-03
19. Cason Ewing –                                Cullman High School  Hs               0
  Day 1: 5   12-01   Total:   5  12-01
19. Mason Martin –                               East Limestone High School – AL       0
  Day 1: 5   12-01   Total:   5  12-01
21. Bo Brodrick – Skylar Magnarella              Clarke Central High School Bass       0
  Day 1: 5   11-13   Total:   5  11-13
21. Harrison Hobbs – Cade Speligene              Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   11-13   Total:   5  11-13
23. Andrew Terry –                               Dchs Fishing Team                     0
  Day 1: 5   11-12   Total:   5  11-12
24. Caston Carden – Sawyer Sheffield             Shelby County                         0
  Day 1: 5   11-05   Total:   5  11-05
25. Hoyt Nicely – Connor Bower                   Hartley’s Hawgs Ii                    0
  Day 1: 5   11-04   Total:   5  11-04
26. Mason Taylor – Wesley Kent                   Dekalb Fishing Team                   0
  Day 1: 5   11-01   Total:   5  11-01
27. Connor Racine – Brady LeMarbe                Dexter High School Fishing Club       0
  Day 1: 5   11-00   Total:   5  11-00
28. Tucker Oakes –                               Batavia High School – IL              0
  Day 1: 5   10-15   Total:   5  10-15
28. Ethan Carr – Wyatt Dillard                   Hayden High School Fishing Team       0
  Day 1: 5   10-15   Total:   5  10-15
28. Jaxon Ward – Kai Graham                      Salem Bass Team                       0
  Day 1: 5   10-15   Total:   5  10-15
31. Jack Kennedy – Brentley West                 Mulberry Bassmasters Jr Anglers       0
  Day 1: 5   10-14   Total:   5  10-14
31. Evin Moore – Bridger Jones                   Haywood Anglers                       0
  Day 1: 5   10-14   Total:   5  10-14
33. Max Flatten – Sam Spies                      Glacial Lakes High School Bass F      0
  Day 1: 4   10-14   Total:   4  10-14
34. Dominick Andux – Bridget Mathis              Dixie Co Bass Masters High Schoo      0
  Day 1: 5   10-12   Total:   5  10-12
34. Drake Walls – Cole Henderson                 Bainbridge High School                0
  Day 1: 5   10-12   Total:   5  10-12
36. Carter Pjesky – JD McBroom                   Off The Hook High School Bassmas      0
  Day 1: 5   10-11   Total:   5  10-11
37. Max Himmel –                                 Catholic High School Fishing          0
  Day 1: 4   10-11   Total:   4  10-11
38. Andrew Kunz – Justin McGee                   Bibb Country                          0
  Day 1: 5   10-09   Total:   5  10-09
38. Cutler Wooten – Peyton McAndrew              Sml Anglers                           0
  Day 1: 5   10-09   Total:   5  10-09
40. Brody Brinson – Greer Gammon                 Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 5   10-08   Total:   5  10-08
40. Michael Harris – Noah Unland                 Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 5   10-08   Total:   5  10-08
40. Tanner Mason – Kaden Randles                 DAR High School – AL                  0
  Day 1: 5   10-08   Total:   5  10-08
43. Parker Bilbrey – Tyler Thompson              Monterey Anglers                      0
  Day 1: 5   10-07   Total:   5  10-07
43. Mason Carden –                               Shelby County High School – AL        0
  Day 1: 5   10-07   Total:   5  10-07
45. TJ Murray – Brack Robertson                  Meigs County High School Fishing      0
  Day 1: 5   10-06   Total:   5  10-06
45. Colton Trotter – Paxton Trotter              Rehobeth High School – AL             0
  Day 1: 5   10-06   Total:   5  10-06
47. Caleb Godson – Asher Ready                   North Augusta High School Fishin      0
  Day 1: 5   10-04   Total:   5  10-04
48. RJ Sanger IV – Bobby Lane III                Lcs Viking Anglers                    0
  Day 1: 5   10-03   Total:   5  10-03
49. Tijs Groenewoud – Grant Thomas               Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 4   10-01   Total:   4  10-01
49. Zachary Stall –                              Lakes Community High School           0
  Day 1: 4   10-01   Total:   4  10-01
51. Jordan Houston –                             Mortimer Jordan High School – AL      0
  Day 1: 5   10-00   Total:   5  10-00
52. Ethan Edwards – Patrick Buchanan             Dar Patriots Fishing                  0
  Day 1: 5   09-15   Total:   5  09-15
53. Blair Sinks – Peyton Jones                   Warren County High School – TN        0
  Day 1: 5   09-14   Total:   5  09-14
54. Alex Barrett – Davis Ray                     Fayetteville High School              0
  Day 1: 5   09-10   Total:   5  09-10
55. Mya Russell –                                                                      0
  Day 1: 5   09-09   Total:   5  09-09
56. Wyatt Smith – Major Qualls                   Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   09-07   Total:   5  09-07
57. Landon Myers – Wilson Shepherd               Alcoa Fishing Team                    0
  Day 1: 5   09-04   Total:   5  09-04
58. Brooks Putnam – Daylin Doak                  Mt. Juliet High School – TN           0
  Day 1: 5   09-03   Total:   5  09-03
58. Drew Turnbull – Jeremiah Day                 Evangel Christian School              0
  Day 1: 5   09-03   Total:   5  09-03
60. Jerry Rouyea – Cade Fontenot                 St. Amant High Bass Club              0
  Day 1: 4   09-03   Total:   4  09-03
61. Owen Wiggins – Bill Gaines                   Cartersville Fishing                  0
  Day 1: 4   09-02   Total:   4  09-02
62. Cole Drawdy –                                Plant City Bassmasters                0
  Day 1: 5   08-15   Total:   5  08-15
62. Jacob Holt – Hayden Spears                   Warren Co High School Pioneer An      0
  Day 1: 5   08-15   Total:   5  08-15
64. Dylan Sorrells – Andrew Waters               Hp Bass Team                          0
  Day 1: 4   08-15   Total:   4  08-15
65. Trevor Allen – Brody Allen                   Lake And Trail Usa Youth Fishing      0
  Day 1: 5   08-14   Total:   5  08-14
66. Phillip Becknell-Dodson – Micah Mayes        Burgin Independent – KY               0
  Day 1: 4   08-13   Total:   4  08-13
67. Murphy Childers – Ryder Colee                Brewer High School Fishing Team       0
  Day 1: 3   08-12   Total:   3  08-12
68. Kiptyn Mumma – David Beard Jr                Lee Scott Academy                     0
  Day 1: 4   08-10   Total:   4  08-10
69. Cooper Rouse – Ryker Reed                    D’iberville Hs Warrior Bass Nati      0
  Day 1: 5   08-09   Total:   5  08-09
70. Jaxson Beard – Anderson Mesplay              Pendleton High School Fishing Te      0
  Day 1: 4   08-09   Total:   4  08-09
71. Alex Smith – Bryson Wade                     Saraland High School – AL             0
  Day 1: 4   08-05   Total:   4  08-05
72. William Kelly – Bryce Matas                  901 High School Bass Club             0
  Day 1: 3   08-05   Total:   3  08-05
73. Peyton Mixon – Aiden Castleberry             Alabama Bass Academy – AL             0
  Day 1: 5   08-04   Total:   5  08-04
74. Kaden Dorman – Owen Nepple                   Iowa Youth Fishing League High S      0
  Day 1: 4   08-04   Total:   4  08-04
75. Braxton Strickland – William Olaire          Gardendale High School                0
  Day 1: 4   08-03   Total:   4  08-03
76. Connor Kennedy – Brennan Enfinger            Bainbridge High School Bass Cats      0
  Day 1: 4   07-14   Total:   4  07-14
77. Jacob Baugh – Brody Berninger                Skyline Vikings Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 4   07-13   Total:   4  07-13
77. Landon Gabby – Kolby Baker                   Marion High School Bass Fishing       0
  Day 1: 4   07-13   Total:   4  07-13
77. Carson Holbert –                             Eagleton Fishing Team                 0
  Day 1: 4   07-13   Total:   4  07-13
80. Presley Carter – Logan Rawlings              East Limestone                        0
  Day 1: 4   07-12   Total:   4  07-12
81. Konner Allen – Carter Pigg                   Hardin County Tiger Bass Club         0
  Day 1: 3   07-11   Total:   3  07-11
82. Doyce Beard – Cooper Rouse                   Auburn High School                    0
  Day 1: 4   07-09   Total:   4  07-09
82. Sam Hayes – Samuel Kiger                     Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 4   07-09   Total:   4  07-09
84. Eli Dix – Cole Mitchell                      Grissom Hs Fishing Team               0
  Day 1: 4   07-07   Total:   4  07-07
84. Tate Turner –                                Hoover High School                    0
  Day 1: 4   07-07   Total:   4  07-07
86. Tristan Stewart – DJ Johnson                 Mt. Pleasant Junior Bass Team –       0
  Day 1: 4   07-05   Total:   4  07-05
87. Jackson Crawford – Wyatt Reynolds            Liberty County Junior Anglers         0
  Day 1: 3   07-05   Total:   3  07-05
88. Walker LaRue – Jackie Hatfield               Tennessee BASS Nation Team Trail      0
  Day 1: 3   07-03   Total:   3  07-03
88. Brady McCormick – Andrew McCormick           Briarwood Christian School – AL       0
  Day 1: 3   07-03   Total:   3  07-03
90. Elijah Coleman – Will Dombroskas             Montgomery County High School Ba      0
  Day 1: 4   07-00   Total:   4  07-00
91. Parker Jones –                               Sc Lower State Hs Bass Club           0
  Day 1: 3   07-00   Total:   3  07-00
92. PJ Mortenson III – Noah Mazzarisi            Oregon Panthers                       0
  Day 1: 3   06-12   Total:   3  06-12
92. Hudson Windham – Tripp Corry                 Capital City High School Bass Hu      0
  Day 1: 3   06-12   Total:   3  06-12
94. Gracie Marion –                              Sumner County Bass Team               0
  Day 1: 2   06-12   Total:   2  06-12
95. Camp Gunter – Joseph Sperling                Chiles High School Fishing Team       0
  Day 1: 3   06-10   Total:   3  06-10
96. Tucker Larrance – Jaxson Pierce              Jefferson County Patriot Anglers      0
  Day 1: 3   06-06   Total:   3  06-06
97. Bradford Van Demark II – Elias Hitson        Eagleville Fishing Club               0
  Day 1: 3   06-01   Total:   3  06-01
98. Thomason Thomason – Clayton Schwieterman     Guntersville Youth bass club          0
  Day 1: 2   06-00   Total:   2  06-00
99. Logan Cargle – Cole Mcdaniel                 Tift County High School – GA          0
  Day 1: 3   05-14   Total:   3  05-14
99. Hank Mcillwain – Hunter Davis                Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 3   05-14   Total:   3  05-14
101. Logan Allen – Marco Galando                  Creekwood Hs Redhawks Fishing         0
  Day 1: 2   05-14   Total:   2  05-14
102. Aubrey Madison – Julie Reeves                Mortimer Jordan High School – AL      0
  Day 1: 2   05-11   Total:   2  05-11
103. Carson Falk – Trey Blackmon III              Capital City High School Bass Hu      0
  Day 1: 3   05-10   Total:   3  05-10
103. Brodie Gibson – Kolbie Gibson                Knight Fishing Anglers                0
  Day 1: 3   05-10   Total:   3  05-10
103. Parker McCoy – Blaze Sullivan                Mortimer Jordan High School – AL      0
  Day 1: 3   05-10   Total:   3  05-10
106. Joshua Burows – Brylee Williams              Teurlings Rebel Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 3   05-08   Total:   3  05-08
106. Sadler Harrison –                            Athens Anglers                        0
  Day 1: 3   05-08   Total:   3  05-08
108. Kayson Richards – Coop Boling                Creekview Anglers                     0
  Day 1: 3   05-04   Total:   3  05-04
109. Ryan Narancich – Eli Boutros                 Page High School                      0
  Day 1: 2   05-04   Total:   2  05-04
110. Connor Strachan –                            Bryant High School                    0
  Day 1: 3   05-03   Total:   3  05-03
111. Cayden Smith –                               Skyline Vikings Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 3   05-02   Total:   3  05-02
111. Justin Waggener – Eli Pauley                 Burgin Bulldogs Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 3   05-02   Total:   3  05-02
113. Ethan McBrayer – Preston Howard              Briarwood High School                 0
  Day 1: 2   05-02   Total:   2  05-02
113. Mason Mullins –                              Soddy Daisy High School               0
  Day 1: 2   05-02   Total:   2  05-02
115. Statum Relford – Will Hasty                  Stewarts Creeks Hs Bass               0
  Day 1: 3   05-00   Total:   3  05-00
116. Gavin Peterson –                             Fairview Junior High Bass Team        0
  Day 1: 2   04-15   Total:   2  04-15
117. Blalock Eskew – Ellis Turner                 Heard County High School – GA         0
  Day 1: 2   04-14   Total:   2  04-14
118. Bo Pearson – Blaine Davis                    Liberty County Anglers                0
  Day 1: 2   04-10   Total:   2  04-10
119. Hunter Gore – Jayden Fitzgerald              Rhea County  Eagle Anglers            0
  Day 1: 4   04-09   Total:   4  04-09
120. Brody Ensminger – Drew Mayers                Central High School                   0
  Day 1: 2   04-09   Total:   2  04-09
120. Daniel Ruhe – Michael Duvall                 Black Swamp High School Fishing       0
  Day 1: 2   04-09   Total:   2  04-09
122. Sarah Parker – Asher Wheat                   Petal High School                     0
  Day 1: 3   04-08   Total:   3  04-08
122. Hollis Rose – Grant Arnold                   Jefferson County Patriot Anglers      0
  Day 1: 3   04-08   Total:   3  04-08
124. Jay Tucker Pearson – Lucas Blair             Fairview                              0
  Day 1: 2   04-04   Total:   2  04-04
124. Reiston Ratchford – Lawson Gamble            Headland Bass Team                    0
  Day 1: 2   04-04   Total:   2  04-04
126. Brayden Tisdale – Reece Kilian               Emerald Coast Youth Bassmasters       0
  Day 1: 2   04-03   Total:   2  04-03
127. Joseph Abercrombie – Elliott Dalee           Saraland High School – AL             0
  Day 1: 2   04-01   Total:   2  04-01
127. Ethan Tatum – Eastin Hopkins                 Burgin Bulldogs Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 2   04-01   Total:   2  04-01
127. Jamison Watson – Aaron Price                 Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 2   04-01   Total:   2  04-01
130. Dakota Van Weelden – Collin Mitchell         Twin Lakes Fishing                    0
  Day 1: 2   04-00   Total:   2  04-00
131. Jacob Hicks – Colton Hall                    Sml Anglers                           0
  Day 1: 2   03-14   Total:   2  03-14
131. Danil Williams – Easton Bibbings             Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 2   03-14   Total:   2  03-14
133. Jp Toney – James Hines                       Warren Co High School Pioneer An      0
  Day 1: 1   03-13   Total:   1  03-13
134. Jackson Padgett – Dawson Barnett             Benjamin Russell Anglers              0
  Day 1: 2   03-12   Total:   2  03-12
135. Jack Dowdy – Wyatt Galbraith                 Lowndes High School Lip Rippers       0
  Day 1: 2   03-10   Total:   2  03-10
135. Cole Hutson – Carter Buchanan                Mt. Pleasant High School – TN         0
  Day 1: 2   03-10   Total:   2  03-10
137. Knox Jones – Rock Fulton IV                  Briarwood High School                 0
  Day 1: 2   03-09   Total:   2  03-09
138. Mitchell Boles – Nixon Melton                Clay County Junior Anglers            0
  Day 1: 2   03-08   Total:   2  03-08
139. Will Smith III – Lane Melancon               Teurlings Rebel Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 2   03-06   Total:   2  03-06
140. Noah Loxley – Cameron Brown                  Rc Fishing                            0
  Day 1: 1   03-06   Total:   1  03-06
141. Thomas Newman – Cayden Ryman                 Frederick County Hs Bass Wrangle      0
  Day 1: 2   03-05   Total:   2  03-05
142. Dylan Fulk – Levi Ochs                       Richland County High School           0
  Day 1: 1   02-15   Total:   1  02-15
143. Alex Townsend – Drew Hardin                  Benton County Bass Anglers            0
  Day 1: 1   02-14   Total:   1  02-14
144. Cooper Lobek – Colten Starnes                Salem Bass Team                       0
  Day 1: 1   02-12   Total:   1  02-12
145. Connor Watts – Devin Martin                  Rehobeth High School                  0
  Day 1: 1   02-09   Total:   1  02-09
146. Faith Burks – Allie Reagan                   Clay County Anglers                   0
  Day 1: 1   02-08   Total:   1  02-08
147. Elijah Ambrose – Jarren Crowder              Hs Potomac River Bassmasters          0
  Day 1: 1   02-07   Total:   1  02-07
147. Connor Beach – Nathan Phillips               Liberty County Anglers                0
  Day 1: 1   02-07   Total:   1  02-07
147. Griffin Sheets – John Hicks                  Sml Junior Anglers                    0
  Day 1: 1   02-07   Total:   1  02-07
147. Caden Stevens – Hunter Crittenden            Fchs Bass Team                        0
  Day 1: 1   02-07   Total:   1  02-07
151. Brody Teller – Will Anderson                 Sumner County Bass Team               0
  Day 1: 1   02-06   Total:   1  02-06
152. Emma Griffieth – Megan Robinson              George Rogers Clark Hs                0
  Day 1: 1   02-05   Total:   1  02-05
152. Olevir Johnson – Rhett Shirrell              Oldham Co High School Bass Team       0
  Day 1: 1   02-05   Total:   1  02-05
152. Jaxen White – Christopher Trobaugh           Clay County Anglers – TN              0
  Day 1: 1   02-05   Total:   1  02-05
155. Parker Allen – Nicholas Williamson           Buckhorn Bass Fishing Club            0
  Day 1: 1   02-03   Total:   1  02-03
156. Quinn Barbee – Andrew Miller                 Southeastern Bass Anglers             0
  Day 1: 1   02-02   Total:   1  02-02
156. Gavin Burnett – Justin Ackel                 Sulphur Fishing Team – Sulphur H      0
  Day 1: 1   02-02   Total:   1  02-02
156. Colby Onderdonk – Collin Robinson            Saraland High School – AL             0
  Day 1: 1   02-02   Total:   1  02-02
159. Luke Merriam – Will Norman                   Mountain Brook Fishing Team           0
  Day 1: 1   02-00   Total:   1  02-00
160. Cody Burns – Brooklyn Burns                  Mortimer Jordan High School – AL      0
  Day 1: 1   01-15   Total:   1  01-15
160. John Parker Deal – Vin Radetic               Headland Bass Team                    0
  Day 1: 1   01-15   Total:   1  01-15
160. Jake Leonard – Andrew Heath                  Evangel Christian School              0
  Day 1: 1   01-15   Total:   1  01-15
163. Annie Lassiter – Jacob Willis                Upperman High School                  0
  Day 1: 1   01-14   Total:   1  01-14
163. Brayden Rives – Simon Stafford               Evangel Christian School              0
  Day 1: 1   01-14   Total:   1  01-14
165. Matthew Adams – Heaven Davis                 Blue Ridge Tiger Fishing              0
  Day 1: 1   01-13   Total:   1  01-13
165. Caleb Moore – Dean Austin                    Off The Hook IL Bassmasters           0
  Day 1: 1   01-13   Total:   1  01-13
165. Talon Stone – Gage Lee                       Benton County Bass Anglers            0
  Day 1: 1   01-13   Total:   1  01-13
165. Anderson Thrower – John Paul Nelson          Vestavia Hills Rebel Anglers          0
  Day 1: 1   01-13   Total:   1  01-13
165. Landon Vaughn – Will Taylor                  Pendleton High School Fishing Te      0
  Day 1: 1   01-13   Total:   1  01-13
170. Connor Crawford – Brody Beam                 Liberty County Anglers                0
  Day 1: 1   01-12   Total:   1  01-12
170. Jack Pickett – Luke Baugh                    Skyline Vikings Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 1   01-12   Total:   1  01-12
172. Landon Boshell – Colt Canterberry                                                  0
  Day 1: 1   01-09   Total:   1  01-09
172. Lucas Hodge – Zane Barthelemy                Salem Bass Team                       0
  Day 1: 1   01-09   Total:   1  01-09
172. Layton Mcdill – Conner Lanham                Baldwin County High School            0
  Day 1: 1   01-09   Total:   1  01-09
175. Marshall Avery – Dagan Brumfield             Mountain Brook Fishing Team           0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Nathan Bennett – Brady Biles                 Seminole Junior Anglers               0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Riley Bragg –                                                                      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Landon Brazier – Austin Fulghum              Greenbrier High School                0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Jacob Burkhead –                             Benton Panther Fishing Team           0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Evan Bush – Cason Thomas                     Lowndes High School Lip Rippers       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. JonBrady Buttram – Owen Darden               Fayetteville High School              0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Gray Chapman IV – Logan West                 Satsuma High School Fishing Team      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Luke Childs – Conner Luft                    Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. William Collins –                            Soddy Daisy Jr High                   0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Wyatt Crow – Seth Golin                      Lipscomb Academy                      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Jackson Edenfield – Hunter Harris            Chiles High School Fishing Team       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Eli Ellege – Aidan Ellege                    Warrior Hs Bass Anglers               0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Micah Foy – Dante Graham                     Highlands County Anglers Club         0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. MacLane Fritts – Reid Chapman                Campbell County High School           0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Tyler Godwin – Gunner Love                   Bainbridge High School Bass Cats      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Zayden Graham –                              Hayden                                0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Levi Grubbs – Gunnar Rhodus                  Lincoln County High School            0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Tanner Hamilton – Bray Gilman                Mid Florida Youth Anglers – FL        0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Nolan Hamm – William Gimpel                  Lincoln County High School – KY       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Gavin Harwood – Will Boldt                   Chiles High School Fishing Team       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Garrett Johnson – LB Mitchell II             The Kings Academy Juniors             0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Jacob Johnson – Karson Peterman              Rehobeth High School                  0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Shae Kaelin – Haley Kaelin                   Oldham Co High School Bass Team       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Nick Keith Jr. – Jagger Wells                Munford High School Fishing Club      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Kaeden Kirby – Chase Hallings                Lipscomb Academy                      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Cash Kirkpatrick – Riley Kitchens            Petal High School                     0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Ethan Long – Dillyn Dill                     Shelby County High School – AL        0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Brock Lovering – Dallas Hurd                 863 Anglers                           0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Brennan Maljian – Rob West                   Eagleville Fishing Club               0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Emerson Martin – Drake Shobe                 Mortimer Jordan Hs Bass Club          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Charlie Mathis – Trace Byrd                  Dixie County High School – FL         0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Caleb Mccord –                               Arkansas Youth Anglers                0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Cora Beth Mccrary – Nathan Parker            Tift Co Blue Devil Bass Team          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Noah Mentz – Logan Mentz                     Knight Fishing Anglers                0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Silas Miller – Logan Collier                 Good Hope Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Porter Morrison – Harrison Kirkpatrick       Catholic High School Fishing          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Breanna Nutt – Wyatt Lancaster               Mt. Pleasant High School – TN         0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Wallace Rampey –                             Lowndes High School Lip Rippers       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Evan Ray – Bryson Harrison                   Straughn High School Fishing Tea      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Jace Reyes – Jesse Crain                     Livingston Parish Bassmasters         0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Eli Richards – Walker Kaiser                 Tift Co Blue Devil Bass Team          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Brayden Rivest – Grace Olsen                 Off the Hook Jr Bassmasters – IL      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Lane Roddy – Colton Myers                    Gallatin High School – TN             0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Landon Rousseau – Dalton Adkins              Skyline Vikings Fishing Team          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Tanner Russell – Daniel Lowhorn              Mt. Juliet High School – TN           0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Eli Schwieker – Landon Stegall               Hewitt Trussville High School –       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Brody Shepherd –                             Rehobeth High School                  0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Braxton Smith – Bruce Arnold                 Rehobeth High School                  0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Everett Smith – Mason Martinez               Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Josiah Smith – Isaac Borum                   Warrior Bass Anglers                  0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. James Stevens – Bo Jack                      Michigan A1 Anglers                   0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. David Stockard – Nathan Alexander            Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Kaden Tuttle – Gage Gardner                  Munford High School Fishing Club      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Trent VanDam – Wyatt Carr                    Reeths-Puffer High School             0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Sawyer Walters – Logan Quattlebaum           Geneva Panthers Bass Fishing Tea      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Cameron Waters – Caydan Waters               Mid Florida Youth Anglers Hs          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Conner Watts – Bode Childers                 Lincoln County High School            0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Logan Williams – Eli Stiles                  Gallatin High School                  0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Dusty Wix – Gavin Jones                      Capital City Junior Bass Hunters      0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Kyle Wood – Bradley Merritt                  Central Fishing Team                  0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
175. Claire Yearkey – Jeffrey McWaters            Benjamin Russell Anglers              0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
———————————————————————–
BIG BASS OF TOURN
     Jesse Lancaster          Belhaven, NC        04-08          $0.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        60       569      1250-10
———————————-
          60       569      1250-10





Palaniuk claims sixth Bassmaster Elite win at Lake Okeechobee

Brian Carter
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Palaniuk claims sixth Bassmaster Elite win at Lake Okeechobee

Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk wins the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla., with a four-day total weight of 95 pounds, 4 ounces.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

Champion_2025.png

March 2, 2025

Palaniuk claims sixth Bassmaster Elite win at Lake Okeechobee

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. —  The gift that kept on giving finally stopped giving. Thankfully, that gift had given enough for Brandon Palaniuk to cruise across the finish line with a four-day total of 95 pounds, 4 ounces in the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee.

“It’s so crazy how things happen for a reason,” Palaniuk said of a slow day that tested his resolve. “This morning, me and (seventh-place Greg DiPalma) were fishing next to one another and I watched him lose several big ones. I hate that and I love it, at the same time.

“I don’t wish that upon anyone, but if he would have caught those, I would have been sweating bullets. I could not get a bite, and then I just kept sticking with it and picking off one here and there.”

Starting strong with a third-place, first-round limit of 23-7, the pro from Rathdrum, Idaho, moved into the Day 2 lead by sacking up 34-10 — his personal best and the heaviest bag weighed in a Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee. That feat sent Palaniuk into Day 3 with a 9-12 lead over Day 1 leader DiPalma.

On Semifinal Saturday, the fish shied from the previous days’ pressure. Enduring a few painful losses and a close call that sent a big crankbait colliding with his face (no serious injury), Palaniuk caught 23 pounds and expanded his lead to an 18-3 advantage over Day 1 leader Greg DiPalma.

Palaniuk, a two-time Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year, endured a stingy Day 4 and sealed the deal with a final-round limit of 14-3. Edging John Garrett by 15-13 — the fourth-largest winning margin in Bassmaster Elite history and Palaniuk’s second double-digit win (also his first Elite win at Bull Shoals, 2012) — he collected the $102,000 top prize and his sixth blue trophy.

All week, Palaniuk has camped in a small stretch of the C-41A Canal, which flows southeast from Lake Istokpoga. The key location was a ridge with an adjacent trench passing between the high spot and the riprap bank.

“I think the biggest thing was this spot had deep water and spawning areas nearby and it allowed those fish to funnel through and replenish every day,” Palaniuk said. “The structure set up right for them to position and funnel into there.

“In the back of that trough was a flat that came off the bank. That created an area where those big females could get sun, and there was tons of bait that they could feed on.”

The final round started slowly for Palaniuk, as the early afternoon found him with only four fish for less than 10 pounds. Losing a key fish sent him huddling to his deck, but Palaniuk recomposed himself, got back to work and ended his day with a 5 1/2-pounder that crushed his Clutch The Boss glidebait.

After the first day’s weigh-in, Palaniuk noted that he cycled through a wide array of baits to determine what would trigger the fish. As the week went on, he dialed in a few key performers, including the Megabass Kanata jerkbait, a prototype Megabass crankbait and the hulking Megabass Big M 4.0.

He also caught fish on a KGB glidebait, a Neko-rigged green-pumpkin Zoom Magnum Finesse Worm, and an XZone Lures Muscle Back Craw punched through a hyacinth mat.

Reviewing this week’s accomplishment, Palaniuk said marking a half dozen Elite victories has stoked his fire for future achievement.

“We’re not done yet,” Palaniuk said. “I’m 15 years into it; I figure I have at least that many more. I feel like we’re just getting started.”

Hailing from Union City, Tenn., Garrett finished second with 79-7. After tying Chris Zaldain for 62nd place on Day 1 with 10-8, Garrett bolted into 12th place with a Day 2 limit of 22-7.

Adding 23-3 on Semifinal Saturday, Garrett rose to fourth before closing the event with a final limit of 23-5. Coming off a fourth-place finish at last week’s FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River, Garrett anchored his Day 4 bag with a 7-4.

“This Florida swing has been absolutely unbelievable,” Garrett said. “Most of the time when I’m in Florida I take a righthand turn, and I was supposed to take a left, but every decision I’ve made the past two weeks has been the right one.”

Garrett fished a black and blue Strike King Hack Attack Swim Jig with a Strike King Rage Scounbug trailer and a Texas-rigged black and blue Strike King Rage Bug. He used the former in shallow water to locate aggressive fish, while the latter handled his flipping duties in deeper spots.

Kyoya Fujita of Yamanashi, Japan, took third with 77-4. His daily weights were 18-0, 11-15, 25-13 and 21-8.

Fujita did most of his work in the Rim Canal. On Day 4, he stayed east of the Taylor Creek area.

“I fished the canal because I practiced in the lake and everything had changed (from his previous visit in 2023),” Fujita said. “I found my fish on Livescope and fished a jighead minnow with a Jackall Driftfry and Deps Sakamata Shad.

David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., won the $2,000 award for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with an 11-8. Gaston’s catch is the largest fish caught at Lake Okeechobee in Bassmaster Elite history. That fish also ranks as the 10th-biggest and the 75th double-digit bass in Elite Series history.

Bernie Schultz of Gainesville, Fla., won the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency award. Garrett won the $1,000 award for leading the Progressive Angler of the Year standings.

Palaniuk won the $2,000 Rapala Crush City Monster Bag award for his Day 2 limit of 34-10.

Garrett leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 204 points. John Cox of Debary, Fla., is in second with 191, followed by Gaston with 183, Bill Lowen of Brookville, Ind., with 182 and Will Davis Jr of Sylacauga, Ala., with 182.

Evan Kung of Pickering, Canada, leads the Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year standings with 143 points.

Davis Jr also took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, while DiPalma earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Palaniuk earned an additional $4,000 while Garrett claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant. Fujita and Gaston both earned $1,000 for being the third- and fourth-highest placing entrant, respectively.

Visit Florida hosted the event.

2025 Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee 2/27-3/2
Lake Okeechobee, Okeechobee  FL.
Standings Day 4

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Brandon Palaniuk       Rathdrum, ID            20  95-04  104 $102,000.00
  Day 1: 5   23-07     Day 2: 5   34-10     Day 3: 5   23-00     Day 4: 5   14-03   
2.  John Garrett           Union City, TN          20  79-07  103  $21,500.00
  Day 1: 5   10-08     Day 2: 5   22-07     Day 3: 5   23-03     Day 4: 5   23-05   
3.  Kyoya Fujita           Yamanashi CA JAPAN      20  77-04  102  $15,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   11-15     Day 3: 5   25-13     Day 4: 5   21-08   
4.  Will Davis Jr          Sylacauga, AL           20  76-05  101  $13,000.00
  Day 1: 5   26-02     Day 2: 5   13-03     Day 3: 5   14-01     Day 4: 5   22-15   
5.  Bob Downey             Detroit Lakes, MN       20  73-02  100  $11,750.00
  Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 5   21-13     Day 3: 5   17-11     Day 4: 5   21-11   
6.  David Gaston           Sylacauga, AL           20  68-04   99  $14,000.00
  Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   23-14     Day 3: 5   21-10     Day 4: 5   08-01   
7.  Gregory DiPalma        Millville, NJ           18  67-04   98  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   29-12     Day 2: 5   18-09     Day 3: 5   14-09     Day 4: 3   04-06   
8.  Trey McKinney          Carbondale, IL          20  65-09   97  $10,300.00
  Day 1: 5   21-00     Day 2: 5   14-07     Day 3: 5   13-12     Day 4: 5   16-06   
9.  Jacob Foutz            Charleston, TN          19  59-05   96  $10,200.00
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   19-01     Day 3: 5   17-07     Day 4: 4   09-02   
10. Jason Christie         Dry Creek, OK           17  54-05   95  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   20-12     Day 3: 4   15-12     Day 4: 3   04-05   
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS 
Day
 1   Gregory DiPalma          Millville, NJ       08-10        $500.00
 1   Brandon Cobb             Greenwood, SC       08-10        $500.00
 2   David Gaston             Sylacauga, AL       11-08      $1,000.00
 3   Jason Christie           Dry Creek, OK       07-11      $1,000.00
 4   Will Davis Jr            Sylacauga, AL       07-04        $500.00
 4   John Garrett             Union City, TN      07-04        $500.00

———————————————————————–
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
     David Gaston             Sylacauga, AL       11-08      $2,000.00
RAPALA CRUSHCITY MONSTER BAG

     Brandon Palaniuk         Rathdrum, ID        34-10      $2,000.00

———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        93       498      1261-13
 2        95       497      1253-05
 3        47       245       679-07
 4         7        45       145-14
———————————-
         242      1285      3340-07





Consistent Breeden Earns Victory at MLF Toyota Series at Lake of the Ozarks

Brian Carter
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Consistent Breeden Earns Victory at MLF Toyota Series at Lake of the Ozarks

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (March 2, 2025) – The only man to catch a limit three days in a row, it’s fitting that pro Cole Breeden of Lebanon, Missouri, took the win in the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event at  Lake of the Ozarks . Weighing bags in the low teens every day, Breeden managed 13 pounds, 7 ounces on the final day and totaled 40-13 win on a week that featured incredibly tough fishing.

For the win, which is his second at the Toyota Series level, the young Missouri pro takes home $33,727, which will doubtless bolster his bank account amid the start of a busy tournament season. The win also automatically qualifies him for the Toyota Series Championship, which will be held in the fall on Grand Lake, where Breeden won the 2021 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship.

Finishing second with a 39-1 total, pro Andy Newcomb of Camdenton, Missouri, blasted 20-11 on the final day to move up from 11th place. Another Lake of the Ozarks stalwart, pro Brad Jelinek, of Lincoln, Missouri, finished third with 37-5.

A master with his forward-facing sonar, it was no surprise to see Breeden in the hunt this week. But, as the weights proved, simply pointing a transducer at a fish didn’t put it in the boat. Plenty of pros talked about fish blowing through umbrella rigs and never getting hooked or fish biting a jerkbait or jig and still getting off. Add in frigid water and a major shad kill (think pizzas steadily falling from the sky), and the fishing was extremely tough.

On the pro side of the event, anglers with full control of the boat and armed with all the best gear struggled. A stunning 43 pros double zeroed, failing to bring a keeper bass to weigh-in across two days of fishing. That list included some real luminaries, both locally and nationally – Dennis Berhorst, Casey Martin,  Eric Olliverson and even the great  Rick Clunn couldn’t catch one.

All told, it makes the fact that Breeden caught five every day seem pretty monumental, even though it’s ordinarily the bare minimum for tournament fishing. According to Breeden, even in practice, he was clicking with the lake at an above-average level.

“I practiced for three half days, and on my third day, I started finding fish, and I didn’t catch very many, but I was seeing groups of a lot of fish,” he said. “Like 10 to 30 bass on a spot, which was just crazy. So, I actually felt pretty good, because I had been talking to a lot of people that were talking about how tough it was, and nobody was really catching any bass. So, I actually did feel good going to the tournament – not for winning purposes, but maybe just making a check or a Top 10.”

The key for Breeden was fishing a lot of new water that fit the pattern he increasingly dialed as the event went on.

“The way I started finding fish was kind of on flat, secondary points,” he said. “And then in the tournament, I ran a mixture looking for new stuff, of flat secondary points and creeks or a real flat bank or a pocket in a creek. That’s the kind of stuff I was running – just looking for brush and looking for fish on the brush.

“I know there were fish on other stuff, too, but that was just a good way for me to find numbers of fish,” he outlined. “And I think that was the important thing – throwing in front of as many as possible. Because, if you talk to anybody in the Top 10, they found a ton of fish also, but it was almost impossible to get them to bite.”

Fishing brush in 12- to 18-feet, Breeden did the vast majority of his work with a jerkbait.

The key bait was either a Berkley Stunna 112+1 or a Berkley Stunna 112 in a worn out Table Rock colorway. For both baits, he used a 6-foot, 10-inch, medium-light Abu Garcia Fantasista X paired with an 8.3:1  Abu Garcia Zenon MG-X and 10-pound  Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon.

Per Breeden, most of the bass would be near the bottom of the piles, and he needed to coax them into a feeding scenario.

“Most of them were on the bottom or close to the bottom,” he said. “Every now and then, there’d be one up in the top of the pile. But if there was a lot of fish there, most of them would be on the bottom, and then one or two would be high. And then it seemed like if there was a lot of fish there and I could throw my jerkbait in there for the first time, then if I got the attention of one, the whole school would come up. That was when I started catching them, whenever I could get the attention of all of them. Because usually the first one or two or three to come up to it wouldn’t eat it; it would be one that comes up from behind and gets to it.”

Getting the fish in the mood to feed required the perfect bait and the perfect presentation. A challenge considering the windy conditions, Breeden had to use all his wiles to put the bait where it needed to be.

“A lot of times I would be fishing it 15 foot deep, trying to get it down there,” he explained. “I had to make really long casts and just let my line sink. So, every cast was several minutes. And you couldn’t throw a weighted jerkbait, because they were moving so slow that if you threw a weighted jerkbait, it would sink past them by the time they really got to it or wanted to eat it. So, you really needed a suspending jerkbait, but you needed to let your line sink so that it would get deep enough to the fish. It was just a kind of a painful way to fish.”

On Day 3, Breeden added another wintertime trick into the rotation – a float ‘n’ fly. Using a homemade jig with bucktail and feathers on a 1/8-ounce Picasso head with a slip bobber, Breeden actually nabbed the key 5-pounder that gave him the win.

“I didn’t throw it all week because I was just trying to be efficient with my time,” Breeden said. “But today, I knew that I was going back to stuff that I had caught fish on and where I saw some bigger fish. So, I wanted something that would hopefully generate a bite.”

Essentially casting it out and letting it sit above the brush until a fish got interested, Breeden watched his 5-pounder eat on ‘Scope while his co-angler watched the bobber go down.

“I’m watching on LiveScope, and there’s so much slack in your line between the fish and your rod because the bobber is floating 15-foot above the fish,” he said. “So, the 5-pounder I caught today, I saw her eat it, but I didn’t feel it. And I just kept reeling, and finally, it got tight. But my co-angler said that my bobber was down for several seconds before I pulled into it.”

While Breeden seems to have a real knack for Grand Lake, as many Ozark anglers do, he hasn’t previously considered himself to be a favorite at Lake of the Ozarks.

“These guys here, they always catch them, and they catch big ones,” he said. “And I don’t know how they do it, but they do it pretty consistently. So, I pretty much did what I always do at Lake of the Ozarks, which is catch 13 pounds a day and take my check and go home. This one was just a bigger check.”

Now, he’s earned a big win on a historic fishery in maybe one of the toughest tournaments ever held there.

“Finally getting a big win against the competition that we have here just feels amazing,” Breeden said. “It’s a great start to the year, and obviously, I can use that as momentum. And, man, I’m fishing so many tournaments this year that my bank account was looking a little thin.”

The top 10 pros at the Toyota Series at Lake of the Ozarks finished:

1st:        Cole Breeden, Lebanon, Mo., 15 bass, 40-13, $33,727
2nd:       Andy Newcomb, Camdenton, Mo., 14 bass, 39-1, $14,069 (includes $1,000 Phoenix Bonus)
3rd:       Brad Jelinek, Lincoln, Mo., 13 bass, 37-5, $10,118
4th:        Adam Boehle, Warrenton, Mo., 10 bass, 36-12, $8,432
5th:        Travis Fox, Rogers, Ark., 11 bass, 35-7, $7,589
6th:        Jordan Hirt, Council Bluff, Iowa, 12 bass, 34-14, $6,745
7th:        Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 13 bass, 33-11, $5,902
8th:        Justin Luetkemeyer, Osage Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 32-1, $5,559
9th:        Nathen Luce, Claremore, Okla., 11 bass, 30-12, $4,216
10th:     Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 11 bass, 28-10, $3,373

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Pro Justin Luetkemeyer of Osage Beach, Missouri, earned Thursday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass Award with a bass weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces. On Friday, pro Austin Culbertson of Moberly, Missouri, caught a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass and earned the $500 award.

Mark Sloan of Harrison, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of five bass weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces. Sloan earned the top co-angler prize package worth $34,050, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers at the Toyota Series at Lake of the Ozarks finished:

1st:        Mark Sloan, Harrison, Ark., five bass, 16-15, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd:       Dan Bowman, Osage Beach, Mo., seven bass, 15-0, $4,301
3rd:       Drew Boehle, Saint Charles, Mo., five bass, 12-3, $3,441
4th:        Douglas Guidorzi, Fenton, Mo., five bass, 12-1, $3,011
5th:        Alan Bernicky, Dardanelle, Ark., five bass, 10-8, $2,581
6th:        Todd Adamitis, Glen Carbon, Ill., three bass, 8-9, $2,151
7th:        Ryan Steinhoff, Beaulah, Colo., four bass, 8-9, $1,720
8th:        Anthony Scoma, Spring Hill, Kan., three bass, 7-13, $1,505
9th:        Robert Hunt, Ozark, Mo., three bass, 7-8, $1,290
10th:     Ken Coats, Tulsa, Okla., four bass, 7-7, $1,075

Co-angler Clayton Hale of Grove, Oklahoma, earned Thursday’s $150 Berkley Big Bass co-angler award with a 4-pound, 2-ounce bass, while Friday’s Day 2 $150 co-angler award went to tournament winner Mark Sloan, who brought a 5-pound, 11-ounce largemouth bass to the scale.

The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake of the Ozarks was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. It was the first of three regular-season tournament for the Toyota Series Plains
Division. The next event for the Toyota Series Plains Division will be April 8-10 on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. For a complete schedule of events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2025 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern and the Southwestern – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the five divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2026. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2025 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 6-8 on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma, and is hosted by the City of Grove Convention & Tourism Bureau.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, 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.





Palaniuk builds huge lead in Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee

Brian Carter
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Palaniuk builds huge lead in Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee

Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk leads the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla., with a three-day weight of 81 pounds, 1 ounce.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

Champion_2025.png

March 1, 2025

Palaniuk builds huge lead in Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. —  Compared to Friday’s phenomenal performance, Brandon Palaniuk had a slow Day 3. However, his previous heroics, paired with a solid third-round effort kept the Rathdrum, Idaho, angler atop the standings for the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with a three-day total of 81 pounds, 1 ounce.

Palaniuk, a five-time Progressive Bassmaster Elite winner and two-time Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year, placed third on Day 1 with 23-7. A day later, he electrified the weigh-in by catching 34-10 — his personal best and the heaviest bag weighed in a Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee.

Carrying a lead of 9-12 into Semifinal Saturday, Palaniuk caught 23 pounds and expanded his lead to an incredible 18-3 advantage over Day 1 leader Greg DiPalma. He’s making no assumptions, but Palaniuk acknowledged a notable comparison to his first Elite Series trophy.

“What an unreal week it’s been,” Palaniuk said. “The very first Elite Series event I won (Bull Shoals Lake, 2012), they were dropping the water. It had dropped 7 feet in like two weeks, and I caught them on a deep crankbait.

“The water has been dropping here for almost seven weeks and I’m catching a lot of them on a crankbait. The irony in that is incredible.”

Palaniuk committed his day to the same spot he’s camped in since the start. Palaniuk’s running north of the takeoff site and fishing a canal off the Kissimmee River where a dam spillway creates feeding opportunities.

After catching his Day 2 megasack on aggressive moving baits, a slower third round saw him integrate a Neko-rigged green pumpkin Zoom Magnum Finesse Worm into his rotation. This, along with a Megabass Kanata jerkbait and a prototype Megabass crankbait produced his third day’s limit.

“I think pressuring the area for three days affected the fish,” Palaniuk said. “Three of us (also DiPalma and Tim Dube) beat on it pretty hard. I had some other opportunities; I just didn’t execute. I had one little window where I got them biting, but I just had too many missed opportunities.”

Explaining the obvious injury to his lower lip, Palaniuk pointed out another correlation to his first Elite win. During that Bull Shoals event, Palaniuk got a hook stuck in his finger and required an ER visit for removal.

Around 11 a.m. today he hastily scooped a fish that was barely hooked, and the awkward moment left the fish temporarily pinned to his face.

“One treble hook got stuck in my lip and one got stuck in my face,” Palaniuk said. “I had to take my face gaiter off and cut holes in it to get the treble hooks out. It was a little bit of a train wreck today.

“The hook in my lip wasn’t past the barb, so it popped right out. When the fish came up, she was one thrash from throwing the hook. I couldn’t stand that, so I’ll take a punch in the face.”

Palaniuk said he’ll devote his final day to the canal, but he’ll integrate lessons from his first three days. While he has moved throughout the canal, the key area is a high spot where fish move up to feed.

“Every day the wind has changed, so I’ve tried to adjust my angle,” Palaniuk said. “The biggest thing I’ve found is not blowing up on top of them.

“They’re not that deep, so they feel the boat presence. You’ll see them moving around, but they won’t bite, and they won’t set up correctly if you’re blowing up on top of them.”

Hailing from Millville, N.J., DiPalma opened with a Day 1 limit of 29-12, added 18-9 in the second round and earned his final-round berth with a Day 3 bag that went 14-9. For three days, he has started in the same canal as Palaniuk, but days 2 and 3 saw him include a spot 24 miles south into his game plan.

“I started in the canal today, got two keepers and then I ran to the same spot on the lake’s southwest side,” DiPalma said. “I literally put that fifth fish in the boat, and I said, ‘We’re going back.’

“I spent more time running than I did fishing today. As soon as I got back to the canal, I had maybe 20-30 minutes and I ended up catching a 6- or 7-pounder, which pretty much anchored my entire bag.”

DiPalma said his strategy centered on his final-round objective.

“I thought to myself, ‘It’s pretty important to make the Top 10, so I need a limit to, at least, make the Top 10,” he said. “I made the call to play it safe and then I went up there (to the canal) and got rewarded.”

David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., is in third place with 60-3. His daily weights were 14-11, 23-14 and 21-10.

Gaston has spent his time in the Indian Prairie Canal, where he’s mostly targeting prespawn fish that are coming out of the deeper channel and positioning along the riprap bank.

“You have to stick with that place all day, because there are a lot of big fish coming,” Gaston said. “Everything has been on a 1/2-ounce Chatterbait in the black/blue and golden shiner colors with a boot tail or minnow-style trailer.

“I can catch them on a wacky rig, a Texas-rigged worm and sometimes a frog, but a Chatterbait is the only thing I can keep in my hand and get them to bite on the bank, or out there in 3-4 feet of water. I can cover the whole place and comb it over.”

Gaston said the key to his presentation is to keep his bait low and grinding it along the rocks.

Gaston is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with an 11-8. Gaston’s catch is the largest fish caught at Lake Okeechobee in Bassmaster Elite history. That fish also ranks as the 10th biggest and the 75th double-digit bass in Elite Series history

John Garrett of Union City, Tenn., leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 202 points. John Cox of Debary, Fla., is in second with 191, followed by Gaston with 186, Bill Lowen of Brookville, Ind., with 182, and Wes Logan of Springville, Ala., with 182.

Evan Kung of Pickering, Canada, leads the Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year standings with 143 points.

Sunday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET at C. Scott Driver Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3 p.m.

Bassmaster LIVE will be streaming on Bassmaster.com, and coverage will also be available on FS1 on Sunday from 8-10 a.m. Stay up-to-date on all tournament coverage at Bassmaster.com/how-to-watch/.

2025 Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee 2/27-3/2
Lake Okeechobee, Okeechobee  FL.
Standings Day 3

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Brandon Palaniuk       Rathdrum, ID            15  81-01  104
  Day 1: 5   23-07     Day 2: 5   34-10     Day 3: 5   23-00   
2.  Gregory DiPalma        Millville, NJ           15  62-14  103     $500.00
  Day 1: 5   29-12     Day 2: 5   18-09     Day 3: 5   14-09   
3.  David Gaston           Sylacauga, AL           15  60-03  102   $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   23-14     Day 3: 5   21-10   
4.  John Garrett           Union City, TN          15  56-02  101
  Day 1: 5   10-08     Day 2: 5   22-07     Day 3: 5   23-03   
5.  Kyoya Fujita           Yamanashi CA JAPAN      15  55-12  100
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   11-15     Day 3: 5   25-13   
6.  Will Davis Jr          Sylacauga, AL           15  53-06   99
  Day 1: 5   26-02     Day 2: 5   13-03     Day 3: 5   14-01   
7.  Bob Downey             Detroit Lakes, MN       15  51-07   98
  Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 5   21-13     Day 3: 5   17-11   
8.  Jacob Foutz            Charleston, TN          15  50-03   97
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   19-01     Day 3: 5   17-07   
9.  Jason Christie         Dry Creek, OK           14  50-00   96   $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   20-12     Day 3: 4   15-12   
10. Trey McKinney          Carbondale, IL          15  49-03   95
  Day 1: 5   21-00     Day 2: 5   14-07     Day 3: 5   13-12   
11. John Cox               Debary, FL              15  49-00   94   $7,000.00
  Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 5   25-04     Day 3: 5   11-06   
12. Jordan Lee             Cullman, AL             15  48-11   93   $7,000.00
  Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   14-05     Day 3: 5   19-02   
13. Cliff Pace             Ovett, MS               15  48-10   92   $7,000.00
  Day 1: 5   10-09     Day 2: 5   21-04     Day 3: 5   16-13   
14. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL           15  48-04   91   $7,000.00
  Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   07-04     Day 3: 5   23-04   
15. Tyler Williams         Belgrade, ME            15  47-14   90   $7,000.00
  Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 5   16-15     Day 3: 5   16-09   
16. Beau Browning          Hot Springs National Pa 15  47-09   89   $6,500.00
  Day 1: 5   13-00     Day 2: 5   25-12     Day 3: 5   08-13   
17. Wes Logan              Springville, AL         15  46-12   88   $6,500.00
  Day 1: 5   15-03     Day 2: 5   13-12     Day 3: 5   17-13   
18. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC          15  46-06   87   $6,500.00
  Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   18-07     Day 3: 5   14-03   
19. Bryant Smith           Roseville, CA           15  45-02   86   $6,500.00
  Day 1: 5   08-03     Day 2: 5   21-07     Day 3: 5   15-08   
20. Taku Ito               Dalton GA JAPAN         15  44-02   85   $6,500.00
  Day 1: 5   13-13     Day 2: 5   10-05     Day 3: 5   20-00   
21. Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT           15  44-02   84   $6,000.00
  Day 1: 5   19-15     Day 2: 5   13-11     Day 3: 5   10-08   
22. Lee Livesay            Longview, TX            15  43-10   83   $6,000.00
  Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 5   19-13     Day 3: 5   14-01   
23. Jake Whitaker          Hendersonville, NC      15  43-04   82   $6,000.00
  Day 1: 5   13-15     Day 2: 5   17-04     Day 3: 5   12-01   
24. Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR              15  43-03   81   $6,000.00
  Day 1: 5   20-12     Day 2: 5   09-06     Day 3: 5   13-01   
25. KJ Queen               Catawba, NC             15  43-03   80   $6,000.00
  Day 1: 5   14-00     Day 2: 5   12-14     Day 3: 5   16-05   
26. Paul Marks             Cumming, GA             15  42-11   79   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   12-00     Day 3: 5   15-12   
27. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN          15  41-02   78   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   09-01     Day 2: 5   20-14     Day 3: 5   11-03   
28. Cody Meyer             Eagle, ID               15  41-01   77   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   20-03     Day 2: 5   08-12     Day 3: 5   12-02   
29. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA            15  40-12   76   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   10-15     Day 3: 5   16-08   
30. Jay Przekurat          Plover, WI              15  40-04   75   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   17-04     Day 2: 5   07-08     Day 3: 5   15-08   
31. Kyle Patrick           Cooperstown, NY         15  40-02   74   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   16-09     Day 2: 5   10-02     Day 3: 5   13-07   
32. Logan Parks            Auburn, AL              15  39-11   73   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   11-14     Day 2: 5   11-15     Day 3: 5   15-14   
33. Chris Johnston         Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15  39-02   72   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   16-12     Day 2: 5   12-15     Day 3: 5   09-07   
34. Kyle Welcher           Valley, AL              15  38-15   71   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   17-06     Day 2: 5   11-13     Day 3: 5   09-12   
35. Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC           15  38-08   70   $6,000.00
  Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 5   10-10     Day 3: 5   11-03   
36. Cooper Gallant         Bowmanville Ontario CAN 13  37-05   69   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   19-15     Day 2: 3   04-10     Day 3: 5   12-12   
37. Bryan New              Leesville, SC           13  37-03   68   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 3   06-00     Day 2: 5   18-09     Day 3: 5   12-10   
38. Timothy Dube           Nashua , NH             11  37-03   67   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   18-03     Day 2: 4   14-13     Day 3: 2   04-03   
39. Matty Wong             Honolulu, HI            13  37-01   66   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 3   08-10     Day 3: 5   09-00   
40. Cody Huff              Ava, MO                 15  36-15   65   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   14-14     Day 2: 5   13-09     Day 3: 5   08-08   
41. Caleb Kuphall          Mukwonago, WI           15  36-11   64   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   14-08     Day 2: 5   13-07     Day 3: 5   08-12   
42. Patrick Walters        Eutawville, SC          15  36-02   63   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   16-13     Day 2: 5   12-12     Day 3: 5   06-09   
43. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX             15  36-01   62   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   12-10     Day 2: 5   12-04     Day 3: 5   11-03   
44. Bryan Schmitt          Deale, MD               15  35-02   61   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   09-08     Day 2: 5   14-02     Day 3: 5   11-08   
45. Hunter Shryock         Ooltewah, TN            15  33-09   60   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 5   13-00     Day 3: 5   08-14   
46. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN           14  33-07   59   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   11-05     Day 2: 5   12-13     Day 3: 4   09-05   
47. Drew Cook              Cairo, GA               15  33-03   58   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   12-01     Day 3: 5   07-07   
48. JT Thompkins           Myrtle Beach, SC        15  32-08   57   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   10-12     Day 3: 5   06-13   
49. Keith Combs            Huntington, TX          15  31-08   56   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   10-07     Day 3: 5   07-06   
50. Buddy Gross            Chattanooga, TN         15  30-14   55   $5,500.00
  Day 1: 5   08-15     Day 2: 5   14-07     Day 3: 5   07-08   
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS 
Day
 1   Gregory DiPalma          Millville, NJ       08-10        $500.00
 1   Brandon Cobb             Greenwood, SC       08-10        $500.00
 2   David Gaston             Sylacauga, AL       11-08      $1,000.00
 3   Jason Christie           Dry Creek, OK       07-11      $1,000.00

———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        93       498      1261-13
 2        95       497      1253-05
 3        47       245       679-07
———————————-
         235      1240      3194-09





Palaniuk’s record-setting day pushes him to Lake Okeechobee lead

Brian Carter
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Palaniuk’s record-setting day pushes him to Lake Okeechobee lead

Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk leads the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla., with a two-day weight of 58 pounds, 1 ounce.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

Champion_2025.png

Feb. 28, 2025

Palaniuk’s record-setting day pushes him to Lake Okeechobee lead

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. —  Big Florida bass are notorious for making you wait for their feeding windows. Brandon Palaniuk knows the game, and his patience paid huge dividends with a phenomenal day that moved him atop the leaderboard for the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with a two-day total of 58 pounds, 1 ounce.

Palaniuk, the five-time Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series winner and two-time Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year from Rathdrum, Idaho, placed third on Day 1 with 23-7. Following a 90-minute Day 2 fog delay, Palaniuk returned to the canal spillway he fished a day earlier and sacked up 34-10 — his personal best and the heaviest bag weighed in a Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee.

Palaniuk heads into Semifinal Saturday with a lead of 9-12 over Day 1 leader Greg DiPalma.

“This is the most epic day I’ve ever had — pure insanity,” Palaniuk said. “I caught seven bass today.”

Palaniuk’s mega sack comprised two bass over 9 pounds, along with a 7 1/2, a 4-0, and one nearly 3 1/2.

“It was an absolute incredible day,” Palaniuk said. “It’s not like I caught a bunch. I had seven bites all day; I just had the right ones. All week I’ve been saying, ‘High hopes, low expectations.’

“That’s kinda carried me through, and I may live and die by that this week. Tomorrow, it’ll be the same thing. I’m in an area that has big ones, but it depends on if they show up or not.”

Returning to a Day 1 hotspot is nothing new, but Palaniuk’s tale defined persistence and confidence. Repeating the first day’s scenario, Palaniuk shared a key stretch with DiPalma, Will Davis Jr and Tim Dube.

The difference — a much slower start. Palaniuk caught a 4-pounder at 9 a.m. on a Megabass Kanata jerkbait, but the next two hours were lean.

Late morning found Palaniuk’s neighbors exploring other sections of the spillway canal and ultimately relocating, but he was too impressed with what he saw on his sonar screen. All alone when the late-morning light switch flipped, Palaniuk amassed the majority of his weight in about an hour and a half.

“Patience was a big thing,” Palaniuk said. “I knew I was inside the (Top 50) cut and I didn’t have anything else on this body of water that compared to that.

“I think having as tough of a practice as I did made it easier to stay. What else am I gonna do? I stuck it out and I was able to cycle through baits and figure out some different things that I didn’t figure out yesterday.”

On a day when many anglers opted for slower, coaxing techniques, Palaniuk stepped on the gas and challenged the fish to catch his moving baits. Going big and bold, he also caught fish on a prototype Megabass crankbait and a Megabass Big M 4.0.

Coming off the worst season of his professional career, in which he missed the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour cut, Palaniuk said this week’s success has brought much-needed encouragement.

“The thing I’ve learned in life is that a lot of my greatest moments come after my hardest times,” said Palaniuk. “The hardest times are usually followed by the greatest moments if you’re willing to push through.

“When I won my first Angler of the Year title in 2017, I finished 105th on (Lake Okeechobee), so to have the first two days that I’ve had now is pretty special. There’s definitely a little fire to make it happen this week.”

DiPalma, who hails from Millville, N.J., is in second place with 48-5. After topping the Day 1 standings with 29-12 — the event’s second largest bag — he added a Day 2 bag of 18-9.

DiPalma caught a 5-pounder on the spillway spot around 10 a.m. and, after enduring a dry spell, he relocated to a spot on the lake’s southwest side. Targeting hyacinth mats, he flipped a Texas-rigged Senko with a 1/4-ounce weight.

“Around 12:30, I had hardly anything, and I decided to make a 30-mile run and I caught (most of my weight),” DiPalma said. “I decided, ‘It’s really important to get a limit.’

“It’s funny, the area I ran to, all I caught in practice was 12-inchers, but today, every one I caught was 3 to 3 1/2 pounds. It’s like the females pulled in. I’m super excited to have what I had, but tomorrow, I’m digging in and locking down in that area.”

Davis, of Sylacauga, Ala., is in third place with 39-5. His daily weights were 26-2 and 13-3.

After catching only a 2-pound, 4-ounce bass on the spillway spot, Davis left and fished a creek mouth not far from his starting area. On that second location, Davis caught two of his keepers on a swim jig and a jerkbait.

Returning to the spillway around 1 p.m., he added three more keepers — two on a jerkbait and one on a large crankbait. Looking ahead to Day 3, Davis said he may look at other areas of the spillway, but he may leave the main spot to Palaniuk.

“If I had caught 20 pounds there today, it would be different, but I’m going to respect the leaders,” he said. “If the roles were reversed, they would do the same for me.”

David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with an 11-8. Gaston’s catch is the largest fish caught at Lake Okeechobee in Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series history. That fish also ranks as the 10th biggest and the 75th double-digit bass in Elite Series history.

John Cox of Debary, Fla., leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 196 points. John Garrett of Union City, Tenn., is in second with 194, followed by Bill Lowen of Brookville, Ind., with 190, Gaston with 184 and Davis with 183.

Beau Browning of Hot Springs National Park, Ark., leads the Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year standings with 152 points.

Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET at C. Scott Driver Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3 p.m.

Bassmaster LIVE will be streaming on Bassmaster.com, and coverage will also be available on FS1 on Saturday from 8-11 a.m. and Sunday from 8-10 a.m. Stay up-to-date on all tournament coverage at Bassmaster.com/how-to-watch/.

Visit Florida is hosting the event.

2025 Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee 2/27-3/2
Lake Okeechobee, Okeechobee  FL.
Standings Day 2

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Brandon Palaniuk       Rathdrum, ID            10  58-01  104
  Day 1: 5   23-07     Day 2: 5   34-10   
2.  Gregory DiPalma        Millville, NJ           10  48-05  103     $500.00
  Day 1: 5   29-12     Day 2: 5   18-09   
3.  Will Davis Jr          Sylacauga, AL           10  39-05  102
  Day 1: 5   26-02     Day 2: 5   13-03   
4.  Beau Browning          Hot Springs National Pa 10  38-12  101
  Day 1: 5   13-00     Day 2: 5   25-12   
5.  David Gaston           Sylacauga, AL           10  38-09  100   $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   23-14   
6.  John Cox               Debary, FL              10  37-10   99
  Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 5   25-04   
7.  Trey McKinney          Carbondale, IL          10  35-07   98
  Day 1: 5   21-00     Day 2: 5   14-07   
8.  Jason Christie         Dry Creek, OK           10  34-04   97
  Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   20-12   
9.  Bob Downey             Detroit Lakes, MN       10  33-12   96
  Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 5   21-13   
10. Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT           10  33-10   95
  Day 1: 5   19-15     Day 2: 5   13-11   
11. Timothy Dube           Nashua , NH              9  33-00   94
  Day 1: 5   18-03     Day 2: 4   14-13   
12. John Garrett           Union City, TN          10  32-15   93
  Day 1: 5   10-08     Day 2: 5   22-07   
13. Jacob Foutz            Charleston, TN          10  32-12   92
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   19-01   
14. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC          10  32-03   91
  Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   18-07   
15. Cliff Pace             Ovett, MS               10  31-13   90
  Day 1: 5   10-09     Day 2: 5   21-04   
16. Tyler Williams         Belgrade, ME            10  31-05   89
  Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 5   16-15   
17. Jake Whitaker          Hendersonville, NC      10  31-03   88
  Day 1: 5   13-15     Day 2: 5   17-04   
18. Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR              10  30-02   87
  Day 1: 5   20-12     Day 2: 5   09-06   
19. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN          10  29-15   86
  Day 1: 5   09-01     Day 2: 5   20-14   
20. Kyoya Fujita           Yamanashi CA JAPAN      10  29-15   85
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   11-15   
21. Chris Johnston         Otonabee Ontario CANADA 10  29-11   84
  Day 1: 5   16-12     Day 2: 5   12-15   
22. Bryant Smith           Roseville, CA           10  29-10   83
  Day 1: 5   08-03     Day 2: 5   21-07   
23. Lee Livesay            Longview, TX            10  29-09   82
  Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 5   19-13   
24. Patrick Walters        Eutawville, SC          10  29-09   81
  Day 1: 5   16-13     Day 2: 5   12-12   
25. Jordan Lee             Cullman, AL             10  29-09   80
  Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   14-05   
26. Kyle Welcher           Valley, AL              10  29-03   79
  Day 1: 5   17-06     Day 2: 5   11-13   
27. Cody Meyer             Eagle, ID               10  28-15   78
  Day 1: 5   20-03     Day 2: 5   08-12   
28. Wes Logan              Springville, AL         10  28-15   77
  Day 1: 5   15-03     Day 2: 5   13-12   
29. Cody Huff              Ava, MO                 10  28-07   76
  Day 1: 5   14-14     Day 2: 5   13-09   
30. Matty Wong             Honolulu, HI             8  28-01   75
  Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 3   08-10   
31. Caleb Kuphall          Mukwonago, WI           10  27-15   74
  Day 1: 5   14-08     Day 2: 5   13-07   
32. Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC           10  27-05   73     $500.00
  Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 5   10-10   
33. Paul Marks             Cumming, GA             10  26-15   72
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   12-00   
34. KJ Queen               Catawba, NC             10  26-14   71
  Day 1: 5   14-00     Day 2: 5   12-14   
35. Kyle Patrick           Cooperstown, NY         10  26-11   70
  Day 1: 5   16-09     Day 2: 5   10-02   
36. Drew Cook              Cairo, GA               10  25-12   69
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   12-01   
37. JT Thompkins           Myrtle Beach, SC        10  25-11   68
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   10-12   
38. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL           10  25-00   67
  Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   07-04   
39. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX             10  24-14   66
  Day 1: 5   12-10     Day 2: 5   12-04   
40. Jay Przekurat          Plover, WI              10  24-12   65
  Day 1: 5   17-04     Day 2: 5   07-08   
41. Hunter Shryock         Ooltewah, TN            10  24-11   64
  Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 5   13-00   
42. Cooper Gallant         Bowmanville Ontario CAN  8  24-09   63
  Day 1: 5   19-15     Day 2: 3   04-10   
43. Bryan New              Leesville, SC            8  24-09   62
  Day 1: 3   06-00     Day 2: 5   18-09   
44. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA            10  24-04   61
  Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   10-15   
45. Taku Ito               Dalton GA JAPAN         10  24-02   60
  Day 1: 5   13-13     Day 2: 5   10-05   
46. Keith Combs            Huntington, TX          10  24-02   59
  Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   10-07   
47. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN           10  24-02   58
  Day 1: 5   11-05     Day 2: 5   12-13   
48. Logan Parks            Auburn, AL              10  23-13   57
  Day 1: 5   11-14     Day 2: 5   11-15   
49. Bryan Schmitt          Deale, MD               10  23-10   56
  Day 1: 5   09-08     Day 2: 5   14-02   
50. Buddy Gross            Chattanooga, TN         10  23-06   55
  Day 1: 5   08-15     Day 2: 5   14-07   
51. Evan Kung              Pickering Ontario CANAD 10  23-06   54
  Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 5   09-15   
52. Alex Redwine           Blue Ash, OH            10  23-05   53
  Day 1: 5   13-03     Day 2: 5   10-02   
53. Shane LeHew            Catawba, NC             10  23-04   52
  Day 1: 5   14-01     Day 2: 5   09-03   
54. Dakota Ebare           Brookeland, TX          10  22-12   51
  Day 1: 5   08-14     Day 2: 5   13-14   
55. Cole Sands             Johnson City, TN        10  22-12   50
  Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 5   11-01   
56. Kyle Norsetter         Cottage Grove, WI       10  22-11   49
  Day 1: 5   13-15     Day 2: 5   08-12   
57. Randy Howell           Guntersville, AL        10  22-09   48
  Day 1: 5   11-05     Day 2: 5   11-04   
58. Brad Whatley           Bivins, TX              10  22-04   47
  Day 1: 5   09-02     Day 2: 5   13-02   
59. Justin Atkins          Florence, AL            10  22-02   46
  Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 5   12-06   
60. Ben Milliken           Omaha, NE               10  21-15   45
  Day 1: 5   13-06     Day 2: 5   08-09   
61. Blake Capps            Muskogee, OK            10  21-15   44
  Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   09-07   
62. Jonathan Kelley        Old Forge, PA           10  21-14   43
  Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   12-04   
63. Tucker Smith           Birmingham, AL          10  21-07   42
  Day 1: 5   13-01     Day 2: 5   08-06   
64. Robert Gee             Knoxville, TN           10  21-05   41
  Day 1: 5   05-07     Day 2: 5   15-14   
65. Jason Williamson       Aiken, SC                8  21-05   40
  Day 1: 5   13-02     Day 2: 3   08-03   
66. Greg Hackney           Gonzales, LA            10  21-03   39
  Day 1: 5   11-06     Day 2: 5   09-13   
67. Wesley Gore            Clanton, AL             10  21-00   38
  Day 1: 5   12-11     Day 2: 5   08-05   
68. Jacob Powroznik        North Prince George, VA 10  20-14   37
  Day 1: 5   10-00     Day 2: 5   10-14   
69. Emil Wagner            Marietta, GA             9  20-12   36
  Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 4   07-00   
70. Brock Mosley           Collinsville, MS        10  20-11   35
  Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 5   10-15   
71. John Crews Jr          Salem, VA               10  20-10   34
  Day 1: 5   08-06     Day 2: 5   12-04   
72. Michael Iaconelli      Pitts Grove, NJ         10  20-09   33
  Day 1: 5   10-00     Day 2: 5   10-09   
73. Seth Feider            Elko New Market, MN      9  20-08   32
  Day 1: 4   06-13     Day 2: 5   13-11   
74. Luke Palmer            Coalgate, OK            10  20-07   31
  Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 5   08-14   
75. Clifford Pirch         Payson, AZ              10  20-06   30
  Day 1: 5   11-00     Day 2: 5   09-06   
76. Bernie Schultz         Gainesville, FL         10  20-04   29
  Day 1: 5   05-04     Day 2: 5   15-00   
77. Brandon Lester         Fayetteville, TN        10  20-03   28
  Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   10-09   
78. Brandon Card           Salisbury, NC           10  19-15   27
  Day 1: 5   07-07     Day 2: 5   12-08   
79. Matt Robertson         Kuttawa, KY             10  19-13   26
  Day 1: 5   12-03     Day 2: 5   07-10   
80. Matt Arey              Shelby, NC              10  19-03   25
  Day 1: 5   10-02     Day 2: 5   09-01   
81. Jeff Gustafson         Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 10  19-00   24
  Day 1: 5   09-13     Day 2: 5   09-03   
82. Steve Kennedy          Auburn, AL              10  18-15   23
  Day 1: 5   09-14     Day 2: 5   09-01   
83. Joey Cifuentes III     Clinton, AR              9  18-11   22
  Day 1: 4   05-07     Day 2: 5   13-04   
84. Caleb Sumrall          New Iberia, LA          10  18-11   21
  Day 1: 5   08-10     Day 2: 5   10-01   
85. Carl Jocumsen          Queensland TN AUSTRALIA  9  18-04   20
  Day 1: 4   11-07     Day 2: 5   06-13   
86. Cory Johnston          Otonabee CANADA         10  18-02   19
  Day 1: 5   09-06     Day 2: 5   08-12   
87. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY             10  17-15   18
  Day 1: 5   08-03     Day 2: 5   09-12   
88. Andrew Loberg          Guntersville, AL         9  17-13   17
  Day 1: 4   07-06     Day 2: 5   10-07   
89. Chad Pipkens           Dewitt, MI              10  17-13   16
  Day 1: 5   10-05     Day 2: 5   07-08   
90. Drew Benton            Panama City, FL         10  16-13   15
  Day 1: 5   08-10     Day 2: 5   08-03   
91. Austin Felix           Eden Prairie, MN        10  16-10   14
  Day 1: 5   07-04     Day 2: 5   09-06   
92. Ed Loughran III        Richmond, VA            10  16-08   13
  Day 1: 5   07-07     Day 2: 5   09-01   
93. Easton Fothergill      Grand Rapids , MN       10  16-07   12
  Day 1: 5   08-11     Day 2: 5   07-12   
94. Jamie Hartman          Newport, NY              8  16-00   11
  Day 1: 3   06-00     Day 2: 5   10-00   
95. Kenta Kimura           Osaka OK JAPAN          10  15-15   10
  Day 1: 5   09-13     Day 2: 5   06-02   
96. Justin Hamner          Northport, AL            8  15-08    9
  Day 1: 3   04-15     Day 2: 5   10-09   
97. Marc Frazier           Newnan, GA              10  15-08    8
  Day 1: 5   06-01     Day 2: 5   09-07   
98. Pat Schlapper          Eleva, WI                9  15-04    7
  Day 1: 4   07-12     Day 2: 5   07-08   
99. Logan Latuso           Gonzales, LA             8  14-15    6
  Day 1: 5   12-01     Day 2: 3   02-14   
100. Gerald Swindle         Guntersville, AL        10  14-09    5
  Day 1: 5   08-08     Day 2: 5   06-01   
101. Alex Wetherell         Middletown, CT           9  13-15    4
  Day 1: 4   05-15     Day 2: 5   08-00   
102. Chris Zaldain          Boyd, TX                 7  13-02    3
  Day 1: 5   10-08     Day 2: 2   02-10   
103. Matt Herren            Ashville, AL             0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   
103. Scott Martin           Clewiston, FL            0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS 
Day
 1   Gregory DiPalma          Millville, NJ       08-10        $500.00
 1   Brandon Cobb             Greenwood, SC       08-10        $500.00
 2   David Gaston             Sylacauga, AL       11-08      $1,000.00

———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        93       498      1261-13
 2        95       497      1253-05
———————————-
         188       995      2515-02





Scott Farmer Wins CATT Bass Kings Lake Murray, SC Feb 22, 2025

Brian Carter
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0
Scott Farmer Wins CATT Bass Kings Lake Murray, SC Feb 22, 2025

The next BassKings event is April 5th at John C Land on Santee Cooper! Remember you must enter 3 to be eligible to enter the May 3rd Final on Lake Murray $5,000 1st Place!

FOR THIS SERIES ONLY – Must enter 3 BassKing Qualifiers to be eligible for the Lake Murray Final!
FOR THIS SERIES ONLY – You may pay for 1 event and not be present and it will count toward Final Qualification!

Scott Farmer wins Lake Murray with 5 bass weighing 24.22lbs and took home $2,400.00 with only 18 Anglers entered!

Guys you cannot beat this payback! Make plans to be at the Next BassKings event!

BassKingsBFWeightWinningsPoints
Scott Farmer6.3924.22$2,400.00110
Corey Casey6.7522.53$1,260.00109
Josh Rennebaum0.0020.41$200.00108
Tyson Alvanos0.0019.78107
Sean Anderson0.0017.16106
Brock Taylor0.0016.48105
Michael Stribble0.0015.38104
Ben Lee0.0015.24103
Paul Selle0.0013.03102
Lonnie Jones0.000.0092
Kevin Fulmer0.000.0092
Nelson Walker0.000.0092
Brandon Jeffcoat0.000.0092
Carl Smith0.000.0092
John Ray0.000.0092
Chris Epting0.000.0092
Dylan Sills0.000.0092
Championship$920.00
Points$500.00





Almight Sinking Braid by SUNLINE

Brian Carter
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0
Almight Sinking Braid by SUNLINE

As the use of braided lines on spinning reels continues to grow in popularity Sunline continues to develop new braided lines for increased efficiency on spinning reels. A sinking braid helps reduce line drift and the bow in your line caused by wind and waves on a cast. This allows it to sink quickly after the cast and to sink more quickly in water to reduce the bow in an angler’s line. This faster sink rate also helps lures fall faster in deep water presentations. Almight has a specific gravity that is 50% heavier than traditional braided lines. By reducing line drift and bow in the line Almight provides an angler with better lure contact for enhanced bite detection. Almight is currently the only sinking braided line in the US market. Almight has a specific gravity of 1.48 compared to water at 1.0 and traditional braided lines at 0.97. Almight is constructed with a four plus one fiber design that features four outside PE strands with a high specific gravity core in the center. Almight is available in pink for high visibility or olive for camo with orange metering for more stealthy presentations.
Benefits/Features
• Sinking braided line that reduces line drift and line bow
• Reduction of line drift provides greater contact with lures and the bottom
• Improved hooking ratios with less line slack
• Sunline exclusive sinking braided line
• Specific gravity 50% higher than traditional braided lines for a faster fall rate
• Available in pink or olive colors for high vis or camo
• Available in 7lb, 11lb, 13lb, 16lb and 18lb sizes
• 165yd spool

Buy Now





Lucas Murphy Wins CATT Lake Monticello, SC Feb 23, 2025

Brian Carter
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0
Lucas Murphy Wins CATT Lake Monticello, SC Feb 23, 2025

Next Lake Monticello Spring Qualifier is Match 9th at the Hwy 99 ramp! Join us! The fishing is great right now on Lake Monticello!

Lucas Murphy wins Lake Monticello with 5 bass weighing 19.95 lbs!

TeamBFWeightWinningsPoints
Lucas Murphy0.0019.95$575.00110
James Schneider – David Schneider4.6919.52$170.00109
Travis Robinson – Randy Rose6.0018.93$70.00108
Justin Kanute5.2018.44107
Jeff Douglas – Hunter Enlow5.4618.38106
Shane Cantley – Quentin Motley4.1818.34105
TJ Ford – Carl Black5.5717.17104
Eric Enlow – Frankie Taylor3.5214.96103
Brice Rizzetta – Michael Hall3.9013.39102
Austin Knox – Jason Branham0.0011.86101
Christopher Faulkner – Tanner Smith0.000.0091
Bryar Moore – Chance Smith0.000.0091
Charlie Childers – Ben Sherbert0.000.0091
Dalton Russell – Hunter Layne0.000.0091
Total Entrys$840.00
BONUS $$$275.00
Total Paid At Ramp$815.00
2025 Monticello Final Fund$110.00
2025 CATT Championship Fund$50.00
2025 Monticello Spring Final Fund$135.00





Parish Malone & Mike McClusky Win CATT Lake Gaston, NC Feb 23, 2025

Brian Carter
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0
Parish Malone & Mike McClusky Win CATT Lake Gaston, NC Feb 23, 2025

We had 4 teams weigh in over 20 lbs this past weekend! The next Lake Gaston CATT Spring Qualifier is out of Summitt Landing this Saturday, Mar 1! The BIGGUNS are biting! Join us!

The 2025 CATT Academy Championship will take place on Kerr Lake May 17-18, 2025, and we are guaranteeing $10,000.00 to 1st Place!

Nutbush Ramp Kerr Lake State Park – 115 Jack Wade Farm Road, Henderson, NC

A team or solo angler must fish 2 CATT events (Finals count) to Qualify! You may fish the Championship solo or with your partner or alternate partner your team used in any CATT event. You can get in your 2 events by fishing any CATT Summer/Fall 2024 and CATT Spring 2025!  Any CATT event after May 20, 2024 will count!

Tap here form more info! 2025 CATT Academy Championship – Carolina Anglers Team Trail

To pay online tap here! Carolina Angler Team Trail Bass Tournaments – CATT Tournaments

Parish Malone & Mike McClusky weigh in the heaviest bag we have seen in a long time at Lake Gaston! They had 5 that went 25.86 lbs taking 1st Place by a wide margin!! Boom!

TeamBFWeightWinningsPoints
Parish Malone Mike McClusky6.0225.86$1,450.00110
Ayden Rigsbee Nick Urbas5.7622.88$500.00109
Ben Dalton Dean Dalton5.1021.28$525.00108
Jake Murdock John Murdock6.2420.56$213.00107
Shane Doughtie Evan White0.0019.36106
Geno Mccree Vincent Jones5.2018.50105
James Joyner Chris McDaniel0.0016.36104
Bryson Peed Mike Corbishley0.0015.68103
Joey Scott Michael Bryant7.9615.60$147.00102
Jerry Bono Gary Deangelo4.5614.28101
John Edwards Jr Jesse Gay0.0012.02100
Alex Barnes Justin Miles0.0011.8099
Dylan Lynch Bubba Eastwood Jr6.1011.6098
Kirby Shearin Caleb Horn0.0010.8297
Frank Pridemore Mike Gunn0.009.5696
Rich Hartman Roger Castillo0.009.3095
Dennis Bradley0.008.9094
Mark Ellis Greg Husic0.000.0084
Brandon Hardy0.000.0084
Mike Henderson Bobby Henderson0.000.0084
Chis Cox Mike May0.000.0084
Brooks Woodard0.000.0084
Total Entries$2,520.00
BONUS $$750.00
Total Paid At Ramp$2,835.00
2025 Gaston Spring Final$335.00
CATT$50.00
2025 CATT Championship Fund$50.00
2025 Gaston Spring Final Total$335.00





Breaking down the award-winning line-through swimbait

Brian Carter
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0
Breaking down the award-winning line-through swimbait
Breaking down the award-winning line-through swimbait
Ladson, SC (February 27, 2025) – “Can’t imagine a more versatile, durable, go-anywhere swimbait,” affirms Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Beau Browning, with a nod to Z-Man’s ICAST award-winning Shadtron™ LT.Like Browning, anglers today face the burden of selecting from a surplus of specialty swimbaits. Most of these lifelike lures do one or two things particularly well, yet often lack the intangibles to close the deal. Consider the confident hope of a big bass hookset, swiftly shattered when the hawg in question head-rattles free on the first jump. Or the angst of a giant in hot pursuit gone horribly wrong . . . As the lure tries to accelerate, it rolls on its side instead, spooking the bass and breaking your heart. Or, perhaps worst of all, sacrificing the tail off your prized swimbait when a pike or other toothy critter chomps down on your very first cast. Ouch.Last July, solving each of these dilemmas and more, the fishing world witnessed the arrival of the Z-Man® Shadtron™ LT, stamping the line-through swimbait with its seal of approval and ICAST’s Best Freshwater Soft Lure award. Finally, after months of salivating over YouTube videos and watching bass pros rave about its performance, anglers are finding Shadtron LT swimbaits at their favorite fishing retailers, ready to crush personal-best bass, everywhere. 
The Deets
Offered in two sizes (4.5” and 6”) and two rates of fall (Slow Sink and Fast Sink), the Z-Man Shadtron LT leads with its supernatural shad sculpt and visual sizzle, exact to every scale. The Fast Sink version sinks 12 feet in 10 seconds (ROF 12), while the Slow Sink Shadtron is rated ROF 5. Eight photo-printed and hand-painted shad patterns include vivid Gizzard and Threadfin Shad models, as well as Blueback Herring, Sight Flash and other strike-inducing hues.Matching the prevailing sizes of threadfin and gizzard shad eaten most often by predators, the 4.5-inch Shadtron LT gets gobbled by bass of all sizes, while the meatier 6-inch appeals to bigger bass, stripers and other predators. 
Dual Line-Through Design
“LT stands for line-through, but they should have called it ‘DLT’ or dual line-through,” Browning laughs, “because the bait’s hidden core contains an impressive two-way harness for fishing it around cover or open water. Factor in its durability, and you can throw this swimbait almost anywhere, including places you’d normally cast a ChatterBait®.”Beneath its malleable yet impossibly durable ElaZtech® body, the 10X Tough Shadtron’s two-way line-through harness can be rigged with the included single sickle-style dorsal hook, ideal for rolling through cover, bottom bumping or skipping beneath boat docks.Alternatively, for casting around openwater shad schools, or for smallmouth or spotted bass that bite from below, arm the Shadtron with a favorite belly treble hook. The bait’s underside sports a smart hook claw that clips the hook tight, pinning the shank against the bait’s body until a fish pulls it free. In either case, hooksets almost always culminate in liplocks and fist-bumps in the boat, a direct result of the line-through system that slides the lure up the line, where bass can no longer leverage lure weight as a means of a headshaking escape. 
Multi-Speed Wedge Tail
Generating the most realistic shad-swimming action attainable, the Shadtron’s calibrated wedge-shaped tail empowers a versatile range of motions—from slow-roll to escape velocity. Further imitating the locomotion of a live shad, the Shadtron swims with minimal body roll and just a hint of head wag—all in the name of enticing eagle-eyed predators.“If I’ve got a big fish that’s following but won’t eat, I can give the bait a quick burst of speed—or twitch the rod to make it slash right or left—to induce a positive reaction,” Browning explains. “Try the speed thing with most swimbaits and they’ll usually roll over or crash and burn—spooks bass every time. But the Shadtron nails it, keeps its composure at almost any speed.” Oppositely, Browning often retrieves the Shadtron extra slow, which shines in cooler water. “Even in the clearest water, a slow retrieve can be so good as it lets bass get a good look at the bait and inspect its natural shad body before it eats,” explains Browning. “I’m also digging the bait’s flat sides, which let me skip it under docks like the perfect pancake rock.” 
A specially designed wedge tail yields a wide range of retrieve speeds.
Factoring Rate-of-Fall
For slower tail-thumping retrieves, particularly near cover or bottom, Browning suggests opting for the Slow Sink version and the dorsal hook option. “Particularly for moving a big fish off a dock or a cool piece of cover, slow-rolling or surface-bulging the Shadtron is always a tasty tactic,” he suggests.“If I’m working deeper water or want to fish the swimbait a little faster, the Fast Sink version counts down quickly and stays at depth. I can also burn the ROF12 version faster across shallow water, which can be great in warmer conditions.”
Durability to the Max
Two vital elements ensure the Shadtron LT’s long, fruitful, fish-catching lifespan. One, when a bass or other predator engulfs the soft swimmer, it automatically slides up your fishing line where it’s removed from powerful jaws and plastics-piercing teeth. Two, the Shadtron’s exclusive ElaZtech composition prevents it from tearing or sacrificing its tail. Z-Man’s proven superplastic formula is soft and active underwater, and yet almost impossibly durable. At just $13 to $16 a pop, it’s likely the best value in high-end swimbaits today.  
A bulletproof ElaZtech body assures the Shadtron will outlast other swimbaits in your box. 
Tips & Tricks
Among its numerous above-and-beyond design elements and extra fish-catching goodies, the Shadtron LT features a refined sound-making rattle implanted deep in the line-through harness itself. It’s just enough audible enticement—a restrained clicking noise—to complement the full meal deal. Activate the rattle by giving the lure occasional rodtip action, creating subtle clacking sounds.Finally, to keep your bait in mint condition, Z-Man has packaged the Shadtron LT in a special protective clamshell. When you first open the lure, don’t discard this storage package. Instead, when you’re done fishing, put the lure back into its clamshell, hooking it to a reel or rod guide. This will keep the lure’s tail perfectly straight, even in cramped rod boxes.The new Z-Man Shadtron LT mimics the bass’ most prolific meal on every level. Available in stores now, the Shadtron is perhaps the most user-friendly shad swimbait ever made. MSRP $12.99 (4.5”) and $15.99 (6”), www.zmanfishing.com. 
A special, reusable bait-protecting clamshell keeps your Shadtron fresh and ready for the next battle. 





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