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Orange’s Riley Harris Catches 30-Pound Limit on Final Day to Win MLF Toyota Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Brian Carter
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Orange’s Riley Harris Catches 30-Pound Limit on Final Day to Win MLF Toyota Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

BROOKELAND, Texas (March 9, 2025) – The final weigh-in of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southwestern Division event at Sam Rayburn was one for the record books. Three different pros weighed over 30 pounds on the day, and nobody was safe on the leaderboard. Coming in with a big lead after two days, local pro Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, faltered on Day 3, and Riley Harris of Orange, Texas, surged to the top for his first MLF win.

Weighing bags in the mid-20s each of the first two days, Harris added 30 pounds, 9 ounces on Day 3 for an 82-10 total to earn the win. For the win, which was his first with MLF, Harris takes home $29,930 and a berth in the $200,000 Toyota Series Championship this fall.

The ideal tournament scenario for any angler is to find fish, and for more of them to show up every day. Often, it’s an impossible task – fish in the summer and winter are generally not flooding in or out of areas. Fishing fans might recall it happening a lot in May and June on Kentucky Lake during the heyday of ledge fishing, with weights going up day after day and leaders throwing back 3-pounders without weighing them because their expectations were set so high. This week at Rayburn, big fish were rolling into the shallows, routing along Texas drains, and Harris was right there to meet them.

“I think the inconsistent weather that has been happening in the past month has kinda made it hard for everybody to stay on them,” said Harris, who fishes both Rayburn and Toledo Bend frequently. “I knew this week they were coming into the spawning areas, and they hadn’t seen a lot of baits. And, man, it was just absolutely electric.

“I knew they were coming to me the entire event, I knew that I didn’t have to really go anywhere or go out, I just knew that I had to stay put, and they were just going to keep filtering in.”

Fishing from 5 feet to 15 feet deep, Harris was fishing typical Texas patterns, but with little to no company – which was not the case for many others in the event.

“I was just fishing the drains that were right there in spawning areas, they were just sitting in the bottom of the drains or up on the sides of them,” Harris explained. “I didn’t have any time to find any cranking fish or anything, so I just had to mainly ‘Scope the grass and the drains that were right there in the spawning areas.”

For baits, Harris relied on a 6th Sense Ozzie, a Neko-rigged 6th Sense Divine Shakey Worm with a 1/10-ounce weight, and an umbrella rig with three 1/8-ounce heads and two ¼-ounce heads and 6th Sense Divine Swimbaits. 

Practice days this week leading up to the event were atrociously windy, and it almost seemed like having less practice was better. Coming in off events in Florida, Ebare and Lee Livesay both caught over 30 pounds on Day 1 with just slight hints of practice. Harris was in a similar boat, having lost his lower unit on the weekend.

“I was pretty much off the water ‘til Wednesday,” Harris said. “I got to get out there when it was blowing really hard, and I was able to run a couple areas that I had confidence in, and I saw some things. But I knew it was only a matter of time before they were going to push up like they did.”

Being perfectly in tune with the fishery isn’t new for Harris, especially this year – he and Luke Potter won a February Texas Team Trail event on Rayburn with 41-9. Some lost fish certainly could have derailed his victory, though – Day 2 featured two heartbreaking mishaps.

“It was just freak accidents,” he said. “That 10 straightened out my hook. And then the 8, I guess I just had a soft spot in my line, and it just broke as soon as I laid into her, and she was sitting there flopping on top of the water in front of me trying to throw it. In an event like this where literally everything matters, I thought I blew my chance for sure.”

Still, dropping 30 on the final day makes up for a lot, and Harris was thrilled with the win.

“I have dreamt of this moment literally my entire life,” said Harris. “It’s really humbling because, I wanted to compete at the top, and I’ve been chasing this dream for years. And its finally just kind of all started to come together, and I’ve been able to put things together. It’s really humbling for sure, to see where we were and now where we’re at.”

The top 10 pros at the Toyota Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

1st:        Riley Harris, Orange, Texas, 15 bass, 82-10, $29,930
2nd:       Cody Ross, Livingston, Texas, 15 bass, 79-12, $11,404
3rd:       Dylan Thompson, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 76-5, $8,829
4th:        Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 74-4, $7,358
5th:        Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 72-4, $6,622
6th:        Ryan Satterfield, Texarkana, Ark., 15 bass, 64-1, $6,886
7th:        Lee Livesay, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 63-12, $5,650
8th:        Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, 15 bass, 62-9, $4,415
9th:        Nick Kincaid, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 60-14, $3,679
10th:     Chad Mrazek, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 59-15, $3,443

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Pro Chad Mrazek earned Thursday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass Award with a bass weighing 10 pounds even, while tournament winner Riley Harris won Friday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass, weighing in a 9-pounder to earn the $500 award.

Phillip Hudnall of Bixby, Oklahoma, won the co-angler division Saturday with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 34 pounds even. Hudnall 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 Sam Rayburn finished:

1st:        Phillip Hudnall, Bixby, Okla., 13 bass, 34-0, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd:       Justin Swayze, Gurdon, Ark., 12 bass, 32-1, $3,766
3rd:       David Bozarth, Montgomery, Texas, 11 bass, 29-1, $3,013
4th:        Stephen Vogel, Muenster, Texas, 11 bass, 28-4, $2,636
5th:        Jacob Smith, McKinney, Texas, 13 bass, 27-9, $2,260
6th:        Elijah Soto, Inyokern, Calif., 13 bass, 27-1, $1,883
7th:        Errol Sigue, Jeanerette, La., nine bass, 26-0, $1,506
8th:        Sieg Kilby, Kilgore, Texas, 12 bass,25-3, $1,318
9th:        Mark King, Gurdon, Texas, 11 bass, 24-1, $1,130
10th:     Lawrence Lacour, Mabank, Texas, 12 bass, 23-15, $942

Co-angler John Warren of Shawnee, Oklahoma, earned the first Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of the event on Thursday with a 10-pound, 2-ounce bass to earn the $150 prize, while Friday’s Day 2 $150 co-angler award went to Micheal Sharp of Calera, Oklahoma, who brought a 6-pound, 11-ounce largemouth bass to the scale.

The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the second of three regular-season tournament for the Toyota Series Southwestern Division. The third and final event for the Toyota Series Southwestern Division regular season will be May 1-3 on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Oklahoma. 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.






Drew Gill Wins MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray

Brian Carter
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Drew Gill Wins MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray

22-year-old pro catches 19 bass weighing 58-2 in Sunday’s Championship Round to earn top prize of $150,000

COLUMBIA, S.C. (March 9, 2025) – The Championship Round of PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 Presented by Strike King at Lake Murray quickly turned into a microcosm of the past two years on the Bass Pro Tour (BPT): a one-on-one battle between Drew Gill and Jacob Wheeler for the top spot.

Gill and Wheeler have been arguably the two most dominant pros not just on the BPT but in all of professional bass fishing over the past two years, when Gill arrived on Major League Fishing’s top tour. Both have multiple national wins in that span. They finished first and second in the 2024 Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race and are now back in the top two spots in 2025.

So, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the two employed virtually identical game plans on Lake Murray, using forward-facing sonar during Period 1 to rocket to the top of SCORETRACKER®, then skipping boat docks with Neko rigs for the rest of the day. They separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the first couple hours of the Championship Round, but neither angler ever built a comfortable lead over the other in the race for the $150,000 top prize.

Ultimately, despite a stressful third period that saw him fail to catch a scorable bass during the final 89 minutes, Gill prevailed. His total of 58 pounds, 2 ounces edged Wheeler by 2-3 – less than the average size of a scorable bass caught on Lake Murray this week.

Link to Photo Gallery: Afternoon flurry determines Stage 3 champion
Link to Photo Gallery: In pursuit of the Stage 3 trophy on Lake Murray
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Championship Round Competition

Even though he spent the final hour convinced Wheeler was going to run him down, Gill came away with his second Bass Pro Tour victory in just 10 career events and his fourth win across BPT, Team Series and Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition in the past 13 months.

“If you had told me, ‘Hey, last hour and a half, you’re not going to catch a bass. Do you think Wheeler is going to catch 4 pounds?’ I would have been like, ‘Absolutely, he is,’” Gill said with a chuckle. “And [the bite] just died for both of us.”

Gill rode an emotional roller coaster not just for the final period but the entire Championship Round. When he launched his boat Sunday morning, he admitted he didn’t like his chances of winning, as he figured the overcast, cool conditions would hurt his afternoon dock pattern.

“I knew the conditions were going to shoot my dock bite, and to be honest, I didn’t think I could do 45 (pounds) in the first period to make up for that,” the 22-year-old said.

While Gill’s prediction about a slower afternoon bite proved correct, he made up for it with his two greatest strengths – a well-thought-out, math-based strategy and his mastery of forward-facing sonar.

Gill used the first period each day to target bass that were chasing blueback herring in ditches. He fished deeper than most other anglers, catching his fish in 28 to 35 feet of water, where some related to stumps on the bottom and others suspended. He believes those bass weren’t getting as much pressure as the shallower populations other anglers targeted with forward-facing sonar, allowing him to fool a higher percentage of them into biting.

“With a lake like Murray that has so many bass in it, your focal point when you’re using ‘Scope should always be bite percentage,” Gill explained. “You’re always going to be able to put a bait in front of a bass. You’re not going to beat other people by putting a bait in front of more bass than they are. You’re going to beat other people by dialing your deal as best you can and ideally finding a population that other people aren’t pressuring. And I fished for them deeper than anybody else did this week.”

Wielding a 4-inch minnow on a 1/4-ounce jighead with a 1/0 hook, Gill used a pair of flurries to stack weight on SCORETRACKER® in a hurry. In one 37-minute window, he boated six bass totaling nearly 25 pounds. Then, toward the end of Period 1, he added four more for 11-8 within 23 minutes.

He credits a fortuitous break for the latter action: The overnight switch to daylight savings time put the field on the water an hour earlier than they’d fished the rest of the week, extending his bite window.

“(The bite) kind of went away around 9 a.m. all week,” Gill said. “But because of the time change, we got out there an hour earlier, and so that 9 a.m. became today’s 10 a.m.  So, without the time change, I don’t win this tournament.”

Gill’s first-period total of 45-7 led Wheeler by 9-6 and put him nearly 27 pounds clear of everyone else. At that point, even though he wasn’t overly optimistic about skipping docks, he started to believe he could pull off the win.

“The two days when I needed to catch shallow fish, I caught like 17 pounds both days and shook them off the rest of the day,” Gill said. “I thought no way, even though the conditions were worse, do I catch any less than 20 pounds.”

The bass had other plans. After locking up his forward-facing sonar unit, Gill went more than 2 hours without boating a scorable bass. Meanwhile, Wheeler steadily added to his total. He passed Gill and built a lead of more than 6 pounds.

Finally, with less than 10 minutes left in Period 2, Gill connected with his most important bass of the day. Twice, he skipped his Big Bite Baits Nekorama, which he paired with a No. 1 straight-shank hook and 1/16-ounce Bass Pro Shops tungsten nail weight, under the same dock, got bit and failed to hook up. On the third try, he let the fish eat his bait a tad longer, then connected with a 5-1.

Not only did that fish close his deficit to one scorable bass, it gave him a clue about what sort of docks to look for – floating docks on round, shallow points, the more isolated the better.

“That 5-pounder was a real turning point in my day,” Gill said. “Because it kind of clued me in to the deal that allowed me to get a handful of bites, which was anywhere I had a little, round, shallow point. If there was a dock on the side of it and under it was like 4 to 7 feet, I knew it was going to be pretty high percentage. Of my five scorable bites I got the rest of the day, four of them were on that deal. … They wanted to be on that break, that depth break, anyways, and if you had that depth break occur right under a dock, it just kind of doubled the percentage of that dock having a fish.”

Armed with that information, Gill added three more bass for 7-10 early in the third period, not only retaking the lead but extending his advantage over Wheeler to more than 6 pounds. That included a 3-pounder that he somehow landed despite having his line wrapped around the motor of a docked boat and the dock’s ladder – another break that seemed to prove the oft-repeated fishing axiom that when it’s your time to win, it’s your time.

“I don’t land that fish, I don’t win this tournament,” Gill said. “Because of a couple very fortunate turns of events, we got it done.”

The fact that it was Wheeler, an eight-time winner on the Bass Pro Tour, chasing him down made Gill’s late lull even more stressful. Once he got the news that Wheeler had pulled within one bite with about 30 minutes left before lines out, Gill became convinced he needed to catch one more to ice the win.

In the end, holding off the No. 1-ranked angler in the world made this win even more memorable. Gill seems to be making a habit of winning in stressful fashion, as he had to weather a similarly slow final period in his first BPT victory, which came on the Chowan River last June.

“At Chowan, I got chased within a handful of pounds by Michael Neal, and this one, by Wheeler,” Gill said. “Those are two guys that I have tremendous respect for their fishing abilities, and they’re two guys that you don’t want to have chasing you. And it was something where I did not see that coming, and I was very gratified by the fact that I was able to hold my ground enough to steady this one out.”

Gill – who, as recently as January 2024 was competing in Abu Garcia College Fishing events – emphasized that any national-level win is special to him, no matter how it comes.

However, he acknowledged that he set out this season to prove that his success isn’t just a product of forward-facing sonar. Mission accomplished. On the Bass Pro Tour, where anglers can only utilize the technology for one of three periods each day, he’s finished seventh, 11th and first in three events. He sits second to Wheeler in the Angler of the Year standings, just six points back. Throw in a runner-up finish two weeks ago at an Invitationals event on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, where forward-facing sonar was banned on Day 2 of the three-day tournament, and Gill has left little doubt about his ability to catch them, no matter the circumstances.

“I will say, to come out here with the new format this year – and with some question marks spiraling – and to start the year with a seventh, an 11th and a win, I feel like is a statement that I was wanting to make to start the year, and it’s one that is made now,” Gill said. “Especially after the second at Kissimmee as well, not having it at all the second day of that tournament. 

“It does mean something to me. But it’s no sweeter than a win any other way. … A win is a win, man, and it’s sweet either way.”

The top 10 pros at the PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King finished:

1st:        Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 19 bass, 58-2, $150,000
2nd:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 20 bass, 55-15, $45,000
3rd:       Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 11 bass, 37-10, $35,000
4th:        Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 13 bass, 36-2, $30,000
5th:        Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 30-4, $25,000
6th:        Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., nine bass, 27-4, $23,000
7th:        Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, seven bass, 24-6, $22,000
8th:        Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., seven bass, 23-3, $21,000
9th:        Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, seven bass, 19-8, $20,500
10th:     Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., seven bass, 18-10, $20,000

For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 110 scorable bass weighing 331 pounds even caught by the final 10 pros on Sunday.

Pro Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, won Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 6-pound largemouth that he caught on a crankbait in Period 1. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The four-day PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King event was hosted by the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board and showcased 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $650,000, including a top payout of $150,000 and valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

Television coverage of the PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 4 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Sunday, Oct. 5. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X , Instagram and  YouTube.






Chad Green & Johnny Martin Win Bass Cast Tourney on SML with 25.01 lbs

Brian Carter
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Chad Green & Johnny Martin Win Bass Cast Tourney on SML with 25.01 lbs

The action was hot at the first stop of the Bass Cast Tourney Series on Smith Mountain Lake! Anglers brought impressive bags to the scales, with many tipping the scales around the 18-pound mark. A big congratulations to all who earned a payout, and a special shoutout to our champions, Chard Green and Johnny Martin, for their stellar performance!

A special thank you to Danielle, Conner & Shawn for theer hard work.

CLICK THE LINK TO SEE RESULTS





Corey Casey Takes Over NPFL Santee Cooper Lead

Brian Carter
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Corey Casey Takes Over NPFL Santee Cooper Lead

The South Carolina angler called an audible this morning to jump into the lead at the Strike King NPFL Stop One at Santee Cooper Lakes.

Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons

Through two days at the Strike King NPFL Stop One at Santee Cooper Lakes, South Carolina is delivering in a big way. The weather may be shifting, but the big fish are still biting. After two days of competition, South Carolina pro Corey Casey leads with a two-day total of 57 pounds, 7 ounces. Buck Mallory sits in second with 53 pounds, 15 ounces. And Skeeter Crosby holds third with 53 pounds, 10 ounces.

Changing conditions shook up the leaderboard, with anglers making moves on day two. Once again, over 19 competitors weighed in more than 20 pounds, with the final check cut (40th place) currently held by Ricky Robinson, who has 32 pounds, 11 ounces. The big fish of the tournament still belongs to Harmon Davis, who landed a massive 10-pound, 9-ounce Santee Cooper lunker on day one.

Casey Rockets Into Lead

South Carolina angler Corey Casey remained unfazed by the shifting weather between days one and two, opting to start in a completely new spot on Saturday. Looking to avoid the wind, his decision paid off as his “staging” area fired up, producing a 30-pound, 4-ounce bag. Coupled with his 27-pound, 3-ounce effort on Day One, Casey now holds a two-day total of 57 pounds, 7 ounces, giving him a 3-pound, 8-ounce lead heading into Championship Sunday.

He arrived at his backup water first thing in the morning, protected from the wind, dropped his Power-Poles, and got to work—quickly filling his limit and culling to his final weight before 10 a.m. His area, which features scattered vegetation and hard cover, is attracting bass moving in to spawn. Positioned slightly deeper than other anglers, his fish have remained unaffected by the cooler temperatures.

“There was nobody in there this morning, and I got after them, hardly having to move,” Casey said. “I caught most of them on reaction baits and a few on a worm. It’s very specific where they’re sitting—I had one cast that caught everything the same way.”

With another weather shift expected for Sunday, Casey remains confident, believing his area will be protected from the wind and still produce.

“I’m having an absolute blast out there. There isn’t anything better—unless they start biting a topwater,” he laughed. “I don’t know how tomorrow will go, but I’m excited. A lead is better than no lead, but this place changes fast, and these guys can catch them.”

Mallory Moves to Second

Unlike most of the field, Buck Mallory saw his water get cleaner and warmer on Day Two—a change that didn’t work in his favor. Struggling with missed fish and short strikes early, he quickly adjusted, switching colors on his Z-Man EVO ChatterBait, and saw an immediate difference. He “salvaged” his day, adding 22 pounds, 14 ounces and sits in second-place with a total weight of 53 pounds, 15 ounces.

“Today, the wind blew out my cooler, stained water, and it got really clean—it jumped from 51 to 57 degrees on me,” Mallory said. “On top of that, the water level dropped as the wind pushed it out. Yesterday, I got hung up a few times, but today I got hung up 18 times—it didn’t help. The cooler water temperature was key.”

With the wind expected to shift 180 degrees and cooler, cloudy conditions moving back in for Championship Sunday, the Michigan angler is optimistic that his fish will reset.

“I had, what, 23 pounds today? But in reality, I saw 27-plus pounds worth of fish bite and not get the bait,” he added. “They’re in there, and they want to eat—I know where the key spots are. Using Humminbird MEGA 360, I can see hard spots in the grass and stumps around me, so I know exactly where to cast. The weather should help me out tomorrow, and I’ve got a long day to make it happen.”

Crosby Jumps to Third

Managing fish over a three-day tournament is no easy task, but Skeeter Crosby has executed his game plan flawlessly. After two days, he sits in third place with a total weight of 53 pounds, 10 ounces, just 5 ounces behind Mallory. Originally planning to push hard on Day Two and fish his spot out, Crosby didn’t need to—he secured a hefty 29-pound limit early and was able to back off, saving fish for Championship Sunday.

He kicked off the event with 24-10 on Friday, then followed it up with a dominant 29-pound bag today. Fishing one main area with five or six key spots, Crosby has yet to touch all of his water after two days.

“Yesterday, I caught everything on one spot, and today I pulled up and fished that spot again,” he said. “I had my weight early, so I made a couple of extra casts just to see what would happen and caught two decent fish that didn’t help. After that, I decided to bail and go practice.”

Crosby hasn’t had much company aside from a few locals but remains tight-lipped about the details. He noted that he’s targeting offshore hard cover, locking down his Power-Poles, and making the same cast repeatedly without moving.

“I’m fishing one single bait, and every fish has come on that,” he added. “When it’s cold and windy, this area gets even better. The wind helped me today, and tomorrow looks like more of the same. The fish are still coming, and typically, there are fish on this spot all year long. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Top Ten:
Corey Casey 57-7
Buck Mallory 53-15
Skeeter Crosby 53-10
Patrick Walters 51-15
Buddy Gross 51-4
Jason Christie 50-7
Bill Lowen 50-4
Jordan Osborne 49-1
Chad Marler 48-0
Hank Cherry 47-9

Day Two Leaderboard





Aoki’s consistency and decision making are keys for win at Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

Brian Carter
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Aoki’s consistency and decision making are keys for win at Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

Yui Aoki of Minamitsuru District, Japan, wins the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN with a three-day total of 66 pounds, 14 ounces.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

March 8, 2025

Aoki’s consistency and decision making are keys for win at Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

PARIS, Tenn. — Nothing was certain on the final day of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN.

But this much was true — Japan’s Yui Aoki, who led by more than 6 pounds when the day began, would have to stumble substantially to not win the tournament.

He didn’t stumble at all. In fact, he shined.

The 25-year-old Aoki finished the three-day tournament with a total of 66 pounds, 14 ounces, which was 3 ½ pounds more than his closest competitor in the field of 10 that survived Friday’s cut to Championship Saturday.

He sealed the deal with the second-heaviest bag on Day 3, a limit of three smallmouth and two largemouth bass that weighed 18-10. Coming into the tournament, many pundits predicted that the angler who caught a mix of the two would be hard to beat this week.

Aoki proved them right, collecting $50,305 cash with the victory. That was part of a $334,028 cash purse split among the Top 45 competitors in the field of 226 that began the derby on Thursday. Aoki also clinched a berth in the 2006 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour when it’s held next March 13-15 in Knoxville, Tenn., on the Tennessee River.

Though he doesn’t speak much English, the signs of happiness are a universal language. A wide smile spread across Aoki’s face when he closed Saturday’s weigh-in with a bang. He pumped his fists high into the air with delight and he posed for photos with fishing fans and fellow competitors gathered at Paris Landing State Park.

“This feels so good,” he said of his first B.A.S.S. win.

As for earning a trip to the Classic?

“A dream come true,” he acknowledged.

Aoki was fishing some 6,600 miles from his home in the Minamitsuru District of Japan, but he looked right at home on Kentucky Lake — the mammoth 160,000-plus-acre impoundment of the Tennessee River he was fishing for the very first time.

Perhaps what was most impressive about Aoki’s win was the consistency he showed on what can be quite the fickle fishery. It’s not uncommon for the best anglers in the world to catch a 25-pound sack one day, fall to 12 pounds fishing the very same spot the next day, only to catch 25 pounds again a day later.  

Aoki defied that possibility, working instead with machine-like precision. He bagged 24 pounds of smallmouth bass on Day 1 of the tournament to put himself in second place, trailing only local ace Jordan Hartman and his 25-4 limit.

Then the weather changed, going from cold and clear on Thursday to overcast and blustery on Friday. Aoki didn’t flinch, returning to the main channel and bagging a 24-4 limit, with three of five fish in his creel being largemouths.

Aoki gave bass fishing fans more of the same clinical approach on Championship Saturday, and he didn’t make long runs to do it. Though he focused on flooded timber in a stretch of the main channel just north of Paris Landing for the first two days of the derby, he decided instead to fish the Big Sandy area just south of takeoff on Day 3.

Another sharp decision from the young angler.

“I had to expand my area, look for new (fish),” Aoki said, “It was windy, but it helped me today.”

He used a variety of swimbaits to hook his best catches on Kentucky Lake, most in white or smoke colors to mimic the threadfin shad which were thick throughout the reservoir this week. Aoki’s key lures included a Dstyle Virola Tail Swimbait 145 and a Dstyle Virola 4 or 5 rigged with a 3.5-gram jighead.

The win secured for Aoki valuable points in the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers points race, too. He already finished 10th in the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by SEVIIN in February and now has a first-place finish to his credit. Aoki is scheduled to compete in the final two Division 2 Bassmaster Opens this year — April 3-5 on Arkansas’ Norfork Lake and Aug. 14-16 on Minnesota’s Leech Lake.

The Top 50 anglers in both the Division 1 and Division 2 Open standings will qualify for the EQ Series which starts in September. The Top 10 anglers in that inaugural three-tournament competition will win invitations to compete in the 2026 Bassmaster Elite Series.  

Rounding out the Top 10 anglers on Kentucky Lake, and furthering their cause to reach the EQ Series, are second, Illinois resident and McKendree University angler Ethan Fields, 63-5, $20,122; Kentucky Elite Series pro Matt Robertson, 56-3, $15,092; fourth, Kentucky’s Clint Knight, 56-0, $14,086; fifth, Kentucky’s Jordan Hartman, 55-9, $13,079; sixth, Tennessee’s Sam Hanggi, 53-5, $12,073; seventh, Alabama’s Laker Howell, 52-1, $11,067; eighth, Colorado’s Ty Faber, 49-6, $10,061; ninth, Georgia’s Tanner Hadden, 48-9; $10,061; and 10th, Tennessee’s Miles Burghoff, 43-0; $10,061.

Nebraska’s BJ Miller won $750 and the Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award for the 8-3 he caught on Day 1.

The City of Paris hosted the event.


2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN 3/6-3/8
Kentucky Lake, Paris  TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3

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

1.  Yui Aoki               Minamitsurugun JAPAN    15  66-14  200  $50,305.00
  Day 1: 5   24-00     Day 2: 5   24-04     Day 3: 5   18-10   
2.  Ethan Fields           Breese, IL              15  63-05  199  $20,122.00
  Day 1: 5   20-12     Day 2: 5   20-03     Day 3: 5   22-06   
3.  Matt Robertson         Kuttawa, KY             15  56-03  198  $15,092.00
  Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   24-05     Day 3: 5   17-11   
4.  Clint Knight           Russellville, KY        14  56-00  197  $14,086.00
  Day 1: 5   22-15     Day 2: 4   15-14     Day 3: 5   17-03   
5.  Jordan Hartman         Benton, KY              15  55-09  196  $13,079.00
  Day 1: 5   25-04     Day 2: 5   14-08     Day 3: 5   15-13   
6.  Sam Hanggi             Knoxville, TN           14  53-05  195  $12,073.00
  Day 1: 5   18-14     Day 2: 5   21-07     Day 3: 4   13-00   
7.  Laker Howell           Guntersville, AL        13  52-01  194  $11,067.00
  Day 1: 5   20-14     Day 2: 5   21-05     Day 3: 3   09-14   
8.  Ty Faber               Pagosa Springs, CO      14  49-06  193  $10,061.00
  Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   20-05     Day 3: 4   11-05   
9.  Tanner Hadden          Appling, GA             13  48-09  192  $10,061.00
  Day 1: 5   20-03     Day 2: 5   19-11     Day 3: 3   08-11   
10. Miles Burghoff         Dayton, TN              11  43-00  191  $10,061.00
  Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   25-06     Day 3: 1   02-15   
———————————————————————–
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
     Bj Miller                Adams, NE           08-03        $750.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        62       607      1993-00
 2        46       482      1545-12
 3         5        40       137-08
———————————-
         113      1129      3676-04





Becker Paces Field in Knockout Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray

Brian Carter
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Becker Paces Field in Knockout Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray

Final 10 anglers ready for Championship Sunday, heaviest one-day total earns top prize of $150,000

COLUMBIA, S.C. (March 8, 2025) – As the final period of the Qualifying Round at PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 Presented by Strike King ticked away, Matt Becker couldn’t buy a bite. Across the last three hours of competition Friday, Becker never landed a Lake Murray bass – although he still managed to hold on to the final spot above the Elimination Line, topping two competitors by less than 1 pound to secure a spot in Saturday’s Knockout Round.

A new day brought zeroed weights, and Becker took full advantage. He caught fire early on Saturday, sprinting to the top of SCORETRACKER® with 10 bass totaling 30 pounds, 13 ounces during the first hour of competition. He then maintained the top spot for nearly the entire rest of the day, finishing with 44-10 on 15 scorable bass. That was just 11 ounces ahead of Jacob Wheeler, while Drew Gill and Alton Jones Jr. also finished within 2-2 of Becker’s total.

That quartet – all former Bass Pro Tour winners – will be joined by Qualifying Round victor Jeff Sprague as well as the rest of the top nine finishers from the Knockout Round in what’s shaping up to be a loaded Championship Round. Weights will once again zero, then the angler who can amass the most weight Sunday will take home $150,000.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 3 On-the-Water Highlights
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Day 3 Competition

Becker grew up in Pennsylvania, where he spent a lot of time on Lake Erie, and now lives on the Tennessee River. So, on paper, it doesn’t really make sense why he’s found so much success at Lake Murray. But the South Carolina impoundment has always treated him well.

Becker earned his first national win on the fishery at a Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event in 2021, then finished a solid 27th when the Bass Pro Tour visited in 2023 en route to winning the Angler of the Year title as a rookie. Now, he’s back in the Top 10 again. Multiple times Saturday, he remarked that Lake Murray is his favorite tournament venue in the country.

“I really can’t explain it,” Becker said. “I love clean water, and I guess it’s a blueback herring thing. I’ve always done well on herring lakes. But yeah, from the very first day I launched my boat on Murray, I just clicked with it and loved it.”

That past success helped bolster Becker’s confidence entering the Knockout Round despite his slow finish Friday. Like most of the field has all week, he opted to use his one allotted period with forward-facing sonar during Period 1. He returned to the same pocket where he caught four scorable bass the morning prior, and this time, he found the fish positioned shallower and feeding aggressively.

Using a jighead minnow, he boated 12 scorable bass for 36-6 during the opening period – more weight than he caught during either of the first two days of competition.

“I had the opportunity to have a similar morning yesterday, but I just missed them,” Becker explained. “I lost them; they weren’t eating the bait right. So, I knew the potential was there. I didn’t expect that this morning, but I knew I had to go back to that same zone and see if I could trick a few into biting, and it was fast and furious this morning. They were biting instead of following.”

With his forward-facing sonar turned off, Becker spent the rest of the day skipping a wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senko around boat docks. That became the dominant pattern across the field on a warm, sunny afternoon.

Becker added three scorable bass with his transducers turned off, including the first one he’s landed during the third period all week. He knows he’s going to need to do a better job of keeping up the pace during the latter two periods of the Championship Round if he hopes to add another Lake Murray trophy to his collection. Sprague sailed through the Qualifying Round, amassing the heaviest total of the field on each of the first two days (although it will be interesting to see if he can continue to ride his crankbait bite after no one in the field found consistent success with moving baits Saturday). Plus, Wheeler and Gill admitted they stopped trying to catch fish Saturday afternoon once they’d put a safe distance between themselves and the elimination line.

“I feel okay about the first period; I feel like I can survive,” Becker said. “But I don’t really feel like I’m on anything for the afternoon. I’ve got maybe two or three stretches of docks that I feel like I may be able to get a bite on again, but other than that, I really don’t know what I’m going to do yet. So, I’m going to have to think about it and maybe make a gametime adjustment.

“There’s definitely a couple areas I feel like I could have went to this afternoon had I needed to catch one. I was just kind of trying to explore and look at new stuff. But still, I wish I would have caught a few more.”

While cooler, cloudier conditions could hurt the bite a bit, Becker expects it to take at least 50 pounds to earn the win, possibly more than 60. That might seem like a tall task, but the fact that he has a spot in the final-day field means he has a shot, especially on his favorite lake.

“The weather is going to be different, so I really don’t know what the fish are going to do tomorrow,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a little bit tougher than today just given the weather we have coming through – the clouds and the cooler temperatures. I think it’s going to take somewhere in the 50- to 60-pound range to win. We’re going to have to figure something out to make that happen.” 

The top nine pros from the Knockout Round that now advance to Championship Sunday on Lake Murray are:

1st:        Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 15 bass, 44-10
2nd:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 13 bass, 43-15
3rd:       Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 14 bass, 42-12
4th:        Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 13 bass, 42-8
5th:        Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 11 bass, 40-5
6th:        Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 14 bass, 38-13
7th:        Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 12 bass, 38-8
8th:        Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 12 bass, 35-9
9th:        Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 11 bass, 34-6
*QR Winner: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas

Eliminated from competition are:

11th:     Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., nine bass, 31-11, $15,900
12th:     Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., nine bass, 29-3, $15,800
13th:     Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 28-1, $15,700
14th:     Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., nine bass, 23-4, $15,600
15th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 22-10, $15,500
16th:     Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., eight bass, 22-5, $15,400
17th:     Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, seven bass, 21-3, $15,300
18th:     Colby Miller, Elmer, La., five bass, 14-1, $15,200
19th:     Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., five bass, 11-10, $15,100
20th:     James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., three bass, 6-13, $15,000

For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 187 scorable bass weighing 572 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the 19 pros on Saturday.

Pro Marshall Robinson won Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, boating a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, leader Jeff Sprague advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the top nine finishers now join Sprague in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

The final 10 anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. ET Sunday from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity. Sunday’s Championship festivities will be held at the State Park, beginning at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Sunday, March 9 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Dreher Island State Park for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, participate in casting contests, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free Abu Garcia rod and reel. The event also includes a meet and greet with Paw Patrol’s Skye and Marshall and a youth fishing derby. The Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King is hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board and features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Television coverage of the PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 4 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Sunday, Oct. 5. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X , Instagram and  YouTube.





Mixed bag of bass gives Aoki solid lead at Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

Brian Carter
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Mixed bag of bass gives Aoki solid lead at Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

Yui Aoki of Minamitsuru District, Japan, leads the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN with a weight of 48 pounds, 4 ounces.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

March 7, 2025

Mixed bag of bass gives Aoki solid lead at Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley

PARIS, Tenn. — There’s no such thing as an insurmountable lead in a B.A.S.S. tournament, but Yui Aoki has put himself in a very enviable position after Day 2 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN.

Aoki, a 25-year-old native of Minamitsuru District in Japan, weighed a five-bass limit of 24 pounds, 4 ounces on Friday, which when paired with his 24-pound sack on Day 1, gives him a 48-4 total. That’s 6-1 more than Alabama’s Laker Howell, who’s in second place with 42-3.

Illinois’ Ethan Fields (40-15) and Tennessee’s Sam Hanggi (40-5) are the only other anglers in the field of 226 within 8 pounds of Aoki’s lead.

The 45-degree temperatures and bluebird skies that factored on Thursday gave way to dense cloud cover, occasional sprinkles of rain and steady winds of 10 to 15 mph on Friday. The change hardly bothered Aoki, who had nearly identical weights on the first two days of the three-day tournament.

The only noticeable difference was Aoki’s Friday bag contained three largemouth bass when Thursday’s had all smallmouths. Several pundits predicted catching a mix of bass would be the winning combination on this mammoth Kentucky/Barkley fishery, and Aoki is proving them right.

“I feel very good (about my chances of winning),” Aoki said. “Of course.”

The 6-pound lead gives him reason for confidence. Aoki is fishing flooded timber on the main channel of Kentucky Lake not far from Paris Landing, where daily takeoffs and weigh-ins are being held. He’s throwing a variety of 5- and 6-inch swimbaits (smoke, white) that mimic the shad in the lake, and he mixed in some dropshots on Friday, too.

“It was very windy, very hard to keep my bait on the fish,” he said of the Day 2 conditions. “This is my first time to fish the river channel system and it’s very different to me. But I like it very much.”

Howell, a 23-year-old from Guntersville, Ala., caught a limit of five smallmouth on Friday weighing 21-5. The young gun had only four keeper bass with less than hour of fishing time remaining, but he eventually completed his limit and gave himself the best chance (on paper, at least) of catching Aoki.

Howell was in 11th place after Day 1 with 20-14 but fished his way into Friday’s Top 10 cut with another top-notch bag. His bait of choice has been a 4 1/2-inch paddle-tail swimbait (chartreuse/blue) on a Buckeye Lures J-Will jighead.

“The current was a little bit different today (with the south wind blowing), but things really did set up pretty much the same for me,” Howell said. “I got five bites again and the Good Lord allowed me to land all five of them.”

Howell said he’s targeting a spot that is loaded with shad.

“The birds are swooping down to eat the baitfish, flying off with shad in their mouth,” he said. “It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet spot, and If I can get to it again tomorrow, I think I’ll be good.

“The main thing is getting five bites,” he continued. “If I do, I think they’ll be about the same size as what I’ve had so far. They’re all 3- to 5-pounders that are set up in this particular spot.”

Rounding out the Top 10 anglers competing Saturday are fifth, Tennessee’s Miles Burghoff, 40-1; sixth, Georgia’s Tanner Hadden, 39-14; seventh, Kentucky’s Jordan Hartman, 39-12; eighth, Kentucky’s Clint Knight, 38-13; ninth, Kentucky Elite Series pro Matt Robertson, 38-8; and 10th, Colorado’s Ty Faber, 38-1.

Nebraska’s BJ Miller maintained his lead for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award with an 8-3 he hooked on Day 1. The angler with the heaviest bass will net an additional $750.

A total of $334,028 cash is being split among the Top 45 competitors in the Open, including $50,305 to the winner. Top anglers also will earn valuable points toward a berth in the inaugural Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers this fall.

Championship Saturday is scheduled to begin at 6:15 a.m. CT from Paris Landing State Park, with weigh-in set to start at 2:15 p.m. Bassmaster LIVE will stream the final day’s action on Bassmaster.com and the Roku Sports Channel will air coverage from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Stay up-to-date on all tournament coverage at Bassmaster.com/how-to-watch/.

The City of Paris is hosting the event.

2025 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN 3/6-3/8
Kentucky Lake, Paris  TN.
Standings Day 2

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

1.  Yui Aoki               Minamitsurugun JAPAN    10  48-04  200
  Day 1: 5   24-00     Day 2: 5   24-04   
2.  Laker Howell           Guntersville, AL        10  42-03  199
  Day 1: 5   20-14     Day 2: 5   21-05   
3.  Ethan Fields           Breese, IL              10  40-15  198
  Day 1: 5   20-12     Day 2: 5   20-03   
4.  Sam Hanggi             Knoxville, TN           10  40-05  197
  Day 1: 5   18-14     Day 2: 5   21-07   
5.  Miles Burghoff         Dayton, TN              10  40-01  196
  Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   25-06   
6.  Tanner Hadden          Appling, GA             10  39-14  195
  Day 1: 5   20-03     Day 2: 5   19-11   
7.  Jordan Hartman         Benton, KY              10  39-12  194
  Day 1: 5   25-04     Day 2: 5   14-08   
8.  Clint Knight           Russellville, KY         9  38-13  193
  Day 1: 5   22-15     Day 2: 4   15-14   
9.  Matt Robertson         Kuttawa, KY             10  38-08  192
  Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   24-05   
10. Ty Faber               Pagosa Springs, CO      10  38-01  191
  Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   20-05   
11. Fisher Anaya           Eva, AL                 10  37-07  190
  Day 1: 5   23-00     Day 2: 5   14-07   
12. Rylan Hamlin           Jackson, MI             10  36-15  189
  Day 1: 5   17-01     Day 2: 5   19-14   
13. Darold Gleason         Leesville, LA            9  36-14  188
  Day 1: 4   16-08     Day 2: 5   20-06   
14. Brock Reinkemeyer      Warsaw, MO              10  36-11  187
  Day 1: 5   21-12     Day 2: 5   14-15   
15. Brennan Flick          West Monroe, LA         10  36-07  186
  Day 1: 5   18-06     Day 2: 5   18-01   
16. Jack Dice              Lynchburg, VA           10  35-06  185
  Day 1: 5   19-08     Day 2: 5   15-14   
17. Brett Hite             Phoenix, AZ             10  35-03  184
  Day 1: 5   16-07     Day 2: 5   18-12   
18. Austin Cranford        Norman, OK              10  34-15  183
  Day 1: 5   21-10     Day 2: 5   13-05   
19. Nic Rand               Paw Paw, MI              9  34-01  182
  Day 1: 4   13-06     Day 2: 5   20-11   
20. Cole Breeden           Lebanon, MO             10  33-10  181
  Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   18-01   
21. Chris Hellebuyck       White Lake, MI          10  33-06  180
  Day 1: 5   17-04     Day 2: 5   16-02   
22. Brad Jelinek           Lincoln, MO              8  32-13  179
  Day 1: 5   23-01     Day 2: 3   09-12   
23. Pake South             Winnsboro, TX           10  32-10  178
  Day 1: 5   13-10     Day 2: 5   19-00   
24. Kollin Crawford        Broken Bow, OK           8  32-04  177
  Day 1: 3   10-02     Day 2: 5   22-02   
25. Cameron Mattison       Benton, LA               9  32-01  176
  Day 1: 4   12-12     Day 2: 5   19-05   
26. Tristan McCormick      Bon Aqua, TN             8  31-13  175
  Day 1: 5   22-15     Day 2: 3   08-14   
27. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY             10  31-13  174
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   16-14   
28. Dillon Harrell         New Caney, TX           10  31-06  173
  Day 1: 5   16-04     Day 2: 5   15-02   
29. Andy Newcomb           Camdenton, MO            8  31-00  172
  Day 1: 5   23-06     Day 2: 3   07-10   
30. Brad Leuthner          Victoria, MN             8  30-14  171
  Day 1: 5   18-11     Day 2: 3   12-03   
31. Bryan Partak           Marseilles, IL           9  30-13  170
  Day 1: 4   08-14     Day 2: 5   21-15   
32. Tyler Campbell         Martin, GA               8  30-09  169
  Day 1: 5   17-00     Day 2: 3   13-09   
33. Michael Corbishley     Raleigh, NC             10  30-02  168
  Day 1: 5   13-10     Day 2: 5   16-08   
34. Evan Cox-VanVliet      Loveland, CO             9  29-02  167
  Day 1: 5   17-05     Day 2: 4   11-13   
35. James Niggemeyer       Van, TX                  8  28-14  166
  Day 1: 3   10-07     Day 2: 5   18-07   
36. Trevor McKinney        Noble, IL               10  28-13  165
  Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   13-08   
37. Wyatt Marler           Oldfield, MO             8  28-12  164
  Day 1: 5   20-01     Day 2: 3   08-11   
38. Joey Nania             Cropwell, AL             9  28-10  163
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 4   10-10   
39. Aaron Yavorsky         Palm Harbor, FL          8  27-07  162
  Day 1: 4   15-08     Day 2: 4   11-15   
40. Trent Palmer           Cumming, GA              8  26-14  161
  Day 1: 3   11-08     Day 2: 5   15-06   
41. Jimmy Washam           Stantonville, TN         9  26-14  160
  Day 1: 4   11-15     Day 2: 5   14-15   
42. Jay Nyce               Rogers, AR              10  26-13  159
  Day 1: 5   14-13     Day 2: 5   12-00   
43. Garrett Paquette       Canton, MI               9  26-12  158
  Day 1: 5   17-05     Day 2: 4   09-07   
44. Bailey Bleser          Burlington, WI          10  26-10  157
  Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   11-05   
45. Christian Ostrander    Turlock, CA              7  26-09  156
  Day 1: 5   21-02     Day 2: 2   05-07   
46. Michael Harlin         Gravois Mills, MO       10  26-09  155
  Day 1: 5   16-01     Day 2: 5   10-08   
47. Lane Olson             Forest Grove, OR         7  26-08  154
  Day 1: 2   09-11     Day 2: 5   16-13   
48. Nick Trim              Galesville, WI           9  26-08  153
  Day 1: 5   13-02     Day 2: 4   13-06   
49. Riley Nielsen          Salt Lake City, UT       8  26-03  152
  Day 1: 3   10-04     Day 2: 5   15-15   
50. Blake Smith            Lakeland, FL             8  25-15  151
  Day 1: 5   17-05     Day 2: 3   08-10   
51. Clark Reehm            Elm Grove, LA            7  25-13  150
  Day 1: 5   19-06     Day 2: 2   06-07   
52. Casey Scanlon          Eldon, MO                9  25-12  149
  Day 1: 4   11-06     Day 2: 5   14-06   
53. Beau Browning          Hot Springs National Pa  9  25-11  148
  Day 1: 4   09-15     Day 2: 5   15-12   
54. Bailey Gay             Union, KY                8  25-04  147
  Day 1: 3   09-05     Day 2: 5   15-15   
55. Tim Sprouse            Clarksville, TN          9  25-04  146
  Day 1: 5   14-04     Day 2: 4   11-00   
56. Greg Bohannan          Bentonville, AR          9  24-09  145
  Day 1: 4   09-12     Day 2: 5   14-13   
57. Jonathan Pimentel      Camdenton, MO            8  24-06  144
  Day 1: 5   16-09     Day 2: 3   07-13   
58. Matt Wieteha           Port St Lucie, FL        9  24-06  143
  Day 1: 4   10-01     Day 2: 5   14-05   
59. Jace Lindsay           Beckville, TX            7  24-05  142
  Day 1: 5   17-08     Day 2: 2   06-13   
60. Chad Grigsby           Maple Grove, MN          9  23-15  141
  Day 1: 5   12-07     Day 2: 4   11-08   
61. Joe Wieberg            Freeburg, MO             8  23-12  140
  Day 1: 3   07-02     Day 2: 5   16-10   
62. Doc Wootton            Collierville, TN         8  23-06  139
  Day 1: 4   11-04     Day 2: 4   12-02   
63. Russ Lane              Prattville, AL          10  23-05  138
  Day 1: 5   12-04     Day 2: 5   11-01   
64. Chris Groh             Spring Grove, IL        10  23-02  137
  Day 1: 5   10-00     Day 2: 5   13-02   
65. Kyle Metzger           Pearl River, LA          8  23-01  136
  Day 1: 3   07-08     Day 2: 5   15-09   
66. Connor Jacob           Peoria, IL               9  22-10  135
  Day 1: 5   12-12     Day 2: 4   09-14   
67. Tommy Wood             Peregian Springs AUSTRA  7  22-08  134
  Day 1: 5   17-06     Day 2: 2   05-02   
68. Brandon Ackerson       Afton, OK                7  22-05  133
  Day 1: 5   16-04     Day 2: 2   06-01   
69. Dave Parsons           Yantis, TX               6  21-10  132
  Day 1: 3   11-01     Day 2: 3   10-09   
70. Matt Baker             Glenwood, AR             7  21-05  131
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 2   06-06   
71. Jack York              Emory, TX                6  20-14  130
  Day 1: 3   11-11     Day 2: 3   09-03   
72. Buddy Benson           Dahlonega, GA            6  20-12  129
  Day 1: 5   18-08     Day 2: 1   02-04   
73. Denny Fiedler          Wabasha, MN              7  20-11  128
  Day 1: 4   11-02     Day 2: 3   09-09   
74. Bj Miller              Adams, NE                6  20-10  127
  Day 1: 5   18-08     Day 2: 1   02-02   
75. Yusuke Miyazaki        Forney, TX               7  20-06  126
  Day 1: 5   12-13     Day 2: 2   07-09   
76. Blaine Bunney          Claremore, OK            7  20-04  125
  Day 1: 4   09-05     Day 2: 3   10-15   
77. Adam Rasmussen         Sturgeon Bay, WI         7  20-01  124
  Day 1: 3   09-02     Day 2: 4   10-15   
78. Mike McClelland        Blue Eye, MO             6  19-13  123
  Day 1: 4   14-12     Day 2: 2   05-01   
79. John Murray            Spring City, TN          7  19-05  122
  Day 1: 3   08-09     Day 2: 4   10-12   
80. Tai Au                 Glendale, AZ             6  19-00  121
  Day 1: 5   16-14     Day 2: 1   02-02   
81. Dalton Smith           Taylorsville, KY         5  18-12  120
  Day 1: 2   09-15     Day 2: 3   08-13   
82. Isaac Peavyhouse       Monroe, TN               6  18-11  119
  Day 1: 4   10-06     Day 2: 2   08-05   
83. Brent Anderson         Kingston Springs, TN     5  18-09  118
  Day 1: 5   18-09     Day 2: 0   00-00   
83. Dewayne French         Mammoth Spring, AR       5  18-09  118
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   18-09   
85. Andrew Behnke          Fond Du Lac, WI          5  18-08  116
  Day 1: 5   18-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   
86. Seiji Kato             Los Alamitos CA JAPAN    7  17-15  115
  Day 1: 3   09-01     Day 2: 4   08-14   
87. Evan Poroznik          Nestleton Station Ontar  5  17-13  114
  Day 1: 4   13-11     Day 2: 1   04-02   
88. Chris Beaudrie         Princeton, KY            7  17-13  113
  Day 1: 4   10-14     Day 2: 3   06-15   
89. Dillon Falardeau       Hixson, TN               6  17-10  112
  Day 1: 4   11-09     Day 2: 2   06-01   
90. Billy Gilbert          Hamburg, NY              6  17-10  111
  Day 1: 2   08-11     Day 2: 4   08-15   
91. Julius Mazy            Phoenix, AZ              5  17-09  110
  Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 0   00-00   
92. Josh Butler            Hayden, AL               5  16-14  109
  Day 1: 5   16-14     Day 2: 0   00-00   
93. Jaden Parrish          Liberty, TX              5  16-08  108
  Day 1: 4   11-10     Day 2: 1   04-14   
94. Colby Dark             West Monroe, LA          5  15-15  107
  Day 1: 3   08-05     Day 2: 2   07-10   
95. Matt Stefan            Junction City, WI        5  15-14  106
  Day 1: 4   11-13     Day 2: 1   04-01   
96. Chris Whitson          Louisville, TN           5  15-03  105
  Day 1: 3   09-01     Day 2: 2   06-02   
97. Jacob Welch            Jefferson City, MO       5  15-02  104
  Day 1: 1   03-02     Day 2: 4   12-00   
98. Stephen Browning       Hot Springs, AR          5  14-15  103
  Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   
99. Angel Rosario          Kalamazoo, MI            5  14-15  102
  Day 1: 1   02-10     Day 2: 4   12-05   
100. Cliff Crochet          Pierre Part, LA          5  14-11  101
  Day 1: 2   07-05     Day 2: 3   07-06   
101. Kane Weekley           Davie, FL                5  14-07  100
  Day 1: 2   06-10     Day 2: 3   07-13   
102. Randy Millender        Teague, TX               4  14-04   99
  Day 1: 3   10-13     Day 2: 1   03-07   
103. Freddy  Palmer         Estill Springs, TN       5  14-04   98
  Day 1: 3   08-06     Day 2: 2   05-14   
104. Matt Molitor           Canton, IL               5  14-04   97
  Day 1: 2   06-09     Day 2: 3   07-11   
105. Brock Bila             Republic, MO             5  14-03   96
  Day 1: 4   11-10     Day 2: 1   02-09   
106. Brian Post             Janesville, WI           4  13-14   95
  Day 1: 4   13-14     Day 2: 0   00-00   
107. Ryan Michl             Newton, IL               5  13-11   94
  Day 1: 4   11-07     Day 2: 1   02-04   
108. Drake Hemby            Tallbot, TN              4  13-07   93
  Day 1: 1   05-02     Day 2: 3   08-05   
109. Rick Harris Jr         Carlsbad, NM             5  13-04   92
  Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 0   00-00   
110. Joseph Titus           Bemidji, MN              4  13-03   91
  Day 1: 2   04-04     Day 2: 2   08-15   
111. Cole Lamb              Russellville, AR         4  13-02   90
  Day 1: 1   04-13     Day 2: 3   08-05   
112. Jacob Thompkins        Myrtle Beach, SC         4  12-15   89
  Day 1: 1   03-00     Day 2: 3   09-15   
113. Josh Wiesner           Fon du Lac, WI           5  12-15   88
  Day 1: 2   04-08     Day 2: 3   08-07   
114. Jack Tindel III        Orange, TX               4  12-13   87
  Day 1: 2   06-05     Day 2: 2   06-08   
115. Jonathon VanDam        Gobles, MI               3  12-12   86
  Day 1: 1   03-01     Day 2: 2   09-11   
116. Josh Douglas           Isle, MN                 4  12-08   85
  Day 1: 1   02-12     Day 2: 3   09-12   
117. Caz Anderson           Hayesville, NC           4  12-07   84
  Day 1: 1   04-00     Day 2: 3   08-07   
118. Sammy Burks Jr         Joplin, MO               5  12-06   83
  Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   
119. Grae Buck              Green Lane, PA           5  12-06   82
  Day 1: 3   08-08     Day 2: 2   03-14   
120. Dylan Akins            Flowery Branch, GA       5  12-05   81
  Day 1: 3   07-13     Day 2: 2   04-08   
121. Alex Heintze           Denham Springs, LA       5  12-03   80
  Day 1: 5   12-03     Day 2: 0   00-00   
122. Jim Moynagh            Outing, MN               3  12-03   79
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 3   12-03   
123. Travis Ledford         Tuttle, OK               3  12-02   78
  Day 1: 3   12-02     Day 2: 0   00-00   
124. Rick Pierce            Mountain Home, AR        4  11-15   77
  Day 1: 2   05-09     Day 2: 2   06-06   
125. Tyler Conde            Chepachet, RI            4  11-14   76
  Day 1: 1   04-07     Day 2: 3   07-07   
126. Joey Teofilo           Richmond Hill Ontario C  4  11-13   75
  Day 1: 4   11-13     Day 2: 0   00-00   
127. Chase Clarke           Virginia Beach, VA       4  11-10   74
  Day 1: 3   08-12     Day 2: 1   02-14   
128. Keith Brashers         Rogers, AR               4  11-08   73
  Day 1: 4   11-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   
129. Nate Caldwell          Fort Collins, CO         3  11-05   72
  Day 1: 3   11-05     Day 2: 0   00-00   
130. Anthony Garcia         Los Angeles, CA          4  11-05   71
  Day 1: 3   07-07     Day 2: 1   03-14   
131. Nathan Thompson        Eagan, MN                4  11-05   70
  Day 1: 2   06-02     Day 2: 2   05-03   
132. Brooks Anderson        Marietta, GA             3  11-04   69
  Day 1: 1   04-02     Day 2: 2   07-02   
133. Jason Barber           Gun Barrel City, TX      4  11-03   68
  Day 1: 2   06-07     Day 2: 2   04-12   
134. Trey Schroeder         Theodosia, MO            3  10-13   67
  Day 1: 3   10-13     Day 2: 0   00-00   <





Jordan Osborne Takes Command on Day One at Santee Cooper

Brian Carter
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Jordan Osborne Takes Command on Day One at Santee Cooper

The big bass came out to play on day one of the NPFL 2025 season opener.

Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons

Day one at the Strike King NPFL Stop One at Santee Cooper Lakes is underway and the cold weather is not standing in the way of catching big bass. Leading the pack to kick off the 2025 season, Texas pro Jordan Osborne caught an NPFL record 33 pounds, 1 ounces single-day bag. In second place, Oklahoma pro Jason Christie started his event with 31 pounds, 6 ounces. Behind him, Buck Mallory weighed an impressive 31 pounds, 1 ounces limit to start the tournament in third.

It was hit or miss on Santee Cooper as 26 anglers weighed in over 20-pounds, and the check cut weight is occupied by J Todd Tucker in 40th place with 16 pounds, 12 ounces. Big fish of the day was caught by Harmon Davis with a 10-pound, 9-ounce Santee Cooper lunker.

Jordan Osborne

After a slow start to the morning and a long run to Lake Moultrie to target hard cover, day one leader Jordan Osborne finally settled into his “unique” area as the bite turned on in the afternoon.

“I really felt they were still going to bite despite the weather, but it just wasn’t happening for me until later in the day,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the time or what, but I got into a special looking area that looked vastly different from the surrounding water, and in an hour, I had my five bites and left.”

Having never fished Santee Cooper before, three days of practice wasn’t much time to explore, leaving plenty of unknowns for the Texas angler about how the next couple days may shake out.

“This place is so big,” he added. “At noon, I got into a spot I had found using some Google Maps, and it just looked different to me—sure enough, they were there. I quickly fished through what was productive, and it makes sense why those fish are there. But I don’t know if they would have bit in the morning or if i happened to be there at the right time. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.”

While he believes more fish are moving into that special area, he didn’t want to overfish it, quickly securing his NPFL record-setting bag before pulling out for the day. With only one local boat in the area, he hopes to expand on the bite window the next two days.

“I caught only five fish, all within a couple hundred yards, and then bounced. I don’t know much more about it yet—I haven’t figured out what makes the wheels turn on this body of water. It may run dry, but tomorrow, I’m planning to get there earlier and expand. We’ll see what happens,” he added.

Jason Christie

Returning to the same general areas where he found fish in practice, veteran angler Jason Christie knew he might have to relocate them after two off days—and that’s exactly what he did. Things started slow, but he got going, picking off fish one at a time. Rotating through a few different style baits, Christie kept things honest and capitalized on the few big bites he got.

“I probably caught only ten fish all day, losing a few as well, but overall, not a lot of bites,” Christie said. “It makes sense where they moved, but at the same time, it doesn’t—it kinda surprised me. I think they want to move, and with the warmer weather (tomorrow), I’d expect more to come. Duplicating those big bites is hard to do, even here—it seems like they’re either 2-pounders or giants.”

Buck Mallory

Buck Mallory had a few options when he launched this morning at John C. Land Boat Ramp, but the Michigan pro returned to his “sweet spot” along a large stretch of vegetation—and never looked back. By 10:30 a.m., he had done his job and pulled the plug, opting to save some fish for the weekend.

“I practiced in places where the fish would be less affected by the cold front, and that’s exactly what happened today,” said Mallory. “The only difference today was that the bites got bigger. In practice, I found a small spot where my best two bites came from, and I think they’re still coming to me.”

Opting to fish a bit more “off the bank,” his main area is less than 100 yards long, and he has yet to figure out exactly what’s holding the fish, but he plans to continue expanding on it. With only one other NPFL angler in the vicinity, Mallory essentially has the area to himself, giving him confidence that he can manage the fish and potentially build on his lead as the event progresses.

“The only thing I’ve noticed so far is that the water temperature in my area is different—and I think that’s key. I started the day with 15 rods on the deck, and I’m not changing anything for tomorrow. There were two baits I caught my bag on, both reaction-style.”

With warmer weather expected on Saturday, Mallory remains cautiously optimistic, excited by the potential for more big fish to move in and stage before the spawn.

Top Ten:
Jordan Osborne 33-1
Jason Christie 31-6
Buck Mallory 31-1
Patrick Walters 28-13
Andrew Upshaw 27-5
Kyle Glasgow 27-4
Corey Casey 27-3
Hank Cherry 26-0
Darrel Robertson 25-13
Shane Lineberger 25-13

day one leaderboard





Sprague Cruises to Qualifying Round Win at MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3

Brian Carter
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Sprague Cruises to Qualifying Round Win at MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3

Texas pro advances directly to Championship Sunday with two-day total of 36 bass weighing 122 pounds, 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round

COLUMBIA, S.C. (March 7, 2025) – During Day 1 of PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 Presented by Strike King on Lake Murray, pro Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, grabbed the lead early and finished nearly 9 pounds clear of the rest of the field. A day later, despite what should have been less favorable conditions and the fact that he didn’t really try to catch fish during the final period, he amassed even more weight.

That sums up just how special Sprague’s bite has been so far. The Texas pro added 18 scorable bass for 62 pounds, 3 ounces on Friday, bringing his total to 122 pounds even. That earned him the Qualifying Round win with ease, topping his nearest pursuer, Toyota pro Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Florida, by more than 30 pounds.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 2 On-the-Water Highlights
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Day 2 Competition

“This is what hooks people on bass fishing,” Sprague said. “This is what bass fishing is all about. It really has been a special bite no matter how it turns out, just being able to find what I found. … Genuinely, these are the type of conditions and events that come around only so very often, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

As a result, Sprague will skip Saturday’s Knockout Round and advance directly to the Championship Round. The rest of the Top 20 will advance to Saturday and compete for the remaining nine Championship Round berths.

Despite his strong performance on Day 1, Sprague was nervous as he took the water on Friday. Slick, calm conditions greeted the field rather than the strong wind that blew all day Thursday, and he worried that might hurt his shallow cranking bite while helping those anglers who started the day using forward-facing sonar.

It didn’t take long to assuage his concerns. Sprague returned to the area where he’d done most of his damage a day prior and boated nine bass totaling 33-11 in the first period. That included a 6-11, a 5-0 and a 4-9. By the end of the period, his lead had expanded to more than 13 pounds, discouraging anyone else from trying to track him down.

That confirmed the spots where Sprague has already caught fish are reloading. Just as important, he’s figured out a pattern for the type of habitat bass are using to stage, and as he found more areas that set up the same way, he continued to reel them in.

“I was really nervous this morning, to be honest with you, about whether or not they were going to bite with no wind at all,” Sprague said. “It was very glass calm. Had a few bites pretty quick, and that really set my lightbulb off, so I continued to kind of expand a little bit in the area where I was at. It’s a big area, but the fish aren’t everywhere. They’re pretty specific about what they want to be on. And when I find it, man, it’s special. They’re there, and they’re coming.”

Some of the fish Sprague landed in the afternoon essentially came by accident while he was checking out new water, including one that ate his crankbait as he was trying to pull it out of the water after time expired at the end of Period 2.

“I don’t know what I could have caught today had I continued, because I really laid up for the last 3, 3 1/2 hours and just looked,” he said. “But even then, I was able to catch some fish. So, I got a lot of things out of my mind today, and I got a lot of things in my mind today. It was a good learning day for both where (they are) and where they are not.”

Sprague is generally fishing fast, but one key to his success has been staying patient once he hooks a fish. He’s willing to play the bass for a minute or more rather than horsing them, a lesson he learned the hard way after losing several big ones on Day 1.

“Those fish are so heavy, and they’re so green right now,” Sprague explained. “Bigger fish have a harder mouth, and I’ve lost so many bass this week – and I’ve lost so many bass in my career, especially the bigger ones. And I’ve got them on light line, even though it’s a baitcaster, because the water is really clear. You just need to make every one count, so patience is your friend. You have to just do your thing and let the fish play itself out, and eventually they’ll get winded and just kind of come to you. It makes your life a lot easier, and you’re not getting hooks in your hand, either.” 

Sprague isn’t worried about spending a day off the water. He’s committed to his pattern no matter what, and he thinks the upper-70s temperatures forecast for Saturday will only push more bass shallow.

His 14th career Bass Pro Tour Top 10 secured, his focus now is on finally landing his first tour-level win. Only pro Brent Ehrler has more Top-10 finishes in BPT competition without a victory. After so many close calls, Sprague didn’t want to get ahead of himself and talk too much about what it would mean to finally hoist a trophy, but he thinks this could be one of his best opportunities yet.

“I feel like I’ve been cursed for the past five years from getting one of these things closed out, if you want to know the truth,” he said. “I legitimately feel like I have an opportunity to make it happen here. I really do. Either way, it’s been an amazing week, and it’s just a lot of fun to catch these fish. But I do feel like I’m on the winning way to catch them.”

The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on Lake Murray are:

1st:        Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 36 bass, 122-0
2nd:       Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 28 bass, 90-6
3rd:       Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 27 bass, 89-1
4th:        Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 27 bass, 81-6
5th:        Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., 23 bass, 81-5
6th:        Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 26 bass, 80-5
7th:        Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 28 bass, 79-15
8th:        Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 28 bass, 78-3
9th:        Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 23 bass, 76-6
10th:     Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 24 bass, 73-12
11th:     Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 26 bass, 73-5
12th:     Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 21 bass, 73-3
13th:     James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 23 bass, 68-14
14th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 24 bass, 66-11
15th:     Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 21 bass, 63-8
16th:     Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., 20 bass, 61-12
17th:     Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 20 bass, 60-13
18th:     Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 20 bass, 59-8
19th:     Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 19 bass, 59-0
20th:     Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 17 bass, 58-14

For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 540 scorable bass weighing 1,661 pounds, 14 ounces caught by the 66 pros on Friday.

Friday’s Berkley Big Bass Award went to Erie, Pennsylvania pro Dave Lefebre, who caught a nice 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, Sprague advances directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the top nine anglers will join Sprague in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

Anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. ET each day from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity. Each day’s takeout will be held at the same location, beginning at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Dreher Island State Park for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, participate in casting contests, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free Abu Garcia rod and reel each day. The event also includes a meet and greet with Paw Patrol’s Skye and Marshall and a youth fishing derby. The Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand both days to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King is hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board and features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Television coverage of the PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray Presented by Strike King will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 4 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Sunday, Oct. 5. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X , Instagram and  YouTube.





MLF Pros Give Back to Lake Murray and Local Students During MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3

Brian Carter
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MLF Pros Give Back to Lake Murray and Local Students During MLF Bass Pro Tour PowerStop Brakes Stage 3

COLUMBIA, S.C. (March 7, 2025) – On Wednesday, March 5, professional anglers from the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour used their “off day” before PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 at Lake Murray to give back to the community in two meaningful ways: creating new fish habitat and improving bass fishing conditions in Lake Murray as a part of the Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Project Supported by Humminbird and Kubota and visiting with students at Piney Woods Elementary School.

LINK TO PHOTO GALLERY FROM EVENTS

In conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), the Habitat Restoration event at Lake Murray brought together nine MLF pros, local volunteers and students from six bass fishing teams across the state Wednesday morning.

Despite a downpour that threatened to impede the event, the stormy weather didn’t dampen spirits as volunteers constructed nine MossBack Fish Habitat 40-inch Conservation Cubes, 12 MossBack Root Wads, and 15 MossBack Reed Mat structures, which were then deployed at three unique locations on Lake Murray. These newly created habitats will improve bass fishing conditions, which is a crucial part of the mission of the MLF Fisheries Management Division (FMD) – to sustain healthy fish populations for future generations of anglers. MLF Bass Pro Tour pros in attendance included Justin Cooper, Gary Klein, Bobby Lane, Jeremy Lawyer, Skeet Reese, Mark Rose, Fred Roumbanis, Greg Vinson and David Walker.

Students from the USC Gamecock Bass Fishing team, Mid-Carolina Fishing Team, Chapin Youth Bassmasters, Aiken County Anglers, Eagle Eye Anglers and Gilbert Bass Anglers worked side-by-side with MLF pros and staff from the SCDNR to build and deploy the essential structures. Kubota tractors provided by Carolina Power Equipment helped transport the habitat materials, ensuring the project ran smoothly despite the challenging weather.

Thanks to MLF sponsors, numerous student volunteers walked away with exciting giveaway items, including Abu Garcia rods and reels, a signed MLF angler jersey, bait packs and MLF hats.

“We had a blast, and it was so cool to have all these bass teams show up – in the rain – to help us build these structures,” Reese said. “The students were excited to learn about conservation, and why it’s important to protect our fisheries. It was awesome to work alongside them to benefit the fishery and create some new honey holes for these anglers to fish in the future.”

The second half of the day saw MLF pros head to Piney Woods Elementary School in Chapin, where they met with excited fourth graders to discuss the importance of conservation and fishing. MLF pros Jared Lintner, Brent Chapman and Mark Daniels Jr., along with MLF Competition Official Brian Poppe, spoke to students about what it means to be a professional angler and shared their personal fishing stories. The students were eager to share fishing stories of their own and ask questions, and they were amused to learn that Poppe got to assess penalties and put the adult pros in “time out” for fish landing violations.

The pros also demonstrated how MLF works to protect fish populations, including how fish are weighed on the boat in the Bass Pro Tour and immediately returned to their natural habitats.

“We love being able to give back to the communities we visit on the Bass Pro Tour,” Lintner said. “The fourth graders at Piney Woods were so excited to meet professional anglers and learn about protecting our fisheries. Someone visited my class to talk about fishing 35 years ago, and I still remember it to this day. It’s great to have the opportunity to make that same kind of impact on these kids.”

As the Bass Pro Tour kicks off its third stage, hosted by the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board , the pros and community members involved in Wednesday’s events left a lasting legacy – not only enhancing the lake’s fishery but also inspiring young minds to value and protect the natural resources around them.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X,  Instagram and  YouTube.





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