Shaw comes from behind for another Tennessee River win
Banks Shaw proved unstoppable once again this week at Wheeler Lake.
(Photo by Jody White)
By Jody White, Tackle Warehouse Press Release
DECATUR, Ala. – Banks Shaw looked mortal at the last Bass Pro Tour event, where he finished 48th at Lake Whitney in Texas. A couple weeks later, fishing on the familiar Tennessee River, Shaw has righted the ship, knocking down the win Saturday in Stop 3 Presented by Suzuki Marine on Wheeler Lake.
With 21 pounds, 1 ounce on the final day of the third Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech regular-season event, Shaw totaled up an even 62 pounds to cash in for $100,000. It’s his second MLF win of the year, and his ninth Top 10 on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals or Pro Circuit since the start of 2025. Behind Shaw, Broderick Luckey surged from 11th place to second with 61-5, Drew Boggs finished third with 60-12, and Matt Becker slipped down the leaderboard to fourth. The leader going into Day 3, Cal Lane only managed one keeper and dropped down to 18th – luckily, still good for a $10,000 payday.
This event also produced some serious shake-ups in the points standings, as the three leaders heading into the week all turned in rough finishes. With the win, Shaw moved into the lead for 7 Brew Angler of the Year, and Ryan Lachniet and Carter Nutt both have 556 points in second and third respectively.
Shaw takes advantage of the opening
Going into the final day of the event, Lane and Becker were both ahead of the field by a decent margin, and with a good day, either could have walked to victory. However, both struggled to various degrees – Lane couldn’t generate bites, and Becker never connected with a kicker.
“I didn’t think I had a shot with what I had, I thought possibly, if I had 22 pounds, I could have a shot if these guys stumbled,” said Shaw, who started the day in fourth. “I had a feeling throughout the day, it seemed like it was a little tougher. I was like, ‘Man, I know this place.’ It can easily happen where you only catch 15 pounds. I knew that’s what I needed those guys to catch – if Matt just caught one more, or Cal put a limit in the box, they could have easily won.”
TOP 10 Below
However, the leaders failed to finish strong on the final day, and if you leave Shaw an opening, the odds are good he’ll be there to fill it. At home on the Tennessee River, Shaw has won at the College Fishing, Toyota Series and Pro Circuit levels on Pickwick, Chickamauga and Kentucky Lake – and now Wheeler.
“I recently had my worst pro level tournament at the Bass Pro Tour at Lake Whitney,” said the phenom. “It definitely bothered me. To turn it around like this, it definitely gets my hopes back up, my confidence back up.”
Wheeler wasn’t an easy nut to crack
Weights on Wheeler Lake were exceptional for this event, but it rarely came easy and the event was all about adjustments. Lots of anglers thought they had something figured out, only for it to desert them the next day, or the next hour. Shaw simply figured out the next thing better than anyone else.
“It’s definitely a tricky fishery,” he said. “They’re super scattered out right now, and I had to locate new fish throughout the entire tournament. I spent all my practice on the Decatur Flats, and I thought I could have 20 pounds pretty easily fishing on the flats. (Day 1) I spent about two hours out there and only had one 3 1/2-pounder. I scratched it right away and caught like two more in my forward-facing period the first day. Then I stumbled on a drop-shot bite, fishing current breaks and barge ties.”
In 22nd after Day 1, Shaw kept on the hunt when he rolled out of takeoff on Day 2.
“I knew I had to get on a forward-facing bite of some sort, so I ran down to some stuff I found for the Toyota Series Championship a few years ago – it’s all structure and pea gravel banks,” he said. “I pulled up on my best place in the Toyota Series Championship and caught a 4-pounder first-thing and then blasted 20 pounds pretty quick.”
Shaw replicated his Day 2 success on the final day, but added in a largemouth wrinkle.
“Today I did the same thing – I pulled up on the area I caught them yesterday and caught a 4 1/2 and a 3 3/4, and then I left there and went to one creek where I knew there was a good population of largemouth,” he said. “I knew I needed one of those heads, I hadn’t caught a 5-pounder all week, and in the last 5 minutes of forward-facing I caught a 5 1/4 and that’s what did it.”
Of the youth movement, Shaw is probably the best combination of forward-facing sonar prowess, and skill when the screens are off. On Day 1, his three biggest fish came after he’d shut his sonar off, and he weighed one fish each of the final two days that he caught without ‘Scope.
For tackle, Shaw put a 7-foot, 1-inch, medium fast 13 Fishing Myth spinning stick through its paces. Paired with a 14-pound Sufix Advance leader and 10-pound Sufix 832 line, he did damage with a 4 1/2-inch Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow on a 1/8-ounce head and a 1/8-ounce drop-shot with several creature baits.
For his ‘Scope fish, he targeted staging and spawning areas, and mostly caught smallmouth.
“You had to find a bank that had good structure for fish to live on and pea gravel for them to spawn on,” Shaw said. “They weren’t really using the structure, I caught some sitting on little bitty sticks, but for the most part they were swimming around it. I definitely caught a couple off of beds – Day 2, I fished for one for about 15 minutes that was sitting on a little tiny piece of wood.”
When he had to go dark, Shaw stuck to the basics.
“I was completely changing it up,” he said of his non-forward-facing pattern. “I knew I couldn’t target the fish I was catching on forward-facing. I knew I could keep my bait around fish on visible structure, so I was targeting logs, visible stumps, barge ties, anything that makes a current break. I had one barge tie that produced my three biggest fish on Day 1.”
Catching his limits quickly each of the last two days, Shaw made hard things look easy, as he so often does. No longer a rookie, he has a target on his back whenever he launches the boat, and so far, he’s proving equal to the pressure.
Top 10 pros
1. Banks Shaw – 62 – 0 (15) – $100,000
2. Broderick Luckey – 61 – 5 (15) – $23,900
3. Drew Boggs – 60 – 12 (15) – $19,300
4. Matt Becker – 60 – 9 (15) – $17,400
5. Carter Nutt – 54 – 5 (15) – $16,500
6. Kyle Austin – 52 – 6 (14) – $15,600
7. Marshall Hughes – 51 – 10 (15) – $14,700
8. Connor Jacob – 51 – 8 (15) – $13,700
9. Jackson Ryley – 51 – 7 (15) – $12,800
10. Clint Knight – 50 – 13 (15) – $11,900
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