2024 Humminbird Bassmaster Elite on the St. Lawrence Day 3: Robert Gee Leads!

Canadians Cory Johnston 2nd, Chris Johnston 4th & Gustafson 15th,

By David A. Brown

BASS Press Release

WADDINGTON, N.Y. —  Rookie standout Robert Gee distanced himself from seasoned veteran Cory Johnston geographically and, more importantly, statistically to tally a 3-day total of 78 pounds, 2 ounces and take over the Day 3 lead at the Humminbird Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.

Day 2 found Gee and Johnston tied for the top spot with 52-7 each. Now, the young angler from Knoxville, Tenn., heads into Championship Sunday with a 13-ounce lead over Johnston.

“It’s been a blessing; everything’s just going right, and I can’t do anything wrong,” Gee said. “I’m going to keep riding this train as far as it will take me and just give God the glory.”

Chris Johnston, Cory’s younger brother, won the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year title with 758 points. The first Canadian to win a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament — the 2020 event at the St. Lawrence River — Johnston also owns the distinction of being the first Canadian to win the Bassmaster AOY title. For this honor, he claimed a top prize of $100,000.

2024 Humminbird Bassmaster Elite on the St. Lawrance Day 1: Taku Ito Leads with 26lbs!

Canadians Cory Johnston 4th, Chris Johnston 15th, Gustafson 19th & Gallant 98th

BASS Press Release

WADDINGTON, N.Y. — It was a case of quality over quantity, but Japanese superstar Taku Ito was just fine with the 5-bass limit of 26 pounds, 2 ounces that leads Day 1 of the Humminbird Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.

Ito, who won the 2021 St. Lawrence Elite event — also run out of Waddington — and claimed his second blue trophy June 30 at Smith Lake, heads into Day 2 with a 6-ounce margin over rookie Robert Gee.

One of the highlight reel moments from Ito’s first Elite win was his crowd-pleasing tale of finding a brown-fish-laden spot he named “Smallmouth Disneyland.” The Lake Ontario goldmine that yielded a 26-pound Championship Sunday limit held so many fish that Ito claimed he got downright picky about only targeting the bigger fish on his screen.

Flash forward three years and Ito said he saw fewer fish, but the ones he saw were the ones he needed.

“The fish were alone today; I couldn’t find (schools) of bass,” said Ito, who makes his home in Chiba, Japan. “I only caught six or seven bass. It was so hard, but they were big ones.

Matt Messer Wins 2023 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Harris Chain of Lakes!

Late bonus pushes Messer to Bassmaster Open victory at Harris Chain of Lakes

Matt Messer of Warfield, Ky., has won the 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Harris Chain of Lakes with a two-day total of 39 pounds, 13 ounces. (Photo: BASS) 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

LEESBURG, Fla. — Two weeks ago, Matt Messer wondered how he would pay for his 2024 tournament entry fees.

But winning the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Harris Chain of Lakes completely changed that outlook.

After leading Day 1 with 24 pounds, 6 ounces, the Warfield, Ky., angler added a second-round total of 15-7 and tallied 39-13. Edging Blake Sylvester of Plaquemine, La., by 1-12, Messer won $42,467 and an automatic berth in the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic scheduled for March 22-24 in Tulsa, Okla.

“I’ve been dreaming of the Classic since I was 5 and now I get a shot at it,” Messer said. “I can hardly talk. I’m torn all to pieces.”

Messer, who won the 2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Harris Chain presented by Bass Pro Shops with his brother and Kentucky Christian University teammate Lafe Messer, caught both day's limits in Lake Griffin. While Day 1 yielded a 7-14 and a 7-2, the second round saw his lone shot at a kicker fizzle.

“I did not think I was going to catch ‘em,” Messer admits. “I was grinding and I got one big bite, but I didn’t get it in the boat. It was like a 7-pounder.

2022 Bassmaster Elite Series Event On Mississippi River Day 1: Schmitt Grabs Lead with 17-10lbs!

Canadians Chris Johnston 4th, Gustafson 4th , Cory Johnston 43rd.

Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Md., is leading after Day 1 of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River with 17 pounds, 10 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/ BASS) 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Put Bryan Schmitt on a grassy river and he’s a happy man, even when a little meteorological meddling requires an adjustment.

 

Such was the case, as the Potomac River stick from Deale, Md., overcame a water quality issue and caught a limit of 17 pounds, 10 ounces to lead Day 1 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River.

 

“It was a blessed day; I almost missed it,” Schmitt said. “I had a pretty good practice and never went back to these fish and they changed (because of muddy inflow from Thursday night’s rain). It took me a while to change with them.

 

“They didn’t want what I did in practice. But I was lucky enough to make the right presentation, and once it happened, I was like, ‘I see what’s happening.’ Tomorrow’s going to be windy and they might be getting back on what I did in practice.”

 

Schmitt withheld specifics, but he said one particular presentation — a slower technique — with a new Missile Baits plastic delivered all of his weight. He had his limit by about 10 a.m. and stopped fishing around 1:30.

 

Anchoring his bag with a 4-2 largemouth, Schmitt said his fish came off three different grassy spots, all within eyesight of one another. Each, he said, comprised nearly identical habitat.

 

One of the challenges he faced was the proliferation of tiny baitfish moving through the grass.

 

“You’ll see the little baitfish running through and every now and then, you’ll see one (come up and eat), but they are devils to (try and) trick,” Schmitt said. “There’s a bunch of bait where I’m fishing.”

Patrick Walters Wins 2020 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Lake Fork with 104-12lbs!

A Blue Trophy and Century Club makes for a perfect Sunday!

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Walters's 29 pound lead over 2nd place simply astonishing.
(Photo: BASS) 

A late-day decision turned victory into a double-dip of tournament stardom, as Patrick Walters of Summerville, S.C., notched a dominant win at the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks & Wildlife Department with a four-day total weight of 104 pounds, 12 ounces.

Walters placed second on Day 1 with 25-14 and took over the Day 2 lead by adding 26-14. On Semifinal Saturday, his limit of 29-6 — the event’s biggest catch — sent him into Championship Sunday with a 25-pound lead.

Today’s limit of 22-10 allowed him to surge across the finish line and secure his spot in the Century Club, which recognizes an angler for catching 100 pounds of fish in a four-day event. Walters won with an all-time Bassmaster Elite record margin of 29-10.

“What a week; it doesn’t seem real,” Walters said. “Everyone wants to catch 100 pounds, and it feels good.”

While his victory was never in serious jeopardy today, Walters found himself a couple pounds shy of his second objective with time running out. A 15-minute flurry in his last hour of fishing delivered three fish that elevated him well past the century mark.

Walters attributes his closing success to a gutsy relocation. All week, he had been targeting suspended bass amid main-lake standing timber in 10 to 20 feet. When he realized his spots weren’t firing, he moved to a small pocket and caught his final three fish around stumps in less than 5 feet of water.

Scott Canterbury Reclaims BASS Elite Angler of the Year on Lake St. Clair Day 2

Canadians Cory Johnston 4th, Chris Johnston 14th & Gussy 29th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Canterbury rebounds and take AOY lead.
(Photo: BASS)

Scott Canterbury began this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Lake St. Clair with a nine-point lead in the season standings.

 He wobbled a bit during Sunday’s opening round due to technical problems and fell briefly into third place. But after a nice rebound Monday, the crown is once again his to lose.
 
Canterbury, a Bassmaster Elite Series newcomer from Odenville, Ala., caught five bass Monday that weighed 21 pounds, 13 ounces and pushed his two-day total to 39-8. That places him in 16th place for the week, but restores him to a slim lead in the AOY Championship season standings with a total of 846 points.
 
With one day left to fish, Texas pro Chris Zaldain (842) is in second, followed by Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock (840), Canadian Cory Johnston (838) and Brandon Lester (814) of Tennessee.
 
“Yesterday was a real a struggle for me, but I rebounded today,” said Canterbury, who fished all day Sunday without the use of depthfinders on the front of his boat. “After yesterday, I felt like I needed to catch 20 pounds each of these last two days. I got 21 pounds today, and I’ll still like my chances if I can catch 20 more pounds tomorrow.
 
“I said coming in if I could get around that 57-pound mark — that’s 19 pounds a day — I’d have a chance. I’m a little ahead of that pace right now.”
 
Canterbury, who has led the AOY race since early summer, had once hoped just to survive the Elite Series’ New York swing — which was fair, considering he’d never fished the St. Lawrence River or Cayuga Lake. He did better than that, finishing third and 11th in the two events, respectively.
 

2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 2: Tyler Stewart Keeps Leads with 40-01lbs!

Canadians Sim 21st & Richardson 86th

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Big largemouth key to lead for Stewart!
(Photo: FLW)

Tyler Stewart’s day-one limit of more than 22 pounds set the bar sky high on Lake Champlain for this week’s FLW Tour event, which is presented by T-H Marine. That’s not an easy mark to match, and today Stewart’s performance was a little more on par with the rest of his competition. He hauled in five largemouths that totaled 17 pounds, 14 ounces.

Stewart is still in the lead going into the top-30 round, but John Voyles, who’s fishing for smallmouths, is only 1 pound, 5 ounce behind him.

For two days, Stewart has made the long run down to Champlain’s famed southern waters near Ticonderoga to target plump largemouths that are in the midst of a postspawn feeding binge. The difference in yesterday and today was that Stewart weighed in one less 4-pound-class largemouth and didn’t have time to try and pick off a bonus smallmouth like he did on Thursday. He also had a bit more company in his area.

He had to resort to fishing some of the “juice” he was saving for later in the tournament.

“It started off good this morning. I pulled up at the first place I stopped and caught one close to 4 pounds,” he recalls. “I jumped around a little bit and caught a few fish here and there, some 2 3/4s, then ended up catching a 4 1/2 around 10 o’clock. I had probably 16 pounds at that point. I culled a few more times by ounces. Then right at the end of the day I caught another one about 4 pounds.”

Stewart is catching his fish flipping plastics around a few different cover types. He has a couple of key areas, but is also running and gunning a little bit and fishing whatever fits his pattern. He ran new water today, but also spent part of the day playing defense on his best stretches.

Looking ahead to the weekend, clouds and rain are in the forecast, which bodes well for the largemouth specialists and not so great for anyone trying to spy smallmouths on beds.

“They bit really, really good in practice down there in the rain,” adds Stewart. “The only problem is if the wind picks up, getting down there and back is the only issue. I think they’ll bite down there if it’s raining. 

“I think they will [hold up] as long as I don’t have a bunch of company. If I have all my stuff to myself I feel like I could potentially catch a couple good bags.”

2. John Voyles – Petersburg, Ind. – 38-12 (10)

There’s a pretty magical spot on Lake Champlain that’s produced every smallmouth bass that John Voyles has weighed in so far this week (he weighed just one largemouth yesterday). Today, Voyles learned that another pro caught 19-plus from that spot on day one, but the Indiana pro got there first this morning and was able to sack up 18 pounds, 5 ounces to go with more than 20 on the first day. Assuming he gets full access to the spot tomorrow, he’s hoping to keep the heat on Stewart and the rest of the pros running to Ti to target largemouths.

Justin Lucas Wins 2018 BASS Elite Angler of the Year!

James Elam Wins Event
BASS PRESS RELEASE

A dream come true for the whole Lucas clan.
(Photo: BASS)

By the time Justin Lucas made it to the stage during Sunday’s final weigh-in for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Lake Chatuge, Georgia, the drama was all but gone.
 
Lucas came into the event with an eight-point lead in the AOY season standings — and after solid catches on Thursday and Friday, he had stretched that lead to an almost-insurmountable 47 points. Plus, his closest competition in the race, Arizona angler Josh Bertrand, decided not to fish Sunday because his wife is expected to deliver their second child any time now back home.
 
It eliminated all the suspense, but that suited Lucas just fine.
 
The California native turned Alabama resident caught five bass that weighed only 11 pounds, 14 ounces Sunday. But his three-day weight of 39-0 was more than enough to give him the AOY title and the biggest accomplishment of his young, flourishing career.
 
“I wanted this so badly,” Lucas said. “The build-up to this tournament affected every part of my life. I haven’t been sleeping because I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my game plan for this week. I’ve told my family and friends just to bear with me for a few more days, and everything would be okay — and now it’s all good.”
 
The gravity of the award hit Lucas and moved him to tears on stage.
 
“You think about the guys who’ve won this title — Gerald Swindle, Kevin VanDam — it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m the 23rd guy who’s ever won this in the 50-year history of B.A.S.S., and that’s humbling.”
 

Brandon Palaniuk is the 2017 BASS Elites Angler of the Year!

Mid-morning flurry seals win.

BASS PRESS RELEASE

(Photo: BASS)

As the 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series season progressed, Brandon Palaniuk always had a sense that he was in contention for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year crown.
 
But he never let himself look at the standings. He never even allowed himself to think about the race.
 
Now, he may never stop thinking about it.
 
The 29-year-old pro from Hayden, Idaho, caught 62 pounds, 3 ounces of bass to finish in 20th place at this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota. That allowed him to finish 14 points ahead of Oklahoma pro Jason Christie and secure his first career AOY title.
 
“I didn’t know if it would ever happen,” said Palaniuk, who topped Christie by a final margin of 902 to 888 in the AOY standings. “This has been a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. I decided 21 years ago that this is what I was going to do.
 
“I just made up my mind that I wanted to fish for a living — and every decision I’ve made for 21 years has led to this point.”
 
Hoisting the AOY trophy was the culmination of a phenomenal season that saw Palaniuk record six Top 12 finishes, including a victory on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The only time he finished outside the Top 30 in 10 Elite Series events was a disastrous 105th-place showing in the second event of the year on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee.
 

2017 Walmart FLW Tour Potomac River Day 2: Tom Monsoor Leads with 36-04lbs!

Bryab Thrift Wins 2017 Angler of the Year!
by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Monsoor grabs lead with hot morning.
(Photo: FLW)

Tom Monsoor is known for two things: swim jigs and rivers. Both may finally be converging perfectly for him after two days of the FLW Tour on the Potomac River presented by Costa Sunglasses.

Despite his strengths, Monsoor has had an up-and-down history on the Potomac, in large part due to the tides – he admits he never had really been able to figure them out. On day one, he thought it finally clicked, as he utilized a pattern he felt was tide dependent. Helping the matter was his boat position of 149, which allowed him to capitalize on both key feeding windows brought on by the tide changes in the morning and afternoon.

However, being in the first flight Friday, and with the tides backing up an hour, he knew he really only had the morning window. He made the most of it, cracking 16 pounds, 14 ounces to take over the lead with 36 pounds, 4 ounces.

On Friday the veteran hit the same two areas he caught all his fish Thursday. The first area is only 100-200 feet long, but he’s caught a limit there quickly both days despite it being “packed” with boats. The second area is the one that makes Monsoor grin, as it’s 100 yards wide and has been producing better quality.

“I had a limit by 8 a.m. on the first spot, and then I culled out four of them in the second spot,” says Monsoor. “I was done fishing by noon and just went looking after that.”

G-MAN is the 2016 Toyota Bassmaster Elite Angler of the Year!

Feider wins event with 26lb bag of smallmouth!
BASS PRESS RELEASE

G-Man finally is crowned AOY!
(Photo: BASS)

Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., clinched his second Angler of the Year title at the 2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.
 
A total purse of $1 million was paid out to the Top 50 Bassmaster Elite Series pros, along with berths to the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro. Swindle collected $100,000, and the remaining 49 anglers earned shares of the remaining $900,000.
 
The Top 39 anglers in the points standings have secured berths into the Classic next March on Lake Conroe near Houston, Texas.
 
Swindle, a 15-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, failed to catch a limit on the first day of the championship, but he figured out the fish and on the final day brought in 22 pounds.
 
“The last thing I wanted was to win this title without catching the kind of fish that Mille Lacs is known for producing,” Swindle said. “I left the docks this morning with the full intention of going out and catching them how I wanted to catch them. I threw a jerkbait and a vibrating jig and had an awesome day. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.”
 
Swindle said a 7-pound largemouth he caught during the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., in late April was the turning point for his season.

2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake Day 2: Swindle Banking on Point Spread!

Swindle down, but far from out. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Another impressive day of hefty smallmouth astonished fans during the second round of the $1 million Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Minnesota's famed Mille Lacs Lake.

Points gap favours G-Man.
(Photo: BASS)

On Thursday, the Top 50 qualifiers from the Bassmaster Elite Series produced 23 limits exceeding the 20-pound mark. Today's field did one better by bringing 24 limits to the scales exceeding 20 pounds.

While that's an impressive turnout yet again, the angler who catches the heaviest three-day limit of bass does not win this tournament; rather points are the key to victory this week.

Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., held onto his Angler of the Year lead after weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces, which brought his two-day total to 25-6. He improved on Thursday's performance, but Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, is within 28 points of Swindle in the AOY race.

2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake Day 1: Swindle Misses Smallmouth Fest!

Omori bags giant 26 pound smallmouth limit
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Terrible day reduces AOY lead for G- Man.
(Photo: BASS)

Giant limits of smallmouth bass created quite the spectacle during the first weigh-in of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.
 
Twenty-three anglers crested the 20-pound mark with their individual five-fish daily limits. While that’s very impressive, this tournament isn’t won by the heaviest three-day total. Rather, it’s all about crowning the best angler of the 2016 season.
 
Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., came to Mille Lacs with a 43-point lead over Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas. Swindle didn’t have to do much coming into this tournament to lock up the AOY title. But during Thursday’s first round, the 15-time Classic qualifier struggled to locate the right fish.
 
Swindle brought only three bass to the scales that weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces.
 

2016 BASS Elite Mississippi River Day 2: Ott DeFoe Leads Rainy Day 2!

DeFoe dominates! 

BASS COMMUNICATIONS

After claiming second with a 17-plus-pound limit of bass in the first round of the Plano Bassmaster Elite at the Mississippi River presented by Favorite Fishing Thursday, Knoxville, Tenn., angler Ott DeFoe predicted he would catch one more limit at least that big — and that would be it.

 Friday he backpedaled on the last part of that prediction, but he validated the first. His 17-pound, 11-ounce collection of five largemouth pushed his two-day total to 35-2 and a sizable (for this fishery), nearly 2-pound lead over his nearest competitor.



Ott's 6 pounder leaps him into lead. (Photo: BASS)

“After today, I know those fish are there,” DeFoe said. “I feel like it’s got more potential. They’re there.”

The big bass, currently leading for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award, hit late in the day, with less than 30 minutes of fishing time remaining.



Cory Johnston Wins 2016 Costa FLW Oneida Lake and Angler of the Year!

King of the North!

by Jody White

FLW PRESS RELEASE

One of only three pros to bring limits to the stage on the final day of the Costa FLW Series presented by Ranger Boats on Oneida Lake, Cory Johnston earned the win by more than 4 pounds. In total, the Cavan, Ontario, pro toted 14 pounds, 1 ounce to the scale on the final day for a 50-4 total that earned him $32,778 and a new Ranger Z518. In addition to winning the tournament, Johnston also finished off his third Northern Division Strike King Angler of the Year title, earning a Strike King tackle pack and the deposits in the division of his choice for 2017.

Cory is " King of the North" in New York!
(Photo: FLW)

“We’ve never been here before and its fun to go out and learn a new lake,” says Cory Johnston of his and Chris’s first time on Oneida. “When you’re somewhere you haven’t been before you’re not going into the lake with a preconceived notion of what the fish were doing last time here. You can really figure it out and zone in on them real good.”

Zone in they did. Combined, the brothers rustled exactly 95 pounds of Oneida bass over three days of fishing with Cory taking the win and Chris settling for fourth place.

All week, Johnston followed a strict shallow game plan that separated him from other pros grouped up on shoals or slinging umbrella rigs on points and flats.

“The whole thing that I was fishing was isolated rock piles off the shore,” says Johnston. “When it was calm and clear like in practice you should see all these rock piles and that’s how I found all my fish. The first two days when I got here I put my trolling motor on 100 and just went looking for stuff and right away I caught a 4-pounder and a 3-pounder on topwater so I knew the big fish would be shallow and I could key in on what they were on.”

B.A.S.S. announces sites of BASSfest and Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship.

By BASS Communications

bass press release

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two special events of the 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series will be held at new, or relatively new, venues for the world’s premier bass fishing circuit, B.A.S.S. announced today.

The fan-favorite BASSfest will be held June 8-12 at Lake Texoma on the Oklahoma-Texas border, and the season finale, the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, will take place at Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake.

“Similar to the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, the Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments have become extremely popular ‘happenings’ for bass fishing fans. By taking our fishing festivals to Lake Texoma and Mille Lacs, we will expose the sport to new fan bases,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “And, our Elite Series anglers are sure to enjoy the new challenges these lakes present.”

2015 Toyota Angler of the Year Championship on Sturgeon Bay Day 2: Greg Hackney Leads as Anglers Stress.

Making the Bassmaster Classic is Everything!

By Steve Wright

bass press releaseSE

DOOR COUNTY, Wis. — The lack of drama in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race is more than compensated for at the other end of this Sturgeon Bay measuring stick.

Hackney leads event but eyes on Classic spots.
(Photo: BASS)

All the theatrics center on the final berths for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic from the AOY point standings. And it’s quite the spectacle.

Mike Iaconelli is the perfect example of how treacherous the footing can be around the 40th-place Classic cutoff mark. He felt horrible when he came off the water with only four bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces Thursday, after experiencing a two-hour loss of fishing time due to mechanical problems.

Iaconelli entered the tournament 45th in AOY points, so anything less than a stellar day would drop him even lower, right? As Iaconelli boated to the service yard for further work on a balky oil pressure system, he got a text message from his wife, Becky, telling him that he was 27th in the tournament and had moved up to 38th in the unofficial AOY standings.

“I’m like, ‘That’s not possible. Are you sure?’” Iaconelli recalled.