Zack Birge Wins 2026 MillerTech NPFL Stop Five on the St. Lawrence River!

Oklahoma pro adjusts on Championship Saturday to secure MillerTech NPFL Stop Five victory.

By Justin Brouillard, NPFL Press Release

Despite the lock schedule, despite the long runs, despite barge traffic, and despite watching the fish leave his primary areas, Zack Birge prevailed at the MillerTech NPFL Stop Five on the St. Lawrence River, hosted by the Town of Massena, New York. Going wire-to-wire against one of the strongest fields in professional bass fishing, the Oklahoma pro weighed a three-day total of 70-4 to claim his second NPFL victory of the 2026 season, and third national win.

Birge set the tone on Day One with 24-12 before backing it up with 22-1 on Friday to carry a 3-7 lead into Championship Saturday. But the shallow bladed jig pattern that had carried him through the opening rounds was beginning to fade as fish continued to move, forcing Birge to trust his instincts one final time.

Finishing the event in second place, Florida pro John Cox steadily worked his way up the leaderboard all week, improving from ninth after Day One to fourth after Day Two before finishing runner-up with a three-day total of 65-12. A shallow-water expert, Cox spent the week targeting smallmouth he could see, rotating between roadbeds, flats, and other hard-bottom areas while picking off individual fish with finesse presentations. He weighed limits of 21-5, 21-1, and a final-day 23-6, earning his best finish of the 2026 season and providing a much-needed boost after a slow start to the year.

Wesley Gore rounded out the top three with a three-day total of 64-15, backing up a strong opening two days with a final-round limit of 21-9 to secure his best finish of the 2026 season. Kristopher Queen finished fourth with 64-7, while defending St. Lawrence River champion Drew Cook rounded out the top five with 61-14, putting together another consistent three-day performance.

Mike Quinlin claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with a 6-pound smallmouth on Day One, the largest bass weighed during the three-day event. Darrel Robertson earned the final check of the tournament, climbing to 38th place with a Championship Saturday limit of 19-15 to finish with 51-10. 

A special happy 80th birthday to legendary angler Rick Clunn. The Hall of Famer marked the occasion with another solid finish in New York, finishing 22nd with 56-10.

Birge’s Final Day Adjustment

Rather than force a bite that was disappearing, Birge leaned on a crankbait pattern on Showdown Saturday that had produced during practice, though not with the same quality as his bladed jig. The shallow pattern carried him to a tournament-best 25-5 on Day One and another solid 21-8 on Day Two, but by Saturday morning he knew those fish were beginning to move. Rather than chase a fading bite, Birge trusted the crankbait program he had kept in his back pocket all week, and it proved to be the right decision.

2025 Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at the Upper Mississippi River Day 3: Kuphall On Verge of Wire to Wire Win!

Canadians: Cory Johnston 6th, Gallant 9th & Chris Johnston 19th

Wisconsin's Caleb Kuphall maintains the lead on Day 3 of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River with a total of 50 pounds, 12 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/BASS)

BASS Press Release

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Conditions changed, but Caleb Kuphall’s game plan did not.

Sticking with a technique he employed the previous two days, the pro from Mukwonago, Wis., tallied a three-day total of 50 pounds, 12 ounces and remained atop the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River.

Kuphall, who claimed a wire-to-wire win at the 2021 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville, took the Day 1 lead at the Upper Mississippi River with a limit of 18-15. Following with 17-3, he maintained his position by a margin of 1-13 over Bryan Schmitt, who won the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River.

On Semifinal Saturday, Kuphall added 14-10 and heads into Championship Sunday leading Schmitt by the same amount.

“I would love to win this tournament,” Kuphall said. “It would absolutely be incredible. I have a ton of family and friends that would make the trip up. I want to win it for them, for sure.”

All week, Kuphall has been fishing the middle of Pool 8 and targeting undercut banks where big fish move up to feed. Having learned this pattern over 20 years ago, Kuphall has systematically worked through particular areas where he knows the scenario occurs.

He’s mostly working in depths of 3 feet or less and, while the fish could be on any section of the undercut banks, he has found that isolated details such as a laydown tree, a weed clump or a small point tend to be most consistent.

After relatively calm conditions on Days 1 and 2 brought early action, Kuphall endured a slow Day 3 start. That was likely the result of the third day's 15- to 20-mph winds and changing river level.

“Falling water and wind pretty much wrecked my day, compared to what I’d been catching,” Kuphall said. “I think I caught one or two fish off the stuff I had been hitting. My biggest fish came the previous day’s area.

2025 Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at the Upper Mississippi River Day 1: Caleb Kuphall Scores Lead!

Wisconsin's Caleb Kuphall has taken lead on Day 1 of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River with a total of 18 pounds, 15 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/BASS) 

BASS Press Release

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Four years ago, when Caleb Kuphall claimed his first Bassmaster Elite trophy at Lake Guntersville, the Wisconsin pro leveraged his deep knowledge of northern grass fishing to pull the winning fish out of Alabama milfoil.

Today, Kuphall intentionally avoided the typically prominent local game to find the 18-pound, 15-ounce limit that leads Day 1 of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River.

Topping a tight leaderboard with only a pound and 14 ounces separating first and 10th, Kuphall leads second-place KJ Queen by an ounce. Third-place Brandon Card sits 5 ounces off the lead.

“I’m actually not fishing any grass at all,” Kuphall said. “I’m just fishing the way I like to fish up here. I mostly fish grass back home (in Mukwonago, Wis.), but I kinda avoid the grass here.

“We’ve had a major influx of eelgrass in this (area of the river) in probably the last five years. There used to be more milfoil, but most of that is gone now.”

Drawing on his solid river history, Kuphall said he did all of his work around a particular type of current break. He kept his specifics thin, but he noted that the way he’s fishing is the way he’s fished for two decades.

“I think I have something better figured out,” Kuphall said. “My first tournaments were here, way back in the early 2000s and I kinda learned this style of fishing and a particular technique throughout the years.

“This is a really consistent pattern. I caught two 4 1/2-pounders — you just don’t catch those here.”

Greg Hackney Wins 2025 NPFL on Lake Norman!

 

Hackney's last day heroics best KJ Queen by 10 ounces.
(Photo: by Tanner & Travis Lyons/ NPFL)

By Justin Brouillard, NPFL Press Release

After weigh-in on Day Two, Gonzales, Louisiana pro Greg Hackney predicted that the consistent weather would improve the bite across the board, and his forecast proved true. Catching his biggest bag of the week—17 pounds—on the final day, Hackney secured his first NPFL victory with a total weight of 47 pounds, 11 ounces.

Finishing in second, North Carolina angler KJ Queen began Day One with 15 pounds, 8 ounces, added 14 pounds on Day Two despite a big lost fish that hurt his chances at victory, and then delivered the second-largest bag of the event on Finale Friday with 17 pounds, 9 ounces. His total weight of 47 pounds, 1 ounce kept him just shy of Hackney’s lead.

Kyle Welcher overcame a slow Day One and came back strong with 19 pounds, 13 ounces on Day Two. However, a tougher Day Three weight of 12 pounds, 8 ounces, and a total weight of 45 pounds, 1 ounce, moved him to third. After his Bassmaster Elite win in North Carolina the week before, Welcher continues to build on his momentum.

Patrick Walters, who started and finished in fourth, earned 44 pounds, 13 ounces, securing another NPFL top-5 finish and a solid payday. Seth Ellis rounded out the top five with a total of 42 pounds, 14 ounces.

Kyle Welcher’s 5-pound, 10-ounce largemouth on Day Two was the big bass of the event.

Largemouth Seal The Deal

Leading after Day One with 16 pounds, 6 ounces, Greg Hackney struggled to find largemouth on Day Two, finishing with a limit of spotted bass weighing 14 pounds, 5 ounces. But the largemouth returned in full force on the final day, and Hackney found his rhythm when it mattered most.

“I went to my spotted bass holes this morning to try and get a solid start, and the largemouth showed up again,” Hackney said. “I looked in the same area yesterday, which was a great day for sight fishing, and only saw one fish. Today was slow and steady—one good one here, one good one there—and I never got shaken up.”