Emil Wagner Wins 2025 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Champlain presented by Bass Pro Shops; John Crews Advances to 2026 Classic!

Elite Series pro Emil Wagner claims the title at the very first Elite Qualifier tournament on Lake Champlain. 

By Andrew Canulette

BASS Press Release

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Before the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Champlain presented by Bass Pro Shops even started, Emil Wagner was telling anyone who would listen how much he loves this lake.

Now that the tournament is complete, he can shout it even louder.

Wagner, a 27-year-old Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro, topped the 105-angler field with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 69 pounds, 2 ounces. That’s the heaviest three-day winning total on Champlain in B.A.S.S. history, which is saying a lot given how frequently B.A.S.S. has visited this 278,000-acre mammoth fishery that forms a large portion of the New York/Vermont border.

Because Wagner is already qualified for next year’s Elites, he was one of 10 anglers in the field who wasn’t eligible to earn EQ points at Champlain. He made the 20-plus hour journey from Marietta, Ga., because he enjoys fishing Champlain more than any other tournament water in the world. There was also a $58,049 check awaiting the winner, which Wagner happily pocketed after hoisting the first Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops trophy aloft Saturday afternoon at Plattsburgh Boat Basin on the Champlain shore.

“I asked my buddies when we were on the way up here, ‘Why are we driving this far to fish this tournament?’” Wagner said. “We all just love catching smallmouth … This place is the absolute best.”

Wagner climbed atop the leaderboard on Day 2 after catching a 23-9 limit, which tied for second heaviest of the derby. Combined with the 22-2 he caught on Day 1, he entered Championship Saturday with 45-11 and a mere 2-ounce lead over Day 1 leader Matt Messer.

Wagner caught 23-7 on Saturday to pull away from Messer, who caught 22-12 on the final day and finished second overall with 68-5. 

The 23-year-old native of Warfield, Ky., said finishing second was bittersweet, but he was happy to leave Champlain with a full 95 EQ points. That puts him atop the EQ standings with two of the three EQ events to go — at Alabama’s Wheeler Lake on Oct. 2-4 and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee on Nov. 13-15. The Top 10 in the EQ points standings when those events are complete will earn invites into the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series.