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.”

2021 Bassmaster Elite St. Lawrence River Day 1: Bernie Schultz Leads with 25-05lbs!

Chris & Cory Johnston Tied for 2th & Gustafson 15th

Bernie Schultz, of Gainesville, Fla., is leading after Day 1 of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with 25 pounds, 5 ounces. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

WADDINGTON, N.Y. — A patient approach to what Bernie Schultz described as a slow area rewarded the Gainesville, Fla., pro with a five-bass limit that weighed 25 pounds, 5 ounces to lead Day 1 of the Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.

 

“I found a spot near where I fished last year,” Schultz said of his upriver area, near Chippewa Bay. “I haven’t seen another tournament boat in two years and I hope I don’t — unless it’s a camera boat.”

 

Schultz, whose best finish on the St. Lawrence was sixth place in 2013, described his spot as a flat approximately 200 yards long with depths of 3 to 8 feet. Starting on one end of the flat in practice, he quickly caught a 4-pounder, and by the time he’d completed his drift, he had another 4- and two 3-pounders.

 

“It’s a really good area and it’s protected,” Schultz said. “That’s what I like about it — it has everything the fish want and it has everything I need to fish, no matter what the weather does.

 

“There are numerous islands and I’m cradled right in the middle of them. I decided to start there today and it was a good call. It started quickly and I left them biting.”

 

Despite an impressive performance, which included the day’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass — a 6-2 — Schultz said the spot he fished required such a laborious effort that he believes most anglers would have abandoned it.

 

“It’s a precise drift that I’m making,” he said. “It’s slow enough that if anyone practiced there, they probably would have gotten discouraged.

 

“The fish are in certain sections of the flat and I had to locate them today because they moved a little bit. I had a 5, that 6-2 and a 3-pounder pretty quickly, but after that I had to move around on the flat to find them.”

 

Schultz fished a diverse arsenal of baits including a 1/2-ounce Hildebrandt Drum Roller spinnerbait, a Shimano jerkbait (debuting next week at ICAST), a 1/8-ounce black Marabou jig, a drop shot with a green pumpkin Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm and a Ned rig with a 3-inch green pumpkin watermelon laminate Yamamoto Senko.

2017 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship: Palaniuk Leads AOY; Combs Leads with 24-15lbs!

Palaniuk leads AOY; Combs tops weight

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Who is be the Angler of the Year?
(Photo: BASS)

It’s rare for an angler to finish 19th in the first round of a major tournament and end up totally setting the buzz for the event.

It’s rarer still for that angler to seem totally satisfied with his performance.

But after catching 21 pounds, 4 ounces of smallmouth bass and placing 19th Thursday, Brandon Palaniuk seemed to sense he was closing in on the goal he set before this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship — and that was to win his first career AOY title.

His 19th-place finish on Mille Lacs Lake — combined with a 26th-place finish by his closest AOY competitor Jason Christie (20-8) and a ninth-place showing by Tennessee pro Jacob Wheeler (22-10) — kept Palaniuk in the AOY lead by a margin of 22 points.

The three-time B.A.S.S. winner from Hayden, Idaho, is now just two more solid days away from the biggest accomplishment of his pro-fishing career.

“I was hoping to catch 23 pounds a day,” Palaniuk said. “I figured that would be enough to give me a chance to win the actual event this week — and if I win, the AOY will take care of itself. So now, I just have to go out and catch 25 (Friday) to even it out.”

Palaniuk started near the launch site at Eddy's Resort, but he rarely stayed in one spot long as he culled his way up to 21-4.

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.

Greg Hackney's Day 1 Catch DQ due to Illegal Fishing in Marina

AOY Drama! 
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Louisiana angler Greg Hackney came into this week’s Busch Beer Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake with a commanding lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race — and it seemed for a while on Day 1 like he had maintained that lead.
 
Hackney caught 17 pounds, 8 ounces to land in 36th place, but it was announced after Thursday’s weigh-in that his catch had been disqualified.
 
“Greg Hackney’s Day 1 catch was disqualified for fishing in an off-limits area,” said B.A.S.S. Tournament Director Trip Weldon. “ There are several of these off-limits areas on Cayuga Lake. These areas were marked and confirmed with law enforcement. Then we took several steps to make the anglers aware of the areas, including posting them at the pre-tournament meeting Wednesday night.”
 
Hackney could not be reached for comment.
 
On glacier lakes in New York, state law says all man-made marinas and boat basins are private property. There are 11 such areas on Cayuga.
 
After the disqualification, Hackney fell from first place to fourth in Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, 37 points behind new leader Gerald Swindle. Jacob Powroznik is second, followed by Takahiro Omori.

2016 BASS Elite Cayuga Lake Day 1: Shimizu Smashes into Lead with 23!

5 Big Mammas!

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

As a native of Osaka, Japan, Morizo Shimizu doesn’t speak quite as much English as the average angler on the Bassmaster Elite Series.

But he knows the words “Big Mama” very well.

That’s the nickname he uses for the size bass he likes to catch — and on Thursday, he caught five of them.

Big largemouth key for Japanese pro.
(Photo: BASS)

Shimizu, an 11-year veteran of the Elite Series, brought 23 pounds, 6 ounces to the scales and took the first-round lead in the Busch Beer Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake. His catch was anchored by a 6-3 largemouth that he said came during the afternoon hours.

“I catch about eight fish all day,” Shimizu said in his usual broken English. “But I only catch five big ones. I caught fish early and late — all day long — from about 5 feet of water. But the biggest one came during afternoon.”

Including Shimizu’s mammoth catch, the 107-angler field produced 12 bags that weighed 20 pounds or more. It took 19-5 to make the Top 20 and 16-15 to make the Top 50 — the highest Day 1 mark needed to make the Top 50 this year.

Spawning smallmouth played a role for many anglers, but Shimizu opted to fish for largemouth because the smallies he located during practice had disappeared.

“I saw some on beds, but they had gone,” he said. “I don’t know if somebody caught them or if they just left. But they weren’t there anymore.”

New Jersey pro Michael Iaconelli was second with 21-15 — and like Shimizu, he chose to concentrate mainly on largemouth.

Greg Hackney Wins 2016 BASS Elite Lake Texoma Tournament with 66-2lbs

Giant jig key to win. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., started the day in third place, but weighed in 17 pounds, 15 ounces on Championship Sunday to increase his four-day winning total to 66-2 at the GEICO Bassmaster BASSfest presented by Choctaw Casino and Resort at Lake Texoma.

A win plus lead of BASS Angler of the Year! (Photo: BASS)

With his win, Hackney earned the $100,000 first-place prize and a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic. Hackney’s final limit of bass helped him slip past Brandon Card of Caryville, Tenn., by a slim margin of 1-15.

Hackney, the 2014 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year, knew he needed to have a solid day to contend for the win. As a result, he fished his spots in reverse order because the larger fish were biting later in day.

2016 BASSfest Lake Texoma Day 2: BASSfest get Hacked!

Hackey and Swindle Battle for Lead and AOY
By Thomas Allen
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Greg shinning in shallow water. (Photo BASS)

“You live by the sword, you die by the sword.”

Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., uttered those words immediately after he weighed in a 20-pound, 2-ounce limit to take the lead Thursday during the GEICO Bassmaster BASSfest presented by Choctaw Casino and Resort at Lake Texoma.

Hackney’s two-day combined weight of 35-12 bumped Wednesday’s leader Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., into second place by 1 pound, 2 ounces.

“Yesterday I fished a pattern that produced some solid fish, and today it was more of the same thing — they were just bigger,” Hackney said. “The bite has been pretty unpredictable, but I’ve been able to narrow it down to one bait. It’s risky business relying on one presentation, because it could pay off big and win me this tournament, or it could end up costing me.”

Hackney came into this event leading the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race, and he said it was his objective to strengthen that lead by staying consistent on the water.

“I’m a long ways from winning Angler of the Year, but I knew that a good finish here would put me one step closer,” said Hackney, the 2014 Bassmaster Angler of the Year. “I’m not concerning myself with anything other than tomorrow. If I can stay on the pattern and put together another solid limit, then I’ll start thinking about winning the derby. Right now, I’m just thankful for another great day.”

Chris Zaldain Wins 2015 BASS All-Star Event!

Ten Anglers Get Bounced from Classic!

By Thomas Allen

bass press release 

DOOR COUNTY, Wis. — Thrills and heartbreaks were center stage on Sunday at the 2015 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Sturgeon Bay, Wis. Titles were earned, goals became reality and dreams turned to dust at the final Bassmaster Elite Series event of the year.

Chris wins with Megabass swim bait.
(Photo: BASS)

Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., was crowned 2015 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and Brent Ehrler of Newport Beach, Calif., wrapped up a very dominant freshman year on the Elite Series and was named Rookie of the Year.

Martens collected $100,000 for winning Angler of the Year, his third title. Justin Lucas finished second in the season-long points race and earned $55,000, while Dean Rojas, third in points, earned $45,000

Heartbreak is a big part of this sport, but it is especially pertinent at the AOY Championship. Out of the Top 50, only 40 would earn a berth into the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro on Oklahoma’s famed Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.

Following Thursday’s weigh-in, the top 24 anglers locked in their positions to fish in the Classic next March, but Classic cutoff is 40th place, meaning 10 anglers would return home disappointed.

2015 Bassmaster Elite Chesapeake Bay Day 2: A- Mart Continues to Lead!

Martens keeps lead but Pipkens, Jocumsen less than a pound back!

By Bryan Brasher

bass press release

NORTH EAST, Md. – Aaron Martens took another step toward his second victory of the season Friday, bringing in five bass that weighed 15 pounds in the Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay.

The weight pushed Martens’ two-day total to 32-8 and kept him in the lead for a second straight day. But two young anglers, Michigan’s Chad Pipkens (31-13) and Australian Carl Jocumsen (31-12), are less than a pound back, and reigning Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Greg Hackney (30-5) is within easy-striking distance.

Aaron spins spinnerbaits along dock post to capture the lead.
(Photo: Steve Bowman BASS)

Martens, who has performed well in tougher tournaments throughout his career, said he doesn’t know how long his pattern will hold up.

Walmart FLW Tour Potomac River Day 2: Wendlandt Leads on Difficult Day!

AOY is Scott Martin's to lose.

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Clark Wendlandt makes top 10s. It’s just what he does almost better than almost anyone else. In fact, he’s tied for the second most top 10s in Walmart FLW Tour history with 28.

So seeing Wendlandt’s name in the sixth-place slot after day one of the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on the Potomac River really should have been no surprise. Of course, Wendlandt also has three Tour victories, and he’s put himself in contention for No. 4 after posting the second-largest limit of day two – 17 pounds, 3 ounces – to overtake Adrian Avena and Bryan Schmitt for the top spot.

His two-day total is 32-10.

“I had a good day; pretty similar to yesterday,” Wendlandt says. “I just had that 5-pounder today.”

Clark take slim lead as anglers go into weekend. (Photo: FLW)

Like many of the other top anglers, the pro from Leander, Texas, has found an area of the river pretty much to himself and has been tight-lipped about his exact pattern. He is covering a lot of water, though, and many of the spots he fished today were the same as on day one.

That fact would worry Wendlandt if the tournament was being held on a lake, as he doesn’t know if his pattern would hold up on other types of fisheries. However, being that the Potomac is a tidal fishery, he’s far more optimistic.

2013 BASS Elite Angler of the Year Rankings

The Top 5 Elite anglers for 2013 season.

RNK	NAME	ST	PTS
1	Aaron Martens	AL	652
2	Edwin Evers	OK	640
3	Kevin VanDam	MI	624
4	Bobby Lane	FL	619
5	Keith Combs	TX	608

Brent Chapman is 2012 Bassmaster Angler of the Year

By Deb Johnson

Aug 25, 2012

Bass press release

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Maybe Brent Chapman will let up now. The man many regard as the most focused, single-minded angler of the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series has accomplished exactly what he set out to do at the beginning of the season.
Saturday, Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan., was crowned 2012 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, one of the sport’s prestigious achievements. The title comes with a $100,000 prize.

What a year! He wins an Open, then an Elite
and finishes with AOY!
(Photos: BASS)

“This is what we all strive for,” Chapman said as he accepted the trophy in front of a crowd at The Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, where the Bassmaster Elite Series is holding its final two weigh-ins of the regular season.
“I feel like a huge weight has been taken off my back,” Chapman said. “To achieve a lifetime goal — well, I’ve never done that before. It’s probably going to take several days before it sinks in. It’s truly unbelievable.”
The newly crowned Angler of the Year triumphed in the most hotly-contested race in many years. He took the lead in points after the third event. One of his closest friends and traveling buddy, Randy Howell, was one of his strongest threats. Howell even took the lead from Chapman at one point (but they remain friends to this day). Todd Faircloth, and after him, Ott DeFoe, stepped up and turned up the heat.
Coming into the final event on Oneida Lake, Chapman was 13 points ahead of DeFoe, and 20 points in front of Faircloth. Others, such as Terry Scroggins, could have made a run on Chapman by shining at Oneida and walking through a door Chapman opened if he had made mistakes.
It would have taken both that open door and a stellar performance at the New York event to catch Chapman. He remained focused, he worked on his tackle until the wee hours each day, and he slept when he could. He was always forthright about the state of his nerves — up, then settled, then keyed high, then easier again. Even under the extra pressure, he remained gracious — and all along was a contender for the Ramada Championship title.

Walmart FLW Tour Lake Champlain: David Dudley Wins Everything!

Angler of the Year claims second 2012 FLW Tour Major win at Lake Champlain

by By David A. Brown
FLW Press Release

Dudley Wins the Event.
Yesterday he won Angler of the Year!
(Photos: FLW)

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – David Dudley makes no bones about the fact that he went through a slump. But if anyone needed evidence to prove that he's fully recovered from that downturn, this would have been a good week to be watching.
Not only did the Castrol pro from Lynchburg, Va. win his second FLW Tour Major event of 2012 – this one on Lake Champlain, following an April victory on Beaver Lake – but he also clinched the Angler of the Year title. Notably, he's tied with Texas pro Clark Wendlant for the most AOY titles (3), but Dudley also won the points race in 2011, so this year's title gives him the distinction of becoming the only angler in FLW history to win consecutive years. All this, Dudley said, came after some serious soul searching and a firm commitment to recapturing the passion and precision that led to his first AOY crown in 2008.

Deep grass was the ticket but on Day 4
he had to move shallower.

A few years ago, when he found his performance slipping, Dudley did a couple of things to get himself back on track: First, he upgraded his equipment by fitting his boat with PowerPoles and investing in new electronics with all the bells and whistles. That's the hardware part. The other part, arguably the most significant, involved taking himself through an intensive refresher course on what it means to do this stuff for a living.
"In 2008, I got a pretty big head because I started looking at my stats and thinking, 'Wow, I'm pretty good,'" Dudley said. "Then, in 2009, I did okay, but I faltered. After 2009 and into 2010, I realized I wasn't doing something right. Typically, I never fish unless I have a tournament, but in 2010 I started bass fishing; going to lakes like Smith Mountain and Buggs Island. It's like a runner who runs 5 miles. You can't just get up and run a 5-minute mile without training yourself. I realized that so I started training myself again.

Walmart FLW Tour - FLW Tour Majors Day 2: David Dudley Controls Champlain

29.Jun.2012 by By David A. Brown
FLW Press Release

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The calm, cooperative Lake Champlain that treated anglers to downright fun fishing on day one morphed into angry, wind-whipped waters on day two. Nevertheless, day-one leader David Dudley hunkered down, made some key decisions and retained his top spot at the FLW Tour Major event.
The Castrol GTX pro from Lynchburg, Va. returned to the same general area that, a day earlier, produced the event's heaviest sack – 24 pounds – and found the fish a little less aggressive. Today, he caught a limit that went 18-15, pushed his total to 42-15 and expanded his lead to 3-13. When it came to location and specific baits, Dudley held his cards low, but he was forthcoming about how his day required careful attention to stealth and a strong mental effort.

David can smell the Angler of the Year title.
(Photos: FLW)

"Wind always makes things tougher just because of boat control and casting ability, but does the wind make them stop biting? I don't know," he said. "With (windy conditions) you make a lot of noise like the trolling motor (coming out of the water in the waves). Those bass can hear you from a long distance away.
"With the water so clear, it doesn't help things, but wind helps a lot of things in fishing. There are a lot of different factors and I can't weigh one heavier than the other."
On the mental game, Dudley noted that changes in weather like today's addition of 20-mph winds will test an angler's ability to interpret the cause-and-effect riddle and take the appropriate action.
"You have to do the best you can do and manage the best you can manage," he said. "That's what separates a lot of anglers from other anglers – how you handle wind, how you handle rain, how you handle decisions on the water. You have to be able to do that."

Bassmaster Elite Dixie Duel Wheeler Lake Day 3 Mid Day Report

By Luigi De Rose

According to the stats on www.bassmaster.com it looks like fishing has been a bit slow. Saturday is a strange day on lakes that have water generation. Electricity demands from industry decrease so water movement through the turbines decreases. For anglers wishing for the current to jump start the bass activity, they might be out of luck. How many hours can you wait on a good spot waiting for it to turn on? Many leave with the hope of better fishing only to miss the peak activity on the place they just left. 

Tournament fishing is a game of decisions and this one is a dicey game.
Here are the unofficial stats from bass at 10am.

 

Place	Angler	Fish	Day Three	Total
1	Kevin VanDam	5	17-00	48-02
2	Ott Defoe	5	12-13	45-10
3	David Walker	3	7-03	42-06
4	Greg Hackney	4	7-04	41-09
5	Kelly Jordon	5	12-13	39-10
6	Timmy Horton	3	6-12	37-11
7	Skeet Reese	2	4-00	37-02
8	Randy Howell	5	9-14	35-13
9	Russ Lane	5	9-02	35-11
10	Keith Combs	4	8-08	34-06
11	Bradley Roy	2	1-06	34-01
12	Brent Chapman	5	9-06	34-00
13	Casey Ashley	5	9-11	33-13
14	Travis Manson	4	5-11	33-00
15

Bassmaster Elite Dixie Duel Wheeler Lake day 1 and 2 recap

What's going on!?
By Luigi De Rose

Sorry for the delay but here is a photo essay on the Wheeler Lake Tournament. Wheeler Lake is the last official stop on the 2011 Bassmaster Tour Season. Many anglers are killing themselves to finish high enough in the points to qualify for the Classic. Others have no chance and are just trying to cut a good cheque. Also, there is the very important Angler of the Year (AOY) race in full swing.

So, lets try and figure out what is going on. Wheeler is a TVA lake in Alabama and has current flow created by electrical power generation. Bass mood is effected and affected by the current. The weather is hot and bass should be in a summer time pattern but don't count on it; it has been a weak spring.

Many expect the cranking anglers to win and they might. Summer means off-shore cranking, big worms, a few jigs and even a spoon tossed in. This means KVD should be at the top of the standings but he isn't in the Top 5 but who cares when it seems that he'll win another AOY.

Thursday, which was Day 1 saw Ott DeFoe take the lead and on Friday, David Walker is sitting atop the leader board. Both are considered new to BASS but both are very seasoned anglers with a lot of talent. Each one wants to fish the Classic and it looks like they will finish well.  

This photo essay is courtesy of BASS photographers: Rob Russow, Seigo Saito, James Overstreet and Darrel Jacobson

Tim Horton and Kevn Wirth are sharing an off-shore spot. Sharing is the key work.

Horton battles a good one as Russ Lane watches.

Bass Master Classic 2011 Preview: Getting Pumped Up!

All tournament anglers have dreamt of holding a trophy of a big tournament over their head. There is no more prestigious crown than the Bass Master Classic. Here are a few cool videos that will get your heart pumping. 


The first is an awesome promo video for BASS. The song, the anglers, the helicopter chasing you at the start a fishing day. Totally inspiring. 

Bassmaster ESPN Promo Video

This second one is a historical ride through the history of BASS Angler of the Year.

A Look Back: 39 Years of AOY (2009)

Enjoy and check back soon for all your BASSMASTER CLASSIC COVERAGE!