2024 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Harris Chain of Lakes Day 1: Garret Scores Lead with 24-02lbs!

Canadians Chris Johnston 24th, Gustafson 28th, Cory Johnston 46th & Gallant 82nd

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS Release

LEESBURG, Fla. — The combination of quantity and quality define bass tournament success, and John Garrett gladly sacrificed the former for the latter’s potential.

The Tennessee angler’s decision paid big dividends with a five-bass limit of 24 pounds, 2 ounces, which leads Day 1 of the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Harris Chain of Lakes.

“I only got seven bites today, but they were the right ones,” Garrett said. “This was a totally blessed day.”

After extreme weather postponed Thursday’s scheduled start, anglers fished under clear, sunny postfrontal conditions. Thankfully the front did not significantly drop air and water temperatures.

More importantly, the fish Garrett found in practice held their ground.

“I kinda gambled today; I went to an area that I knew had the right size fish in it,” he said. “There aren’t many fish there and they’re extremely hard to catch.”

Garrett said he made a long run from the take-off site on Lake Harris’ northwestern corner. The round-trip journey burned a big chunk of his day, but he said it was a calculated risk.

2023 Acedemy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic Day 1: Jeff Gustafson Leads with 18-08lbs!

Canadians Cory Johnston 5th, Chris Johnston 7th & Cooper Gallant 48th

By Brain Brasher 
BASSMASTER PRESS RELEASE

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jeff Gustafson’s motto during the opening round of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota seemed to be, “Why make it complicated?” The fifth-year Bassmaster Elite Series angler from Kenora, Ontario, Canada, took the lead Friday in the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing on the Tennessee River — and instead of starting over or trying to reinvent something, he caught his bass the same way he did when he won a regular-season Elite Series event on this same venue back in 2021.

Fishing the same canal that connects Fort Loudoun Reservoir and Tellico Lake where he parked himself during that 2021 event, the 40-year-old pro caught a five-bass limit of smallmouth that weighed 18 pounds, 8 ounces and positioned himself for a run at a spot in pro fishing history.

“There’s just something about this place,” he said. “I’m jiving with it, and it’s worked so far. The technique I’m doing is one of my favorites. It’s a technique that I feel like I’m probably pretty good at compared to the rest of the field.
“You don’t get that opportunity at most of the venues we go to, but here it works.”
During his 2021 victory, Gustafson used a tactic referred to as “moping” that involves identifying smallmouth on forward-facing sonar — he uses Humminbird MEGA Live technology — and dangling a bait just within their strike zone. He did the same thing on Friday and expanded the areas where it will work.

“There’s a lot of fish in those same spots as 2021, but they’ve just been fished so hard that they’re really hard to catch,” he said. “The bites are real nippy and they look at it and they’re lazy.

2019 BASS Elite Lake Guntersville Day 2: Matt Arey Moves into Lead!

Canadians Chris Johnston 9th, Cory Johnston 20th & Gustafson 67th.
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Matt Arey scores 44lbs and lead.
(Photo: BASS)

Even after a solid start on Friday, North Carolina pro Matt Arey sounded less than confident heading out for Saturday’s second round of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville.

Guntersville, after all, is one of the most popular bass fishing lakes in the world — and since a Saturday in June usually means a crowded waterway, he was worried the areas he fished Friday would no longer be reachable.

His worries proved unnecessary, however, as he caught five bass that weighed 21 pounds, 6 ounces to take the lead with a two-day total of 44 pounds.

“There were a lot of boats out there for sure,” Arey said. “But it seemed like a lot of locals were staying off a lot of the obvious stuff, and I was really pleased with the way things played out.

“When I was running to my first spot, I probably saw 50 locals that were already out there before we blasted off. But you could tell they were fishermen — very respectful.”
 
Arey’s day didn’t start well at all. At 10:30 a.m., he only had two fish that he described as “two of the smallest 15-inchers in the lake.”
 
But since he’s fishing ledges in 15 to 20 feet of water — and those areas tend to be hit or miss throughout the day — he didn’t panic.
 

Jared Lintner Wins 2018 BASS PRO SHOP Bassmaster Open Championship with 37-00lbs!

Lintner Off to Classic!
By Craig Lamb

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Lintner's win earns him a spot in 2019 Classic!
(Photo: BASS)

Dialing into the details was the ticket to victory for Jared Lintner, winner of the 2018 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Championship on Table Rock Lake.
 
Linter of Arroyo Grande, Calif., added 10 pounds, 15 ounces of bass today to push his winning total weight to 37 pounds for three days of fishing. Brandon Lester of Fayetteville, Tenn., took second \with 34-11, and Derek Hudnall of Baton Rouge, La., was third with 34-1. Bobby Lane Jr. of Lakeland, Fla., was fourth with 32-7, and Scott Suggs of Alexander, Ark., took fifth with 32-3.  
 
Weather was a key factor throughout the three-day tournament. A chilly rain on Friday was braced by sunny, unseasonably warm weather on Thursday and Saturday. The best fishing occurred during the worst weather, when the bass were most active in the low-light conditions.
 
Everyone, especially including Lintner, knew the bass were in the fall transition, moving from deep to shallow water.
 
“I knew the bass were moving shallow, just not enough to put together a reliable pattern,” he said.
 
When the bites began Lintner, took note. He discovered greater concentrations of bass holding on steeper tapering shorelines used as migration routes.
 
“It started replicating itself so I went searching for similar areas,” he explained.
 

2018 BASS Elite St. Lawrence River Day 3: David Walker Takes Lead with 72-05lbs!

Walker leads by 3 ounces.

By Thomas Allen

BASS PRESS RELEASE

David Walker drop shotting his way into the lead.
(Photo: BASS)

For the third day in a row, David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., stayed consistent with huge smallmouth bass to take the top spot heading into the final round of the 2018 Huk Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River presented by Black Velvet.
 
Walker caught a five-bass limit that weighed 22 pounds, 15 ounces to push his three-day total to 72-5 — giving himself a legitimate shot at the $100,000 first-place prize.
 
The last time the 12-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier took home top honors was in 2011 during an Elite Series derby on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake.
 
“It’s been way too long since I won on this tour, and I’m itching to take home another trophy,” Walker said. “It’s so hard to win at this level, so I know better than to take good days for granted, and the last couple of days were nothing short of magical. I sure hope I can keep the consistency going for one more day.”

Walker started Thursday’s opening round in second place, remained the same on Friday, and now he is in the lead by only 3 ounces. Arizona’s Josh Bertrand is in second after he weighed 23-9 for a three-day total of 72-2.
 
Just like most of the Top 50 anglers at this event, Walker has been moving often from spot to spot, drifting a dropshot across assorted types of structural elements. But he feels his presentation is different enough that it’s continuing to appeal to larger smallmouth bass.
 
“I shared a few spots with other anglers this week, but tomorrow I think I’ll have most of them to myself, which should only help me,” he said. “I know it sounds strange, but I know of too many places to catch a quality limit. I really had to focus on what I felt were the best locations today. I have no plans to change my game plan tomorrow. It’s been working wonders, why fix what isn’t broken?” 
 
This derby is the final regular-season event before the Top 50 pros in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race will advance to the AOY Championship event at Georgia’s Lake Chatuge in mid-September.
 

2018 Bassmaster Elite Grand Lake Day 3: KVD Jumps into Lead with 64-13lbs

KVD early morning rampage key to lead.
By Thomas Allen
BASS PRESS RELEASE

KVD on the prowl for 25th win.
(Photo: BASS)

After catching his heaviest limit of the tournament on Day 3, bass fishing superstar Kevin VanDam took over the lead at the 2018 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
 
VanDam's 22 pounds, 4 ounces was his third exceeding the 20-pound mark — a benchmark in professional bass fishing -- the only angler to do so. His three-day total is 64-13 gives him a 3-4 lead heading into the final round of the four-day Elite tournament. VanDam is looking to add to his record 24 titles on the Bassmaster tournament trail, including four Bassmaster Classic wins and seven Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year awards.
 
With $100,000 on the line for first place, and win No. 25 for the Kalamazoo, Mich., resident, VanDam is confident his fishing areas are only getting better.
 
“It’s going to take another bag of 20 pounds or better to win this thing,” he said. “I think where I’ve spent my time this week has the right fish, but as the standings will show, the other Top 12 anglers are also catching them. I’m not comfortable yet.”
 
The field will be cut down to the Top 12 anglers with VanDam leading them out on Championship Sunday.
 
“Each of us are focusing on spawning bass,” VanDam said. “And with the weather and moon phase both factors, the spots are reloading by the hour. The bass are fat and very healthy looking — plus I feel like my pattern is only getting stronger.”
 

2016 BASS Elite St. John's River Day 1: Lester Leads in Sigh Fishing Fest.

Sight Fishing key to Season Opener

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

During the final round of practice for the Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Tennessee angler Brandon Lester found a giant largemouth on a spawning bed.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

Brandon is all smiles with a 9 pounder and the lead. (Photo: BASS)

He was so excited about the fish that he texted some of his family members and told them to pay attention to Bassmaster.com when the tournament began, because he thought he could make something special happen early.                                                                                                      

Hopefully they took it to heart.

Lester went straight to the big fish Thursday morning — and caught it on his fourth cast — to set the tone for a fantastic day of sight fishing. The bass, which weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces, anchored a five-fish limit that tipped the scales at 23-13 and gave Lester the opening-round lead.