2025 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller Day 2: Andrew Loberg Leads!

Canadians: Chris Johnston 6th, Cory Johnston 7th,  Kung 14, Gallant 20th & Gustafson 49th

Alabama's Andrew Loberg maintains the lead on Day 2 of the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller with a total of 35 pounds, 13 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/ BASS)

BASS Press Release 

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Growing up on the California Delta, Andrew Loberg is plenty comfortable fishing shallow, and that has been on full display so far this week at the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller.

With a total of 35 pounds, 13 ounces, the 31-year-old pro leads the 101 boat field after two days of competition. Loberg backed up his 17-9 Day 1 bag with 18-4 on Friday, giving him a 12-ounce advantage over Texas pro Keith Combs. The gap between Combs and third-place Bob Downey is over 4 pounds. 

“Fishing the Delta, you have to run a tide and most of the time you have to have a big flipping stick,” Loberg said. “The water fluctuation on Tenkiller correlates to the tide a little bit. It makes sense to me and I can run around and see what looks good.”

The style of fishing in Oklahoma has suited Loberg in his first two trips to the Sooner State. He claimed a second-place finish at Lake Eufaula last year during the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN throwing a square-bill and a jig. 

“There are big largemouth and they like to stay shallow,” Loberg said. “Even offshore fishing, they stay in 10 to 15 feet of water and that’s still shallow. I feel comfortable doing a lot of that type of stuff. The reservoirs aren’t gin clear. I don’t know, there’s something about these lakes I get honed in on.” 

While the lake level stabilized some, falling at a slower rate than it did between the day off and Day 1, the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pros battled heavy rains and thunderstorms the majority of Friday morning. Despite the adverse conditions, the entire field caught a five-bass limit for the second day in a row. 

Building off of his Day 1 performance, Loberg power fished in the shallows the entire day. Along with a flipping bait, moving baits like ChatterBaits, swim jigs and squarebills also produced key bites. Loberg even caught a bass on a buzzbait and a frog. 

His best areas have had a shad present. 

“I’ve been just rolling into a stretch, seeing what it looks like and then throwing whatever I think will work,” he said. “When something looks good, there is more bait than in other places.”

The water has dropped out of some of Loberg’s areas between Day 1 and Day 2, and the water has cleared up. He doesn’t know, however, how Friday’s heavy rainfall will impact the lake. 

Loberg started the morning fishing a shad spawn around a marina, and lost a 4-pounder early in the morning, a fish Davy Hite speculated was caught by fellow Elite Series pro Chris Johnston several hours later. Despite the missed opportunity, he was able to fill out a limit quickly.

2025 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller Day 1: Andrew Loberg Scores 17-09lbs for Lead!

Canadians: Chris & Cory Johnston 6th, Gallant 26th, Gustafson 31 & Kung 36

Alabama's Andrew Loberg has taken the lead on Day 1 of the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller with a total of 17 pounds, 9 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/ BASS)

BASS Press Release 

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — On a lake where the only constant seems to be change, Andrew Loberg took advantage of the conditions on Day 1 of the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller. 

The California native caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces to lead the field after one day of competition on the eastern Oklahoma reservoir. He holds an 8-ounce advantage over second-place Trey McKinney. Wisconsin’s Bob Downey is third with 16-2.

Lake Tenkiller has fluctuated greatly thanks to heavy rains that spread over the area ahead of official practice. From the final day of practice on Tuesday to the start of Day 1, the water fell several feet and anglers were forced to scramble to adjust. 

The field of 101 anglers adjusted well, however, as each pro landed a limit, with 90 of those limits weighing over 10 pounds. Mixed bags of smallmouth and largemouth crossed the scales, but it was Loberg's bag of largemouth that led the way.  

“I think the conditions played really well for me,” he said. “I think the low pressure system helped the big largemouth eat a little bit better than other stuff going on.”  

While this is his first tournament at Lake Tenkiller, Loberg has shown early in his Bassmaster career he’s comfortable in Oklahoma. During the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN season, Loberg notched a second-place finish down the road at Lake Eufaula. 

Loberg isn’t dialed in necessarily. He has 30 rods on the front deck of his bass boat and is testing both offshore and shallow patterns. On Day 1, the shallows won out as he caught all largemouth. 

“It was 50/50 between shallow and deep,” he said. “It is a timing thing, for sure. There are so many boats hitting the same stuff and I think I got lucky and pulled up on the right stretch at the right time. There were boats all over the place.”

2024 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors on Grand Lake Day 2: Justin Hamner Widens Lead!

Canadians Gallant 6th, Cory Johnston 20th, Chris Johnston 22nd & Gustafson 31st

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS Release

Since practice began last week, Alabama pro Justin Hamner says he hasn’t been able to duplicate two patterns from one day to the next.

That trend continued Saturday, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting him adversely.

Hamner caught yet another five-bass limit that weighed 20 pounds and increased his two-day total to 42 pounds, 6 ounces, to maintain the lead in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.

Hamner, who has seemed strangely calm all week, said his only plan for Championship Sunday is to “win the Bassmaster Classic.” Beyond that, he isn’t sure what he’ll be doing once the tournament resumes.

“The dream is going pretty good so far, but we’ve still got one more day,” said Hamner, who is fishing only his second career Classic. “I had to do something totally different today than what I did on the first day of the tournament. The area I started in this morning had completely changed, and I left there around 10 or 10:30 (a.m.).

“In my new spot, I immediately caught three big ones and left there.”

Hamner had been hoping that increased winds would improve his bite. But on Saturday, he said it actually hurt him and forced him to change his plans.

“Yesterday, when I caught all of those fish in those creeks, there was zero bait,” he said. “Today, the wind actually blew directly into those creeks and the fish were more active. They were feeding on the bait, but I could not get those fish to bite.

“It was the weirdest thing and I have no explanation for it.”

The forecast for Championship Sunday calls for 20 to 30 mph winds with occasional gusts up to 40 mph. Hamner said he plans to start on the same brushpiles where he caught his best fish Saturday — and if that doesn’t work, he’ll redirect on the fly once again.

2024 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors on Grand Lake Day 1: Justin Hamner Scores 22-06lbs for Lead!

Canadians Chris Johnston 17th, Gallant 28th, Gustafson 29th & Cory Johnston 38th!

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS Release

TULSA, Okla. — “I’m leading the Bassmaster Classic,” said Justin Hamner, sounding as much like he was asking a question as making a statement. 

But it was 100% true. 

The young pro from Northport, Ala., weighed in 22 pounds, 6 ounces Friday to take the Day 1 lead at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors. The fourth-year member of the Bassmaster Elite Series found a pattern on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees that placed him just over a pound ahead of Missouri pro Cody Huff and continued the flow of what has been a dream 2024 season. 

“This whole year has just been so much fun,” said Hamner, who opened his Elite Series season with a 14th-place finish at Toledo Bend and a third-place showing at Lake Fork last month. “I’ve just been fishing free and doing what I want to do with no stress. I’m just going back to my roots and bass fishing knowing it’s my only job for the first time ever.

“It still hits me sometimes that this is the first year that I don’t have to have a side job anymore. This is what I do now — and obviously, I couldn’t be any happier than I am right now.”

2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic Presented by Huk Day 1: New Scores Lead with 20lbs

Canadians Cory Johnston 22nd, Chris Johnston 34th & Gustafson 39th

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Bryan New sacks 20 pounds even to keep tight field at bay. 
(Photo: BASS)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — As it turns out, competing in professional bass fishing’s biggest event is quite a bit easier with two good arms.

After struggling through last year’s world championship with a broken right wrist, a healthy Bryan New weighed in five bass Friday for 20 pounds to take the first-round lead in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk on Lake Hartwell.

New, who has extensive tournament history on Hartwell, narrowly outpaced Alabama pro Kyle Welcher (18-13), Louisiana veteran Greg Hackney (18-9) and Alabamian Steve Kennedy (18-9) on a day when 18 anglers brought at least 16 pounds to the scales.

“Honestly, I feel like this is my first Classic,” said New, who suffered the broken wrist during practice for last year’s Classic on Lake Ray Roberts in Texas. “I’m not saying I would have won last year if I had two hands. But I’m a natural right-hander, so trying to learn how to reel left-handed at the Classic wasn’t a good situation.”

New targeted boat docks Friday to catch five bass that were all in the 3 1/2- to 5-pound range. He was tight-lipped about his baits and presentations, saying only that he’s using a combination of “slow-moving baits and fast-moving reaction baits.”

But he said all the bass he weighed came off boat docks — and since that’s easily his favorite structure to fish, he plans to stick with them as long as he can.

“I think there’s a really good chance this tournament could be won fishing boat docks,” said New, who holds career victories on the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by Mossy Oak Fishing circuit and the Bassmaster Elite Series. “I probably fished a hundred docks today and really caught them off six or seven.

“Those docks may replenish or they may not, but there are plenty of docks on this lake. It’s not like you’re gonna run out.”

While he plans to start right back on his dock pattern Saturday, New knows there could be a time when he has to catch a fish around some other type of structure before the tournament is done.

“At some point in the tournament, I’ll have to mix in some other stuff,” he said. “Maybe not tomorrow, but then again maybe tomorrow.

“It’s not something I want to do. I caught my very first bass around a boat dock — and as of right now, the very last one.”

Welcher was even more tight-lipped about how he caught his bass, saying only that he expected more fish to be moving shallow with the weather as warm as it’s been.

Putting almost 19 pounds in the livewell Friday reminded him of one solid day he had during practice. But he said he also had days when he only got a handful of bites and it was hard to catch even a 3-pounder.

“The bass can literally be anywhere here,” Welcher said. “The difference between catching a 1 1/4-pounder or catching a 4-pounder can be just a few casts. It’s a really fine line between bringing in 12 pounds and bringing in 20.

“I’m just gonna try to get as many bites as I can and hope they weigh a lot.”

Like New, Kennedy spent time targeting docks and managed to land the Berkley Big Bass of the day — a 6-7 largemouth — around one after whiffing on the fish the first time it bit. He wouldn’t say which bait the big bass missed. But after resisting the urge to cast back to it, he came back almost an hour later and landed the fish on a wacky-rigged Senko.

“I saw the fish come up and inhale the bait the first time it bit, and I didn’t even nick it,” Kennedy said. “It’s just hard when you see it all happen in front of you. I didn’t hammer it to death with that same bait. I just circled back around to it later and caught it on that Senko.”

Kennedy said he saw bass all day on his electronics, but getting them to bite in superclear water was tough. While he caught 15 bass, he said he could have caught a lot more.

“I felt like it was just a terrible day of execution,” Kennedy said. “I lost a 5-pounder that I had hooked up. I missed that 6-7 the first time it bit.

“I just always say if I catch the bites I get, I’ll be in the hunt. I didn’t do it completely today.”

Hackney said he spent his day “junk fishing,” meaning he did a little bit of everything — largely because he couldn’t dial in a single pattern that produced all day. His bag included a 5-pound largemouth and a 4-pound spotted bass.

“It was hard for me to get bites,” Hackney said. “I chose the area I’m fishing because I can fish for one species and turn around [and] fish for the other.

“The spots have gotten bigger on this lake — and a 4-pounder is a 4-pounder.”

The tournament resumes Saturday with takeoff at 7 a.m. ET from Green Pond Landing and Event Center. After Saturday’s weigh-in, only the Top 25 anglers will advance to Championship Sunday with a $300,000 first-place prize and the most coveted trophy in the sport on the line.

2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the Potomac River Day 2: Hibdon Continues Lead!

Canadian Erik Luzak 109th

Another generation of the Hibdon clan using a jig to claim the
lead for a second day. (Photo: MLF) 

Kyle Wood

TACKLE WAREHOUSE PRO CIRCUIT 

Press Release 

Day 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the Potomac River was tougher for some, but not for leader Lawson Hibdon, who bested his Thursday weight and added another 17 pounds, 8 ounces to his total to bring himto 34-8 after two days. Extending his lead to more than 2 pounds, Hibdon is looking to keep on pace for a win in his rookie season, though it won’t be an easy road as some certified hammers sit in the rearview waiting to strike.

Still, Lawson has proven to be one of the most consistent pros in the field, though he says his Day 2 looks better on paper than it actually was.

“It started off a lot slower than I was hoping,” Hibdon said. “I really thought that I was going to be able to pull up to a stretch of docks and catch about 12 pounds in the first 30 minutes and I didn’t.

“It was a lot tougher day today, and it doesn’t look like it, but it was. I only caught eight or nine keepers and had about 15 bites but they were just missing it and it was a weird day.”

With years of experience on Ozark fisheries, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hibdon has been catching fish off docks. What may come as a surprise is the fact he’s leaning on grass as well and doing a good job of it.

“It’s probably a 50-50 split,” he said of his grass and hard-cover pattern. “Some of the bigger ones I’ve caught have been around docks, rocks and basically anything that looks right. I’m just going until I see something that looks right, but about half of ‘em have been out of the grass too.”

2021 Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River Day 1: Brock Mosley Sacks 15-10lbs for Lead!

Canadians Chris Johnston 21st, Cory Johnston 35th & Gustafson 79th

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Mosley tops the field where ounces count. 
(Photo: BASS)

A last-minute decision to run two hours to the Houston area rewarded Brock Mosley with a five-fish limit of 15 pounds, 10 ounces, which leads Day 1 of the 2021 Dovetail Games Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River sponsored by Bassmaster Fishing 2022 – the official video game of B.A.S.S.

 

Familiar with the potential of the tournament’s western boundary, Mosley, who hails from Collinsville, Miss., ran the Intracoastal Waterway, crossed Galveston Bay and settled into a narrow waterway on Houston’s east side. While he was pleased with his decision, he admitted he made the commitment shortly before takeoff.

 

“I was one of the last boats to check out (Boat 97), so I knew all the spots around Orange would be covered up,” Mosley said. “I spent three days of practice trying to talk myself out of making that run, but this morning, I decided to go.

 

“Also, I knew the wind wasn’t going to blow today, but it’s supposed to blow tomorrow and I know I can’t go back tomorrow. It’s going to be 20- to 30-mph winds and there’s no way.”

 

Refueling near his starting spot allowed Mosley to fish uninterrupted until making the 100-plus-mile ride back to weigh-in. Targeting a mix of docks, seawalls, cypress trees, shade and current breaks, Mosley said he saw evidence of recent spawning.

 

“I saw a lot of fry (recently hatched bass); I don’t know if those fish were guarding fry or what they were doing, but they were biting,” he said. “I don’t know if they even get fished very often.”

 

Mosley caught his fish on a 1/2-ounce chartreuse/white Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a white Yamamoto Zako trailer.

 

“There are other ways to catch them, but that’s the way I like to catch them because I can fish so fast,” Mosley said. “I know guys like to slow down and flip, but in tough tournaments, I like to cover as much water as I can.”

 

Mosley said his day exceeded his expectations, both in terms of quality and quantity.

 

“I had no idea I was going to catch that kind of weight today,” he said. “I went over there hoping to catch 9 or 10 pounds and I got a 5 1/2-pound kicker. It took me 20 minutes to catch a limit when I got there.

 

“It’s a long ride and it’s hard on you; it’s a lot of wear and tear. It just paid off today.”

 

Domo's Custom Tackle: Buying Local

Domo's Custom Tackle is a regional jig company that makes some of the very best tube, football and walleye jigs available. Located in LaSalle, Ontario on the shores of the Detroit River, Domo is a favorite among pros and weekend angles for their top quality jigs. Go check them out at: https://leadheadjigs.com/ or on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Domos-Custom-Tackle-1434043270181523/ This video is an unboxing as Domo sent IBASSIN.com a care package to help us get ready for the new bass season.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Winyah Bay Day 3: Stetson Blaylock Takes Lead with 41-12lbs!

Cory Johnston 2nd by ounces. 

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Blaylock leads by strength of Waccamaw River.
(Photo: BASS)

Committing his day to a deeper pocket off the Waccamaw River, Arkansas angler Stetson Blaylock caught the largest five-bass limit of the week, weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces, and took over the lead at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay with a three-day total of 41-12.

Blaylock said his selected area provided bass with a comfortable habitat beyond the spawn. He admitted he started the day concerned that he was running out of fish, but his persistence was rewarded with a day of steady productivity.

“I really thought that it was drying up, and I was almost to the point of thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to end up catching five 12-inchers and wherever it happens, it happens,’” Blaylock said. “I caught that first big one — a 4-pounder at 9:50 — and that let me know that things were happening there that I wasn’t aware of.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that (the pocket) is so deep out in the middle, those fish have an opportunity to keep moving up and keep moving up. I don’t think you can fish it out.”

Blaylock caught his fish by flipping a Texas-rigged YUM Christie Craw and skipping a wacky-rigged YUM Dinger. He added a nail weight to the latter for a strategic presentation.

“I think that’s the difference between me and a lot of the guys; everyone’s probably throwing weightless wacky rigs, but it seems that putting that nail weight in it gets it down faster and maybe triggers a strike or two that a slow fall won’t,” he said.

2019 Bass Pro Tour Jordon Lake Pool 2 Shot Gun Round 1: David Walker Top of Group with 82-04lbs!

David Walker Rides Jig, Spinnerbait to Top

By Joel Shangle

MLF PRESS RELEASE

David Walker's 8-6 caught an hour into the competition anchored
 his total day's weight of 47 pounds, 6 ounces
for 15 bass to finish on top of Group B Shotgun Round.

Heading into the second Shotgun Round of the Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude, Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour pro David Walker had a suspicion that the conditions on North Carolina's Jordan Lake were setting up for his wheelhouse.   

With dropping, dirty water and nighttime lows that dipped near the freezing level, the east Tennessee pro put his faith in two old-school techniques that he's built a healthy professional living on: flipping a jig and winding a spinnerbait.  

His faith in that 1-2 punch paid off as Walker flipped and wound his way to 47 pounds, 6 ounces on 15 fish to finish on top of the Group B Shotgun Round.  

"I didn't have much practice, so in that case, I'm going to fish the things that I have confidence in," Walker said. "So I was fishing (baits) that I have confidence in from all the years past, not from practice."

Walker did the majority of his damage early in the day, when the water was its coldest. Throwing a chartreuse-and-white spinnerbait and flipping a Moccasin Craw Z-Man CrossEyeZ jig with a BatwingZ trailer, the Evinrude pro stacked over 32 pounds on SCORETRACKER™ in the first period, weighing in 10 scorable largemouth.  

He highlighted his day with an 8-6 an hour into the competition, the Berkley Big Bass of the day, and put himself in strong position heading into his Elimination Round on Falls Lake.

"This is a best-case scenario, because out of the two practice days, Falls was by far my worst," Walker said. "I really struggled on Falls. So to have a good start going into that is very helpful, because if not I would have felt like I was behind trying to play catch-up on that lake. I'm not saying that I'm safe or that I've made it (out of Elimination), because in this format they just keep catching them. It's relentless."

Ott DeFoe finished second on the day with 44-1, followed by Casey Ashley (42-8), Brett Hite (42-0), Ish Monroe (40-1), Takahiro Omori (32-3) and Dustin Connell (30-15).

Change of Venue for Elimination Rounds

The field of 80 will carry their Group A and B Shotgun Round weights to Falls Lake tomorrow and Friday for the Elimination Rounds. That fishery - a 12,000-acre impoundment of the Neuse River located 30 minutes north of Raleigh - has hosted a handful of BLF events, and produced a handful of 8-plus-pounders in the first local/regional events of the year in early March.

Like Jordan, Falls is a river lake that holds an abundance of wood and rock, with fish in similar pre-spawn staging.  

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Ott DeFoe Wins 2017 BASS Northern Open on Douglas Lake with 50-03lbs!

Jet boating to French Broad River seal win.
By John Neporadny, 
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Custom boat and hometown knowledge for win and 2018 Classic berth.
(Photo: BASS)

Bassmaster Elite Series pro Ott DeFoe sealed the deal today with his second Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open victory on Douglas Lake.

The Knoxville, Tenn., pro went wire-to-wire to win on his home lake in this event and received the top prize of a Triton 19 TrX/Mercury 200 Pro XS rig valued at $45,000, along with $5,291 in cash. He weighed in a 15-pound, 9-ounce limit to finish with 50-3. DeFoe also won a Bassmaster Northern Open on his home waters in May 2014.

DeFoe ran up the French Broad River again with his Tracker tunnel hull aluminum boat that produced 17-4 limits the first two days, but he struggled early today and caught only five keepers all day. However it was enough to clinch the victory. "The water has not been stable all week," DeFoe said. "I was thinking today could be really, really good, just because the French Broad had been falling but there was some extra flow in the Pigeon River this morning and it seemed to kind of throw the fishing off a little."

The local favorite caught his first fish of the day on a bladed jig and his second keeper flipping a black-and-blue 1/2-ounce Terminator Pro Jig with a Bass Pro Shops Elite Chunk. Switching to a Texas-rigged Bass Pro Shops Bull Hog, DeFoe caught his next two keepers and still had three hours to catch his fifth bass. He went to a bank where he had caught big fish in the past and boated a 4 1/2-pounder on the Terminator Jig that clinched the victory. All of his fish throughout the tournament came from 1 to 3 feet of water.

2017 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Guntersville Day 2: Mark Rose Leads with 42-08lbs

Cory Johnston #18, Gussy #22, Chris Johnston #42 & Richardson #114
by Rob Newell 

FLW PRESS RELESE
Over the last few years Lake Guntersville’s fishing trends have included a lot of bridges and the burgeoning crop of eelgrass that has taken root throughout the lake. Bass behavior in the lake determines these trends, but sometimes the old tried-and-true patterns are hard to beat.
Just ask Mark Rose, who has been the only pro in the field to compile two 20-pound-plus limits through two days of the FLW Tour event presented by Lowrance at Lake Guntersville. Rose took the lead on Friday with a total of 42 pounds, 8 ounces.
Day-one leader Jay Kendrick lit off some fireworks with a big bridge catch of more than 25 pounds on Thursday, but he caught just one bass today, leaving the lead spot wide open. Kendrick’s bridges fell flat as he noticed that the bait was not stacked up as much as he would have liked to see it. He finished 26th.

Mark Rose's consistency key to lead. (Photo: FLW)

Rose is well aware of the bridge phenomenon on Guntersville. He has several top-10 finishes in previous FLW competition at Guntersville where he got beat on bridges. Also, the Tennessee River is near and dear to Rose’s heart, so he knows about the new influx of eelgrass, which is what Buddy Gross fished when he won the 2016 Tour event just downstream at Pickwick.