2026 SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain Day 3: Chris Johnston Secures Lead!

Canadians: Cory Johnston 4th,Gustafson 30th & Cooper Gallant 33rd.

Canadian pro Chris Johnston has taken the lead on Day 3 of the 2026 SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a three-day total of 62 pounds, 13 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/BASS)

BASS Press Release

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — He was dealing with a cold front, but Chris Johnston had the hot hand. That productivity gave the accomplished pro from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada the Day 3 lead in the SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain.

Keeping himself in the conversation from the start, Johnston placed eighth on Day 1 with 19 pounds, 14 ounces and rose to third a day later on the strength of his 21-7 limit. Adding a Semifinal Saturday bag that weighed 21-8, Johnston tallied a three-day total of 62-13.

Heading into Championship Sunday, Johnston leads Bryan Schmitt by 3 ounces.

Despite turning in his best bag of the week, Johnston said the weather system moving through the area interrupted the game plan he’d been following.

“The wind is what really hurt me and maybe the cold,” Johnston said. “A lot of my smallmouth have been coming shallow. I’ve been trying to get a couple kicker largemouth, but I’ve been filling my limit with 3 1/2- to 4-pound smallmouth.

“I’ve been sight-fishing those big smallmouth. The only way I can catch those big ones, for the most part, is to visually see them. Today, I got lucky and got one to eat by just blind fishing, but if it slicks off and gets sunny, that’s my best chance to catch those big ones.”

Many of Champlain’s bigger smallmouth roam deep open water, but it’s nearly impossible to consistently target those fish without forward facing sonar. Shortly after B.A.S.S. announced the 2026 schedule, a coin flip selection identified five events that would allow forward facing sonar and four that would not. The Champlain event does not allow this live sonar technology.

After two mostly calm days offered favorable sight-fishing conditions, Johnston was able to cover broad areas of grass and rock, pick out his targets and then make precise casts with a finesse bait.

“If it’s ripply, I can’t see the smallmouth,” Johnston said. “I have to cover a mile to maybe see three or four fish (in calm conditions). There are not many, but there are some decent ones, if I can find them.”

Cal Lane Wins 2026 Stop 6 Presented by VOSKER on the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech!

Cal Lane earned the win with three spectacular days on Lake Champlain.
Photo by Rob Matsuura.

By Jodi White,

Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Press Release

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Cal Lane spent most of the 2026 season coming about as close as possible to winning without actually winning – a theme for him in 2025 as well. On Sunday, that all went out the window. Lane put together one of the best tournaments ever witnessed on Lake Champlain to take down Stop 6 Presented by VOSKER in style and close the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech regular season with a bang.

Weighing more than 20 pounds every day of the event, Lane caught a three-day total of 65 pounds, 7 ounces, which broke the record for largest three-day catch at Lake Champlain in MLF/FLW history, eclipsing the 64-1 Kyle Cortiana caught in the 2024 Toyota Series event there. His 23-15 on Day 2 was the third-heaviest five-fish bag in Champlain history for MLF/FLW, and for his efforts, he took home $100,000 as well as a spot in REDCREST 2027, which happens to be in his home state.

Finishing second, Matt Becker weighed 63-16, and also fished a basically perfect Champlain event. Banks Shaw cracked nearly 22 pounds on the final day to move up to third and also ice down his second consecutive 7 Brew Anger of the Year title.

Exploration earns Lane the win

For a few years, the theme on Champlain has been LiveScope, LiveScope and more LiveScope; as open-water and smallmouth have yielded the majority of the multi-day wins on the lake. If there’s a secondary trend, it’s that tournaments can be won all over the lake, maybe more than has ever been possible. Lane proved that at Stop 6 with a perfectly executed combo of smallmouth and largemouth.

On the first day of practice, Lane stuck to the Inland Sea (a historically excellent area) and put up terrible results. His second practice day, fighting big wind and a bad prior day, he expanded.

TOP 10 BELOW

Bank Shaws Wins 2026 third Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech with 62 Lbs!

Shaw comes from behind for another Tennessee River win

Banks Shaw proved unstoppable once again this week at Wheeler Lake.
(Photo by Jody White)

By Jody White, Tackle Warehouse Press Release 

DECATUR, Ala. – Banks Shaw looked mortal at the last Bass Pro Tour event, where he finished 48th at Lake Whitney in Texas. A couple weeks later, fishing on the familiar Tennessee River, Shaw has righted the ship, knocking down the win Saturday in Stop 3 Presented by Suzuki Marine on Wheeler Lake.

With 21 pounds, 1 ounce on the final day of the third Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech regular-season event, Shaw totaled up an even 62 pounds to cash in for $100,000. It’s his second MLF win of the year, and his ninth Top 10 on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals or Pro Circuit since the start of 2025. Behind Shaw, Broderick Luckey surged from 11th place to second with 61-5, Drew Boggs finished third with 60-12, and Matt Becker slipped down the leaderboard to fourth. The leader going into Day 3, Cal Lane only managed one keeper and dropped down to 18th – luckily, still good for a $10,000 payday.

This event also produced some serious shake-ups in the points standings, as the three leaders heading into the week all turned in rough finishes. With the win, Shaw moved into the lead for 7 Brew Angler of the Year, and Ryan Lachniet and Carter Nutt both have 556 points in second and third respectively.

 Shaw takes advantage of the opening

Going into the final day of the event, Lane and Becker were both ahead of the field by a decent margin, and with a good day, either could have walked to victory. However, both struggled to various degrees – Lane couldn’t generate bites, and Becker never connected with a kicker.

“I didn’t think I had a shot with what I had, I thought possibly, if I had 22 pounds, I could have a shot if these guys stumbled,” said Shaw, who started the day in fourth. “I had a feeling throughout the day, it seemed like it was a little tougher. I was like, ‘Man, I know this place.’ It can easily happen where you only catch 15 pounds. I knew that’s what I needed those guys to catch – if Matt just caught one more, or Cal put a limit in the box, they could have easily won.”

TOP 10 Below

Fisher Anaya Wins 2026 Lippert Bassmaster Elite at Lake Martin with 54-06Lbs

By Christopher Decker

BASS Press Release

Thanks to a dazzling Championship Sunday performance, the 20-year-old rookie from Eva, Ala., earned his first Elite Series victory at the Lippert Bassmaster Elite at Lake Martin with a four-day total of 54 pounds, 6 ounces. 

 Opening the tournament with 11-6, Anaya worked his way into the Top 10 on Day 2 with a limit weighing 12-13 before claiming the Day 3 lead with a sack weighing 14-7. Entering the day with a 2-ounce lead over Brock Mosely, Anaya landed the biggest bag of the tournament on Championship Sunday, a 15-12 limit of spotted bass to secure the title.

His Championship Sunday limit was the biggest bag he’s ever weighed on Lake Martin. 

“This feels awesome,” Anaya said. “I didn’t know if I’d ever win one of these. My buddy Gerald Swindle always tells me it’s not easy to win one of these, so if you get a shot to win, you better make it work. I knew this one would set up in my wheelhouse, I just had to get the bites and land them.”

After winning the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops Angler of the Year, Anaya made his much-anticipated debut last week at Lake Guntersville. That ended with a disappointing 65^th place finish. 

Lake Martin has always suited Anaya’s fishing style, however, thanks to a lot of time on Lewis Smith Lake. He was able to get even more dialed into the Tallapoosa River impoundment by winning a tournament before the off-limits period went into effect. 

“I won a small local tournament here that paid $5,000, and won Phoenix money,” he explained. “I had right at 15 pounds with all spotted bass and thought, ‘Maybe I can make something work down here.’ I fished the same exact way, just in different areas.” 

Easton Fothergill Wins St. Croix Open at Leech Lake Presented by Seviin; Carl Jocumsen Advances to Classic!

By Andrew Canulette 

BASS Press Release

WALKER, Minn. — The major storyline heading into the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN was that the global bass-fishing community would get its first look at what’s heralded as one of the sport’s best, yet relatively unknown, fisheries.

Everyone watching, meanwhile, already knew that Easton Fothergill is one of the best young anglers on the water today.

The two forces collided during a spectacular two-day derby in northern Minnesota this week, and both shined under pressure — Leech as host of its first B.A.S.S. tournament and Fothergill as the young prodigy looking to make hay on home water.

The 22-year-old Fothergill, a Grand Rapids, Minn., native who grew up 30 minutes from Leech Lake, bagged a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 49 pounds, 13 ounces and clinched the tournament championship Saturday at Walker Public Dock. He collected $45,936 cash with the win, part of a $300,034 purse split among the Top 45 of 203 pros competing at Leech this week.

The victory at Leech continued a hot streak not often seen at any level of professional fishing. In the past 10 months and change, Fothergill won the 2023 Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’son Kansas’ Milford Lake last October, finished 16th of 56 anglers in the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in March, and followed with his first St. Croix Bassmaster Opens win of the year in June on Lake Eufaula, also in the Sooner State.

2024 TNT Firework Bassmaster Elite at Smith Lake Day 1: Hunter Shryock Leads with 15-15lb!

Canadians Cory Johnston 2nd, Chris Johnston 33rd, Gallant 39th & Gustafson 53rd

By Andrew Calulette 

BASS Press Release

CULLMAN, Ala. — As predicted, catching a big bag on Day 1 of the TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Elite at Smith Lake wasn’t the easiest proposition.

But a handful of competitors gutted out a tough day on the 21,000-acre fishery and gave themselves a slim edge on opening day of this derby in north-central Alabama.

Hunter Shryock, a 35-year-old resident of Ooltewah, Tenn., caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces to take the Day 1 lead. He’s just ahead of Canada’s Cory Johnston, who’s second with 14-12, and Ohio’s Alex Redwine, in third with 14-8.

In all, 76 of the 98 competitors are within 6 pounds of Shryock’s lead – underscoring not only how tough the fishing was on Smith, but also the unlikelihood anyone will run away with the lead.

Shryock did all he could, however, to put some distance between himself and the field on Day 1. Like most, he weighed spotted bass, but he added a trio of heftier largemouth to his catch, which isn’t exactly common on Smith Lake in June. One of them was a 4-7, earning Shryock $1,000 for having the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day.

Matt Becher Wins 2023 Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Suzuki on Saginaw Bay; plus 2023 Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year!

Kevin Van Dam finishes 2nd on career final tournament 

By Tyler Brinks 

BASS PRO TOUR

BAY CITY, Mich. – The storylines entering the Championship Round at Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Suzuki focused on bass-fishing G.O.A.T. Kevin VanDam trying for a win in his final regular-season event and the current best in the world, Jacob Wheeler, attempting to win a third-straight Angler of the Year. But, as he’s done before in his career, it was Matt Becker who stole the show on the final day, earning the win and Bally Bet Angler of the Year to boot.

Becker placed a tournament-best 22-pound, 11-ounce bag of smallmouth on SCORETRACKER® when it counted most. In doing so, he completed a double comeback as he rose from fifth place entering the day to win the tournament and from fourth place in the points to take home the AOY title.

Overall, it was a payday of over $200,000 for the Pennsylvania-turned-Tennessee pro.

Becker saves best for last

It was a clean sweep for Becker, who won the tournament with the biggest bag of the event, the Bally Bet Angler of the Year trophy and the Berkley Big Bass Award with his 5-5 kicker.

As time expired for the event, Becker was in a state of shock.

“This feels like a dream – I’m waiting to hear that awful alarm clock noise,” he said. “There is no way this is real – it can’t be real. My ultimate goal has always been to win an Angler of the Year trophy because it shows that you were the best that year, all across the country.”

As tight as the points race was, Becker nearly needed to win at Stage Seven to pull down the AOY and used some great strategy this week as he slowly started to figure out the Saginaw Bay smallmouth.

2023 Bass Pro Tour VanDam grabs Saginaw Bay lead, eyes victory in final regular-season event of career

 

Kevin VanDam leaned into 21 pounds, 8 ounces to seize the lead on Saginaw Bay.
Photo by Cobi Pellerito.

By Tyler Brinks 

BASS PRO TOUR

BAY CITY, Mich. – The Knockout Round provided punch after punch, but none landed harder than Kevin VanDam‘s 21-pound, 8-ounce haymaker bag of smallmouth on Saginaw Bay at Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Suzuki.

Fishing in his last regular-season event ever, the bass fishing G.O.A.T. holds a 2-13 lead over Dakota Ebare heading into Sunday’s Championship ROund and aims to retire with an exclamation point and a storybook ending.

There’s intrigue at the very top of SCORETRACKER®, but you don’t have to go far to find more. The Bally Bet Angler of the Year race will come down to the last day of the season, with Jacob Wheeler (third), Ott DeFoe (fourth) and Matt Becker (fifth) still fishing, all having legitimate shots to take the title. Current leader Alton Jones Jr. is still mathematically alive, even though he didn’t advance with a 16th-place finish. Jones entered the tournament just seven points ahead of Wheeler, nine ahead of DeFoe and 10 ahead of Becker.

Tomorrow will be one for the ages, and all our burning questions will be answered at the end of the final period – and it might take until right up until the final bell for everything to be decided.

VanDam hopes to go out on top

It didn’t take long for VanDam to rocket to the top of SCORETRACKER®, landing on smallmouth from the jump and putting a huge limit in the boat in a hurry. His initial limit took only 23 minutes to catch and weighed 17-11. 

John Cox Wins 2023 Tackle Warehouse Invitationals on Lake of the Ozarks!

By Jody White

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING 

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – The final day of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals on Lake of the Ozarks came down to the wire, with the top three pros in a virtual tie, unofficially. In the end, John Cox pulled it out, weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces to defend his lead, totaling 55-14 and earning $82,800 and a trip to REDCREST.  

Cox ended up edging out longtime friend and tournament partner Keith Carson – a year apart in age, they grew up two streets from each other in DeBary, Florida. Carson turned in a four-fish effort on Day 1, but charged hard the rest of the way, adding 20-12 on Day 2 and 19-2 on Day 3. Without a doubt, a fifth keeper bass of any size on the first day would have earned Carson the win.

“I felt stuff in that weigh-in that I’ve never felt at any of the other weigh-ins,” Cox said. “I wanted Keith to win; because he’s my buddy, I want him to do well. It’s bittersweet, but, it felt good to win, and to get to go to REDCREST. That’s huge, that’s unreal; when I heard that, I was like ‘Please let me win.’ Every time I miss one of those, it’s terrible. I watched it at Norman, and I was heartbroken I wasn’t there.”

Cox and Carson take a team approach to practice, with the multi-tour pro Cox often getting in a little late. This time, Cox only practiced for about a day and a half, and to hear him tell it, that was mostly wasted time.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Cayuga Lake Day 1: Chris Zaldain Scores Lead with 24-05lbs!

Gustafson 2nd, Cory Johnston 35th, Chris Johnston 49th.
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Despite Zaldain's gear being stolen, he came out swing!
(Photo: BASS)

Chris Zaldain’s day couldn’t have started much worse.

Or ended much better.

The California native who now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, woke up Thursday to find that several of his best rod-and-reels had been stolen during the night.

But with what he had left, he went out and caught five bass that weighed 24 pounds, 5 ounces to take the first-round lead at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake. His catch was 10 ounces better than that of second-place angler Jeff Gustafson (23-11) and one of 14 bags of the day that weighed at least 20 pounds.

“I opened up my rod box and my whole top layer — my starting lineup of Megabass rods and Shimano reels, $1,000 combos — were just gone,” Zaldain said. “It started out really bad. But I decided to salvage what I had, re-tie a few things and just stick to what I knew.”

As is often the case during the early rounds of an Elite event, Zaldain was tight-lipped about how he caught his fish. He said he only used two or three baits most of the day, but wasn’t specific about what they were.

It helped him, he added, that the situation took place on a fishery where the bass are often very cooperative once you locate them.

“Just like any northern fishery, when you find the bass here, they will bite,” he said. “I will say they’re not as easy to find as they were when we were here in 2016. I’m not finding huge groups of fish where you catch one every cast.

Bryan Thrift Wins 2019 Costa FLW Series Northern Division event on Lake Champlain with 57lbs!

Thrift Wins Wire to Wire

by Jody White

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Thrift Loves New York!
(Photo: FLW)

Taking the win in wire-to-wire fashion, FLW Tour pro Bryan Thrift tallied 18 pounds, 4 ounces on the final day for an even 57-pound total in the Costa FLW Series Northern Division event on Lake Champlain. For the win, Thrift earned $44,200 and a new Ranger boat, and it’s his 11th win with FLW. The Northern Division is presented by Gajo Baits and the tournament was presented by Polaris. 

Historically, Thrift has been stellar throughout the south in his home state of North Carolina, Arkansas, along the Tennessee River and everywhere else. He hasn’t, however, really kept up his typical pace in the north country. After the last few weeks on Champlain, it’s safe to put that trend to bed.

“I’m not going to say it’s been my nemesis, but I’ve never really got in a groove on this lake until 2016 when we came for the Tour and I tied for 10th and ended up 11th,” says Thrift. “It was like the lightbulb went off then and I realized what I was doing wrong. Not that I learned what to look for, but I learned how to practice. I think that was the biggest thing.”

Thrift finished third in the FLW Tour season finale on Champlain just a few weeks ago to finish out a somewhat trying season for him. This was his third Costa FLW Series win, so he’s no stranger to them, but he says they’re all good ones.

“Man, it feels great to win,” says the Shelby, N.C., pro. “I feel like I’ve let a couple chances to win kind of slip through my fingers this year, and a couple of them were my fault. If I would have got beat in this one I would have got flat beat, and I can handle that. When I beat myself, I don’t like it.”

Casey Scanlon Wins 2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain with 76-02lbs!

Mix of chatterbaits and stickbaits sends Casey into winner's circle.
(Photo: FLW)

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASEComing into the 2019 FLW Tour finale at Lake Champlain, Casey Scanlon figured he needed
 to finish 12th or better to lock up a berth in the FLW Cup. He’d previously strung together four consecutive finishes of 90th place or worse leading up to the Champlain event, which was presented by T-H Marine, and he knew he had to turn it around on a lake that he’d never been to before, where weights are notoriously close throughout the standings and anglers constantly weigh the odds of targeting smallmouths or largemouths. 

Despite the complexities of a Champlain tournament and his inexperience on the fishery, Scanlon rattled off four days worth of consecutive quality stringers to rally his season and earn his first FLW Tour win and a spot at the Cup on Lake Hamilton come August.

“Man, I needed it,” Scanlon says. “I’m not that old, but I’ve been at it a long time. I’ve been fishing tournaments since I was 15. It’s not easy out here, and days like this make it all worth it.”

The Missouri pro made the 50-minute run to Ticonderoga every day to target largemouths in the shallow, murky waters of Champlain’s southern end. For three days, all of the pros that ran to Ti, including seven of the top 10, enjoyed mild winds and smooth water on the way down and back. Today, getting to Ti was easy, but getting home involved a battering ride against a stiff north wind that riled up the big Northern fishery. 

Scanlon had to leave Ti at 1:15 to make it back in time for the 3:30 check-in with a limit weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces. His four-day total of 76-2 beat runner-up Eric Jackson’s weight by 1 pound, 11 ounces.

The biggest key to Scanlon’s win was his willingness to adjust each day to stay on the fish. Early in the tournament, most of his bass came off shallow rock inside of a milfoil edge. Yet, each day he caught more fish from the grass. By Sunday, all of his keepers were caught in the grass.

In order to stay consistent, the champ mixed up his presentations with a handful of rods and visited a half-dozen or so areas within a few miles of Fort Ticonderoga.

“I did junk it up a little bit, but I got myself in some decent areas, and I tried to make the most out of them by switching baits and trying some different stuff throughout the tournament,” Scanlon adds.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 1: Tyler Stewart Leads Tight Race with 22-03lbs!

Canadians Sim 44^th & Richardson 75th

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Largemouth are king for top anglers.
(Photo: FLW) 

Impressive is the best way to describe the collective day-one performance by the pros competing in this week’s FLW Tour event presented by T-H Marine at Lake Champlain. The top 13 all caught 19 pounds or better, the top 25 weighed at least 18 and the top 38 caught at least 17. 

Most impressive of them all on day one was Louisiana’s Tyler Stewart, who’s competing in his first-ever tournament on the big natural lake that straddles the New York-Vermont border. Stewart weighed in a five-bass limit worth 22 pounds, 3 ounces, which is by all means stout on Lake Champlain.

He’s one of a number of pros who spent the day targeting largemouths in order to get over that 18-pound mark, but he had one bonus smallmouth in his bag today, too.

“I had about 21 pounds probably, and I was on my way back, and I stopped and threw a Keitech around and ended up catching some smallmouth that culled one of my smaller largemouths,” Stewart says. “I was actually just planning on going all in on largemouth, but I had a little extra time, so when I got back I messed around with that and ended up making a cull, which was pretty crucial.”

Stewart says he didn’t have much company in his primary area today. His most notable challenge was a yacht wake that he hit on the way to his starting place. The impact resulted in a busted front graph and some damage to his Power-Pole bracket. 

The damage not only cost Stewart a little time, but it made him question whether he ought to stay closer to the ramp in Plattsburgh. Thankfully, Stewart trudged on and ended up getting into decent action pretty quickly. 

Wheeler Continues Roll, Leads Shotgun Round 2 at Bass Pro Tour Evinrude Stage Eight Presented by Tracker Off Road

MLF pro Jacob Wheeler sits in familiar territory.
(Photo: MLF)

Jacob Wheeler has picked up right where he left off after winning Stage Seven on Table Rock Lake. Even though the competition has moved more than 700 miles north, he still finds himself in familiar territory after the second Shotgun Round of the Evinrude Stage Eight Presented by Tracker Off Road on Lake Winnebago: on top of SCORETRACKER®.

The Tennessee pro caught 33 fish for 51 pounds, 4 ounces, finishing the second day of competition on top of Group B. Leading Bass Pro Tour rounds has become a theme for Wheeler this year. In fact, he's been in first place after four of his last five competition days, and is proving that the Major League Fishing® (MLF) format is tailor-made for his fishing style.

Wheeler has a chance to become the Bass Pro Tour's first two-time champion and first back-to-back winner if he can continue his hot streak.

The fishing on Winnebago proved to be more difficult on Wednesday's anglers as only four anglers topped 40 pounds as opposed to eight yesterday. The first Elimination Round on Thursday will show if it was just the conditions or if the fishing is getting tougher.

Even with the lower weights, 664 bass weighing 1,046 pounds were brought in today. The fish are still biting here in Wisconsin.

Wheeler Rolls Through Shotgun Round 2

Wheeler did most of his damage midmorning during Period 2, and once he took over the lead, he never looked back.

"I started in the morning with a pattern that I thought would be good and caught a few, but it didn't work out as planned," Wheeler said. "Midmorning is when I started to make the transition and started to figure things out. It was a good mixture of shallow and deep and both largemouth and smallmouth. I feel like if I can catch another 10 pounds or so during the Elimination Round that I should be able to make it to the Knockout Round."

He will carry a 3-pound lead over second place and a 26-pound lead over the 20th place spot heading into the Elimination Round.

Tak Stands in Second

Takahiro Omori had an excellent day and held the lead or top two spots for most of the day with 31 bass for 47-14. His catch count was buoyed by a strong morning.