2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour Day 2: Dylan Nutt Smashes 26lb Limit to Take Lead!

Canadians Chris Johnston 18th, Cory Johnston 26th & Gallant 38th

Nashville, Tenn., angler Dylan Nutt Bassmaster Classic champion Easton Fothergill has taken the lead on Day 2 of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour with a two-day total of 46 pounds .Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

Bassmaster Press Release

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee River showed out today. So did Tennessee’s own Dylan and Carter Nutt.

The brothers from Nashville once again made it quite clear that they’re a force on some of the most famous reservoirs in this region of the country. Carter and his tournament partner, Bryce Dimauro, fishing for the University of North Alabama (UNA), won the 2026 Strike King Bassmaster College Classic Exhibition presented by Bass Pro Shops on Watts Bar Reservoir with a five-bass limit for 15 pounds, 7 ounces.

Meanwhile, over on Fort Loudoun Reservoir, Dylan hauled in the heaviest limit thus far in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. In fact, his 26-pound, 11-ounce limit is the heaviest catch of any of the three Classics held on the Loudoun-Tellico system out of Knoxville, Tenn., and it vaulted Dylan into the lead going into Championship Sunday with a two-day total of 46 pounds even. 

The 22-year-old struggled to put into words the emotions he feels now leading the biggest tournament in bass fishing.

“Man, I’m feeling … I don’t know. It’s been unreal,” he said.

Coming into the tournament, there were rumors that Dylan was on some giant fish. Word had been circulating that he’d caught a 25- or 26-pound limit in practice. His Day 1 weight of 19-5 was not indicative of the quality of bass he was around.

“The wind was blowing really, really hard yesterday, and I waited until the end of the day to go into the area I caught ’em at today and caught that big bag in practice,” he said. “I wasn’t able to work my bait right and couldn’t really stay on the fish. I went in there today and they wanted to bite.”

When he went into that area at around 11:30, Dylan already had a solid limit of about 22 pounds, which would’ve had him nearly even with second-place pro Drew Cook’s two-day weight. But then his entire tournament changed in the course of two key bites.

2025 Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at the Upper Mississippi River Day 2: Kuphall Still Leads!

Canadians: Gallant 6th, Cory Johnston 11th, Chris Johnston 22nd, Evan Kung 82nd & Gustafson 86th.

Wisconsin's Caleb Kuphall maintains the lead on Day 2 of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River with a total of 36 pounds, 2 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/ BASS) 

BASS Press Release

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Caleb Kuphall was banking on his local knowledge and that expectation delivered both metaphorically and practically as the pro from Mukwonago, Wis., retained the lead on Day 2 of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River.

After setting the high mark with a first-round limit of 18-pounds, 15-ounces, Kuphall entered Day 2 an ounce ahead of second-place KJ Queen. Today, Kuphall added 17-3, tallied a total of 36-2 and widened his lead to a 1-13 margin over Bryan Schmitt, who won the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Upper Mississippi River.

“What a day today; I think I’ve weighed in the two biggest bags that I’ve ever weighed in on this river today and yesterday,” Kuphall said. “I got out of the gate good this morning and caught them right away. I think I caught five and culled like four or five times in the first 40 minutes.

“I had a lot of confidence that I can catch a lot of fish here, but the big ones show up when they want to. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully another couple big ones show up tomorrow.”

Trusting the Mississippi River pattern he learned over 20 years ago, Kuphall has been focusing on undercut banks. Key spots had an isolated tree, a cluster of weeds, or a little point to influence fish positioning.

2025 Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell Day 3: Drew Cooks Takes Lead with 55-08Lbs!

Canadians: Kung 29th, Chris Johnston 31st, Cory Johnston 37th, & Gallant 46th 

Georgia's Drew Cook maintains his lead on Day 3 of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, S.C., with a weight of 55-8. (Photo: Seigo Saito/ BASS)

BASS Press Release 

ANDERSON, S.C. — Drew Cook struggled with a clarity issue today, but when his afternoon analysis told him he was clearly not where he needed to be, the pro from Cairo, Ga., stepped on the gas and secured the necessary upgrades to maintain the lead on Day 3 of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell.

After catching 18 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 1, Cook found himself in a three-way tie for 6th place. Adding a second-round limit of 19-9, he took over the lead with a margin of 1-10 over rookie Paul Marks.

Semifinal Saturday saw Cook add 17-3, tally a three-day total of 55-8, and expand his lead to a 2 1/2-pound margin over Marks. Doing so required contending with visibility limitations.

“A lot of the area I’m fishing got dirty either because of the waves, or the pollen really moved in,” Cook said. “That’s kinda the reason I practiced there — the pollen was in there and you really couldn’t see, so I figured I’d have a lot of it to myself, because everybody wouldn’t look through it.”

Employing his uncanny sight-fishing abilities, Cook worked through the challenging conditions and even found encouraging signs that his area’s potential may be expanding.

“I did find a couple of new ones; this morning, I found a couple of new (bed fish),” Cook said. “I found like a 7-pounder, fished for it for a while and found six new ones this afternoon.

“We’re just looking for five big ones.”

Spending most of his day in one main creek, Cook sight fished with a Nories Front Flapper and a wacky-rigged prototype SPRO stick worm. The fish, he said, were scattered throughout his creek, but it seemed like small pockets off the main waters were more

2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Santee Cooper Lakes Day 2: Cook Continues to Lead!

Canadians: Cory Johnston 6th, Chris Johnston 52nd & Gustafson 66th 

Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., is leading after Day 2 of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Santee Cooper Lakes with a two-day total of 56 pounds, 9 ounces. (Photo: BASS)

BASS Press Release 

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Former Bassmaster Rookie of the Year Drew Cook had never led an Elite Series event until Day 1 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, but Cook took the milestone in stride by catching 24 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 2 to stretch his lead in the event.

 

After a catch of 31-13 on the first day, which leads the VMC Monster Bag standings as the tournament's heaviest bag, Cook now has a two-day mark of 56-9 that gives him a sizeable lead over Idaho pro Brandon Palaniuk (second, 48-15) and Louisiana pro Greg Hackney (third, 48-1).

 

“I should have had another really big bag,” said Cook, who resides in Cairo, Ga. “When it is going your way, it is going your way. At 10 o’clock I didn’t have a bass. I stayed on a female for too long and I left, went to another one, caught her. Then I went back to that (first) one and, on the first cast, I caught her.

 

“It’s been going right and hopefully it will keep going right.”

 

Despite a slow start, Cook continued to show off his sight-fishing prowess, picking off bedding bass with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog in tilapia magic. His heaviest fish weighed 7-8.

 

“I never spun out or anything. I kept my head in it, I thought, really well,” Cook said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in this situation. It could have easily gone the other way. I caught one female, then another one and then a big male. Once we got things rolling we kept on.”

2022 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River Day 2: John Crews Continues to Lead!

Canadians: Chris Johnston 10th, Cory Johnston 34th & Gustafson 51st 

John Crews of Salem, Va., is leading after Day 2 of the 2022 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns 

River with a two-day total of 45 pounds, 3 ounces. (Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S)

BASS Press Release 

PALATKA, Fla. — Fighting through a painfully slow morning, John Crews of Salem, Va., capitalized on the afternoon bite and caught a limit of 17 pounds, 3 ounces to retain his lead in the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River with a two-day total of 45-3.

After posting a Day 1 limit of 28 pounds, Crews edged Bob Downey of Hudson, Wis., by 12 ounces. On Friday, Crews greatly improved his position and will head into Saturday’s semifinal round with a 9-13 lead over Elite Series rookie Masayuki Matsushita of Tokoname-Aichi, Japan.

 

A telling moment that bespoke the attitude driving Crews’ decisions came midmorning when Crews’ cameraman asked if he had a target weight.

 

“I never do that; I want to catch as much as I can,” Crews said. “If you say, ‘I’ll be okay if I get 15,’ or, ‘I’ll be okay if I get 18,’ if you reach that, you might take your foot off the gas.

 

“Early on in my career, I settled more than I should have in a tournament, instead of going for the kill. Whether I finish first, second, 12th, 15th or whatever, I’m going to try to catch every fish I can catch.”

 

Despite high-pressure, postfrontal conditions, Crews did not take his foot off the gas Friday. Retracing his Day 1 game plan, he returned to Rodman Reservoir, where he threw a jerkbait and a drop shot. Rigged with a prototype Missile Baits worm, the latter produced all of his Rodman catches.

 

By the time he left Rodman at 1 p.m., Crews had only a small limit of 10-9 that he anchored with a 4-pounder. The reservoir was much more productive on Day 1, as Crews locked out with a 24-pound bag that included an 8-1.

 

“I got very fortunate to catch the bag that I caught yesterday, but I made some good adjustments today,” he said.

 

Specifically, he fished his way out of the Rodman canal and spent the rest of his afternoon targeting shallow cover on the main river. His afternoon effort allowed him to make three upgrades with a 4 1/2-pounder, a 4 and a 2.

2020 Bassmaster Classic Lake Guntersville Day 1: Hank Cherry Grabs Lead with 29lbs!

Canadians Gustafson 12th, Chris Johnston 38th & Cory Johnston 45th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Hank Cherry scored 29-03lbs and 8 pound lead.
Rock and wind helped steer himself into glory.
(Photo: BASS)

Halfway through Day 1 of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk, North Carolina pro Hank Cherry fell and injured his right arm.

For a moment, he thought it might even be broken.

But Cherry powered through the pain — and with only one good arm, he caught five bass that weighed 29 pounds, 3 ounces to take the lead at the 50th edition of the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing. Competition is taking place on Lake Guntersville with weigh-ins at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

Cherry said his injury, which occurred as he was reaching down to grab a fish, would likely require a visit to a local doctor — but it wouldn’t keep him from fishing Saturday morning.

“I didn’t expect to catch them like this at all,” Cherry said. “What I caught my fish on was actually plan B. But it’s plan A now, for sure.”

2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 3: Tyler Stewart Making it 3 Days in a Row!

Canadians Sim 18th. 

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Sunday will be the battle of Ticonderoga.
(Photo: FLW)

There’s a showdown looming on Lake Champlain tomorrow, and how it’s going to end up is anybody’s guess. 

Louisiana pro Tyler Stewart is in the lead for the third consecutive day at this week’s FLW Tour event, which is presented by T-H Marine. But Stewart, who weighed, 18 pounds, 5 ounces today, has been catching his fish down at Ticonderoga. That’s all he has, and he says a hurricane can’t keep him from making the long run to Ti tomorrow. 

Getting there doesn’t look to be an issue, but if the weather forecast is correct, getting home from Ti tomorrow afternoon could get a little dicey. The wind is supposed to blow out of the north at a clip that pro Daryl Biron, who’s fished Champlain for years, thinks might build big enough waves to more than double the normally 50-minute run down there. 

Stewart isn’t the only one making the run. Four of the top five and seven of the top 10 are fishing in Ticonderoga, including Biron in fifth, second-place pro Casey Scanlon and third-place pro Eric Jackson. The only one in the top five staying up north is Bryan Thrift, who’s in fourth. It’s highly likely that Thrift will have a limit in the boat before anyone fishing at Ti even gets to his starting spot – and that’s during the calm period forecast for the morning. The fact that Thrift is nipping at their heels and they’ll have a shorter day doesn’t seem to be dissuading any of the top pros from making the run to Ti. 

“I’ll zero tomorrow before I don’t go down there,” Stewart says.

The thing Stewart has in his favor this week is that Ti continues to churn out postspawn largemouths that exceed 4 pounds. A 4-pound bass is worth a lot of money in a tournament at Champlain. Stewart probably needs at least a few of them and another upper teens limit tomorrow if he wants to hold off the competition. So far, he’s weighed in 58-6 in three days.

“It started off kind of slow,” Stewart says of his morning today. “I got down there to my main places, and it was crowded. There was a tournament out of Ti, and on one of my main holes, there was a guy fishing it just fun fishing. 

“I didn’t get to fish that. I had two places that were covered up with people today – where I was really planning on smackin’ them today. I ended up catching a 4 1/2-pounder and got some momentum going and just grinded all day and ended up catching some good fish and just kept the wheels going.” 

Stewart had to adjust and run some new water on the fly to stay on the caliber of fish he’s been catching. His primary tactic all week has been flipping shallow cover on the main lake where the bass are keying on a particular type of baitfish. Today, he did get a few bites on a square-bill just “showing them something different,” which produced one of the keepers he brought to weigh-in. Then he lucked into a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth that culled one of his largemouths once he got back to Plattsburgh.

The leader says the smallmouth bites he’s gotten have been all luck, and he has no other pattern to run in the north end of the lake. He’s all in on the shallow largemouths in Ticonderoga, no matter the wind or waves. Stewart is gunning for his first-ever FLW Tour victory, and he’ll have to earn it in challenging conditions tomorrow.

2. Casey Scanlon – Lake Ozark, Mo. – 56-8 (15)

Midway through the day today, it looked like Missouri’s Casey Scanlon was on pace to overtake Stewart’s lead. Scanlon’s unofficial weight estimate was around 20 pounds, and it looked like Stewart might slip. 

As estimates sometimes go, the predictions were a little off. Scanlon weighed in 18 pounds, 13 ounces and will start day four 1 pound, 14 ounces behind Stewart.

Jesse Wiggins Blisters MLF Bass Pro Tour Group B Shotgun Round at Smith Lake

Local knowledge lets Wiggins blow up Scoretracter! 

MLF PRESS RELEASE

Shallow drains key to Wiggins lead.
(Photo: MLF)

From the moment it was announced that the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour would be making a stop at Lewis Smith Lake in northern Alabama, Jesse Wiggins was tabbed as a favorite.  

After his performance in the second Shotgun Round of the Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury, it's hard not to tab the Alabama pro as THE favorite. 

Wiggins - who grew up in Cullman and has been fishing Smith Lake since "Before I can even remember" - obliterated the Bass Pro Tour's single-round catch record with 49 fish, tallying 72 pounds, 4 ounces and finishing the day with a 16-4 cushion over second-place angler Todd Faircloth (56-0).  

"A good day on Smith Lake this time of year is 30, maybe 35 fish, so today was a heckuva day," Wiggins admitted. "I basically fished two spots all day long, they just happened to be schooled up in both of those spots." 

Wiggins Hit High Gear in Period 2

At the rate that Wiggins caught fish in Period 2, it's hard to imagine him wanting to stray outside his two Shotgun Round spots at all. Following a 12-fish first period, the St. Croix pro put 21 fish on SCORETRACKER™ in the second period for 32-9, almost all of it on a 3/16-ounce shaky head with a green pumpkin candy Jackall 5.8 Flick Shake Worm. 

"Jesse Wiggins did this on a lake in post-spawn that was supposed to be tough," marveled MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone. "This performance today isn't just about him being good on Smith Lake, it's about Jesse Wiggins just being flat good. You put a really good fisherman on a lake he understands really well and this is what you get."  

But despite a prolific day and a virtually fail-safe cushion above the Elimination Line, Wiggins plans to move out of his spots and spend the day (Elimination Round 2) deciphering how far out of the backs of their spawning pockets Smith Lake's post-spawn fish have gotten. 

2019 Bassmaster Elite St. Johns River Day 2: Chris Johnston Leads with 47lbs!

Cory Johnston 6th  & Gustafson 61th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Sight fishing key for young Canadian.
(Photo: BASS)

During the weeks leading up to the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River, brothers Chris and Cory Johnston insisted the Florida fishery reminded them a lot of the waters they grew up fishing back home in Canada.

Those who may have doubted them know better now.

Chris Johnston, who had fished a grand total of four B.A.S.S. events prior to this week, caught five bass during Friday’s round that weighed 25 pounds, 11 ounces and took the lead in the season-opening Elite event with a two-day total of 47-0.

Lee Livesay of Texas is second with 46-2, followed by Mark Menendez of Kentucky (45-14), Brandon Cobb of South Carolina (42-14) and Rick Clunn of Missouri (41-0).

Cory Johnston, who has teamed with his brother to dissect the fishery for months, caught 21-1 himself Friday and moved into sixth place at 41-0.

“I just hope I’m a couple of ounces ahead of him after tomorrow and then hopefully again on Sunday,” Chris said of his brother. “We always have a rivalry between us. We’re always trying to beat each other for bragging rights.

“I’ve got a little lead on him now, and hopefully I can carry it through the rest of the week.”

Chris said he’s been fishing for mixture of bedding bass that he can’t see and prespawn fish that are still working their way onto the beds. Like most of the field, he expects the weather to be a factor on Saturday, when the forecast calls for a shift from the sunny, clear conditions of the past two days to somewhat cooler temperatures and 10- to 20-mph winds.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Toho Day 1: John Cox Lands Mega Limit of 31-09bs!

Canadians Sim 59th & Richardson 73rd

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

John Cox a sight fishing master shows how it is done!
(Photo: FLW)

Day one of the FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on Lake Toho looked like a slugfest if there ever was one, and it kind of was, but kind of wasn’t. John Cox leads with 31 pounds, 9 ounces. John Voyles and Scott Martin each weighed in 24-plus, and everyone in the top nine weighed at least 21 pounds.

The weights are impressive, but no one really hammered giants all day long, and there just weren’t as many big girls spawning as most pros anticipated in the middle of an extended warming trend. So while it looks like it was a heck of a day, a lot of pros are wondering why it wasn’t just a little bit better. They’re also wondering what to do tomorrow. At least a handful of the 20-plus-pound performers are considering changing lakes on day two – evidence of their uncertainty, but also a testament to the overall quality of the lakes on this chain.

Cox, who had an early boat draw, was able to run straight to some bedding fish he had marked from practice and enjoyed a record-setting day that included the biggest limit ever weighed in an FLW Tour event here on Toho.

“It was an awesome day,” he says. “We finally got some good weather. It was awesome.”

The sight-fishing expert caught an 8-pound-class fish early in the morning and then chipped away here and there with smaller fish. Yet by midmorning, he was feeling a little befuddled.

“I didn’t see anything new moving up,” he says. “I was kind of disappointed. All day I didn’t see any new ones, and I caught my big one a little deeper.”

That “big one” was a 10-pound, 9-ounce bass that is the third largest ever weighed in a Tour event here on Toho. He caught that fish by winding a Berkley PowerBait Wind Up worm with a light tungsten weight.

Eventually, Cox improved with a couple more culls, including another fish on the Wind Up to go with three in his final limit that were caught sight-fishing. He fished about 30 spots and had to deal with a lot of pressure from other anglers who also sniffed out the best sight-fishing waters.

Cox plans to start the day Friday checking some clear bedding areas, but then he’s willing go wherever he needs to go to find a few more big bites and try to extend his 6-pound, 10-ounce lead. Because despite putting up the best performance in Tour history on this fishery, Cox is going to need to continue to parade in with giants if he wants to stay on top here in Florida.

2. John Voyles – Petersburg, Ind. – 24-15 (5)  

Indiana pro John Voyles says his history here in Florida is nothing to brag about. That changes after today. Voyles can do a lot of boasting about the 24-pound, 15-ounce limit he sacked up down in Kissimmee.

Voyles got his morning started off with a nice break. As boat 65, he figured he’d not be able to get into the lock out of Toho without a long wait. It was a nice surprise when he arrived to see only 10 boats waiting (the lock holds about 15). He got right in, right out and raced on to the big lower lake.

“I caught four pretty quickly in the first hour,” he says. “Then it died.”

Voyles tried to relocate some shallow fish, but figures they were either caught already or had backed out, because they were gone. A deeper stretch really saved his day. Voyles caught the four little ones there early, then came back later and went to work. He caught several nice keepers and culled four or five times before catching an 8-5 off a waypoint where he also shook off a real big one in practice. He came back to the spot again later and caught another fish in the 8-pound-class.

Voyles is chucking reaction baits. His strategy is not really based on a pattern, but hinges on a key area that he’s sharing with a handful of other boats.

3. Scott Martin – Clewiston, Fla. – 24-12 (5)   

Scott Martin almost always has the biggest fan base at FLW Tour events. Today, he gave his fans a real show at weigh-in. The Florida native weighed in a whopping 24-pound, 12-ounce limit that included two fish in the 8- to 9-pound range.

Martin’s day started off with a lot of fish, but not a lot of size. He had a limit early for about 7 pounds. Then his day really picked up thanks to smart timing.

“I had one big one I had waited to go to until about 9 because she was a little deeper,” he says. “I ran there and caught her.”

Having a kicker in the box really let Martin settle down, he says. He worked into a good area and eventually hooked up with his other big one.

Martin says he’s pitching for most of his fish. He’s happy with what he had today but thinks this tournament is still wide open because the fish aren’t doing exactly what most pros expected.

“I felt like they were leaving,” he says of the bass in his area. “I still kind of feel like they aren’t progressing like they should be.”

 Top 10 pros

2019 FLW Tour Lake San Rayburn Day 2: Terry Bolton Crushes 33lb Limit and Grabs Lead!

Canadian Sim 11th and Richardson 110th

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Bolton blasts giant limit and takes lead with 54-03lbs!
(Photo: FLW) 

Countless giants lie beneath the swollen and detritus-strewn waters of Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Terry Bolton might be able to give an accurate count, though, seeing as he caught a bunch of them Friday.

After sacking up 20 pounds, 10 ounces on day one of the FLW Tour season opener presented by Polaris at Big Sam – good for 10th place entering Friday – the Benton, Ky., angler put together a megabag full of hawgs that totaled 33-9 and moved Bolton to the top of the leaderboard with all the momentum he could want heading into the weekend.

One could point to technique, preparation and skill as the reasons for Bolton’s success on Rayburn, and all would be valid reasons. Yet, what’s happening for Bolton at the weigh-in stage is all about what’s happening between his ears on the water.

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do [on Saturday]: I’m going to do the same thing I’ve done the last two days,” he quips. “I’m going to get up, put my clothes on, go fishing, and I’m going to enjoy myself because that’s all this year is about is me having fun.”

Bolton kicked around retiring after the last Tour season, during which he says he didn’t have as much fun as he should have. Rayburn tends to be a cure-all for that when it’s fishing as hot as it is right now.

“When you catch 33 pounds, that helps you have fun,” Bolton adds.

The veteran pro says he caught some of his fish on day one on a spinnerbait, but overcast conditions today ignited a crankbait bite, and he did most of his damage with a Rapala DT14 or DT16 in his hand. Bolton caught fish throughout the day but really pounded on them during an early afternoon flurry that culminated with him culling 5 1/2-pounders.

Surprisingly enough, Bolton’s massive stringer wasn’t his largest bag ever. In 2008, during the FLW Series East-West Fish-Off, Bolton sacked up 38-15 at Falcon Lake. Still, you won’t catch him complaining. Quite the opposite, actually.

Nick LeBrun – 48-4 (19-2 day two)

Louisiana native Nick LeBrun put up a big showing at Rayburn on day one, totaling 29 pounds, 2 ounces for the outright lead heading into Friday. Bolton might have eclipsed LeBrun both on the leaderboard and in the big-bag rankings, but second place on cut day isn’t too shabby, especially considering it could have been much worse.

LeBrun had 12 pounds at 1 o’clock. His spots seemed to dry up a bit, which he attributes in part to fishing pressure in that area of the lake. After a tremendous day one, it was starting to look like all of LeBrun’s momentum was about to push him headlong into a brick wall.

Instead, the Tour rookie reached into his bag of tricks and decided to fish a spot he’d been saving for a rough stretch. It paid off in a big way, aided by a 5-pounder that buoyed his day-two weight into the high-teens.

2018 Bassmaster Elite Lake Martin Day 3: Takahiro Omori Continues Lead with 32-11lbs!

Omori needs only one more day 
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Crankbait and current key to Tak's dominance.
(Photo: BASS)

While fishing Saturday’s semifinal round of the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Martin presented by Econo Lodge, Takahiro Omori caught a bass that had two crankbaits in its mouth.
 
One was a chartreuse colored bait that Omori had lost on an underwater tree branch Friday, and the other was the red bait he fished with most of the day Saturday.
 
In 287 events with B.A.S.S., Omori said he’s never had anything like that happen before. But it’s been a charmed tournament for the Japanese-born angler turned Texas resident.
 
Omori utilized one tiny spot on Lake Martin for the third straight day Saturday, landing a five-bass limit that weighed 12 pounds, 13 ounces. He’ll now lead the field into Championship Sunday with a three-day weight of 45-8 and a chance to claim his seventh career victory.
 
“That crankbait is just a once-in-a-lifetime story,” Omori said. “I think maybe what happened is that it got hung up and the fish ate it before. Then it ate the other bait today.
 
“Maybe that’s a sign that everything is going right.”
 
Omori has been traveling up the lake each day to a small nondescript spot that can’t be easily accessed. He has to trim his outboard up to get through some extremely shallow water and then use his Power-Pole shallow-water anchors to hold his boat in place while making continuous casts to an area about twice as wide as a bass boat.
 
So far, it’s been worth the trouble.
 
Omori landed 18-2 during Thursday’s first round and followed that with 14-9 Friday. He’s left with the fish still biting each day, and he’s hoping the spot has one more good day left in it.
 
“We won’t know until tomorrow,” he said. “I just plan to work on my tackle tonight, get a good night’s sleep and go right back there in the morning.”
 
His lead is anything but rock solid, with four anglers within about 6 pounds of the lead.
 
Rookie Roy Hawk caught five bass that weighed 12-10 Saturday and pushed his second-place total to 41-6. He said he might be even closer to the leader if it hadn’t been for one missed opportunity.