Buddy Gross Wins the 2020 Bassmaster Lake Eufaula with

From 10th to 1st, Buddy Gross whacks them with a jig!
By Bryan Brasher

BASS Press Release

Adjusting to changing conditions, Gross moved shallow and onto a jig that
scores the week's most impressive limit.
(Photo: BASS)

After a week of constant adjustments, everything came together perfectly for Buddy Gross on Championship Saturday.

The Bassmaster Elite Series rookie, fishing only his second event on the trail, caught a tournament-best five-bass limit that weighed 27 pounds, 11 ounces and sprang from 10th place to a victory in the DEWALT Bassmaster Elite at Lake Eufaula with a four-day total of 84-8. He earned $100,000 and one of the coveted blue trophies that comes with every Elite Series win.

Instead of the usual routine of being handed the trophy by Elite Series Tournament Director Trip Weldon, Gross received the prize onstage from his family due to strict social distancing measures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Gross said. “This is something you dream of as a kid because B.A.S.S. is the epitome of fishing — just the staple of the fishing world. To dream about something like this, and then for it to happen so early in my career, is amazing.”

Gross, who lives in Chickamauga, Ga., made two scouting trips to Lake Eufaula before the event. Each trip, the weather was so rough that he spent all of his time just idling around and marking brushpiles.

2020 Bassmaster Elite Lake Eufaula Day 3: Canterbury Snag Lead with 64-06lbs!

Canterbury holds 4 pound lead
By Bryan Brasher

BASS Press Release

Giant bass helps anchor Scott Canterbury's 22-13lb limit.
(Photo: BASS)

Back in October, Scott Canterbury was crowned Bassmaster Angler of the Year for being the most consistent professional bass angler on the planet.

That was almost nine months ago, but it seems not much has changed.

Consistency has led Canterbury to catches of more than 20 pounds the past three days and put him in the lead going into the final round of the DEWALT Bassmaster Elite at Lake Eufaula with a three-day total of 64 pounds, 6 ounces.

Friday marked his best catch yet, as he brought 22-13 to the scales to jump from third place into first with a chance to win $100,000 and his first blue winner’s trophy on the Elite Series.

“I had almost 23 pounds today and lost a big one — should have had 25 pounds,” said Canterbury, who holds more than a 4-pound lead over the rest of the field. “I lost a giant. I didn’t see it, but I know it was a big one.

“I’m not gonna complain.”

Canterbury said he came into the event expecting to catch the majority of his fish on deeper offshore structure. But during the first two days when he landed catches of 20-12 and 20-13, he bounced back and forth between the lake’s plentiful deep-water brushpiles and its abundant shallow cover.

He had enough success fishing shallow during Thursday’s second round that he actually started shallow with a frog Friday morning — and that quickly netted him a 4-pound largemouth. But he eventually moved back deep and anchored his five-bass limit with a 6-6 largemouth from a brushpile he hadn’t previously fished this week.

2020 Bassmaster Elite Lake Eufaula Day 2: Matt Arey Leads ith 43-05lbs!

Canadians Gustafson 42nd, Chris Johnston 59th & Cory Johnston 68th
By Bryan Brasher

BASS Press Release

Two 20lb limit vaults Arey into lead a shallow bite picks up.
(Photo: BASS)

For the first two days of the DEWALT Bassmaster Elite at Lake Eufaula, the burning question has been, “Should I fish shallow or should I fish deep?”

At least for now, the answer seems to be, “Both.”

North Carolina pro Matt Arey caught five bass during Thursday’s second round that weighed 22 pounds, 15 ounces. Combined with his Wednesday catch of 20-6, he now has a two-day total of 43-5 and less than a 2-pound lead over his closest competition.

A combination of shallow and deep fishing has led to Arey’s success.

“I’ve started shallow both days, but I’m bouncing back and forth between the two,” he said. “That works for me. I’ve never really had a ‘strength,’ so to speak. When I started fishing professionally, I wanted to learn a little bit of everything.”

Of the 10 bass he has weighed in so far, Arey said seven came from shallow water and three came deep. Those three deeper fish bit for him Thursday, but his biggest bass during the second round — a 6-5 largemouth — came from shallow grass.

“I rolled into a spot and saw some bream instantly, and I saw this bass cruising,” Arey said. “I couldn’t tell how big it was because it was pretty far down the bank.

“But I threw my frog in there, and it got hung on a piece of grass.”

Things got better from there.

“The bass turned immediately when it heard the frog touch the water, and I twitched it really fast to get it out of that grass,” he said. “It grabbed the actual legs of the frog, pulled it down and then just sucked it right in. 

“If I hadn’t been able to see the fish, I would have jerked when the frog first disappeared and probably missed it.” 

Arey said it’s no real secret that his deeper fish are coming off the brushpiles that seem to dot Lake Eufaula by the thousands. But rising water — the lake is up more than 1 1/2 feet — and an abundance of shallow cover are making it hard right now to leave the shoreline. 

He said he’ll likely continue bouncing back and forth for the remainder of the tournament.

“I don’t have much experience here,” he said. “But obviously, you look around the bank and you see a lot of good stuff. It can draw a man to the bank pretty easily — and with the water up like it is right now, it’s hard to resist.”

Another North Carolina pro, former Elite Series Rookie of the Year Jake Whitaker, caught 20-8 Thursday and now sits in second place with 41-10. Unlike Arey, Whitaker spent all of his time shallow Thursday — and he didn’t seem sure he’d have enough fish left to keep his momentum rolling. 

Johnny McCombs Wins 2017 Walmart FLW Tour Beaver Lake with 47-01lbs!

McCombs outlast flood and anglers to take title. 

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Life tests us in many ways – some tests being more significant than others.

Bass fishing, for instance, is a test of concentration, strategy and an understanding of Mother Nature’s ways.

Professional tournament fishing in the kind of extreme conditions we saw this week at the FLW Tour presented by General Tire at Beaver Lake, which included a lake-level rise of more than 12 feet, more than 9 inches of rain on Saturday alone, flash floods and thunderstorms, might be the toughest kind of bass fishing test.

Johnny ran topwater over flooded shorelines to win.
(Photo: FLW)

For Johnny McCombs, the result at Beaver Lake was a passing score and a $100,000 paycheck. McCombs won the tournament with a four-day catch of 47 pounds, 1 ounce.

Still, the challenges of this week were minor compared to the ways that life has tested McCombs off the water. His success is significant not because of how he caught his fish, but because of what he’s managed to overcome to have this opportunity.