Trey McKinney Wins 2024 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork with 130-15Lbs!

Copper Gallant with 100-07lbs!

BASS Press Release

YANTIS, Texas – Trey McKinney made history, with authority, on Championship Sunday at the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork.

The Carbondale, Ill., native, exactly one week removed from his 19th birthday, finished with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 130 pounds, 15 ounces, outlasting the field of 103 anglers in what was one of the most productive tournaments in the history of competitive bass fishing.

He became the youngest winner in Elite Series history and earned $100,000, while missing the all-time record for total weight in a four-day B.A.S.S. event — set by Paul Elias on Falcon Lake in Texas in 2008 — by just 1 pound, 9 ounces.

“This is crazy to even be up here, much less come that close to setting the all-time tournament record,” McKinney said. “To think, that one more fish and I could have had it. I lost a 7 1/2-pounder yesterday that would have given me 33 pounds and enough weight to break it.

“But I couldn’t be happier. This lake is just awesome. It was stressful and I had adrenaline. I was really spinning out today when I had 28 pounds and didn’t know if I had enough to win. I knew I had to have more.”

2015 Forrest L. Wood Cup Lake Ouachita Day 2: Colson Takes Lead as Field Cut to 20!

Big bass key for leader

FLW PRESS RELEASE

At about 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, Ramie Colson Jr.’s life might have changed forever. It was at that point that Colson cast into a brush pile on Lake Ouachita, felt a tug, set the hook and battled to the boat a fish that weighed nearly 6 pounds.

Now, normally, catching a 6-pound bass is not that big of a deal, unless of course you are fishing the Forrest Wood Cup for $500,000 and the big bass anchors the biggest limit of the tournament, putting you in the lead.

Welcome to Ramie Colson's world.

“After I caught that bass, I had to drift over to the bank, Power-Pole down, and just sit down and take a drink of water for about 15 minutes,” Colson recalls. “And those thoughts start popping up in your mind … about possibly winning. I had to take a few minutes to sort of recompose myself and get focused again.”

For the record, Colson’s day-two limit weighed 17 pounds, 14 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 31 pounds, 1 ounce for nearly a 3-pound lead going into the third day of the Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, which is hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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