2026 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes Day 2: Brandon Palaniuk Scores Big Lead!

Canadians Chris Johnston 2nd, Cory Johnston 4th, Kung 16th, Gustafson 53rd & Gallant 96th

Rathdrum, Idaho pro Brandon Palaniuk has taken the lead on Day 2 of the 2026 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes with a two-day total of 59 pounds.(Photo: Seigo Saito/ BASS)

BASS Press Release

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Brandon Palaniuk’s Santee Cooper Lakes hot streak continued on Day 2 of the 2026 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes. The Idaho native landed 29 pounds, 15 ounces to take the lead with a two-day total of 59-0. 

“The Prodigy” anchored his limit with an 8-6 postspawn largemouth, a bass that helped him build a 4-5 advantage over Canadian pro Chris Johnston. The gap from Johnston to third-place Carl Jocumsen is 5-15. 

“I was nervous after practice, to be honest, that I was gonna blow the good reputation I have here,” Palaniuk said. “Today was unreal. I didn’t see it coming yesterday and I didn’t see it coming today.”

Palaniuk has yet to miss a Championship Sunday cut, let alone a Day 3 cut, at Santee Cooper Lakes in three attempts. He’s 4/4 now with Semifinal Saturday’s and in prime position again to make the final day. 

So far this week, Palaniuk has called one broad area of Lake Marion home, targeting postspawn largemouth around particular pieces of cover. One bait has generated most of his bites so far. While the one area has stayed the same, the eight-time Bassmaster champion said the same pieces of cover have produced bites two days in a row. 

2026 Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Day 3: Jason Christie Jumps into Lead!

Canadians Gustafson 17th, Cory Johnston 24th, Chris Johnston 28th,  Gallant 86th & Kung 101st

BASS Press Release

COLUMBUS, Miss. — His opening game plan may not have panned out, but after a second day of impressive consistency, Jason Christie took over the Day 3 lead in the Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway with a three-day total of 45 pounds, 9 ounces.

The decorated veteran from Dry Creek, Okla., made a big first-day run that included two locks and caught a limit of 12-5 that left him tied with Brandon Cobb for 37th place. Day 2 saw Christie adjust his focus to closer waters where a limit of 16-10 lifted him to fifth.

Repeating his program on Semifinal Saturday, Christie added another bag of 16-10 and moved into the top spot. Heading into Championship Sunday with a margin of 1-4 over Day 2 leader Wesley Gore, Christie said he’s doing his best to capitalize on unpredictable opportunity.

“I’ve just been lucky and getting a few good bites,” Christie said. “You don’t know when that’s gonna happen, or where it’s gonna happen. All I know is I’m putting my bait in front of the right ones and I’m landing them.

“I think that’s gonna be key tomorrow. Whoever wins is gonna get two or three good bites, he’s gonna land them and he’s gonna win $100,000. Hopefully, it’s me.”

Christie, who has eight Bassmaster wins to his credit — including the 2022 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell — said location was the key to faring well on this system known as the Tenn-Tom.

2026 Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Day 2: Wesley Gore Claims Lead with 34-07lbs!

Canadians Cory Johnston 31th, Chris Johnston 41st, Gustafson 42th, Gallant 86th & Kung 101st

Bass Press Release

COLUMBUS, Miss. — Wesley Gore knew he had options, but his commitment to local waters delivered a limit of 17 pounds, 15 ounces that moved him atop the leaderboard at the Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

After placing fifth on Day 1 with 16-8, the Clanton, Ala., pro went on to tally 34-7. Gore heads into Semifinal Saturday with a lead of 2-7 over Dakota Ebare.

“I had another great day on the water,” Gore said. “It was a grind. I had seven keeper bites again, but I feel like I’m doing the right thing to win.”

While many of his competitors locked up and down from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway’s Columbus Pool, where the tournament is based, Gore again took locking off the table and afforded himself maximum fishing time.

“I really wasn’t on anything,” Gore said of his practice results. “I felt like I could run down to Aliceville and catch 8-10 pounds, but I felt like if I stayed in Columbus, I might not catch a limit, but I would catch one or two big ones.

“I took that gamble the first day and slowly but surely, we have put it together every day. Hopefully, we can put it back together tomorrow and see where it goes.”

Gore said his day was a mix of yesterday’s water and a few new spots.

“I made a slight adjustment today and I moved areas,” Gore said. “The place I caught them yesterday, I only left there with two fish, but they were both 5-pounders.

Takahiro Omori Wins 2026 Bass Pro Tour's O'Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 Presented by Lowrance on Lake Hartwell!

Takahiro Omori scored his first Bass Pro Tour win and was the only angler to never use his forward-facing sonar throughout all of Stage 2. Photo by Phoenix Moore.

By Mitchell Forde

BASS PRO TOUR

OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. — Prior to the Bass Pro Tour’s first ever visit to Lake Hartwell, the prevailing expectation was that finesse techniques and spotted bass would rule O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 Presented by Lowrance. A few anglers have managed to contend in past tournaments on the famed fishery by catching shallow largemouth, but given the Bass Pro Tour’s every-fish-counts scoring, the February timing of this event and the fact that the water is about 7 feet low, no one would have predicted that bladed jigs, dirty water and largemouth would dominate.

That included Takahiro Omori.

The angler best known for exclaiming “I knew it!” after he caught the winning fish at the 2004 Bassmaster Classic admitted that he didn’t anticipate being able to contend on Hartwell while sticking in his power fishing wheelhouse – much less earning his long-awaited first Bass Pro Tour win. 

“To be honest, I had no motivation to come here,” the Tokyo, Japan, native said. “I thought I was coming here to get beat by the spots.”

But Omori never wavered from his game plan. The veteran pro spent the entire event in the Tugaloo River, using his smooth casting skills to pick apart whatever shallow cover he could find in the backs of creeks. He never even bothered to turn on forward-facing sonar.

The result was a near wire-to-wire win. After he finished Day 1 in second place, Omori topped the Qualifying Round, earning an automatic trip to Sunday’s Championship Round. There, he overcame a slow start to stack up 36 pounds, 6 ounces on 12 scorable bass. With post-frontal, windy conditions making the bite tough on everyone, that was enough to edge Jacob Walker by 2-10. His first tour-level victory since 2018 and the ninth of Omori’s decorated career earned him $125,000.

Here’s how the Top 10 pros finished the Championship Round:

1. Takahiro Omori – 36-6 (12)

2. Jacob Walker – 33-12 (12)

3. Matt Becker – 29-4 (11)

4. Banks Shaw – 27-9 (10)

5. Jacob Wall – 23-15 (9)

6. Spencer Shuffield – 22-6 (9)

7. Jesse Wiggins – 19-6 (5)

8. Jacob Wheeler – 14-14 (6)

9. Ott DeFoe – 14-7 (6)

10. Justin Cooper – 13-12 (5)

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.

Ott DeFoe Wins Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company Championship Round

DeFoe takes down Stage 6 at Potomac for fifth Bass Pro Tour win 

Ott DeFoe topped the field on the Potomac River with 78 pounds, 11 ounces on 32 scorable bass. Photo by Phoenix Moore

By Tyler Brinks

Bass Pro Tour 

MARBURY, Md. – After a week that saw Ott DeFoe near the top of SCORETRACKER® every day he was on the water, the Tennessee pro finally shot to the top when it mattered most, taking down the Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company Championship Round for his fourth Bass Pro Tour regular-season win and fifth BPT win overall.

With a dominant final-day performance, DeFoe stacked up 32 bass for 78 pounds, 11 ounces to beat his closest pursuer in Ron Nelson by nearly 27 pounds. Nelson finished as the runner-up, his best finish on the Bass Pro Tour since joining the ranks last season.

DeFoe is one of the winningest anglers in Bass Pro Tour history, behind only Jacob Wheeler and Dustin Connell, but this marks his first individual win since Heavy Hitters in 2022. It’s his fourth regular-season BPT win, the first since 2021 on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes. He did it in typical DeFoe fashion, too, escaping the bulk of the 66-angler field and fishing far up a creek in the Potomac River backwaters.

Here’s how the Top 10 pros finished the Championship Round:

1. Ott DeFoe – 78 – 11 (32)                

2. Ron Nelson – 51 – 13 (23)            

3. Bradley Roy – 44 – 11 (20)           

4. Cole Floyd – 43 – 11 (21)               

5. Zack Birge – 41 – 09 (20)

6. Adrian Avena – 40 – 12 (20)        

7. James Elam – 36 – 07 (18)           

8. Keith Poche – 35 – 07 (15)

9. Spencer Shuffield – 31 – 01 (15)               

10. Keith Carson – 30 – 01 (14)       

Complete results

DeFoe gets shallow and skinny for the win

Kicking off the event, DeFoe found himself in second place behind Keith Poche after catching 70-2 during the first day of qualifying, most of it early in the day in what would end being his winning area, the extreme backwaters of Neabsco Creek.

Keith Poche Wins 2025 Stop 5 Presented by 7 Brew Coffee on the James River!

By Jody White, Invitations 

RICHMOND, Va. – Keith Poche has a sterling record when it comes to riverine fisheries, with a bevy of Top 10s and wins on rivers proper plus high finishes plucked from the upper reaches of reservoirs. At Stop 5 Presented by 7Brew Coffee on the James River, Poche led the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event from the start after catching the biggest bag of the event on Day 1 – 23 pounds, 15 ounces. On Day 3, he tallied 12-15 for an even 53-pound total and the win, surviving 20-pound charges from Chad Mrazek and Dustin Smith and staying well clear of his closest competition at the start of the day.

The win is Poche’s third with MLF and his first at the Invitationals level, and he pocketed $80,000 for his efforts. It also sends him into next week’s Bass Pro Tour Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company at the Potomac River (just up the Chesapeake Bay) with some prime time tidal momentum.

The perfect boat and the perfect spot

Famous for running a Gator Trax aluminum boat with a 150-horsepower Mercury, Poche is a master when it comes to getting where others can’t. This week, he caught all but one of his weigh fish out of a hard-to-reach creek off the James, which he could access at any water level – a feat that others in larger tin rigs and standard fiberglass boats couldn’t accomplish.

“That was the X-factor in the whole deal, my boat and motor,” Poche said. “I mean, having that Gator Trax with a Mercury allowed me to win. I could get there. No nobody else could. It doesn’t matter how many fish are in there if you can’t get there. That was the difference.”

In practice, Poche scouted the area, which he’s leaned on before in James events, and he immediately liked his chances.

2025 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller Day 3: Andrew Loberg Continues the Lead!

Canadians: Chris Johnston 12th, Kung 30, Gustafson 43th, Cory Johnston 44th & Gallant 48th 

Alabama's Andrew Loberg remains in the top spot on Day 3 of the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller with a total of 51 pounds, 6 ounces. (Seigo Saito/ BASS)

BASS Press Release 

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — There have been very few constants during this week’s Lowrance Bassmaster Elite Series at Lake Tenkiller, but Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Andrew Loberg continues to make all of the right moves. 

The California native landed 15 pounds, 9 ounces on Semifinal Saturday, increasing his three-day total to 51-6. Loberg has never trailed this week, opening the tournament with a 17-9 limit of largemouth before catching 18-4 on the second day. After only being separated by ounces after Friday’s weigh-in, the gap between him and second-place Keith Combs is now 3-13. 

“It has been a really cool week. Nothing has set in,” Loberg said. “I’m just fishing the way I like to fish. It’s not like I have one hole I’m sitting on. I just wake up in the morning, launch the boat, buzz around and hope for the best.”

If he can hold the lead, Loberg will become the third rookie to claim an Elite Series trophy this season. Two of his roommates, Paul Marks and Tucker Smith, are responsible for those wins. The winning recipe in the house, he remarked, includes Cheez-Its, Pop-Tarts and fruit snacks.

Loberg has won two Toyota Series events in his West Coast career, but an Elite Series win would be the top accomplishment of his young career. 

“I’m still in grind mode,” Loberg said. “All I’m thinking about is catching five more good ones.”

The weather continues to be unpredictable in eastern Oklahoma. Several rounds of thunderstorms moved through Friday night, bringing the lake levels up several inches in the process. Then, an intense line of storms moved through late Saturday morning and hung around during the early afternoon hours. 

While earlier forecasts indicated a quieter Sunday, more inclement weather is now expected to impact the region overnight and into official tournament hours. The conditions, however, have played into the hands of the anglers fishing in shallow water, including Loberg who has spent most of his tournament fishing in less than 6 feet of water. 

“It went up a quarter of a foot from yesterday at least,” Loberg said. “You run down the lake and there are waterfalls everywhere. So, it will probably be a lot higher (tomorrow).

“In practice, there was so much water, and you had to find certain banks that didn’t have water behind them. Now I’m finding water that has flatter and shallower pockets that the fish can move into.”