It’s official. Jeff Gustafson has done what no one thought possible on the Tennessee River. He has caught a five-bass limit of smallmouth bass measuring at least 18 inches long four days in a row....
After three days of practice on the Tennessee River this week, some of the anglers who competed in the 2019 Bassmaster Classic were asked to make a comparison. The unanimous opinion was that this...
Jeff Gustafson put his third keeper in the boat at 10:30. It wasn’t a textbook landing, as he fumbled it two or three times as waves crashed against the side of his boat. But the 19 1/2-inch...
Hunter Shryock has steadily advanced up the leaderboard this week. He was 31st after Day 1, moved up to 16th on Day 2 and started today in 8th place. Photographer Andy Crawford reports Shryock has...
John Cox has already put four keepers in the boat. He said he’s had more bites in the first 20 minutes than any other day this week. Cox started the day in third place, 10-12, behind leader Jeff...
Jeff Gustafson immediately began taking the drama out of this fog-delayed final day. He arrived at 9:15 after his 35-mile run to the canal between lakes Loudoun and Tellico, and he put a keeper in...
With today’s 90-minute fog delay, some drama has been added to this final day. Jeff Gustafson has built his 7-pound, 14-ounce lead over second-place Steve Kennedy by catching most of his fish early...
This tournament is the season-opener for David Fritts. He was recovering from Covid-19 diagnosed on January 5 and didn’t participate at the St. Johns River two weeks ago. He’s still suffering from...
To stay in contention for the Elite Series Angler of the Year title, you have to have some second- and third-day “saves” along the way. Derek Hudnall is having one of those tournaments this week....
Jeff Gustafson has finally breathed a sigh of relief. The fifth keeper smallmouth that he caught about 8:30 this morning, one that barely met the legal limit of 18 inches, has been replaced by a 19...
Day 3 is following the same script we’ve seen the previous two days. It goes something like this: 1) Jeff Gustafson jumps out to a big lead with smallmouth bass early, then 2) the largemouth guys...
Brock Mosley has had a frustrating morning so far. Lots of swings and misses, especially one big miss. If you’re watching “Bassmaster LIVE,” you saw Mosley miss on what was estimated to be a 4...
Jeff Gustafson put his fifth keeper smallmouth in the boat at 8:25 a.m. Yes, his spot has definitely loaded up again overnight, after he struggled for hours to catch No. 5 there yesterday. He’s...
Jeff Gustafson is a happy man. He is married to the spot where he’s caught the smallmouth bass that have kept him in the lead for two days in this tournament. He doesn’t have any place else to go....
Yesterday Brock Mosley best exemplified what it takes to be successful in the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the Tennessee River. Mosley’s day was almost over, and he was one bass shy of a...
Bryan New started the day in 85th place after catching only one 2-pound, 1-ounce bass yesterday. He caught twice as many fish on one cast today, as you can see in the photo above. New might have...
Justin Hamner was one of the six Elite Series rookies who made the top 50 cut in the season opener at the St. Johns River, where he finished 26th. In just about polar opposite weather conditions,...
Jeff Gustafson had his tournament-leading five-bass limit of 17-14 by 10 a.m. yesterday. He had four of those 18-inch minimum smallmouth bass in the boat by 10 a.m. today. Number five was a long...
Hunter Shryock has definitely caught the big bass of the day. There’s just one problem, as the photo indicates, it’s a striped bass and not one of the three black bass species that count in this...