JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Seventeen-year-old angler Rex Reagan thought the fish he’d relied upon for two days had abandoned him, but it turned out they were just playing possum.
The Livingston, Tenn., angler relocated the migrant bass and landed a tournament-best 17-pound, 5-ounce limit on the final day of the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance. That allowed him to reclaim the lead he’d lost yesterday and take home the victory with a three-day total of 48 pounds, 1 ounce. He beat Day 2 leader Chase Loftus of Iowa City, Iowa, by 3 pounds, 6 ounces.
It was the third major victory of the young angler’s career. He previously won back-to-back Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championships, first at Chickamauga Lake in 2024 and then at Clarks Hill Lake in 2025.
“My fish were leaving me,” he said. “I thought they’d left me completely. I didn’t know where they’d gone.”
Fortunately, when he recalibrated his plans away from the area that had been so productive for two days, he picked correctly and caught three smallmouth in the 3 1/2 pound range from a single early morning spot. It was a place where he’d only caught a single fish in practice. Then he landed a 2.60 pound largemouth and around 11 a.m. capped off his limit with a fifth bass approaching 4 1/2 pounds.
“At that point I thought I had it won,” he reported. “After I screamed for 10 minutes, I sat down for 10 minutes, and then I was calm the rest of the day. It went according to God’s plan.”
Indeed, he made it look easy, as only one other competitor topped the 15-pound mark today.
Reagan’s strategy involved two key components: Finding bait and then distinguishing between bass and other nonscorable species like drum.
“Those trash fish were mixed in like crazy,” he explained.
Every fish that he weighed in succumbed to a green gizzard 4.25” Rapala CrushCity Freeloader fished on a 6’10” Mag-Medium, Extra-Fast G.Loomis NRX spinning rod. He paired it with a 3000-sized Shimano Vanquish reel.
“It’s the most sensitive rod I’ve ever used,” he explained. “A lot of times that bite was so soft you couldn’t feel it if you used anything else.”
He also credited his Garmin 8616 unit with helping him find the right quality fish and distinguishing them from undesirable species. He said that the performance of his electronics was so impressive that his cousin Lucas Reagan (14th, 36-3) vowed at weigh-in to make the switch from another brand. That means they’ll both have them at Hartwell in November, since both qualified for this fall’s Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Lowrance.
Right now, though, the 17 year-old winner said he’s “just soaking it all in. The goal was to make it to the last day.”
Day 2 leader Loftus fell a spot but felt confident that his closing-round strategy made sense. He fully expected that someone in the tightly-packed field would put together a monster limit today, so he gambled to try to make something happen.
“I saw it as a one-day tournament,” he said. “I spent more than a third of the day looking for new water. It just didn’t pan out.”
He focused throughout the tournament on what he characterized as “high percentage spawning areas” — zones where there were multiple beds in close proximity to one another so he could pick off four or five fish in quick succession. Today he simply ran out of those types of areas and when he did find fish it took longer to convince them to bite.
“Some bite it when you drop it in and some you have to tinker around for a while,” he said. “Today it took way more time and I was way less efficient.” His primary tool was a drop-shot rig and he credited both his friends from the University of Iowa Bass Team and the Iowa B.A.S.S. Nation for inspiring — and cheering on — his success in a field full of talented and experienced locals.
“Now the plan is to figure out how to win Hartwell,” Loftus concluded.
Gavin Clevenger, who’d started the tournament in 8th place and then rose to 3rd yesterday on the strength of a 15-5 limit, held onto that position, albeit with his smallest bag of the tournament. The 24 year-old Knoxville angler brought 12-4 to the scales today and was disappointed not to make a stronger final push.
“Honestly, I was catching a mix of largemouth and smallmouth during practice, but during the tournament they were all smallmouth,” he said. “Some were on beds and some were chasing bait. I thought I knew what was going on after Day 2, but something changed. I’m not sure what that was.”
Like Reagan, every fish he weighed in fell victim to a Rapala CrushCity Freeloader.
Kentucky boater Kevin True claimed Big Bass of the Tournament honors with a 5-6 largemouth he landed on Day 1.
Clifford Chilson of New York landed a three-bass limit that weighed 7-7 today to extend his lead to over 3 pounds and win the nonboater division with a three-day total of 24 pounds. He outlasted Tennesseans KB Bridges and Ryan Baker, who finished 2nd and 3rd with 20-12 and 20-8, respectively.
The Top 10% of boaters and nonboaters after the final-day weigh-in will advance to the 2026 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Lowrance, where boaters will compete for a spot on the 2027 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series as well as one of three spots in the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
The tournament was hosted by Visit Jefferson County, TN.
2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Series Title Sponsor: Mercury
2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Series Presenting Sponsor: Lowrance
2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Series Platinum Sponsor: Progressive, Toyota
2026B.A.S.S. Nation Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mountain Dew, Nitro Boats, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Lew’s, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, VMC, Yokohama
