We’re just days away from kicking off the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. Each year the Classic provides unexpected twists and turns nobody sees coming. Examples are plentiful from each year, but in 2021, the last time Lake Ray Roberts was the site of the Classic, the event was shifted to June which threw the competitors for a major loop.
In an event that, on paper, looked to be dominated with offshore techniques like deep cranking or throwing a big worm offshore, the exact opposite transpired. The water came up significantly, forcing the majority of anglers to fish flooded cover with baits like a frog, swim jig and flipping a creature bait.
This year’s Classic is setting up to be an absolute slugfest. With warm temperatures projected between now and the start of the event, many anglers are projecting a flood of bass heading to the bank to begin the spawning process. As is the case with any March tournament in the South, things will be changing every moment. This makes for an entertaining event every single time.
What will the big Bassmaster Classic surprises be in 2025?
We caught up with a few Bassmaster writers and Bassmaster LIVE talents to get their bold predictions for the biggest event in all of bass fishing.
Davy Hite
I think that over the course of the 2025 Bassmaster Classic, we will see two or more bags over 25 pounds. This is the Bassmaster Classic — there’s so many distractions and so much going on out on the water that it’s a really difficult thing to accomplish. There’s so much more to the Classic than people realize.
If you look back at the history of the Bassmaster Classic, there really haven’t been many bags over 25 pounds. To me, catching over 25 pound in the Classic is the equivalent to catching over 30 pounds in any other tournament.
Mike Suchan
The Classic is due for double-digit bass.
Only two double-digit bass have been caught in the 54 Classics. Rick Clunn weighed a 10-pound, 10-ounce lunker on Day 1 at the Kissimmee Chain in 2006, only to be bested a short time later by Preston Clark’s 11-10.
In the 2021 Ray Roberts Classic, Frank Talley’s 8-3 took big bass honors. That event was in June. Ten years ago in March, Shannon Lee Elvington set the Ray Roberts record with a 15.18 Toyota ShareLunker Legacy fish.
This year should be mostly prespawn when bass are at their heaviest, so the potential is there for a 10-plus, and possibly a Classic record bass, to cross the stage in Fort Worth. The Classic and Ray Roberts are due.
Pete Robbins
A Texan will not take home the trophy. Not a long-term resident of the state, like Lee Livesay, nor a comparatively recent transplant like Chris Zaldain or Ben Milliken. Of course, as a matter of sheer numbers it makes sense, but it’s more than that. There was a period of time from 2014 through 2019 when we had a passel of hometown Classic heroes, but they were mostly guys who’d spent decades on those waters and therefore had a distinct advantage. That’s not the case now, even with Zaldain who’s no doubt spent thousands of hours there in recent years.
‘Ray Bob’ is a classic Texan tournament venue, but it’s not really anyone’s long-term home lake. Moreover, you’ll notice we haven’t had a home state winner since “the split,” and I attribute that heavily to the fact that technology has advanced and the new generation of anglers — whether they be from Canada, straight out of high school or from some other nontraditional feeder source of pros — simply don’t know they’re supposed to wait their turn to win.
Steve Bowman
My bold prediction for this Classic is all about the big bass. I believe at least two double-digit bass will be caught during this event, and one of those will be entered in the Legacy Class of the Texas Parks and Wildlife ShareLunker Program.
I base that prediction on timing and simply great fishery management. Ray Roberts has six bass in the Legacy Class, ranging from 13.06 pounds to 15.18 pounds. Ironically, they were the first six ShareLunker bass caught on Ray Roberts from 1999 to 2015. Since then, 42 bass have been passed on to the ShareLunker program that weighed from 8 pounds to 11 1/2 pounds.
It’s been a while since a Legacy Bass has been caught from the lake. The last and largest came in 2015. But, knowing age and growth of truly big bass, it takes 10 years to grow a fish of gargantuan size. Those previous Legacy Bass were spawned with other big bass, and their spawn returned to the lake, meaning those offspring are at the 10-year mark or older. To give you an idea of what that means, the meticulous records of ShareLunker shows one of those caught by Stan Lawing in 2012 spawned, resulting in 15,285 fingerling ShareLunker offspring stocked back in Ray Roberts. Those that survived will be of age to be Legacy-class age.
Add one more thing to the mix: 37% of all ShareLunker bass from Ray Roberts were caught in March.
Christopher Decker
Tyler Campbell will notch a top five finish: After covering the Bassmaster College Series pretty closely the last several years, Campbell has been on my radar for a while now. The story of his college career at Emmanuel University with partner Parker Guy was “close, but no cigar.” Twice, the duo missed qualifying for the College Classic Bracket by one spot in the standings at the National Championship. Once it was a fourth-place finish at Pickwick Lake in 2023 when the top three teams claimed spots then a second-place finish at Lake Hartwell in 2024 when only the top finishing team claimed a spot.
Campbell broke through with a win at the Team Championship last December to qualify for the Classic, and I expect him to carry the momentum into Ray Roberts from that victory and his great start in the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN — he’s third in overall Opens points.
Hamner goes back-to-back: Back-to-back Classic bids either start or end in Texas lately. Jordan Lee won his first of two consecutive at Lake Conroe. Hank Cherry won his second in a row at Ray Roberts in 2021. I believe the same could be in store for Justin Hamner. Hamner loves to do two things: throw a jerkbait and toss a jig. That’s how he won last year at Grand Lake. What did Cherry do last time the Classic was at Ray Roberts, albeit in the summertime? Throw a jerkbait and toss a jig. If there are prespawners to be caught, those two baits will always get the job done.
Several anglers have mentioned the similarities between Lake Fork and Ray Roberts as well in pre-tournament discussions, and Hamner broke through last March at Fork throwing a jerkbait to grab a Century Club belt and land the biggest bass ever seen on Bassmaster LIVE. Bassmaster Classics are really hard to win — just ask Gerald Swindle, Brandon Palaniuk and Greg Hackney — but all the ingredients are there for Hamner to repeat.
Kyle Jessie
How about we save the boldest prediction for last?
Connor Jacob will defy the odds and win the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. I’m not crazy. I do realize how unlikely this prediction is. However, I think that Connor Jacob could be a sleeping giant in this event.
Through Jacob’s career at Auburn University fishing the Strike King Bassmaster College Series, I had the opportunity to cover him on the water on several occasions. I can vividly remember watching he and his partner Sam Smith get the win at Smith Lake back in 2021 and thinking, “This kid will be a professional if he wants to be.” Since that time, Jacob has made a few splashes in the Opens and qualified for the Classic through the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship.
The Bassmaster Classic is long overdue for a complete underdog victory. There’s a reason it has happened so infrequently over the course of time — winning the Classic is incredibly difficult, especially for a first-time competitor.
In the 2021 Classic at Ray Roberts, Chris Jones, who qualified from the Opens, and Justin Kerr, who qualified through the B.A.S.S. Nation, both made the top five and were one big bite away from hoisting the Ray Scott Trophy. Is there something to be made of that? Probably not, but if you’re going to make a bold prediction, why not make it super bold?
