Like the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Stanley Mitchell’s reserved champagne remains safe.
Despite some pundits’ predictions, Mitchell’s status as the youngest champion in Bassmaster Classic history will stay intact for at least another year. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t see history this week in Knoxville, as Dylan Nutt became the second B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier to win the Classic.
He may not be the youngest winner, but as another Dylan told us, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” There’s no doubt that the bulk of the competitors are getting younger and younger. Nutt is 22 now and will be 23 by the time he joins the Elites in 2027.
There’s nothing that stops older people from being competitive on the water, just as there’s nothing that prevents women from competing, or members of any other group. But the first step for the average angler – most of whom will never compete outside of their home region – has historically been the local club, the feeder system for the Nation. There’s nothing that says that Nutt can’t simultaneously represent the best of the dreamer class, hundreds of thousands strong, and also be the archetype of the born-to-be-a-bass-pro hammers.
The drama seemed to evaporate early today, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t learn a lot about the sport’s past, it’s future, and how to catch a bass. Here’s what I saw, heard and thought today, as our third Knoxville Classic came to a close:
First Time Competitors – Nutt is the first first-time Classic qualifier to win since Boyd Duckett in 2007 and the 9th overall.
Dylan Nutt — “I’m not very good with my Livescope. I don’t know much about it.”
Understanding History – Connecticut B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier Noah Winslow (20th, 42-15) may not have been born during Bryan Kerchal’s lifetime, but he knows the history and importance of the 1994 Classic winner, who called the same state home. Winslow had been gifted a Yamaha rag from Kerchal’s tackle bag by tackle industry veteran Chris Bielert and carried it in his boat all week. He also had one of Kerchal’s signature fish whistles, and while he didn’t blow it immediately after his catches, friends who followed him all week sounded off each time on whistles of their own to celebrate. Winslow won the Bryan Kerchal Memorial Tournament three times.
It Just Matters Where You End Up – Heading into this week, there were 11 Classics where the winner led wire-to-wire and 11 where there was a different leader each day. This did not change those numbers. Defending champ Easton Fothergill (4th, 56-2) led after Day 1, Dylan Nutt took over on Day 2 and didn’t relinquish the lead.
Super Six Weight – It took 55 pounds to make the Super Six. The average weight among them was approximately 58 pounds, although that was skewed by Nutt’s 66-13, the only total above 58.
Face the Nation – In addition to B.A.S.S. Nation qualifiers Dylan Nutt, Nick Trim and Noah Winslow, two anglers who previously qualified through that route were in the field this week: Brandon Palaniuk and Will Davis Jr. Palaniuk probably wasn’t thrilled with his 22nd place finish (although his team did earn Cut Day Ice Cream), he was happy to see a Nation angler win: “It proves that the Nation still produces top notch anglers and I think it’s cool that the two Nation Classic winners were both kids. Everyone thinks that the Nation is just a bunch of old guys in a cub, but it started as the heart and soul of Bassmaster and often gets overshadowed as a great option to make it to the Classic.”
Trey’s Second 2nd – The late Aaron Martens earned four runner-up Classic finishes, but Trey’s getting an early start. A-Mart was 27 when he fished his first Classic and 30 the first time he was the runner up (2002 at Lay Lake). Starting that he either earned or suffered that fate – depending on how you look at it — three times in a row. Trey McKinney, who turned 21 last month, now has two in a row. Smart money says he’ll win one before it’s all over.
Big Margins – Last year McKinney came in second to Easton Fothergill by 8-8. This year he fell short of the win by 9-5.
Top Finisher Over 30 – Justin Atkins in 6th. He is 36. The average age of the top five finishers is just over 23.
Palaniuk Talking About His First Classic as a Relatively Unknown Commodity – “Tommy (Sanders) pronounced my name three different ways at the Classic trying to figure out which one stuck.”
Comparing Eras – We had not seen a 50-pound three-day weight in a Knoxville Classic before this week, but now we’ve seen nine of them. Those nine anglers topped Ott DeFoe’s 2019 winning weight of 49-3. This week, 20 contenders topped Jeff Gustafson’s winning weight of 42-7.
Andrew Loberg (23rd, 39-5) – “I thought bass fishing was a drug, but making the Classic is by far the biggest drug.”
Love Bass, Stop Cancer – Great initiative this week from Skeeter/Yamaha – windshields designed by St. Jude’s patients to be auctioned off to benefit the hospital’s services. Looked sharp, sent a message, did some good. We can do more.
Tyler Williams (16th, 45-2) – “My boat was faster than everybody else’s because I had no tackle in it except jigs.” All 15 of his bass came on a ¾ ounce Greenfish jig in his signature color.
Nutt’s Worst Day – How dominant was Dylan Nutt? On his worst day, Friday, he brought 19-5 to the scales. If he’d had that weight all three days, he would’ve amassed 57-15 and still would have won by 7 ounces.
Justin Atkins – “I fished in Loudoun all week and I didn’t throw a minnow. Just kidding. I threw it a little, just didn’t catch anything on it.”
All the Divisions – As noted above, this week we saw our second B.A.S.S. Nation Classic champion but the other “non-Elite” crews represented themselves well, too. Collegiate contender Tripp Berlinsky came in 17th with 45-1. The top Opens finisher was Yui Aoki in 3rd with 57-3. Team champion Fisher Anaya was 13th with 46-7.
Wouldn’t Have Predicted this Before — Fourth-heaviest Bassmaster Classic winning weight in the modern five-fish era.
Big Earner – Prior to today, Dylan Nutt’s Bassmaster winnings totaled $24,034.50.
How He Got Here (Everyone’s Connected) – Nutt was one of the last anglers to qualify for this Classic. He accomplished that by finishing 3rd at the Nation Championship, 4 ounces ahead of Chris Miller, who’d already qualified by winning an Open. Nutt had gotten there by winning a March Nation qualifier at Pickwick by 1-10 over Nick Dumke, Easton Fothergill’s onetime collegiate teammate.
Flashback to Kerchal – The Ground Round, a restaurant where you could throw peanut shells on the floor.
Mark Zona — “Our anglers lie to us. This is one of the first Classics where they were dead honest.”
Jim Cantore Factor – Dylan Nutt may have won no matter what, but when we look back on this Classic, we’ll likely reflect on the pre-tournament weather as thinning out the herd. “The problem with the rain was that it was a cold rain,” Brandon Lester said. It killed lots of the shallow areas and the hopes of anglers who were depending on a shad bite.
Ups and Downs – Trey McKinney and Yui Aoki were the only members of the top 25 whose weight went up every day, while six went down every day.
Brock Mosley (18th, 44-3) – “I thought Friday was my worst day and Saturday said ‘Hold my beer.’”
Dave Mercer — “Play a little drinking game. Take a shot every time we throw out a Nutt pun today.” Now we’ll have a year of them (at least). Drink responsibly, folks.
Mercer Kept it Clean – “This Nutt can’t be cracked.”
The Confidence Continues – Asked if he expected any flak from his more senior peers, Nutt responded, “I’ll tell you what. They can come get it next year.”
The quest starts fresh at the Tenn-Tom waterway just next week. Dylan Nutt will have more time to celebrate than most (although he’s scheduled to fish a different tournament with practice starting tomorrow – doubt he’ll make it), but my guess is that his thoughts turn to Hartwell before this trophy is cold.
