ANDERSON, S.C. — Fans following the TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off online likely were surprised to see Fisher Anaya, a super-talented 20-year-old angler from Eva, Ala., apparently zeroed Friday on Day 1 of the derby at Lake Hartwell.
That wasn’t the case, though. Far from it.
BassTrakk, the digital phone app used to report weights of the bass caught throughout the day, was malfunctioning for the marshal aboard Anaya’s boat. So, while folks at home might have thought Anaya was striking out on this 76,450-acre reservoir, the young phenom actually was hitting a home run on this fabled fishery straddling the South Carolina/Georgia border.
Anaya stormed to the top of the leaderboard Friday with a limit of five bass weighing 19 pounds, 8 ounces. The Classic Fish-Off will be determined Saturday when the 10 remaining anglers in what was a field of 400 conclude the final tournament of the 2025 Bassmaster season. At stake, of course, is the final spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour when it’s held March 13-15 on the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.
Most of the other nine anglers in the Fish-Off are hot on Anaya’s heels, however, with just more than 5 pounds separating seventh place from Anaya’s pole position. Barrett Choquette, an 18-year-old Alabaman who fishes for Troy University, is second with 18-13. Bradley Day, who fishes with the Lake Hartwell 5 Alive No Scope Series and lives about two minutes from the docks at Hartwell’s Green Pond Landing, is third with 18-10.
Anaya said his marshal informed him halfway through Friday’s competition that the BassTrakk app wasn’t registering the weights he punched into his phone.
“I told him, ‘Well, I guess we’re gonna’ surprise some people,’” Anaya said, laughing.
Because he was unable to report his catch, Anaya led off Friday’s weigh-in at Green Pond Landing. He had a bounty to share, too.
“I caught probably 15 pounds in the first 20 minutes this morning,” Anaya said. “Soon as I got to my spot, I caught three big largemouth. A little later, I ran new water and caught another big one and then I found an area that had a bunch of big ones –— looked like they all were 4 pounders. I caught one and then left. So, I’m hoping they stick there for tomorrow. I’m not sure where I’ll start, but I’m gonna’ run around and hopefully find the ones I need to win this thing.”
After catching his best bass off points and just inside pockets during the Team Championship portion of this event, Anaya said bass are now stacking in the backs of shallow drains as winter conditions continue to take hold of the Palmetto State. Temperatures hovered around 40 degrees most of Friday with low cloud cover casting a gray pall over the expanse of Hartwell.
Still, Anaya’s growing star has shone.
“I’ve been throwing a Neko (green pumpkin Crush City Janitor Worm) and I have caught a few on a shad-colored minnow this week,” he said. “I started in about 20 feet of water to begin the week. and I probably caught them in about 10 feet today. I had four largemouth after weighing nothing but spots the first few days. Things have been unpredictable, but I know there are at least five more largemouth swimming out there, I’ve just got to stumble across them.”
This is Anaya’s second consecutive trip to the Classic Fish-Off. He and his dad, Ryan, finished third in last year’s Team Championship at Kentucky Lake, and Fisher placed third of the six anglers who qualified for the 2024 Fish-Off.
The Anayas finished fifth in this year’s Team Championship, which concluded Thursday. To their benefit, the 2025 Fish-Off field was expanded from six anglers to 10, allowing the duo from the Alabama Bass Trail another crack at a Classic Fish-Off.
The younger Anaya again is making the most of his opportunity, though he’s already proved his mettle in some of the sport’s biggest events. He finished atop the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Qualifier Points Standings last month, guaranteeing him a spot in the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series for the next two years. He also finished no lower than 24th in the four Division 2 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN held earlier this year.
Choquette had to finish exams at Troy before he could head north to Hartwell for the Team Championship. He and his brother, Hudson Choquette, represent the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation, and they finished fourth in the team tournament. Now Barrett is within a pound of the lead in the biggest derby of his life.
“My brother was up here for practice and found our best spots, so I left those to him today,” Barrett Choquette said. “I ran all new water today and it all paid off, surprisingly.”
Choquette said he’s fishing shallow water along Hartwell’s banks. He primarily used a Neko rig (green pumpkin) on Friday.
“There weren’t many bites. I think every bite I had came in the boat. They were nice to me today. They all ate it deep.”
Day, a 27-year-old fishing home water, said his bite came later on Friday.
“It was 11 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon for me today,” Day said. “That was the window. This lake is so prone to those little windows, you have to be around them when they’re biting.”
Day said he’s cruising shallow water on the southern end of Hartwell. He’s relied on a Shaky Head worm and a jig this week, both in green pumpkin variety, but said he’s prepared to switch his approach if necessary.
“You have to fish the day,” he said. “You can fish a few history places, but eventually you have to let the day unfold.”
Justin Raines, of the Lake Hartwell 5 Alive No Scope Series, and Peyton Sorrow, of the Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Fall Series, are tied for fourth with 17 pounds caught Friday.
Sorrow teamed with Dalton Head to win the Team Championship on Thursday, and Head is now in sixth place in the Fish-Off with 16-1. Rounding out the field are Lake Hartwell 5 Alive Scope Trail teammates Austin McCall (14-5) and Xander Patton (13-2). Hudson Choquette is ninth with 11-14 and Ryan Anaya is 10th with 8-8.
In all, 200 teams from 48 different states and three other countries qualified for the Team Championship via their respective team trails. A total of $120,000 was divided among the Top 50 teams competing at Lake Hartwell, including $50,000 to Head and Sorrow.
The final day of the Bassmaster Classic Fish-Off is scheduled to begin at 7:20 a.m. ET Saturday. The final weigh-in is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Visit Anderson and Green Pond Landing are hosting the week’s events.
