FLORENCE, Ala. — The path to bass fishing’s pinnacle event goes through Wilson Lake, as the newly rebranded Bassmaster College Classic Cup presented by Lew’s brings top competitors to this Tennessee River reservoir.
Competition days will be October 9-11 with daily takeoffs from Waterfront Marina & Dry Storage at 6:30 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day at Hilda B Anderson Softball Stadium at 2:30 p.m.
Following several years of a bracket-style format, one outstanding Bassmaster College Series angler will earn a spot in the 2027 Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, March 19-21 at Lake Hartwell through head-to-head competition.
B.A.S.S. College, High School and Youth Tournament Manager Glenn Cale said the invitational event is designed to elevate angler opportunity and showcase multi-day strategy.
“The new format is laid out to allow the college angler who competes with us for our two-day events the chance to make adjustments and figure out the lake,” Cale said. “A three-day total weight offers an opportunity for the angler to make a move up the leaderboard, but at the same time, they must manage their fish to hold up for three days.
“One of these seven college anglers will have a childhood dream become reality when the scales close on Championship Sunday and they punch their golden ticket to compete in the Bassmaster Classic and kick off their career’s next level. What a ride it will be!”
The 7-angler field comprises:
Bassmaster College Series National Champions Brody Robison & Peyton Sorrow of University of Montevallo.
Bassmaster College Series Team of the Year Ben Burns & Grant Pursifull of Stephen F. Austin State University.
Bassmaster College Series Lunkers Trail Team of the Year Anderson Jones of Lander University, who fished solo.
Bassmaster College Series Legends Trail third-place Team of the Year finishers, Scooter Ligon and Logan Fisher of Emmanuel University. (With Burns and Pursifull, and Robison and Sorrow finishing first and second in the Legends Trail, respectively, their double qualifications opened the door for Ligon and Fisher.)
Along with the Bassmaster Classic invitation, the event’s top finisher will also receive a Toyota Tundra and a fully-rigged Nitro Boat professionally wrapped in the winner’s school logo and colors for use at eligible 2027 events. The top prize package also includes $7,500 in cash and paid entry into one Turtlebox Bassmaster Opens presented by Battery Tender division of the winner’s choice.
Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro and Florence, Ala., resident Justin Atkins said the college anglers will likely find Wilson teetering somewhere between late-summer and early fall patterns. Astronomical fall began at the autumnal equinox (day/night equal length), Sept. 22, but the year’s prolonged heat had Wilson’s water temperature in the mid- to upper 70s a week before the event.
“I feel like it will be a late-summer junk fishing deal where they could be everywhere,” Atkins said. “Fall mode usually takes water temperatures of 72 and lower, but if we get a cold snap where it doesn’t get above 75 during the day and it’s in the 40s at night, it could rapidly advance (the fall transition).
“The water’s really clean right now and I don’t foresee that changing. It’s the time of year when the ground is really hard. It would take a significant amount of rain to soften it and create a lot of runoff.”
The seventh in a 9-link chain of Tennessee River reservoirs, Wilson presents a lot of rocky, bluff banks, a handful of creeks and the Wheeler Dam tailrace. Common bass-friendly habitat features include points, docks, brush, grass and the rocks and current seams characteristic of tailwaters.
Noting that he expects buzz baits and flipping to handle much of the bank action, Atkins points to swimbaits as his top choice for the tailrace. In his experience, that turbulent area below the Wheeler Dam offers the most concentrated potential this time of year, but with moderate current moving through the system, the opportunity has yet to fully ignite.
“In the fall, it’s not really cool enough to really push the fish up there and they’re not running enough water to (attract) a lot of fish from down the lake,” Atkins said. “Current draws them, so when they’re always running current, it gets a big population of fish stacked up there.
“But it seems that day to day in the early fall, the fish are a little more spread out.”
That being said, Atkins believes the event will see a few of Wilson’s top-end fish.
“I won’t be surprised if someone catches a 5- or 6-pound smallmouth. Wilson has a lot of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2-pounders and it has a lot of 5- and 6-pound largemouth, too.”
With a seasonal preference for big smallmouth, Atkins said he believes 15 to 17 pounds a day will be a competitive average, but he won’t be surprised to see a 20-pound bag. The key, he said, will be a well-managed game plan heavy on the flexibility requisite of this scattered time of year.
“I think the key will be staying open-minded,” he said. “A guy could get really dialed into at bite at the dam during practice when they’re running 50,000 (cubic feet per second) and then during the tournament, they’re only running 25,000, or they could be running 75.”
“This time of year, it’s all based on power generation; kinda what they need. That will change up the current seams, so you have to understand that they may not be on the same cast they were in practice.”
Taking all this into consideration, Atkins believes the winning angler will be the one who best integrates multiple opportunities. Time management will be essential to that premise.
“You have to be able to pick the trolling motor up and go fish down the bank somewhere you got a couple bites in practice,” Atkins said. “Being able to know when to make a change and not being locked into one thing is going to be a big deal.
“I think the bank fishing is probably a little more consistent, but the way to win is always around current. So, the guy that knows how to mix a little bit of both in is probably going to be the guy that has the most consistent tournament.”
LIVE coverage of the 2026 Bassmaster College Cup presented by Lew’s will air on Bassmaster.com Oct. 10-11 from 8-11 a.m. ET and noon-3 p.m. ET. Fans can follow all the action throughout the weekend on Bassmaster.com.
