The Huk Bassmaster College All-American program may only be two years old, but the one constant so far has been Ben Burns and Grant Pursifull.
The Stephen F. Austin University duo repeated as Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops Legends Trail champions, claiming their second title by one point over Emmanuel’s Scooter Ligon and Logan Fisher.
Not only do they become the first duo to repeat as All-Americans, Burns and Pursifull will get another crack at the College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s.
“It means a lot. It was so cool doing the All-American stuff at the Classic, so I’m excited to do that again,” Burns said. “The field of college anglers we fish against … They would be great outside of college too. I’d take the College Series field against every field other than the Elites. It is stiff competition, and to somehow end up on top back-to-back years is really something.”
In a short amount of time, Burns and Pursifull have become a formidable duo in their home state of Texas and nationally. Two grade levels separate the two anglers, but a similar mindset and approach to fishing made for an instant connection.
“We aren’t crazy different from each other,” Pursifull, a rising junior, said. “We are able to bounce different things off each other and break down a lake in effective ways. I have definitely enjoyed fishing with Ben. He has been fishing tournaments a lot longer than I have, and I learn something almost every time I’m in the boat with him.”
While the result ended up being the same, their mindset heading into the 2026 season was much different than 2025. The goal of the previous season was to win the division. This year, Burns and Pursifull wanted a College Series title. They didn’t achieve that (yet), but the mindset of that goal laid the groundwork for another outstanding season.
“This year’s schedule set up really nice for us. We had Sam Rayburn and Kerr Lake, which fits my style,” Burns said. “This year we saw from the beginning how it could flow. Last year was more surprising. It was kind of like, ‘Oh wow, we got fourth in the first tournament,’ and it wasn’t until after the second tournament we thought we had a chance.”
Burns and Pursifull collected a third-place finish at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to open the year, an event both anglers agreed was their favorite of the 2026 season.
“We just caught so many fish,” Pursifull said. “We found the area we caught them during the last 30 minutes of practice. We just fished grass and caught them all day on the second day. We were culling 4-pounders. That was the most fun I had this year. We never turned on (Garmin) ‘Scope either.”
From there, they notched a ninth-place finish at Sam Rayburn in their home state, but it was a Day 2 rally at Kerr Reservoir in Oklahoma that defined their season. Burns and Pursifull only caught 13-7 on Day 1, and they entered the final day of the regular season in 52nd place. Knowing it would take a big day to claim the division title, they sacked up 18-8 and moved all the way up to fifth place.
That was just enough to outlast Ligon and Fisher, who finished third in that tournament with a similar comeback.
“That was all about staying calm and not letting pressure get to us,” Burns said. “The first day we got behind a couple of boats in an area or two and then went to a place we shouldn’t have. We went back to an area on Day 2 and caught all of our bass in the last two hours. We were stoked. We knew we had to do something special, and I don’t know if we could have done any better that day.”
As good as the 2025 regular season was, both Burns and Pursifull are looking for postseason redemption this year. The duo finished second-to-last at the National Championship on Cherokee Lake with just one bass in two days of competition.
Then in the Bracket at Watauga Lake in east Tennessee, Pursifull struggled and did not make it out of the qualifying rounds. Burns, meanwhile, made it to the semifinals, but fell 2 ounces short of making the championship round.
“I had the worst tournament I’ve ever had at the Bracket,” Pursifull said. “It was cool to be there, and I found bass in practice to do well, but I never adjusted. Ever since that tournament, I go into it with a completely open mind so I can make the proper adjustments. That is something I have really worked on.”
Before the Bracket, though, Burns and Pursifull have a trip to Leech Lake for the 2026 Strike King Bassmaster College Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, where they will be the leaders in the overall Team of the Year race. If things go well, they would be the first team to collect overall Team of the Year and a division TOY title in the same season.
“We want to do better than last year,” Burns said. “We would love to win the overall Team of the Year, but I haven’t had a good finish in either of the National Championships I’ve competed in so far. It would be nice to come away from this one with a Top 10 or something like that. My dad grew up in Minnesota and when I was a kid we would come up and fish Mille Lacs, so it will be cool to go back and relive some childhood memories.”
