Now that the fishing world has had time to digest all that happened at the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, I have to say I was very proud of my home fishery. Even though I didn’t fish in this event, I paid close attention, and I think Fort Loudoun and Tellico lakes performed unbelievably well.
Over the years, these lakes have gotten a bad rap because they’re at the beginning of the Tennessee River. Everyone dreads going there. This time it really showed out.
I think that’s because the past two years have seen these lakes in a very good up-trending cycle. I don’t know why or how, but there have just been a lot more big fish and normal-sized 3-plus-pounders you’d catch everywhere else on the Tennessee River.
It used to be harder to catch one over 3 pounds in this fishery, but now, it’s more common. Used to be that you’d fish all day and be ecstatic if you caught one 3-pounder, but now you get mad if you don’t catch multiple 3-pounders.
That’s a good sign of this fishery’s health. I don’t know what the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is doing, but it’s working.
Between the two lakes, I think Fort Loudoun was the top performer. Having the Classic won with more than 66 pounds for three days is unbelievable.
Typically, Fort Loudoun has had the smaller fish for the past several years and Tellico has been the top performer. I think that’s changing. Ever since Jeff Gustafson won the 2021 Elite and the 2023 Classic in the Loudoun-Tellico Canal and parts of Tellico, those fish have been hammered.
With so much attention in these areas, it seems that allowed Fort Loudoun a little breathing room. That’s just my opinion, but it’s hard to argue with this year’s Classic results.
As far as how the Classic unfolded, it honestly played out exactly as I expected. I didn’t expect 66-13. I expected 60 or 61 pounds, so it exceeded my expectations.
What’s interesting is how good this fishery delivered, even with a cold front right before they started fishing. The weather really threw a curveball with the lower temperatures and all that rain.
That really impacted how the lake fished. I feel like the guys that had a predominantly shallow largemouth program on the upper end of Fort Loudoun kinda got the short end of the stick. All their water got blown out from that big rain storm.
If that had not happened, even with the cold front, they still would have caught them better. It sounds hard to believe, but without all that muddy water, the weights might have been even better.
As far as Classic champion Dylan Nutt, what he was doing was a typical winning pattern on Loudoun and Tellico. I’ve won a lot of money doing exactly what he did, but I think he found an area all to himself.
I think those fish hadn’t seen that type of presentation as much as other areas, so that helped him seal the deal. Those fish hadn’t become accustomed to that specific type of bait as much as somewhere near the Fort Loudoun Dam or on the Tellico side.
He did what you would do in the clearer water, but he did it in the more stained water. The cool thing about it is that, by doing something different, Dylan helped show off just how good Fort Loudoun and Tellico have become.
