“Until one reaches dry land on time safely with 25 pounds, no Angler of the Year lead is safe in wind and waves.”
At least that is the made-up proverb that Cory Johnston needs to be true to keep his Progressive Angler of the Year hopes alive heading into Championship Sunday.
As weigh-in concluded on Day 3 of the 2026 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River, it felt like Trey McKinney had delivered a decisive upper cut to the Canadian pro. McKinney continues to lead the tournament with a total of 83 pounds, 5 ounces.
At any moment on Semifinal Saturday, it felt like Johnston was going to get the wheels on the track and land multiple 6-pounders. That never happened. The bass he thought were big would not stay hooked and he dropped to ninth with 76-14.
Entering Championship Sunday, 10 points and 6 ½ pounds separate McKinney and Johnston. It would be surprising but not shocking to see the Ontario native blast 30 pounds of smallmouth tomorrow and climb up the leaderboard, maybe even to win if the other nine anglers struggle enough.
Winning Angler of the Year seems like a difficult task. Even if Johnston does claim the tournament lead, he will need McKinney to drop to third place in the tournament. As it stands, the Illinois pro enjoys a 4 ½ cushion over third-place Cole Sands.
It is McKinney’s to lose, and after finishing second to Cory’s brother Chris two years in a row, it’s hard to imagine him choking away this chance at becoming the youngest AOY winner in Elite Series history.
Either way, Championship Sunday at the St. Lawrence River is going to be captivating. Here’s a recap of the other points battles taking place.
Rookie of the Year
At 1:30 p.m., it sure looked like Caleb Hudson would be hoisting the Pro-Guide Batteries Rookie of the Year trophy at the end of weigh-in. Fisher Anaya had just lost a big smallmouth in one of the more inexplicable ways possible, adding to a day of lost bass. Before check-in, though, Anaya made two key culls that lifted him to eighth place in the tournament standings, keeping his chances at Rookie of the Year alive.
Anaya is just a point behind Hudson, meaning he will need to finish seventh or better in this tournament to claim the prestigious honor. Hudson finished 19th and will only be able to watch Bassmaster LIVE with the rest of us. He might just want to go for a couple of nice long walks and ignore BassTrakk.
In totality, Hudson and Anaya have had remarkably similar seasons, although Anaya has taken more of a roller coaster ride to reach this point while Hudson started the season strong but has fallen off slightly as the season continued.
At the end of the day, Anaya’s Lake Martin victory might be what lifts him to the ROY title tomorrow and both will finish the season inside the Top 10 in AOY.
Classic Cut
As it stands, 45th in points is the cutline for the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. The winner of this tournament also gets an automatic berth, which means the line could move to 46th place.
Here is how the cutline is shaping up.
39. Chris Zaldain (498 points)
40. Pat Schlapper (496)
41. David Mullins (496)
42. Emil Wagner (490)
43. Carl Jocumsen (485)
44. Austin Felix (483)
45. Tucker Smith (482)
46. Bryan Schmitt (481)
47. Drew Benton (480)
48. Hunter Shryock (479)
49. Lee Livesay (479)
50. Will Davis Jr. (478)
51. Wesley Gore (476)
Elite Requalification
On Day 3, we said goodbye to Greg Dipalma and Kenta Kimura for the final time, unless they requalify for the Elites via Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented Bass Pro points. On the second day, Mark Menendez and KJ Queen bid farewell.
Evan Kung, Brad Whatley and Caleb Sumrall, meanwhile, did enough to stay for another season. It seems Wes Logan and Clifford Pirch will be back in 2027 by the skin on their teeth.
Again, this is unofficial until the official roster is determined after the final EQ at Lake Guntersville and B.A.S.S. Nation Championship in November. Other anglers other than Mike Iaconelli may decide to retire or move on from the Elite Series. Anglers who know they didn’t do enough can enter the EQs and requalify that way.
There are a lot of moving pieces still to be figured out.
Who hurt their cause this week: Brandon Card (38th; 69-13), Beau Browning (54th; 46-7), KJ Queen (73rd; 44-3), Jason Williamson (87th; 40-1), Caleb Kuphall (82nd; 41-12), Mark Menendez (94th; 33-5)
