A longshot for sure, Caleb Hudson cashed in a “trifecta” at Lake Okeechobee.
The 23-year-old from Lincolnton, Ga., went into the third and final Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier with a slim shot at his goal to make the 2026 Elites.
“I was hoping for a miracle,” he said. “I know I didn’t have much of a chance, but somehow I got my chance.”
Standing 20th in points, Hudson, who had fallen just short of winning several times in Bassmaster College Series competitions, needed some magic.
“I definitely feel like I was due for a win,” he said. “I somehow made it happen and made it happen somewhere where it mattered.”
Boy did it.
Needing a top-five finish to get inside the Top 10 in the EQ standings, Hudson scored a rewarding first B.A.S.S. victory. It not only punched his ticket to the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, but the 95 points for winning secured his big climb to Elite qualification.
Things didn’t look great heading into Big O, or even after Day 1. Hudson stayed in a canal near takeoff and a caught a limit weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces, good for 25th among the 75 competitors.
“It was a super tough tournament, so after Day 1, I felt I had a had a chance to climb,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going climb the way I did, but I knew I had a chance. That’s what kind of gave me a spark, put some hope in me for Day 2.”
Practice took Hudson up and down the lake, but he settled close to takeoff for a number of reasons.
“It was so windy during practice, it made the main lake nearly impossible to get out to unless you liked going on a roller coaster, so I just stuck it out in the rim canal,” he said. “I wasn’t catching many at all.”
On his best day of practice, Hudson landed four fish there, but they were of better quality. Besides eliminating a potentially treacherous run, staying near the launch allowed him to maximize his time hunting bigs.
“I knew what I had to do being that far out (of the points), I had to catch big ones,” he said. “That’s what we went on.”
While the first day wasn’t what he had hoped — Hudson’s biggest of seven catches was a 2-8 — how the bass were moving gave him hope.
“It kind of clued me that maybe some females we’re going to be doing the same soon. I didn’t think it’d be happening in 24 hours,” he said. “I don’t know much about Florida fishing, but from what I was told from other Florida anglers, it doesn’t take much for them to initiate spawn or start traveling.”
A cold snap had affected the bite in southern Florida, but it began to warm during competition. On Day 2, Hudson received some positive reinforcement with a 7-pounder in the first 45 minutes. A lot of fished nipped at his bait, but he didn’t get another bite until after 1 p.m., when they put on the feedbag.
“I really went on a flurry,” he said. “I caught No. 2 just randomly and about five minutes later I caught my third one. Next cast I caught my fourth, and then I threw again in a brushpile and got hung up, broke off, retied, stood back up, threw over there again and caught my fifth.”
“So it went pretty quickly for me. And then I ran around and went back to stretch where I caught the 7-pounder, and I caught a 4 1/2.”
Hudson ended the day with 25-7 and the lead. With 36-0, he was 1-9 ahead of Austin Cranford and Ryan Lachniet, who had the event’s big bag of 27-1. Hudson’s average fish increased by 3 pounds from Day 1.
“It was totally flipped,” he said. “I caught all females that second day, doing the same exact thing on the same exact stretch. It’s just the bucks had moved out and the females had moved in.”
Maxed out on points after Day 2, Hudson knew he couldn’t falter on Championship Saturday.
“I did the math the night before Day 3,” he said, “and I knew I needed to stay somewhere in the top five or six. That was really my main goal. Winning was a huge accomplishment, but my main goal was ultimately to make the Elites.”
Hudson got off to a great start with a 4 1/2 and added two more after a move.
“I knew right then that it was going be a good day,” he said. “It kind of shut down for a long, long time and I had to kind of milk out some brushpiles for the last two keepers. Those first three I caught really quick definitely saved me.”
With 16-6, Hudson’s winning total was 52-6, just 10 ounces ahead of Elite pro Robert Gee.
In the three-event EQ sprint, four anglers climbed from outside the Top 10 into Elite berths, the biggest jump being Hudson from 20th to seventh. The others were Austin Cranford (12th to fourth), Pake South (14th to ninth) and Tristan McCormick (15th to eighth).
Hudson was also the lowest finisher in Division 1 of the St. Croix Opens to make the Elites. He was 40th after the four events. The only incoming Elite lower was Aaron Jagdfeld, 42nd in Division 2.
The Elites kick off 2026 on Lake Guntersville Feb. 5-8, and while Hudson hopes to do well in the nine-event series, he’s got the biggest event on his mind.
“We’re going some places I’ve never even seen, but I couldn’t be more excited to be there,” he said. “I plan to go in the next couple weeks to pre-practice for the Classic, and then I’ll probably hit a couple other ones throughout the year as we travel on the way back home. Right now, the Classic is what’s on my mind.”
A win on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville, March 13-15, would give Hudson a superfecta.
