After a tournament at the Pasquotank in which the Yeti Hot Seat went unloved, today it cushioned seven different sets of cheeks, the last ones belonging to rookie angler Paul Marks. With his win at Hartwell, the young Georgia pro becomes the first Elite Series rookie to win since….well, since Easton Fothergill won the Classic almost exactly a month ago.
Last year’s bulldozer-style-take-no-prisoners youth movement shows no signs of abating in 2025 or in subsequent years. Fishing fans better get used to channeling their inner David Wooderson: “I get older, they stay the same age.”
Marks hadn’t been bad so far in his first three Elite events, but there’s no doubt that the blueback expert has this one circled on his schedule – and it played out almost exactly as planned.
You want further proof that youth and enthusiasm is continuing to overtake wisdom and old-age? Marks and his three twenty-something housemates – Tucker Smith, Emil Wagner and Andrew Loberg – averaged a 7th place finish at Hartwell.
With just a short time to reflect on a golden event, here’s what I saw, heard and thought on a Chamber of Commerce day at Green Pond Landing:
Matters of Points – It’s hard to gain or lose a lot of points at this juncture in the Elite Series season once you’ve qualified for the Top 10. Indeed, two pros maintained their position and seven rose or fell a single spot. Day 3 leader Drew Cook suffered through his worst day of the tournament and fell to 4th. He totaled 65-7 and spent a substantial part of the day camped on an estimated 7-pounder, which he never got to the livewell. Had he caught it, he’d have come out on top. It was a gamble worth taking for one of the best sight fishermen in the game. He fell 3 pounds 1 ounce short of the victory.
Down is Up, Up is Down – Marks saw his weight go down each day of competition, but obviously it didn’t hurt him too much as he emerged with the “W.” Wesley Gore (8th, 61-3) also saw his weight decrease each day. Randy Howell (6th, 62-11) had 21-11 on Day One and 12-6 on Day Four, sandwiched around two 14-5 bags. No one in the Top 10 had his weight increase each day.
Sliding Doors Theory – Jacob Powroznik (10th, 60-2) was headed to a giant on Day One, but Randy Howell beat him there and caught the fish. Some people claim there’s no luck in fishing – and things certainly even out over time – but that was a dose of bad luck. Alone that fish wouldn’t have enabled Powroznik to win as he missed the mark by 8-6, but it would have earned him some serious points and dollars if everything else had ended up the same way.
Randy Howell – “I skipped 150 miles with that Senko.”
The Law of Averages – Marks averaged 17-2 per day here to win. When Jason Christie won the Classic in 2022, he averaged 18 pounds even. In the 2018 Classic, winner Jordan Lee averaged a comparatively low 15-11. In between those two championships, Brandon Cobb won the 2019 Elite with an 18-1 average and Patrick Walters won the 2020 Open with 14-12 a day. This week’s 10th place angler, Jacob Powroznik, averaged a hair over 15 pounds a day.
Jason Christie on Live, Talking About Paul Marks – “The ones he’s catching are fat. I was catching cigars.”
You Can’t Teach Height – I thought that perhaps being comparatively vertically-challenged might be an advantage for using forward facing sonar – indeed, shorter guys like Robert Gee, JT Thompkins and Trey McKinney seem to be particularly good it. My bubble was burst slightly when the lofty Easton Fothergill won the Classic. We’ve never really established any real correlations between height and fishing skill, or skill with certain techniques. Nevertheless, many of our sport’s greatest innovations – from the flipping deck to the recessed trolling motor pedal – are aimed at height adjustment. Today we saw Drew Cook standing on his graphs as he sight fished, which begged the question for the first time I can recall of the GVWR of a 12-inch screen. While anglers are not allowed to use stepstools or other artificial platforms to gain an advantage, there’s nothing stopping them from using Gene Simmons style boots, lifts, or other specialized footwear. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
Margin of Victory – Tucker Smith fell short of winning by a mere 14 ounces, but that wasn’t the narrowest winning margin of this year. At the St. Johns, Bill Lowen beat Shane LeHew by 3 ounces and Jay Przekurat by 4 ounces.
Emil Wagner (9th, 60-13) – “I’ve never been onstage and really been nervous, but holy cow there’s a bunch of people here.”
Young versus “Old” – Jacob Powroznik said “It was all about sunglasses this week.” Indeed in a sport that is increasingly dominated by electronic eyes, it’s still good to see anglers old school sight fishing and succeeding. And for those who say that watching forward facing sonar is boring, it’s not markedly different than watching someone bed fish a single bass for several hours. Just different forms of cat and mouse – I like ‘em equally.
Gerald Swindle on the Meaning of Drew Cook’s Tackle – “Look at the amount of rods he has out. That tells you how tough they are to catch on beds.
Looking Forward to Fork, Uno – Heading into our next event, two pre-tournament favorites should be Texans Lee Livesay and Keith Combs, both of whom have storied records on Lake Fork. Don’t forget, though, that two of our past Fork winners rest their heads tonight at home here in South Carolina – Brandon Cobb and Patrick Walters.
Looking Forward to Fork, Dos – Current AOY leader Jay Przekurat has had a mixed bag of results on Fork – 16th in 2024 and 74th in 2022. That 74th place finish from his rookie season on tour is still the worst of his Elite Series career. “That AOY is definitely on my mind now,” he said onstage. “It’s on my mind, bigtime.”
No Sunshine State – Easton Fothergill (7th, 61-11) should take some of those Classic winnings and incentivize the B.A.S.S. tournament staff to never visit Florida again. It’s the only place he doesn’t seem to make the Top 10. Somehow I feel he’ll figure it out. With this Top 10, he’d be well on his way toward qualifying for his third consecutive Bassmaster Classic if he hadn’t already earned that right by winning in Ft. Worth this year.
Jay Przekurat – “Today was a complete disaster.” Apparently he has a different definition of “complete disaster” than the rest of us, since he just finished 5th in an Elite Series event. Granted, he had his worst day of the tournament today with 14-7, but said that after a tough start he was able to make up ground by “fishing free.” He rose from 6th to 5th.
Wesley Gore (8th, 61-3) – “He won the battle but I won the war.” Yesterday he not only lost a quality fish that he temporarily got into the boat, but he lost a rod along with it. Today he caught that same fish, identified by a ripped lip, and got the rod and reel back, too. The bass had no comment.
Knoxville Dreaming — With the Bassmaster Classic heading back to Knoxville next year, Tennessee pros have special incentive to get back there. Currently four Tennesseans are less than 20 spots outside of the cut and need to make a push – Robert Gee, David Mullins, Brandon Lester and (transplant) Hunter Shryock. Two-time Knoxville winner Jeff Gustafson may be too far gone at this point to qualify – he’s not mathematically eliminated but it’ll take a super-human effort.
Another Record that Won’t Be Broken – Visit Anderson’s Neil Paul set the all-time margin of victory record for onstage mentions by the anglers and master of ceremonies.
As Randy Howell said onstage, “This is what it’s all about.” Indeed, I love the slugfests. I love the virtuosic performances like what we saw from Kyle Welcher at the Pasquotank. It probably goes down as one of my Top 10 all-time Elite memories. Today, however, we saw a young man’s life change, and a scary glimpse into the future for any weekend angler who thinks he can beat the pros – or for any veteran pro who’s resting on his laurels.
See you in Texas.
