Over and over we’ve compared this tournament to a heavyweight slugfest.
In reality, though, it’s been more of a tactical masterpiece among a bunch of bantamweights.
Look at guys like Trey McKinney and JT Thompkins and Fisher Anaya and Tucker Smith out there and what we see is a chance to root against Goliath.
I’m not disparaging them in the least but rather pointing out how special and inviting professional bass fishing can be.
• You don’t need to run a 4.3 40-yard-dash.
• You don’t need to be 6-foot-8.
• You don’t need to be able to squat 500 pounds.
As Ike taught us over the course of three decades, the wiry, energetic guys are often the ones who bring the most punching power. Even the lanky KVD was all fast-twitch muscle.
It’s about attitude and energy. It’s about smarts. It’s about taking what the day gives you and demanding a little bit more.
Brute strength doesn’t necessarily hurt, but it rarely makes a difference.
And sometimes the smallest dog barks the loudest. Evan Kung was arguably the least-credentialed member of today’s Top 10 and he brought it with fury and will take a hundred grand (and his Elite Series tour card) back across the border.
I still wish I had the concession on Century Club belts, bilge pumps and drop-shot weights, but for now I’ll have to be satisfied with this column.
Here’s what I saw, heard, thought, guessed and was surprised to learn on Day 4 from Clayton:
I Predicted the Future – In 2017 I wrote a column for Bassmaster titled: “Is the great white whale made of bronze?” At that time, the heaviest all-smallmouth weight in Elite Series history was Kota Kiriyama’s 93-plus from Lake Erie in 2008. I wrote: “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that sometime in the next 23 years…we are going to see someone hit the 100 pound mark in a tournament dominated by smallmouth. It will take the perfect set of conditions on the perfect body of water, but at the rate we’re going I truly believe it’ll happen.” I was wrong about the perfect set of conditions and provided far too long of a timeline, but I’ll give myself credit on this one – the hundos are showing up on the regular, at least when the tour comes to the St. Lawrence.
When the X Axis and the Y Axis Collide – One of the rare milestones in golf is to shoot your age – in other words, a 70 or lower at 70 years old, and so on. But how many anglers have ever caught their age in a four-day bass tournament? Trey had 130 at Fork, but without putting him on the carnival scale it’s hard to know precisely what he weighs. This week he topped 100 again. Between the two he definitely FAR outran his personal poundage, but I don’t know if we’ve ever seen it in a single B.A.S.S. derby.
Cole Sands – “The river’s got plenty of big smallmouths. You just have to know how to read current. It’s almost like trout fishing.” His third-place finish was the best of his Elite Series career. The prior best was seventh last year at Lake St. Clair.
Centuries – Nine of 10 remaining anglers earned Century Club belts today, with 2025 Classic champ Easton Fothergill the lone holdout at 99-8. Still not bad for a tournament where he spent most of practice in a hospital bed. It was the first Century belt for Fisher Anaya, Cole Sands, Evan Kung and Bryant Smith.
Double Dipping – Trey McKinney, JT Thompkins, Brandon Cobb and Tucker Smith are now in the very exclusive club of Elite pros who’ve earned Century Club belts on both largemouth and smallmouth.
The Triple Lindy – It may be small consolation right now but this tournament marked Cory Johnston’s third Century belt from the St. Lawrence. In 2023 he missed another by 4 pounds.
Never a Bride, Sorta – In the oddest factoid possible, Trey McKinney – who had twice finished second in the Classic and had also twice finished second in the AOY race – even managed a second during the greatest victory of his young career. He clinched the season-long title with,you guessed it, a second-place finish at the St. Lawrence.
Averages – McKinney had his toughest day of the week today, but it still required a monster bag from Kung to beat him. The new AOY averaged just over 27-12 the first three days. If he’d hit that number today he would have won the tournament by a pound and a half. Kung never hit 30, but he never fell below 26-9 (his Day 1 weight), either.
Gas Prices Don’t Matter – Fisher Anaya said that he caught most of his fish out of 2- to 3-feet of water, “within sight of the ramp.”
Twenties – Everyone in the Top 10 had at least 21 pounds every day. Despite the lofty weights, only winner Evan Kung topped 25 every day. Outside of the winner, Cole Sands had the biggest “small bag” of the week at 24-14.
Tackle to buy – 6th Sense Huzzbug
A Little Perspective – Going into this tournament, there’d been 256 bags of 20 pounds or more all season long. Over the past four days there have been 219.
More First World Problems – Brandon Cobb: “Too many fish showed up. I was catching one every drop, but they were all 3-pounders.”
Record–breakers – This week’s top five all beat the prior smallmouth weight limit record of 105 pounds. By comparison, at the Falcon tournament of 2008, six anglers beat Steve Kennedy’s then-recent largemouth record of 122-14.
Dave Mercer – “It’s never been easier to catch a 6- or 7-pound bass, but it’s never been harder to get a bite.”
Zona on the Big Lake’s Rough Water – “There’s a reason why L4 and L5 go out.”
Trey McKinney – “I feel like these are the smartest smallmouth in the world.”
Bulls and Bears – Earlier this week a Wall Street Journal article called Trey McKinney’s 30-pound bag of smallmouth “really bonkers” and at least put it in the same conversation with Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game and Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Those records have stood for 64 and 85 years, respectively. If the Elites continue to come back to the St. Lawrence, I figure Trey’s mark will be broken much sooner than that.
Serious Tackle Question – What happened to spybaits? They were all the rage for a quick minute, but don’t seem to play anymore. Is it forward-facing sonar? The time of year? Did the urchins eat them?
Rookie of the Year Caleb Hudson – “My goal this year was not to suck.”
Bests and Worsts – Two anglers had their biggest limits of the week today: Tucker Smith and Cory Johnston. Three had their smallest limits of the week today: Trey McKinney, Fisher Anaya and Easton Fothergill.
Brandon Cobb on smallmouth – “I feel like they’re not bass.”
This was a great way to end a special season. Now I really want to go out and catch some brown fish before we start up again. If only Brandon Cobb will give me the waypoints for the place where you catch ‘em on every drop.
