Elite

Best of 2025: Elite aerials

Bassmaster drone pilot Craig Lamb chooses his favorite aerials of the season and shares the moments.

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Photography by
Craig Lamb
From high above you get a unique perspective of tournament habitat in play during Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments. That’s always the goal of my drone flights. I’m also on the lookout for capturing the stunningly scenic beauty in those “wow” moments of flight. Here are my favorites along with backstories of why I took them. 
The dawning of a new season is always exciting, as it was at the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River. This was the scene on Feb. 22, 2025, at Semifinal Saturday in downtown Palatka, Fla. 
Palatka City Dock and Boat Ramp is a favorite takeoff gallery location. I can get the historic district of downtown and its proximity to the St. Johns River in the same gallery. 
The Star-Spangled Banner plays just minutes prior to the takeoff, a long-standing tradition that includes afternoon weigh-ins. 
What else makes this location special for flight is the downtown shoreline faces the rising sun over the east coast of Florida. There’s nothing quite like a Sunshine State sunrise! 
Bubbling up from clefts in the earth, crystal-clear water gushes year-round from Salt Springs and flows about five miles before emptying into Lake George. In the foreground you can see the dark blue hole where the springs emerge. 
The spring is an ideal flying location as the bottom is transparent in the crystal-clear water. 
Flying conditions were perfect on this morning with overcast skies and calm water. Cory Johnston won here in 2023 making the area an obvious choice for anglers on Day 1. 
The almost celestial and moon-like bottom is unique and mystifying. 
Although he was unaware at the time, John Crews fished near a pod of manatees. 
Manatees winter in the springs and this photo appears to show a cow with calves. 
The next week the tour moved south to Lake Okeechobee. C Scott Driver Park is the perfect tournament venue with its multiple boat lanes, ample parking and space for weigh-in and outdoor expo.
I like flying in thin, low altitude fog when flight rules allow. This condensation fog formed over the densely vegetated shoreline near the lake, which was all clear at the time. 
The fog dissipated and the boats lined up with two choices of direction. 
Turning left out of the park allowed access to the main lake. 
Taking a right led up the Kissimmee River, the course of direction taken by eventual winner Brandon Palaniuk. 
Day 2’s sunny skies and calm winds made for a picture-perfect day for flying over the lake. 
What you don’t get to see from water level are the boat lanes used for navigating through the dense vegetation. 
With calm winds I reached my maximum altitude of 400 feet above ground to show the expansiveness of the Big O. 
Without local knowledge I can’t describe the peculiar high ground surrounded by an oval shaped canal. It stood out against the fishing going on in the foreground. 
At this altitude the dozen or so boats in this area are invisible. The boat entering the frame in the foreground and the contrasting colors of background vegetation sparked one of my “wow” moments. 
I lined the drone up over the Harney Pond Canal for a high-altitude perspective. The recreation area where we launched our boat provides quick and easy access to the lake. 
In April we moved to the east coast of North Carolina for the St. Croix Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River. It is one of many tributaries into the massive Albemarle Sound, much of it encompassing tournament waters. 
With gusty winds blowing across the open water of the sound, which is near the Atlantic Ocean, I chose to fly in the calm water of the Pasquotank River. 
Even without any anglers I didn’t turn down the chance to fly over The Great Dismal Swamp Canal, opened in 1805 as the oldest continually operating manmade canal in the nation. 
President George Washington suggested the canal as a means of more efficient shipping between Albemarle Sound and Chesapeake Bay to the north. 
The 22-mile canal was hand dug and took 12 years to complete. The canal empties into the Pasquotank River, making it convenient for a quick history lesson flight. 
Back down river the boats appeared with anglers choosing to spend more time fishing than running great distances across the gusty waters of the sound. 
This location is about a 20-minute boat run from downtown Elizabeth City. 
Later in April we traveled to South Carolina for the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell. A favorite tournament venue is Green Pond Landing & Event Center near Anderson, South Carolina. This was the scene on Semifinal Saturday morning. 
We get the first-class treatment at Green Pond Landing which has hosted all levels of Bassmaster events across its 10-year legendary history. The Anderson County Fire Department made its customary flag-flying appearance on this morning. 
The crystal-clear water and near-shoreline patterns make Lake Hartwell a favorite drone flying stop on the tour. 
Another premier tournament venue is the Caney Point Recreation Area, also designed for hosting large-scale, high-level tournaments such as the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork. 
Day 2 of the tournament was a spectacular morning for drone flying. In fact, one of the best when the sun appeared over the horizon prior to takeoff. 
The horseshoe-shaped boat basin framed perfectly in front of the sunrise. I literally set the drone in hover and clicked through a long sequence of photos that got better with every minute of sunrise. 
The top finishers favored open-water patterns, and this photo depicts the scenario. 
Here’s a textbook spawning cycle pattern in play. You can see a transition area consisting of likely underwater depth breaks and a line of standing timber for ambush points. 
This was a no-brainer to capture, and it also had aesthetic value. The gradient wind driven waves added a cool look to the angler targeting a point with colored water offering concealment for largemouth. 
After the boat maneuvered around the point I flew in position for a high-altitude shot to capture the big picture scenario in play. Note the change in water clarity surrounding the island. 
This area was popular among the contestants due to its multiple creek channels and ditches ideal for migrating bass in the spawning cycle. 
Another spawning transition area and migration route with a series of isolated docks near a channel. 
The next week the tour headed to southeast Texas for the MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River, the second stop of a May doubleheader. 
Taylor Bayou, about an hour-long boat run from downtown Orange, Texas, was the place to be. We launched at a primitive ramp below the bridge, arriving just in time for the boat to pass by.
The first wave included more than a dozen boats, making for a target-rich environment for a drone gallery. 
The industrialized area features large diameter pipeline canals and creeks with a variety of manmade and natural bass habitat. 
View from high above of a pipeline canal. 
Tournament winner Pat Schlapper fished in this area, going old school with a buzzbait to win the tournament. I like these shots taken at high altitude as they depict the sheer vastness of the area. 
In June the tour stopped at a textbook highland impoundment in eastern Oklahoma. Summertime patterns were in play at the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller. The lake is known for its deeper end dominated by smallmouth with the mid- and upper portions popular for largemouth. The wow moment in this photo was sunlight against the bluff bank, along with the low-level clouds. 
The predominant and winning patterns were twofold. Anglers filled early limits of largemouth caught from marinas. 
When that bite subsided by mid-morning the action shifted elsewhere. 
Higher water levels put shoreline cover into play. 
After a mid-summer July break the tour resumed with the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at St. Clair. 
The sunrises over the lake are epic and I didn’t miss the chance to capture the beauty with a takeoff gallery. When the schedule was announced I immediately thought of a particular shot I wanted to get at Brandenburg Park. 
One of the most epic wow moments of the season. You will likely see this image again in 2026 as it will certainly appear during our America 250th birthday celebration. 
I always like to show the outbound parade of boats as they are lined up for takeoff.
Takeoffs are a photo team favorite part of the day. The new day brings a great sunrise that reminds us there is more to bass fishing than catching fish. 
The final stop of the season is an all-time favorite for drone flying. In this shot you see the Viking Mississippi cruising upbound on Day 1 of the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River. 
The upper Mississippi River is the most unique of all our tournament destinations. The river itself is majestic and the backwaters it carves out are never ending, all of them different in some way. 
On a typical stop I first take high altitude images to get an eye for what angles I want to take during the flight. In this photo I wanted the contrast between the river channel, island greenery and backwaters. 
The top anglers found best success in areas of mixed vegetation with subtle depth changes. This photo perfectly depicts that scenario from high above. 
The lingering low clouds from early morning fog, the river channel and the Minnesota Bluffs formed the wow moment in this splendid shot. 
From far away my eye caught a very distinct white line of objects amid the dark green vegetation. Flying closer I discovered it was a large flock of pelicans staged on a shallow ridge adjacent to the river channel. 
I flew within 40 feet of the flock, choosing to go no farther should the birds take off and cause damage (or worse) to the drone. 
Parting shot. And I get paid to do this? I love my job. See you next season. 

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