Elite

Big bass of Champlain 2026

With consistency and one big day, Bryan Schmitt wins his third B.A.S.S. title at famed fishery.

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
The biggest bass and biggest bag ever in Elite competition on Lake Champlain couldn’t overcome Bryan Schmitt’s consistency and one stellar day. The Maryland pro added his third title at the New York fishery in last week’s SPRO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain, where forward-facing sonar was not allowed. Take a look at the big bass that made a difference for those pursuing a variety of goals.
After almost two months off, the Elites were hoping to solidify their positions in battles for AOY, ROY, Classic qualification and requalifying for the series. Greg Hackney, at 69th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, needed two good finishes to make his 20th Classic. He was on his way with 21 pounds, 8 ounces on Day 1, good for fourth, however, the Louisiana veteran ended up 42nd, only gaining one spot. He and others are left hoping to make the Classic with the win-and-in provision in next week’s Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.
Kyle Patrick, who started a spot behind Hackney at 70th in points, was fifth after 20-13 on Day 1. The Cooperstown, N.Y., pro added 17-15 and 18-9 to finish 16th, adding 86 points and moving him to 56th in the standings. With 402 points, he needs a top 20 on the St. Lawrence River to reach the estimated Classic cut of 486 points.
Fisher Anaya, an Elite winner this season, posted a pair of 18-pound rounds to cut his eight-point deficit to Caleb Hudson in the Pro-Guide Batteries Rookie of the Year race. Just two events prior, Anaya had been 91 behind Hudson, but he got within two with the hot start. Champlain would provide several more twists in that race.
Fishing a risk/reward railroad bridge, Texas’ Chris Zaldain got off to a third-place start with 21-0. Losing some key fish, he added two 17-pound days to take 19th, jumping 12 places in AOY to 41st, inside the mark to make his 10th Classic.
Lee Livesay posted the biggest fish on BassTrakk, a 5-11 at the scales helping the Texan start 14th with 19-4, which included a dead-fish penalty of 4 ounces. A slower Day 2 of 18-14 knocked the four-time B.A.S.S. winner to 33rd.
Georgia’s Drew Cook, who started the event 17 points back of the AOY lead, made a late move with a 5-13 at 3:14 p.m. The Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day gave him 21-12, good for second place in the event and the AOY standings, three points behind Trey McKinnney and three ahead of Cory Johnston, who started in sixth. That battle seesawed through the event.
Australia’s Carl Jocumsen fizzled on smallmouth early then made a long run south. Catching a 4-8 and a 5, he held the Day 1 lead with 23-2. With 19-15 in the second round, Jocumsen stayed on top, but his fish shrunk over the final two rounds. He finished 10th but climbed 14 spots to 37th in AOY, in great position for a fourth Classic.
Shane LeHew was among five anglers who have never missed the Classic since joining the Elites in 2019, but that was in jeopardy coming into Champlain. He stood 56th in points and needed two solid finishes to join the Johnston brothers, Drew Cook and Patrick Walters, each 15th or better in points and assured an eighth consecutive Classic qualification. LeHew moved up from 30th to 14th with his second-round 20-11, and he ended up 20th and now sits on the Classic bubble at 45th.
Arkansas’ Beau Browning came in fighting for his Elite Series life. Finishing 74th in his first Elite season last year, Browning stood 85th in points and needed to end the year 70th or better to avoid relegation. He blasted 20-12 on Day 2 to climb into the Top 10, and he ended eighth. He’s now 77th in points and needs to gain about 30 points on the seven anglers ahead of him.
Alabama’s David Gaston also needed a climb to get Classic qualified, and he backed up Day 1’s solid 19-0 with 21-2 to jump into sixth. Only 17-0 dropped him to 18th, which garnered 84 points and moved Gaston to 52nd. He’ll need a 30th or better to gain a second Classic berth.
Similar to Gaston, Georgia’s Emil Wagner rose on Day 2 to improve his Classic chances. The second-year pro started 42nd then busted 22-7, a tad lower than his average in winning the 2025 EQ on Champlain with 69-2, to move to fifth. He fell to 14th but improved 13 spots to 51st in AOY.
Seth Feider loves Champlain, and he hoped to end one place higher than his two runner-up finishes here. With 22-5 on Day 2, he got in contention, holding second place just 1-4 from the lead.
Starting 81st in points and dropping after starting 81st on Day 1, Caleb Sumrall needed a monster rally. He got it. Sumrall made a monumental Day 2 move with 24-4, the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the event and best-ever single day in a Champlain Elite. It included the tournament’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass of 6-10, surpassing Feider and Mike Wurm’s 6-6 tie as the largest caught in a Champlain Elite.
In a teetering AOY race, Trey McKinney held his lead after several key catches. After lulls, the third-year Elite caught pairs of 4-pounders in the first two rounds that helped him weigh 19-2 and 19-10 and hang on to a shrinking lead.
On Day 2, Cory Johnston caught 20-8 to move from sixth to fourth, which cut his 16-point AOY deficit to Kinney to four. McKinney had 640 points, Cory Johnston 636 and Cook 630.
In the ROY race, Hudson looked like he was taking advantage of Anaya’s slower Day 3 that knocked him back to 48th. Hudson had 19 pounds but mistaking his check-in time as 3:30 instead of 3:15 cost him a four-minute penalty of 4 pounds. With 15-0, he finished 44th. Instead of going into the finale leading by 29 points, Hudson has a 12-point margin — 538 to Anaya’s 526.
Brandon Lester continued his stellar showings at Champlain, starting seventh with 20-6 and standing 11th after 18-14. On Day 3, the Fayetteville, Tenn., pro landed a 6-0 that helped him weigh 20-13 and move to sixth, just 2-12 from the lead. It gave him a third Top 10 on the fishery, where he’s also finished 11th, 23rd, 24th and has just one missed cut in seven entries.
Cook vied for another big bass bonus on Day 3, when this early 6-5 helped him weigh 19-2 and advance to Championship Sunday in 10th. For the week, only five anglers missed limits and the average fish was just under 3-8.
Schmitt, who won a 2016 Open and the 2021 Elite at Champlain, was lying in the weeds after rounds of 19-11 and 19-7. A limit of big cookie cutters, the largest at 4-14, gave him Day 3’s best of 23-8 and put him in contention, just 3 ounces from the lead.
Livesay, who came in as the last man into the Classic at 44th in points, brought in a 5-5 and 5-0 in the day’s second-best limit of 23-1 to catapult from 33rd to eighth. He finished ninth and moved to 30th in AOY, well inside the cut to make his seventh Classic.
Sumrall had another fruitful day with 21-14 to stand third heading into Day 4, 1-5 back of the lead. His spots didn’t fire on Championship Sunday, and he wound up fourth. That added 98 points to his total, and he moved to 71st and needs to gain another spot at the St. Lawrence to stave off relegation.
Cory Johnston landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of 6-7 — he entered it as 5-0 on BassTrakk — in his Semifinal Saturday limit of 20-2. Moving to fourth while McKinney dropped to finish 21st gave Cory Johnston a one-point AOY lead on McKinney and seven points on Cook in the AOY tussle.
Chris Johnston, who was runner-up to Ed Loughran in the 2024 Champlain Elite, grabbed the Day 3 lead with 62-13. Starting eighth with 19-14, he added 21-7 and 21-8. A slower Day 4 with 17-10 saw the winner of the past two AOYs again finish second, 1 pound back of the winner.
Championship Sunday was a battle royale, with BassTrakk showing the tightest leaderboard ever in Elite competition. Late in the day, the top seven were all within 9 ounces, leaving Tommy Sanders to announce, “All we’ve got left is the sandbag factor.”
Cook, who started 10th 4-5 out of the lead, was the only angler to bust 20 pounds on Day 4. His 5-2 tied for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day and helped him weigh 20-8 to finish fifth with 79-0. As he climbed five spots and Cory Johnston dropped three, the top three in the AOY race going into the St. Lawrence are separated by one point each; McKinney 635; Cook 634; Cory Johnston 633.
While Lester matched Cook’s 5-2 to share the bonus, he had 18-1 to total 78-2. Lester did solidify his hopes of an 11th Classic as he moved up 14 clicks to 26th in points.
Feider had told emcee Dave Mercer on stage that he wanted a Champlain win more than a Classic. He backtracked a bit on Day 4, but his disappointment was evident after weighing 19-6 to finish third with 79-12, although it’s another great showing on his favorite fishery.
Schmitt, who sandbagged about 4 pounds, had 18-13 to total 81-7 and eclipse Chris Johnston by 1 pound. The 101 points were critical as he jumped 18 spots to take over the bubble spot at 44th in AOY. His love affair with Champlain continued.
“I got blessed the first time I went here and luckily caught some big fish, and that just made me fall in love with it,” he said. “I stumbled into two special spots, and I learned right away what to look for, the combination. The success happened quick, and it made me fall in love. … I’m speechless right now. I’ve got nothing but respect for everybody in this Top 10.”

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