Elite

Big bass of Tenn-Tom

Jason Christie spins his ninth Bassmaster title in an event with no forward-facing sonar on a shallow river.

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
Jason Christie didn’t have the biggest bass or heaviest bag in Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, he just won. The 52-year-old Oklahoman sandwiched two average days around two good days to win his ninth B.A.S.S. title, ending a dry spell of 38 events. Take a look at the big bass that made a difference in the non-forward-facing sonar event on the muddy, shallow fishery.
It was old school bassin’ when the 101 Elites launched from Columbus, Miss., into the 234-mile waterway with the risk/reward of locking up or down. On Day 1, 87 anglers caught limits with the average fish weighing 2 pounds, 6 ounces. Second-year Elite Paul Marks had a 4-7 in his 14-10 bag, good for 10th place. Without a kicker, he weighed 12-0 then 9-8 to finish 29th.
Texas’ Keith Combs shows off his 5-7, almost half his 12-11 that put him 29th. There were 75 double-digit limits on the tight leaderboard that had 30 anglers a pound above or a pound below 50th place cut. Combs added 14-12 to climb to 14th but ended 23rd after 9-9.
Justin Atkins, who grew up in Columbus and was coming off a sixth-place finish in the Classic, caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 1. On Bassmaster LIVE, Atkins was excited to land a 6-4, more than a third of his 15-7 limit. With 12-5, Atkins slipped then a disappointing 11-4 left him 14 ounces from the Top 10 in 12th. He did earn $3,000 in bonuses for his big.
Elite rookie Pake South started in sixth with 16-2. The 21-year-old from Winnsboro, Texas, had set the Bassmaster three-day tournament weight record with 96-15 last month in winning the Sam Rayburn Open. He stayed in the Top 10 after 12-4 but fell to 40th with three fish on Semifinal Saturday. South stands 23rd in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points, and he is second to Caleb Hudson in the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race.
Minnesota’s Seth Feider was on the shallow bite in Columbus Lake near takeoff, catching 15-9 to hold ninth place after Day 1. Feider stood 70th in AOY and needed a good event to better position himself for an eighth Classic qualification. With steady weights, the 2021 AOY wound up fourth, gaining 98 points to jump to 36th in AOY as he seeks a Classic bid.  
Alabama’s Jordan Lee started in seventh with 15-13. The two-time Classic champ was one shy of a limit on Day 2, dropping to 26th, but 14-5 advanced him to Championship Sunday. Catching 12-4, Lee moved up to finish sixth. After starting 83rd on his home pond of Lake Guntersville, Lee has climbed to 17th in AOY as he also vies for an eighth Classic berth.
A 4-15 helped Wesley Gore of Clanton, Ala., start in fifth with 16-8. It was well-noted that the 25-year-old was in the hunt for his sponsor, Mountain Dew, which was title sponsor of the tournament.
Brandon Palaniuk landed a 5-6 in his Day 1 limit of 16-15 that put him fourth. The 38-year-old from Rathdrum, Idaho, added 8-2 and four for 9-10 to finish 35th. The two-time AOY climbed 17 places to 70th in points after three events.
There were three anglers to top 17 pounds on Day 1, and each was over 50 years old. Michael Iaconelli’s five averaged 3-8, putting him third with 17-11. The 53-year-old from New Jersey stayed in the Top 10 with consecutive 11-1 rounds and finished eighth with 9-14. Ike’s first Top 10 since 2023 Lake Seminole moved him to 40th in AOY. The 2003 Classic champ, who announced his 31st year competing will be his last on the Elites, is pursuing his 21st Classic appearance.
Randy Howell, the 2014 Classic champ, had a best of 4-9 in his second-place, 17-12 limit. The 52-year-old dipped to eighth with 10-11 then plummeted to 25th with four for 8-3. It was Howell’s best finish after bombing at home on Lake Guntersville (99th) and a 90th on Lake Martin.
Bill Lowen, who opened 2025 with a victory in the St. Johns Elite, caught a 5-12 that helped him lead with 17-14. The 51-year-old from Brookville, Ind., also suffered a slower Day 2, 10-6 knocking him to 10th. Three fish for 4-1 saw him plummet to 43rd.
Friday was moving day, and Chattanooga’s Buddy Gross had a 3-10 bolstering his 15-9 limit that jumped him to fourth. Failing to catch five on Saturday knocked him back to 21st, but he cashed his first check on the year.
Brandon Cobb jumped up 19 places to 18th behind a 4-7 in a 14-8 limit. The Greenwood, S.C., pro added 11-10 for his second 19th-place finish and third cut on the year. Cobb is currently seventh in AOY with 234 points as he hopes to qualify for his sixth Classic after missing the past two.
Rookie Caleb Hudson shows off his 4-14 in a 13-13 bag that moved the Lincolnton, Ga., 24-year-old up 28 places from 65th. He not only gained his third Elite check but regained the Rookie of the Year lead he lost on Day 1. Standing ninth in AOY with 223 points, Hudson’s 47th-place finish puts him 32 points ahead of Pake South.
Cory Johnston lost his AOY lead on Day 1 with 10-14 to start 61st, but a 4-6 helped him rally to 31st with 14-0. On an overall slower Day 3 after a cool front, the Canadian added 11-13 to finish 24th. He is third in AOY, just nine points off the lead. Like his two-time AOY brother, Chris, Cory would like to be in position when the final events head north to his home waters.
Jacob Powroznik of Virgina took a similar path. He moved inside the cut with 14-11 on Day 2, aided by a 5-2. Powroznik dipped to 41st after just three fish on Day 3, but his third cut has him 31st in AOY points as he chases a 10th Classic berth.
Oklahoma’s Luke Palmer righted the ship with a 4-13 in a 15-11 limit that jumped him to 11th. The 35-year-old posted his best finish of the year at 22nd and is moving in the right direction, gaining 26 spots to 53rd in AOY.
Second-year Elite Tucker Smith of Birmingham, Ala., had Day 2’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass. The 5-9 was more than a third of his 15-2 that improved his position by 25 spots. Smith, who won last year at Lake Fork, added 12-14 then 9-15 to finish seventh. Earning 95 points, the 24-year-old catapulted from 67th in points to 37th.
Dakota Ebare’s Day 2 turned on a dime. With around 7 pounds at noon, he landed a 4-4 then one closer to 5 in a span of three minutes. At the scales, the 33-year-old from Brookville, Texas, weighed 18-6, the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the event worth a $2,000 bonus. Riding the high of a ninth-place finish in the Classic just days before wife, Shelby, gave birth to their first child, Ebare stood second 2-7 from the lead.
Staying near takeoff to maximize his time, Gore landed a 4 then a 5-3 early. His seven keeper bites helped him to Day 2’s second-best total of 17-15 and the lead with 34-7. Over the next two days, Gore added 8-14 and 7-14 to finish fifth with 52-3. His 97 points moved him up 32 spots to 33rd in AOY as he seeks a third consecutive Classic qualification.
After locking to little success, Christie salvaged Day 1 in Columbus Lake. On Days 2 and 3, he ravaged it. The 2022 Classic champ caught several around 4 pounds to total 16-10 and move to fifth, then he duplicated that weight, the best on Day 3, to take the lead with 45-9.   
Tied for 73rd after the first round, Jay Przekurat weighed 12-11 to make the Day 2 cut by 10 ounces. On Semifinal Saturday, the pro from Stevens Point, Wis., found his stride with the day’s third-best total of 15-12, aided by a 4-14. A contender for AOY the past few years, Przekurat posted his second consecutive 18th-place finish and moved from 40th to 19th in points.
Canadian Jeff Gustafson was in the 40s after two average limits, but this 5-3 helped him close with 14-13 to finish 17th. The 2023 Classic champ has made all three cuts and stands 10th in points, in position to reach his seventh Classic.
Cole Sands similarly laid in wait before catching his best five on Day 3. With five solid fish, the 29-year-old from Johnston City, Tenn., weighed 14-12 and reach his second Elite Top 10. He ended ninth, and his third cut of the year has him eighth in points looking for a second Classic bid.
Mark Menendez, the oldest in the Elite field at 62, created excitement with a 7-0 on BassTrakk. At the scales, it went 6-0 but was the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Semifinal Saturday. With 14-12, the Paducah, Ky., pro jumped from 25th to fifth, but one fish on Day 4 left him 10th. In 297 B.A.S.S. entries, Menendez has posted 31 Top 10s.
Trey McKinney, runner-up in the past two Classics and AOY races, started Tenn-Tom second in AOY, but he dropped to 15th after starting 65th. With 11-15, he squeaked into the cut at 50th, then made a big move with 16-5, second-best of Day 3 that included two late culls. He finished 15th to regain 50 points and left Mississippi second in AOY, five points from the lead.
John Garrett was up and down on the Tombigbee, but mostly up. He started 35th then 17-0 took him to third before 10-13 knocked him back to sixth. The 30-year-old from Union City, Tenn., started Championship Sunday 5-3 back of the lead but busted the best bag of 14-12, which included a 4-3. After 23rd at Guntersville and 13th at Lake Martin, Garrett’s third-place finish has him atop the AOY standings with 267 points. Garrett said he will work hard not to repeat last year, when he led AOY after two events then missed the Classic.
Ebare started Day 4 3-1 behind the lead, and this 4-9, the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day, offered hope on a slower overall day. Leaving early to lock up, Ebare culled near Columbus Marina before checking in, totaling 13-5 to take second 2-5 back of Christie.
Christie and Feider had shared an area the previous two days, but it wasn’t as fruitful on Championship Sunday. Each left for greener pastures. Christie found little success elsewhere and returned, catching a 3-12. While he had 9-8 on BassTrakk, making the results in doubt, he weighed 12-9 to win with 58-2. In the previous Elite at Lake Martin, Christie finished 101st, dead last. In 2022, Christie was second-to-last at Santee Cooper Lakes before winning the next event on Chickamauga.
Closing the deal has become a signature of Christie. He is now Bassmaster’s active wins leader with nine victories; Iaconelli and Mike McClelland have eight each. Christie moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time win list with Shaw Grigsby and Aaron Martens. Christie, who earned eight titles in his first 98 B.A.S.S. tournaments — one every 12 events — went 38 tournaments between titles.

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