Elite

Big bass of the Harris Chain 2024

Take another look at the biggest Florida bass that crossed the weigh-in stage at the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Harris Chain.

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
Expectations for the Florida Swing were uncertain with the Bassmaster Elite Series typically visiting Florida much earlier in the year, but big bass were still caught in the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Harris Chain, even moved back a day for weather. A double-digit lunker was weighed, and there were 10 bags topping 20 pounds. Only John Garrett had two of the big limits, helping the rookie post a wire-to-wire victory. Let’s look at the big bass that made a difference.
Brock Mosley was among the 95 Elites to catch limits on Day 1, when the average fish weighed 2-8. With a pair way above that mark, Mosley had 19-11 to stand tied for eighth. Mosley’s weights went down the next two days for a 21st-place finish, which saw him rise 21 spots to 40th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
Jonathan Kelley of Old Forge, Pa., was one shy of a limit, but his 7-0 made up more than half his 12-8, which put him inside the cut at 44th. With 10-8 on Day 2, he was last man in the Top 50 by an ounce, so his lunker was basically a $10,000 fish.
Alabama’s Joseph Webster posted a 6-0 on BassTrakk and came in with 20-15, which put him sixth. He dropped to 13th with 10-15 on Day 2 but added bags of 16-0 and 13-9 to finish seventh — his first Top 10 in three seasons on the Elites.
With a 5-14, rookie Tim Dube of New Hampshire weighed 18-2 for 11th place. He caught smaller limits the next two days to finish 28th, but he moved into Classic contention by climbing 12 spots to 38 in the AOY standings. After the event, all 10 rookies were inside the top 40 who qualify via the points to the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
Steve Kennedy holds the 6-5 that helped him weigh 15-9 to tie for 20th after one day. The Auburn, Ala., veteran only brought in four on Day 2 yet slipped inside the 50 cut by 6 ounces. Kennedy then posted his best day (15-13) to finish 29th and climb 21 spots to 54th in AOY.
David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., had one of the biggest bass on Day 1, a 7-13 that was the bulk of his 20-3, seventh-place start. No lunkers the next two days had him finish 17th, but he moved up 26 AOY spots to 56th.
Rookie JT Thompkins shows a pair of long, skinny postspawn fish that came in a late flurry. Almost 15 pounds of his 19-11 bag came in about 20 minutes, helping him tie Mosley in eighth. A solid Day 2 at 17-1 moved the Myrtle Beach, S.C., angler to fourth.
Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala., posted the first 4-pounder of the event on BassTrakk then went dark. He obviously did better, coming in with 21-6 to put the two-time Classic champ in fifth. Less than half that weight (9-4) dropped him to 17th after Day 2, but he finished strong with 17-10 then 17-12 to end back in fifth, moving from 10th to second in AOY.
With a 7-5, Brandon Lester was once again in contention in Florida. The Fayetteville, Tenn., angler’s limit of 21-13 had him fourth. He fell to 10th after a much slower Day 2 (11-2) and ended up finishing 12th, which had him jump 27 spots to 32nd in AOY.
Connecticut’s Paul Mueller tied for Phoenix Boats Big Bass on Day 1. This 7-14 helped him weigh 17-13 to stand 13th. Another 7-pounder in Day 2’s 17-0 pushed him to sixth, but a limit smaller than both those fish (5-12) knocked him down to 22nd. That finish propelled him 16 spots to 27th in points.
Texan Brad Whatley continued his success on Florida fisheries by bagging a pair of lunkers, one early and one late. Whatley’s 7-14 tied Mueller for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day, and his 7-12 helped him stand third with 22-0. Moving to second after 16-13 on Day 2, Whatley dropped to seventh with 11-4 then finished 10th after being the only angler without a limit on Championship Monday. Mired in 94th after two events, Whatley gave himself some hope moving to 73rd in AOY.
John Cox, among the local favorites, was off BassTrakk much of the day before two 5-pounders came across the board. They might have been a tad low as he needed help from his daughter showing off his second-place, 22-5 bag. A bad second day, with only 7-7, dropped him to 19th, but bigger things were to come.
John Garrett of Union City, Tenn., came into the Elites as one of the heralded rookies from the 2023 Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifiers where he finished second to JT Thompkins. Making one cut in the first two events, Garrett stood 40th in AOY points but was eighth in the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings. That would change. With a 7-6 and another close to it, Garrett held the Day 1 lead with 24-2, which held on for the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag and its $2,000 bonus.
The legendary Rick Clunn, fishing his 499th B.A.S.S. event, posted a 5-10 in his Day 2 bag of 15-12 that helped him to his 248th top 30 finish over 50 years. Clunn ended 20th, his second-best since winning at age 72 on the St. Johns River, the next stop where he would compete in his landmark 500th event.
After 11-0 on Day 1, Alex Redwine of Blue Ash, Ohio, stood tied for 61st. His 6-5 kicker in a limit of 15-10 helped him cash a $10,000 check with a 36th-place finish. On Day 2, there were 97 limits with the average fish going down to 2-5.  
Mike Iaconelli made a move on Day 2 with a pair of bass close to 5 pounds. The Pitts Grove, N.J., veteran who’s won almost everything there is to win in B.A.S.S., had one of the better bags at 16-7 to stand 20th. Ike finished 14th to dig out from a poor start, jumping 24 spots to 63rd in AOY.
Speaking of climbing out of a hole, Koby Kreiger stood 95th after Day 1. His 19-14 limit, second best on the day, catapulted the Alva, Fla., veteran 63 places to 31st. He wound up 43rd but, he was happy to avoid a bomb and cash a check while staying inside Classic contention in points at 31st.
Jason Christie started 27th but jumped to 11th with Day 2’s 18-7. The 2022 Classic champ from Dry Creek, Okla., brought in 17-15 on Semifinal Sunday to make the Top 10 at fifth. He ended up ninth, but that gave him Classic hope as he climbed 33 spots to 46th in AOY points.
Rookie Trey McKinney, coming off his record win at Lake Fork, was back in the Top 10 after two 17-pound days. The 19-year-old then posted two bags over 15 to finish sixth and hold an eight-point AOY lead over fellow rookie Tyler Williams, who gained two points by finishing fourth at the Harris Chain.
Ed Loughran III was tied for 15th with 17-3 before a 7-15 helped him weigh Day 2’s only bag topping 20 pounds. Loughran, of Richmond, Va., totaled 20-9 and stood third, 6-2 back of the lead. Slower days of 12-5 and 10-10 had him finish eighth, which translated into only 19 AOY spots to 83rd as he began the event second to last.
Austin Felix was proud to bring in Day 2’s Phoenix Boats Big Bass of 8-7, which took the lead for the event. His 19-7 jumped Felix 31 spots to 14th, but only 10-6 on Day 3 left him 19th. On stage with Dave Mercer, Felix’s surprise and disappointment were evident when told his big fish was beaten – twice. His consolation was he bumped up 20 spots to 34th in AOY.
Garrett landed another big bass on Day 2, a 6-9 in limit of 19-13 that extended his lead to 5-2. Using a variety of baits, Garrett concentrated his efforts on a 75-yard stretch of shellbar in Lake Carlton. “During the off day, something told me to take a chance on this tournament,” Garrett said. “I was about to go to Lake Griffin and play it safe. But I heard this little voice in my head that said, ‘Go for those big ones.’”
KJ Queen of Catawba, N.C., started with 19-0 and stayed in the Top 10 all week. Queen weighed 15-7 then moved to third with 18-15, one of the top limits among the 47 on Day 3 when the average fish went back up to almost 2-8. Queen started Championship Monday third but almost 10 pounds back of Garrett.
After his slow Day 2, Cox got on the BassTrakk board quickly on Day 3. His 7-0 led Phoenix Boats Big Bass and took over the lead when it hit the scales at 9-3. Cox weighed 15-4 on the day to finish 15th, which helped him rise 26 spots in AOY to 43rd.
Like Felix, Cox had to be disappointed when Jacob Powroznik won Phoenix Boats Big Bass for the week with this 10-8. It gave the veteran angler from North Prince George, Va., a five-fish weight of 21-5, which jumped him from 37th to an 11th-place finish. He vaulted just as far in the AOY points, up 26 spots to 31st.
JT Thompkins was the picture of consistency. His 19-13 on Day 3 put him a distant second in the event to Garret, who he edged by 15 points to win the 2023 Tackle Warehouse EQ AOY. Thompkins finished second on the Harris Chain with 73-12, rising to fifth in AOY and climbing over three to stand third in ROY.
Queen had the second-best Championship Monday. His 18-10 limit had him finish third and cash his biggest check in B.A.S.S. at $30,000. The finish also gave Queen a hyper jump in points, from 73rd to 39th.
Garrett never lost the lead on Championship Monday, landing a 7-4 as he culled to the day’s biggest limit of 21-3. Garrett totaled 84-5 to win by 10-9. He was emotional on stage even before being joined by his grandfather and family. “I never thought that I would be on this stage, let alone win one of these trophies,” he said. “The Lord had His hand above me all this week.”

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