One for me and three for thee.
Elite rookie Pake South has a chance to send yet another Elite Series angler to the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
“There are a couple of guys who squeaked in there because of my Open wins,” said the 22-year-old from Winnsboro, Texas, who could repeat that feat in the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Toledo Bend this month. “My hope would be to win it. I’m not fishing for points so I can go fish free. The plan is to win it.”
South’s newest and biggest fan is Bryan Schmitt. The 45-year-old from Deale, Md., is “first man out,” sitting 46th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Schmitt is praying South’s gonna do it again.
“If a guy fishes one EQ and wins, he does not get the Classic bid. It goes back to Elites. It goes to me,” Schmitt said, adding he was pleased to see South was a late entry for the Toledo EQ. “That was a very, very, very pleasant surprise. That name is just blaring out to me. He needs to get me in. He’s already won two Opens this year.”
South, who earned his berth to the 2027 Classic on Lake Hartwell out of Greenville, S.C., by finishing 20th in AOY points, freed up Classic spots for Elites with his victories at Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Alabama’s Lake Eufaula.
Last year, Emil Wagner’s victory in the Champlain EQ sent John Crews to his 14th Classic, while Laker Howell double qualified with his Wheeler EQ win to put Kyle Norsetter into the Tennessee River Classic.
Afterward, Norsetter showed his appreciation to Howell with a trio of Benjamins for a nice steak dinner, and Crews treated Wagner and his Surge Squad to an expensive night out during Classic Week.
When South learned of those exchanges, he felt short-changed.
“I didn’t realize that,” he said. “I’m going to have to hit up the Surge Squad about that because I got two of them in.”
Both Wagner and last-man-in Tucker Smith were beneficiaries of South’s wins, and South even suggested he’s owed a steak dinner, the standard payoff.
“Emil said he didn’t know about that,” South said. “As much herring stuff as he’s told me about, he said that ought to pay for it. I think he just didn’t want to pay for a steak dinner.”
Hmmm.
Schmitt said if he got the chance at the Classic’s $300,000 first-place prize, he’d most assuredly pay back South somehow. Even if the long-shot scenario doesn’t happen, Schmitt has a backup plan. He entered the final EQ to see if he could get it done himself.
“I don’t know if traveling to fish all three was smart, so I signed up for Guntersville,” he said. “That’s my hope. I feel like I have a legit shot at Guntersville.
“Maybe it’s already over by then, maybe somebody does it at Toledo, but Guntersville, we’ll give it all we got.”
Schmitt, the second-to-last to make the 2025 Classic, was in good shape to reach his sixth Classic after winning the Champlain Elite in August. He climbed from 62nd in AOY to 44th, but at the St. Lawrence finale he suffered a hard-luck 53rd, missing the cut by 3 ounces and falling 2 points short of the Classic.
“It took a solid week to get back mentally after the St. Lawrence,” he said. “I had so many things go wrong. And missed it by a few ounces.”
It was Schmitt’s third Bassmaster title at Champlain, the first time without forward-facing sonar. In the Guntersville EQ, FFS is prohibited. The Toledo Bend EQ allows FFS, where South has excelled this year.
“I had a pretty good season on the Elites, but the Opens really set the whole year off for me,” he said. “It was a blessing to be able to win those two. They both set up perfectly into my style and the way I like to fish.
“They were two tournaments where it just kind of happened. I just landed on the exact right deal in both of them and just everything went my way.”
In February’s Sam Rayburn Open, South shattered the B.A.S.S. three-day weight record with 96 pounds, 15 ounces. He caught two double-digit bass and posted two 34-pound days to win by 15-14. On Alabama’s Lake Eufaula in April, he had another “Dirty 30” to win with 84-1.
Since South didn’t fish the complete four-event divisions, the Classic berths reverted to the Elite Series. He hopes to win at Toledo, about three hours from home, but knows he’ll need some more magic.
“I have not been on Toledo in probably three years,” he said. “I’ve done really good just fun fishing, but I’ve never really done that great in a tournament there.
“Toledo fishes a lot like some of my home lakes, pretty much like a giant version of Lake of the Pines. So I’m very comfortable on Toledo. I feel like I’ll do good there.”
And if he won, South knew exactly who else would benefit.
“It would be Bryan Schmitt,” he said. “I know because he told (Andrew) Loberg I better go win that tournament so he can fish the Classic.”
Counting himself, South could be responsible for four anglers making the Classic.
