Well, I have to own it…I got my head kicked in in the T-H Marine Pick Em Challenge at Lake Martin! Now 5-14 on the season, it’s time to rally in Knoxville, and I am feeling good about these selections!
Match 1 pits 2017 and 2018 Classic Champ Jordan Lee against Texan Lee Livesay. Jordan never got it figured out on the Tennessee River in 2019, finishing 45th, and I know he wants to reverse that this year. Livesay, like Jordan Lee, is a shallow water power fisherman, and I feel like he will have the advantage here. He finished 15th in Knoxville in 2023, and that’s his worst Classic finish in five tries. I’m taking Lee…Lee Livesay.
In Match 2 we get Surge Squad roomies Tucker Smith and Paul Marks. Marks made his bones at Lake Lanier, and I feel like he will take a long look at the clearer waters of Tellico Lake, but Smith can do it all, and he comes in with some serious momentum. This will be close, but I’ll take Tucker Smith in this one.
We find the past two Classic champs in Match 3, Justin Hamner and Easton Fothergill. As much as I like the versatility of Fothergill, Hamner has finished 4th, 1st and 10th in his previous three Classic appearances. He’s not off to a great start this season, but he seems built for the Classic, and I’ll roll with him here. It’s Hamner time in Knoxville for the Roll Tide fan!
Match 4 is between a couple of guys who qualified out of the Opens in Lake Howell and Trey Schroeder. Schroeder won in the mud at the Tenn-Tom last season while Howell won up north, and then again at the EQ on Wheeler. I think Howell, who is a Tennessee River Rat, will fair pretty well in Knoxville and is a darkhorse to be in the in the Super 6 on Sunday. I’m taking young Laker Howell.
Brandon Lester may be from the Volunteer state, but he’s not from THAT part of the state, but he has finished 6th the last 2 times he weighed in at Thompson-Boling Arena. His Match 5 opponent is Wes Logan from Alabama, and a dirty water specialist. But, did I mention Lester was 6th here in ’19 and ’23? Something about this place fits his eye…give me Brandon Lester for the win here, and maybe to win it all!
How Old School is not very old John Cox? The first time I asked him if he had a forward-facing sonar unit, he excitedly told me, “Yup! It’s right there in the front seat of my truck!” John Cox will take that tin boat of his right to the back, where he should find plenty of action, enough to take down Nashville’s Dylan Nutt in Match 6.
Match 7 is possibly the toughest one of all to handicap. Bryan Schmitt and Jay Przekurat are a couple of Northern hammers that finished in the Top 10 the last time the Classic was on Rocky Top. This one is tough to call, but I am going to lean towards Jay Przekurat who seems to be due for this kind of a breakthrough.
So there you have it, my winning picks for the Bass Pro Shop Bassmaster Classic, Presented by Under Armour!
