From Big O to Oh Canada, the 2024 Bassmaster tournament season delivered drama.
There were chills and spills, records, repeat champs and long-awaited wins as big bass on the big stages fulfilled big dreams.
With a plethora of enthralling storylines, Bassmaster LIVE’s Tommy Sanders and Ronnie Moore were asked for their most memorable moments of the year.
Start at the start
One of the first things each mentioned was the record-setting St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Okeechobee. On his home water, Scott Martin etched his name in the record books with his first B.A.S.S. win.
“It started out with Scott Martin, who just smashed all the records that will probably never be broken,” Sanders said. “That sort of set the tone.”
Martin set the single-day Opens weight mark with 33 pounds, 2 ounces and the Opens total with 90-6, which also broke the all-time weight for a three-day B.A.S.S. event by 7 pounds.
Sanders also noted the manner in which he accomplished it. He said it signaled anglers’ continued proficiency with forward-facing sonar.
“Martin was sight fishing with his sonar,” Sanders said of Martin using perspective mode to target fish around beds. “It was sort of the first time we’ve ever been able to really show that.”
Forward-facing sonar created a big to-do throughout the season, again. Some called to ban it while others professed, “If you’re not scoping, you’re hoping.” A B.A.S.S. technology committee assessed its use during the year and adopted new rules for 2025, namely the use of one transducer and a limit of 55 inches of screens.
“We’ve set the speed limit at 65, where nobody’s going 90,” Moore said. “It slows the rate of technology getting out of hand. Now, our anglers’ boats are like any other guys fishing tournaments on weekends.”
After the season, B.A.S.S. announced no-entry fees for the Elites. To increase payouts on the bottom end, anglers petitioned and agreed to pay $10,000 for the season, which gets under way Feb. 20 on the St. Johns River.
Welcome to the show
A week before the Elite opener, Japanese pro Kyoya Fujita stated his goal: “Last year, seventh in AOY, this year, No. 1.”
That looked like a definite possibility after Fujita won at Toledo Bend, joining Patrick Walters as the only anglers to earn Century Club belts at both largemouth and smallmouth fisheries.
But the wheels soon fell off.
“That was sort of the end of his super momentum,” Sanders said. “The fact that he was really not able to keep pace with his rookie year was one of the surprises of the year, but it’s not unheard of.”
Fujita, who fell as low as 54th in AOY points before rallying to 36th, still has much to learn about fishing in America, Moore said.
“It was the welcome to the NFL … welcome to the Elites,” Moore said. “He struggled and had to rebound to make the Classic at the end.”
A bigger surprise was Joey Cifuentes, who suffered an even worse sophomore slump. He struggled all season after taking the Elites by storm in 2023, winning two events en route to edging Fujita by a point for Bassmaster Rookie of the Year.
Cifuentes made his only cut in the penultimate event at Lake Champlain then was among the leaders at St. Lawrence before bombing to 86th on Day 2.
Buying belts in bulk
The fifth crack at Texas’ Lake Fork produced the fifth winner there with more than 100 pounds. For only the second tournament ever, all finalists earned Century Club belts, and the four-day weight record was within reach. It set 2024 Fork apart as an event for the ages.
“There are very few lakes, even when at their best, where that’s even a possibility,” Moore said. “For Trey McKinney to be within one feasible cull of breaking the all-time record, that’s incredible. This is one that’s going to be a top five events of all-time.”
McKinney almost eclipsed 100 pounds in three days, and his total of 130-15 was 1-9 from tying Paul Elias’ mark of 132-8 set at Falcon Lake in 2008, when all 12 finalists earned belts. Four anglers from Fork 2024 made the all-time top 10 weight list: McKinney (fourth), Tyler Rivet (125-9, eighth), Justin Hamner (124-10, ninth) and Tyler Williams (124-9, 10th).
Sanders said the event was even more remarkable because Falcon is an isolated fishery almost three times larger than 27,000-acre Fork, a mecca for big bass chasers.
“Falcon in 2008 was a whole other deal, an untapped resource, and just a different breed of bass, so different from Fork,” he said. “On a pressured lake, no bigger than that, 10 people getting Century belts?
“We’ve seen incredible weights come out of there, but not that far down. There’s a magic period in the spring, but inside that three-week period, there’s a super sweet spot. They hit it.”
Also at Fork, McKinney became the youngest ever Elite winner at 19 years, 1 week, and Hamner landed the biggest bass caught on Bassmaster LIVE, an 11-7.
Bigger things for Hamner
Hamner again performed well under the bright lights of the Bassmaster Classic with his win on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake. It wasn’t a surprise for Sanders.
“Patrick Walters had been telling us this guy is a hammer, so it wasn’t that we weren’t warned about him,” he said. “He’s obviously someone who can rise to the occasion. That was only his second Classic, with finishes of fourth and first.”
Hamner’s is a memorable rags-to-riches story, Moore said, because he famously quit his job cutting University of Alabama lawns to dedicate himself to his fishing career.
“He commits to fishing, has a great end of the 2023 season and parlays it into a great 2024, wins the Classic and almost went on to win AOY,” he said. “What a huge year for him.”
Classic runner-up Adam Rassmussen, who won an Open to qualify for his first championship, was mentioned by both Sanders and Moore as a secondary Classic storyline.
“We haven’t had a non-Elite angler win the Classic, in theory, since Bryan Kerchal,” Sanders said. “We’ve haven’t had anybody hit it big out of nowhere, so it was pretty incredible for Rasmussen to be within a fish catch.”
Clunn, Zona sign off
Not much more can be said about 78-year-old Rick Clunn, who announced his retirement from the Elite Series after 50 years of competition.
“Clunn’s 500th tournament at St. Johns, that was cool to see,” Sanders said. “There’s no other sport where a legend is still competing alongside so many who idolized him. He’s certainly the ironman, fishing into his 70s alone.”
Clunn, who won his first of four Classics before most of the Elite field was born, left with numerous records, including oldest Elite winner – 72 when he won at St. Johns in 2019.
Clunn got emotional in his final goodbye on stage at the St. Lawrence River, and misty eyes appeared two days later when Bassmaster TV analyst Mark Zona signed off from Bassmaster LIVE after 20 years.
For the guy who’s said numerous times “I don’t get emotional,” Zona choked up.
Salute to our other veterans
Two veteran anglers finally made their mark in 2024. Cliff Prince and Ed Loughran III, both in their 50s, won their first Elites.
“Who saw that coming?” Sanders said. “Breakthroughs happen in your 40s, not in your 50s.”
Loughran won at Lake Champlain after missing several events due to kidney stones. He decided to fish out of the way to not affect the AOY race.
“It’s a known fact the guy who gets left alone wins tournaments,” Sanders said. “But Prince, he’s out in the middle of the biggest community hole on Wheeler, on the whole river system, and he’s making one cast as far as I could tell.”
Moore called Prince’s win at Lake Wheeler his “event of the season.” Mired deep in the AOY standings and bombing on his home waters of the St. Johns, Prince led after two days and increased his margin to 12 pounds with a monster 7-9 in his 26-2 limit. Yet he struggled on Day 4 and had to fight off hard-charging Ray Hanselman, catching a late 4-pounder with his family cheering him from a pontoon boat.
“It was his worst professional season but his brightest moment,” Moore said. “Prince won in dramatic fashion with his family there. He had been thinking it’s never going to happen, and it finally happened.”
Young guns shine brightly
Averaging around 25 years old, the nine rookies from the EQs all qualified for the 2025 Classic. John Garrett joined McKinney in the winner’s circle, and the rookies dotted Top 10s all season. McKinney, the youngest to ever fish the Elites, was the story of the year, Sanders said, until a blunder at Smith Lake sent the AOY race into chaos.
Impressed with all, Moore said it was Robert Gee who was a force at season’s end. Gee was on camera in each of the final three events, where he vied for the titles and wound up with a third and two runner-up finishes.
“Gee has the potential to be a very good one, but I was more impressed with his personality,” Moore said. “The Chick-Fil-A deal at Smith was hilarious. He wasn’t the first to do belly pats, but he leaned into it and it became his brand.”
Dubbed the “Happy Ewok” by Mark Zona, Gee was just having fun, and the force was with him.
Johnstons double whammy
Cory Johnston had a sainted season.
“Anytime the venue had a saint in it, he won – St. Johns, St. Lawrence,” Moore said.
Cory won’t have to take any more guff that his little brother, Chris, has more Elite titles since he went up 2-1. Of course, Chris became the first Canadian to win AOY, so he can lord that over Cory.
“We knew about the Johnstons from the get-go,” Moore said. “Cory went to two places in his two wins that everyone knew waere going to be big factors, but no one else went to.”
Johnston won fishing Salt Springs and Lake Ontario, where few ventured on a blustery day and he wound up battling through seasickness.
“This time he went – he fished to win – and he’s throwing up,” Moore said. “That meant a lot to him to win at the St. Lawrence.”
From Martin to Martin, the lake
While Okeechobee set the tone, Moore said EQ anglers continued to hit loud notes. At Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita, Canadian Evan Kung weighed what was thought to be an untouchable 9-14. Zach Goutremout touched it and then some, his 10-14 the next day taking big bass of the event and the season. (See EQs wrap with realized dreams, records.)
“It was just a season of big bass, at almost every event,” Moore said, reeling off the lunkers of Opens winners.
Kyle Austin totaled the second-highest three-day weight of 83-7 in winning at Santee Cooper, while Laker Howell (80-9) and Scott Martin (80-3) posted weights that rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in three-day events.
Josh Butler’s 7-13 helped him win on Logan Martin, and Easton Fothergill’s 8-12 was the difference-maker in his win at Oklahoma’s Lake Eufuala.
Fothergill was the talk of the EQs, continuing his hot streak since winning the 2023 College Bracket. He won a second Open on first-time venue Leech Lake en route to the Tackle Warehouse EQ Angler of the Year title.
Moore lauded Fothergill’s run and tournament director Hank Weldon, who for years pushed for Leech.
“It was a huge two days for Easton, winning his second Open on his home lake,” he said. “Leech Lake was very, very special. That community, Walker, Minn., showed out.”
Moore added that Weldon’s call to move the season finale from hurricane-ravaged Lake Hartwell to Lake Martin was equitable and produced tremendous fall drama.
“People might question Martin, but Hank wanted a body of water that’s not heavily fished, where nobody would have an advantage,” Moore said. “We got to see topwater fishing galore, Bobby Bakewell win with a buzzbait. It was cool to see fall fishing with topwater. You could livescope in 80 feet, dock fish, and there were a ton a catches. So many things happened.”
Moore said it might be a preview of fall 2025 and the new EQ format. The top 50 EQ anglers from two divisions will fish against Elites in three events starting in September.
“Fall is tough, but it’s fun,” he said. “There’s so many ways to catch bass, ploppers, buzzbaits, jigs, crankbaits. They’ll be big fields, 150 to 200 boats, the best of the Opens guys and most of the Elites. It will be the best of the best.”