Get your up-to-the-minute breaking news from our team of on-the-water photographers at the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
March 15: Day 3
1:31 p.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that as McKinney builds his bag on a gradually-sloping bank just off the main river, he’s being watched by a 10-boat flotilla. The wind has picked up, which might be what is triggering the bite – but it could also slow down the ride home.
1:22 p.m. — Photographer Seigo Saito reports that Yui Aoki is staying around the same area where he spent the morning, sharing a midlake area with Dylan Nutt. Since Seigo arrived, Aoki has culled twice, once with a largemouth, once with a smallmouth, both in the 3-pound-plus range.
1:18 p.m. — Trey McKinney started the day 10 pounds back and that may prove to be his undoing. He’s making a charge in a post-BassTrakk environment – just added another big smallmouth, culling out a 3-11. His smallest fish now is 3-13.
1:00 p.m. — BassTrakk has gone dark on us but the coverage isn't ending. Big fish have been showing up in the afternoons and none of the other competitors know what Dylan Nutt has. Keep watching.
12:56 p.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that collegiate qualifier Tripp Berlinsky has a decent little bag and is on the hunt for some kickers. He’s running and hitting a bunch of points and bank stretches with docks. He said that a bunch of drum have moved in on his areas and bass are harder to come by. He also unfortunately lost a big one early this morning. He’s making the most of it, though, and having a ball fishing the final day.
12:52 p.m. — Trey McKinney may make things interesting. He just babied a 5 ½ pound smallmouth into the boat. Those fish are difference-makers, but he’ll need a couple more to really make a charge at Dylan Nutt.
12:42 p.m. — Drew Cook keeps plugging away despite a slow start. He just added one to his livewell and has plenty of time left to go as things warm up. “We’re not done yet,” he said. As you may recall, Easton Fothergill sealed the deal last year with a Day 3 afternoon 8-pounder.
12:35 p.m. — Dave Mercer: "There is nobody in the field shocked to hear about Dylan Nutt."
12:34 p.m. — Andy Crawford reports that Nutt has changed gears. He has been looking for largemouth back in a creek, but hasn’t gotten a bite. He said he’s been seeing a lot of bass but can’t get them to commit. He just pulled up the trolling motor and headed back to the river. “I’m going to go back after smallmouth,” he said. “Maybe I can get them to bite.”
12:31 p.m. — Catches are trickling in, but with each moment that the scoreboard doesn’t light up with a 5- or 6-pounder, Dylan Nutt gets a firmer grasp on the trophy. Most of the remaining field has long runs back to weigh-in, and with the potential need to refuel, plus windy conditions, anything could happen.
11:56 a.m. — Is Dylan Nutt mortal? Andy Crawford reports that his bite has crashed. He is running and gunning, but has only set the hook (and missed) one bass in more than an hour. But it’s apparent he’s seeing numbers of bass on his sonar. He’s alternating between fishing rocky banks, shoals and shallow points with his minnow darting out when he sees a likely target. It may not matter. He may have built a lead too big to overcome.
11:43 a.m. — Trey McKinney has gone on a mini-flurry, catching multiple quality fish in short order. They’re the type that we thought it would take to be consistently competitive, but not the type it’ll take to make a charge to victory.
11:41 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that Justin Atkins decided to go run some river points that lead back into spawning flats. On the first stop, he boated a nice fish just under 4 pounds. That bass moved him into the sixth place at the moment but he likely doesn’t know that he is 19 pounds behind the leader.
11:31 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reported that JT Thompkins is having to work for his catch today. He’s catching a number of fish but many are non-keepers and he’s still stuck on four smaller fish. He is quickly rotating through points and flats still mainly with a jerkbait. He says he’s targeting the bigger fish he sees but they are not wanting to bite. Even some of the fish he has caught like the largemouth pictured above just barely had it by the back hook.
11:27 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reported that Easton Fothergill’s flotilla has floated away.
“When I got to him this morning I would guess there was around 10 boats with him and now it’s just leaves myself and two other spectators,” Sansom said. “I know he’s looked over his shoulder a few times to notice they’ve all left. One can only wonder what’s racing through his mind.”
11:14 a.m. — Last year’s runner-up Trey McKinney is trying to make a game of it. He just gingerly and vocally worked a 4-pound smallmouth into the boat to cull. He’s fishing near where Nutt started this morning.
11:11 a.m. — Dylan Nutt has moved onto a huge flat and is slowly picking his way around it. He asked that everyone (camera crews and spectators) stay in the channel, so our photo team has been relegated to distant views.
This young angler is leading the pack by more than 11 pounds - and while Dylan can’t look at BASSTrakk, he knows he’s built a tall mountain the other competitors have to climb. But he’s not acting like it. He’s fishing hard and acting like he can be caught.
11:07 a.m. — Photographer Christopher Decker reports that Trey McKinney is having the most productive of any angler not named Dylan Nutt. The two-time Elite Series champion is up to 16-8 unofficially on BassTrakk, culling up with a 3-8 smallie at 10:50 am. He started the day thinking he would be throwing a jig, but a jerkbait and a minnow have been his best baits thus far. Most of the bass he has caught are suspended in about 5 feet of water over 15 or 20 feet.
11:03 a.m. — This morning photographer Chase Sansom spoke to Easton Fothergill’s former college roommate, Nick Dumke, who said that Easton was pretty certain at some point today was going to completely abandon the smallmouth deal and try to go catch some “melon heads” as he knows it’s probably going to be his only shot at the win.
10:49 a.m. — Nutt has an estimated 19-plus in the livewell, and likely knows he doesn’t need too much more, but it still pales in comparison to yesterday when he was culling 4-pounders. Four of his fish are between 3-9 and 3-14. His bite picked up in the afternoon on Saturday – that’s when the 6-pounders came – so don’t be surprised if he (or someone else) goes on one of those patented Tennessee River flurries. There’s lots of fishing left to go.
10:39 a.m. — In a reminder of past classics, Andy Crawford says Dylan Nutt has a gallery of spectators following him. He has to manage upwards of 15 boats, not counting camera boats. We haven’t really seen this since the VanDam Classics of old.
10:12 a.m. — Dave Mercer: “Play a little drinking game. Take a shot every time we throw out a Nutt pun today.”
10:10 a.m. — Andy Crawford said that Nutt is putting on a show and demonstrating some meaningful emotion. Nearly 20 pounds in the livewell shortly after 10am will do that on Championship Sunday.
“They’re gonna have to catch them now!“ he yelled after boat flipping his most recent fish and pumped his fist.
9:46 a.m. — Don't forget the big comebacks in Classic history -- like Rick Clunn in 1990, Edwin Evers in 2016 and Jordan Lee in 2017, all of whom came back from deep in the standings to earn the championship.
After a short move he immediately hooked up with a 3 lbs. 11 oz. small mouth that gave him his first cull of the day. That fish moved him up a pound and a half giving him a little more cushion.
9:48 a.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford has earned the right to cover Dylan Nutt today. He reports that Nutt is having no trouble catching fish, but since sacking a limit he’s caught three bass that didn’t help the cause. His unofficial lead is a little under 10 pounds, but that’s two bites on this pond.
After a short move he immediately hooked up with a 3 lbs. 11 oz. small mouth that gave him his first cull of the day. That fish moved him up a pound and a half giving him a little more cushion.
9:46 a.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford has earned the right to cover Dylan Nutt today. He reports that Nutt is having no trouble catching fish, but since sacking a limit he’s caught three bass that didn’t help the cause. His unofficial lead is a little under 10 pounds, but that’s two bites on this pond.
9:41 a.m. — Why is the Concord area of Ft. Loudoun dominating this tournament? Ronnie Moore is using the Deep Dive App to show that it holds substantially clearer water.
9:33 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that JT Thompkins started within eyesight of the leader Dylan Nutt. He’s on a shallow flat where’s he’s caught some good ones over that last two days. Yui Aoki also tried to start on this flat but JT got to it first.
9:29 a.m. — Justin Atkins is trying to peck away at the leaders with his second fish of the morning which was just under 3 pounds. He is doing exactly what he was doing yesterday, throwing a shallow running jerk bait and targeting fish with his forward facing sonar on shallow flats.
9:20 a.m. — If Dylan Nutt had any nerves to start the day, they should have dissipated by now. With a limit estimated at over 16 pounds, he may have shut the door on the 2026 Bassmaster Classic before some competitors shut down their boats.
8:43 a.m. — Tommy Sanders: "One of the big surprises, that Trey McKinney was not in the top ten."
8:41 a.m. — The Tennessee River sets up well for spectators, especially with so many competitors in close proximity to one another. Dylan Nutt has a spectator gallery today, but they’re nothing like the ones of decades ago. Those sometimes had a hundred or more boats, but Live coverage has made it easier and more effective to watch from home, or from anywhere with a smartphone. That lessens the pressure, at least a little bit.
8:23 a.m. — It took Dylan Nutt two casts to get on the board, then he caught another – one largemouth, one smallmouth. He even told Zona the name of his “secret” bait: Berkley Live Series.
8:12 a.m. — The wind is light and variable now, but is scheduled to start blowing at around 11am and should crank up to 30 miles per hour or so. That could affect the bite as well as anglers' need to allow ample time to get back.
8:11 a.m. — Drew Cook is one of the greatest sight fishermen in Bassmaster history, and in reference to the new moon he just threw a shot across the bow: “They might be up there trying to make love,” he said. Will the big ones move up first? He had a 7-5 yesterday, not sight fishing, but a few in or near that class changes the dynamic.
8:07 a.m. — Dylan Nutt to Robbie Floyd: “Man, I know if I can catch 20 pounds they’re really going to have to catch ‘em.”
7:45 a.m. — And they are off. Some of them have long rides to think about what’s ahead of them. For the B.A.S.S. Nation guys, this may be a new level of pressure. Several have come close after qualifying that way – including Brandon Palaniuk, Paul Mueller and Terry McWilliams – but none of them have sealed the deal since the late Bryan Kerchal in 1994.
7:29 a.m. — Dave Mercer: “You got cut ice cream for the first time in a while.” Brandon Palaniuk: “Ouch, but yes.”
7:27 a.m. — Patrick Walters: “If you’d have had 15 pounds here last time, you would have been a hero.”
7
7:20 a.m. — Welcome to Championship Sunday at the 2026 Bassmaster Classic. We’re less than an hour from take-off and less than 12 hours from someone willing the whole shooting match. One of the remaining anglers will leave Tennessee with the big trophy – unless it’s Dylan Nutt, who lives just a couple of hours up the road.
March 14: Day 2
1:58 p.m. — Even Steve Harvey was rendered nearly speechless when Dylan Nutt added ANOTHER 6-pounder to his bag, pushing him above 26 pounds for the day.
1:44 p.m. — With a late-day 6 pound 11 ounce largemouth, Dylan Nutt is more than making his presence known. His smallest fish was over 4 pounds and rather than saving them for tomorrow he put his foot on the gas and culled it out.
1:36 p.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn’s faith in Drew Cook has been rewarded. The veteran pro caught only one fish over the first few hours, but has gone hog wild since them with 18 pounds-plus, including ia 7-pound largemouth. He continues to slowly work a stretch of docks with a chartreuse-backed jerkbait.
1:28 p.m. — Our biggest mover today may be Opens winner Dillon Falardeau. He stumbled to 49th place yesterday with three bass for 6-13, but today BassTrakk has him with over 21 pounds and more than 30 places higher up the leaderboard. Is it too little, too late?
12:37 p.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reported that JT Thompkins continues with the fireworks. He’s running and gunning, rarely if ever staying in a spot for more than 5 minutes. But then he arrived at a “loaded” flat. He caught a 4-8 on his jerkbait, with several more grabbing at it but failing to connect. He’s also tried a big swimbait, but can’t connect with that one, either.
12:15 p.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford observed that the fishing styles of Dylan Nutt and Yui Aoki “couldn’t be more different.” Both are staring at sonars and largely using minnows, but that’s where the similarities end.
“Nutt is trolling down the bank and is casting almost constantly as he goes,” Crawford said. “He only takes his foot off the power when he targets a fish. Aoki, on the other hand, is making far fewer casts - and it appears he’s targeting very specific underwater structure. He might make a couple of casts between those spots, but when he reaches a location he’ll stop and sit for several minutes to pick the structure apart. He’s also making numerous runs, often coming off plane to make a specific cast several times before heading to another location.”
12:09 p.m. — With a 4-4 smallmouth caught at noon, Dylan Nutt becomes the first angler unofficially over 20 pounds. Everyone in the top six has an estimated 17-4 or better today.
12:03 p.m. — Just a short while after sending us a picture of Justin Atkins with a 5-pound smallmouth, Shane Durrance sent us another of Atkins with a 5-6 largemouth. We’ve seen more 5-pound plus fish in the past few hours than we did in the past two Classics here.
11:59 a.m. — Is there a chance that Dakota Ebare’s trophy meanmouth/smallmouth won’t be the big fish of the day? Is the live web coverage came to an end, Drew Cook’s jerkbait connected with a monster largemouth. No scale weight yet.
11:51 a.m. — Justin Atkins hooked what he thought was a catfish, but after a tenuous fight it turned out to be a 5-pound smallmouth. The big ones are snapping hard today and it’s not yet noon.
11:44 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom says that Dakota Ebare is making the most out of a “bad rotation.” Nearly every place he’s tried to fish today has been occupied already, but it hasn’t fazed him at all.
“You know, it’s funny, if I just let things work themselves out, they will work themselves out,” Ebare said. A 7-plus-pounder in the well will calm a man’s nerve, even if he’s fishing for six figures with a baby due any day.
11:35 a.m. — Andy Crawford reports that Dylan Nutt just keeps on culling – and moments ago swung in a smallmouth that allowed him to cull out a 3 ½ pounder, putting him unofficially at or near 20 pounds.
11:15 a.m. — It’s not just the Carolina Rig. Photographer Chase Sansom reported that Day 1 leader Easton Fothergill also broke out the hair jig for about 10 minutes earlier today. While he didn’t catch any on it, he had two big hits on it. The rod bent, but neither fish hooked up.
11:05 a.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford reports that Nation qualifier Dylan Nutt just padded his unofficial lead with a smallmouth that went 4-3. That catch put him at 19 3/4 for the day with plenty of time to fish. He’ll have to cull out a 3 ½ pounder to upgrade. He is continuing to work close to the banks, and he’s making a lot of casts with his eyes glued to his Livescope.
10:58 a.m. — Photographer Dalton Tumblin reports that Fisher Anaya is off to a much slower start today. “He’s catching fish here and there, but the size isn’t there,” Tumblin said. “And one just broke his hook off that he felt was a good one. But the pace seems to be slowly picking up now as he has made his way to his better spots. He is fishing long underwater points, underwater flats and along the bank. All using FFS with a spike ball style bait and a minnow.”
10:50 a.m. — In case you missed it, check out the video of Dakota Ebare’s massive Day 2 morning bass. It’s all about the giggle.
10:46 a.m. — Check out Hall of Famer Craig Lamb’s fantastic aerial gallery from this morning.
10:42 a.m. — Andy Crawford reported that Dylan Nutt is not suffering from a shortage of fish. He made a short run and has been casting at numerous fish along the bank. He finally scored onf another small mouth that went almost 4 pounds and claimed it could’ve been an even better cull. “It took (the lure) out of a 5-pounder’s mouth,” he said.
He then hooked another smallmouth that hit the 4-pound mark.
That put him over 18 pounds and in the unofficial lead, according to BassTrakk.
10:37 a.m. — Mark Zona: “The most consistent thing in this event so far has been flurries.”
10:18 a.m. — Dylan Nutt has a limit, but hasn’t cracked 15 pounds yet. He told Andy Crawford that the flat conditions are hurting him – he’s seeing a lot of bass, but the lack of wind is making it harder to convince them to bite.
10:08 a.m. — Are the mudlines making a difference? Craig Lamb just sent us a drone shot of the area where Dylan Nutt did his damage earlier this morning -- on the dirty side of the divide.
“There were two of them fighting for it,“ he said.
He’s currently working riprap and a rocky bank, scoping fish and casting at them.
10:08 a.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford reports that Dylan Nutt just made a big upgrade when he swung a 3 1/2 pound smallmouth into the boat. He said it moved him up a pound and a quarter.
“There were two of them fighting for it,“ he said.
He’s currently working riprap and a rocky bank, scoping fish and casting at them.
9:45 a.m. — Easton Fothergill picked up where he left off – calling his shot on a 4-8 smallmouth.
9:45 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that while others are chasing roamers or covering water, Drew Cook has Power Poled down on a shallow point for the entire morning. He’s rotating through a wide variety of lures and continues to see fish, but is having trouble getting them to bite. The 4-pound smallmouth pictured above chomped a jerkbait.
9:32 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durance reports that Patrick Walters has caught about 10 fish this morning but the majority haven’t been the quality he needs. He said that he’s seeing bigger fish, but he’s hasn’t been able to get them to bite.
9:17 a.m. — Dakota Ebare just caught the smallmouth of a lifetime -- a 7 1/2 pounder. All he could do after putting it in the livewell was giggle and repeat the word “Dude.” Finally, he broke to explain himself as he re-rigged his cricket. “I knew it was a big one but I’m about to throw up," he said. “I didn’t know it was that big.”
Is it a smallmouth? A spot? A meanmouth? The weight is the same no matter what.
9:10 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reports that Easton Fothergill and Trey McKinney are fishing side by side this morning in Tellico and they’ve brought a large flotilla with them. He estimated nearly 20 boats are there. That’s big for this era, but not as big as we might’ve seen in the pre-Live era.
9:02 a.m. — Seigo Saito reports that it’s culling time for Yui Aoki.
9:02 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance just reported that Patrick Walters, who entered the day in 3rd place, boated his first keeper smallmouth. He caught it off riprap on a jerkbait. The exceptionally acrobatic fish never stopped jumping until it was subdued. Someone could win or lose the Classic on the basis of a exceptional fish landing – or a fish landing fail.
8:57 a.m. — Photographer Seigo Saito is following Yui Aoki, who started in the same area where he began yesterday, a big flat at midlake. He’s searching for fish with FFS and doesn’t cast until he finds one. In the last 15 minutes, he’s caught three – the last one was small, but the prior two were over 3 pounds. He seems to be in tune with the TVA system – he won on Kentucky Lake, came in 3rd at Wheeler, and has showed up strong this week.
8:47 a.m. — Craig Lamb is flying a drone at Concord Park and reports that from 400 feet up distinct mudlines are visible. That will likely hurt some and help others. "By the time it stabilizes, it's going to be too late for some anglers," Mark Zona just said on Live.
8:39 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that Patrick Walters had a change of plans this morning. He’s starting on bridge pilings using a jerkbait trying to pick up a few keepers quickly. He said he wanted to get a few in the boat before he headed to his juice.
8:35 a.m. — Opens winner Yui Aoki entered the day in 8th place and is on the board with a smallmouth caught on a DStyle minnow. If he were to win, he’d be second Japanese angler to win. Hall of Famer Takahiro Omori was the first, in 2004 at Lake Wylie. He’d become the third international angler to win. The last was Canadian Jeff Gustafson, the last time we were here in Knoxville in 2023.
8:26 a.m. — JT Thompkins, who entered the day in 6th place, about 2 ½ pounds back, started off the day by jerkbaiting up a 3-14 smallmouth. It wasn’t a quick fight – at one point the fish had run under the boat and was jumping on the other side. He also reported that he had at least three bass of the same size or bigger fighting for the bait.
8:15 a.m. — One question that hangs over this event is whether any of the “shallow largemouth guys” (AKA, “traditional anglers”) will make a big leap today. On the whole the older guys, some of whom had great practices, struggled yesterday – but someone like Bill Lowen or John Cox or Bryan Schmitt could bust 25 if the changed conditions work to their advantage. Even if it happens, though, it could be too little too late.
8:06 a.m. — Fisher Anaya: “I know the fish to win are down there. I just need to make them bite.” He compared the fish to Champlain smallmouth more than those on any other venue on the Tennessee River.
8:05 a.m. — Mark Zona: “Talking to the leaders of this event, they thought that yesterday would be the slowest day of the event.”
7:32 a.m. — Will Davis Jr.: “I’ve never made Day 3 of a Classic and this is my fourth one. I really want to make Day 3.”
7:30 a.m. — Half an hour until go time and the word of the day is “warmer.” The goal is to get into the top 25 within a big bag’s range of winning. Not everyone who fishes will have shot, but you can’t win if you’re not fishing.
March 13: Day 1
4:27 p.m. — Time to weigh the first fish. Stand by for fireworks! Easton Fothergill, our presumed leader, is first up with 21-8.
2:31 p.m. — Bassmaster photographer Andy Crawford followed Yui Aoki, currently is in fourth place on BASSTrakk, part of the day, and he said the young Opens angler seems to have been focusing on cleaner water in Loudon. The water in the backs of the creeks were muddier than that closer to the main Tennessee River channel. Aoki did fish some docks and underwater structure inside a creek — but just inside where the water started cleaning up a bit.
Interestingly, Crawford said he saw clean water flowing into the creeks on his way back to Knoxville. So could those dirty creeks clean up? Time will tell.
1:50 p.m. — Jay Przekurat has had a tough week, but photographer Solomon Glenn found him bouncing around among multiple offshore schools of bass completely focused on fishing. The young Wisconsin pro has built up a decent limit but needs to upgrade. He commenced that project with a solid smallmouth that set a largemouth free. Glenn noted that the wind is howling – which means anglers should be starting to think about getting back to weigh-in. Time on Day 1 is running out fast.
1:35 p.m. — So much for minnows, dice and urchins. Defending champ Easton Fothergill just went old school and put the big stick to work – he Carolina Rigged up a 4-7 smallmouth that keeps him in contention to repeat.
1:12 p.m. — JT Thompkins has the big fish of the day so far with a 5 pound 2 ounce largemouth. Big fish in 2019 was a two-way tie at 6-3. In 2023, Luke Palmer earned the award with a 5-13.
12:40 p.m. — With a good limit in the livewell, it’s almost time for Paul Marks to start making his way back to Knoxville. He’ll need gas first though. At one point this morning he was the furthest angler from takeoff, but with over 17 pounds in the livewell he has to mitigate any potential pitfalls. Photographer Chase Sansom reports that Marks has kept the shallow bite honest here and there but he’s committed to catching fish off the bank.
12:29 p.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford reported that Yui Aoki has made quite a number of moves, seeing fish everywhere he’s stopped. The problem has been getting those fish to bite. He finally struck gold with a cull fish. It looked to be about 3 pounds - but in any case it was enough to replace his smallest bass.
12:27 p.m. — Easton Fothergill just caught an estimated 3-13 that pushed the defending champion up into the top ten, less than 4 pounds out of the lead. Meanwhile the other two past champions in the field – Jordan Lee and Justin Hamner – just have one fish apiece.
12:06 p.m. — Solomon Glenn reports that first-time Classic qualifier Caleb Hudson has a solid limit of smallmouth for just over 14 pounds. He’s fishing around docks with a minnow and a spikey ball. It’s not fast and furious, but he’s managing to slowly cull up. He’s seeing more fish than he can catch. They’re evasive and a little skittish.
12:03 p.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that defending champ Easton Fothergill, currently south of 10 pounds, is still running around trying to get on some better quality fish. He’s running a lot of points with a selection of jig head minnows, catching one here and there, but hasn’t figured it out yet. You can’t win it on the first day of a Classic, but without a few culls he may have a big hill to climb on Day 2 and perhaps Day 3.
11:57 a.m. — Alex Redwine has multiple things going on today. What do they have in common? None of his fish seem to be on Ozempic. Early this morning we saw him catch a near 4-pound largemouth to start the day, and he just culled with a thick smallmouth.
11:44 a.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford is watching Yui Aoki work his lures painfully slowly. “When he sees a fish he makes his cast and pretty much dead sticks the bait,” Crawford said. “He moves it extremely slowly before rolling back in for another cast.”
11:42 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that Will Davis, who had 10 pounds early, is having trouble filling out a limit. He’s alternating between two baits, moving quickly, but the few bites he can eke out don’t meet the minimum length.
11:36 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reported that Paul Marks just boated a 3-pound smallmouth that just culled the last 2-pound largemouth he had in the boat. He’s on the search for those bigger brown fish working the sides of the main river in Tellico. He's the first angler to cross the 17-pound mark.
11:10 a.m. — Photographer Andy Crawford found Japanese pro Yui Aoki scoping the main river. He’s got his eyes glued to the screen and not making a cast until he sees a fish. Unlike some others who are trying to cover a lot of water, Aoki is moving at a glacial pace, easing forward and casting only when he sees a living target.
11:00 a.m. — The early numbers seem to indicate that conditions (and perhaps the fishery itself) are much better than they were in past Knoxville Classics. On Day 1 of the 2019 event, there were four bags of 15 pounds or more. In 2023, there were three of them. Today we already have five estimated bags of 15-plus – although we haven’t hit the 17-pound mark yet. Plenty of time left to fish.
10:44 a.m. — Photographer Dalton Tumblin reports that Trey McKinney’s morning has progressed steadily by staying locked onto a large area, some sort of underwater point or ledge. The third year Elite is roaming back and forth, targeting the resident fish with his FFS and a minnow style bait. His bite isn’t quite what it was earlier this morning, but this large area is still producing him fish at a steady pace. Tumblin asserted that he believes Trey’s nerves seem to be a little higher usual, “but that’s to be expected at the Classic.”
10:33 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn reported that collegiate qualifier Tripp Berlinsky is running and gunning points and pocket mouths. He has gotten up to an estimated 14 pounds by firing up the schools with a deep plug and then picking off fish with his jig head minnow. He’s having fun and still has a lot of room to grow and noted that the purple mustache is definitely giving him extra power.
10:17 a.m. — Brandon Lester, who finished 6th in both of the past Knoxville Classics, is banking on largemouths in chocolatey water, as seen in a drone shot. There’s been lots of talk about the importance of water clarity. It differs between the two lakes and changed in some areas due to Wednesday night’s rain. It may change again in certain areas before this event is over.
10:07 a.m. — The Live staff just discussed and debated what a Hideup Coike is meant to represent. The lure might’ve been laughed at a year ago, but it’s no joking matter today. They go for big bucks on the gray market and anglers – including many in this field – gladly pay those prices.
10:02 a.m. — One of the strategic conundrums for anglers making long runs this week will be whether they need to refuel – and, if so, at what point in the day. Photographer Shane Durrance found Will Davis Jr. refueling early, with 10 pounds in the livewell. He’s catching fish on a blade bait, but says that each spot is good for only one fish. After the first one bites, he can’t get another one to commit. That means lots of running and gunning and lots of gas burned.
9:47 a.m. — Fisher Anaya’s first four fish may not have been the quality he needs to become the youngest Classic winner in history, but he just added a 4-pounder that filled out a limit. This Classic is already shaping up to be much more prolific than the 2019 or 2023 versions.
9:26 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom followed Easton Fothergill 47 minutes to his first spot in Tellico. “I’ve got 2 small keepers this morning, but I broke a fish off right off the rip this morning that I think was a 4 pounder,” Fothergill reported. He is sticking shallow and plans to get a good bag put together before he pulls back offshore to go smallmouth hunting.
9:32 a.m. — It’s hard to remember a Classic where so many pundits and fans were so invested in a first-time Classic qualifier, but no one is going to be surprised if Fisher Anaya wins. In fact, a lot of people will say they predicted it, and can bring the receipts. He said that he’s around 20- to 25-pound bags. So far he has four smallish fish he’ll have to cull to get there.
9:26 a.m. — Seth Feider is running and gunning on Loudoun and just put his first keeper in the boat. Not surprisingly, it was a shallow largemouth.
9:08 a.m. — Per Bass Trakk, father-to-be Dakota Ebare is the first contender to a limit with an estimated 10-10. Trey McKinney, fishing nearby – who wanted the spot that Ebare claimed – has more weight with four fish. This Classic is getting off to a strong start, especially when you consider the long runs that many contenders made. Things should only get better as the air and water temperatures heat up.
8:55 a.m. — Trey McKinney claims he passed most of the field on his way down to Tellico, but didn’t have time to pass Dakota Ebare, who started where McKinney had planned to begin this tournament – so he slid over to a “second choice” area and within 10 casts had a 4-pounder and a 3-pounder.
8:31 a.m. — Alex Redwine did not excel in his first Classic last year, but he started off this one with a bang, an estimated 4-pound largemouth. That’s the type of fish that’s historically been gold on this portion of the Tennessee River. Judging from dock talk, they may be more common this time around, but a few of those and a couple of plain keepers could have any angler in contention today.
8:25 a.m. — Bold predictions about Classic winners from our TV crew: Davy Hite chooses Elite rookie Davy Hite; Mark Zona wants Nation qualifier Dylan Nutt; Sooch looks for Trey McKinney to win. “We have an average age of about 16 going now in all of our picks.” Tommy Sanders raised that age, albeit slightly, by choosing Easton Fothergill to go back to back. They turned to Ronnie Moore from a remote location and he pulled the veteran card: Lee Livesay, who has finished in the top 15 in all five Classics he’s fished.
8:15 a.m. — Mark Zona just repeated a recurring theme: “There are a group of young anglers in this tournament who are absolute assassins.” Yesterday Bill Lowen said he wouldn’t be surprised if the average age continues to trend downward. “You’re going to see it get even younger,” he said. “I can see parents having to drive their kids to the Elites.” He didn’t drop any hints that he was joking, but wasn’t conceding this tournament or his space on the tour. Lowen has narrowed it down to four or five rods – nothing surprising – and is ultra-confident.
8:00 a.m. — Our field has blasted off from one of the most iconic and theater-like launch sites in Classic history. Fans are gathered in tiers and there’s a buzz in the air. Even Classic veterans like Lee Livesay can’t keep from getting amped up by that energy. Check out the photo Chase Sansom got of the Texas pro catching air.
6:43 a.m. — After a stretched-out practice, now’s the time for more waiting for our 58 Bassmaster Classic contenders. They’ll continue working on tackle at the dock and then some of them will have long rides to their first stop – that’s when it becomes a mental game of chess, particularly because since they were last on the water on Wednesday we’ve had a major front go through. It stormed that evening and the temps dropped nearly 40 degrees. It’s warming up again, but not as quickly as some would like. Will their fish still be there when they arrive at stop number one? If so, will they be willing to bite?
March 11: Official Practice
7:45 a.m. — As the pack of boats sped downstream toward Loudon, at least one of them kept going. Kyle Welcher headed toward Tellico, explaining why in this quote from photographer Andy Crawford. “Tellico was packed during practice, and he thinks most of the field will be down there.” That said, Welcher laughed and said he may not fish the tournament where he started practice.
8 a.m. — In the boat with Easton Fothergill is photographer Chase Sansom, who reported the defending Classic champ is marking waypoints for navigation purposes, not necessarily for pinpointing fishing spots. “Every minute is going to be crucial this week as a lot of guys will make extremely far runs from takeoff,” he said to Chase, who added he’d be willing to bet half if not more of the field has already passed through the Tellico canal.
8:30 a.m. — Kyle Jesse is riding along with Brandon Lester, a pre-tournament favorite for his Tennessee roots. Lester had already made numerous tops that he didn’t have time to fish during the three days of unofficial practice. The hope is that he will find a specific area that he can hunker down in. the 10-time Classic qualifier has found water temperatures ranging from 56 to 65 degrees. “The backs of windblown creeks have the warmest water,” Lester said.
8:45 a.m. — Chase Sansom has the benefit of not being in the boat with Fothergill to get direct conversations from the defending Classic champ, who plans to check established high target areas for presence of fish (instead of having moved elsewhere). By afternoon, he will be eyeballing his graphs looking for new schools of fish.
9 a.m. — Bryant Smith is in an area where he is seeing a ton of fish, and he just told Dalton Tumblin they’re big ones. “It’s a little cove off to the side of the main channel. Problem is he can’t seem to keep them biting,” Dalton reported. “They constantly follow my swimbait and jerkbait to the boat but just won’t commit to it” Smith said. Dalton added that Smith is loving what he’s seeing on his forward-facing sonar, just trying to figure out what will get them fired up.
9:25 a.m. — Report from Chase Sansom from inside the boat of Fothergill, noting for now the defending champ is staying true to his early game plan of keeping it shallow. “I’ve been checking a few of these docks here and there just to see if any fish are up there cruising around them,” Fothergill said. “I haven’t seen any on bed this week but the ‘bass rut’ is almost on so I’m keeping it honest.”
9:30 a.m. — Andy Crawford reported in with this news. “The docks back in the creeks in Loudon are by large high and dry. The lake is at its winter pool, and my boater says it’s as low as he seen it. So, unless they find some deeper docks on the main lake, it’s unlikely that they’ll play in this tournament.”
9:45 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance got inside the boat of Nick Trim to grab this pic of his screen. “Trim has found some giant smallmouth” Shane said. “The only problem is they are just chasing his bait and refusing to commit. He said they are all over four pounds. He is trying to decide whether to come back to this spot or not during the tournament.”
9:45 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn checked in with this report for JT Thompkins. “He is running around hitting clay points with nearby pea gravel and chunk rock, targeting mostly smallmouth,” Solomon said. “He’s found several good schools and caught a five-pounder, using a coverage bait.”
10:30 a.m. — On the main Tennessee River channel Andy Crawford found Alex Redwine targeting near-shore structure. He told Andy the Day 1 plan is to begin in Loudon but not for long. “I’m looking for a spot where I can catch one or two, and then I’ll head to Tellico unless I stop and it blows up.”
10:30 a.m. — Kyle Jessie is riding along with Tennessean Brandon Lester and filed this report. Conditions are always critical in spring tournaments. Whoever can adapt with the changes is typically who will reign victorious on the final day. And changing conditions is what the Classic field will be up against come Friday. While the area has had an abundance of warm weather over the last couple of weeks, a cold front is scheduled to push through Thursday night which could have temperatures at takeoff on Friday in the 30s. Totally different than what the anglers have had through practice.
More telling intel from Kyle about his ride with Brandon Lester. Luckily, Lester believes that the steady warm weather that we’ve had should help stabilize the bite. “They might not bite great on the first morning, but it’s been warm for long enough that it shouldn’t affect it too bad,” Lester said. “Really it’s going to be one cold night and morning and then it should get warm again.”
10:50 a.m. — Bob Downey has been found by Andy Crawford. Downey said an area that produced for him at the 2023 Classic shows promise yet again. “It’s just hard to get them to bite,” Downey said. “People can fish from the banks, and are throwing live bait, so it makes it hard to get them to bite (artificial lures).
11:20 a.m. — Surprise, surprise. Andy Crawford has discovered Bill Lowen … in shallow water. The master of shallow was in the back of a creek lined with deeper docks - and, predictably, he was flipping them. He said he’s had a decent day, “but the last few days have been good.” His plan for competition is to stay close to Knoxville. “Unless things go bad,” he said with a laugh.
11:20 a.m. — A report from Solomon Glenn with Wes Logan. The Alabama pro is running around and experimenting with new tactics. Specifically, areas with chunk rock and wood on main river channel banks. Logan says he’s just trying a bunch of different things to make sure he doesn’t miss anything. The effort has produced promising results, with the tactic to visually observed potential areas and check them out.
12:00 p.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that collegiate angler Tripp Berlinsky is catching quite a few today. Berlinsky told him he feels that he could have 20 pounds on Day one if the changing weather doesn’t mess up his bite. He’s switching between two lures to trigger bites and his forward-facing sonar is key. He is seeing almost every fish he catches on the screen first.
12:05 p.m. — Jordan Lee is focusing on clay points and pocket mouths off the main channel on Loudoun. He’s caught a few small ones on a jerkbait but overall Lee says it’s been tough on him all week. He’s keeping on the move and covering a bunch of water.
12:10 p.m. — Photographer Dalton Tumblin reports that KJ Queen is keeping it shallow. He wasn’t particularly confident in the particular area he’s fishing, but he did report that he has the makings of a pattern with several key elements coming together.
12:55 p.m. — This morning Pat Schlapper said that today would be critical for him. Unlike some of his colleagues, he had a tough three day practice and needs to make something happen in order to be competitive. He’s using forward-facing sonar, but photographer Solomon Glenn reports that Schlapper is further back in pockets than most of the others – targeting cover with various lures. The Wisconsin pro said he’s fishing new water, still in search mode and trying to find a main area. He’s weeding through a bunch of non-keepers but did manage one quality smallmouth.
2:25 p.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom is seeing something today (and expects more of it) that we didn’t see much of here in 2023 -- guys at the pump. The run to Tellico isn’t short and will require most of them to sacrifice at least 10 minutes to refuel. With the cost of gas, that’s not a small deal, but it’s the time that really matters. Choosing when to stop – on the way, on the way back, midday – is a critical point of strategy.
2:25 p.m. — After an entire day spent offshore, defending champ Easton Fothergill has decided to get back on the bank and search around new places up shallow. He is running all new shallow pockets off the main river in search of a few docks that might have a sizeable largemouth or two in residence – or freshly moved up. This could pay off if he has some extra time on the run back in and needs to hunt a kicker.
