Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound: Day 2

2:30 p.m. — As mentioned plenty of times on Bass LIVE today, there were some major changes in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings after Day 1 of competition. Cole Sands is holding steady on Day 2 with 16-12 which has him sitting in 10th place on BassTrakk. However, Trey McKinney is up to 19-8 which will certainly move him up the leaderboard and potentially back into the AOY lead depending on how things shake out when the bags hit the scale.

12:11 p.m. — Chris Zaldain has been working the bridges near the ramp, but he just said on Live that conditions are making it harder for him to succeed with his favored tactic.

"The current just stopped," Zaldain said. "What you have to have doing this swimbait thing is three things. "You have to have current. You have to have bait and you have to have shade.

"We lost our most important thing."

11:24 a.m. — Bassmaster photographer Seigo Saito found Hunter Shryock way back in a creek, just as the angler put No. 5 in the livewell. "Since then I haven’t seen him setting a hook," Saito said. "He is still hunting for a nice fish No. 5 to cull."

11:17 a.m. — Staying hydrated and mentally strong will be incredibly important, as highs are supposed to reach the upper 90s.

That said, Bassmaster photographer Chris Decker reports that Brandon Lester is have an excellent morning. The Tennessee has, according to BassTRAKK, a limit weighing about 21 pounds.

"Right now, he's throwing an urchin-style bait," Decker said. "He threw a popping frog down a good looking stretch of bank, but only got one short bass to bite it."

11:08 a.m. — From Bassmaster photographer Shane Durrance:

"Justin Hamner just got extremely lucky. As soon as we started having the slightest movement with the tidal flow, he had a small school of 14 inchers start blowing up on bait on a point. He threw the sea urchin-style bait over the top of the school and caught two bass in just a few minutes."

10:56 a.m. — Stetson Blaylock makes his first cull of the day, Bassmaster photographer Dalton Tumblin reported.

"He’s still fishing the same pattern on the same are of the Chowan," Tumblin said. "He’s mostly throwing a Coike-style bait, but changing to a drop shot intermittently. He says the fish aren’t grabbing onto the bait as good today and being a little lethargic — so he’s having to use a drop shot some and has no choice but to boat flip them on the Coike because they are shaking the hook out too easily."

BassTRAKK shows Blaylock's limit at 15 1/2 pounds, enough to put him into the unofficial lead over Day 1 leader Chris Zaldain. But the margin is a razor think 13 ounces.

10:38 a.m. — The Progressive Angler of the Year saw a shake-up yesterday, with Cole Sands taking over the lead after Cory Johnston and Trey McKinney struggled. Going into Day 2, Sands has a 10-point lead over McKinney.

10:31 a.m. — Justin Hamner has had a very slow morning, catching his first bass at 10 a.m. "He’s fishing in the same area he did yesterday, but the bite has changed drastically," Bassmaster photographer Shane Durrance reports. "He is seeing fish, but they just aren’t biting.

"I asked him his thoughts on what was going on and he said the water is stagnant and not moving. So he’s waiting on the slightest title flow to begin."

10:06 a.m. — Justin Hamner made one of the longest runs in the field, and he just landed his first keeper of the day. He said earlier that the lack of tide was hurting him, but sounds like that situation is changing.

"Tide's been moving for maybe 30 seconds," Hamner said on Live.

10:00 a.m. — Jason Christie, who started Day 2 in second, just landed his first bass of the day throwing a Coike-style bait around cypress trees. He logged it into BassTRAKK as a 3 1/2-pounder, although Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom thought it was a pound heavier. BassTRAKK shows him in 15th.

"He lost what appeared to be a 3- to 4-pounder a bit ago," Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom reported. "He’s working the lower part of the Chowan River towards Edenton around cypress trees with an urchin style bait.

"He told his camera guy, Jake Latendresse, 'I told myself when this Coike came around I wasn’t going to do it no matter what. Going to stick to my guns. Well, you can see how long that lasted.”

9:47 a.m. — JT Thompkins started Day 2 sitting in 91st place, after weighing in just 5 pounds, 1 ounce yesterday. Something has changed: He has surged to 11th place on the strength of a five-fish limit estimated at 23 1/2 pounds, according to BassTRAKK.

The young angler is the first of the day to top the 20-pound mark.

9:37 a.m. — Day 1 leader Chris Zaldain filled his limit at his starting spot close to the ramp, according to Bassmaster photographer Chris Decker. "There's no one else here except a kayaker and a fan," Decker said. "He said lack of current is why it’s been a slower morning than yesterday."

That put him back in the lead, according to BassTRAKK. Unofficially, his five-fish limit weighs 12 pounds.

9:13 a.m. — The long-run Chowan River crowd is finally getting settled in. Bassmaster's Craig Lamb reported that most are fishing main river points.

9:09 a.m. — Anglers making the long run to the Chowan River are finally starting their fishing day. Hunter Shryock is near the mouth of the Chowan, in the far back of a creek, reported Bassmaster's Craig Lamb. Meanwhile the rest of the pack entered the creek around 8:30.

Most of the others kept running toward the Hwy. 13 bridge and beyond, Lamb said.

9:03 a.m — It’s been a challenging morning for Day 1 leader Chris Zaldain so far, according to Bassmaster photographer Chris Decker. You could tell bass and gar were feeding. In fact, several big bass blew up on bait next to the pilings. But he couldn’t get anything to bite his lures, although he received a couple short strikes.

BassTRAKK shows Zaldain in third with two fish for 4 pounds, 5 ounces.

He is making his way back to his starting spot now, Decker reported

8:44 a.m. — Nick Trim didn't walk across the stage yesterday after running more than 70 miles because he didn't land a single bass. "I only got two bites all day," he told Bassmaster photographer Andy Crawford before launching his boat this morning. "And I got the second bite 10 minutes before I had to leave."

Trim said the problem wasn't lack of bass, however. "I saw some (big ones) on my scope following my bait, but they'd just swim away."

Was he planning to make that long run again today? Yep. "It's the only place I know that I can catch five that might get me back in the cut," he said.

7:48 a.m. — From Bassmaster writer/photographer Christopher Decker:

Chris Zaldain was boat 96 this morning, but the Day 1 leader already had two bass in the boat. The bridge he started on this morning, which was surrounded by fellow competitors yesterday morning, was all Zaldain’s when he arrived. After catching those two bass, he moved up river to a more crowded bridge. Brandon Lester, Gerald Swindle and Lee Livesay are all here fishing what appears to be a shad spawn. Lester caught a quality largemouth not too long after Zaldain arrived. Swimbaits, topwaters and urchins are top choices so far.

7:34 a.m. — One of the biggest storylines from this tournament is anglers making long runs. With seemingly endless fishable water, the Elites have plenty of choices and tough decisions to make. On Day 1, plenty of anglers decided to stay in the Pasquotank River and maximize fishing time. While that worked for several anglers including Day 1 leader Chris Zaldain, making a long run paid off for other anglers like Jason Christie who found himself in second place at the conclusion of weigh-in on Day 1.

“It doesn’t matter how rough it is, it is not going to keep me from going," said Christie. “I knew I needed to make the run, no matter what. I’d rather fish three hours where I’m going than eight hours (in the Pasquotank).”

Those are scary words for the rest of the field from the "Most Feared Name in Professional Bass Fishing". Click here to read more about Jason Christie's Day 1 performance.

7:06 a.m. — Day 1 leader Chris Zaldain is off to a quick start with two keepers in the boat that go for 4-5 within the first 30 minutes of competition. Click here to follow along with Zaldain all day long!

6:30 a.m. — Day 2 of the 2026 Maxam Tire Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound is officially underway! The sights from takeoff didn't disappoint this morning. The takeoff gallery that will be published shortly from Andy Crawford should be a great one.

Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound: Day 1

2:10 p.m. — Anglers in the farthest reaches of the of the Albemarle basin have to start thinking about heading back, as winds are blowing 11 to 12 mph out the southwest. That sets up following seas as the anglers in areas like the Roanoke, Chowan and Perquimans rivers. That could really make it a slog heading back to Elizabeth City.

1:54 p.m. — AOY implications: With the competition day winding down, we took a look at what BASSTrakk can tell us about possible Angler of the Year changes. Unofficially, it looks like the AOY leaders Cory Johnston and Trey McKinney are not having great days — but Johnston appears to be having the biggest stumble. He's currently sitting in 57th with four fish for 7 pounds, 11 ounces, while McKinney is unofficially in 27th place with five fish for 12 pounds.

The day started with Johnston leading by just 20 points, so if current BASSTrakk totals hold for the rest of the day McKinney would retake the lead.

There's still some fishing — and anglers are known to sandbag — so there's still unknowns that will be sorted out at weigh-in. But what we do know is the AOY race remains very compelling.

1:40 p.m. — Before competition started, anglers talked about how crowded it would be in the Pasquotank River , but it looks like many in the field decided to take the beating in the big water and fish other rivers all over the Albemarle basin — with some even skipping across the Currituck Sound for waters far to the north.

Fishing time is growing short for those anglers in the farthest reaches, however, since some of those runs top 1 1/2 hours.

1:19 p.m. — As predicted by Davy Hite early on this morning, there have been some major shifts on BassTrakk this afternoon. With many anglers opting to make long runs, fishing time for a lot of anglers didn't begin until 8:30 a.m. or later. Now, the real test will be making it back to weigh-in.

10:19 a.m. — A fun day of practice has turned into a frustrating Day 1 for Trey McKinney, Bassmaster photographer Chris Decker reports.

"He currently has two bass in the box that only weigh about 3 pound," Decker said. "He said the numbers of quality bass in practice were ridiculous, but the numbers has dwindled for some reason."

McKinney is trying to shake off a rough Santee Cooper event that left him sitting in second in the AOY standings. He can’t afford another bad tournament if he wants to hoist the end of year trophy.

The only good news, as previously noted, is that the young angler has a full day to put his bait in front of bass as opposed to cutting his fishing time by making a long run.

10:15 a.m. — From Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom:

"Rebound and No. 5 for Lee Livesay here at the bridge! He’s putting the big glide to work, getting more bites than anyone else working around here around him."

10:10 a.m. — There's been a lot of talk that past few years about the youth of the newest class of Elite anglers, and that made us curious about the overall impact on the Progressive Angler of the Year race. Namely, how has the average age of the Top 10 AOY anglers been affected?

Way back in 2010, the average age of the AOY Top 10 was 37.3 years old. The age dropped in 2015, 2020, 2022 and 2023 a tad — but it remained in the 30s.

It dropped below 30 years old to 28.8 years for the first time in 2024, ticking up a tad to 29.7 years old in 2025.

Going into today, with three non-forward facing sonar events in the books, the 2026 Top 10 anglers average 31.7 years old. So there's definitely something to the argument that FFS is allowing younger anglers to compete at a higher level — but there's still only one angler older than 40 in the race.

9:45 a.m. — Two of the rookies planned to make the long run to the Chowan River — way up the river. There's big bass near the ramp, but Fisher Anaya and Pake South expected it to be packed with anglers. So they said they were "sending it."

The run to the Highway 17 bridge across the Chowan is at least 1 1/2 hours, but the two young anglers said they weren't stopping there. "We're going 30 minutes farther than that," Fisher said.

And if they can get there and back, the payoff could be huge.

"I’ve got one log that’s got 20 fish on it," South said. "If I can get 5 to bite off that log, I might have 25 (pounds).”

9:40 a.m. — Trey McKinney, who went into today in second place in the Progressive Angler of the Year race, told Bassmaster photographer Andy Crawford that he staying close to the ramp.

"I’m just so over those long runs," the young phenom said. "You have to get there without tearing all your stuff up, and then you have to get back. Everything has to go right."

But that's not to say he's just fishing for points this week.

"If I get five bites, they’re going to be good ones," McKinney said. "And I have eight hours to fish."

9:28 a.m. — Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom just sent in these terrific photos of a devastating loss for Lee Livesay. The Texas pro is currently sitting inside the Top 10 on BassTrakk with only 4 keepers, so this fish would have went to the bottom line. This keeper would have likely pushed Livesay into 2nd unofficially.

9:09 a.m. — Randy Howell went ahead and one-upped himself by boating another big one early on Day 1- this one went into BassTrakk at 5-10 which is now the unofficial Phoenix Boats Big Bass.

9:02 a.m. — Current Pro Guide Batteries Rookie of the Year leader Caleb Hudson isn’t catch a lot of fish, but he currently has a limit and is sitting inside the Top 10 on BassTrakk with 10-3. The Georgia pro is targeting isolated cover with his forward-facing sonar using the hottest bait in bass fishing - the Urchin.

8:48 a.m. —From Bassmaster Photographer Chase Sansom:

It seems like the bridges or vertical cover in the Pasquotank is the hot commodity. Working with Hank Cherry who has 3 keepers, one good one and two small ones. There has been a good handful of anglers who have been rotating in and out of this bridge. Right now Brandon Lester & Lee Livesay are near by working it as well.

8:34 a.m. — Randy Howell only has one keeper in the boat early on Day 1, but it's the right kind. The former resident of North Carolina is the unofficial leader for Phoenix Boats Big Bass on BassTrakk with this 5-8.

8:20 a.m. — "The more water you can save in this tournament the better," said Kyle Patrick when giving his morning update on Bassmaster Live.

Patrick told us that his original plan on Day 1 was to run to the Perquimans River and spend his Day there. However, at takeoff Chris Zaldain gave him one of his Daingerous Swimbaits and told him to stop at the bridge before making any kind of run. This has paid off big time for the New York native has he already has a limit for 13-8, tying Zaldain at the top of BassTrakk.

Click here to watch Kyle Patrick's big one from this morning.

7:48 a.m. — From Bassmaster Photographer/Writer Christopher Decker:

Chris Zaldain has lit up BassTrakk this morning, landing a little over 13 pounds in an hours time. He’s been throwing a large swimbait around the 158 causeway, throwing it around every corner and piling. 

He certainly hasn’t been alone. Lee Livesay, Kyoya Fujita and Jason Williamson have all spent time around the bridge while Clifford Pirch landed a quality keeper on a set of laydowns and cypress trees 100 yards from the bridge. 

Life for anglers who wanted to make the run to the Chowan and Roanoke is already difficult. Russ Lane idled through the bridge not long ago. Livesay told Zaldain that Russ had attempted the run and turned around. You get the sense Zaldain isn’t thrilled about not making the run either, but as he said, “it’s better than getting your brains beat in.”

7:23 a.m. — Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom estimates that 25-35 boats have opted to stay in the Pasquotank River based on what he saw when shooting the Runnin' and Gunnin' photo gallery that will be posted shortly. The run to the Chowan takes at least an hour and a half to get to the bridge, so we should have a better idea of how many anglers have made the run soon.

7:23 a.m. — Chris Zaldain is the first angler to fill his limit. The Texan has 13-8 in the boat early on Day 1.

6:50 a.m. — One thing to keep an eye on early this morning is the anglers that are already reporting catches on BassTrakk. These are obviously the anglers that are opting to stay in the Pasquotank River and maximize their time and avoid the long runs. Within 20 minutes of takeoff, there's already seven anglers reporting catches. Chris Zaldain and Kyoya Fujita already have a 4-8 in boat.

6:30 a.m. — Day 1 is officially underway!

6:28 a.m. — Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom reports that 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic Champion Easton Fothergill believes that if anglers are able to get to the Chowan River and back on Day 1, we are all in for a treat at weigh-in later this afternoon.

"“I think I could’ve caught 32 to 34 pounds, I had a nine pounder, a six and bunch of other big ones I caught and I shook off quite a few other big ones. It was pretty ignorant how good it is," said Fothergill. "The issue is going to be getting there. If you go and ride 4 to 5 foot waves the whole time you might have an hour to fish, but I’m thinking if I just got two bites in there it might be better than spending a whole day in the Pasquotank."

6:20 a.m. — Day 1 of the 2026 Maxam Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound is just moments away from getting started and the storylines of this event seem to be endless. With so much fishable water in play, the anglers are faced with many decisions. Many reports from practice suggest that the biggest bites have been coming from the Chowan River, but with high winds predicted on Day 1, there's plenty of risk involved in making that run. Do you stay close and maximize fishing time, or do you take the risk and run?