Day 2: Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

1:12 p.m. — Can Bill Lowen retain the lead? We sent photographer Dalton Tumblin to find out – check out his gallery of Lowen’s day so far.

1:07 p.m. — Mark Menendez is picking away at a little backwater section just north of Tibee creek. He just caught a small one that didn’t help.

“This has been a much different day than yesterday. The place I caught them in yesterday was no good this morning. I didn’t get a bite until 9am, but I’ve worked a few areas on my way back towards takeoff and filled out a pretty decent limit.”

12:45 p.m. — It took most of the day, but the once-struggling Justin Atkins has filled out his limit.

12:25 p.m. — Wesley Gore just made the cull he needed, exchanging a bare keeper for a 3 ½ pound largemouth. “That’s like a kid’s meal for a Double Whopper,” said Davy Hite.

11:55 a.m. — It wouldn’t be fun without a bit of a challenge. Day One leader Bill Lowen showed off his true turtle credentials and entered the snake-infested waters to replace a drain plug that had gone missing.

11:38 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom caught up with Mike Iaconelli and his retro flame jersey this morning. Click here to check out the gallery.

11:19 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn is on Randy Howell: “One thing I’ve noticed with Howell getting bit on the cypress trees is how many casts he makes and angles he hits on each tree. When he gets bit, it always seems to be on the perfect cast that gets super-close to the base of the tree. A cast like this is easier said than done as the line often gets tangled in the many low branches. Howell has now decided to lock back down to the pool he was in yesterday and see if he can upgrade.”

11:15 a.m. — Brandon Palaniuk appears to have locked down into a section of the remote Amazon River. He’s working diligently to get further into a backwater, but without the benefit of power tools, he’s struggling. “Sometimes in river bassing, you just have to be willing to push a little bit farther than the next guy," he said.

11:10 a.m. — Pake South is culling in full view of the competition. He set the hook as fellow rookie Aaron Jadgfeld went by. Each bit is helping South amass what he’ll need to keep his top 10 streak going – Lake Martin, Sam Rayburn (Open victory) and now at the Tenn-Tom.

11:07 a.m. — Brandon Palaniuk just caught a 2-pounder, which puts him ahead of where he was yesterday. He’s in good spirits, but not overly optimistic, as he put the fish on the “big side” livewell. “It would be a respectable limit at the Sabine, but not here yet,” he laughed.

10:47 a.m. — It’s almost noon, and with only a limited percentage of anglers reporting, we don’t have a teen-class bag yet. We’ll almost certainly have some by the end of the day (if we don’t already), so that means you can’t rely heavily on what we’re seeing on BassTrakk. Expect someone who is off the charts right now to be top 10 or 20 by the end of weigh-in.

10:20 a.m. — We just witnessed Randy Howell “negotiating” with the lockmaster to ensure a favorable or at least semi-certain schedule. There’s traffic and he’s waiting for a call back to get some understanding of his timetable. Per BassTrakk he has four fish for about 8 pounds. He’s also rocking headgear reminiscent of last year’s Tenn-Tom Opens winner Trey Schroeder.

9:53 a.m. — Brandon Palaniuk is running a new windshield picked up during the Bassmaster Classic. The windshield is filled with signatures, and he said it all began with a Skeeter-Yamaha fundraising campaign for St. Jude's "Love Bass, Cure Cancer" Partner in Hope program. The initial intended was to get all the Classic competitors to contribute $1 and sign it. The initiative took on a different life, and soon fans were contributing and putting their John Hancocks on the windshield.

There were two windshields being signed on the floor of the Classic Expo, and one was given to St. Jude patient Alexander Bolding. Palaniuk asked if he could use the second windshield for the rest of the 2026 Elite season.

By the end of the Expo, $2,000 had been raised for St. Jude.

9:45 a.m. —  After landing in second place yesterday, Randy Howell has switched up strategies and pools. Yesterday’s fish were all bed fish and he felt that he wouldn’t be able to replica that bite. He’s stayed closer to takeoff fishing backwaters primarily with a chartreuse spinner bait around grass and cypress trees. After a slow first couple of hours, Howell has caught four keepers in quick succession.

9:35 a.m. —  Photographer Shane Durrance asked Brandon Palaniuk why he decided to not lock through this morning. Palaniuk replied that he caught just as many fish on the upper pond as he did after he locked through yesterday.  He figured the time saved was going to be well worth it. He also said that his two biggest fish yesterday came from the area he is fishing now.

9:08 a.m. —  With a 3-10, Bill Lowen is clearly inside the cut to tomorrow, and now has plenty of time to cull up and hold the lead. He weighed the fish three times to know exactly what he’s dealing with.

9:03 a.m. —  We've already featured a few of Craig Lamb's drone shots as a teaser this morning, but here's a full gallery he took of the race to and through the Tenn-Tom's locks.

8:53 a.m. —  Photographer Chase Sansom drew the choice assignment of following Mike Iaconelli this morning. He locked through and made a long run but wasn’t completely able to evade the competition. Iaconelli is sharing a section of sea wall with Pat Schlapper and Cory Johnston who are also capitalizing on a shad spawn bite.

8:46 a.m. —  We saw Brandon Palaniuk speculating on Live that the bass have seen too many white swim jigs, so he switched to something more offbeat. Then the coverage switched to Bill Lowen, who was complaining that his area was devoid of fish. He thought maybe he’d caught them all yesterday. But upon switching back to a white swim jig, he immediately got a bite, and landed a solid keeper. “We ain’t gonna zero,” he said. He noted that his Zoom Speed Craw trailer makes a difference. Also, he’s just winding, not shaking. “He hit it like a pissed-off teenager.”

8:22 a.m. —  Craig Lamb got some amazing drone shots of anglers leaving the locks and hightailing it for their preferred fishing areas. The lock schedule is predictable this week, but that doesn’t mean it’s not nerve-wracking to sit and wait while you know that others are cracking on bass closer to home.

8:09 a.m. —  Photographer Seigo Saito reports that Pake South has his backwater all to himself. He has four small fish in the livewell, but with all of that real estate there’s no rush. He has a long day to cull up with his frog.

8:05 a.m. —  Wesley Gore is building a BAG with the Alabama Shake. He only has two fish, but they’re both over 4 pounds. A shot across the bow for the young guns presumed to all be scopers.

7:52 a.m. —  Per BassTrakk, Seth Feider is the first angler to a limit today. They’re not big, but they should get him inside the cut easily and he has a long day to cull and build a big bag – with room to take some chances.

7:42 a.m. —  Wesley Gore had a 4-15 largemouth yesterday and just caught one almost that big. After weighing it, he smiled and said he’d call it a four, but you should it expect it to be heavier on the official scales. In a tournament where the “seniors” hold the top three spots, he’s holding down the fort for the twentysomethings.

7:32 a.m. —  Just because your favorite angler isn’t pinging on BassTrakk yet doesn’t mean he’s struggling. Instead, he still may be on the move. Lots of contenders still locking through.

7:11 a.m. —  Ronnie Moore: “A lot of the local history, it doesn’t pay off yesterday. It pays off today or tomorrow.”

6:47 a.m. —  Big surprises at the bottom of the scorecard: Caleb Sumrall (97^th, 3 bass for 4-11)) and Greg Hackney (98^th, 2 for 4-6). Short of a tournament-best bag, it seems unlikely that either will be progressing to Saturday. Meanwhile, 75^th place is an even 10 pounds, so it’s not unreasonable to expect some anglers currently in the seventies or eighties to compete tomorrow.

6:42 a.m. —  Andy Crawford shot yesterday’s weigh-in gallery which is loaded with healthy looking fish and anglers who know that they have to back it up today to move forward.

6:39 a.m. —  Welcome to Mississippi moving day. Anything’s possible, but with the weights packed so tightly, I’d expect a lot of flip-flopping. We saw nine bags of 15 pounds or more yesterday, but only 14 under 9 pounds. The random or unexpected 3- or 4-pounder makes a huge difference.

Day 1: Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

2:19 p.m. —  Lots of runnin’ and gunnin’ on this expansive waterway. Check out this gallery from Shane Durrance showing our anglers on the move.

1:15 p.m. —  Dalton Tumblin and Steve Bowman have put together a gallery of Steve Kennedy’s successful day – Click here to check it out.

1:12 p.m. —  Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that Justin Atkins is making good use of his experience on this body of water. It’s a timing game and convinced that he has a decent start, he called the lockmaster and is starting to work his way back toward the take off site.

1:07 p.m. —  Some pros without Marshals worth watching: Trey McKinney (2^nd in AOY heading into this event); Cliff Pace (Mississippi resident); Jacob Powroznik (shallow water river expert).

1:02 p.m. —  With less than a full field reporting, our top three – Randy Howell, Bill Lowen and Steve Kennedy – are all over 50 and all original Elites. Howell left on a “field trip” for a few years, but the latter two are true iron men of the tour. Mark Menendezhttps://www.bassmaster.com/angler/mark-menendez/ (7^th) is also an “original” and never left, but has missed some periods of his Elite career to deal with medical hardships.

11:35 a.m. —  Photographer Solomon Glenn reports that Randy Howell has culled up over 12 pounds in a backwater pond and is slowly fishing his way around it with a full arsenal of lures. He continues to get bites, but most are missing the lure, and Howell thinks there are several good ones spawning in this pond. He still has two small ones and has plenty of room to upgrade.

11:24 a.m. —  Mississippi pro Brock Mosley just culled out a bare keeper with a bass that looked to be in the 4-pound range. He’s been annoyed by short strikers this morning and keeps on saying that he prefers pre-spawn and post-spawn fish to those actually in the act of making babies.

10:54 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance reports that rookie Pake South has a limit for about 12 pounds. South wisely shook off a bunch of fish off on a frog in practice and most of those fish were still there this morning. Some of them are now in his live well.

South said the cypress trees are the key to keeper fish. There are some fish in the grass, but they tend to be smaller. Much of this area has such a soft bottom and the cypress stumps give the spawning fish a hard surface upon which to bed.

10:41 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reports that Tucker Smith has a decent limit after he capitalized on an early morning shad spawn bite. He’s working the same area in the gravel pit as much of the field but switching things up with a lure that’s a slightly different color than what the others are using.

“I did most of my damage in the first hour but they have quit biting around 9 am every day,” Smith said. “Going to go get up shallow here in a little bit and throw a frog”

10:17 a.m. — Justin Atkins thought he had a solid 4-plus, but something seemed off so he reweighed it and realized it was actually over 6 pounds. “He’s clearly spent too much time with Patrick Walters,” Dave Mercer said. “It’s starting to rub off on him.” Either way, that’s a difference-maker on a fishery like this, especially when he was already working on a quality bag.

9:59 a.m. — Davy Hite: "I think we're going to see a lot of limits."

9:56 a.m. — Steve Kennedy just landed a 4-4, which allowed for a 3-pound cull. It’s the biggest fish he’s caught here so far in practice or the tournament, and what makes it even more impressive is that he’s fishing in a crowd. He caught this one about 20 yards from Drew Benton who was fishing the same grass mat. They were throwing towards one another and somehow Kennedy’s offering was more enticing.

9:47 a.m. — Photographer Solomon Glenn is focused on new father Dakota Ebare who has “one of the right ones in the box with a 3-9.” He’s targeting visible cover with a variety of moving lures but hasn’t had the success he expected. “I’m suprised I haven’t got more bites,” he said. “The mornings have been good for me. You can still catch them later, I’ll just have to slow down and flip.”

9:19 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom is getting a “stadium view” of the event. “I’m in the gravel pits right outside of takeoff and I would guess that a quarter to a third of the field is in here,” he said. “It’s hard for these guys to move around and hit water that hasn’t been touched.”

9:15 a.m. — Photographer Shane Durrance is following Chris Zaldain, who made a long run, but so far only has only one fish in the boat. Zaldain reported that during practice he blew through here with multiple power techniques and elicited strikes from multiple 3-pounders but he noted that this lake is full of dead water, so when you find a school, you have to slow down and pick it apart. Zaldain used satellite imagery to find what little clear water there is in this system.

9:05 a.m. — Call it the Early Bird Special if you want, but right now the two oldest anglers in the field are one-two on BassTrakk.

8:58 a.m. — Photographer Chase Sansom reports that Lee Livesay has caught a small limit with one quality fish by staying close to the launch site. Livesay believes that 15 pounds a day should be solid but that it’ll take 18+ a day to win.

8:38 a.m. — Columbus native Justin Atkins understandably got a little bit emotional after boat flipping an estimated 4 ½ pound largemouth. He’s out fishing in the current and has three bass for an estimated 7-14.

8:21 a.m. — A few things to think about as you watch BassTrakk today. First, not every angler has a Marshal, so your favorite angler who is not showing up may actually have a big limit. Second, locking time may deprive some competitors of valuable fishing time, so just because they haven’t lit up the scoreboard yet doesn’t mean they won’t do so later. There may also be pockets where there’s limited connectivity, so even if they’re entering fish, they may not show up immediately.

8:17 a.m. — The day is still young, but Steve Kennedy has moved into the lead on BassTrakk with a limit for an estimated 9 pounds 12 ounces, throwing legions of Fantasy Fishing prognosticators into a state of confusion and/or frustration.

8:11 a.m. — John Cox said that this fishery is “probably in the three most treacherous rivers I’ve fished.” He said that even idling was a struggle in many places as he bounced up and over stumps, and he believes that his aluminum boat will give him an advantage when he gets to his areas. He was boat #3 today, and expects other anglers in his starting spot, but if he can get there first he should be able to get on the juice. Tomorrow the order will be reverse and he expects to have to start elsewhere.

8:05 a.m. — Dakota Ebare is hoping that the legendary “baby pattern” comes into play today, as he celebrated the birth of his son between the Classic and the start of practice this week. “The only way I could be better is if I had him here,” he said. “Trees are blooming, turkeys are gobbling, life is good.”

7:45 a.m. — Greg Hackney fished multiple Bassmaster events here in the early 2000s, before some of the current field was born. He finished 6^th in a 2003 Central Open, 21^st in a 2004 Central Open and 39^th in a 2004 E50. Did he lean on any of that past experience in practice? Little, if at all. “I’m headed in the opposite direction,” he said. “Mostly because that’s where they were won.” He started strong in several of those events, but eventually ran out of fish. Even if he had gone back to old haunts, he said the river has changed substantially since then, as most rivers do. Dying vegetation has silted in certain backwaters, making them unfishable or unproductive.

7:35 a.m. — There weren’t many spinning rods on the competitors’ decks this morning as they headed out – that’s a product of forward-facing sonar being prohibited this week, and also that we’re on a shallow, gnarly river system. But one piece of equipment that was in abundance was push poles. They’ll be used to get into shallow backwaters, but also to get out, or off of stumps and other obstacles lying just beneath the surface. This event may turn out to be a navigational challenge as much as a fishing tournament.