It is a tale as old as time: the Progressive Elite Series pros out-fished their practice expectations. No surprises there. It is also not surprising that the weights are incredibly close at the Pro-Guide Batteries Elite at Upper Mississippi River, with just under 2 pounds separating 20th-place David Gaston from 55th place, a tie between Beau Browning, Chris Johnston and Emil Wagner.
Despite the way the standings look, everything is changing on the Upper Mississippi River. The water has risen since the first day of practice and the levels are predicted to swing again during the week, making for a compelling finish to the season. All points earned or lost will matter.
Here’s a recap of all the important points race storylines.
Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year
In the middle of the scrum, you can find the battle for Angler of the Year. Two ounces separate Johnston (13-1) and Trey McKinney (12-15), who entered the day in a tie for the points race lead. They are now second (740 points) and third (737 points) respectively. Most assumed these two anglers would be battling it out until Championship Sunday, but in a strange twist, both anglers need to make sure they just make the Day 3 cut so another angler doesn’t spoil their party.
Johnston is 55th, 6 ounces outside the cut. McKinney is 58th, 8 ounces behind the cut weight. For entertainment purposes, it sure would be great if both anglers rebound on Day 2 and carry this battle into Semifinal Saturday. The one person who doesn’t want to see that happen is Jay Przekurat, who has retaken the Angler of the Year lead with 743 points.
The Wisconsin native finds himself inside the Top 10 after Day 1 at the Upper Mississippi after missing two-straight Day 3 cuts at Lake Tenkiller and Lake St. Clair to surrender the AOY lead. He has got to be wondering, “What could have been?” had he made both of those cuts, or even one of those two cuts, there wouldn’t have been much of a question about who would be hoisting the AOY trophy.
Johnston and McKinney have lots of room to improve their tournament standing. Przekurat doesn’t, and at this point, he can’t afford to finish worse than where he currently sits in the standings.
And don’t forget about the “Prince of Japanese Angling”. Fujita finished Day 1 in 23rd with almost 15 pounds. He is only 11 points out of the lead as it stands right now with room to improve.
Hold onto your horses and keep your calculator close by these next three days.
Rookie of the Year
Tucker Smith may have secured Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year honors today. The Alabama pro caught 14-1 to land in 36th, overtaking Paul Marks in the ROY standings. Smith has been slowly cutting into the lead all year long, and now the three-time High School National Champion, College Series champion and Elite Series champion has a chance to claim yet another trophy.
Marks suffered the worst of gut punches on Day 1 at the Upper Mississippi. He caught just three bass and wasn’t able to fish most of the day after his outboard gave out around mid-morning. The Georgia rookie will need to make a monumental comeback on Day 2 to reclaim the ROY lead.
Minnesota’s Easton Fothergill overtook second-place, but with 11-15 on Day 1, will need to make up a lot of ground on Day 2 to have a shot at the trophy.
Classic Cut
With how tough it was to get a quality bite, Brandon Palaniuk assumed when he reached the 13-pound mark on Day 1 that he would be sitting in a decent position for Day 2. He wasn’t the only one either. Alex Redwine weighed 12-9 immediately after Palaniuk, and both left the stage stunned as their Day 1 weights left them farther down the leaderboard than they could have imagined.
As it turns out, Palaniuk and Redwine are currently tied for 42nd in the points race, the final spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour as it stands currently.
With excellent days in La Crosse, Andrew Loberg, Robert Gee, Dakota Ebare and Brandon Lester moved above the Classic cutline while Kyle Norsetter, Evan Kung and Lee Livesay fell below 42nd with not so stellar days, with Livesay taking the biggest hit as he moved from 38th in points to 48th. John Crews, meanwhile, jumped from 54th to 44th on Day 1 by catching 15-5 and finishing the day in 18th.
All of this can flip tomorrow, and the cutline could move from 42nd to 43rd if someone double qualifies for the Classic by winning this tournament and finishing above 42nd in points. Then again, someone like Brandon Card, Jason Christie or Greg Hackney – who are outside of the Classic cut by a sizable margin– could claim their spot in the March championship without moving the cutline.
Elite Requalification
Anglers need to be above 71st in AOY points to avoid Elite Series judgement.
Here are the anglers who helped their cause on Day 1: Paul Mueller (20th in the tournament, 15-0), Ben Milliken (24th, 14-13), Ray Hanselman Jr. (45th, 13-9).
Here are the anglers who didn’t help their cause: Tim Dube (51st in the tournament, 13-6), Chad Pipkens (75th, 11-9), Marc Frazier (89th, 10-4), Joey Cifuentes (90th, 10-3), Carl Jocumsen (99th, 7-12).
