Our presumed two-man horse race for the 2025 Elite Series Angler of the Year title hit a stumbling block today when pre-tournament leaders Chris Johnston and Trey McKinney both failed to seal the deal. They’re 2 ounces apart, with Johnston in 55th and McKinney in 58th after Day 1 at the 2025 Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River.
While they remain only three points apart, their stumbles allowed Jay Przekurat, who led the race for much of the year, to at least temporarily reclaim the lead. He’s three points ahead of Johnston and six ahead of McKinney. Meanwhile, Kyoya Fujita is also in the hunt.
No one is getting sent to the glue factory quite yet, but it’s time to find another gear.
The worst thing that could happen to Johnston and McKinney would be to miss the cut to Saturday and be forced to sit on the sidelines and let their fates be determined by others. In some respects, their exemplary seasons will boil down to what they can do tomorrow. Fortunately for them, it won’t take a herculean effort to stay alive. Johnston is only 6 ounces out of the cut, and McKinney is a mere 8. Still, with weights tightly packed, none of them should rest easy.
As we saw this super-close AOY race continue to take unexpected twists and turns, here are my observations from an incredibly close Day 1:
When Will the South Rise Again? – All four of our AOY contenders are from outside the traditional “bass belt,” hailing from Wisconsin, Canada, Illinois and Japan. Three of the last four AOYs fit that description: Johnston won last year; Brandon Palaniuk of Idaho won in 2022, and Seth Feider of Minnesota won in 2021. The only interloper was Alabamian Kyle Welcher, who won in 2023.
Home Cooking – The days of a pronounced and consistent local advantage are largely over at the Elite level. While home state anglers occasionally shine, it’s at least as common for someone from outside the region to win – as Wisconsinite Pat Schlapper did on the Sabine River in Texas this year. This week may be an exception, as three of the top ten – Caleb Kuphall (1st, 18-15), Pat Schlapper (4th, 18-8) and Jay Przekurat (10th, 17-1) are in the top ten. Kyle Norsetter (88th, 10-7) is the only Cheesehead not in the cut.
Northern Lights – While the Badger faithful are likely happy with today’s standings, the rest of the AFC North did not fare as well. Austin Felix is in 16th, but his fellow Minnesotans Seth Feider, Bob Downey and Easton Fothergill are in 60th, 65th and 67th, respectively. Michigan’s Chad Pipkens is in 75th.
Cut Weight Math – Right now, there’s a four-way tie for the last spot inside the cut, with Brandon Cobb, Drew Cook, Will Davis Jr. and Wes Logan all weighing in 13-7 today. A mere 2 pounds separates 31st place from 64th. That makes it hard to tell exactly what the cut will be. Based on recent past tournaments in La Crosse, I’d expect it to be right at double today’s cut, which would be 26-14. In 2022, the Day 1 cut was 11-08, and on Day Two 50th was 23-06 (twice the Day 1 weight plus 4 ounces). In 2018, 50th place on Day 1 was 13-14. On Day Two, the cut line was 27-07, which translates to twice the Day 1 weight minus 5 ounces.
Kyle Welcher (95th, 9-7) – “There’s nowhere I’d rather make a comeback than fishing here and fishing this style.”
Past La Crosse Champ Bryan Schmitt (9th, 17-3) – “I didn’t want to fish safe.”
Day 1 Big Bags – When Bryan Schmitt won in 2022, his biggest bag came on Day 1, when he weighed in 17-10. Today we had five anglers top that mark. Schmitt totaled 63-04 over four days, a daily average of 15-13. Today 15-14 was good enough for 13th place. When Ish Monroe won here in 2018, his biggest bag was 17-04 and he totaled 65-07. That’s an average of almost 16-6. Today all of the top ten had at least 17-1.
First Year Wrap-Up – While the AOY race is definitely not settled, the rookie race seems to be at its conclusion. Tucker Smith (T36th, 14-1) is now 53 points ahead of Easton Fothergill (T67th, 11-15) and 55 points ahead of Paul Marks, who struggled today and is in 100th with three bass for 6-8.
Today’s Cliché – I’m not sure I heard “grind,” but there was a lot of “looks good on paper.”
Movers on the Bubble – Of the anglers who entered the tournament between 41st and 55th, within range to make the Classic, Pat Schlapper and Andrew Loberg helped themselves the most. Schlapper moved from 41stto 30th, and Loberg went from 50th to 38th. Robert Gee (T13th, 15-14) also made a big push to the right side of the line. John Crews (18th, 15-5) is now in 44th, which may be about where the line ends up. On the flip side of that equation, several substantially hurt their changes, including: Luke Palmer (93rd, 9-14), who fell to 59th; Cole Sands (T79th, 11-4), who fell to 56th; Hunter Shryock (81st, 11-2), who fell to 57th; and Joey Cifuentes (T90th, 10-3) who fell to 72nd.
Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Success — Of the eight past Bassmaster AOYs in the field, Greg Hackney (8th, 17-4) is the only one in the top 50.
Brandon Card (3rd, 18-10) – “I think I finally tapped into that baby pattern.” His wife is due with their second, a girl, in October. He’ll need to win this tournament to make his sixth consecutive Bassmaster Classic.
Doubling Up – Easton Fothergill and Cory Johnston are already double-qualified for next year’s Classic, giving other Elites a shot to fish the big dance even if they don’t end up in the top forty. Whoever ends up on the wrong side of that line hopes that the winner of this week’s “win and you’re in” event is already inside the top 40. It appears that seven of them are in that position.
Pat Schlapper on How Putting La Crosse on the Schedule Affected Him – “I’ve woken up in the middle of the night setting the hook on a frog fish.”
The Palaniuk Watch – Brandon Palaniuk weighed in 14-3 today and is tied with fellow past AOY Scott Canterbury in 53rd. He’s currently uncomfortably inside the AOY cut in 42nd. “It all comes down to the five bass I weigh in tomorrow, to see if I make it,” he said.
Smells Like Teen Spirit – It took until the 9th angler to weigh in today before we found someone who didn’t produce at least 13 pounds. Indeed, for all of the badmouthing the crew did before the event, we ended up with four bags over 18 pounds, another six over 17, and a total of 57 of 13 or more.
Teenage Wasteland – Seven anglers weighed in 13 pounds or more and are outside of the cut.
The Other Brother – While Chris Johnston sits in 55th with 13-1, just 6 ounces out of the cut, his brother Cory is in 6th with 17-7. They work together, and split winnings, but of course they cannot trade positions – but if their positions hold this week and they could switch, it could mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars versus Chris in 6th and Cory in 55th.
Justin Hamner (31st, 14-7) – “My gosh these guys catch ‘em.”
Telling the Truth for Once? – Maybe they weren’t sandbagging. Maybe their statements indicate that they really thought 13 pounds a day would be solid. As Tyler Williams (T13th, 15-14) said onstage, “I felt a lot better until they started weighing ‘em.” Drew Cook (T47th, 13-7) echoed those thoughts: “An hour ago I felt pretty good.”
Trey McKinney – “I wish it wasn’t so close.”
Chris Johnston — “I’m not making it easy on myself, that’s for sure.”
The bottom line is that we can expect to see a lot of movement tomorrow. As Seth Feider said, “It doesn’t take long to get right on this place.” There will certainly be some shakeups, a few tears and a handful of sighs of relief. It ain’t over until it’s over.
