2026 Bass Pro Tour roster announced

Reigning AOY and 10-time BPT winner Jacob Wheeler, three-time REDCREST Champion Dustin Connell and standout Jake Lawrence highlight 51-angler field competing for total season purse of more than $6 million

MLF Press Release

BENTON, Ky. – Major League Fishing announced today the roster of 51 pros who will compete on the 2026 Bass Pro Tour, the eighth season of professional bass fishing’s premier tournament circuit. Featuring the most exclusive and talented field of anglers in the world – from the veterans who built the Tour’s legacy to the rookies reshaping its future – the 2026 Bass Pro Tour is set to deliver the toughest competition and most rewarding payouts in professional bass fishing history.

Featuring a stacked lineup of champions, innovators and fan favorites – including Dustin Connell, Ott DeFoe, Alton Jones Jr., Wesley Strader and Jacob Wheeler – the 2026 Bass Pro Tour roster highlights anglers who have consistently raised the bar for performance and professionalism on the water. Wheeler, a four-time Angler of the Year, 10-time BPT winner and one of the most dominant competitors in modern bass fishing, returns to defend his legacy against the sport’s deepest talent pool to date.

A remarkable collection of REDCREST champions highlight the 2026 field, led by three-time winner Connell (2021, 2024, 2025), Edwin Evers (2019), Bobby Lane (2022) and Bryan Thrift (2023). Each has proven capable of thriving under pressure and performing when it matters most, adding another layer of excitement to the Tour’s eighth season.

The 2026 roster also underscores MLF’s unmatched pathway for discovering and developing new talent. Returning after a breakout rookie season that saw five Top-10 finishes in his first eight events and a buzzer-beater win that narrowly edged out Wheeler, Jake Lawrence – the 2025 AOY runner-up to Wheeler – looks to build on an incredible debut that solidified him as one of the sport’s fastest-rising stars.

ANGLER LIST BELOW

Evan Kung and Evan Poroznik Win 2025 Simcoe Open Tournament presented by Bass Pro Shops and the Barrie Bassmasters!

Evan Kung and Evan Poroznik are all smiles! ( Photo: Barrie Bassmasters) 

Originally posted by Barrie Bassmasters (Facebook)

Congratulations to the 2025 Simcoe Open Tournament winners, Evan Kung & Evan Poroznik bringing in a 26.64 lbs. bag, earning them the $10,000! Evan Kung also won $1,000 for Big Fish, 6.91 lbs.

courtesy of G-Bay Fishing Co.

A HUGE thank you to our Title Sponsor, Bass Pro Shops for their continuous support and contribution to making tournaments like this a big success.

Here are the rest of the prize winners from today;

2nd Place: Joey Teofilo & Joey Di Cienzo 26.58 lbs.

3rd Place: Mat Holland & Patrick Campbell 26.35 lbs.

4th Place: Dallas Charters & Mike Correa 26.11 lbs.

5th Place: Oleg Lapidus & Steve Chiasson 24.88 lbs.

6th Place: Cal Climpson & Eric Santoro 24.03 lbs.

7th Place: Peter Botting & Alex Grimbos 23.98 lbs.

8th Place: Chris Vandermeer & Jeff Slute 23.88 lbs.

Small Bag: Matthew Randall & Carroll Randall 16.21 lbs.

Mystery Weight: Adam Ray & Frank Adamo 11.68 lbs.

DAIWA introduces the PROREX MQ LT

 DAIWA introduces premium spinning reel developed for cold water conditions: PROREX MQ LT

NEW FOR 2025 Go Google North America. Click images. Select a basic map and print it out. Grab a Sharpie and draw a lateral line across the center of the United States. DAIWA’s newest addition to the PROREX family, the 2025 PROREX MQ LT spinning reel, was created for anglers north of that line... Why? Because the Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest and mountain states, as well as the whole of Canada, have genuine cold water periods, but never had a series of spinning reels catering specifically to frigid conditions.  “There are design elements you can implement to make a reel perform better in temperatures below the 50-degree mark,” said DAIWA Field Marketing Manager, Chris Martin. “We went with lower gear ratios, to ease that resistance,” said Martin. “When it’s cold, that grease thickens, with lower gear ratios, it takes less effort to rotate the handle. Plus, the lower gear ratio better accommodates cold weather fishing techniques.” (The 2000 size has a 5.1:1 gear ratio; 2500 size 6.2:1; and 3000 and 4000 size 5.2:1.)

Berkley Introduces Riveter Skirted and Toad Buzzbaits

 Here comes the buzz—two purpose-built topwater options engineered to deliver the perfect sound profile for explosive strikes.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Oct. 9, 2025) – Berkley is expanding its core skirted bass bait lineup with the launch of the Berkley Riveter Buzzbait Series. Buzzbaits remain a go-to for covering water quickly and triggering reaction bites in shallow water, and Berkley’s new design combines a custom rivet and anodized blade with a proven wire form and upgraded componentry. The result: two versatile options—the Riveter Skirted and Riveter Toad—built from years of angler feedback and crafted with a premium, custom rivet that delivers the perfect squeak right out of the package. The Riveter Skirted model features a removable PowerBait skirt and an adjustable wire frame that allows anglers to customize the sound profile by bending the frame in for a more aggressive blade-to-head contact, or out for a squeak-only action. The Riveter Toad features a reinforced welded cross-wire frame, designed to eliminate flex and provide stability when skipping across the water, making it easier to achieve smooth, consistent skips. The design pairs perfectly with a soft plastic toad for optimal action. Key Features: • No break-in period needed: Custom serrated rivet and anodized blade that produces a loud, consistent squeak right out of the package. (Toad & Skirted) • Secured trailers: Flattened conical bait keepers lock trailers in place and resist roll-down, especially when skipping. (Toad & Skirted)

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Wishing all our valued Canadian viewers a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Billy Gilbert and Brad Brodnicki Win 2025 Canadian Tire Lake Erie Open!

Canadian Tire Lake Erie Open, Press Release

On Saturday October 11th 100 Teams comprised of 200 anglers blasted off from Chippawa, ON in search of the biggest 5 fish limit of bass they could find. Yet another day where forecasts were all over and conditions were very tough to predict. Lake Erie was left Open and anglers that went for it were met with waves that Lake Erie is known for and some rain mixed in. However, the rain forecasted seemed to just miss the area giving some reprieve from the waves.

Even though the lake was a bit “nasty” there are always teams that can locate and catch a big bag of bass, and this year was once again exceptional setting new records across the board!! A total of 305 were fish brough to the scales and the average bass weighed in was 3.89lbs. As the weigh in started it seemed that the weights would be down, with a number of teams pulling out early and not weighing in. However, this would not hold up long as at total of 31 bags over 20 lbs were brought in, and an incredible 11 bags over 23 lbs! Again, the anglers took good care of their fish, and we had only 3 dead fish (98.4% live release) and all others went back into the river healthy and ready to be caught again.

When the dust settled – The now TWO TIME CHAMPIONS Billy Gilbert and Brad Brodnicki topped the scales with a new tournament record bag of 28.96lbs! This mega bag, came with a total of $18,750 in cash and prizes – which consisted of $10,000 cash for first, $7100 cash for pay to play (side pot), $1000 Canadian Tire Gift Card, and the Tactical Fishing Big Bag award (2 Rods/Reels of 650 Value)!! Congratulations for HUGE win in a talented field of anglers setting the new weight and Money RECORDS! In second place (with a weight that would have won any other of the previous 11 tournaments) the team of Larry Mazur and Joe Fonzi had 27.63lbs and The Abu Garcia Big Bass #2 at 6.55lbs. They were rewarded with a total of $7050 in cash & prizes! Rounding out the top 3 – Tyler Manthey / Andrew Wengender had 25.69lbs for a total of $4150 in cash & prizes.

Top 20 Below

Best Freshwater Soft Lure award at ICAST 2025, the Z-Man® SWAG™ LT

 

Ladson, SC – The wait is over, folks – exhale, unclench your fists, and grab your favorite swimbait rod. After taking home the Best Freshwater Soft Lure award at ICAST 2025, the Z-Man® SWAG™ LT has swaggered its way in stock, ready to change the way anglers fish harnessed swimbaits. Z-Man's product development team and pro staff had a laundry list of lofty goals when setting out to design the SWAG LT: expand the retrieve speed window, maximize hookup and landing ratios, and boost overall durability and lifelike realism. “What we ended up with didn’t just meet those goals,” remarks Z-Man Product Manager Richard Dunham. “It exceeded them across the board.”

The motor driving the SWAG LT and enabling its remarkably consistent performance is its proprietary tail design. A hybrid of wedge tail and T-tail designs, the industry-first SWAG tail delivers consistent, wide-swinging swimming action whether burned or slow-rolled, and even on the fall.  “The first time we saw it in the water, we were blown away and knew we were onto something special,” says Dunham. “This tail design provides unmatched stability across a wide range of speeds, and the wide, natural swimming action is incredible.”

Rig It Your Way

At the core of the SWAG LT is Z-Man’s optimized Over/Under Line-Through Harness, which lets anglers choose between a dorsal-mounted sickle style single hook or a custom belly-mounted double hook, both designed for maximum hookset efficiency.  Rigged either way, when a fish strikes, the lure slides up the line, preventing it from being used as leverage to throw the hook.

Jacob Wheeler Joins Suzuki Marine USA Team

 

It's official, Jacob Wheeler and Suzuki Marine USA have joined forces. 

Laker Howell Wins 2025 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Wheeler Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops.

Howell's double Classic qualification secures Classic spot for  Kyle Norsetter

David A. Brown, BASS PRESS Release

DECATUR, Ala. — For a guy who finished first, the number two came up a lot in Laker Howell’s victory story.

After three days of competition, the pro from Guntersville, Ala., tallied 65 pounds, 11 ounces and won the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Wheeler Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my back, because this morning when I got up, I was so nervous, I literally woke up (nauseous),” Howell said. “The whole day, I was just a cat trying to catch a bass. But right now, I can’t even describe how incredible this is.”

By the numbers, Howell caught 21-6 on Day 1 and placed second to Matt Adams. In the second round, Howell caught 25-4 — the event’s heaviest bag — and moved ahead of Adams by 4 ounces. Championship Saturday saw the 6-foot-5 pro stood tall with a final limit of 19-1.

His winning margin — 2 ounces.

Continuing the numerical theme, Howell has won two of the last three tournaments he’s fished. In mid-August, he won the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN.

Finally, Howell’s family has claimed two wins at this Tennessee River impoundment. In 1998, Laker Howell’s father, Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series angler Randy Howell won his first major event at Wheeler Lake.

And if the story wasn’t already good enough, Randy Howell was 24 when he won his Wheeler Lake trophy. His son’s age — 24.

“That’s why this tournament is so special to me,” the younger Howell said. “I literally watched that video during practice with my roommate. I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if I won this tournament.’”

All week, Howell committed to a section of the Decatur Flats about 2 miles from takeoff. He focused on a saddle with shell bottom between two bars near the river channel.