B.A.S.S. Nation Preview: La Crosse Peaking at Right Time

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Pat Schlapper isn’t fishing the 2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, but he’s quite likely one of the people most excited to see the prestigious event being held in his home state.

Schlapper, a 42-year-old Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Eleva, Wis., knows the importance of this tournament, having won the 2020 version at Pickwick Lake in Alabama. That victory earned him entry into the Elite Series, helped get him into four of the past five Bassmaster Classics and gave him the chance to notch a pair of Elite Series victories earlier this year — one at the Sabine River and the other at La Crosse in August.

So, Schlapper is thrilled to have the best B.A.S.S. Nation anglers from 48 states and seven other countries headed to his home water Oct. 22-25. Some 250 boaters and another 230 or so non-boaters are due to compete for a total cash purse of $223,000 in addition to paid tournament entry fees for 2026 and more that the top finishers will claim.

The Top 3 anglers in this four-day derby will qualify for the 2026 Bassmaster Classic when it’s held March 13-15 in Knoxville on the Tennessee River. The overall winner will also qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series, which includes use of a “Nation’s Best” boat for the next tournament season and paid entry fees to all Elite events in 2026.

Schlapper said it’s natural that anglers unfamiliar with the Upper Mississippi River will look to his Elite victory in August for insight on how to fish the event. He added, with a chuckle, that anyone doing so will be making a big mistake. That’s because the vast river plain in southwestern Wisconsin is a completely different fishery in August than it is in late October.

“A lot of people, having not fished here before, will be shocked by what they’ll see,” he said. “In most of the country, fall means tough fishing. But when you come up here this time of year, this is when the real hard-core anglers are excited. The weather’s cooler and most people are deer hunting or duck hunting. (At the) same time, the fish are big, fat and hungry. They’re easy to catch when you get around them.”

That’s the trick, though, the Wisconsin pro said — finding the bass on countless nook and crannies of the Mississippi. It’s no easy feat, even with competitors restricted to Pools 7, 8 and 9 and the various creeks, sloughs and such that shoot in all directions.

“The fish are gonna be concentrated in certain areas,” Schlapper predicted. “The guys got three days of practice and it’s a big field. I think there will be a lot of good bags, but a lot of people will struggle, too, if they don’t know about the river and how it changes. When we’re there in summer, the fish are more spread out. They’re not moving to a certain area. They’re out on big flats, mostly.

“In this tournament, I think there will be more dead water … it’s all about the shad bite now, but the biggest thing is knowing where the fish are going. You’ll probably see guys doing their research and winding up in some big community areas, but you might have 100 boats in those spots … I think the winner finds a niche spot. It’s either someone who knows where to look or someone who stumbles across it.”

Schlapper expects smallmouth bass to factor heavily in the tournament. He wouldn’t divulge how he’d fish smallies if he was competing, but he did say a 19-pound average over four days (76 pounds) is practically a must to win the Nation Championship.

“A one-day tournament this time of year, you’re looking at 20 to 23 or 24 pounds to win,” he said. “That’s a pretty high number for fall, but there’s a lot better fishing now than when we were there in the summer.”

For the record, Schlapper totaled 66-5 over four days in his Elite Series win on the Mississippi two months ago.

“It’s gonna be an eye-opener, I think,” he said. “I’m just excited to be around this type of event. Five years ago, I was the guy watching from the outside, dreaming of getting in. Now, I’m fishing the Elite Series and have won a few tournaments. It shows there’s good competition across the board, and it proves there’s a chance for anyone to do some special things.”

The entire field will compete on Oct. 22-23, with the field trimmed to the Top 40 in both boater and non-boater categories on Oct. 24. The non-boater champ will be crowned after Day 3, with the winner claiming $10,000 cash. That angler, and the Top 10 in the boater division after Day 3, will compete on day 4 on Oct. 25. Additional non-boaters whose weight is greater than anyone in the overall Top 10 from the boater division also will compete on the final day.

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