Kyoya Fujita assured himself a Century Belt with his 35-pound bag on Day 3 at Lake Fork.
May 10, 2025
By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff YANTIS, Texas — Kyoya Fujita is a man on a mission and he made a clear statement to that effect by catching a Day-3 limit of 35 pounds, 10 ounces to maintain his lead in the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Lake Fork.
Placing fourth on Day 1 with 31-00, Fujita added a second-round limit of 34-0 and took over the lead by a 2 1/4-pound margin. Saturday saw him catch the event’s largest bag and boost his cumulative total to 100-10.
“I am very happy,” Fujita said. “I’m having a good week.”
The Bassmaster Century Club recognizes anglers who reach the 100-pound mark in a four-day Elite event. Those who achieve that feat receive the coveted Century Club belt.
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Fujita’s amazing accomplishment is only the fourth time an Elite angler has reached 100 pounds in three days of competition. The 2008 Elite tournament at Falcon Lake saw three competitors, the late Aaron Martens (109-08), Mark Davis (102-01) and Byron Velvick (101-12) reach that mark.
“One hundred in three days — very good,” Fujita said.
Since Day 1, Fujita has committed to a section of Caney Creek not far from takeoff. He’s using forward facing sonar to aggressively hunt down large bass amid submerged timber. Selectively casting to quality fish, Fujita’s not catching a lot, but he’s more concerned with quality than quantity.
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Consistent with his week’s pattern, Fujita started off catching 3-pound class fish, with his better weights coming mid-morning through early afternoon.
After a late-morning round of trading the (unofficial) lead with Paul Marks, Fujita took over the top spot with a 6-pounder around noon. An hour and a half later, he set the hook on a 9-pound Lake Fork giant that had him noticeably animated.
That big fish — the day’s largest — did not make life easy on Fujita, who was fishing a finesse bait on a spinning rod.
“That fish got stuck on a tree twice,” Fujita said. “I was nervous. I thought the fish came off, or the line broke. My heart was racing but I caught the fish.”
Fujita credits his tackle set up for his day-topping catch. He used a 6-foot-8 Daiwa Steez spinning rod and a Daiwa Exist reel loaded with 50-pound braid and a 28-pound fluorocarbon leader.
“I used very strong tackle, so I could get those big fish out of (the timber),” Fujita said. “That was the fish I needed.”
Notably, Fujita’s late-day kicker was a short, stumpy fish that did not reach the 24-inch minimum for possession. This tournament format comprises a catch, weigh and release rule, with anglers allowed to bring one fish over 24 inches to the weigh-ins.
Fujita’s biggest fish flirted with the 24-inch mark, but he correctly released it after logging the official weight.
Heading into Sunday with a lead of 4-15 over Marks, Fujita is 31-14 away from breaking the all-time winning record for a 4-day, 5-bass limit tournament. Paul Elias won the 2008 event at Falcon Lake with 132-08.
When Bassmaster Emcee Dave Mercer stated the pending high mark, Fujita boldly replied: “I need 31-14 to break the record? I will try to break the record!”
Hailing from Cumming, Ga., Marks is in second place with 95-11. Marks placed fifth on Day 1 with 30-13 and rose to third with a second-round limit of 31-10. Day 3 yielded 33-04.
“This was my best day ever in a tournament, so I said, ‘I gotta order a pizza (for dockside deliver, without leaving his boat),’” Marks said. “I ordered one and it was very good.
“No pizzas for me tomorrow. I’ll have to catch close to 40 to win, so I’m going to go catch 5 (over 24 inches). That’s the plan. It’s doable out there.”
Marks, who claimed a blue trophy two weeks ago at Lake Hartwell, has enjoyed three days of morning action that delivered the majority of his weight before noon.
Day 3 saw Marks tally 32-08 by 9:30 a.m. After spending several hours scouting for Sunday, he culled up with a 6-10 just before 2 p.m.
Spending his time offshore, Marks had been catching his fish on a jighead minnow rig with a 5-inch Zoom Winged Fluke. On Day 3, he upsized to the 7 1/2-inch Winged Fluke.
Tucker Smith of Birmingham, Ala. is in third place with 92-10. His daily weights were 25-04, 34-05 and 33-01.
“What an awesome day,” Smith said. “I really didn’t have anything for the first two hours this morning. I ran to a place and couldn’t catch 'em. I came back about an hour later and caught 31 pounds.
“I caught one that was 8-12. It was an unbelievable day.”
Sunday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. CT at Caney Point Recreation Area. The weigh-in will be held at the same area at 2:30 p.m.
Day 3 Standings
1. Kyoya Fujita -- Yamanashi, JAPAN -- 15 100-10 -- 104
2. Paul Marks -- Cumming, GA -- 15, 95-11 -- 103
3. Tucker Smith -- Birmingham, AL -- 15, 92-10 -- 102
4. JT Thompkins -- Myrtle Beach, SC -- 15, 87-08 -- 101
5. Trey McKinney -- Carbondale, IL -- 15, 84-01 -- 100
6. Tyler Williams -- Belgrade, ME -- 15, 82-09 -- 99
7. Jay Przekurat -- Plover, WI -- 15, 81-11 -- 98
8. Easton Fothergill -- Grand Rapids , MN -- 15, 81-09 -- 97
9. Seth Feider -- Elko New Market, MN -- 15, 79-11 -- 96
10. Wesley Gore -- Clanton, AL -- 15, 77-09 -- 95
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on Day 4
11. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 15, 77-05 -- 94 -- $7,000
12. Patrick Walters -- Eutawville, SC -- 15, 75-07 -- 93 -- $7,000
13. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 15, 74-14 -- 92 -- $7,000
14. Bryan New -- Leesville, SC -- 15, 73-14 -- 91 -- $7,000
15. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 15, 69-14 -- 90 -- $7,000
16. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 15, 69-08 -- 89 -- $6,500
17. Cory Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 15, 69-03 -- 88 -- $6,500
18. Andrew Loberg -- Guntersville, AL -- 15, 69-00 -- 87 -- $6,500
19. Brad Whatley -- Bivins, TX -- 15, 67-12 -- 86 -- $6,500
20. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 15, 67-11 -- 85 -- $6,500
21. Jason Christie -- Dry Creek, OK -- 15, 67-09 -- 84 -- $6,000
22. Caleb Kuphall -- Mukwonago, WI -- 15, 67-04 -- 83 -- $6,000
23. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 12, 66-12 -- 82 -- $6,000
24. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 15, 66-05 -- 81 -- $6,000
25. Jake Whitaker -- Hendersonville, NC -- 15, 65-15 -- 80 -- $6,000
26. Will Davis Jr -- Sylacauga, AL -- 15, 65-12 -- 79 -- $6,000
27. Drew Benton -- Panama City, FL -- 15, 65-08 -- 78 -- $5,500
28. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 15, 65-05 -- 77 -- $5,500
29. Jordan Lee -- Cullman, AL -- 15, 64-07 -- 76 -- $5,500
30. Cooper Gallant -- Bowmanville, ON -- 15, 64-02 -- 75 -- $5,500
31. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 15, 63-00 -- 74 -- $5,500
32. Pat Schlapper -- Eleva, WI -- 15, 62-11 -- 73 -- $5,500
33. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 15, 62-05 -- 72 -- $5,500
34. Taku Ito -- Dalton, GA -- 15, 61-13 -- 71 -- $5,500
35. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 15, 60-15 -- 70 -- $5,500
36. Kyle Patrick -- Cooperstown, NY -- 15, 60-06 -- 69 -- $5,500
37. Kyle Norsetter -- Cottage Grove, WI -- 15, 59-12 -- 68 -- $6,500
38. Ed Loughran III -- Richmond, VA -- 15, 59-08 -- 67 -- $5,500
39. Robert Gee -- Knoxville, TN -- 15, 59-01 -- 66 -- $5,500
40. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 15, 58-14 -- 65 -- $5,500
41. Buddy Gross -- Chattanooga, TN -- 11, 58-10 -- 64 -- $5,500
42. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 13, 57-10 -- 63 -- $5,500
43. Randy Howell -- Guntersville, AL -- 15, 56-14 -- 62 -- $5,500
44. Marc Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 15, 56-05 -- 61 -- $5,500
45. Cole Sands -- Johnson City, TN -- 15, 55-06 -- 60 -- $5,500
46. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 13, 54-05 -- 59 -- $5,500
47. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 15, 53-06 -- 58 -- $5,500
48. John Garrett -- Union City, TN -- 13, 52-09 -- 57 -- $5,500
49. Chris Zaldain -- Boyd, TX -- 15, 50-15 -- 56 -- $5,500
50. Bryant Smith -- Roseville, CA -- 14, 49-15 -- 55 -- $5,500
