Golden Blend

With the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series in the books, it’s time to dive into the winning tactics. Just what does it take to compete - and win - at Bassmaster’s highest level? Is there still room for a traditional power fisherman, or does success lie solely in mastery of the latest electronics? I took a detailed look at the winning patterns so we all could learn more.

Most notable was the number of champions who went old-school, fishing traditional methods while challenged by a field of techno-wizards. For the record, five of the nine events were won fishing with cast-and-retrieve tactics on or around the shoreline. Good news for the old-guard, right?

Perhaps. While it’s nice to know that an angler can compete without staring at the screen, a bulk of the credit goes to venue. I’m certain this was a calculated move by B.A.S.S. – to include on the schedule fisheries featuring shallow populations of bass that allow for multiple approaches. While the answer to live sonar has been different among the two major leagues, from restricted use to essentially none at all, it appears each has considerations for the impact of live sonar.

Whether or not such planning was responsible for the results, it sure worked out well. Consider these events:

> St. Johns River: Bill Lowen proved that a bass is a bass and flipping a jig works everywhere. While he later adapted his game-plan to include Florida-friendly swim jigging, Lowen stayed the course with a heavy baitcast outfit and a selection of his pet lures. Lowen is one of the best in the biz around shallow wood, and he stuck to his guns to take home the victory.

> Pasquotank River/Albermarle Sound: Kyle Welcher set a record for largest margin of victory by flipping shallow. He employed live sonar in his approach, creating the ultimate blend (and one that we will see more of each year), but his record catches were hand-to-hand battles nonetheless. A very impressive win on an unknown venue.

> Sabine River: Pat Schlapper gave us yet another example of something only possible on the Sabine, finding a school of bass around a massive set of steel irrigation pipes and milking them during the initial days. Schlapper later got even more old-school by picking up a buzzbait and running away with the victory. A nerve-wracking win on a unique fishery that always presents the unknown.

> Lake Tenkiller: Wes Logan scratched out the best win of the year by a single ounce. A master-class on dock skipping turned a 180 after big rains induced a trash-mat bite. Logan dug out his heaviest sticks, went to the bank and things instantly flashed back to the Basil Bacon days. The guy even caught a smallmouth. Wes Logan won this tournament and wasn’t going to settle for less.

> Upper Mississippi River: Schlapper scored again with a hometown win, one he was somewhat expecting. This guy is a river ace, especially at home, where he combined the best bites on multiple pools to seal the deal. It was vintage Mississippi River: frogging, flippin’, swim jigs and a fluke. Makes me want to move there.

Not to be outdone, electronics played a key role in other wins:

> Lake Okeechobee: Brandon Palaniuk milked a unique offshore honey hole for the win, rotating between a handful of lures to tempt some real bruisers with the aid of live sonar. Palaniuk is adept at catching bass anywhere, but really seems to excel when he locks down on a single spot. Cranking produced, as did a jerkbait. This event was anything but a usual Florida flipping show.

> Hartwell: Paul Marks culled through loads of two-pounders to win a crazy-close tournament. Everyone in the top 10 was in this thing until the end. This was a true live sonar showdown, with the majority of bass caught on screen. Marks presented a few unique captures high in the water column, truly fishing roamers that we once never knew existed. Interesting stuff, for sure.

> Lake St. Clair: Phenom Trey McKinney gets his win through a program mastered by his generation. “Stay on 100 on the trolling motor” was McKinney’s advice for finding and catching bass on St. Clair. Here, of course, he’s not describing power-winding a Rat-L-Trap but instead scoping more water than anybody else in order to find the biggest bass on the lake. His stringers were impressive and capped by an effort that produced few, but giant specimens.

I’m partial, of course, to our initial list. I don’t go bass fishing to “stay on 100” on my trolling motor while scanning the water column. But I understand how that approach appeals to others, especially if it’s what’s necessary to secure a big catch and paycheck.

By blending both, B.A.S.S. created a thrilling Elite Series that gave everybody a fair shot. Next year looks much the same, with historic heavy haul fisheries blending with smallmouth Meccas. It can’t come soon enough.

Joe Balog is the Executive Director of Mighty River Recovery, a nonprofit organization working to restore Florida’s St. Johns River. A former national tournament angler, product designer, seminar speaker and guide, Balog has worn just about every hat available to a professional angler. Today, he enjoys rehashing his experiences and adding veteran insight through his weekly Bass Wars column.

---