Stahl bags 17-13 to punctuate blowout win at Kissimmee Chain Open

Georgia pro claims third career Open victory by a whopping 22-pound margin

January 31, 2026 By Staff Report

Cody Stahl could've done touristy things around the Orlando area Saturday. He could've slept in and worked on tackle for his next tournament. He could've done anything instead of competing on the final day of the Kissimmee Chain Bassmaster Open – and he still would've won the event.

Instead of taking it easy, he capped off a dominant week in central Florida with a modest 17-13 stringer – the heaviest of the 10 finalists – to push his three-day total to 74-06 to capture the year's first Open and the first provisional berth to the 2027 Bassmaster Classic.

“That is one heckuva way to start the season,” Stahl said. “It was just an unbelievable week.”

Stahl carried a cushion of 19-07 into day 3 and won by an eye-popping 22-01 over Stephen Browning, who had 52-05.

“If you would’ve told me I’d be sitting in first place with a 19-pound lead going into the third day, I’d put every single dollar in my bank account on saying that’s not possible,” Stahl said. “Ultimately, things just worked out and God blessed me with an amazing week.”

Clearly, Stahl would’ve lost that bet, but being wrong meant adding $38,731 to his account — and receiving an invitation to fish the 2027 Classic.

All week, Stahl focused on a prespawn staging area at the south end of Lake Toho. A good mix of grass species provided what he believed would offer appealing habitat that would attract the right size fish.

Stahl located this area in practice and, even though he caught only small male bass prior to the event, he believed the week’s weather and the approaching full moon (Feb. 1) would invite the larger prespawn females.

“In practice, I only found the bucks; I caught three in the 1-pound range right there, but I just had a feeling that this is where it’s gonna go down,” Stahl said. “I just made a gut call that this is the stopping point where they’re gonna fatten up before they go lay their eggs.

“On Day 1, I put my trolling motor down right there and made it work for three days.”

Stahl caught the majority of this fish by ripping a 3/4-ounce lipless crankbait through the grass with a 7-5 Fenwick extra-heavy, extra-fast rod and an 8.1:1 Abu Garcia STX reel carrying 20-pound fluorocarbon. That setup, he said, proved critical to his success.

“That setup really keeps your bait clean, especially with that 3/4-ounce bait,” Stahl said. “You have to keep your bait clean in a short amount of distance when you hit those grass clumps. Those bass are on the other side of those clumps and they’re not going to hit a bait when it’s full of grass.”

“It got really windy out there today, so with about 2 hours to go, I decided to leave my main area and head back toward the ramp and fish some community holes,” Thomas said. “I started throwing a jerkbait and I caught a 3-5 and culled out a 1-pounder. It was just making the right decisions and doing the right things.”