Williams, McKinney lead USA to Pan-Am gold

Tyler Williams and Trey McKinney caught 37.5 pounds over two days to lead the USA Bass Team to its second straight gold medal at the recent Pan-American Bass Fishing Championships, which took place on the Saint John River in Canada.

The event, based out of Fredericton and Nackawic in the province of New Brunswick, featured nine teams. In addition to the Americans and host Canada, there were contingents representing Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, along with two First Nations squads from the host country (Turtle Island and Wabanaki). China participated as a guest entrant, as it's located outside the Americas.

The USA squad, captained by Scott Martin, compiled 134 pounds – almost 12 pounds more than the runner-up Canadians (122.2). First Nations/Turtle Island captured the bronze with 108.9.

Williams and McKinney, both standout rookies on the Bassmaster Elite Series this year, claimed gold in the pairs format, followed by teammates Joey Cifuentes and Joshua Weaver (33.48). The bronze went to Corey Gaffney and A.J. Howell of Canada (32.8).

Three other American duos finished among the Top 10 – Alec Morrison and Nick Hatfield were fourth with 32.49, Martin and Ryan Latinville were sixth with 30.51 and Jacob Wheeler and Brett Carnright placed 8th with 30.30.

The venue, although located in an area better known for Atlantic salmon and striped bass fishing, is teeming with smallmouth. It's also home to a fair number of hefty largemouth, but New Brunswick doesn't recognize the green species as a gamefish and it's believed that this was the first sanctioned tournament in which they ever came to a weigh-stage.

McKinney, the Elite Series Rookie of the Year, said that he and Williams employed jigs and Ned rigs about equally to rack up their weight.

"We mostly fished the edges of grass lines that were next to a rocky drop," he said. "The drops could be anywhere from like 10 to 20 feet. We caught quite a few on (forward-facing) sonar, but also quite a few just throwing to the edge of the grass.

"You don't get too many opportunities like this to go outside (the regular tournament stops), so this was pretty special. It was great to be around guys like (Major League Fishing competitors) Wheeler and Morrison and everybody had a good time. After being trained for so long to keep everything you know a secret, it was a little different coming out and sharing everything with a group and working together."

Cifuentes picked up his second straight Pan-Am medal. In 2023, he teamed with fellow Arkansan and Bass Fishing Hall-of-Famer Larry Nixon to win the gold at Lake Hamilton in Arkansas.

"We caught all smallmouth, although several people weighed in largemouth," he said. "We fished a lot of little individual pieces and wood offshore and a few outside edges of grass in shallow areas – the fish were sitting in the backs of pockets.

"I mostly threw a Slobberknocker (a bladed jig produced by Berkley) and Josh threw a ChatterBait."

Team USA will return to action next week when it competes in the 18th edition of the Black Bass World Championship at Bolsena Lake in Italy. The American lineup for that event will feature Martin fishing with Scott Canterbury, Wheeler teaming with Dustin Connell and Cifuentes paired with Fred Roumbanis.

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