Elite

Big bass of Lake Tenkiller

Consistency through varying conditions set up Wes Logan's final-day rally for his second Elite title.

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Mike Suchan
Rounds of storms, including “monsoon” conditions, created plenty of ups and downs in the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller, where Wes Logan’s consistency helped him stay in the game and win by the smallest of margins. Look at the big Oklahoma bass that made a difference.
From nearby Muskogee, Blake Capps started off well behind a 3-pound, 13-ounce kicker that helped him weigh 14-10 to tie for 13th – one of 26 ties on a tight leaderboard. All 101 anglers caught limits the first two rounds, when the average bass weighed just under 2-8. On Day 2, Capps, the B.A.S.S. Nation representative on the Elites, had just 9-12 to finish a disappointing 58th.
Australian Carl Jocumsen, who won the Elites’ only other visit to Tenkiller in 2019, again found success with 14-11 then 13-3. Catching 11-12 on Day 3 left him 2-8 short of making Championship Sunday. Finishing 23rd, moved Jocumsen up 12 spots to 45th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, where he has a good shot at qualifying for his fourth Bassmaster Classic.
Pat Schlapper, coming off his first Elite victory, landed a big of 4-3 in his fourth-place weight of 16-1. Weighing 9-11 then 11-13 dropped him to 37th, but that still bumped the Wisconsin pro up eight clicks to 48 in AOY. Before Sabine, he was 74th. With the final two events at Lake St. Clair and the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wis., Schlapper is hopeful of making his fifth Classic.
Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., caught one of the handful of bass topping 4 pounds on Day 1. A 4-4 was the bulk of his 14-5 that tied him for 21st. Howell suffered a 4-ounce dead fish penalty on Day 2, then he lost 7 pounds for being 7 minutes late to Day 3’s check-in. He figured he only lost three points. Finishing 50th actually moved him up three spots to 56th in AOY, however, the 2014 Classic champ will need to gain about 40 points on the field if he hopes to reach his 17th Classic.
Greg Hackney made some noise on Day 1 with a 15-2 limit that put him 10th. The 2014 Angler of the Year from Louisiana added 13-3 and 12-12 to finish 16th, which bumped him to 70th in AOY with 333 points. With the Classic cut projected at 527 points, Hackney needs two top finishes to qualify for his 20th championship.
Missouri’s Cody Huff, who with Bethel teammate Garrett Enders won the College Championship on Tenkiller in 2018, caught a 4-6 in a 14-7 limit that had him tied for 18th. Only 10-4 on Day 2 left him 56th with 24-11, 7 ounces out of the cut. The 2019 College Bracket champ from Ava, Mo., has some work if he hopes to climb from 68th in points to make his fourth consecutive and fifth overall Classic.
Minnesota’s Bob Downey shows off solid largemouth and smallmouth in his bag of 16-2, the day’s third best. Downey followed with 14-10 and 14-0 to stand fifth going into Championship Sunday, where 11-13 kept him there. In the past two events, Downey has moved up 30 spots to 19th in AOY.
Two-time Classic champ Jordan Lee had a pair of solid largemouth in his 16-1 limit, which including a dead-fish penalty. That weight gave him the tiebreaker over Brock Mosley as each totaled 42-2 after three days. Bouncing back from a 94th at the Sabine, Lee’s 10th-place finish bumped him back inside the Classic cut at 37th in AOY.
Kyle Welcher, who set the largest margin of victory (45-7) with his win on the Pasquotank River this year (118-12), landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 1. His 4-10 gave him 15-15 and put him in a four-way tie for sixth with Keith Combs, Chris Johnston and Cory Johnston.
Going into Tenkiller, Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat was atop the AOY standings, 42 points ahead of Chris Johnston. Catching 14-9 on Day 1 had him tied for 15th, but his second round fizzled. He caught 10-8 for a total of 25-1 and sweated through the weigh-in. Brad Whatley, the last to weigh, pushed Przekurat 1 ounce out in his first missed cut of the year. Przekurat’s finished 51st, receiving 54 points.
Canada’s Chris Johnston, the reigning Angler of the Year, gained nine points on Przekurat with his Day 1 tie for sixth. Johnston added 13-3 on Day 2 to stand sixth and take over the AOY lead by three points. On Day 3, Johnston weighed 12-3 and dropped to 12th, losing six AOY points and giving the lead back to Przekurat. Przekurat heads north with 598 points, and Johnston has 595.
Trey McKinney is hot on their tails. The 20-year-old McKinney had 17-1, including a fish-care penalty, to start second at Tenkiller. Last year’s AOY runner-up after four Top 10s but a heartbreaking DQ, McKinney made Championship Sunday at Tenkiller and finished sixth. He’s third in AOY, 12 points back of Przekurat.
Andrew Loberg, a 31-year-old rookie originally from California, held the Day 1 lead with 17-9. Starting the season poorly, Loberg watched road roommates win events before he gained some traction with top 20 finishes at Hartwell and Fork.
Texas’ Ben Milliken was looking at another subpar finish, finding himself 90th after 10-2 on Day 1. With a 4-2 and 3-15, Milliken rocketed 61 spots up the leaderboard with 16-6. He finished 27th, but at 74th in AOY he will be hard-pressed to make his third consecutive Classic.
Gerald Swindle of Guntersville outdid Milliken, climbing from 76th to 10th with Day 2’s third-best limit of 17-11. The G-Man started the season with a Top 10 at the St. Johns River but was mired deep in points, so another Top 10 would be greatly appreciated.
Florida’s John Cox was tied at 90th with Milliken after Day 1, and he had hopes this 4-13 kicker would boost him into the cut. It almost did. With 14-12, Cox totaled 24-14 and missed making Semifinal Saturday by 4 ounces. Cox lost two spots in AOY to 14th but is in good shape to qualify for his eighth Classic.
Wes Logan, who’s had his share of bad luck after winning an Elite in his rookie season, started 11th with 14-12 and stayed consistent with 15-13, moving him to fifth. The Springville, Ala., pro added another solid 15-9 to start Championship Sunday in third place, 5-4 back of the lead.
Bryan New had the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of 5-1 to take Day 2’s $1,000 bonus, and it took over the overall lead. It helped the South Carolina pro weigh his best bag of the week, 13-12, and get inside the cut. Finishing 38th, New inched up three spots in AOY to 13th as he vies for his fourth Classic and first since 2023. New earned another $1,000 when his fish tied for best of the week. In 2019 at Tenkiller, the biggest bass was Caleb Sumrall’s 5-7.
Keith Combs momentarily had Day 2’s best, a 5-0 that teamed with a 4-0 and three 3-pounders for 19-2. That was the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the week and put Combs in second place. Despite only 12-8 on Day 3, he stayed there then dropped to seventh with 8-6 on Day 4. The Texan improved 20 places in AOY to 49th and has a shot at appearing in his 10th Classic.
Fishing areas he just felt were right, Loberg’s catches grew throughout Day 2. On BassTrakk, he made culls with a 3-10, 3-8 and 4-0 in building a day’s second-best limit of 18-4, which included a critical dead-fish penalty. Loberg led Combs by 12 ounces heading into Semifinal Saturday, when he added 15-9 to extend his margin to 3-13.
Mississippi’s Brock Mosley jumped up 25 spots with 15-6 on Day 2 and hoped a 4-pounder would give him his second Top 10 of the year. He weighed 14-2 to tie Jordan Lee with 42-2, losing the tiebreaker on biggest single-day bag. Finishing 11th did solidify Mosley’s bid for a sixth Classic as he climbed 15 spots to 18th in points.
The tight leaderboard meant opportunity to move up, and KJ Queen of Catawba, N.C., made two big jumps. After starting 79th, Queen weighed 15-2 to climb 44 places then made the Top 10 with 16-5, his best smallmouth going 3-8. Standing 58th in points before his 17th at Sabine, Queen is now 28th in AOY as he shoots for his third Classic.
Brandon Card started tied for 13th, slipped to 28th then jumped into Championship Sunday in ninth with a 15-10 limit. The flooded bushes reminded Card of his best Elite finish, a second at Lake Texoma in 2016. On Day 3, only one angler, Canada’s Cooper Gallant, failed to limit, which drew the ire of Canadian emcee Dave Mercer but showed the healthy population in Tenkiller.
Swindle caught another 4-pounder on Semifinal Saturday and had the weight to make Day 4, but he suffered a 2-pound penalty after making a cast with six fish in the boat. Also suffering a dead-fish penalty, the two-time AOY finished 14th.   
Louisiana’s Logan Latuso made the 50 cut with two average days of 12-8 and 13-9. Behind the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 3, a 4-10, Latuso jumped into sixth with 16-7. He finished ninth and has an outside chance of qualifying for his first Classic.
Starting 9-3 behind the leader, Brandon Card gave himself a glimmer of hope when he landed a 5-0. He also had a 3-8 as he weighed the day’s second-best total of 16-13. With 59-0, Card finished fourth, 4 pounds back of the winning weight.
Despite an average Day 2 with 12-13, Welcher stayed in the Top 10 then moved to fourth with Day 3’s 16-13, which included a dead-fish penalty. On Championship Sunday, Welcher had the day’s third-best of 14-12 to finish third with 60-5, 2-11 back of the winner. The 2023 AOY gained 19 spots in AOY to 16th.
Logan started Championship Sunday in third place, 5-4 behind Loberg. The two traded leads several times in the morning. Logan made up much of his deficit with a 5-1 that took Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day and tied New for overall. Logan made a critical cull with a 3-6, giving him the day’s best of 16-14, while Loberg had his worst of the week, 11-9. Logan’s 63-0 gave him a 1-ounce win, tying several winners for smallest margin on the Elites.
After Logan won Neely Henry Lake on Mother’s Day in 2021, his second Elite title came on Father’s Day, a great time since he was questioning himself. After two good events in Florida, Logan was struggling, making only one cut in the last four events. “This year has not been easy. I hit a wall and didn’t even know my last name,” he said. “After Lake Hartwell, I sat in Bill Lowen’s boat and cried my eyes out because I wanted to quit. I didn’t know if I was good enough to be here.” The 104 points for first moved Logan 19 spots up to 21st in AOY in his quest for a third Classic.

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