According to Elite Series groupthink, the bass on Lake St. Clair are the smartest fish on the planet.
We heard it again and again and again onstage on the second day of the 2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair. And yet nearly a ton of those educated fish — many of the largest, oldest and presumably wisest of the bunch – got involuntarily relocated by the anglers today.
The beatdown continued, and if anything the anglers just figured out more ways to outsmart their quarry. I couldn’t leave the computer to take a leak, grab a coffee or catch my breath without returning to see leader Trey McKinney bowed up on another brown bass. He’s fishing lights out, but has little margin for error.
Here’s what I saw between the flying bugs – from the water and the stage – as the world’s smartest fish committed one unforced error after another:
McKinney’s Dominance – This is the 17th regular season Elite Series tournament of Trey McKinney’s young career. He’s made the cut to Day Three 15 times, and is on pace for his ninth top ten (and second win). Oddly enough, he’s never had three top tens in a row.
Cut Weight – Yesterday Logan Parks held down 50th place with 19-12 and little room to spare as there were 16 anglers a pound or less behind him. The cut weight ended up being 39-7, just an ounce under twice yesterday’s mark.
Twenties Continue – Yesterday there were 44 bags of 20 pounds or more. Today there were 40 more. Everyone in the top 10 had over 20 today, and Logan Parks (4th, 45-5) is the only angler in the top ten who didn’t have 20 or more each day. Overall, 22 anglers have topped 20 each day, with Jamie Hartman and Cody Meyer, tied for 31st, being the lowest ranked among them. Only two members of the field have topped 22 each day – McKinney and Fujita.
Cooper Gallant (47th, 39-10) — “It’s crazy how far a quarter pound goes.” He amassed 5 ounces more than Brad Whatley, Mike Iaconelli and Steve Kennedy, all of whom missed the cut by 2 ounces. Ten anglers missed the cut by a pound or less.
AOY Jostling – Jay Przekurat, who led the AOY race heading into this tournament, fell out of the lead yesterday and lost a little more ground today. His 19-12 was 5 ounces more than he weighed on Thursday, but he fell from 53rd to 56th in the tournament. Meanwhile, tournament leader and erstwhile AOY leader Trey McKinney held serve. Chris Johnston, who sat between them in the AOY race after yesterday, rose from 39thto 24th in the tournament today and gained some ground back. He’ll have a chance to make up more points tomorrow, while Przekurat will have to let others do his dirty work for him, and hope that he’s within range heading to Lacrosse.
Invite Got Lost in the Mail – Best guess is that Ed Loughran will not be attending the Walpole Island First Nation Harvest Moon Pow-Wow on September 13.
More Territorial Sovereignty – All five Canadian anglers in the field will compete on Day Three. Rookie Evan Kung, in 15th, is in the best position to take the trophy back across the border.
Big Bags North and South – Tucker Smith’s 26-2 is the biggest bag of the tournament so far, but it’s only his fourth biggest limit of the year. He had 34-5, 33-1 and 34-14 on the last three days of his victory at Lake Fork. He “only” had 25-4 on Day One, which had him in 20th place. He’s a bit shy of the Century Belt pace this week – it’ll take an average of just about 26 pounds daily over the next two days to earn the second one of 2025 and of his career.
Big Bag Teammates – Logan Parks, who was Smith’s partner when they won the Bass Pro Shops million dollar team championship in 2021, had the second biggest bag of the day, and of the tournament. His 25-9 today helped him vault from 50th to 4th and any fear of missing the cut evaporated.
A Bassmaster First – Tommy Sanders referencing Yo-Yo Ma.
Falling Down – Did prior AOY leader Jay Przekurat peak too early this season? He earned six consecutive checks to start the year, including three top tens, but over the past five tournaments his finishes have gotten worse – 5th to 9th to 25th to 50th to 56th. He’s certainly looking to regroup on some home cooking at the season-ending derby in Wisconsin.
Mercerisms — “Good luck in the pro-am tomorrow” is Day Two’s version of “You’ve earned the right to make a big comeback tomorrow.”
Past Success Does Not Guarantee Future Performance – Easton Fothergill (5th 44-10), nicknamed “the American Kyoya” today for his secretive nature, is the only past Classic Champion or Elite Series AOY in the top 10. All of the past Elite Series St. Clair champions in this year’s roll will fish tomorrow – Jason Christie (34th, 40-6), Joey Cifuentes (37th, 40-4) and Seth Feider, who won the AOY championship here (36th, 40-5). Those last three are all about 8 pounds out of the lead, but no more than 2 ounces apart from one another.
Justin Atkins (6th, 44-1) — “I finally feel like I know what it’s like to be Taku because they were looking for me today.” He had 23-7 and rose 27 spots.
Taku and Kyoya – Kyoya Fujita (3rd, 45-14) is on pace to make his fourth Elite Series top ten cut of the year, and his tenth on the Elites since joining the tour in 2023. Over that same time, Taku Ito (10th, 43-4) has made four top tens, three of them in the same ones as Fujita. Ito has earned 11 Elite top tens since joining the Elites in 2020. Both Japanese pros have also made top tens at Fork and Champlain, but not in the same event. If they make it, this will be the second top ten on St. Clair for Fujita and the third for Ito, and their second together
Bryant Smith (82nd, 35-11) on the Wisdom of Crowds — “I figured out where they were. Just go where the boats are.”
Cliff Pace (79th, 35-12) — “I feel like I’ve got the shanks, if that’s possible in fishing.” The 2013 Bassmaster Classic champ had 35-12 over two days and finished 79th. In his return to the Elite Series, he has made two cuts through eight tournaments. Despite long-term success, St. Clair hasn’t been good to him in over a decade – in his last four Bassmaster events here (three Elites and an Open) he hasn’t finished better than 74th.
Dinner of Champions — “I’m fixing to go to PF Changs and get a mega-bag,” said Mongolian Beef fan and two time Bassmaster Classic champ Jordan Lee. He added 21-5 to his Day One catch of 21-1 and jumped from 27th to 18th.
Serious Question for the FFS Haters – Today we saw quite a bit of Trey McKinney in the “prefish stance” with his rod clasped behind his neck. At one point the commentators stated that he hadn’t made a cast for four and a half minutes. This has been one of the criticisms of this era, that the anglers are “not fishing, just hunting.” Would you rather see someone cast and not get bit for that period of time? Doesn’t this provide the same result, an equal amount of meaningful action?
Jacob Powroznik (64th, 37-15) Rejects the Prefish Stance – “I’m ready to cut the cable on my forward facing sonar and get in some slop.”
Tyler Rivet (72nd, 37-1) — “I probably threw at a thousand fish today and only caught 20.”
It Hasn’t Even Been a Year – When Mercer announces a pro from Ava, Missouri, I still expect it to be Rick Clunn, not Cody Huff.
JT Thompkins (12th, 42-13) — “All my fish were within one ounce of each other.” He had 21-12, 11 ounces better than his first day bag, and rose from 26th to 12th.
Matt Robertson (7th, 44-0) — “If I’m not there to name the kid ‘Stone Cold,’ she’s not writing that on the birth certificate.” He announced that he will head home if his wife goes into labor, despite the fact that he’s earned his best Elite finish of the season.
I’m comfortable stating that David Gaston’s 11-8 largemouth from Okeechobee will stand as big fish of the year, but maybe Eric ‘Stone Cold’ Robertson will weigh nearly as much. Coo coo ca choo, Mrs. Robertson.
Back at it tomorrow.
