Elite

Big bass of Pasquotank River

Welcher wails away at first-time venue, earning Century Club belt while establishing a record margin of victory.

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
There are tanks in the Pasquotank River, as verified in St. Croix Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound. As anticipated, the first-time Elite venue in northeastern North Carolina yielded big bass despite winds that busted boats and backs of those traveling through Albemarle Sound. Staying close to launch, Kyle Welcher won wire-to-wire, catching an eye-popping weight as he joined the Century Club and blew away the largest margin of victory in an Elite. Check out the Pasquo-tanks.
Brock Mosley gets the big hit parade started with a 6-pound, 6-ounce kicker that put him sixth with 18-5 on Day 1, when 71 anglers caught limits and the average fish weighed 2-9. The Mississippi pro dipped to eighth after Day 2 then with just one bass he slipped to 40th.
Virginia’s John Crews landed a 7-10, more than half his 15-0 limit to stand 26th after Day 1. Without another similar kicker, the veteran caught smaller limits the next two days to finish 28th. His best event of the year put Crews just outside the projected cut for the 2026 Classic at 41st in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
Joey Cifuentes of Clinton, Ark., had a big bite on Day 1 that fueled his 23rd-place finish. His 18-12 limit, including this 7-11, put him fourth, but a limit of 11-13 then three for 11-11 saw him fall. Cifuentes’ second top 25 has him 35th in AOY.
A 7-15 helped Jason Williamson stand 11th with 16-13 on Day 1. He added a 6-3 on Day 2, however it was his only fish, and he missed the Top 50 cut in 53rd. On Day 2, 84 anglers caught limits and the average bass increased to 2-12.
Texan Keith Combs had a way-above average bass, an 8-2 that took Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 1. With 15-12, Combs tied for 21st and moved up six places with 15-6 on Day 2.
Trey McKinney, coming off a runner-up finish in the Lake Ray Roberts Classic, was back in the mix. The 20-year-old from Carbondale, Ill., posted a 7-6 on BassTrakk and stood third with 23-7. McKinney dipped on Day 2 but 21-7 on Semifinal Saturday put him back in third, where he finished.
Classic champ Easton Fothergill looked like king of the hill again, taking the BassTrakk lead with a 5-8 just after noon and adding a 6-8. He weighed 23-13 to take the lead, but there was a big surprise coming. The 22-year-old from Grand Rapids, Minn., only caught four on Day 2 before 19-10 put him in Championship Sunday, when he eventually took fourth. Last in AOY after Florida, Fothergill gained 27 spots to 76th in points,
Off BassTrakk all day, Kyle Welcher of Valley, Ala., proved locals weren’t just making outlandish predictions when he came in with 30-11, which included three 7-pound class fish. The 2023 AOY, who missed winning the 2022 Classic by 5 ounces, said an early 6-pounder close to takeoff clued him in, and a 7-pounder made him abandon thoughts of making his planned big run. Welcher’s lead of 6-14 would grow to epic proportions.
KJ Queen, who weighed one fish on Day 1 and stood fifth from last, caught a 7-7 and some friends to bag 19-7 and climb to 63rd. After making the Top 50 in the first two events, the pro from Catawba, N.C., salvaged about 35 points to stay inside Classic consideration at 36th.
New Jersey’s Greg DiPalma was in a similar situation, down in 91st after three fish Thursday. The Day 1 leader at the Okeechobee Elite had a pair of tanks in his 23-14 on Day 2, the third best of the round that had DiPalma improve 67 places to 24th. Only one bass on Day 3 knocked him back to 49th, but he earning 56 points in the event has him 37th in AOY.
Canada’s Chris Johnston, last year’s AOY champion, also made a big climb, moving from 84th to 14th with 24-5. A 7-9 bolstered the day’s second-best bag, but 11-6 saw him finish 21st. He added 84 points to jump up to ninth in AOY.
Coming in third at the Classic, Lee Livesay of Longview, Texas, made the cut behind this 7-10 in Day 2’s 18-11 that put him 20th. He caught 14-5 to wind up 18th and bump up four positions to fifth in AOY, 12 points from the lead.
This 7-15 was a welcome sight for Wisconsin’s Kyle Norsetter, who weighed 17-6 on Day 2 and moved up 37 spots to 45th. The 38-year-old was one of 39 who caught limits on Semifinal Saturday, when the average fish jumped to 3-0. Norsetter’s 11-0 inched him up to 42nd and improved his AOY standing two spots to 25th.
Fellow Wisconsinite Caleb Kuphall had an 8-0 in his Day 2 limit of 18-4, putting him 13th. A big never showed on Saturday when his bag of 8-14 saw him finish 26th. With three cuts, the 41-year-old is 13th in AOY.
Greg Hackney caught the biggest bass of Day 2, an 8-4. After starting 90th with two fish for 5-9, the veteran from Gonzales, La., hoped to climb inside the cut, but his 16-10 left him 1-9 back in 58th. The 51-year-old has yet to make a cut this year and is 88th in AOY, but he earned the day’s $1,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass bonus.
All the Kyles on the Elites made noise at Pasquotank. Kyle Patrick of Cooperstown, N.Y., had a 6-5 that helped him stand 12th with 16-11, and he added a 6-0 in Day 2 bag of 19-9 that moved him up to sixth. He finished 10th, earning 95 points to catapult from 72nd to 40th in AOY.
Using a Bronco Bug to entice bedding bass, Welcher landed a 7-11 and 7-7 in his second “Dirty 30.” Underestimating a touch on BassTrakk, Welcher hit 30-3 at the scales. His two-day total of 60-14 led McKinney by 22 pounds.
Marc Frazier of Newman, Ga., moved up each day, jumping 40 spots to 48th with 17-15 before landing this 6-pounder for 16-2 that had him finish 32nd. Frazier was pleased to cash his first check after two events in the 90s, but he has an uphill climb from 90th in AOY to reach his third Classic.
Combs was back on the big bite Saturday. This 7-1 helped him weigh 18-15 and give him his first Top 10 since 2022.
Logan Parks made the cut with two 13-pound days, but he broke out on Day 3 with one of the eight 20-pound limits. Behind a 7-2, Parks totaled 20-3 to finish 12th with 47-7. With an 18th at St. Johns and 32nd at Okeechobee, the 26-year-old from Auburn, Ala., is sixth in AOY, 17 points from the lead.
Shane LeHew was steady throughout, weighing 16-1 then 17-2 before moving up 10 spots to seventh with 17-13 on Day 3. The 36-year-old from Catawba, N.C., suffered a slight dip with 13-14 to finish ninth. With a third at St. Johns and just missing the cut at Okeechobee, LeHew is seventh in AOY.
Tyler Williams was tossing his jig to great success in the North River, weighing bags of 17-14 and 19-11 to stand fourth. Without a true giant, the 23-year-old from Belgrade, Maine, had his best with 22-9 on Semifinal Saturday. After an 88th at St. Johns, the Barefoot Bandit has righted the ship, taking 15th at Okeechobee, 14th at the Classic and seventh at the Pasquotank to sit 21st in AOY.
It was an up-and-down event for Connecticut’s Alex Wetherell, who started 30th with 15-5 then fell to 42nd with four fish. His 7-14 on Day 3, half his 15-5 limit, helped him finish 30th. It took some sting out of his 101st at Okeechobee and improved his Classic hopes with a 16-spot move to 71st in AOY.
Minnesota’s Seth Feider, the 2021 AOY, was just outside the Top 10 after 15-6 and 17-3. This 8-15 bolstered his bag of 21-2, which put him in the Top 10. After missing the past two Classics, Feider’s eighth-place finish improved his chances as he moved 20 spots to 15th in AOY.
Brandon Lester was deep in the AOY standings after uncharacteristically poor events in Florida. He needed a good event and got it from the get-go, starting with 17-7 and 18-14 to hold fifth. On Semifinal Saturday, the Tennessee pro averaged nearly 5 pounds per fish with 24-11, moving him to a second-place finish. That improved his AOY lot 38 places to 42nd.
Kyle Welcher, who with his great fortunes began calling himself “The Chosen One,” was at it again. This fish he had hooked and lost twice finally stayed on.
In 2020, Welcher introduced himself to the Bassmasters with a 10-1 in his first event on the St. Johns River. With this catch, he hinted on Bassmaster LIVE that he topped it. It went into BassTrakk as a 10-pounder, which put him close to a third consecutive 30-pound day. He added a 4-8 later for 31-12 on the unofficial leaderboard.
At the scales, Stone Cold Kyle Welcher weighed 34-0, the best bag at Pasquotank, and his giant went 10-8. With a three-day total of 94-14, Welcher had a lead of 33-14 and threatened to set the all-time Elite margin of victory. Patrick Walters led by 25-0 after three days on Lake Fork in 2020 then set the record at 29-10.
Justin Hamner, the 2024 Classic champ, had made the Top 10 after climbing from 23rd with 20-10 on Saturday. On Sunday, the Northport, Ala., pro landed this 5-14 to weigh 17-4 and finish sixth. He improved 37 spots in AOY to 48th.
Combs landed a 6-13 on Championship Sunday, his first since La Crosse in 2022. However, Combs only brought in four, but his 17-4 total put him fifth and moved him 35 places up the AOY standings to 28th as he seeks a 10th Classic appearance.
Welcher walked away with his first Elite title, like several recent winners not even needing to fish the final day. In his 23-14 limit, he weighed a 7-3 for his second Phoenix Boats Big Bass bonus. His winning total was 118-12, ranking 13th all-time. He obliterated the largest margin, 45-7 ahead of second.
Welcher averaged almost 6 pounds per fish, while the rest of the field averaged under 3 pounds. Along with the $100,000 first-place check, Welcher earned $4,000 in Phoenix Boats bonuses and $2,000 for the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag. The Pasquotank became the 11th venue to produce an Elite Century Club belt, and North Carolina now boasts the third-best total weight, behind only in Texas and California.

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