It’s crunch time for the Elite Series.
The AOY, event titles, Classic qualifications and requalifying are on the line in the final two events of the 2025 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series season.
Three anglers are within 13 points for the Progressive Angler of the Year title, which could produce a photo finish.
Leader Jay Przekurat might enjoy some home cooking as he presses on in his AOY quest. Just three points behind him is Chris Johnston, who’s vying to become fourth angler with consecutive AOY titles. And 13 points from the lead is last year’s AOY runner-up Trey McKinney, who rebounded from a poor start this year.
The nut-cutting starts with the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at St. Clair, Aug. 7-10, then the anglers get a week to think about the season finale on the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wis., Aug. 21-24. The winner there receives an automatic berth to the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic out of Knoxville, Tenn.
Easton Fothergill, the 2025 Classic champ, is set to double-qualify and Cory Johnston’s win Saturday in the St. Lawrence Open puts the current place for Classic qualification at 42nd in the AOY standings. Berths can move further down the standings via the last St. Croix Open and fall’s Elite Qualifier series.
John Garrett is currently the last-man at 42nd with 401 points. He led AOY after two events and is looking to pop after his drop. Dividing his points total by seven then multiplying by nine puts the estimated mark to make the Classic at 515 points.
Last year, Carl Jocumsen, at 44th with 490 points, was the last angler into the Classic. In 2023, David Gaston took the final berth at 43rd with 508 points.
This year, the top 10 in the standings have already earned more than the estimated total. The furthest back someone could mathematically climb to 515 is Stetson Blaylock in 75th with 317 points. An event winner receives 104 points, second gets 103, etc.
Also up for grabs are tournament titles, always cherished, and the $100,000 prizes aren’t chopped liver either. Staying on the Elite Series is another consideration.
There are about 20 anglers sweating requalification to the series. They either need to stay or climb above the safe mark of finishing the season 70th or better in points.
Points count the same in the first and last events, but the pressure to perform seems to ramp up when it’s do-or-die.
Let’s take a look at some other facets of the 2025 season.
Connecting on every swing
Only four anglers have made all seven two-day cuts in 2025 — Chris Johnston, Bill Lowen, Will Davis Jr. and now, after a disqualification, Przekurat.
Przekurat left Lake Tenkiller in 51st place, his first missed cut of the year. Logan Latuso’s DQ moved everyone below his ninth-place finish up a spot. It gave Brock Mosley a bump in earnings as he moved to 10th, and Przekurat got a surprise check as his run of consecutive 50 cuts increased to 12.
Johnston, who sits second in AOY points, has been uber-consistent with a best of 11th and worst 33rd in his pursuit of consecutive AOYs.
After winning the season opener on the St. Johns River, Lowen has remained in the top 10 and currently stands fifth. Davis, who led AOY after three events, dropped from second to seventh after finishes in the 40s in the past two events.
The top five finishers in points receive Progressive bonuses, starting with $100,000 and dropping by half each place to $6,250 for fifth.
Making his Marks in ROY
In the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race, Paul Marks has pulled away from his road roommate Tucker Smith and hard-charging Fothergill.
Marks and Smith went 1-2 in a span of two weeks. Marks won at Hartwell with Smith runner-up, then Smith won at Fork with Marks taking second.
Before the past two tournaments, Smith was fifth overall in AOY and led Marks by 12 points in ROY. At the Sabine River, Marks took over the rookie lead with a 28-point swing on Smith then was 46 spots better at Lake Tenkiller.
After a disastrous start in Florida, Fothergill climbed into the fray with three consecutive Top 10s. With an 11th at Sabine, he was within 32 points of Marks, but he dropped after taking 72nd at Tenkiller.
Marks stands 10th overall with 515 points, Smith is 25th with 452 and Fothergill is 31st with 436. Emil Wagner, who also rooms with Marks and Smith, is the fourth rookie inside Classic qualification at 36th with 429 points.
The 2025 rookies have surpassed the previous year as far as hoisting hardware, but all nine 2024 rookies from the Opens went on to qualify for the Classic via the AOY standings, with McKinney winning at Lake Fork in his run to ROY and as AOY runner-up.
Major disappointment
Things aren’t going so great for the majority of former Classic or AOY winners this year in the Elites.
Of the eight previous AOY winners in the 102-man field, only three, led by Johnston, are in good position to qualify for the Classic.
At 16th, Kyle Welcher is set to reach his fourth championship, and Seth Feider at 22nd should make his seventh Classic after missing the past two years.
Scott Canterbury (58th, 363 points) and Brandon Palaniuk (59th, 358) need two high finishes to climb inside the cut. Palaniuk, the 2017 and 2022 AOY who won the Okeechobee Elite early this year, was 23rd in points before losing 36 places after finishing 100th at Sabine and 81st at Tenkiller.
Greg Hackney (69th, 334) is a longshot while Gerald Swindle (78th, 292) and Mike Iaconelli (92nd, 223) would need La Crosse’s win-and-in provision.
Of the nine former Classic winners, just four are currently in position to qualify for Knoxville. Justin Hamner, who won in 2024 on Grand Lake, tops the list at 15th in AOY. After Fothergill, only Jordan Lee, who won back-to-back Classics in 2017-18, is poised at 37th in points.
At 56th with 364 points, Randy Howell could get in with around 150 points, or two top 20s, and Jason Christie (72nd, 324) would need two top-five finishes. Cliff Pace (75th, 301), Jeff Gustafson (83rd, 280), Hank Cherry (84th, 273) and Ike could qualify by winning the finale or one of the three EQ events this fall.
Carry me back to Tennessee
Better head back to Tennessee Jeff. That bastardized Grateful Dead line would be music to Gustafson’s ears.
The Canadian pro’s run of six consecutive Classics includes winning the 2023 championship on the Tennessee River, where he won an Elite title two years earlier. The Classic is back in Knoxville, and Gussy surely would love to defend.
If he doesn’t get it done at La Crosse, Gustafson would have to fish the EQs to get there. The three-event fall series opens at Lake Champlain, Sept. 18-20, then heads to Alabama’s Wheeler Lake, Oct. 2-4, and concludes Nov. 13-15 at Florida’s Lake Okeechobee.
Moving on up
After a record-setting win at the Pasquotank River, Kyle Welcher suffered through a pair of subpar tournaments to fall outside Classic consideration. Spinning a fifth at Sabine and third at Tenkiller helped Welcher get well in a hurry, climbing 39 spots to 19th in AOY.
KJ Queen must be feeling like a king after his major move. Standing 58th, the Catawba, N.C., posted a 17th at Sabine and eighth at Tenkiller to jump 30 places in the standings to 28th. If things go well, he might be celebrating a third Classic berth on or just after Day 1 at La Crosse, his 29th birthday.
End of run
Matt Arey’s string of six consecutive Classics could end if he doesn’t come up big. The South Carolina pro stands 71st with 329 points and would need two Top 10s to make the estimated total.
Gaston set for big bass bonus
David Gaston’s 11-8 lunker from Lake Okeechobee stands as the season’s heaviest catch. He’s a virtual shoe-in to earn the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the year and its $10,000 bonus.
