From about 740 miles away, John Crews no doubt breathed a sigh of relief when Emil Wagner slapped 23-7 on the scales today at the 2025 Nitro Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Champlain presented by Bass Pro Shops to win by 13 ounces. While Wagner will take home the Happy Gilmore check, his victory makes him a rookie double-qualifier to the 2026 Bassmaster Classic.
That means Crews will fish his 14th Classic next March, after having been forced to work the Expo the last three years. Indeed, while he’s fished four Classics in Greenville, two in Birmingham and two in Tulsa, this’ll be his first shot at the big dance in Knoxville.
And, it bears repeating, he can thank Wagner for that. Wagner could’ve stayed home at Lake Lanier and caught up on honey-dos or his guiding business. Instead, he rocketed north and helped out his fellow Elite. It wasn’t an altogether altruistic effort, though – he’ll take home over fifty grand to pad his wallet.
Champlain is a frequent stop on tour, and Wagner has fished a number of major events here, but this one was special. He had to catch them today and he did, including a 4.76 on his last cast that may have made the difference between first place and second. He set a BASS three-day weight record for Champlain, too.
Without taking anything away from his win, there were lots of different story lines that emerged a third of the way into the EQ march. Here are some of the ones that stood out to me the most.
Stalled But Not Stopped – Cody Stahl (4th, 64-14) made what could have been a critical culling error on Day 1, and was penalized 2 pounds for the self-reported infraction. As it turned out, that alone did not cost him the win and he fell over 4 pounds short of Wagner and almost three and a half behind runner-up Matt Messer. Stahl missed third place by an ounce, so it would have helped him there. If he ends up missing the Elites by a point, that’s something he’ll regret. “You can’t make a 2 pound mistake like that and expect to win,” he said. However, he also explained that he did manage to put it out of his mind to push through to Day 3. “You just have to brush those mistakes off.”
Culling Strategy – Stahl wasn’t the only angler for whom culling choices (or non-choices) played a role in the final outcome. Wagner threw back multiple 2 ½ to 3-pounders early today, reasoning that if one died and he was unable to cull it, it might cost him the win. Later in the day, he got desperate and threw a couple of smaller fish in the box, but fortunately, they did not succumb and he was able to legally and ethically cull them.
Who Gained Points Today – Emil Wagner and Paul Marks, already qualified for next year’s Elite Series roster, were not points-eligible this week. That means that the other eight anglers are at least one and in most cases two places higher in the EQ standings than their results show. Matt Messer led and held serve in second today. The big winners from a points perspective on Day 3 were Christian Nash (6th, 63-15), Sam Hanggi (5th, 64-7) and Cody Stahl (4th, 64-14), who gained four, three and two points respectively, today.
Twenties – The top six finishers all had 20 pounds or more today. Each of those six had at least 20 pounds each day. Wagner and Messer both had over 22 each day, and Stahl had at least 21 each day.
Michigan to Texas – This week’s 9th place finish was not Garrett Paquette’s best result with BASS. He was the runner up at both the Sam Rayburn Open this year and the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks & Wildlife Department at Lake Fork.
The New Normal – “I came here thinking they’d be on all my normal stuff,” Emil Wagner said. Likely due to the low water conditions, they were not. Didn’t seem to hurt him much.
Just Peachy – Three of the top four finishers reside in Georgia. Grae Buck (7th, 62-13) was the top finisher from above the Mason-Dixon Line.
Ups and Downs – No member of the top ten had his weight go up each day. Both Grae Buck (7th, 62-13) and Russ Lane (10th, 60-9) saw their weights go down each day. Lane’s 17-7 today was the lowest weight any member of the top ten had this week. In fact, you’d have to go down to Matt Adams in 47th place to find another angler who had a daily catch smaller than 18 pounds. However, Lane saved his worst for last, when it mattered less, and still has more points than any of the anglers behind him.
Sam Hanggi – “I pretty much fished new water every day – did not take the trolling motor off 10 the entire time.” He wasn’t the only one who put his electric motor and batteries to the test. Garrett Paquette estimated that he covered 25-30 miles a day on his trolling motor.
Bests and Worsts – No member of the top ten had his best weight today, although Wagner’s 23-7 was only 2 ounces off of his Day 2 sack. Four members of the top ten had their worst day of the tournament today.
Aaron Jagdfeld on Champlain – “There’s basically no dead water. Anywhere you do, you can catch fish.”
Same Place – At least two of today’s top ten, and possibly as many as all ten of them, will fish an Elite event here next August…without forward facing sonar. Several of them said that this week’s efforts likely won’t translate. “I was out in the lake the whole time, Paul Marks said. “I definitely didn’t benefit myself.”
Worst Not So Bad – Wagner’s worst bag of the week was 22-2 on Day 1. If that’s what he’d caught all three days, he would’ve had 66-6. Messer’s worst bag was 22-0 yesterday. Triple that and you’d have 66 pounds on the nose. Even with those weights, they would have been first and second.
Cody Stahl’s Punching Tools – “A 2 ounce weight wasn’t big enough. I had to go to a 2 ½.”
Best Finishes So Far – Of course, this win is Wagner’s best finish with BASS. Messer, Marks, Buck, Stahl and Lane had all previously won at various levels of BASS competition. Jadgfeld had won the Nation Qualifier at Erie this year, but his prior best Open finish was a runner-up result at Lake St. Clair last year, so he didn’t top his prior professional best. Nor did Sam Hanggi (5th, 64-7), who came in 3rd at the Leech Lake Open earlier this year. As noted above, Paquette (9th, 62-9) had multiple previous top tens at BASS. The only angler who set his personal best in a Bassmaster professional event was Christian Nash, who finished 6th with 63-15. His prior best had been 14th in an Open at Clarks Hill earlier this year.
