PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Alabama pro Matt Adams is considered a late starter in the B.A.S.S. community, having competed in a total of 16 tournaments, including his debut in the 2022 Bassmaster Team Championship on Lake Hartwell. He and his partner zeroed on Day 2 of that tournament and finished 222nd of 250 teams in the field.
In the 15 B.A.S.S. events he’s entered since then, however, Adams has been on a mission — placing in the Top 20 in nine of 15 derbies.
He looked primed to fish his way into the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series last year, with the Top 9 anglers in the Elite Qualifiers Angler of the Year points race earning a spot in the premier competitive bass fishing series. Adams wound up in 10th place, though, following a disappointing 68th place finish in the ninth and final St. Croix Bassmaster Open presented by SEVIIN last October on Alabama’s Lake Martin.
Adams was so disappointed in the last-minute slide that he said he couldn’t bear to stick around Lake Martin to collect his portion of the Opens AOY prize money.
“I had another angler pick the check up for me,” he said. “I took it hard. I’m not gonna lie.”
A year later, the 42-year-old Adams has once again put himself in position to earn a spot in the Bassmaster Elite Series, courtesy of an outstanding performance in Division 1 of the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN. He finished third overall in the points race in Division 1, placing 19th at Georgia’s Clarks Hill Reservoir, sixth at Mississippi’s Tombigbee River, 15th on the Upper Chesapeake Bay and 17th on the St. Lawrence River in Upstate New York.
Now, he’s returning to the Empire State as one of 100-plus anglers qualified for the 2025 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Champlain presented by Bass Pro Shops scheduled for Sept. 18-20. It’s the first of three Elite Qualifiers of the 2025 season, with subsequent EQs set for Alabama’s Wheeler Lake Oct. 2-4 and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee Nov. 13-15.
The Top 50 anglers in the points in both Division 1 and 2 of this year’s Opens comprise the bulk of the field, all hungry for their chance at fishing in the 2026 Elite Series. The EQs are also open to any 2025 Elite Series pro, as well as the Top 3 anglers in the 2024 Merucry B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Lowrance, should they choose to compete.
It’s a stacked field, no doubt, and there are great rewards for the best of the bunch. Provided they fish all three EQ events, the Top 10 anglers in cumulative points will win a spot in next year’s Elite Series. The winner of each EQ also earns a spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour to be held on the Tennessee River in Knoxville March 13-15.
Those spoils aren’t lost on Adams, of course. He knows he’s fishing well but realizes he fished equally well (if not better) in the 2024 Opens, with four Top 10 finishes in nine Open events.
“I looked up (last year) and I had a Top 10 at Okeechobee, a Top 10 at Santee (S.C.), at Eufaula (Okla.) and (on the Mississippi River) in La Crosse (Wis.),” he said. “It built up faster than I was anticipating … and I didn’t handle that amount of success really well.
“But in hindsight, I think I might have needed the disappointment to help me focus this year,” he continued. “I feel like I made good decisions and made good adjustments. My practice has been much more efficient. I felt like I was drinking from a fire hose last year.”
Champlain, which at 278,000 acres is the sixth-largest natural lake in the U.S., straddles the New York-Vermont border and stretches north into Canada (though only U.S. waters can be fished in this tournament). Champlain is a regular stop for B.A.S.S., too, with both largemouth and smallmouth bass to chase. In 2024, Ed Loughran III caught both varieties en route to a four-day total of 80 pounds, 12 ounces and an Elite Series win. A year earlier, Kyoya Fujita caught 86-12 to top the Elite Series field plying Champlain.
Those events were held earlier in the summer, with higher temperatures. With this EQ taking place in mid-September, many anglers think a late-season feed could lead to more of Champlain’s big bags.
“Even with us going later in the year, I still think you have to catch both largemouth and smallmouth to win,” said Tristan McCormick, the Tennessee pro who finished 15th in the Division 1 Opens points race to qualify for the EQs.
Despite being only 27, McCormick has fished under pressure many times before. He’s competed previously in two Bassmaster Classics, courtesy of wins in the 2021 College Classic Bracket and an Open at Lake Hartwell a year later.
“It’s all about making the Elite Series,” McCormick said. “Step one was to make the EQs, so we’re halfway there. But I have to keep focused and not worry about points. I’m taking it one fish at a time. It’s been working for me, and hopefully it keeps going my way.”
The EQ at Lake Champlain begins daily with 7 a.m. ET takeoffs and 3 p.m. ET weigh-ins from Plattsburgh City Marina.
The Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Champlain presented by Bass Pro Shops is being hosted by the Adirondack Coast.
