Last fall, Aaron Jagdfeld was just a couple of pounds away from punching his ticket to the 2025 Bassmaster Classic. Almost a calendar year later, the Rochester Hills, Mich. angler is once again in contention for a Classic berth at Lake Champlain.
Jagdfeld entered the final day of the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops in ninth place with a two-day total of 42 pounds, 9 ounces. While he started around 3pounds behind Day 2 leader Emil Wagner, he is making a charge on Championship Sunday, rising to third place unofficially on BassTrakk with almost 62 pounds total as of 10 a.m. ET.
It’s an impressive start to the EQ journey, and a tournament he hopes will springboard him into Elite Series qualification.
“This is the one I had circled all year long,” he said. “I love this place. It is huge to get really good points at this one, especially since we are going somewhere I’m not as good at next, the Tennessee River. I needed to get as many points as I could this tournament.”
Momentum has largely been on Jagdfeld’s side since he and Adrian College partner Elliott Wielgopolski won the Legend’s Trail during the 2024 regular season. That punched their ticket to the College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s, where he finished second to Dylan Akins at Tim’s Ford Lake in Tennessee.
That same season, Jagdfeld finished second to Jay Przekurat in the Lake St. Clair Open. While Division II of the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN didn’t go as smoothly as he hoped – or for many anglers really with how volatile the weather was – Jagdfeld qualified for the EQ round and also won a B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier at Lake Erie/Lake St. Clair in July.
The Great Lakes region is where Jagdfeld calls home, so it is easy to see why he has felt right at home on Lake Champlain. On a windy Day 2 especially, his northern Michigan roots helped the 24-year-old land almost 22 pounds.
“It was because of my knowledge on the Great Lakes that helped me figure out what these fish did,” he explained. “In practice, there were a lot of bass on the flats in 35 to 40 feet. On top of the break, there are rocks and boulders. In the afternoon (on Day 2), every other boulder had a 3 ½- or 4-pounder.
Fellow Michigan pro Garrett Paquette is on a mission to requalify for the Elite Series after being relegated after the 2021 season. He nearly did it last year through the Opens, but a 160th place finish at Lake Okeechobee proved to be costly, and he missed the Top 9 cut by a couple points.
This year, being ahead of the curve to start the EQ’s will allow him to fish confidently the rest of the way. He started Championship Saturday in seventh in 43-0 and is currently fifth on BassTrakk with 61-0 unofficially.
“If you look at my career, it is all momentum based, good and bad,” he said. “The last 18 months have been really good outside of one or two hiccups and hopefully that continues.”
Remarkably, both Paquette and Jagdfeld have a chance to qualify for both the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series and the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour before the EQ slate even wraps up. They will be competing at the 2025 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship at Upper Mississippi River presented by Lowrance at the Upper Mississippi River, which will send one angler to the Elite roster and the Classic and two more to the Classic.
Keep up with these two anglers the rest of the day on Bassmaster LIVE and Bassmaster.com.
