The ultimate goal for the JT Thompkins entering the 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens season was simply to qualify for the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series. But as the season unfolded and an Elite Series berth became more and more likely, Thompkins shifted his focus solely to winning the Opens Elite Qualifier title.
“Honestly, about two tournaments ago I completely forgot about the Elite race. It was no longer a thought in my mind,” he explained. “It switched to the EQ race. That is why I have been shooting for the win in the last couple of events.”
Capping off an incredible season with his sixth top 25 finish of the season, Thompkins clinched the top spot in the inaugural season of the Elite Qualifier division format by accumulating 1,659 points. Along with the $10,000 cash prize, the Myrtle Beach, S.C., native will be heading to the Bassmaster Elite Series.
Union City, Tenn., pro John Garrett finished second followed by Illinois’s Trey McKinney in third. Robert Gee, Tyler Williams, Wesley Gore, Logan Parks, Ben Milliken and Kyle Patrick all earned Elite Series berths as well. Elite Series pro Kenta Kimura finished fifth in the EQ standings.
“This has been one of the most stacked Opens fields of all time,” Thompkins said. “I have always thought about when I did make it to the Elites, I wanted to win Rookie of the Year. Just knowing I have done it once, I’ve beaten all the incoming rookies this year, it gives me confidence I can do it again next year.”
Eight of the nine anglers moving on to the Elite Series next year are under the age of 30, with Thompkins (21), Williams (21) and McKinney (18) being the three youngest of the group. While the 2022 Elite Series rookie class was heralded as one of the best ever, Thompkins believes this incoming group has a chance to be even better.
“When all of us were standing there with our medallions, and me and John Garrett were in the front, that was when a lot of it set in,” he said. “Funny enough, when you talk to all the guys who qualified, none of them are scared. Everyone is saying, ‘We are going to go over there and dominate.’ They are all talking about winning.”
With a 19-point lead over Garrett coming into the Harris Chain of Lakes, Thompkins was as stressed as he has been this season knowing he needed to keep the momentum going for one more event.
“This week, I have been more stressed out than any other week of the year. I had cold sores, I couldn’t sleep, and when I saw that trophy at registration on Wednesday, everything came into focus,” Thompkins said during the cancellation day Thursday. “I have been pretty stressed about it, but usually the more stress I put on myself, the better I do. The more confident I feel about going out and catching them.”
With a strong performance on Day 1, 15 pounds, 11 ounces, Thompkins felt another limit on Day 2 would seal the deal. On the final day, Thompkins hooked up with a 4-pounder on a jerkbait, but his first couple turns of the reel collected his microphone cable and for a moment, Thompkins was worried the bass would come off.
“I leaned into it, and the way I fish, my reel will hit my pocket and when it did, the mic got wrapped up in it, and I couldn’t reel,” he said. “Then all of sudden, the fish jumped in the air with complete slack in the line, and after losing two or three big ones already, I thought I was going to lose that one too. But the way he was hooked, I’m not sure he ever would have gotten off. It worked out. That fish was super important.”
Once that bass entered the livewell, Thompkins felt he had put it out of reach, but another cull late in the day provided the biggest sigh of relief.
“I threw back a 1-pounder for a 2-pounder I caught on a frog,” Thompkins said. “That put me up another pound and I knew for 100% that it was over. John would have needed a 30-pound bag to come back.”
The Elite Qualifier title caps off an incredible year for Thompkins. Last September, he notched his first career victory at the Upper Chesapeake Bay, which led to a 24th-place finish at the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota.
Leaving Knoxville with a competitive finish gave Thompkins a ton of confidence heading into the bulk of the Opens season.
“A lot of fishing is confidence. When you’re back in the boat that morning and you have the confidence that you are doing it a lot better than a lot of people, it gives you confidence to stick with it knowing that if you do, you will still come out on top. That is what has helped me a lot this year, being able to stick to a deal more and longer than everyone else around me because I have the confidence I’ll be able to catch them. It has worked out this year perfectly.”
He spends close to 300 days on the water a year, which is no exaggeration. Other than travel and boat maintenance days, Thompkins said he will be on the water from daylight to dark, scanning and searching for winning spots and techniques. Practice makes perfect, and that’s the philosophy Thompkins has adopted throughout his journey to the Elite Series.
A 48th-place finish at Eufaula Ala., the first event of the season, was his worst of the year. After a 32nd at Toledo Bend, Thompkins never finished below 15th the rest of the season, notching an eighth at Buggs Island, an 11th at Wheeler Lake and then a 14th at Eufaula, Okla.
The late summer was somehow even better for the 21-year-old as he finished seventh at the St. Lawrence River before a runner-up finish at Watts Bar and another seventh at Lake of the Ozarks. The St. Lawrence River, for Thompkins, was the real turning point in his season.
“The one I looked forward to the most was the St. Lawrence River. I knew it was a different animal than a lot of people realize. I knew when we went there it was going to be a really big curveball to a lot of anglers, and I was able to capitalize. I made my biggest point gain on Trey McKinney and John Garrett there.”
Then, late on Day 2 at Watts Bar, Thompkins landed a 5-pounder and a 4-pounder to move up into the Top 10, another critical points gain.
Now, Thompkins will look ahead to the Elite Series schedule. He is most looking forward to the Northern Swing at the end of the season, but a return trip to the Harris Chain of Lakes has him intrigued as well. Remarkably, the event in his home state, Lake Murray, is a lake he has only visited a handful of times.
“I’m excited for a lot of tournaments,” he said. “Harris Chain is a big one I’m looking forward to if the grass is right and the water clarity is right. I’m also looking forward to Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence River. I’ve probably spent more time on Champlain than the St. Lawrence River. I’m pretty excited for Wheeler Lake and Smith Lake too.”
Visit this page to see the final EQ standings for 2023.
