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Friday, April 24, 2026
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Bassmaster Report
Nashville, Tenn., Nation angler Dylan Nutt has won the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour
with a three-day total of 66 pounds, 13 ounces. Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time in 32 years and only the second time ever, a B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier wears the crown of the biggest title in bass fishing. Dylan Nutt, the 22-year-old phenom from Nashville, Tenn., won the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour in front of a giant home-state crowd at Food City Arena in Knoxville.
He follows in the footsteps of Bassmaster legend Bryan Kerchal, who won the 1994 Classic after qualifying through the Nation. Nutt earned his invite to this year’s Super Bowl of Bass Fishing by finishing third at the 2025 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship at the Upper Mississippi River presented by Lowrance.
After the crowning moment, Nutt was still processing what it means to follow in Kerchal’s footsteps.
“I haven’t had the chance to think about it. I’ve got so many things in my head right now. I don’t know what I’m thinking,” he said.
“It [the Classic] has always been the pinnacle of bass fishing to us, and I mean, heck, the last Classic that I went to was the one here, back in 2023, and I never would’ve thought next time I went to a Classic I’d be in it and holding the trophy at the end of it.”
After catching 19-5 on Day 1 and a tournament-best 26-11 on Day 2, Nutt led the Top 25 anglers out onto the Tennessee River from Volunteer Landing this morning firmly ahead of second-place pro Drew Cook by nearly 4 pounds. The University of North Alabama (UNA) senior wasted little time extending his margin. Fishing in Fort Loudoun Reservoir, he caught a keeper on his second cast, boxed up a limit by about 9 a.m. and had culled to roughly 19 pounds by a few minutes after 10.
When B.A.S.S. froze the BassTrakk unofficial leaderboard at 1 p.m., Nutt was up by an estimated 10 pounds over fellow twenty-something wunderkind Trey McKinney. Still, nothing was guaranteed at that point. All week, the afternoon hours have been key. On Day 2, several 5-plus-pound bass were caught in the afternoon. And as we saw on Saturday, the Loudoun-Tellico system has some giants, including a pair of 6-pounders Nutt landed to get into the lead and a 7-5 giant caught by Cook that was the biggest bass of the tournament. With Cook, reigning Classic champ Easton Fothergill and a slew of other hammers still within reach, there was enough drama to attract a packed house to the final Bassmaster Classic weigh-in driven by Yokohama.
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Bassmaster Report
Nashville, Tenn., angler Dylan Nutt Bassmaster Classic champion Easton Fothergill has taken the lead on Day 2 of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic
presented by Under Armour with a two-day total of 46 pounds. Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee River showed out today. So did Tennessee’s own Dylan and Carter Nutt.
The brothers from Nashville once again made it quite clear that they’re a force on some of the most famous reservoirs in this region of the country. Carter and his tournament partner, Bryce Dimauro, fishing for the University of North Alabama (UNA), won the 2026 Strike King Bassmaster College Classic Exhibition presented by Bass Pro Shops on Watts Bar Reservoir with a five-bass limit for 15 pounds, 7 ounces.
Meanwhile, over on Fort Loudoun Reservoir, Dylan hauled in the heaviest limit thus far in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. In fact, his 26-pound, 11-ounce limit is the heaviest catch of any of the three Classics held on the Loudoun-Tellico system out of Knoxville, Tenn., and it vaulted Dylan into the lead going into Championship Sunday with a two-day total of 46 pounds even.
The 22-year-old struggled to put into words the emotions he feels now leading the biggest tournament in bass fishing.
“Man, I’m feeling … I don’t know. It’s been unreal,” he said.
Coming into the tournament, there were rumors that Dylan was on some giant fish. Word had been circulating that he’d caught a 25- or 26-pound limit in practice. His Day 1 weight of 19-5 was not indicative of the quality of bass he was around.
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Bassmaster Report
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With one day in the books at the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, the storyline for much of the field is change. Anglers enjoyed warm flip-flop weather during pre-tournament practice days in Knoxville, Tenn. Since then, the weather and water conditions have done the flip-flopping, bringing frost at takeoff, wind and muddy water to the Tennessee River.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is the name atop the Classic standings. Easton Fothergill, the reigning Classic champ from Grand Rapids, Minn., best navigated the shifting conditions to jump into the Day 1 lead with a limit of five smallmouth bass weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces.
Like the weather recently, Fothergill’s day was up and down. He had to adjust, and he had to cover water. In fact, he ran 124 miles throughout Friday’s first day of competition.
Fothergill started the day running far into Tellico Reservoir, which connects to the Tennessee River’s Fort Loudoun Reservoir via a canal near both lakes’ lower ends.
“It’s just where I personally found the most consistent bigger fish,” he said. “I did have some fish in Loudoun, but by the time I made the right adjustment I didn’t have time to check those fish.”
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B.A.S.S. Report
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — “New opportunities” is a fitting theme heading into the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Competition days are Friday through Sunday.
Though this will be the third Classic held on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville, Tenn., new regulations and a healthy fishery have local pro Sam Hanggi feeling optimistic that we’ll see the heaviest winning weight of any Classic held on these waters.
“My guess would be 17 pounds a day to win,” said the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series rookie. “I would not be surprised if it took more.”
For reference, the average daily weight caught by Ott DeFoe when he won the 2019 Classic in Knoxville was about 16 pounds, 6 ounces. Jeff Gustafson averaged about 14-2 when he won there in 2023.
Fellow Elite Series pro Bryan Schmitt, who’s in this year’s field and finished runner-up at the 2023 Classic, thinks weights could be even bigger, and we might see a couple mega-bags.
“I know a lot of guys went to the Classic to pre-practice before cutoff, and there were pictures and rumors going around left and right of 10-pounders,” Schmitt said. “Those kinds of fish weren’t in there when we were there last. If a guy could figure out how to catch 16 or 17 pounds of smallmouth fairly quick every day and also figure out a way to trick one or two of those huge largemouth [during the week], dude, it’s a wrap.
“I think we’re going to be in for a little bit of a treat,” he added. “The weights are going to be a little different than when we were there last. I think it’s going to be on.”
As for what’s driving the potential for heavier weights, there are several factors. First is a change in fishing regulations. During previous Classics in Knoxville, the minimum keeper sizes were 12 inches for spotted bass, 14 inches for largemouth and 18 inches for smallmouth. Last summer, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) standardized the minimum length limit to 15 inches for all black bass species.
Previously, catching a limit of 18-inch-plus smallmouth was enough of a challenge that few Classic contenders banked their entire tournament on smallies. When Gustafson won in 2023, he was the only pro to bring in only smallmouth for three days, and even he failed to secure a limit on the final day. That all changes this year.
“Now you have a sustained source of 2 1/2- to 3-pounders that guys had to throw back last time,” Schmitt said.
Thanks to the regulation change, we should see higher weights down the standings, with potential for multiple pros to average 15 pounds or more. The only catch is managing time. There are smallmouth throughout the system, which includes Fort Loudoun Reservoir and the connected Tellico Reservoir. However, the best quality typically comes from the clearer waters found in the lower reaches of each reservoir located a long ride from takeoff.
“It’s definitely not guaranteed [to catch a limit] with the hour-plus run to get down to where the majority of people are going to fish,” Hanggi said, “but it is going to be much more doable for guys to come back with a limit [of smallmouth] compared to last time.”
The other factor raising expectations is the potential for giant largemouth that Schmitt mentioned.
“Twenty pounds of largemouth is not out of the question,” added Hanggi. “But I still think smallmouth will prevail over largies over the course of the entire event.”
To put together a winning game plan, all options must be considered. Even Schmitt, a renowned power fisherman who weighed in all largemouth in the 2023 Classic, knows he will have to mix it up. He thinks the winner will weigh a mixed bag.
Fishing patterns should be typical for the time of year in east Tennessee. Unless we see extreme weather, always a possibility in early March, water levels will still be below summer pool and most bass should still be in prespawn staging areas.
“Water temps are still in the high 40s, low 50s,” said Hanggi on the last week of February. “But it’s definitely not far off. I think if we get one or two weeks of warm weather, fish are really going to be moving up. It should still be a hard-core prespawn event.”
Pros will likely find largemouth set up on shallow points and humps, as well as on wood and rock, where they can be caught with crankbaits, jigs, vibrating jigs and jerkbaits. Forward-facing sonar will see heavy use for targeting smallmouth on deeper brushpiles, points and hard-bottom areas using jerkbaits, Ned rigs, soft-plastic minnows, drop-shots and dice-style baits.
With lots of history on this system, the field could rely on similar tactics as the previous two Knoxville Classics. And certainly, as exciting as those events were, we could expect plenty of fireworks along the way. However, with change in the air and a new crop of young pros in the mix, this tournament might surprise bass fishing fans around the world. Hanggi sure hopes so.
“I really hope that some guys have some big bags of largemouth,” he said. “Maybe some guys figure out the smallmouth bite or the ’Scoping bite mid-lake in Fort Loudoun. I’m also really interested to see if anyone catches big bags up the Little River. There are just a bunch of strategies that could work that kind of go against the grain a little bit, and I’m excited to see who prevails.”
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B.A.S.S. Report
If you’ve ever experienced the fast-paced fun of an evening bass tournament, April 21 is going to deliver that excitement to fans in a whole new way on Table Rock Lake. Bass fishing fans are in for a truly unique event as Tuesday Night LIVE on Table Rock delivers a fun, fast-paced, grass-roots-style showdown featuring some of the biggest names in professional bass fishing.
The first Bassmaster Team Tournament and first ever Tuesday Night Bassmaster Tournament brought to you by AFTCO, Beatdown Outdoors, Gamakatsu, SPRO and Sunline.
On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, eight Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pros will trade the national stage for a down-home competition at Mill Creek Boat Ramp in Kimberling City, Missouri. With four boats, two legendary hosts, and five powerhouse sponsors, the event blends top-tier talent with the relaxed atmosphere of a local Tuesday night jackpot tournament.
The evening begins at 4 p.m. CT as competitors arrive at the ramp to prepare their gear and exchange some friendly trash talk with entertaining hosts of Dave Mercer and Mark Zona. At 4:30 p.m., its blast-off time, and the teams will hit Table Rock Lake for a high-energy, three-hour shootout. At 7:30 PM, the boats return to the ramp for a traditional, no-frills weigh-in — just like the weekly tournaments anglers across the country know and love.
“This event is all about getting back to the roots of tournament fishing,” said Mark Zona. “No big stage, no big production, just great anglers, great competition, and a fun night on one of America’s most iconic bass lakes.”
Phillip Johnson, B.A.S.S. Chief Operating Officer, said the organization is excited to bring a live Tuesday night event directly to fans in a fresh and accessible format.
“We’re thrilled to bring Tuesday Night LIVE to our fans and showcase these incredible anglers in a format that feels authentic and close to home,” Johnson said. “This event captures the spirit of local jackpot tournaments while still featuring the very best talent in the sport. It’s another way for us to connect directly with our audience and deliver live bass fishing in a fun, innovative way.”
The event will feature limited commercial interruptions and will be streamed live on Bassmaster.com, the Bassmaster YouTube channel and the Bassmaster Channel on Roku, Plex and Freebie TV.