Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Friday, October 10, 2025
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Kedik Report
Neil Vande Biezen and Andy Bachean - 1st Place
Neil Vande Biezen and Andy Bachean didn’t let a chilly Saturday morning get in the way of compiling a good limit of smallmouth on the St. Joseph River in an open bass tournament.
The winners had 16.40 pounds, caught by fishing tubes on the main river channel. They took home $330.
John Dixon and Loren Crosbie - 2nd Place
John Dixon and Loren Crosbie fish jigs in shallow water to pocket the second place pot ($220) with 12.66 pounds.
Rick Kedik and Jake Lisenko - 3rd Place
Rick Kedik and Jake Lisenko only had three keepers totaling 10.90 pounds, but it got them third place ($130) AND they won the big bass pot with a 5.04-pound smallmouth. They also fished jigs in shallow water.
The next Open tournament is Nov. 9th at the same location. Hours are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Entry fee is $60. Call Rick at 269-240-4917 for more details.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Professional bass fishing will never be the same. Ever. That’s a huge statement. In this case, it’s true. B.A.S.S. just announced that the Bassmaster Elite Series, heading into its 20th season, will no longer require entry fees. Yes, you heard that correctly. In 2025, competitors of the most prestigious tournament trail on the planet, for the first time ever in the history of B.A.S.S. competition, will no longer fish for their own money. No longer are Elite Series pros required to pay to play.
This historic decision was not made lightly. B.A.S.S. has long believed that the ultimate goal of the organization’s highest level of competition should be on par with other individual professional sports, like golf and tennis, which do not require pros to pay entry fees to compete. However, on the heels of record-breaking viewership of Bassmaster LIVE on FOX networks and Bassmaster.com, paired with strong long-term partnerships, this ultimate goal has been realized.
“We have been looking at this model for quite some time,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson. “But, we wanted to make sure that when we flip this switch, which we believe will change the face of professional bass fishing, that the concept is sustainable for the future. For the past several months, we’ve done our due diligence and came to the realization that, with the money we planned to allocate to payouts in 2025, we could offer attractive payouts without putting angler money at risk. This change greatly reduces the risk and financial strain required to compete at bass fishing’s highest level. Now, the Elite Series is in a league of its own, and the only league equivalent to other major individual sports.”
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IBF Report The Indiana Bass Federation North hosted its fourth Youth tournament at Pine and Stone lakes recently. There were 20 boats captaining 15 high school teams and five junior teams. In the Junior Division, United Christian School’s Brayden Bontrager and Layton Hostetler won with 2 pounds, 11 ounces and had big bass. Hunter Duracz, a sophomore at Chesterton high school, and Joe Childs, a senior at New Prairie High School, took first place with 9-4. They also had the biggest bass, a 4-15. The team said it started fishing 7-12 foot weeds throwing jigs, spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits and jerk baits and caught two keepers on spinnerbaits. They switched shallow around noon and caught some non-keepers, missed a couple keepers, and saw a big one so they stayed shallow. The big fish was caught on a jig. Freshmen Jayden Chase (Marian High) and Gavin Reed (Mishawaka were second with 7-3. They caught their fish on small baits; two on a wacky/neko rig and one on a small tube bait. Third place went to Peyton Attinger, a senior at Winamac, and Connor Moon, a senior at Culver High. They had 7 pounds. They said they caught a lot of them on a drop shot early then later in the day they moved in shallow around lily pads. The inside of the bends seems to be where they did most of their damage, catching two of their keepers, including their biggest fish. Sponsors that support Northern Indiana Youth Fishing include The Angler, STR8 UP MOUNTS, Conklin's Custom Baits, Track and Channel, Fort Wayne Assembly UAW GM local 2209, Clear H2O Tackle, Bite-Me Tackle Inc. Bandstra Construction, ADI Apparel, SCHMACK EM' Bait & Tackle Shop, M. Pierce Custom Lures, Rapala, NWI Fundamentals, Indiana Army National Guard, Potato Creek Bass Club, St Joe Valley Bass masters, IBF.
Brayden Bontrager and Layton Hostetler - Jr. 1st Place
Hunter Duracz and Joe Childs - 1st Place - High School
Jayden Chase and Gavin Reed - 2nd Place - High School
Peyton Attinger and Connor Moon - 3rd Place - High School
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Tackle Shack Report
Bill Mathews and Kris Iodice are no strangers to the winner’s circle, but it took a second day rally on a tough Higgins Lake for them to win it all in the Tackle Shack Classic last weekend.
The tourney was held on Houghton Lake Saturday and Higgins on Sunday. Both lakes were pretty stingy.
John Gipson and Ken Holder jumped out to nearly a three-pound lead the first day but couldn’t put it together on day 2.
Mathews and Iodice finished with 27.89 pounds to win the $3,700 top prize money.
Ron Fabiszak and Chris Norton were second ($2,200) with 27.72 pounds.
Kenny Yoder and Bob Boyd were third ($1,200) with 27.07 and won another $700 for having the biggest bass, a 5.44-pound smallmouth.
Fourth place ($700) went to Pablo Gonzalez and Bob Miller with 26.22.
Here’s how the top finishers did it:
1st place
Bill Mathews and Kris Iodice - 1st Place
"This is by far one of the most anticipated events of the year for Kris and me,” said Mathews. “Kris had never fished either lake and I had only fished Houghton once in the middle of summer about 7 years ago and had never been on Higgins Lake. I knew how different the fisheries were and that was going to make this tournament very interesting.”
Mathews said their practice consisted of one day four hours on Houghton and six on Higgins.
“We found a few decent spots with two pounders at Houghton during practice,” says Mathews. “We knew we needed at least one big fish area to compete. We bounced around the lake looking for inconsistencies in the weeds and searching for fish using forward facing sonar. We finally found the best area of the day when I hooked a 4 pounder and watched about a dozen fish following it in trying to take my bait out of its mouth.”
Practice for Higgins was a different story. The team didn’t catch a bass for the first four hours. Eventually Kris managed to catch a 2.5 pounder in about 5 feet of water and it keyed them onto a potential shallow bite. They were fishing the hard edges of shallow flats.
When competition began, Mathews and Iodice ran to their big fish spot but and had to share it with another team.
“My first hook-up of the day was a giant,” says Mathews. “The fish came up, wallowed, and spit my bait right back out at me. It was most likely a 4-4.5 pounder, so that hurt. We kept our heads down and kept our baits in the water. We picked off a limit quick and began culling.”
He added that key baits on Houghton were a Strike King 2-3/4-inch coffee tube and a 3.25-inch Strike King Rage Swimmer.
“We culled our way to around 10 pounds, then Kris caught our first good one of the day, a 3.25,” Mathews describes. “We moved to another area where we caught keepers in practice and I immediately saw three fish on my ActiveTarget. I tossed my Rage Swimmer behind the boat and caught another 3.3.”
They bounced around the lake catching a few fish here and there, but nothing was upgrading for them. They started running new water with about two hours left and stumbled onto a huge rock/shell bed.
“Kris and I went back-to-back with two of our biggest fish of the day, his on a tube and mine on a swimbait,” he says. “That put us at 16.73 pounds and had us sitting in fifth place.”
At Higgins, the team avoided its shallow areas until the sun rose and the wind picked up, so they began fishing all new water out deep.
“I started seeing some very interesting looking marks hugging the bottom in 40-50 foot of water,” Mathews explains. “I was floating a 3/8-ounce head with a Strike King Baby Z2 down to them and it would take a long while for my bait to get to the right depth.”
Precise casts and boat placement was key.
“I caught two in about 45 feet of water, a 3 pounder and a solid 16 incher,” he says. “Kris caught another keeper on a Rage Swimmer casting towards the break.”
They fished more deep spots and tried the shallow pattern but couldn’t come up with another bite. Late in the day Kris caught two by launching a Rage Swimmer as far as he could. The long casts in the clear water, he insists, were definitely keys.
They were shocked that their 11.16 pound limit was good enough to land them into the lead from fifth.
2nd Place
Ron Fabiszak and Chris Norton - 2nd Place
Fabiszak said his team caught their fish on tubes and moving baits in 4-8 feet at Houghton.
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D&R Sports Report Consistency was the key for top two finishers in the D&R Sports West Michigan two-day classic at Houghton Lake last weekend. When the second day fish hit the scales, it was Zack Hammond and Shane Tossava who prevailed with 36.78 pounds. They won $10,000. They eked out the win over Brandon Burrill and Jack Simpson who had 35.26 pounds ($2,000), with their biggest fish weighing 4.01 pounds over the two days. Burrill and Simpson led after day one while Hammond and Tossava were second after the first day. Hammond said that inside weed edges in 7 to 9 feet was the key pattern. “We fished all the way around the dense spots,” says Hammond. “We used 3/8-ounce Keitech Super Round Swimbait jig hooks with 3.3-inch Keitechs in smokin’ whites and gizzard shad colors. We also fished ¼-ounce Ned rigs with a Berkley MaxScent Lil General (stick worm)." Their biggest fish was 4.49. Neil Vande Biezen fished alone over the two days to catch 30.69 pounds for third place ($1,500) with a 3.82 being his biggest fish. Nicholas VanDam and McLane May were hair behind for fourth place ($1,200) with 30.78 pounds, anchored by a 3.82. Fifth place ($1,000) went to Jeff Elliott and Trevor Young with 30.40 pounds. A 3.91 pounder was their biggest. Big bass of the tournament was caught by Dave Slager and weighed 4.97 pounds, worth $650.
Zack Hammond and Shane Tossava - 1st Place
Brandon Burrill and Jack Simpson - 2nd Place
Jeff Elliott and Trevor Young - 5th Place