Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Thursday, January 08, 2026
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MFL Report
CJ Stamm Michael and Smith put together a pretty good sack at Corey Lake over the weekend to win the Michiana Fishing League tournament.
The winners had 10.06 pounds, helped largely with a 4.70-pound kicker that also got them the big bass prize. They fished jigs around docks in 3 to 6 feet of water.
Corey continued to be stingy with its bass catches and most limits were very small. The winners persevered and things picked up later in the day.
“The bite was tough,” said Smith. “We didn’t have a keeper until around 11:30.”
John Davis and Seth Spaulding finished second with 9.28 pounds and also had a 4.70 kicker, tying them for big bass. However, the tiebreaker was total weight. They also fished jigs on docks.
Ron Spitz was third with 4.60 pounds. No photo was provided.
The critter pot was won by Logan Mullins and Chris Davis with an 8.06-pound northern pike.
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Butchers Baits Report
Jeremy Siler and Brock Howell locked up the Butchers Baits Anglers of Year title Sunday with a win at the Randle Chain.
Siler and Howell fished bladed baits in less than five feet of water to win the tournament with 12.12 pounds.
Manny Schwartz and Dennis Hochstetler were second with 11.10 pounds. They also took home the Big Bass pot with a 4.05-pound largemouth caught on swim jigs in 14 feet of water.
Third place went to Ray Lohr and Charlie Foutz with 9.06 pounds. They caught their fish on plastic worms and jigs in 14 feet. They finished second in the AOY race.
Siler and Howell won the AOY title with 68 pounds, followed by Lohr and Foutz with 66.01 pounds and Gary Butcher and Scott Smith with 61.04 pounds.
Butcher and Smith also had the biggest bass of the year at 5.06 pounds.
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SMAC Report
Gary Butcher and Scott Smith caught one of the few limits weighed in during the Southwest Michigan Anglers Club (SMAC) season finale at Juno Saturday.
Butcher and Smith fished jigs and wacky worms around shallow docks to catch 10.65 pounds.
There were only three limits weighed in by the 14 teams.
Scott Crocker and Terry Smith also fished shallow with jigs and wacky worms to catch a 10.07-pound limit.
Third place went to Mike VanderReyden and Brett Gessinger with a limit weighing 6.13 pounds. They caught their fish by finessing Senkos through weeds in 5 to 10 feet.
Danny Linn and Adam Crocker won the big bass pot with a 3.46 pounder caught on a crankbait in six feet of water.
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Arjay’s Report
A rainy evening on Diamond Lake didn’t hamper Ryan Hershberger as he fished alone and won three of the top prizes in the Arjay’s Weeknight season finale last Wednesday.
Hershberger won the tournament with a limit weighing 10.42 pounds. He also had the biggest bass, a 2.92-pound largemouth, and brought in the Jaywalker Restaurant junk fish with a pike weighing 5.68 pounds. He fished shallow weeds with a jig.
Noah Chambers and Jacob Meeker were second with 10.12 pounds. They fished drop shots and jigs.
Third place with 9.58 pounds went to Justin and Hunter Kosmerick who drop shotted in 8 to 10 feet of water.
Heath and George N Jody Musall were fourth with 8.96 pounds. They fished shallow weeds with jigs. Their biggest fish was 2.16.
The ClearH2O Tackle first out of the money spot in fifth, also with 8.96 pounds, was taken by Chris Yoder and Edward Bontrager. Their biggest fish weighed 2.08 pounds.
Maynard Hochstetler and Marvin Bontrager were sixth, earning the Michiana Outdoors News tackle pack.
Hochstetler and Bontrager won the Str-8 Up Mounts lucky dog pot, John Miller and Jonas Troyer Jonas took home the $50 gas cards and Justin Kosmerick won the 50/50 draw.
John Miller and Ashley Gibson won the season’s Anglers of Year title with the Kosmericks finishing second and Steve Martin was third.
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D&R Sports Center Report
Neil Vande Biezen and Luke Gritter captured the D&R Sports Center season finale at White Lake in late August.
Vande Biezen and Gritter had a whopping 23.37 pounds that included a 5.62-pound bass that also won them big bass prize of the tournament.
Details on how the fish were caught were not made available.
Brian Burmania and Don Watts were second with 18.66 pounds anchored by a 4.67 pounder.
John Gipson and Evan De La Rosa finished a close third with 18.17 pounds.
Fourth place went to David Hoeker and Kyle Borst who had 17.53 pounds, anchored by a 5.16 pounder, the second biggest bass of the tournament.
Cole Zagrzebski and Branden Burrill were fifth with 16.51 pounds.
AOY Champs
In addition to the tournament, Randy VanDam and Myles Hanley clinched the season Angler of Year title.
They did it without utilizing forward facing sonar, grabbing a first, second, sixth 10th and 15th places in D&R Sports Events.
“We had a pretty good year,” said VanDam. “We caught fish at every event, and just scrapped out what we could get when it was tough. We primarily fished shallow stuff all year doing the ‘VanDam Power Fishing’ tactics. It still works, I guess.”