Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Tuesday, June 09, 2026
- Details
MFL Report
Chilly weather didn’t hurt the turnout or fishing in the Michiana Fishing League season opener Sunday at Palestine Lake in Indiana.
Big bags were weighed in and less than half a pound separating the top three teams.
Matt Summerlot and Hunter Summerlot squeaked out the victory with 17.68 pounds, due largely to their 6.56-pound bass that won big fish honors.
They said they caught their fish on jerkbaits worked in the 8- to10-foot depth range.
Derek Kelly and Jordan Smith were a close second with 17.28 pounds. They fished in 25-foot depths with swimbaits.
Bob Johnson and Jamie Czarnecki weren’t far behind, taking second place with 17.20 pounds. Specific tackle and technique details weren’t provided by the team.
The next event is scheduled for April 12th at Lake of the Woods in Bremen.
- Details
By Louie Stout
Believe it or not, the Michiana tournament season starts this weekend.
Our Lake Drive Marine Events schedule is bulging with tournaments planned throughout the fishing season. It’s designed to help everyone, including anglers who plan recreational outings, to not get caught up in congestion at boat ramps.
And, as we have in the past, Michiana Outdoors News will post results for those events free of charge.
However, we depend upon tournament directors’ efforts to submit results and will not chase them. It draws more interest in those events. Tournament info will be posted in the order it is received.
Here’s what we need:
Results should include top three finishers correctly spelled names, winning weights and lures and/or patterns used. Submissions that only have names will be rejected.
And finally, submissions with digital photos often get better play on the site and attract the most attention.
Submissions MUST be emailed to stoutoutdoors@comcast.net. We cannot work from social media posts. Questions? Drop us an email at the same address.
- Details
By Louie Stout
The biggest bass tournament in Michiana – the South Shore Open – is slated for Aug. 1-2 in Hammond, Ind.
Registration is now open for the tournament that guarantees a $12,000 first place prize if 40 boats enter. Last year’s event drew 47 boats. The top 6 places and big bass each day will earn cash.
Entry fee is $400 if paid before May 2 ($450 thereafter) and the tournament launches out of Hammond Marina. Fishing waters include Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan waters of Lake Michigan and several of its tributaries.
The mandatory pre-tournament meeting will be held July 31 at the Horseshoe Casino overlooking Lake Michigan from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., CST. The starting order will be drawn at that time and at least one team member must attend. It will be followed by a meet-and-greet hospitality room where food and beverages will be available from 5:30-7 p.m. Special parking will be arranged for vehicles with trailers.
During tournament hours, all boats must be in the take-off area by 5:20 CST. The weigh-in will begin at 2 p.m. each day.
- Details
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.
- Details
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.