Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
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Tackle Shack Report
Jake and Danny Otto - 1st Place
Jake and Danny Otto never had a chance to practice Lake Wawasee for the Tackle Shack Open last weekend but it didn’t prevent them from winning.
The Ottos had 13.91 pounds to win $2,500, plus they took home the $500 Stutzman Landscaping pot with big bass of the tournament. The big fish weighed 4.90 pounds and was caught on a Berkley Slobberknocker.
The Ottos said they ran shallow channels all day and landed close to 20 keepers, mostly on Chatterbaits in shad patterns. Their two biggest fish came from shallow pads in the channels.
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Travail’s Report
Jesse Richardson - 1st Place
Jesse Richardson won the Travail’s Bass Tournament on Lake Palestine last Sunday.
Richardson had 14.9 pounds to overshadow the other eight boats competing.
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MLF Report
Boater Jeremy Johnson of Austin, Indiana, weighed in four bass totaling 12 pounds even Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Monroe . The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division.
Johnson earned $4,498 for his victory.
“I fished at the causeway to start out, and I didn’t get bit at all. Then I ran some bushes and didn’t get bit at all, so I had to go to Plan C. I ran all the way up to the dam and threw an umbrella rig for five hours and ended up catching four big ones on the A-rig,” Johnson said.
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CastingCouples Report
Ryan Yoder and Chris Brundt - 1st Place
Ryan Yoder and Chris Brundt (Elkhart) won the CastingCouples Open on the St. Joseph River at the 6 Span Bridge Launch last weekend.
Yoder and Brunt had four bass over 15inches and one under 12inches totaling 12.46 pounds. They used jigs, topwater, and swimbaits to take home $200.
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By Al McGuckin
Mike Iaconelli
We can’t be sure why Mike Iaconelli returned to the ramp at dark following a long day of practice on Lake Murray with one dead shad and one dead blueback herring in his boat. But one thing’s for certain, he’s very much in touch with how bait will largely determine where and how bass will be caught in this tournament.
Lake Murray is fishing extremely well right now. Fans should expect to see numerous limits over 17 pounds weighed-in, and it’s likely that Elite Series pros will need to average 18 pounds a day to take home a Top 10 finish, but blueback herring still remain an often-perplexing piece of the puzzle.
“First off, I’m not sure why they’re called blueback herring, because to me their backs look brown,” laughs Iaconelli. “They’re a blessing because they make such awesome forage for growing big bass, but a curse because they’re always moving, which makes finding the bass that feed on them a constant challenge,” he explains.