Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
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By Jody White - FLW News
Michigan’s Ron Nelson Adds FLW Angler of Year to His List of Accomplishments/p>
Winning the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Angler of the Year title is no mean feat, but Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich. made it look easy this year.
Finishing 11th or better in the first three events at Sam Rayburn, the Harris Chain and Lake Martin, the Michigan pro kept it rolling in the second phase of the season when the Super Tournaments started. At Chickamauga he made the cut and finished 41st, then finished 12th at the Mississippi River and locked up the title by making the top 50 (currently in 18th place) at Lake Erie. For his win, Nelson will get his 2021 Pro Circuit entry fees paid, as well as a nice piece of hardware for his mantle.
Nelson has an unimpeachable record, having won the Polaris Rookie of the Year title in his first year as a pro and owning three Toyota FLW Series wins.
Now, with the AOY win under his belt, he’s cemented himself as one of the hottest and best anglers in the country, but he’s not going to be taking a break anytime soon.
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By Al McGuckin
Legendary Yelas Went Old Skool at St. Clair for Another Top 10
Jay Yelas launched his pro career in 1989 by living in a van as a tournament fishing vagabond when gas was $1 a gallon. Now age 54, he is truly one of professional bass fishing’s living legends.
Yelas dominated the Bassmaster Classic in 2002 en route to victory, won the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title in 2003, and was recently voted a 2020 inductee of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame. He has notched a Top 10 B.A.S.S. finish in five different decades
At Lake St. Clair, the former Oregon State forestry major finished 9th and taught the bass fishing universe that even now in the strangest of times, it’s not all about super high-tech sonar and drop shots. Instead, Yelas proved the old skool technique of burning skirted blade baits in shallow water still gets the attention of meaty bad attitude smallmouth.
“We used to catch ‘em really good here in the 1990s by burning spinnerbaits on shallow flats, but in recent years that pattern hasn’t worked very well,” reflects Yelas. “But man, it worked this week!”
“I fished in 5 to 7-feet of water all week on a flat with scattered vegetation that had current flowing across it. I put my trolling motor on high, made a ton of casts, and burned that vibrating jig on a fast 7.5:1 Lew’s baitcasting reel, and the smallies smashed it like they did in the good old days,” grinned the Yamaha pro.
The vibrating jig known best as a Chatterbait was invented by Ron Davis Sr. in South Carolina, but it didn’t hit the market until 2004. So Yelas’s weapon of choice this past week on St. Clair wasn’t even available in those “good old days” 30 years ago. But they are now, and Yelas pays $17 a piece for them, just like you and me.
He doesn’t pay for their trailers however, as his longtime treasured sponsor Gary Yamamoto makes both a Zako swimbait style trailer, and a Zako Kicker paddle tail trailer for vibrating jigs. Yelas used both versions of the highly effective trailers on St. Clair and chose a heavy ¾ ounce vibrating jig so he could make long casts in clear water and be able to burn it back to the boat.
“I may not have won, but I’m proud of my Top 10 finish, and I’ll promise you nobody had more fun than me last week on St. Clair. That pattern is just so awesome, it’s addicting,” grins the longtime Toyota Bonus Bucks participant.
“Mark Zona watched me fish for a while out there on the water and said, “Man, Jay, you’re going old skool on us this week.” I told him, “Heck yea, I am old skool,” laughed Yelas.
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Little Money Report
Kent Dowden - 1st Place
Kent Dowden fished jigs to win the Little Money Tournament Circuit on Lake Templene recently.
Dowden had 9 pounds, 6 ounces.
Second place went to Riddle and Riddle with 5-13 while Crussemyer and Crussemeyer were third with 5-12.
The Remax Big Bass pot went to Grandstaff and Grandstaff with 3-1.
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IBF Report
Father and son teams claimed the top two spots at the Indiana Bass Federation Zone 1 Open Tournament on the St Joe River at Maggie’s Landing August 16.
Andy Fabiszak and son Jonathon - 1st Place
Andy Fabiszak and son Jonathon of Mishawaka won with five bass weighing 6.13 pounds. They used tubes and wacky rigged Senkos. The victory was worth $520.
Bob Seske and son Nick - 2nd Place
Bob Seske and son Nick from Osceola were second. They only had three bass but all were over 15 inches for a weight of 5.81 pounds. They won $305 plus another $55 for having the second heaviest bass that weighed 2.10 pounds. The used natural colored chatterbaits and wacky rigs around submerged timber that was in the current.
The top two teams qualified for the TBF National Semi Finals that will be held October 10 and 11 at Lake Wawasee.
Third place went to Jeff Burkett (Elkhart) and Don Miles (Elkhart) who had five bass weighing 5.62 pounds. They earned $195.
John Cochran (Mishawaka) and Walt Pickavet (Mishawaka) - Big Bass
Big Bass honors went to John Cochran (Mishawaka) and Walt Pickavet (Mishawaka) with a smallmouth bass weighing 3.04 pounds that won them $125.
In all ,64 bass were brought to the scales for a total weight of 50.82 pounds. All bass were released alive back into the river after they were weighed.
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SMAC Report
Chad Worvey and Chris Maynard won the Southwest Michigan Anglers Club (SMAC) weeknight event on Diamond Lake last week.
The winners had a limit weighing 10.30 caught on drop shots. Brian and Renee Hensley were second with a 9.56-pound limit caught on Yamamoto Grubs.
Steve and Amy Martin were third with 9.07 pounds caught on tubes and Yamamotos while Chris Leach and Dan Linn were fourth with 8.63 pounds caught on crankbaits and drop shots. They also won the big bass pot with a 3.08-pound bass caught on a crankbait.