The inaugural St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifier (EQ) series and its graduating class impressed in many ways throughout the course of the 2023 season. In a field of so many great anglers, claiming one of the nine available spots for the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series was no easy feat. Let’s take a look at these anglers’ journey through the Opens and what they will bring to the next level.
J.T. Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Spending over 300 days on the water over the course of a year, Thompkins has come into his own as an angler, and it showed in 2023. Building off an impressive end to 2022 where he claimed a spot in the 2023 Bassmaster Classic, Thompkins finished no worse than 48th and claimed the Opens overall points title.
The turning point of the season came at the St. Lawrence River. The 21-year-old made the Top 10, the first of three-straight final day appearances. He also took the lead in EQ points during that event and would not relinquish it.
“When all of us were standing there with our Elite Series medallions, and me and John Garrett were in the front, that was when a lot of it set in,” said Thompkins. “Funny enough, when you talk to all the guys who qualified, none of them are scared. Everyone is saying, ‘We are going to go over there and dominate.’ They are all talking about winning.”
Strengths: “I love tidal waters. That is probably my favorite thing to do. If you look at my tournaments, my No. 1 way of fishing is shallow and tidal waters. That’s where a lot of my Top 10s are and my Opens win (in 2022 at Chesapeake Bay).
“I love smallmouth. My number one deal that I feel like I’m the best at is probably smallmouth up north,” he said. “We have two tournaments on two of my favorite lakes next year. I feel like I’m a good offshore angler overall, and I really enjoy doing it.”
Weaknesses: “One hundred percent my biggest weakness is ledge fishing. It has been a mental block for me for a while. I like isolated structure fishing, stuff not everyone is going to find.”
Events most excited about: St. Johns River, Harris Chain of Lakes, St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain.
John Garrett, Union City, Tenn.
After several up-and-down seasons in the Opens, Garrett finally put everything together and qualified for the Elite Series. A former Classic qualifier through the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket, Garrett notched four Top 10 finishes throughout the season and led the points race after the Buggs Island event until the St. Lawrence River.
While he finished the season notching two top fives and an 18th, it wasn’t enough to catch Thompkins. A change in mindset during practice helped Garrett in 2023. Instead of just trying to find the winning bass, he tried to find ways to simply catch keepers.
“There are so many things to prepare for, I haven’t really had time to sit back and process it fully,” said Garrett. “It feels really good to accomplish that, and qualifying for the Elites is something I have been pushing for four years.”
Strengths: “I love to fish offshore. And offshore to me is, when I am further than a cast off the bank or when my lure isn’t touching something on the bank. It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, there will either be fish out deep or fish up shallow. Usually there’s a mix of both.
“I’m not a good bank chaser. Even if I’m not finding schools of fish, I’m looking for individual or resident bass that are living offshore, whether that’s a bass living on a stump just off the bank in 5 feet of water or if I’m chasing a big school of bass off the end of a point.”
Weaknesses: “Fishing shallow is something I can do, but I prefer not to. I really don’t like spawning events. I would like to step up in those events. I’m all the time trying to get the offshore bite going, but when the fish are spawning, that is when the sight fishermen look for the bigger bedding bass, and I don’t get up there.”
Events most excited about: Toledo Bend, Lake Fork, Wheeler Lake.
Trey McKinney, Carbondale, Ill.
McKinney may be the biggest surprise in the rookie class for fans. The 18-year-old will be the youngest to ever compete in the Elite Series, but during the Opens season he fished more like a seasoned veteran. McKinney notched four Top 10s, including two second-place finishes at Toledo Bend and Eufaula, Okla., and a third place at Watts Bar.
“I’m feeling good,” McKinney said. “It is a big step and I’m hoping to take it well. The biggest thing will be keeping my head on straight. There will definitely be a few things I’ll have to learn.”
Strengths: “More or less, it is using my Lowrance Active Target for roaming bass. Every lake is different, but when I can find big bass relating to isolated cover and roaming high in the column, that is a strength.
“I love it, and I have ways to catch them. They are aggressive most of the time. But I love shallow fishing too. I like to fish bushes and power fish hard cover with the trolling motor on high. I can slow down too.”
Weaknesses: “Ledge fishing is kind of difficult for me. I’m always trying to look at them, and some days on a ledge they sit so close to the structure that it is hard to see them. I also haven’t really figured out smallmouth.”
Events most excited about: Wheeler Lake, Lake Murray.
Robert Gee, Knoxville, Tenn.
Quietly, somehow, Gee had a great year in his first full season as an Opens pro, notching two Top 10 finishes and three more top 25 performances. Gee worked his way to the top of the standings in the middle part of the season, finishing 24th, 20th and seventh at Buggs Island, Wheeler Lake and Eufaula Oklahoma respectively. From there, he finished the season with four consecutive top 50 finishes including a fifth place at Lake of the Ozarks.
Living in East Tennessee, Gee has gotten a good grasp on most facets of the sport. He can stay around Knoxville and fish for shallow largemouth on Fort Loudoun, go to the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia and fish for spotted bass or fish for smallmouth in any given fishery in his home area.
Strengths: “I feel like I’m at my best when I’m fishing offshore. My strengths are as a ledge fisherman. That’s where I am comfortable using my electronics. I love power fishing in shallow water, and for smallmouth and spotted bass.”
Weaknesses: “I need to work on my flipping and grass punching along with my standing timber techniques.”
Events most excited about: Wheeler Lake, St. Lawrence, Lake Champlain.
Tyler Williams, Belgrade, Maine
Williams impressed many in his first full season fishing in the southern states. He started with a solid 25th-place finish at Eufaula, Alabama, before two stumbles at Toledo Bend and Buggs Island. He then finished 27th and fourth at Wheeler and Eufaula, Oklahoma, respectively to work his way close to the EQ top 10. After a 96th-place finish at the St. Lawrence River, Williams thought he cost himself a chance at making the Elite Series. But three consecutive Top 10 finishes to end the season, including a victory at Watts Bar, launched Williams into the next level. Those three events also allowed Williams to introduce his infectiously happy personality to the world on Bassmaster LIVE.
Strengths: “At my best, I’m usually scoping offshore for isolated bass … with ledges and schools using a jig. I like throwing a glide bait and a worm as well, but it seems like the jig is always in my hand,” he said.
Weaknesses: “I’m going to have to learn to play the game a little bit. This year, it kind of turned into me swinging hard the first day and hoping for the best the second day.”
Events most excited about: Smith Lake.
Wesley Gore, Clanton, Ala.
Gore’s season had several roller coaster moments. To start the season, he finished 11th in the first two events. Then at Wheeler Lake, he finished in 95th. A solid summer produced two top 50 finishes and an eighth place at Watts Bar, before the EQ qualification nearly escaped with an 83rd-place showing at Lake of the Ozarks.
When it came to crunch time, however, Gore finished eighth at the Harris Chain to advance to the Elite Series. Since fishing his first Open at Lay Lake in 2020, Gore said he has developed the mental side of his game, which in turn allowed him to succeed in the Opens.
“Fishing against 100 guys sounds better than fishing against 225 guys for sure. In an Open, I had to practice several ways to find multiple things and hope something was available.”
Strengths: “My comfort zone is offshore fishing. I grew up on the Coosa River and can fish down the bank with the best of them, but I was one of the first few people where I live to get really good at side-scanning and down-scanning. The schedule this past year set up to where you could sit down for 30 hours and scan and have a good tournament.”
Weaknesses: “I fish super fast. I love to run around. I fish for active fish and don’t try to make fish bite. But there is a time when you need to know when to slow down, and I struggle tremendously when slowing down.”
Events most excited about: Smith Lake.
Logan Parks, Auburn, Ala.
After missing out on an Elite Series bid by one spot last year, Parks got the job done this year, albeit in an equally stressful way. The former Auburn University angler moved steadily up the leaderboard all season, parking himself in the EQ top 10 after a 24th-place finish at Lake of the Ozarks. While Day 1 at the Harris Chain didn’t go to plan, he rebounded nicely on Day 2 to finish 60th and lock down his Elite spot.
Strengths: “The ideal scenario for me is offshore power fishing. I’m in my element when I’m in a Tennessee River ledge scenario.”
Weaknesses: “One thing I have to work on this upcoming year is starting out better in tournaments and not digging myself a hole.”
Events most excited about: Toledo Bend, Lake Fork.
Ben Milliken, New Caney, Texas
Known for his prowess in the YouTube world, Milliken has always had a dream of fishing big-time tournaments. He showed exactly how good of an angler he is in his first season as an Opens angler, claiming ninth place in the EQ standings and advancing to the Elite Series.
It didn’t take long for the Nebraska native to make a statement as he finished fifth at the first event at Eufaula, Alabama, before winning at Toledo Bend. From there, Milliken stayed in the top 10 in points until the St. Lawrence River event, where he finished 93rd. With an 83rd at Watts Bar, Milliken’s Elite prospects became dimmer, but a 46th-place rebound at Lake of the Ozarks set up an epic comeback at the Harris Chain of Lakes, where he finished third.
“It is just as exciting now as when I qualified. I couldn’t be looking forward to it more,” Milliken said. “The biggest thing for me professionally is to bring my background and social media marketing and show the industry a direction that I think we can take to really improve the sport for everyone, where that be the angler, sponsors or organization.”
Strengths: “Fishing offshore structure is my biggest strength whether that is with a dragging bait or a big swimbait or even a tiny finesse bait, If I can get out and scan for structure and bass on structure, that is when I am at my best.”
Weaknesses: “Even though I’m the oldest Opens angler going into this year, I don’t have a ton of experience fishing the big reservoirs and natural lakes the schedule takes us to this year and moving forward. Getting more comfortable with different nuances of fisheries around the country and doing it quickly is going to be important.”
Events most excited about: Toledo Bend, Lake Murray.
Kyle Patrick, Cooperstown, N.Y.
A high energy competitor, Patrick claimed the title at Lake of the Ozarks on his way to claim an Elite Series berth. After opening the season with an 87th-place finish, Patrick rattled off a 13th, a 23rd, a 37th and an 11th-place finish to work his way up the EQ standings.
A 110th-place finish at the St. Lawrence River nearly derailed his EQ chances, but he rebounded nicely with a 22nd-place finish at Watts Bar, and then an impressive win at Lake of the Ozarks. Even still, the final event at the Harris Chain was extremely stressful, but he was able to finish 79th and edged out Bobby Lane Jr. for the final spot.
Strengths: “Honestly, when I’m at my best, I’m sight fishing. I’m comfortable fishing structure offshore with LiveScope, and I plan to do a lot of it,” Patrick said. “But, now that there are only 100 guys on the water and you have more banks that aren’t as pressured, I feel like I could excel on the bank a little like John Cox.”
Weaknesses: “I need to get better and more confident in big baits. It seems like that is becoming fished down south for two seasons.”
Events most excited about: Toledo Bend, Lake Champlain.
