When you hear Dave Mercer classify a five-bass limit as the Crush City Monster Bag of the day or of the event, you know that a Bassmaster Elite Series angler has done their job for the day.
The winner of the Crush City Monster Bag for Elite Series events wins $2,000, and the winner of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic wins $7,000. Each Elite Series and Classic angler sets their goals on catching the biggest bag they can, but it makes it even sweeter with the additional contingency prize.
Over the course of 2024, Elite and Classic anglers brought some incredible limits of fish to the stage. Here’s some of the stats and interesting facts about the Monster Bags of the season.
• 5 of the 10 Monster Bags were caught on Day 1
• 3 of the 10 Monster Bags were caught on Day 3
• 0 of the 10 Monster Bags were caught on Day 2
• 6 of the 10 Monster Bags were caught by the eventual winner
• 3 of the 10 Monster Bags were over 30 pounds
• 6 of the 10 Monster Bags were over 25 pounds
• Taku Ito was the only angler to win the prize twice
Let’s dive into each monster bag of the season.
Kyoya Fujita
31-3
Kyoya Fujita started the 2024 Elite Series season out with a bang. On the first day of the event, the second-year Elite angler brought a massive stringer to the stage that weighed 31-3. Fujita would go on to win the event on the heels of another massive bag on the final day.
Taku Ito
39-1
It’s no surprise Lake Fork produced the biggest bag of the 2024 Elite Series season. Taku Ito’s 39-1 limit on Day 1 at Lake Fork set the bar extremely high for the rest of the event as well as the rest of the season. The two-time Elite Series champion’s bag was catapulted by his personal best 10-5 seen in the picture above.
Justin Hamner
22-6
Catching the Crush City Monster Bag of the event is always a good thing, but doing it on Day 1 of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic makes it that much more special. Justin Hamner’s 22-6 on Day 1 of the Classic propelled him to win the event wire-to-wire.
John Garrett
24-2
John Garrett set the tone early at the Harris Chain of Lakes with a Day 1 bag that weighed 24-2. The Elite Series rookie went on the notch his first Elite win on the heels of his massive Day 1 catch.
Brad Whatley
31-4
Brad Whatley set up the final day of the St. Johns River Elite event to be a shootout when he brought a whopping 31-4 to the stage on Day 3. The Texas pro was making a long run each day of competition that paid dividends late in the event. Whatley went on to finish second.
Patrick Walters
26-12
Patrick Walters had the win in hand early on the final day of the Lake Murray Elite, but he went ahead and boated the biggest limit of the event just for good measure. If the South Carolina pro wouldn’t have caught his 26-12 bag on the final day, his 25-8 would have still won the Monster Bag of the event.
Cliff Prince
26-2
Catching the Monster Bag of the event on Semifinal Saturday provided Cliff Prince all the momentum heading into the final day at Wheeler Lake. The Florida pro’s 26-2 bag on Day 3 gave him a comfortable lead which eventually turned into his first Elite Series win.
Taku Ito
16-9
Who could forget Taku Ito’s massive final day at Smith Lake? Ito’s 16-9 bag of spotted bass propelled him to his second Elite Series win.
Seth Feider
23-11
Seth Feider put on an absolute show on Bassmaster LIVE when he frogged and flipped up 23-11 on the first day of the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain. The Minnesota pro always seems to put on a show at Lake Champlain, and 2024 was no different.
Chris Johnston
29-5
Chris Johnston made a massive jump from 31st to fourth when he brought a 29-5 bag of smallmouth to the stage on Semifinal Saturday. Johnston’s Monster Bag gave him a chance to take home another win at the St. Lawrence River, but his brother ended up taking the title.
While the Crush City Monster Bag is a fantastic contingency prize for the Elite Series an Classic, the weigh-in bags that are used across College Series, High School Series and Nation are provided by Rapala.
