The realization of reaching B.A.S.S.’s top circuit is still sinking in for Paul Marks Jr.
The 23-year-old from Cumming, Ga., is pinching himself after an uber-successful 2024, including his serendipitous berth to the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series.
“I never really expected to do this, but it all just kind of happened,” Marks said. “I always loved fishing, I always watched it and never really expected to do it like I did.”
A young man of few words but loads of “Yes sirs,” Marks started hot in the Elite Qualifier series before falling and having to claw back for his Elite dream – twice. He faced a gauntlet and rose to the occasion at season’s end.
“I just knew I had to catch them,” he said. “I just turned on the gas, I guess.”
Of the nine advancing from the EQs, Marks was the only one with two finishes below 100. He balanced those out with four Top 10s and a stellar late-season stretch. Preparing for his rookie Elite year, Marks said he simply wants to continue his run.
“I would like to qualify for the Classic, maybe get some Top 10s and if I was real lucky, maybe win one,” he said. “I’m just going to fish as hard as I can and maybe something will happen.”
Marks made plenty happen in 2024. Opening with a fourth at Lake Okeechobee and then an eighth at Lake Ouachita, he led the EQ point standings. Like for several other new Elites, Santee Cooper Lakes was a stumble as he finished 114th.
“It was definitely a good start then that third one knocked me back a little bit,” he said. “But then I went to Logan Martin (23rd) and got back up in the top nine.”
In late May, Marks scored a $120,000 win in the BLF All-American on Cherokee Lake. It was his fourth pro level victory in BLF competition, including two on his home waters of Lake Lanier.
However, that momentum didn’t hold for the next EQ on Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula, where he dropped to 19th in points with his 105th-place fiasco.
“I finished in the 100s again, so I was pretty scared,” he said, “but after that I didn’t finish worse than 12th the rest of the year.”
From July to October, Marks hit all his marks, finishing 11th at St. Clair, 12th at Leech Lake then 10th at the Mississippi River before closing the year with a sixth at Lake Martin in the event moved from Lake Hartwell.
“After the Mississippi River, I was really looking forward to Hartwell (where he won a high school event in 2019) and then when it got moved to Lake Martin, I was kind of bummed out, but it ended up working out for the better.”
With his Elite berth punched, Marks has spent the offseason concentrating on sponsor deals, prepping tackle and mapping out his busy schedule that includes the nine Elites, the Redcrest and some other MLF events.
Marks said he likes the Elite schedule, but he hasn’t been able to pre-practice as of yet. It certainly helps that three 2024 EQ venues are on the 2025 Elite schedule, but Marks is digging deeper, studying to get more acquainted with the fisheries.
“I do a lot map studies, getting familiar with it so when I get there it’s like I’ve already been there,” he said. “I’m doing everything I can to maybe have an edge on everyone.
“I have a couple that I’m really looking forward to. I really like Hartwell, and then Lake Fork will be fun. Lake St. Clair and Mississippi River, I think it will be a blast. The only two I don’t know anything about are the Sabine and Albemarle, but I don’t think many know much about it.”
A “power finesse fisherman,” Marks is well-versed in forward-facing sonar and jerkbait fishing. Marks’ boat wrap will be ready this month, and tackle prep for his varied schedule is well in the works.
“I have done pretty much all of that,” he said. “I’ve got a bunch of Senkos and grass fishing stuff, Florida fishing baits that I’ve been putting together. I think Albemarle Sound, I’ll be using a lot of the same stuff. Lake Fork, I have a lot of stuff and been buying some. Lake St. Clair, Mississippi River, I have all have that covered.”
For the EQs, Marks twice traveled 20 hours to pre-practice Leech Lake and also scouted St. Clair, Logan Martin and Okeechobee. He said he won’t be able to get to the St. Johns River or Okeechobee before the 28-day off-limit period, but he will probably make plans there for scouting trips with his fellow rookie roommates.
“I’m actually going to travel with three of them, Tucker Smith, a good friend, Andrew Loberg and Emil Wagner,” he said. “Emil is from where I’m from, and I know him pretty well.”
Marks said he knows anglers need to have trusted friends on tour. The sounding boards from this power quartet, which placed third through sixth in the EQ standings, should be beneficial.
This year’s rookies have a tough act to follow. Last year, rookies won two Elite tournaments and, for the first time, all nine from the EQs qualified for the Bassmaster Classic.
Marks said he’s thrilled to be part of the first rookie class under the no-entry fee format. The landmark move put a premium on top performances, but anglers petitioned for better checks down the standings and agreed to put in $10,000 each.
“I thought that was cool,” he said, “then I saw the payout, but now that they got it sorted out I think it will be real good. I’m sure it will help some people fish more freely.”
The 2025 season launches Feb. 20 at the St. Johns River, and Marks is unsure when it will sink in he’s fishing against 103 of the world’s top anglers. Perhaps waiting to launch alongside the likes of Jason Christie or Greg Hackney, or having Patrick Walters and Brandon Palaniuk sandwich him at the tanks.
“I look up to all of them. They all do it for a living, and it’s not easy,” he said. “I’ll just try to stay calm and fish my heart out.
“Maybe it will really hit the first day of weigh-in. It will probably kind of set in for me that first blastoff.”
Yeah, Paul Marks Jr. is an Elite.
