Elite

Big bass of 2022 Elites

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
As the year winds down, and before looking ahead to 2023, let’s revisit the 2022 Bassmaster Elite Series and the big bass that made us say “Wow!” This final Jack Link’s Hook the Beast will detail the lunkers brought in at each venue and what they meant. Over the Elite season, there were only two bass that weighed more than 10 pounds, but there were a record three events where anglers weighed in more than 100 pounds. Let’s roll!
Ten months ago, Brandon Cobb started the season with a bang at the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River, Feb. 10-13. Cobb’s 9-pound, 13-ounce beast earned Phoenix Boats Big Bass for the event, but alas, it was his only fish of Day 1. With a Day 2 limit just a pound heavier than the giant, Cobb missed the two-day cut by one pound and finished 49th.
John Crews, who was fishing his seventh Elite at the St. Johns River, recorded a second-place finish in 2020 and a fifth the year before there. He started right this year with an 8-1, and with four other fish averaging 5 pounds, Crews took the Day 1 lead with 28 pounds.
Caleb Sumrall began the second day well outside the cut , but this 9-7 helped him bag 17-13 and climb to 20th while also earning the day’s $1,000 bonus. Sumrall, coming off a top 10 in the 2021 Bassmaster Angler of the Year race, finished 15th to get his season started well.
On Day 3 at the 2022 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River, John Cox coaxed big bedding bass, including this 8-5 and 7-13, to bite, and his 31-15 bag wowed fellow competitors and fans. Cox earned $1,000 for big bass and $2,000 for taking the VMC Monster Bag of the event. Cox came from 38th to second, just 3-1 back of Crews heading into Championship Sunday. While he reported seeing big fish on beds, he only managed 12-8 to take fourth.
Wisconsin’s Bob Downey put on a show on Championship Sunday. When the bite got right, Downey made quick work, landing around 22 pounds in less than a half hour. He then caught his biggest, this 8-4, to weigh 29-3 for a four-day total of 74-0, just 1-4 from tying Crews.
Crews, fishing his 17th Elite season, made the right adjustments on the rainy final morning. “I just went out and fished like I normally fish, which is all over the place,” he said. “I just mixed it up based on the weather.” Crews had 17-1 for 75-4, completing a wire-to-wire win for his second Elite title. “I got unbelievably fortunate; you have to catch a huge bag at least one of the days,” he said. “To win a four-day event in Florida, you can’t have any days where you slip.”
Elite No. 2 Feb. 17-20, was a short drive west, for the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Harris Chain of Lakes out of Leesburg, Fla. Another slugfest was expected, with sight fishing playing a role, but an offshore bite proving more consistent. Jamie Hartman kicked off the big bass parade with Day 1’s top bass of 8-10 that helped him to one of 11 limits over 20 pounds.
On a tougher Day 2, that number dropped to three bags eclipsing 20 pounds. While only one angler didn’t catch a limit, the average fish weight dropped to 2-8, allowing Clifford Pirch to climb with the day’s top catch, this 8-13.
An 8-10 helped Micah Frazier build the VMC Monster Bag of the event at 23-14 and earn that $2,000 bonus. It also put him in contention with a jump from 53rd to sixth, but his second 13-pound limit left him 14th and dreaming of more monsters.
Like the next two bass. Shallow-water specialist John Cox spent more than three hours sight fishing for this behemoth that was entered on BassTrakk as a 9-pounder, but was a double-digit bass when it hit the scales on the Elite weigh-in stage.
From looks, which most know can be deceiving, Clifford Pirch’s lunker appeared to be bigger. Perhaps it was the relative size of the anglers or camera perspective. Pirch seemed a touch surprised when his weighed 9-13, drawing a disappointed reaction from the crowd hoping to see another 10-plus. Pirch said it went 10-4 when he weighed it earlier.
Pirch took a back seat to Cox and his 11-0. It won the Day 3 and overall Phoenix Boat Big Bass bonuses and also finished as the Elite Series’ largest fish of 2022. Those two bass did give Cox and Pirch two of Saturday’s eight 20-pound bags and pushed both into the Top 10.
After a slow start, Drew Benton’s sight fishing bite ignited. On Semifinal Saturday, Benton’s 8-0 best gave him 21-5 that pushed him to Sunday 4 pounds out of the lead. With 21-0, which included the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day at 7-3, Benton finished 2-10 from the winning total.
Buddy Gross led two days on the Harris Chain, most importantly the last. Third after Day 1’s 22-12, Gross grabbed the top spot after 17-11 Friday but fell to sixth after his smallest limit of 14-14 on Saturday. Fishing around Banana Cove on the southeast end of Lake Harris where a majority of the field caught fish, Gross never had a monster but caught more 5-pound class bass than anyone else. With 22-6, he weighed the biggest bag on Championship Sunday for a winning total of 77-11.
The Elites broke for a month to fish the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, March 4-6. Steve Kennedy, known for targeting and catching big fish, got into the hunt on Day 1. This 6-7 was the big bass of the day, helping him to a limit of 18-9 that tied for third. Kennedy, who was runner-up in the 2016 Classic, couldn’t find any more big ’uns and fell to 15th in his 11th Classic appearance.
Brandon Cobb experienced more ups and downs. The Greenwood, S.C., angler was among the local favorites, having fished there for years and winning the 2019 Elite on Hartwell. Yet he stumbled badly on Day 1, standing 48th out of 55. Cobb’s 6-12 took Day 2’s Berkley Big Bass bonus of $2,500, but he ended up 1-4 shy of the Top 25 cut.
B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier Taylor Smith, who had a 2,500-mile drive from Valleyford, Wash., for his second Classic, got better each day on Hartwell. He had 13-13 then 16-9 before bringing in 17-7, which included a 6-11, the biggest of Day 3. Smith finished eighth with a payout of $21,000.
Stetson Blaylock started 3-11 off the pace on Championship Sunday, but he took the lead on BassTrakk around 8 a.m. after landing the first of two 5-pound-plus bass. When Blaylock checked in, the Benton, Ark., pro held the unofficial lead. Blaylock’s estimate of 19-2 wasn’t far off his actual weight of 20-9, which ended as the Rapala Monster Bag of the event and added $7,000 to Blaylock’s $40,000 for third place.
Jason Christie and Kyle Welcher were tied moving into Championship Sunday, and Welcher, behind two 4-pound fish, took a 6-ounce lead over Blaylock with only Christie to weigh. Christie, who has twice led going into the final day of a Classic, including 2018 on Hartwell, hoped to finish some business. While his BassTrakk registered 13-12, Christie’s actual weight of 17-9 gave him 54-0 and a Classic title by 5 ounces. There was some hooting and hollering.
Just two weeks later, the Elites moved down the road to South Carolina’s Low Country for the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, March 17-21. The massive lakes of Marion and Moultrie are known for big bass, and the Elites found quality and quantity – two anglers topped 100 pounds to kick off the season’s record run. On Day 1, South Carolina’s Todd Auten had the Phoenix Boats Big Bass, an 8-15 that helped him stand fourth with 27-2. Auten couldn’t catch a limit the next two days and fell to 43rd.
Wisconsin’s Pat Schlapper made a big move on Day 2. Among the few fishing Lake Moultrie, Schlapper struck late in the day when sight fishing was at its best. He landed a 9-10 around 1 p.m. for a dramatic cull then half an hour later finished his bag of 26-4 with a 7-3. He climbed from 25th to fifth, then ended up finishing 10th. Weather cancelled Day 3 momentarily, but officials reverted to four days and finished Monday.
Oklahoma’s Luke Palmer suffered a poor first day on the northern end of Marion but jumped 34 spots to ninth with 26-7 on Day 2, with bigger things to come. On Day 3, Palmer and Caleb Kuphall fished near one another, both to great success. Behind a 7-8 and 9-4, the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day, Palmer weighed the VMC Monster Bag at 33-5. Palmer started Championship Monday 4-9 behind the leader and needed only 26-2 to reach 100 pounds, but he couldn’t top 20 and finished fourth.
Kuphall, who missed a 30-pound bag on Day 1 by 6 ounces, hit the mark on Day 3, weighing in 31-4. On 14 fish — Kuphall had four for 13-0 on Day 2 — Kuphall’s three-day total was 74-13 and in reach of a Century Belt. With 26-12 on BassTrakk, Kuphall was first to break 100 pounds. At the scales, Kuphall weighed 29-3 and officially earned his Century Belt with 103-1, the second event in which Century Belts were earned at the fishery.
Drew Cook started big and just kept finding and reeling in bedding bass in his wire-to-wire win. After 31-13 (above) on Day 1, Cook broke 24 pounds the final three days to win his first Elite in grand fashion. Cook landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 4, a 7-12 late in the afternoon, that put him over the top with 105-5. In 2006, Preston Clark set the modern four-day record of 115-15 while five others topped 100 pounds at the fishery. There have now been eight belts awarded from Santee Cooper Lakes, which at the time overtook Clear Lake (7) for second on the all-time list behind Texas’ Falcon Lake (15).
Double-digit bass were expected at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake, April 7-10, but conditions put a crimp in those hopes for the most part. Pat Schlapper struck again, this time early on Day 1, with a 10-5 that held on all four days to give him Phoenix Boat Big Bass honors in consecutive events. While enjoying Happy Gilmore checks, Schlapper didn’t fill his Day 1 limit yet wound up 18th.
Scott Martin, in his second Elite season, was thrilled to finally record a Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day. This 9-12 on Day 2 was almost 2 pounds more than his Day 1 total, helping him to 21-3 and jump from 79th to 30th. However, another three-fish day saw him fall and finish 32nd.
Rookie Matty Wong of Collinsville, Texas, made the hyper jump from 64th to eighth with the biggest bag on Day 2. Wong was making noise on BassTrakk, posting a pair of 7-pounders, the biggest of which weighed 7-4. Wong enjoyed his first appearance on Bassmaster LIVE on Saturday, but he couldn’t recapture the magic of rolling a pair of sevens. Wong caught a small limit to fall to 14th, but his 25-13 earned him a $2,000 bonus as VMC Monster Bag of the Chickamauga Lake event.
Rookie Jacob Foutz, who attended Bryan College on the shores of Chickamauga, had decent days on his home water with 15-4 and 17-1, but he found the juice on Day 3. Foutz brought in the biggest bag of the day, 23-8, to jump up to fourth place. His 7-12 also earned $1,000 as the day’s big bass, and Foutz scored his biggest Elite payday at $31,000 for finishing third.
The bigs didn’t show on Championship Sunday, allowing Clifford Pirch to slip away with the Phoenix Boats daily bonus with a 5-4. With three fish going 9-3, Pirch totaled 58-0 for ninth, which moved him up to third place in AOY, just 15 points back of leader John Cox.
After a horrible showing at Santee Cooper, Classic champ Jason Christie won the Chickamauga Elite with 73-7, his biggest fish just topping 6 pounds. He catapulted from 26th to seventh with 20-15 on Day 2, yet wasn’t making much noise Saturday on BassTrakk until he landed a 6-4 on his last cast. Christie, Brock Mosley and Foutz were the only anglers to catch limits each day, and Christie was the only angler to top 20 pounds on two days. A fog bank interrupted his Sunday run, so he stopped to fish, and the area produced his biggest fish of the day at just under 5 pounds as he culled to 15-12, the heaviest of the day. It was Christie’s eighth title with B.A.S.S.
It’s always a big time at the Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork, where tournaments the past three years required more than 100 pounds to win. This May 19-22 rendition saw Phoenix Boats owner Gary Clouse catch this 8-10 relatively early on Day 1 to earn his own bonus. It was one of three bass topping the slot (24 inches) and thus eligible to be brought on stage. Problem for Clouse was he only caught four fish totaling 18-11, and one on Friday left him 83rd. In honor of B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott, who died May 8 at 88 years old, the Elite anglers donned cowboy hats similar to Scott’s iconic headwear.
Chad Pipkens had better fortunes with his Day 2 lunker, an 8-11 that equaled his famous “new personal best” at Fork in 2019 when he topped 30 pounds each of the first two days. This time, his big bass of the day bolstered a 27-8 bag that pushed him up to 11th. Pipkens, under 20 pounds for the second time in the event, missed the Top 10 cut.
On Day 3, Canadian Jeff Gustafson had the Phoenix Boats Big Bass, which tipped the scales at 8-9. After two 18-pound days, Gussy totaled 26-3 to finish 24th, which put him inside the Classic cut in the Angler of the Year standings. Gustafson won his Elite title on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville, which will host the Classic in 2023.
To earn membership in the Century Club, Marc Frazier needed 27-8 on Championship Sunday. He got off to a great start with this 8-12, which earned him $2,000 as the daily and overall Phoenix Boats Big Bass at Fork. Frazier, however, came up just short after his 26-9 gave him 99-1, but he was all smiles as he finished fifth. There were four anglers who made the mark, including Brandon Palaniuk and Gerald Swindle, who each had 102-2, and Shane LeHew (100-9). Swindle, who became the 11th Bassmaster with more than one belt, sweated it out in the afternoon. A 6-13 gave him 99-15 then he went almost two hours before a late 4-11 put him over 100.
Lee Livesay lives near Fork, guides on Fork and wins on Fork. In 2021, he won there with 112-5, bolstered by a final day 42-3. With 32-0 on Day 1, Livesay looked to have the VMC Monster Bag, only to be overtaken by Cliff Prince’s 32-5, one of four bags over 30 that week. After 28-10 and 27-5, Livesay needed only 12-1 to re-enter the club, and his limit fish, a 4-5, got him there. An 8-3 pushed him to 25-12 on the day and a total of 113-11. Fork moved past Santee into second for most Century Belts awarded with nine, all of which have come in the past four years.
Riding Big Mo, Brandon Lester caught big bass, big bags and the big total to win the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake, June 2-5. Lester, who topped 20 pounds all four days, lit up BassTrakk early on Day 1, including a 6-9 that was his first of two Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week.
After posting a Top 10 the previous year, Tyler Rivet was back at it on Pickwick. His 7-15 from Bay Springs took the daily big bass honor and held up for the overall. It was key in climbing 30 spots inside the cut and helped his AOY standing. A huge side story was AOY leader Brandon Palaniuk, who was on baby watch. Wife Tiffanie was home in Idaho and the due date of their first child had already passed. Despite her wishes that he stay and fish, Palaniuk vowed he would leave to be there for the birth. He never got the call that might have cost him the AOY lead.
Chris Zaldain, who stayed in contention with 17-8 then 16-2, made his move with 22-8 on Day 3. Throwing his big baits on Sunday, Zaldain landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass at 6-1. It helped him bag the second biggest limit on the day of 21-13 and post a third-place finish.
After 20-7 on Day 2, Lester led with 41-13. The pro from Fayetteville, Tenn., continued his solid season, which began with an Opens win on the Kissimmee Chain. Lester’s spot kept reloading, and he kept bagging good limits. On Day 3, Lester had his second daily big bass with a 6-13, and his second 21-6 gave him 63-3, sending him into Championship Sunday in first place. Lester found his spot continued to hold fish as he banged out another quick limit and culled to 22-14, the VMC Monster Bag of Pickwick. Lester earned his first blue trophy and joined the Bassmaster Millionaire Club.
Light winds allowed the Elites to freely access the Lake Ontario waters, leading to records galore in the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River, July 14-17. Rookie Jay Przekurat held off local favorite Cory Johnston, while both became the first anglers to eclipse 100 pounds in a smallmouth tournament. It was also the first Elite season in which three events were won with more than 100 pounds, dating back to the 2006 and 2007 season, when there were two each. Kyle Welcher kicked things off with this 6-12, and it held on as the biggest all week while Welcher finished 23rd.
Arkansas’ Stetson Blaylock missed overtaking Welcher for big bass by an ounce with his 6-11, but it was Day 2’s top catch. Blaylock weighed the second-biggest bag of the event at 27-11, propelling him from 32nd into fourth. A stout 26-2 on Day 4 left Blaylock third with 98-15, just 17 ounces from a Century Belt.
Shane LeHew pulled off the biggest move of the week, starting 69th before 25-9 got him inside the two-day cut at 35th. Behind a 6-11, LeHew weighed the biggest bag of Day 3 at 27-6 to sprint into ninth, and he finished seventh with 97-7, close to his second belt of the year.
After winning the 2021 Open here with a pace to eclipse 100, Cory Johnston picked up where he left off with 26-3, good for third. A subpar Day 3 hurt his chances, as he began Championship Monday 5-2 out of the lead. With the big bass of 6-1, Johnston culled to the VMC Monster Bag of 28-8, which was 9 ounces shy of tying the B.A.S.S. all-time smallmouth weight set by Chuck Economou at Pickwick Lake in 1998. Johnston earned a nice consolation by finishing with 100-5 and a belt, but he was displeased with second place and vowed to win next time at the St. Lawrence.
Jay Przekurat, after landing a 6-10 on Saturday, started Championship Sunday needing 22-15 to reach 100 pounds, but he was more concerned with the title in his rookie year. An early 6-pounder eased his tension, and he passed the century mark in late morning, culled to 25-8 and won with 102-9. After Cory Johnston, Przekurat became the 38th angler and 54th instance of 100 pounds in B.A.S.S., and St. Lawrence becomes the ninth different fishery where belts have been earned.
After the 23rd event on the St. Lawrence, the Elites reconvened a month later for the second pro event in South Dakota, the
Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe, Aug. 18-21. The huge smallmouth fishery wasn’t yielding the 20-plus pound bags reported a year earlier in pre-scouting, but there were big bass. Brandon Cobb was back at it, landing this 5-12 for daily and overall big bass bonuses. Cobb was eighth with 18-13, but he fell to 32nd after a Day 3 limit (5-7) less than his big ’un.
Austin Felix was among those pretournament favorites, and he even had a Bassmaster LIVE camera in his boat on Day 1, where he lost a big fish that would have put him a bit higher than 14-2 for 34th place. On Day 2, Felix and Lee Livesay fished alongside one another to great success. With 19-1, Livesay made a major climb from 56th to 18th. Felix one-upped him, starting with a 5-8 early and finishing with the event’s VMC Monster Bag of 23-3 to jump into second place. 
Elite rookie Masayuki Matsushita from Japan had one way above the average, and his 5-11 won big bass on Day 2. Matsushita’s consistent weights increased each day, from 13-12 to 14-3 to 15-13, giving him a 12th-place finish. Taki Ito and Chris Johnston tied for Day 4’s big bass at 4-8, but rookie Jay Przekurat caught a more meaningful big bass on Day 3. His 5-6 bolstered a limit of 19-10 and helped him minimize the damage to closest pursuer Cody Huff in the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race. Przekurat’s climb averted a much bigger loss than the 3 points Huff gained.
Behind several big bass and the biggest bag of the week, Felix, the 2020 Rookie of the Year, had 16-3 on the final day to total 71-9 and win his first Elite. Usually low-key, Felix was demonstrative in his victory celebration, especially after his parents surprised him by driving 400 miles that day. The victory also propelled him 13 spots to 33rd, well inside position to qualify to his third Classic.
Brock Mosley, as low as 82nd in the points early in the season, came into the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River, Aug. 26-29, in 53rd and needing some magic to reach his fourth Classic. He got off to a good start with Day 1’s big bass, a 5-8 that had him standing seventh with 15-11. The bass, which held out as overall Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the event, sent him on his way to a 12th-place finish. With 500 points on the season, Mosley finished inside the Classic cut at 42nd in AOY points.
Jay Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis., was comfortable in his home state and going into the event with a 64-point lead for the Falcon Rods Rookie of the Year title. He was 33rd after the first day, then came up big on Day 2, landing a 4-2 in his limit of 15-2 to run away with the ROY trophy and $10,000 prize. With 14-9 on Sunday, he finished 12th, which put him 10th in AOY and adding its $14,000 bonus.
Scott Martin’s 4-6 on Day 2 and Josh Stracner’s 5-1 on Day 3 were daily big bass winners, but Chris Johnston (above) had bigger things in mind. Johnston’s 4-7 in his Day 3 limit of 16-12 gave him the lead heading into Championship Monday, however, big bites eluded him in his 14-6 final day that left him 5 ounces shy of winning. Johnston, second to Seth Feider in last year’s AOY race, made a massive late-season climb to finish third in AOY.
On Championship Monday, Brandon Lester went on a frogging flurry, catching much of his VMC Monster Bag of 18-7 in 10 minutes, including the 4-11 big bass of the day. Lester climbed from 10th to fourth, taking $25,000, plus $3,000 in bonuses, and topping that with a $35,000 AOY check from Progressive Insurance for being AOY runner-up. Lester was the only Elite to make all nine two-day cuts on the season in which he topped more than $300,000 in B.A.S.S. earnings.
Brandon Palaniuk hoped to breeze to his second Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, but he lost ground at Oahe and struggled on Day 2 at the Mississippi River. On BassTrakk, he even lost the AOY lead before two late catches, the final 1-4 coming in his last half hour and narrowly putting him in the cut. Palaniuk caught them well on Day 3, his 15-1 limit sending him up to 25th. Palaniuk finished 2022 with 723 points, 16 ahead of Lester, in becoming just the 12th angler to win multiple AOY titles. With a new baby, Palaniuk was pleased to take the top prize from Progressive of $100,000, but he was more proud of his elevated position in B.A.S.S.
On Championship Monday, all 10 finalists landed limits and the average fish was just a skoosh over 2-12. Bryan Schmitt continued his assault on the bigger-than-average bass, culling to 16-11 to total 63-4 and win the $100,000 by 4 ounces. It was Schmitt’s second Elite title, the first coming by half a pound on Lake Champlain last year. More importantly, Schmitt climbed to 40th in AOY to earn his second Classic berth.

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