Then and now: The original Elite anglers

Original Elites John Crews, Steve Kennedy, Bill Lowen, Mark Menendez and Bernie Schultz are still competing for the 20th Bassmaster Elite Series season.

John Crews, Salem, Va.
John Crews was 39 events into his B.A.S.S. career that began in 2000 when he joined the Elite Series in 2006. This and the next photo show Crews at the 2007 Battle on the Border, where he finished 15th with 66 pounds, 4 ounces. 
The eventual founder of Missile Baits honed his skills at the Bassmaster Invitational, Open and finally Tour level, the forerunner of the Elite Series. By then, Crews had already competed in two Bassmaster Classics in 2005 and 2006. Crews is pictured at the 2006 Classic held on Lake Toho in Florida.
Crews scored a 16th-place finish at the 2008 Classic on Lake Hartwell. 
Crews’ first Elite win came at the 2010 Duel in the Delta, appropriately named for its location where the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta eventually flows into the Pacific Ocean. 
Crews amassed a winning weight of 72-6. Crews, then 31 years old, won the tournament catching a last cast 5-pounder. 
After finishing second and fifth at the St. Johns in 2020 and 2019, Crews sealed the win in 2022 with a weight of 75-4. 
Starting his 17th year on the Elite Series, the Virginian fished clean, lost no keepers and made good decisions during a week of moody Florida weather and unsettled fish. 
In 2013, Crews joined the B.A.S.S. Century Club at Falcon Lake with a third-place finish and weight of 103 pounds, 13 ounces. 
Crews has 24 Top 10 finishes during his Elite career as of 2024. The 2010 season was exceptional, with the win and three more Top 10 finishes.
He ended the inaugural 2006 season with $123,381 in earnings, and he has $1.6 million overall in his 24-year career. This and the next photo were taken in 2008 at Lake Harris in Florida.
Crews has 13 Bassmaster Classics on his stellar resume. 
Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala.
Steve Kennedy came in hot for the 2006 inaugural season with four top five finishes, topped off by a fourth-place performance at Santee Cooper Lakes, where he racked up 104-2.
In the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Kennedy earned three B.A.S.S. Century Club entries, capped by his winning weight of 122-14 at Clear Lake in 2007. In the 2006 season alone, his winnings were $239,420. Kennedy is pictured at the 2007 Battle on the Border, where at Lake Amistad he finished third with 101-10.
Kennedy at the 2007 Battle on the Border — also next three images.
In 2007, Kennedy demolished the B.A.S.S. record for heaviest four-day catch with the 122-14 weight and win at Clear Lake, California. On Day 3 Kennedy caught a limit weighing 40-7 that assured his presence in Championship Sunday, when he weighed another limit weighing 32-10. 
In 2011, Kennedy, then 42, won his second Elite title at West Point Lake on the Alabama/Georgia border with a winning weight of 64-14. 
Kennedy won his third Elite title in 2017 at Lake Dardanelle on the Arkansas River with a winning weight of 63-12, making a 100-mile roundtrip to fish a backwater just below the Ozark Dam on the river. 
Overall, in a B.A.S.S. career that began in 2002, Kennedy has 11 Classic appearances, 33 Top 10s. three wins and $2 million in earnings after the conclusion of the 2024 season.  
Kennedy has fished 205 total Bassmaster tournaments and has finished in the money an astounding 144 times.
Kennedy had two Top 10s in 2023 on Lake Okeechobee and the Santee Cooper Lakes.
Kennedy has built up a reputation of being a home run angler, especially on big bass fisheries. He often takes a high risk, high reward approach by throwing big baits and targeting the biggest bass in the lake.
Bill Lowen, Brookville, Ind.
Consistency has been key for Lowen. He has 22 Top 10s, 41 top 20s, and 75 top 30 finishes.
Lowen had three runner-up finishes in 2008 at Old Hickory Lake, 2010 at Clear Lake and 2015 at the Chesapeake Bay. 
Nicknamed Dollar Bill Lowen, he has finished in the money 145 times out of 196 total Bassmaster tournaments after the 2024 season.
Lowen at the 2007 Battle on the Border on Lake Amistad.
Lowen at the 2008 Citrus Slam on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes — also the next two photos.
Lowen finished fifth at the Citrus Slam with 53-3.
Lowen has 11 Classic appearances, including a fourth-place finish in 2016 at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in Oklahoma.
Lowen won his first Elite event in 2021 at Pickwick Lake with a weight of 83-5.
He’ll never forget the 8-pound, 5-ounce largemouth that buoyed his championship round performance. 
Lowen was the only angler to break 20 pounds three of four days and doing so amid flood conditions that postponed the scheduled start by two days. 
Mark Menendez, Paducah, Ky.
Mark Menendez has fished six Classics — 1997, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2020. Menendez is pictured at the 2006 Classic at Lake Toho.
The second longest active pro, Menendez had fished 281 Bassmaster tournaments after the conclusion of the 2024 season. His Elite streak was briefly interrupted by a medical leave.
A career highlight was his 2009 Elite title on the Arkansas River, where Menendez amassed a winning weight of 55-7.
In a borrowed aluminum boat Menendez traversed a narrow culvert to gain access to a 200-acre slough that held the winning catch. While it paid off, Menendez took a huge gamble with the slower boat. It took him an hour each way to reach his spot, and given the limitation of time only allowed him to fish for 10 hours over the three days of competition. 
Over his career, Menendez has accumulated almost $1.5 million in tournament winnings.
 Menendez also held the B.A.S.S. Big Bass record from 1997 to 1999 with a 13-9 largemouth.
Out of his 281 (as of 2024) overall Bassmaster tournaments, Menendez has finished in the money 150 times. Those checks include the Elite win and victories at the 1998 Alabama Bassmaster Top 100 and the 2005 Bassmaster Southern Open.
Bernie Schultz, Gainesville, Fla.
Bernie Schultz holds the record for most tournaments of the active Elite pros (as of 2024), having fished 373 Bassmaster events dating back to 1982. Schultz is pictured at the 2007 Battle on the Border at Lake Amistad.
Schultz began fishing B.A.S.S. full time in 1982.
Schultz has competed in nine Classics, the first in 1989 on the James River in Virginia, and the most recent in 2016 at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
Overall, Schultz has 20 Top 10s and 95 top 30 finishes for $1.2 million in B.A.S.S. earnings.