Trophy Bassmasters kicked off the 2026 fishing season at Lake Erie last weekend.
Spring jumped into summer for the day greeted the anglers with calm seas in the morning. The catch rates reflected the good weather day as the 16 anglers brought in 64 keeper bass of at least 14”. Total weight was 180.563 lbs.
All were released alive. The big winner again this year Mike Johnson as he both won the tournament and had the big bass for the day. Johnson’s 5 bass limit of smallmouth weighed 19.30 lbs. with the lunker at 5.90lbs. With a very close 2nd place, Chad Thrush weighed in a 5 bass limit of smallmouth. Chad caught a respectable 19 lbs. Virgil Grand had 5 largemouth bass that weighed 17.51 lbs to claim the final spot on the podium.
Looking at the statistics, the fishing was not up to last year’s averages. The average weight per fish was slightly higher than last year, but the number of fish per angler was slightly lower.
Trophy Bassmasters 