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JOSH BERTRAND
While Justin Lucas claims the No . 1 ranking for professional smallmouth anglers in 2020 , a case could be made for Arizona pro Josh Bertrand to occupy the 1b spot . Bertrand had a solid season – Top 20 in AOY standings , qualified for Heavy Hitters and RED- CREST – but as has been the case ever since the Berkley pro earned a tourlevel top 10 on the St . Lawrence River his rookie year , he shone when brown fish were the focus .
Bertrand dogged Lucas throughout Lucas ’ Sturgeon Bay victory , nearly matching the Alabama pro ’ s record-shattering 141-pound pace on day one with 40 fish for 123-3 of his own . Bertrand would eventually finish third in that event behind Lucas and Mark Daniels Jr ., but with a mindboggling event total of 93 smallmouth for 287-3 .
Bertrand similarly duked it out with Lucas and Wheeler during the Lake Erie Pro Circuit Super Tournament , claiming the lead on day one with 22-7 of smallmouth and reclaiming it on day three with 22-14 before a tough final day dropped him to third .
Although he didn ’ t claim a first-place trophy in 2020 , Bertrand ’ s eight-day smallmouth tally – 113 smallmouth for 361 pounds , 13 ounces – was the highest in memory and worthy of a Best of 2020 nod .
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KURT MITCHELL
When the tournament schedule invariably shifts to Northern waters later in the year , there tends to be a sense of excitement from just about everyone who gets to turn their attention from largemouth-heavy derbies to smallmouth slugfests .
Kurt Mitchell is the perfect example of what can happen when the focus shifts from green to brown . In 2020 , the Milford , Delaware pro wasn ’ t having a bad season before the Northern swing ( he finished lower than 75th just once ), but there was a two-week period in August that made the professional bass fishing world perk up its collective ear and take notice of Mitchell and his propensity for smashing smallmouth up North .
Just a week ahead of the TITLE on Sturgeon Bay , Mitchell went to Lake Erie for the Toyota Series Northern Division ’ s second event of the season and won it ( thanks to a massive 24-11 bag on day two ). He immediately hit to road for the TITLE and , still red-hot from the week prior , lit up SCORETRACKER ® to the tune of 119-10 on day one , eviscerating the rest of Group A by almost double ( Grae Buck finished day one in second with 63 pounds ).
Mitchell went on to finish fourth in the event for a $ 25,000 payday and a place in our 2020 retrospective for his smallmouth heroics .
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ANTHONY SHARP
While the tour-level trails of MLF get the lion ’ s share of the national spotlight , we ’ d be remiss to not give some love to the rest of the BIG5 and some of the best performances of the grassroots levels of MLF in 2020 . Enter Anthony Sharp and one of the most impressive one-day showings we ’ ve ever seen in Phoenix Bass Fishing League competition .
Back in February – what feels like years ago – Sharp cemented himself as a local legend with an absolutely mammoth bag of Sam Rayburn largemouth . Cast after cast , the Village Mills , Texas angler wrangled up giant after giant , eventually tipping the scales at 40 pounds , 6 ounces for a 21- pound , 5-ounce margin of victory – the largest ever in BFL competition . His 40-6 was just 8 ounces shy of the BFL record set by Rogne Brown on Chickamauga in 2011 .
Eye-popping numbers aside , what ’ s even more impressive is how quickly Sharp caught his fish . Less than an hour and a half after takeoff , he was calling tournament director Brad Callahan to ask if he could use his co-angler ’ s livewell in addition to his own . The rest of the day was spent trying to get his co-angler on some fish , as Sharp says he made only 50 casts after sacking up his 40-6 .
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MELINDA HAYS
Those who have been around the bass fishing tournament world for any amount of time have probably heard Melinda Hays ’ name . She ’ s worked in the industry for years , and in 2020 , some unfortunate circumstance led to one of the most noteworthy wins of the entire tournament season .
Hays , who was laid off from her job in April , decided to use it as an opportunity to turn her attention to fishing the Phoenix Bass Fishing League and really just enjoy being out on the water more often . What resulted was a Strike King Co-Angler of the Year award in the Arkie Division and an historic win .
In October , on Table Rock , Hays became the first woman to win a BFL Regional . She did so in pretty dominant fashion , too , taking the top spot by more than 4 pounds with 10 fish over three days for 22-4 total .
A mother of two daughters , Hays has made it a point to show her girls that , in bass fishing , it doesn ’ t matter to the fish who ’ s holding the rod at the other end of the lure .
“ They watch every single thing that we do ,” she said . “ And I think that it has to do with being a positive role model for them , and showing them that they can dream absolutely any dream they want .”
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