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The Adrian College teams of Austin Tapley , Carter Ball , Aaron Jagdfeld and Jacob Emery managed to boat 32 bass for 94-13 to keep it somewhat close , but behind them , none of the three other qualifying schools managed to get within 35 pounds of the pair of Western Michigan teams in their eventual victory .
6 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . NORTHERN DIVISION St . Lawrence River Aug . 26 – 28
Brothers Chris and Cory Johnston are widely regarded as a couple of the best Northern smallmouth anglers on the planet , so it really comes as no surprise that they finished first and second , respectively , in the penultimate event of the Northern Division season .
Chris ’ win was a blowout — he finished more than 6 pounds ahead of Cory — and , save for Justin Atkins having a monster week of his own ( 70-7 ), no one else was particularly close to the siblings . Chris outpaced fourth-place finisher Brent Anderson by 13 pounds , 8 ounces .
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To weigh in bags of 25-7 , 25-2 and 27-6 , Chris spent hours running each day from takeoff at Massena all the way to Lake Ontario where he used an unidentified prototype worm on a 3 / 8-ounce drop-shot to hit a couple key spots in his roughly four hours to fish on the final day . Even after losing a 6-pounder and a 6 1 / 2 , Johnston had more than enough in his livewell to get the St . Lawrence monkey off his back in a big , big way . |
7 . BASS PRO TOUR CARPARTS . COM STAGE SEVEN PRESENTED BY COVERCRAFT Lake St . Clair Sept . 10 – 15
It ’ s been almost impossible to escape Michael Neal this year . The Tennessee pro accomplished a career-defining goal in August when he claimed the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Angler of the Year title ( see page 44 ), but then one-upped himself a month later by decimating Bass Pro Tour records on his way to winning the regular-season finale on Lake St . Clair .
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Neal entered the tournament only mildly confident in his practice , but by the end of his first qualifying day , he had discovered a group of fish on a mile-long grass flat at the mouth of the Detroit River / Lake Erie that he knew he would win on . Alternating between a bluegill-colored crankbait , a deep-diving jerkbait and a dropshot , Neal piled up 223 pounds in two qualifying days to advance straight to the final day .
Neal then crushed 168-11 of smallmouth in the Championship Round , winning by more than 75 pounds and obliterating the MLF record for margin of victory . Neal cleared the $ 300,000 mark in winnings in 2021 to complement his AOY and BPT championship trophies .
8 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . NORTHERN DIVISION Potomac River
Sept . 16 – 18
As someone with ample experience on the Potomac River , Thomas Wooten understands how crucial it
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is to make adjustments from day to day and hour to hour on the tidal fishery . On Day 1 of his Potomac win , Wooten opted for a buzzbait and swim jig around eelgrass to weigh in a steady bag of 12-12 . He started with the same approach on Day 2 , but the bite was waning and the punching bite — which Wooten really wanted to rely on — wasn ’ t the ticket either , at least for more than a few good bites .
Instead , the homebuilder who hails from Huddleston , Virginia turned to a Booyah Pad Crasher and went to work , eventually weighing in a massive 18-pound bag to vault into the Top 10 and give himself enough leeway to seal the deal with 14-6 on Championship Saturday .
While many other anglers tried the frog , Wooten found the key to success with his Pad Crasher : working it as fast as his tiring arms would allow . His fish didn ’ t want a slow , lazily walking presentation . Instead , Wooten twitched and “ stroked ” the frog to elicit reaction strikes and total 45-2 over three days , edging out Day 1 and 2 leader Aaron Dixon by 8 ounces for the victory .
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