v Con tinuing the rookie theme , Matt O ’ Connell claimed the AOY win in his first season fishing the loaded Central Division . A force to be reckoned with at the BFL level for a few years , O ’ Connell started his Toyota Series career with a bang , finishing second out of 260 boats on Lake Guntersville in February . He added a 15th-place finish at Smith Lake then a 13th-place showing on Lake Chickamauga . For good measure , he continued the momentum with a runner-up finish at the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine ( for the second year in a row ), bringing his 2024 earnings tally to nearly $ 70,000 . v After finishing fourth in the Southwestern Division opener on Sam Rayburn then second on Toledo Bend , Cole Moore appeared to have a stranglehold on the AOY race . Victory seemed even more sure when he made the Top 25 cut — only two anglers remained mathematically alive to surpass him . However , after catching just one keeper for 3-4 on Day 3 , he had to sweat out the rest of weigh-in . Turns out , that lone keeper was worth $ 5,000 , as Moore topped Levi Thibodaux by a single point .
Cole Moore
Matt O ’ Connell
PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE v There was nothing nerve wracking about the finish in the Western Division points race . Cristian Melton sealed a dominant season in style , winning the season finale on the California Delta by nearly 5 pounds and driving home with a pair of titles . Melton finished fifth at Clear Lake and second at Lake Havasu before breaking through for his first professional win .