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PHOTO BY JODY WHITE |
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1 . TACKLE WAREHOUSE INVITATIONALS STOP 6 PRESENTED BY B & W TRAILER HITCHES Detroit River
July 26-28
Known best for his shallowwater and sight-fishing prowess , Florida native Keith Carson proved he can catch offshore smallmouth with the best in the business during the final event of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals season . Carson nearly led wire to wire , taking the Day 1 lead with 22-15 , then slipping to second with 21-15 on Day 2 before closing strong with 22-8 , bringing his total to 67-6 . That topped Alec Morrison by 10 ounces .
Like many in the field , Carson ran to Anchor Bay in Lake Saint Clair each day , but he avoided the crowd by targeting more isolated , roaming bass . Carson showed off his improved forward-facing sonar skills
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by locating fish with Lowrance ActiveTarget and using a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Jerk Shad on a jighead to catch them . The victory earned him $ 80,000 and a ticket to REDCREST 2025 .
2 . BASS PRO TOUR MINN KOTA STAGE SEVEN PRESENTED BY HUMMINBIRD St . Lawrence River
August 6-11
Michael Neal joined the short list of multi-time Bass Pro Tour winners after outdueling John Hunter in a smallmouth slugfest on the St . Lawrence River . Making his fourth Championship Round appearance of the 2024 season , Neal overcame a nearly-8-pound deficit to Hunter entering the final period of the Championship Round to win by more than 15 pounds .
Committing to the upper end of the river and fishing deep , Neal used
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a drop-shot and a finesse jig to drift for bass in 40 to 60 feet of water . Key to his win were managing his fish — he saved a few key areas for his final-period rally , which saw him boat 12 bass totaling more than 38 pounds — and adjusting based on the wind and current . Neal ’ s weights got better every day : 64-3 on the first day of qualifying , 73-5 on the second , 83-11 to win the Knockout Round then 88-14 in the single-day sprint for the trophy .
3 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY PHOENIX BOATS NORTHERN DIVISION
St . Lawrence River Presented by FX Custom Rods August 22-24
Casey Smith put together a massive final day on the St . Lawrence River to climb from sixth place and claim his second Toyota Series win . After making about a 90-
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minute run upriver from takeoff on Championship Saturday , it took Smith less than 5 minutes to boat a 5 3 / 4-pound smallmouth . The New York native kept pouring it on from there , putting more than 25 pounds in the boat during the opening hour and eventually culling his way up to 26-4 . The second-biggest bag of the event , it brought his three-day total to 72-1 , which topped Kyle Cortiana by 1-2 .
While most anglers favored bottom-based presentations , Smith did the bulk of his damage targeting smallmouth that were chasing suspended schools of baitfish with a 5- inch Deps Sakamata Shad on a jighead . He took home $ 39,750 for the victory .
FOR ALL THE MOST RECENT TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS , ACTION AND RESULTS , VISIT MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM
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