FOR RELEASE – Ponca City, OK. (November 10, 2025) – The Bass Federation (TBF) announced today that the nation’s top grassroots anglers will get their chance to “Live Their Dream” at the 2026 TBF Federation National Championship to be held on Pickwick Lake, Florence, Alabama, March 18-20, 2026.

“This will be a brand-new venue for the Federation National Championship.” Stated Robert Cartlidge, TBF Federation National President. “We have held many large events in Florence, Alabama in the past and the anglers and families loved it there. But this is our first time for the Federation National Championship spring time event. It should be peak fishing for the best grassroots anglers from across North America.”

TBF anglers competing in the no entry fee event will also enjoy stellar payouts where the prize purse will be increased this year by nearly $40,000 and push the totals in cash and prizes well past $400,000 due to the growth and success of the Federation’s close-to-home low cost TBF National Semi-Finals and state champions program that qualified all the anglers to get here.  The framework is designed to make it easier for TBF anglers to fish premier events by minimizing travel time and expenses.

One hundred and seventy of the very best grassroots Anglers in North America have qualified (85 as boaters and 85 as non-boaters) to compete in the 2026 National Championship. The full field will compete the first two days of the event and only the 7 Division Champion boaters and 7 Division Champion co-anglers will compete on the third and final day for the Living Your Dream Prize packages and the National Champion boater and co-angler titles.  In addition to the cash prizes all 14 finalists can earn a Living YOUR Dream prize package of various sizes, and can advance to the 2026 BFL All-American if they are qualified.

The National champions and overall winners will leave with the coveted TBF National Champion Boater and National Champion Co-angler Titles and a Living Your Dream (LYD) package. The boater National Champion’s LYD package is valued in excess of a whopping $125,000 in cash and prizes including a brand-new Ranger Z520 powered by Mercury 250HP outboard engine, rigged out and all their own to KEEP!  PLUS, a $20,000 CASH prize, paid entry fee stipend into whatever they want to fish and much more!

The Federation strongly believes in the value of co-anglers, so the 2026 National Champion Co-Angler LYD package will be worth over $30,000, including 20K cash PLUS set paid entry stipends into the circuit of choice, and more!

All activities will take place a McFarland Park and are free and open to the public each day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, March 18, 19, 20, 2026. You can follow all the action with daily live weigh-ins and live leaderboard on www.Bassfederation.com

Coverage of the TBF National Championship will be broadcasted in high definition in the Federation Angler TV block on the Pursuit Channel, on Outdoor Action TV and streamed live from Florance, Alabama on www.Bassfederation.com

About TBF

The Bass Federation Inc. is the oldest and largest, organized grassroots angling organization in America and a member of the freshwater fishing hall of fame. Anchored by the leadership of the state federations, TBF is 100 percent owned by those it serves and is dedicated to the sport of fishing. TBF affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 fishing, youth and conservation events at the local level each year and have provided the foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for 50 years. The Bass Federation is proud “Partners in Fishing” with industry-leading companies including Ranger Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Lew’s, Strike King, T-H Marine, Rapala, Sufix, VMC, Rapala Crush City baits, MLF, and Power Pole. For more information about The Bass Federation, visit bassfederation.com, or call 580-765-9031. Look for TBF on facebook at Facebook.com/thebassfederation and on twitter at Twitter.com/bassfederation.

###

The District 3 National Semi Finals were held October 24-26, 2025, on Nickajack Lake.  The tournament was hosted by Marion County.  A special thank you to Mayor David Jackson, Marion County and EJ and her staff at Marion County Park.  They are always great to work with.  The tournament was a success despite the kayak race that threw us a big curve ball.  We talked to Robert and came up with a solution quickly.

The overall winner was Jack Mcillwain, a boater from Tennessee, with a weight of 29.53 pounds.  Jack is a member of the Yellow Creek Bass Club.  Second place was Dylan Strunk, a boater from Kentucky, with a weight of 25.87 pounds.

The co-angler side was won by Kenny Davis from Tennessee with a weight of 18.56 pounds.  Kenny is a member of Bradley County Bass Club.  Second place was Joshua Glacken of Kentucky with a weight of 17.72 pounds

Congratulations to these four winners as we know you will represent your state well at the National Finals.  We would also like to thank all the anglers and co-anglers who participated in the tournament.    Last but not least I would like to say thank you to the event staff that showed up and helped make this tournament a success.

TBF District 6 & 7 conducted the second annual Dual District National Semifinal at Table Rock Lake on September 27-28, 2025, at Port of Kimberling.  We have a four-year series of Dual District 6 & 7 National Semifinal events scheduled: 2024 was hosted at Grand Lake, 2025 – Table Rock Lake, 2026 Lake Dardanelle and 2027 Truman Lake.  Table Rock Lake has hosted numerous TBF and MLF events over the years, this is the first time in many years (maybe ever) that a TBF National Semifinal event has been held on the legendary fishery.  Table Rock Lake is one of the crown jewels of America’s fishing waters as well as the other lakes scheduled in the series.  The series gives our anglers the opportunity to experience the unmatched beauty of the Ozarks and gain experience on some of the best lakes in America.

Table Rock Lake is the definition of a highland reservoir – deep, clear water, mix of rock and submerged timber from the dam to mid-lake and clear to stained water and shallow cover up the river arms.  A mixed bag of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass is common across the lake. Fishing in the early fall can be tough at Table Rock with the fish scattered from shallow to deep. History has shown that you can place well either by fishing shallow or fishing deep this time of year.  A few guys always figure it out.  With water temps still in the high 70’s and peaking near 80 in the late afternoon and summer-like heat still bearing down on the Ozarks – the lake was set up for a typical fall event at Table Rock.

Practice wound down and competitors gathered at Extreme Outdoors in Branson West, Missouri for the pre-tournament pairings and rules meeting many were still scratching their heads and looking for that perfect bait or technique to help them put keepers and above average fish in the boat.

53 pairs of anglers gathered Saturday morning, and even as boat 1 was called many still wondered how the day would unfold. The sun beat down nearly all-day Saturday, and temperatures pushed near 90 degrees, anglers found the nationally recognized lake extremely stingy. When weigh-in concluded only 5 limits were brought to the scale with Chris Huselton finding himself at the top of the boater’s leader board. On the co-anglers side only 3 limits were weighed with Missouri’s Sam Heckman ending the day as the leader with a 3 fish total of 6.95 lbs.

Sunday started out with a short fog delay.  Fishing continued to be tough throughout the day, but one angler was using his local knowledge to put it together. Local, and the Missouri 2025 Angler of the Year Cody Miller stayed calm and put his head down and went to work burning through as much water as possible to bring 5 Table Rock bass to the scales weighing 11.59 lbs. Those 5 and his Saturday bag of 16.77 lbs., give him 28.36 pounds were good enough to edge out Justin Swayze’s 2-day total of 28.20 lbs. for the win.

Cody said “I wasn’t able to practice; I just burned as much bank as possible looking for late spawning bream and gizzard shad with a top water. I stayed close to the ramp and caught 15 pounds in the first hour on day one.” Day two wasn’t so good, Miller stated, “I tried doing the same thing, but I got very few bites, and I ended up breaking off a few.” He added that he went chasing the wind in a creek arm late in the day Sunday and caught a 3.5-pound smallmouth on this last cast on a square bill. “That last fish won me the tournament.”

On the co-angler side it was Tyler Dennis with a two-day total of 12.42 lbs. coming all the way from 11th to capture the win over perennial power Ray Cates from Kansas, by just over a ½ pound.

Overall Combine District 6 & 7 Champions

District 6 Top 5 Boaters
District 6 Top 5 Co-anglers

Top Five District 6 – Arkansas & Oklahoma

District 7 Top 5 Boaters

District 7 – Top 5 Co-anglers

Top Five District 7 – Kansas & Missouri

Oklahoma – Federation National Championship Qualifiers

Kansas – Federation National Championship Qualifiers

Missouri – Federation National Championship Qualifiers

State National Semi-final Champions – Advancing to 2026 TBF Federation National Championship

Congratulations to all of the winners and those anglers advancing to the 2026 TBF Federation National Championship to compete for the Living Your Dream Prize Package and the opportunity to advance to the MLF All American and MLF Toyota Series National Championship.

The 2026 TBF Dual District 6 & 7 National Semifinal will be held at Lake Dardanelle, Russellville, Arkansas.

With the extended summer-like conditions in Michigan, anglers were glad to receive some true fall weather to welcome in the Semi-Final on the Halfmoon Chain of Lakes. As the anglers launched their boats into the brisk air, they knew that it would take a big bag of bass to emerge victorious over the two-day competition.

Day 1 saw cloudy skies with some wind, but the fishing seemed to be hit or miss for the anglers. The biggest bag of day 1 was brought in by boater Rylan Hamlin with a total of 5 bass for 17.73 and also the largest bass of the day with a 5.12 largemouth. The largest bag on the co-angler side was Nick Ireland with 4 bass for 6.57. The largest bass on the co-angler side was hoisted up by Rodney Craft with a 3.21 largemouth, which ultimately held for both days.

Perhaps it was fate that both the boater and co angler leaders after day 1 ended up being paired together for Day 2, as they kept the heat on the competition and at the end of day 2 both Rylan Hamlin and Nick Ireland were crowned the victors! Rylan had an amazing day 2 on the water with a 5 fish total of 20.39, anchored by the overall big bass of the event, a 6.23 Michigan behemoth largemouth! That brought Rylan’s two-day total to 38.12, a commanding victory! Rylan said the key to his success was noting the drop in water temp overnight, changing tactics from more of a bait focused pattern, to running some of his old honey holes until he found the mega school on a hard spot.

On the co side, Nick held off the competition in a true nail biter, winning by just .11 of a lb. His Day 2 bag included 2 bass for a total of 2.41, combined for a total weight of 8.98 lbs. His key to success was also adapting to the conditions each day and maximizing on all of the bites he got. Congratulations to all of the competitors in the 2025 Michigan Semi-Final!