Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Stop #5 of the 2024 season of the National Professional League starts Thursday, and that means four things.
First, we’ll crown a new champion … or maybe re-crown an old champion.
Second, we’ll see a shake-up of the Progressive Angler of the Year standings. Some anglers will get into the thick of the race. Others will fall out of contention.
Third, we’ll see a lot of movement around “the bubble” — 40th place in the AOY standings, the cut line for qualifying for the 2025 NPFL Championship.
Fourth, some records may be broken. And since we’ll cover those other happenings in separate features on the site, let’s focus on records here.
There are 10 anglers who have brought a 5-bass limit to the scales every day of the 2024 season. They are Barron Adams, Brock Bila, Louis Fernandes, Wes Logan, Jason Meninger, Jesse Millsaps, Issac Peavyhouse, Hunter Sales, Joseph Webster, and Progressive Angler of the Year leader Kyle Welcher. Zack Birge missed the first event of the season but has limited every day he’s fished this year. How many of these anglers will continue their streak into the season finale? No one knows, but it’s a solid bet that it won’t be all of them. Florida bass are just too fickle for that.
Millsaps has limited on 22 consecutive competition days going into the St. Johns tournament, which just might be the NPFL record. More on that in another installment of “A Closer Look.”
Because we’re in the heart of lunker country — central Florida — there’s a chance that someone will catch the biggest bass in NPFL history this week. Only two double-digit bass have been taken so far, both in the 2024 Championship on Lake Amistad in Texas. The biggest was a 10-pound, 9-ounce lunker by Jesse Wise.
Will an NPFL angler put a lure in front of a bigger fish this week? Count on it! Will he or she be able to get that fish to bite, wrestle it into the boat and bring it to the scales? Stay tuned.
Florida and the Amistad championship dominate the NPFL record book for big fish. They’ve produced seven of the 10 biggest bass in league history, including the biggest ever taken on Days 1, 2 or 3 of NPFL competitions.
Another interesting question surrounds NPFL standout Timmy Reams. He’s the only angler in league history to finish in the top 10 of the AOY standings each and every year of the NPFL’s existence. Can he make it four in a row? To do it, he’ll have to climb a steep hill. Reams is currently 29th, and has seemed plagued by bad luck this year. At Saginaw Bay last week, he became ill during the tournament and toughed out a 33rd-place finish. To make matters worse, Florida has been challenging for the talented West Virginia pro. His best finish in the Sunshine State was 39th at the Harris Chain in 2021. There’s no question he has the talent to fight his way back into the top 10, but with just two tournaments left in the season, does he have time?
Twenty-six anglers fished the inaugural NPFL Championship either this year and most are vying to return in 2025. Five are not fishing this year. Of the remaining 21, one — Brandon Perkins — has an automatic berth as defending champ. Three — Will Harkins, Mike Corbishley, and Patrick Walters — are in by virtue of their regular season wins on lakes Logan Martin, Hartwell, and Pickwick, respectively.
Gary Adkins is in after winning at Saginaw Bay, but he did not qualify for the 2024 Championship, so he’ll be an NPFL Championship rookie.
Here’s the list of anglers who have already qualified for the 2025 Championship.
# Angler Qualification Route
1. Brandon Perkins Defending champion
2. Will Harkins Logan Martin Lake winner
3. Mike Corbishley Lake Hartwell winner
4. Patrick Walters Lake Pickwick winner
5. Gary Adkins Saginaw Bay winner
Of the other 17 anglers who fished the first Championship, only eight are currently inside the cut line of anglers who will be invited to fish the 2025 Championship. The rest have two more events to turn things around and earn an invitation either by winning or by clawing their way into the Top 40 in points.
