Story by Ken Duke | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
As the guy who compiles a lot of the stats and keeps track of the records for the National Professional Fishing League, I can tell you that a lot of the numbers don’t fit neatly into a particular category.
So it can be challenging to corral them for article purposes and put them into a story that clearly and concisely explains something. After all, statistics are really just tools to encapsulate something and—hopefully—to convey a larger truth. A lot of my favorite numbers are just … well, interesting … at least to me, and hopefully to you, too.
Let’s find out! Whether they’re interesting or not, I’m sure they contain information you didn’t already know.
The Importance of a Good Start: Part 1
Did you know that 26% of the anglers who lead after Day 1 of an NPFL tournament go on to win? That’s right. And 56% of the Day 2 leaders go on to win. Those numbers might not be surprising. After all, they’re very similar to the numbers in other leagues. Only four times in NPFL history has the Day 1 leader fallen outside the top 14 at the end of the tournament. And only once has the Day 2 leader fallen out of the top 10.
Did you know that 63% of the eventual winners are in the top five after the first day? And 89% of the eventual winners are in the top five after Day 2. So, if you have a buddy who wants to make a bet on who’s going to win, take the top five and give him the rest of the field! It’ll make you money over the long haul.
Age is Just a Number
The average age of an NPFL champion is 37.65 years, which is almost exactly the same as the other major circuits, though that age has skewed a little younger in the past couple of seasons. In the first two NPFL events of 2025, both winners (Jason Christie and Greg Hackney) were 51 years old.
In 27 total NPFL tournaments, eight winners (30%) have been between 20 and 30 years old, nine (33%) have been between 30 and 40, and 10 have been older than 40. That’s quite an even spread.
The Importance of a Good Start: Part 2
What about Progressive Angler of the Year and qualifying for the NPFL Championship? AOY is the league’s most prestigious title, and to qualify for the annual Championship, you have to finish in the top 40 of the AOY standings, be the defending champion, or win a regular season event.
Once again the numbers show how important it is to get off to a good start.
Through 2024, 50% of the anglers who finish in the Top 10 at Stop 1 end the season in the Top 10 of AOY (20 of 40 in the first four seasons). Fifty-six percent (56%) of the anglers who finish in the Top 20 at Stop 1 end the season in the Top 20 of AOY (45 of 80 in the first four seasons). Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the anglers who finish in the Top 40 at Stop 1 end the season in the Top 40 of AOY.
The other way to qualify for the Championship is to win a regular season event, and there will be a lot of anglers “swinging for the fences” in the last couple of tournaments as they come to the realization that they won’t have the AOY points to get there. But in four NPFL seasons, only three event winners finished outside the top 40 of AOY. It goes to show that the cream rises to the top whether you’re looking at the AOY standings or the standings for an individual tournament.
Rookies and More
Two hundred eighty (280) individual anglers have competed in the NPFL. One hundred eighty (180) of those would qualify as rookies (no prior experience on the Bassmaster Elite Series, the MLF Bass Pro Tour, or the FLW Tour).
The average margin of victory in an NPFL event is 4 pounds, 4 ounces.
And the average bass to win tournament big bass honors weighs 7.20 pounds. The biggest were a pair of 10-09s from Lake Amistad (2024) and Santee Cooper (2025). The smallest tournament “big” bass weighed just 4-14 and came from Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin (2021).
Milestones Ahead
On Day 2 or 3 of the upcoming NPFL tournament on Douglas Lake in Tennessee, May 22-24, some angler will walk across the stage with the 30,000th bass to be weighed in NPFL history. And there’s an outside chance that on the final day the NPFL will eclipse 80,000 pounds of bass. Right now, the League stands at 29,263 bass totaling 75,858 pounds, 8 ounces. Thus, the average bass to hit NPFL scales weighed 2.59 pounds.
Probably on Day 2 or 3, Timmy Reams will surpass the 1,000-pound mark for NPFL bass weighed in. He’s currently at 973-06. Louis Fernandes is not far behind at 920-05, but he’ll have to wait until at least Stop 4 on Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma to reach the half-ton mark. Ironically, that’s where Fernandes won in 2023.
Finally, Drew Cook seems a safe bet to tie the NPFL record for consecutive limits (23) on Day 1 at Douglas Lake and to break it on Day 2. No angler has limited every day of an NPFL season, but 25 anglers have made it unscathed through the first two events of 2025.
