Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Day One of the 2025 NPFL Championship kicks off this morning on Lake Hartwell, the 2025 season finale featuring the Top 42 anglers in the 2024 Progressive Angler of the Year standings. Hosted by Visit Anderson and Anderson County, the tournament runs October 3–5, with takeoffs at Green Pond Landing starting at 7:30 AM EST or safe light each day.
The full field will fish all three days, and Live Coverage with Luke Dunkin and FatCat will be from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM EST Friday through Sunday. Fans are encouraged to visit Green Pond Landing to watch the anglers in action during the live weigh-ins beginning at 3:30 PM EST.
Fall conditions and cooler water temperatures have made for an interesting week on Hartwell, with bass to be caught both shallow and deep. Anglers will need to mix things up to stay consistent, fishing shallow for bigger largemouth, while also targeting offshore schools for consistent spotted bass. With no single pattern dominating practice, it remains to be seen whether the consistent offshore bite will prevail or if the shallow bite, with fewer, but larger fish, will make the difference.
Anglers Take
Defending NPFL Championship winner Brandon Perkins qualified for this year’s Championship with that victory on Lake Amistad and is looking to go for gold again this week. Squeaking into next year’s event in the final spot of the 2025 Progressive Angler of the Year standings, Perkins came into this week without worry, allowing him to do what he does best—go all in.
On day one of practice, he located a pattern he felt good about and was easily able to catch some quality fish. On day two, trying to replicate his pattern in other parts of the lake, with similar conditions, things were not the same.
“I was confident in what I found until I tried to duplicate it, and with the same weather conditions, things were not good,” he said. “So, I ran back down to where I found them on day one; I expanded a bit and caught some fish, but not anything like I did before.”
Going into day three, his mind was wide open. Not being able to rely on what he thought he had found, he scrapped it all, focusing his efforts on the shallow section of Hartwell and started to get a few bites.
“What I did find is not crazy, but I saw a couple nice fish, and that may be just enough in an event like this where I am planning to go all in regardless,” he said. “I am qualified for next year’s Championship already, so I think my best chance to win this event is what I found on day three.”
Perkins knows that nobody remembers who finished second in the championship, besides maybe Ken Duke, and feels good about his plan, with possibly mixing in some brush piles nearby. He expects a bit less weight to win this week than Cobb and Alvarez predicted in the Hartwell Championship Preview.
“It may be light, but I really expect it may be close to that 50 or so mark,” he added. “I know I would be comfortable with that, in that 16.5–17 pounds per day average, and I feel like that’s not going to be too far off this week. I am looking forward to day one!”
2024 Progressive Angler of the Year Kyle Welcher generally expands on his practice on the first day of any event, learning more about his areas and dialing in things as it progresses – and this week is no different. “I will be sampling a lot of different things tomorrow,” he said. “Practice was too random and scattered for me.”
Maybe Brandon Cobb was right, saying that the ‘magic two-week window’ was not quite here on Hartwell, scattering fish just ahead of the fall turnover.
John Cox has been to Hartwell a number of times and knows the lake well. But coming into day one, he was still, like Welcher, unsure about what he had found. He knows the big bass live shallow but doesn’t know just yet how consistent it may be day to day.
“I feel like I don’t have any other choice but to fish shallow, and I should be okay,” he said. “I think everyone is going to catch them this week, and with my knowledge of the lake as a whole, and staying shallow, I have no idea how it will hold up—but we will see.”
Weather Watch
This morning, temperatures on Lake Hartwell are around 55°F, with sunny skies expected throughout the day. Highs will reach the upper 70s, with northeast winds blowing at 10–15 MPH for day one of the event.
How to Watch
Tune in daily to watch the action from Lake Hartwell and the beautiful City of Anderson Catch the daily LIVE Leaderboard, LIVE Blog, and on-the-water photo galleries and blogs of the anglers for the NPFL Championship.
Catch the LIVE Coverage with Luke Dunkin and FatCat at TNPFL.com will run all three days, Friday to Sunday.
Under the Go Live Tab, choose LIVE Broadcast or check out the real-time leaderboard on the Fishing Chaos Catch Track with estimated weights entered by the anglers on the water and join us for the LIVE Weigh-ins.
And be sure to follow the NPFL on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, & X.
