Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Day Two is underway at the Epic Baits 2026 NPFL Championship on Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. The field took off from Smith Lake Park at 6:00 a.m. CST, with weigh-ins set to begin at 3:15 p.m. CST back at Smith Lake Park or online at TNFPL.com.
Live coverage with Luke Dunkin and FatCat Newton runs from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. CST, featuring the top five anglers from Day One with live cameras.
Despite changing weather conditions yesterday — steady winds, cloudy skies, and passing rainstorms — Smith Lake showed out. Several big bass hit the scales, and those key bites proved to be the difference for anglers cracking 10 pounds or climbing into the top ten.
Patterns that prevailed on Day One were mixed, with anglers power fishing big swimbaits, jigs, crankbaits, and even some topwater, as well as finesse techniques like shaky heads and other baits to target shallow shoreline structure. The leaders had one thing in common: they kept moving, but slowed down when necessary to fish key pieces of structure. We will see that in full action on Live Coverage.
Day One leaders, South Carolina pro Corey Casey and Wisconsin pro Caleb Kuphall, each weighed 16-1, relying on a mix of quality bass anchored by a kicker to share the lead. Alabama angler Kyle Welcher sits in third with 15-6 after scrapping his subpar practice plan and simply going fishing on Day One. In fourth, Gerald Swindle brought 14-14 to the scales, while Derek Lehtonen rounds out the top five with 14-0.
The top ten is separated by just under four pounds, from the 16-1 leading weight down to Buddy Gross in tenth with 12-6. Beyond that, the weights are even tighter. John Cox sits in 21st place, just 1-1 out of tenth, while Jason Meninger is in 26th, only 1-14 back of the top ten cut line.
With more stable weather expected over the next two days, expect plenty of movement. One big bite can change everything — and two big bites can move an angler halfway up the leaderboard and squarely into contention.
Weather Watch
Some clouds early this morning on Lewis-Smith Lake gave way to mostly sunny skies through the afternoon. Temperatures started at 52°F at takeoff and are expected to climb to a high of 69°F by weigh-in. Winds are light out of the north at 5–10 mph, setting up for a much calmer and more stable weather day compared to yesterday’s conditions.
How to Watch
Tune in daily to watch the action from Smith Lake and the beautiful City of Cullman. Check out 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, starting today through Saturday.
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, here!
And be sure to follow the NPFL on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, & X.
