Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Day-one leader Jason Burroughs maintains his lead at the 2025 NPFL Championship on Lake Hartwell with a two-day total of 32‑4. Hosted by Visit Anderson and Anderson County, Lake Hartwell has hosted the NPFL two previous occasions—this time, with 42 anglers competing for the $100,000 first prize.
After 17‑12 on day one, giving him a 14-ounce margin over Brandon Perkins, he added 14‑8 on day two, keeping him in control with only one day left in the 2025 Championship.
In second place, Michael Stout added the biggest bag on day two, a 16‑12 limit, to go with his day-one weight of 14‑4. Stout is working a run-and-gun offshore pattern and has a two-day total of 31‑0.
Timmy Reams holds down the tenth-place spot with a two-day total of 27‑9, adding 15‑4 to his day-one weight of 12‑5. Georgia pro Trent Palmer still holds the event’s biggest bass honors with his 5‑10 lunker on day one. Palmer has moved into fifth place with a two-day total of 29‑6.
Burroughs Moves Shallow
After trusting his gut on day one, making a move from deeper water where he spent his entire practice period, Day One leader Jason Burroughs carries a 1‑4 lead going into Championship Sunday.
With a topwater locked in hand, Burroughs put his trolling motor on high and burned the bank searching for largemouth. After making a move “shallower” on day one around noon, he uncovered the potential in Lake Hartwell’s creeks. Today, he repeated his plan but found the bite tougher as the pressure increased.
“I made the move shallow, but it was slower today,” he said. “I committed this morning after yesterday afternoon’s flurry, but today it was not as easy to get them to bite. Overall, I had fewer bites, of course, but I did lose one good one that cost me a couple pounds—that one stings.”
Burroughs claims he didn’t change much on day two and is just fishing a main creek on Hartwell, covering as much water as possible and looking for rocky points and shallow pockets, holding bass making the fall transition.
“I am not seeing many other anglers, and with the projected cloudy weather tomorrow, I would think it should help those of us that are fishing a topwater,” he said. “I am catching them all day long when they bite, and I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow.”
Stout Moves to Second
With a solid day-one weight of 14‑4, keeping him just outside the top ten, Tennessee pro Michael Stout rockets to second place, rallying in the afternoon with the day’s biggest limit of 16‑12. Coming into the event, he had one good day of practice to go off and made the most of it through two days.
“With limited practice and different conditions than the clouds in practice—Day One sun and high skies—I had to adjust what I was doing a bit to catch fish,” he said. “Today, things were different again, and I had about 8 pounds at the noon time.”
Unsure what had changed, he decided to rerun his primary areas, and some new water for the afternoon. His decision paid off.
“I don’t know what changed, but this afternoon it went down for me,” he said. “I ran the same water and some new, of course, but I know I am around fish—I saw some big ones in practice, and I saw some big ones today—it has potential.”
Stout, who has held daily leads in the NPFL before, is looking to catch all he can on the final day and hopefully close things out. Fishing a “mostly offshore” pattern, similar to many other anglers in the field and locals, he is rotating through several baits to catch his fish.
“It is very weather dependent,” he said. “Based on the conditions, I rotate baits, but they are all finesse-style baits. I am seeing most of them before I catch them. The biggest thing for me is if they will bite, and when they will bite. I am covering over 50 places each day, and again, on the final day, I plan on fishing new stuff—looking at the map and finding similar water.”
Top Ten Anglers:
Jason Burroughs 32‑4
Michael Stout 31‑0
Scott Hamrick 29‑13
Will Harkins 29‑13
Trent Palmer 29‑6
Drew Cook 29‑5
Patrick Walters 29‑4
Wes Logan 28‑6
Jason Meninger 28‑3
Timothy Reams 27‑9
