Meet the 2026 NPFL Championship Qualifiers

Born: March 2, 1983

Hometown: Blue Ridge, GA

Home Water: Lake Blue Ridge

AOY Rank: 22nd

Highlights: Five top 40 finishes in 2024 including 8th place at Saginaw Bay; five career top 20 finishes

Age: 59
Hometown: Lake Wylie, SC
How qualified: 39th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four top 40 finishes in 2025 including 19th at Douglas Lake; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 24 (youngest angler in the field)
Hometown: Winter Springs, FL
How qualified: 31st in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four career top 20 finishes including 15th at Saginaw Bay in 2024; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 51
Hometown: Alba, TX
How qualified: 36th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Five career top 20 finishes including a win at Lake of the Ozarks in 2024; only angler to win an NPFL tournament without limiting each day of the event; one of six anglers to qualify for each of the first three NPFL Championships

Age: 41
Hometown: Hodges, SC
How qualified: 6th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Six career top 20 finishes—three in 2024 and three in 2025; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 49
Hometown: Odenville, AL
How qualified: 4th in AOY and winner of Stops 3 (Douglas Lake) and 6 (Logan Martin Lake)
NPFL highlights: Five top 20 finishes in 2025 including wins at Douglas and Logan Martin; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 35
Hometown: Moncks Corner, SC
How qualified: 18th
NPFL highlights: Eight career top 40 finishes, including 2nd on Santee Cooper in 2025; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 52
Hometown: Lincolnton, NC
How qualified: 12th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Five top 40 finishes in 2025, including 5th at Santee Cooper; widely considered one of the greatest jerkbait fishermen in history; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 52
Hometown: Welling, OK
How qualified: 11th in AOY and winner of Stop 1 (Santee Cooper)
NPFL highlights: Four top 25 finishes in 2025, including a win on Santee Cooper; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 36
Hometown: Greenwood, SC
How qualified: 5th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Five top 25 finishes in 2025, including 5th at Douglas Lake, 6th at Logan Martin Lake, and 7th at Lake Eufaula; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 31
Hometown: Cairo, GA
How qualified: 10th in AOY and winner of Stop 5 (St. Lawrence River)
NPFL highlights: Ten career top 25 finishes; finished in the top 15 of every NPFL tournament in 2024; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; career leader in bassing average (4.97); has caught a limit for 33 consecutive competition days; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 40
Hometown: DeBary, FL
How qualified: 9th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Known as the “Tin Man” because he fishes from an aluminum boat, Cox is arguably the best shallow water bass angler in the world; twelve career top 20 finishes, including 5th at Lake of the Ozarks in 2024; one of six anglers to qualify for each of the first three NPFL Championships

Age: 53
Hometown: Marlow, OK
How qualified: 28th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four top 20 finishes in 2025, including 19th at Lake Eufaula; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 52
Hometown: Guin, AL
How qualified: 21st in AOY
NPFL highlights: Six career top 40 finishes, including 14th at Lake of the Ozarks in 2024; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 57
Hometown: White Pine, TN
How qualified: 29th in AOY
NPFL highlights: 2023 Progressive NPFL Angler of the Year; 17 career top 40 finishes, including 2nd at Santee Cooper in 2023; one of six anglers to qualify for each of the first three NPFL Championships

Age: 53
Hometown: Chickamauga, TN
How qualified: 17th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Seven career top 40 finishes, including 4th at Logan Martin Lake in 2025; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 52
Hometown: Gonzales, LA
How qualified: 3rd in AOY and winner of Stop 2 (Lake Norman)
NPFL highlights: Finished in the top 40 of every event in 2025 and led the Progressive Angler of the Year race for much of the season; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 61
Hometown: Denver, NC
How qualified: Defending champion
NPFL highlights: Six career top 40 finishes; with his win at the 2025 Championship on Lake Hartwell, Hamrick became the oldest winner in League history; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 63 (oldest angler in the field)
Hometown: Ashville, AL
How qualified: 19th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four top 40 finishes in 2025, including 9th at Logan Martin Lake; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 42
Hometown: Mukwonago, WI
How qualified: 7th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four top 20 finishes in 2025, including 3rd at his NPFL debut on Santee Cooper; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 37
Hometown: Catawba, NC
How qualified: 22nd in AOY
NPFL highlights: Nine career top 40 finishes, including 16th at Lake of the Ozarks in 2024; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 45
Hometown: Woodruff, SC
How qualified: 23rd in AOY
NPFL highlights: 2025 NPFL Rookie of the Year; four top 40 finishes in 2025, including 21st at Lake Eufaula; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 53
Hometown: Lincolnton, NC
How qualified: 24th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four top 40 finishes in 2025, including 13th at the St. Lawrence River; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 31
Hometown: Springville, AL
How qualified: 30th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Nine career top 40 finishes, including 16th at Lake of the Ozarks in 2024; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 51
Hometown: Brookville, IN
How qualified: 15th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Five top 40 finishes in 2025, including 4th at Santee Cooper; one of the greatest swim jig fishermen in history; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 39
Hometown: Jasper, TX
How qualified: Winner of Stop 4 (Lake Eufaula, OK)
NPFL highlights: Two top 20 finishes in 2025, including a win on Lake Eufaula; has one of the strongest mental games in competitive fishing; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 54
Hometown: Fernandina Beach, FL
How qualified: 25th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Seven career top 40 finishes, including 15th at Santee Cooper in 2025; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 44
Hometown: Counce, TN
How qualified: 40th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Winner of the inaugural NPFL Championship in 2024; three-time NPFL winner; 2021 NPFL Rookie of the Year; one of six anglers to qualify for each of the first three NPFL Championships

Age: 29
Hometown: Catawba, NC
How qualified: 8th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Three top 10 finishes in 2025, including 2nd at Lake Norman; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 53
Hometown: Pleasant Hill, MO
How qualified: 33rd in AOY
NPFL highlights: Fourteen career top 40 finishes, including 12th at Lake Cumberland in 2022; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 29
Hometown: Crane Hill, AL
How qualified: 26th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Six career top 40 finishes, including 8th at Logan Martin in 2025; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 28
Hometown: Blaine, TN
How qualified: 16th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Nine career top 40 finishes, including 2nd at Lake Hartwell in 2024; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 59
Hometown: Alexander, AR
How qualified: 38th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Three top 40 finishes in 2025, including 24th at Santee Cooper; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 56
Hometown: Guntersville, AL
How qualified: 13th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Five top 40 finishes in 2025, including 2nd place at Lake Eufaula; the “G-Man” raises “junk fishing” to an art form and is one of the most consistent performers on the tournament trail; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 52
Hometown: Moultrie, GA
How qualified: 20th
NPFL highlights: Seven career top 40 finishes, including 10th at Logan Martin Lake in 2024 and 19th at Lake Norman in 2025; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 39
Hometown: Hemphill, TX
How qualified: 37th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Two top 40 finishes in 2025, including 3rd at the St. Lawrence River; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 31
Hometown: Eutawville, SC
Home Water: 2025 Progressive Angler of the Year
NPFL highlights: Four career NPFL wins; 18 career top 10 finishes; NPFL’s all-time leading money winner; one of six anglers to qualify for each of the first three NPFL Championships; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season

Age: 33
Hometown: Opelika, AL
How qualified: 2nd in AOY
NPFL highlights: 2024 Progressive NPFL Angler of the Year; in two years with the NPFL, he has never finished out of the money or lower than 18th; weighed in a 5-bass limit every day of the 2025 season; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 53
Hometown: Newton, NC
How qualified: 27th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Four top 20 finishes, including 9th at Lake Norman in 2025; fishing his first NPFL Championship

Age: 45
Hometown: Aiken, SC
How qualified: 34th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Ten career top 40 finishes, including 3rd at Saginaw Bay in 2024; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 41
Hometown: Erwin, NC
How qualified: 35th in AOY
NPFL highlights: Nine career top 20 finishes, including 5th sat Lake Cumberland in 2022 and 5th at Logan Martin in 2025; fishing his second NPFL Championship

Age: 41
Hometown: Knoxville, TN
How qualified: 32nd in AOY
NPFL highlights: Seven career top 40 finishes, including 12th at Pickwick Lake in 2024; fishing his first NPFL Championship