The Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Outdoors features a field as diverse as any you’ll find in bass fishing.

For the first time in four days, the wind and waves were calm on mighty Lake Oahe. Mark Daniels Jr. was not. The Alabama pro started Championship Monday with a lead of more than 6 pounds over the rest of the field.

After three years of hovering in the Top 5 of Bassmaster Magazine’s 100 Best Bass Lakes rankings, Texas’ Sam Rayburn Reservoir finally takes the crown for being the best bass lake in the nation for 2018.

$30,000 Donation Serves as Catalyst for Ongoing Sustainability Measures in SportsFishing Industry

Alabama’s Mark Daniels Jr., who vaulted to the lead in the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe presented by Abu Garcia Saturday, distanced himself from the rest of the field today. The second-year Elite Series pro brought 17 pounds, 6 ounces to the scales for a three-day total of 56-6, which gives him a nearly 5 1/2-pound cushion going into Championship Monday.

Alabama’s Mark Daniels Jr., who was sitting in second place after the opening round Friday, vaulted to the lead on the strength of a monster 20-pound, 4-ounce limit today in the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe presented by Abu Garcia.

The mystery of South Dakota’s smallmouth was solved by Elite Series pro David Fritts during the first day of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe presented by Abu Garcia. The 1993 Bassmaster Classic champion caught a 19-pound, 7-ounce limit of smallmouth to best the 107-angler field on a body of water that he had never seen before, while battling 4-foot waves.

The entire state of South Dakota has a population about equal to that of the city of Indianapolis. On June 29-July 2, however, the population around Pierre will expand by 107 of the world’s best bass anglers, as the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe presented by Abu Garcia will be contested on the massive fishery.

Notching his fifth Bassmaster victory, Ish Monroe of Hughson, Calif., produced a solid limit of largemouth bass that weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces to win his first victory in six years at the 2018 Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River presented by Go RVing.

Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., scrapped his fish catching game plan because floodwaters washed out his primary hot spot and forced him to find a place to catch bass on the upper Mississippi River.

With this tournament being his fourth visit to the legendary Upper Mississippi River, Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., is now eyeballing the $100,000 payday as he took the lead at the 2018 Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River presented by Go RVing.