Bold predictions for the 2026 Bassmaster Classic

As we count down the days to the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, it’s time to pull out some bold predictions for the Classic. Each year the Classic provides unexpected twists and turns that nobody sees coming. On a body of water like the Tennessee River (Fort Loudoun Lake/Tellico Lake) that can be so unpredictable, you can’t help but figure things won’t go exactly as we may expect.

Let’s catch up with the pundits and media members to make some bold predictions for the 2026 Bassmaster Classic!

Mark Zona It will take 10 pounds or more for the total winning weight of the 2026 Classic compared to any of the other Classics we’ve had in Knoxville. Selfishly, I say this because I want to commentate more fish catches than we have in the past. But, I do hope that the lake actually shows up like all my local buddies that are locals say it will.

With the weather that is setting up right now with the country finally warming, there could be multiple factors that play in this tournament. The change in length limit for smallmouth will also help. I think that Fort Loudoun and Tellico are finally going to show out for the anglers, the fans and us monkeys on the set.

Tommy Sanders Easton Fothergill will go back-to-back and win the 2026 Classic. Since 2017, four Classics have been a part of a back-to-back situation with Jordan Lee winning in 2017 and 2018, and Hank Cherry winning in 2020 and 2021. Fothergill is as good as anyone at finding big ones offshore with his electronics but has also had the knack for catching a big largemouth in the clutch like he did a year ago at Ray Roberts and two years ago at the Lake Eufaula (Oklahoma) Open.

Dave Mercer You want a bold prediction? I got a bold prediction. Dylan Nutt is going to win the 2026 Bassmaster Classic. Not only is it his first Bassmaster Classic, not only is he 21 years old, not only did he qualify through the B.A.S.S. Nation but he was the third-place angler to qualify for the Classic so this is statistically about as bold of a prediction as you could possibly come up with.

I have never spoken to a more confident individual in my entire life and that’s saying something considering Kevin VanDam is one of my closest friends. He just has a different swagger around him. If you just mention he or his brother’s (Carter) name to any young angler in the southern United States, their facial expression tells the story. These kids win everything, and I wouldn’t put it past Dylan to pull it off and win his first Classic.

Davy Hite Whoever wins the 2026 Bassmaster Classic won’t win exclusively with forward-facing sonar.

I do think that it will be used, and will likely even be a factor for the eventual winner, but I don’t think it will be won exclusively shaking a minnow or a dice-style bait. I think it will be a combination of throwing a vibrating jig or something of the sorts up shallow and utilizing forward-facing out deep.

Pete Robbins The youth movement will continue. If anything, it’ll just get stronger. Stanley Mitchell has held the record for youngest Classic winner since 1981, when he claimed the title on the Alabama River at the age of 21 years, 5 months and 19 days. We have several anglers younger than that in this year’s field, including Trey McKinney and Fisher Anaya. McKinney just turned 21 in February. Anaya will get there in November. Both already have Elite Series wins. McKinney came in second last year to Easton Fothergill, another 20-something.

Of course, the pure numbers make this increasingly likely. Tripp Berlinsky won’t be 21 for another month. He’ll fly under the radar, while Tucker Smith (24) — another big payday winner — will not.

If Fothergill were to repeat, a big “if,” he’d have two Classic trophies before he turns 24, but my money is on McKinney. As we learned at Guntersville earlier this year, the kid is just a pure catcher. FFS or no FFS. Rivers or lakes. North or south. He just seems to be in the hunt every week. As weird as it is to say about someone so young, he’s due for a signature win.

Ronnie Moore The Classic field is getting younger, but the Champions remain seasoned. Even with the wave of young anglers into the spotlight of the sport, the Classic trophy is still reserved for veterans it seems. There hasn’t been a first-time Classic qualifier to win the biggest tournament in the sport since the 2007 Classic at Lay Lake. Only eight have won it their first try in history with six of those coming in the first 16 years of the Classic’s existence.

My bold prediction is either Lee Livesay or one of the 18 first-time Classic qualifiers will win on Fort Loudoun and Tellico. I mention Livesay specifically because he’s been a big-time performer in the Classic and has finished in the top 15 all five times he’s competed.

Mike Suchan Reports claim the bass have grown up some on this year’s Classic fishery. The Florida-strain largemouth stocked there seem to be coming of age, and Alex Redwine put some proof in the pudding. During pre-practice, Redwine landed his first double-digit bass, a 10.47-pounder. (See if you can guess from the photo exactly where he caught it).

A winter shad kill and warm temps leading up to the 56th world’s championship should lead to some big bites. There were several 6-pounders caught in the 2019 Classic here. Winner Ott DeFoe landed a 6, which helped him to one of only two bags topping 20 pounds. Luke Palmer’s 5-13 took big bass in 2023, a stingier Classic with no 20-pound bags, less limits and smaller average fish.

After slipping on Day 2, DeFoe won with 49-3. Jeff Gustafson famously won last time by mopping smallmouth from depths, but he only had two fish on the final day to total 42-7.

This year, with the legal smallmouth length dropping from 18 to 15 inches, there will be more limits. The event is setting up to easily top previous weights.

“It’s gonna blow the other two out of the water,” Knoxville’s Robert Gee said of his home fishery.

So the bold prediction, after a tight leaderboard, is there will be at least one 8-pound or better bass. If paired with decent livewell mates and limits each day, the angler who carries a monster bass across the stage will carry off the monster hardware as 2026 Classic champion.

Steve Bowman I’m having difficulty landing on one of two anglers winning the Classic: John Cox and Brock Mosley. Both are shallow water experts. Mosley seems to be better when water is dingy. Cox is strong everywhere because he’s hardheaded about his style.

The thing is, this event on the upper stretches of the Tennessee River has everything to do with weather and decisions, two of the most unpredictable things on the planet. Riverine fish are some of the fastest changing critters these guys fish for. They aren’t just a “here-today, gone-tomorrow” sort of prey. They are “here-right-now, gone-before-you-can-finish-this-sentence” fickle kind of prey.

The more reliable fish are always deeper, like for Jeff Gustafson and his moping technique. He won twice here fishing deep, but I’ll remind you he only caught two on the final day in 2023. I’ll also remind the field is stacked with young guns especially good at fishing deep using all the tricks available. I just don’t think there’s enough of that to go around. Again I remind you of Gussy’s two fish on the final day. I’ll also remind you the new young guns who love their electronics are equally as hardheaded as Cox on what they intend to do.

For the shallow water pickers, they will be chasing a more numerous but moving target. It will be a matter of timing, reading the weather perfectly and putting together a game plan that will look like madness until it wins. That’s’ kind of where Cox and Mosely live. The only thing that can destroy them is the weather and their own decisions.

Kyle Jessie I believe that big bass for the 2026 Bassmaster Classic will be over 8 pounds. Maybe that’s not the boldest prediction you’ll read here, but when you consider that the big bass for the 2019 Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville was a tie between Edwin Evers and Mark Daniels Jr. at 6-3 and the big bass in the 2023 Classic in Knoxville was a 5-13 caught by Luke Palmer, it would be a fairly significant jump.

Reports from anglers that spent time pre-practicing at Fort Loudoun and Tellico would suggest that the largemouth have gotten much bigger. Heck, Alex Redwine caught a 10.47 during his pre-practice. Overall, I expect the big ones to show up this time around.

Christopher Decker Bill Lowen will win the Classic . River systems have always been and will always be in Lowen’s wheelhouse. After a four-year absence from the Classic (shocking I know), he will face a fishery near perfect for the style of fishing he excels at: a river where bites are hard to come by, or at least have been in the past.

Forecasts can change no doubt, but right now a decent amount of rain is predicted to move through east Tennessee leading up to the Classic, which potentially means dirtier water and changing water levels.

Sounding familiar? Maybe like Pickwick Lake 2021?

If those conditions happen, expect Lowen to lock that black-and-blue jig in his hand and go to work. After 11 Classics, how cool would it be to see the Ohio River rat lift the Ray Scott Trophy?

I’ll offer a second, slightly less bold prediction to assist some fantasy fishing teams: Dillon Falardeau will finish in the top five. He guides on Lake Chickamauga, a relatively short drive up I-75 to Knoxville, and knows how the Tennessee River system works.

Craig Lamb Given the unseasonably warm weather conditions leading up to the tournament, and the infusion of Florida-strain genetics into the largemouth population, I predict that we see an incredible prespawn or even spawn bite.

This just happened on Saturday at Nickajack … 15.75-pound Florida-strain largemouth that will likely be the new state record. This strain of bass was stocked there and Loudon in 2015. Last March, a 10-pounder was caught from Loudon, and the TWRA has most recently sampled numerous 8-pounders.

Until the 10-day forecast runs out next Tuesday, daytime temps will be in the mid to upper 70s up here every day. There’s lots of attention going to the reduced smallmouth limit, but don’t forget about the big girls from Florida, given the forecast.

Bold predictions for the 2026 Bassmaster Classic

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