The wait is nearly over. The 2025 Bass Pro Tour season will kick off Jan. 30 at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 Presented by Power-Pole on Texas’ Lake Conroe.
As usual, the seventh iteration of the BPT should produce plenty of dramatic, poignant and exciting moments. Here’s a six-pack of the most compelling storylines we’ll be monitoring throughout the year.
In case you’ve somehow missed the news, Major League Fishing announced forward-facing sonar restrictions for several of its leagues that will take effect in 2025, including the Bass Pro Tour. Anglers can only have two forward-facing or 360-degree transducers on their boats and can only utilize the technology for one of three periods each day.
Given the extent to which forward-facing sonar has taken over in recent years, just about every angler should be impacted in terms of the techniques they rely on and how they approach each fishery. A handful stand out as particularly interesting guys to watch this season, either because they’ll have to make a significant adjustment or could stand to benefit from the new rules.
Perhaps the most intriguing angler on the BPT roster in 2025 will be Drew Gill. The 22-year-old phenom exploded onto the scene as a rookie, winning on the Chowan River and finishing second in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race (then following his season up with a General Tire Team Series win in Florida for good measure). Gill has not been shy about the fact that Garmin LiveScope is central to his fishing style – he rarely makes a cast without first seeing a fish.
So, how will he approach the two non-FFS periods? Time will tell, but the young star is too smart not to have a well-thought-out game plan.
Other anglers who have excelled with forward-facing sonar include Dustin Connell, Matt Becker, Michael Neal, Alton Jones Jr. and Spencer Shuffield, although those more experienced anglers have also shown an ability to win or contend without the technology, too.
On the flip side, one name that has been mentioned by several BPT pros as someone to watch under the new rules is Andy Morgan. The three-time FLW Tour Angler of the Year has qualified for REDCREST in all six of his Bass Pro Tour seasons despite largely staying true to his shallow, power-fishing style. There’s a long list of other pros with strong track records pre-FFS; a few that come to mind as having success both with and without the technology include Ott DeFoe, Edwin Evers, Nick LeBrun, Justin Lucas, Keith Poche and Jesse Wiggins.
Just about every tournament on the schedule has the potential to produce some true lunker bass, fast and furious catch rates or both, which means we’re in for a fun year. In terms of heaviest winning weight, the early favorite has to be Stage 3 on Lake Murray. The South Carolina impoundment has been on fire in recent years, and the early March timing should see the bass at their heaviest and bulking up prior to the spawn (barring unusual weather, of course).
Stage 4 on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack could give Lake Murray a run for its money, although it’ll probably be tougher to find groups of fish at that time of year. Don’t sleep on Saginaw Bay, either. The fishery is chock full of healthy largemouth, which will likely dominate given the limitations on forward-facing sonar. In 2023, when the BPT last visited, Saginaw Bay produced more total weight than events earlier that season on Murray and Lake Guntersville.
We’ve seen several pros capture big wins on familiar waters in recent years – Bryan Thrift on Lake Norman, Anthony Gagliardi on Lake Murray, Zack Birge on Lake Eufaula, just to name a few. Looking ahead at 2025, it seems possible that local knowledge could be even more important. That’s due both to the limitations on forward-facing sonar – while anglers can still use the technology in practice, having more time with eyes under the water certainly helps break down unfamiliar territory – and the fact that the 2025 schedule will feature several hammers fishing their home ponds.
For starters, Gagliardi will return to Murray, where he not only lives but has won three national events and more than $800,000. He’ll be the clear favorite there. Same goes for Jake Lawrence at Stage 5 on Kentucky Lake. The BPT rookie has four wins in Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League competition on the fishery in the past two years.
In between those are two other Tennessee River events that will feature not just one but several competitors with local expertise. Jacob Wheeler, Becker, Morgan and Neal are all threats to win just about anywhere, and they all live in the vicinity of Chickamauga. As for Bass Pro Shops REDCREST at Lake Guntersville …
It’s rare that a championship event feels as wide open as the sixth iteration of REDCREST. The showdown on Guntersville will feature eight anglers who either live on the lake or have won a national event there. That doesn’t include the likes of Connell, a two-time REDCREST champ who lives in Alabama; Jones Jr., who has finished second in consecutive REDCRESTs and is one of the best sight-fishermen on tour; and Evers, who has four Top-10 finishes at Guntersville in his career. Add in the early-April timing of the event, which should see plenty of bass up shallow either on or near spawning beds (that can often negate a local advantage) and the $300,000 first-place prize should be anyone’s to win.
It’s been boom times lately for young anglers – not just on the Bass Pro Tour but across the entire tournament-fishing landscape. In 2021, Becker won AOY as a rookie, then Gill finished second last year. A total of 11 rookies have qualified for REDCREST over the past two seasons.
At least on paper, though, it feels like the tide could shift in favor of the veterans in 2025. Only three anglers comprise this year’s rookie class, and the schedule (the BPT has previously visited every fishery except Kentucky Lake and the Potomac River, two longtime tournament staples) and forward-facing sonar restrictions figure to benefit more experienced pros.
That said, the three newcomers all bring strong résumés to the BPT. Lawrence blitzed through the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals in his first year touring nationally, finishing among the Top 10 four times in six events and never worse than 24th. Likewise, Colby Miller proved he could catch them anywhere during a breakout 2024 campaign that saw him notch top-five finishes in five different states. Marshall Hughes is perhaps the least proven of the bunch, but in his first year branching out from East Texas in 2024, he did well, logging Top 20s in five Invitationals events.
There’s no disputing who’s king of the Bass Pro Tour. Wheeler has won the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title in three of the past four years, finishing second the one time he failed to win. He’s racked up eight BPT victories, the most of any angler, and a ridiculous 32 Top 10s in 50 total events. So, one of the biggest questions entering every season is whether someone can out-duel him in the AOY chase.
It’s possible that the forward-facing sonar restrictions hinder Wheeler a bit. He’s been as good with the technology as anyone, leaning on it (albeit in different manners) for both of his wins last season. That said, Wheeler has shown he can win in several different ways, and the new rules might actually play into his strategic acumen, which is arguably his greatest strength.
Ultimately, it would come as a shock if Wheeler isn’t at least in the mix to claim his fourth AOY crown at the end of the season. But, especially in a year that’s shaping up to be heavy on shallow largemouth, don’t engrave his name on the trophy just yet. Among the challengers to keep an eye on are Jones (who feels overdue to break through for an AOY win), DeFoe (who has finished fourth or better in five different years but never won a points crown), Connell, Lucas and Wiggins.