HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The final day of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hamilton was never a blowout, but Matteo Turano always had an answer for his competition. Weighing 17 pounds, 4 ounces, the Tennessee angler closed strong after catching two 19-pound bags to start the event with a 56-11 total for the win. The winner of last fall’s Regional on Pickwick, Turano has made the Top 10 in more than half the MLF events he’s fished, and after banking $120,000 for the win in the All-American, he’s got a robust winnings total as well. In addition to the money, Turano qualified for the Toyota Series Championship this fall, as well as REDCREST 2026, where he’ll be pitted against the best of the Bass Pro Tour.
Finishing second, Tanner Hadden rallied up the leaderboard with 20-3 on the final day for a 53-7 total. Caz Anderson finished third with 48-12.
Turano is not the only big winner – the highest finisher from each Regional also qualified for the Toyota Series Championship as a pro, and up to $235,000 is on the line there.
Toyota Series Championship qualifiers
1. Matteo Turano – Region 1
13. Logan Anderson – Region 2
14. Mike Brueggen – Region 3
23. Scott Wiley Jr. – Region 4
2. Tanner Hadden – Region 5
9. Cody Ross – Region 6
11. Bradley Sullivan – TBF
3. Caz Anderson – Wild Card
Focus on big fish pays off for Turano
Hamilton produced more truly big fish than most non-locals expected in the event, though some locals knew there are plenty of big ones to be caught in the lake. However, despite some impressive weights, nobody had it easy on Hamilton, and while a limit wasn’t much of a problem any day, catching a kicker and assembling a solid bag around it was something that only Turano did all three days.
“I just wasn’t too sure what to think about the lake,” Turano said of his practice period. “It seemed like I could catch fish on a variety of different techniques and all types of spots. Every point seemed to have bass on it. It made it really hard to know which points were going to have a big fish on it and to just catch a big fish, like, what bait they were going to eat. In practice, I caught one 5 1/2-pounder on a jig and minnow, and that kind of gave me some confidence in it. But at the same time, it was just one bite, and I was kind of thinking it might have just been a random one.”
On Day 1, Turano caught a 3-pounder around 11 o’clock, and then shortly after boxed a 7-pounder – both on the minnow.
“That’s when I just stuck it in my hand and just went to town,” he said. “All my big fish, I believe they were fry guarders, which is really weird. I actually have a lake back home where big females will guard fry, and there are a lot of little fish in that lake and just a few giants.
“That place reminds me a lot of this place. When I’m there, I just put the trolling motor down until I see a big one on LiveScope, and then I try to catch it. I’m passing over lots of little fish, and it gets very mentally draining. But I’m so used to doing that at that lake and just trying to catch a giant; that’s what I was doing the last three days, just moving really slow.”
To aid in his search for big bites, Turano backed his LiveScope range down to 80 feet, which allowed him to see more detail close to the bottom and tell the size of fish better. Between brush, grass and some stumps, Hamilton is loaded with shallow to mid-depth cover, but Turano had to constantly expand his horizons as the event went on.
“It seemed like everybody else in the Top 10 was also fishing a similar area, and the fish that were left were just super smart, and it was really hard to get them to bite,” Turano explained. “Part of the key this week, I think I caught all three big fish on three completely different stretches, and I just felt like I needed to keep fishing new water and try to find something nobody else had found. It started off on really obvious points, and then it turned to just me running down a contour line and staying in that 10- to 12-foot range when I was looking for a big one.”
Turano used a few minnows on a Buckeye G-Stroll head, with either a 7-foot, 6-inch, medium light or a 7-7, medium Phenix K2 Torzite spinning stick.
All-American could be the launch pad for Turano
Since moving to Tennessee from Illinois, Turano has rigged boats for A.C.S. Marine and fished, often very successfully. This year, he finished in the Top 10 in the Central Division of the Toyota Series and he finished 16th in last year’s Toyota Series Championship. But the All-American can be the break an angler needs to go to the next level, and $120,000 will likely pay a lot of entry fees for Turano the next few years.
“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, not just winning the All-American, but just winning a big tournament,” Turano said. “I got so close at Guntersville a couple weeks ago, and I can’t believe I got another opportunity to have a chance at winning and actually doing it. It just feels amazing.”
Top 10 boaters
1. Matteo Turano – 56 – 11 (15) – $120,100 (includes $20,000 Phoenix Bonus)
2. Tanner Hadden – 53 – 7 (15) – $35,000 (includes $15,000 Phoenix Bonus)
3. Caz Anderson – 48 – 12 (15) – $25,000 (includes $10,000 Phoenix Bonus)
4. Clint Knight – 45 – 7 (15) – $14,000
5. Buddy Benson – 44 – 10 (15) – $18,000 (includes $5,000 Phoenix Bonus)
6. Jake Lawrence – 44 – 9 (15) – $14,500 (includes $2,000 Phoenix Bonus)
7. Dillon Falardeau – 43 – 2 (15) – $11,000
8. Harbor Lovin – 42 – 14 (15) – $10,000
9. Cody Ross – 42 – 9 (15) – $9,000
10. Zack Fogle – 41 – 2 (15) – $8,000