The 2026 Bass Pro Tour season is winding down, and just like the pros only have two more opportunities to make moves in the races to win Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and qualify for REDCREST 2027, Phoenix Fantasy Fishing players only have two more chances to win prizes and move up the season-long leaderboard. Anyone looking to claim the premium Tackle Warehouse prize package and fishing trip with BPT pro Bobby Lane that is on offer for the season-long Fantasy Fishing winner will need to nail their picks for Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Toyota on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.
Grand belongs on the short list of the most famous tournament fisheries in the country. But continuing a bit of a theme from this Bass Pro Tour season (which also saw Lake Guntersville appear on the schedule in January and Lake Hartwell in February), this event should provide a fresh twist on Grand. Only once in the long history of MLF/FLW has a tour-level event taken place on Grand in June, and that was an FLW Tour event back in 2013.
So, with this being a fresh challenge for just about everyone in the field, it should be a wide-open tournament. Here’s all the information you need to narrow down the list of anglers and pick the perfect lineup. Be sure to submit your picks before lines in at 7:45 a.m. CT on June 18.
Locals could be dangerous
For just about every event, one of the first places to start assembling a roster is by looking for local anglers. Sometimes, there’s more of a local advantage than others. This could be an instance where proximity to Grand pays off.
While just about every touring pro has competed on Grand at some point, few have done so in the summertime. So, the three Oklahoma natives in the field – Zack Birge, James Elam and Edwin Evers – could benefit from an understanding of how bass in Grand in particular and Oklahoma fisheries in general tend to behave in June.
Not to mention, all three anglers have strong histories on Grand. Evers won the 2016 Bassmaster Classic on the fishery and has three other national-level Top 10s there. Elam won a Bassmaster Open on Grand in 2017. Birge has fished the most events (15) and has the most Top 10s (five) on Grand of anyone in the field – plus the current AOY leader has been catching them everywhere this season.
Grand history lessons
Three other anglers in the field have notched victories on Grand in their careers. Most memorable, of course, was Bobby Lane’s last-second triumph at REDCREST 2022. While that event was held in March and likely won’t bear a ton of resemblance to this one, Lane will at least take the water with fond memories. Nick LeBrun won a Bassmaster Open on Grand in 2021, and he also finished fifth at Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula a couple years ago. Mark Daniels Jr. launched his pro career by winning The Bass Federation’s National Championship on Grand back in 2013.
While he hasn’t hoisted a trophy on Grand, Bryan Thrift’s history on the fishery also bears mentioning. Thrift is a perfect three-for-three in finishing among the Top 10 on Grand in his touring career. That includes a runner-up showing in the aforementioned FLW Tour event that took place in June of 2013. Few anglers are better than Thrift at finding sneaky offshore spots, which might be a big deal in this event.
The must-picks
We mentioned earlier that it’s typically smart to start picking a Fantasy Fishing roster by looking at locals. That’s only after you lock Jacob Wheeler, Drew Gill and Banks Shaw into your lineups. No matter the time or place, those guys rarely miss, and there’s reason to like all three at this event.
Wheeler should be out for some revenge after he finished just one scorable bass shy of winning REDCREST on Grand. Plus, he’ll almost certainly need a high finish to keep pace with Birge in the AOY race. Gill should be even more mad at the fishery after he lost out on the win at the Toyota Series Championship last fall via tiebreaker. Shaw also finished in the Top 10 at that event (because of course he did), and he’s coming off a Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit win on nearby Eufaula.
One more name to add to the list of automatic selections at this event is Spencer Shuffield. The Arkansas pro has surprisingly only fished three MLF events on Grand, but don’t let that fool you – he’s spent plenty of time on the fishery. Shuffield has been fishing fantastic over the past year, with seven Top 10s in his past nine BPT events. And throughout his career, he’s been particularly dangerous during the summer months.
Other anglers to consider
- Cole Floyd – Speaking of anglers who are dangerous during the summer months, we’ve now reached Cole Floyd season. A year ago, Floyd finished the year by banging out five straight Top 10s to close the season. This year, he got his long-awaited first Bass Pro Tour victory at Stage 5 on Beaver Lake, then followed it up with another Top 10 at Heavy Hitters. If the water is in the bushes on Grand (which seems likely), this could be another wheelhouse event for Floyd.
- Jake Lawrence – Lawrence might have gotten the momentum boost he needed to turn around a surprisingly rough season with his third-place finish at Heavy Hitters. While fishing offshore on Grand looks quite a bit different from his home on Kentucky Lake, Lawrence still has a trove of experience catching summer bass, which can’t hurt.
- Marshall Hughes – Surprisingly, Hughes has never competed on Grand Lake. Perhaps coming to the fishery with fresh eyes will help given the non-traditional time of year. Either way, he at least has momentum on his side after making a Top 10 on Beaver Lake then finishing fifth at Heavy Hitters.
My picks
Flight 1: Dustin Connell, Edwin Evers, Cole Floyd, Drew Gill, Nick LeBrun
Flight 2: Zack Birge, Banks Shaw, Spencer Shuffield, Bryan Thrift, Jacob Wheeler