A new year is here, which means it’s time to gear up not only for new seasons on Major League Fishing’s tournament trails but another year of Phoenix Fantasy Fishing Presented by 13 Fishing. A host of new prizes and opportunities will be available to players this year, including a brand new contest – Beat JT Kenney. Every Fantasy Fishing player for Bass Pro Tour events will be automatically entered into a contest that compares their results to the MLFNOW! color commentator, and the season-long winner will take home a prize package from 13 Fishing plus a sweet champion’s belt.
That’s far from the only prizes up for grabs, though. The season-long winner in the overall standings will earn a Florida fishing experience with BPT pro Bobby Lane plus a huge prize package from Tackle Warehouse, while the top player at each event will receive prizes from 13 Fishing and BUBBA.
With so much on the line, a little strategy could pay off big. Here are five tips to keep in mind as you select your rosters for B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 Presented by Mercury at Lake Guntersville and the rest of the Bass Pro Tour season.
1. Pick Jacob Wheeler
Generally speaking, the key to Fantasy Fishing success is figuring out which anglers’ skillsets align with each event, especially if you can identify those who aren’t going to be rostered by a high percentage of players. But there is one glaring exception.
Jacob Wheeler has been so dominant during his Bass Pro Tour career that you simply cannot leave him out of your picks. Over the past five years, during which he’s won four Angler of the Year titles, Wheeler has an astounding 31 Top 10 finishes in 45 events, including eight wins. No one else is even close to those numbers – in fact, only three other anglers (Dustin Connell, Alton Jones Jr. and Michael Neal) have even made the Knockout Round more than 30 times in that span. Coming off a season in which he made the Championship Round in six of seven regular-season events and won two of the last three, Wheeler is showing no signs of slowing down – leave him out of your lineup at your own risk.
2. Don’t be afraid to trust the rookies
Even though the Bass Pro Tour, with its live scoring and every-fish-counts format, represents a big adjustment from traditional, five-fish, weigh-in events, we’ve seen several rookies waste no time making their marks in recent years. Jake Lawrence is the most recent example. He knocked out five Top 10s in eight BPT events last year, including a win on Chickamauga/Nickajack, en route to a runner-up finish in the AOY race. Prior to Lawrence, Drew Gill also finished second (to Wheeler) in the points in 2024, while Matt Becker won AOY as a rookie in 2023. All that to say, don’t be scared to trust the four newcomers to the BPT roster – and don’t be scared to pick them early in the season, either. Last year, both Lawrence and fellow rookie Colby Miller made the Top 10 at the season-opener on Lake Conroe.
Looking ahead to the first couple events of 2026, there should be opportunities for this year’s class to make strong first impressions. Banks Shaw and Jacob Walker both had solid showings on Lake Guntersville a year ago (Shaw at the Toyota Series level and Walker at REDCREST). Meanwhile, all three of Shaw, Mitchell Robinson and Dustin Smith made the Top 10 at the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals thriller on Lake Hartwell, where Robinson edged Smith for the win by 2 ounces.
3. Target anglers who consistently advance to the Knockout Round
Scoring in Fantasy Fishing is based on the amount of weight your selected anglers catch, which means picking anglers who make the cut and get to fish three (or, even better, four) days can pay off big. There could a sizable difference in picking the angler who finishes 25th (the last angler in the Knockout Round) versus 26th.
Thus, it’s important to identify anglers who have shown an ability to at least advance to the Knockout Round on a wide array of fisheries and lean on them throughout the season. This year, 25 of the 51 anglers competing in each Bass Pro Tour event will both cash a check and advance to the Knockout Round. While changing field sizes have admittedly made this an imperfect stat, there are 10 BPT pros who have averaged a Top-25 finish for their career across multiple seasons. We already highlighted Wheeler – here’s the rest of the list: Gill (13.9), Becker (20.4), Neal (20.6), Jones (20.9), Spencer Shuffield (22.1), Ott DeFoe (22.5), Connell (22.8), Brent Ehrler (23.3) and Jeff Sprague (24.1).
4. Remember, momentum is real
The reason behind it has long been debated by anglers. But it’s clear that, sometimes, pros simply get hot and are able to carry success from one event to the next. In 2025, Cole Floyd finished the year with five consecutive Top 10s (including Heavy Hitters). While that was the most glaring example, he wasn’t the only one. Shuffield made three straight Championship Rounds to end the year. Ehrler knocked down four Top 10s in the last six events, then won the Summit Cup alongside Fishing Clash Team Series partner Justin Lucas in November.
This isn’t to say those anglers will be able to carry their momentum into the 2026 season (although it wouldn’t be a surprise if any of them do so). Moreso, it’s a reminder that it can pay off to ride the hot hand as the year progresses.
5. Keep up with our content throughout the season
Need help remembering which pros have experienced success at each fishery before, or which event might be in what angler’s wheelhouse? That’s where we come in. Prior to each BPT event, we will publish FantasyFishing.com Insider breakdowns for and provide picks from our experts on MajorLeagueFishing.com. Simply taking a few minutes to get a feel for what kind of event could be in store and narrow down your list of anglers to choose from could be the easiest way to get a leg up on your buddies – and JT Kenney.