It’s time to set your Phoenix Fantasy Fishing lineups for the third event of the Bass Pro Tour season: PowerStop Brakes Stage 3 Presented by Strike King on Lake Murray. Competition will kick off Thursday morning and run through Sunday’s Championship Round.
While the South Carolina impoundment has been a popular stop for national tours in recent years, including hosting a 2023 Bass Pro Tour event, this trip to the lake will come at a unique time of year (it’s the first time a national trail has visited Murray in March since 2003) and will be the first every-fish-counts event on the prolific fishery. So, we enlisted a handful of experts – including Fred Roumbanis, one of the Bass Pro Tour competitors who has won on Murray before – to share their fantasy selections and help you build a winning roster.
Fred Roumbanis, Bass Pro Tour angler
Flight 1: Casey Ashley, Matt Becker, Shin Fukae, Fletcher Shryock, Jacob Wheeler
Casey Ashley is very familiar with this lake and has previously won here. He understands the blueback herring, the primary forage in this fishery, better than most. Matt Becker is a solid pick – again, he’s had a major win here as well, and I feel like this lake fits his style to a T. I’m also going to choose Shin Fukae because this lake seems to get a lot of pressure, and he always has sneaky tricks to catch pressured fish. Fletcher Shryock seems to always get away from the crowds and find his flipping bite, which is always a great way to catch them here. I see him running up one of the rivers and landing on a mother lode. Lastly, I chose Jacob Wheeler simply because last time we were here he had a bad event, and redemption is a priority to all of us, especially him. He will not allow that to happen again.
Flight 2: Ott DeFoe, Cole Floyd, Anthony Gagliardi, Ron Nelson, Fred Roumbanis
Ott DeFoe has a knack for finding big groups of prespawners with a crankbait. I know that will be a factor this week. I feel like if there is some wind in the forecast come tournament day, Cole Floyd will pull out his spinnerbait and go old-school and put on a clinic. He may be a younger angler, but he’s got that previous-generation mentality. Anthony Gagliardi is the top pick on his home pond. He knows everything about this place. Ron Nelson is as unpredictable as the blueback herring, yet he always catches them. Finally, I can’t bet against myself or I wouldn’t compete. I’ve fished six events here won three (and led another after two days). The other two were … not so good. But I always love the Carolinas, especially Lake Murray.
Tyler Brinks, MajorLeagueFishing.com contributor
Flight 1: Matt Becker, Drew Gill, Alton Jones Jr., Michael Neal, Jacob Wheeler
Looking at my picks, I see that my choices for Flight 1 are safe. None of them will fly under the radar; most should do well at Murray. “Bad events” by any of these five are usually still solid finishes, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see all of them fishing on Sunday – even though they had mixed results during the 2023 event, with Wheeler finishing a stunning 75th place on the lake, which he surely wants to avenge. Plus, Becker is the only one who has beaten Anthony Gagliardi on his home lake in years, winning the April 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event on Murray, where Gagliardi finished as the runner-up. Nobody else in Flight 1 grabbed my attention here, so I took the easy route.
Flight 2: Anthony Gagliardi, Nick Hatfield, Justin Lucas, Spencer Shuffield, Jacob Wall
I changed things up a little for Flight 2 and am going with the ultimate local, Gagliardi, and those anglers who fit perfectly with Murray. Hatfield and Shuffield can do it all, but they’re excellent with forward-facing sonar, which should be a factor here. Lucas and Wall have also shown they can catch ’em anywhere and earned a spot on my roster for their finesse skills. The other reason for going with Wall is momentum. Even though it’s only been two events, leading Fishing Clash Angler of the Year is a big deal, and I expect him to stay in the points race for the entirety of the season.
Justin Onslow, MajorLeagueFishing.com senior content manager
Flight 1: Matt Becker, Dustin Connell, Drew Gill, Nick LeBrun, Jacob Wheeler
For Stage 2, I opted to not take Jacob Wheeler as a contrarian choice (assuming most other people would be picking him on their squads). That was a mistake. I won’t make it again. I picked Dustin Connell at the Harris Chain, and he finished 55th. I don’t expect him to struggle in the same way at Murray. Drew Gill continues to impress just about everywhere, and I think it’s time people realize he’s not just a ‘Scoping wizard – he’s flat-out great at catching bass. Nick LeBrun and Matt Becker finished 13th and 23rd, respectively, when the BPT came to Murray a couple years ago, but I’m not picking them based on that alone. Both have proven time and again they belong on the biggest stage, and I think Murray (especially this time of year) lines up really well with their many strengths.
Flight 2: Ott DeFoe, Anthony Gagliardi, Justin Lucas, Spencer Shuffield, Bryan Thrift
OK, so I picked four of these guys (to varying degrees of failure) for Stage 2 – everyone here excluding Anthony Gagliardi, who won at Murray in 2023 and who should be a favorite to crush it again on his home lake. Everyone else should perform really well at Murray during the prespawn based on their skillsets. But I’m also recycling these four picks simply because I think they all have a certain level of resilience that has helped them get to this level of professional bass fishing and keeps them competitive. None finished higher than 43rd at the Harris Chain, and I’m sure it’s been eating at all four of them. So, I’m calling it now – I think all five of these guys finish at least in the top half of the field at Murray, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they all make the Knockout Round.
Drew Kuebler, MLF account executive and former Bellarmine University angler
Flight 1: Dustin Connell, Drew Gill, John Hunter, Alton Jones Jr., Takahiro Omori
For Flight 1, somehow I am NOT able to bring myself to add Jacob Wheeler to my roster. While there’s a very strong chance that this will come back to haunt me, Wheeler’s 75th-place finish during our 2023 stop at Lake Murray scares me. My prediction is that Stage 3 will be somewhere in between Stages 1 and 2 in terms of how reliant anglers are on utilizing forward-facing sonar, and I’ve leaned into this mindset to put together what I feel is a strong group of versatile prespawn anglers who can excel with and without the technology. A few key points on my selections:
- Drew Gill has shown us he’s just as dangerous in 2025 as he was last year.
- John Hunter, Alton Jones Jr., and Takahiro Omori were all Top-20 finishers in 2023 on Murray.
- Dustin Connell is due for his first Top-10 finish of the season, and Murray is the type of reservoir that sets up for DC to be successful.
Finally, some honorable mentions that didn’t make my roster, but could be key players this week: Casey Ashley, Matt Becker, Nick LeBrun, Martin Villa and the aforementioned Wheeler.
Flight 2: Ott DeFoe, Anthony Gagliardi, Andy Montgomery, Bryan Thrift, Jacob Wall
For Flight 2, I’m leaning hard into local knowledge and past tournament success. Anthony Gagliardi and Andy Montgomery immediately check both boxes, as they are both South Carolina natives, and Gagliardi was our 2023 Stage 3 champion here (Montgomery finished ninth in that event). While Ott DeFoe is a Tennessee native, he was runner-up in 2023 and typically performs very well on rocky and “docky” clear-water fisheries. Similar to DeFoe, Bryan Thrift has proven successful in and around the Carolinas, highlighted by his Lake Norman REDCREST win. Finally, Jacob Wall is a total oddball on this list, but there’s a method to my madness. While he is neither a local or a strong past performer at Lake Murray, through Stages 1 and 2, Wall sits atop the Fishing Clash AOY leaderboard, and I expect the winds of momentum to carry him to a strong finish this week. To conclude, Nick Hatfield, Ron Nelson, Marshall Robinson and Jesse Wiggins are my honorable mentions for Flight 2.
Joel Shangle, MajorLeagueFishing.com editor-in-chief
Flight 1: Matt Becker, Drew Gill, Alton Jones Jr., Michael Neal, Jacob Wheeler
The five anglers I chose in this flight could also be on my emergency list of five anglers I’d choose to catch a fish to save my life. I’ll admit, these picks are all pretty chalky, but this is just a solid fantasy crew overall, and I think it’s a stout lineup for Lake Murray. Wheeler’s 75th-place finish at Murray in 2023 might deter some fantasy managers from choosing him (*cough Drew cough*), but I’m leaning heavily the other direction – Wheeler was as mad at himself after that 2023 event as I’ve ever seen him, and I can’t imagine a scenario where he doesn’t crush it at Stage 3. Becker, Gill, Jones and Neal are also just dependable fantasy scorers, no matter the fishery. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this entire squad in the Championship Round.
Flight 2: Ott DeFoe, Brent Ehrler, Anthony Gagliardi, Marshall Robinson, Bryan Thrift
You can’t choose a fantasy lineup on Murray without Gagliardi; he has to be considered a can’t-miss pick on everybody’s roster. DeFoe had a surprisingly average week at the Harris Chain for Stage 2, but I foresee a bounce-back week for him at Stage 3 on a lake that suits his strengths. Ehrler and Thrift both have a handful of Top 10s on Murray. I’m counting on them to advance to at least the Knockout Round. Young Mr. Robinson is my wild card pick – not based on his South Carolina home zip code but a gut feeling.