BRANSON, Mo. – On the Strike King co-angler side of things, the Toyota Series Championship Presented by Simms was a grind. Only one co-angler caught double-digit keepers, and it was the eventual winner, Al Hopkins. He vaulted to the top of the standings by catching the only five-fish limit and the biggest bag of Day 3 out of the back of the boat, which brought his three-day total to 25 pounds, 10 ounces. Hopkins had two great days surrounding a tough Day 2 and won by more than 6 pounds – clearly the man of the hour. For the win, he earned a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat valued at $33,500.

“I fished on my feet every day,” Hopkins said. “I drew out Brent Anderson on Day 1, and he was around some fish, but we just had to figure out how to catch them. I picked up a little blade bait, and they had a come to Jesus moment for about 10 minutes and I caught ‘em real quick.”

On Day 2, he “fought for every bite” and brought in two keepers.

“Today, I got drawn out with a guy that was not LiveScoping, and I got to go fishing,” he said. “That made it a lot easier. LiveScope is an amazing technology, but the odds of you throwing randomly in the middle of the lake is low.”

Relying on a ½-ounce PB&J jig and a green pumpkin and gold stupid tube, Hopkins locked up the hardware.

“I want to thank my boaters,” he said. “Every one of them was awesome, I had a hell of a draw and they were all great guys.”

Top 10 Strike King co-anglers

1. Al Hopkins – 25 – 10 (12) – $33,500

2. Will Lancett – 19 – 3 (7) – $12,500

3. Zack Barrera – 17 – 9 (7) – $10,000

4. Paul Gelles – 16 – 13 (8) – $7,500

5. David Matual – 16 – 12 (8) – $5,000

6. Levi Allgeier – 16 – 7 (7) – $4,000

7. Casey McCommons – 16 – 6 (7) – $3,500

8. Nycholas Swanson – 16 – 4 (6) – $3,000

9. Bruce Harris – 16 – 1 (6) – $2,500

10. Zack Eggleston – 16 – 1 (7) – $2,000

Complete results