GROVE, Okla. – With beautiful but blustery weather, the Toyota Series Championship Presented by Phoenix Boats is underway on Grand Lake. With 175 pros and 175 co-anglers, the field is loaded – both with local talent and top national talent. There’s also a lot on the line, with up to $235,000 for the winner and multiple REDCREST berths at stake.
Setting the stage
Today should be warm and windy, though not as windy as the final day of practice and nothing too out of the ordinary for Oklahoma. Day 2 is also on tap to be warm, and there’s not much wind in the forecast. Day 3 will be a little cooler and notably crisp in the morning with a little more wind. Sunday is going to be downright nasty, with highs in the 40s and gusting winds – luckily, everyone will be driving home by then.
Most anglers are predicting a pretty scattered bite with fairly low weights. On Bass Talk Live, Todd Casltedine said that 16 pounds a day would win, and that he’d take his chances with 15 pounds a day. Overall, the conditions are still somewhere between a late summer program and a fall program, with catchable fish in the dirt and 30 feet deep.
Locals say it’s going to be a grind
Coming off a win in the BFL Regional on Grand in October, Josh Teply is one of many reasons the field is so strong. Then, Teply blasted 23 pounds on Day 2 to win with a 38-14 total, on pace for a lot more than some predict for this week.
“The fishing is not what it was. The lake has turned over, and it’s got really tough; it’s not the same as it was two weeks ago,” said Teply. “The fish are really scattered right now. There are not a lot of good schools. I think a guy that sticks to their strengths, whether they’re wanting to fish shallow or fish deep, they just need to go do it all day. I don’t think you can do the typical Grand, where you can go up shallow for a bit and then go out deep. I think you’re going to have to put a bait in your hand it do it all day, whether that’s flipping docks, spinnerbait on docks (I think that bite is going), and I think some of the offshore fish are still playing.”
Blake Capps, who won last year’s BASS Nation event in the fall on Grand, also thinks the timing is a bit off for a fall-time slugfest.
“It’s been warm, so there’s still a lot of fish out deep, and there are some up shallow,” he said. “They’re everywhere, but hardly anywhere, if that makes sense. It’s hard to catch ‘em right now, they’re very spread out. I’m going to try to hone in on a few things for sure. I’ve got some things shallow and some deep stuff, too. It’s literally junk fishing right now on Grand Lake – normally, you could lock a topwater in your hand and go down the bank and get bites. It’s hard to get a bite right now; it’s hard to catch five.”
In theory, a full-on fall event in the Ozarks (or Grand) would be a shallow, power-fishing showdown, and that may well end up being the case. But, it likely won’t come easy.
“I almost feel like you have to lock in,” said Capps. “It’s hard to get a shallow bite, and it’s hard to get a deep bite. I think if you’re going to fish deep, you need to do it all day. I’m going to try to get the shallow thing going. It’s November in Oklahoma; they should be going shallow to feed, and we’re starting to get some cool nights.”
As for weights, expect inconsistency, and it’s probably too soon to bet on exactly how the event is won.
“I wouldn’t be shocked to see 48 or 50 pounds win this thing,” said Teply. “I think that Top 25 cut is going to be in the 12-pound [per day] range, I don’t think it’s going to be very high. I think it’s won deep, not shallow. I’ve done both, and I just don’t see it up shallow. But, maybe somebody else does.”
Capps, already established as a shallow guy, agrees that the fishing is grimy.
“I think 26 1/2 pounds will get you close to being in the Top 25. Normally, I would say 14 a day would get you in the Top 25,” he said. “I think weights are going to be very tight. It’s like this in any tournament, but a 4-pounder or bigger is going to be a key bite. I’ve caught a few in practice, so hopefully I can catch a few today. But, I’m liable to see the dam or the river. I’m going to be all over the place.”
Uncertainty isn’t a bad thing, and, with over $200,000 on the line, there’s no reason for it to be easy.
“It could be won ‘Scopin’ deep or traditional fishing up shallow,” said Capps. “It’s going to be interesting; it should be a very fun tournament to watch for viewership. I think being consistent is going to be hard. It’s going to be a fun one, but the way that I’m fishing, it’s going to be hard to catch five. It’s going to be a Grand grind, is what it’s going to be.”
The next generation is here
The Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship is probably the place to find the most young talent, but this event is not lacking when it comes to collegiate participation. Overall, 17 percent of the field has previous college experience, and that ranges from recent college anglers like Drew Gill, to oldsters like Jake Lee (2016-2021, Bryan College) or Blake Schroeder (2014-2017, Stephen F. Austin), to anglers who were taking classes and cashing checks in 2025.
A total of 21 anglers (only three on the co-angler side) fished in college in 2025 and also made the Toyota Series Championship.
2025 collegiate anglers in the event
- Garrett Wilson – Campbellsville University (co-angler)
- Carsen Adcock – LSU in Shreveport
- Kaden Mueck – Stephen F. Austin
- Carson Holbert – University of Montevallo (co-angler)
- Dylan Quilatan – University of North Alabama
- Chance Shelby – LSU in Shreveport, Southeastern Louisiana University
- Hayden O’Barr – University of Alabama
- Tripp Berlinsky – Bryan College, University of North Alabama
- Preston Kolisek – University of North Alabama
- Levi Thibodaux – LSU in Shreveport
- Jaxson Freeman – McKendree University (co-angler)
- Ethan Fields – McKendree University
- Carter Nutt – University of North Alabama
- Dylan Nutt – University of North Alabama
- Levi Kohl – Murray State University
- Nick Dumke – University of Montevallo
- Banks Shaw – University of North Alabama
- Nathan Reynolds – University of North Alabama
- Benjamin Travis – Auburn University
- Brody Robison – University of Montevallo
- Peyton Sorrow – University of Montevallo
Unsurprisingly, Montevallo and UNA are contributing a lot to the field (and lately to bass fishing history). Montevallo product Easton Fothergill won the Bassmaster Classic this year, the team earned their fourth Tackle Warehouse School of the Year title with MLF, and Sorrow and Robison won the natty. Meanwhile, UNA angler Banks Shaw dominated the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, winning Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year, while fellow Lion Dylan Nutt won back-to-back Toyota Series events this winter on Pickwick and Lake Chickamauga.
The last great ‘Scope derby?
Grand Lake in the fall ought to be won with a spinnerbait on docks, or maybe a Spook on gravel – something grimy and baitcaster-centric. There’s a pretty good chance that wins this week, but with Toyota Series rules paring back forward-facing sonar use in 2026, this is one last chance for anglers to really commit to using the technology all day.
This field is perfectly constituted to figure out things that no other Grand Lake field ever has. Between college and near-college talent and a pile of other highly skilled modern anglers, we might get to see something special. Top 10 Baits could be a parade of spinnerbaits and jigs, and the winner might have 22-pound-test on all their baitcasters, but that’s not a lock, and it’s something that anyone really interested in the modern edges of bass fishing should be watching.
According to nearly everyone, nothing is easy this week. Maybe the edge will come with local knowledge and just the right spinnerbait blades. Or, the edge might come from something a little outside the box.
Follow along
This event should be a good one, with some diverse tactics on display and a high likelihood of a topwater bite or three. Even on the forward-facing sonar side of things, Grand is a difficult lake, with lots of non-bass in it, which makes it a challenging place to ‘Scope. If you want to watch the field compete, you can follow coverage online every day, with live weigh-ins starting at 3 p.m. CT. On Day 3, the Top 25 will be live on MLFNOW! all day, battling for the crown.