Day two of the 2026 TBF Junior World Championship wraps up on Lake Dardanelle
Anglers welcomed cooler temperatures early on Lake Dardanelle due to the rain that rolled in late yesterday, but the reprieve from the heat and certainly not the humidity didn’t last long. The rain changed up the bite as expected but not enough to see a significant tip of the scales. Five division champion teams were named the top finishers in their respective divisions. 15 teams total advance to tomorrow’s final day, made up of the division champs, second highest finishers from the larger divisions, and then the next highest cumulative weights of the field. Plus, one team was drawn at random to join the field as the lucky dog winners. Tomorrow, all weights will be zeroed as teams battle it out to decide who will be the 2026 Junior World Champions.
15 TBF Junior Teams Advancing to Finals
Parker Smith and Cooper Anderson sailed into first from the second-place slot yesterday. The team caught 13 pounds 9 ounces today, making their two-day total 26 pounds 12 ounces. Yesterday, their main goal was to catch enough to make the cut but not too much so they’d have fish left to seal it out with the win.
“By about 1 pm we had another 13 pounds; after that we kinda just went and pre-fished,” Smith said. “We are going to swing on every fish we see tomorrow. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 pounds or 3 pounds; we are going to go try and catch every fish we can in the lake.”
“We are going to start off shallow tomorrow,” Anderson added. “We had a pretty rough start today, but eventually we figured out a pattern. We also had a pretty tough start of practice, then the pattern didn’t work, but we ended up figuring it out pretty good. We’re hoping to go get in the run tomorrow.”
Cooper Anderson and Parker Smith
Smith and Anderson hoped the rain clouds would make the bigger ones more active and help their bite, but they were also a bit worried it could hurt. “Well, our original plan the rain kinda messed it up a bit, and we had to switch it up,” Smith said. “We ended up catching our biggest fish about 10 am think it was 5 pounds 8 ounces. Then, on the same rotation, we caught another one; it was 4 pounds 8 ounces. But after that, pretty much sealed us up for the rest of the day.”
The duo has definitely figured it out, and despite the climate hurdles and rough starts, they’ve landed in the top spot going into the final day. Even though weights are zeroed, leading a world championship comes with a solid confidence boost and plenty of bragging rights.
“We had a big tournament we got fifth in last weekend,” Smith commented. “So this week (winning it) would mean a lot to us coming off a big loss.”
The Scottsville Hill Jr. Anglers shined a lot of thanks to their sponsors and families and their active club located in Scottsville, Tn., right by Lexington. “It’s a great organization, and we’ve had a lot to do with them over the years,” Smith said. “I want to thank them and my grandparents, all my sponsors, and Academy Sports for sponsoring us these last couple years. It really means a lot to us.”
“We definitely have a great program in West Tennessee,” Anderson added. “I’d like to thank our boat captain, Mr. Nick, and his wife on their 50th anniversary and my parents and grandparents.”
Anderson, Smith and Boat Captain Nick Hart
When asked about what the future looks like for these bright rising stars, they shared humble goals. “We definitely want to take it step by step,” Smith continued. “We don’t want to jump too far ahead; we want to fish high school, then eventually college, then who knows, maybe we go on to the big stage.”
Tournament big bass after two days of fishing went to the 863 Jr Angler team of Easton Ovens and Coy Ebrahim representing the Florida Bass Federation. The team weighed in a 6-pound 3-ounce beauty to secure big bass and two Lew’s reels.
Tournament Big Bass: Easton Ovens and Coy Ebrahim
The division champions are as follows: Southern Division (TN), Parker Smith and Cooper Anderson, 26.12lbs; Central Division (LA), Hagan Hay and Hank Rowton, 23.15lbs; Northern Division (IL), Allen Goodman and Tatum Liesman, 22.4lbs; Eastern Division (WV), Isabella Sigmon and Jaxon Schmidt, 21.1lbs; Western Division (AZ), Levi Woodruff and Ryder Schwoerer, 19.6lbs.
Tomorrow, 15 junior champion teams will take on Lake Dardanelle in the hopes of becoming world champions. The stakes are high, and so are the temps, as the weights are zeroed and the titles are wide open. The 2026 TBF Junior World Championship concludes tomorrow on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark.
Division Champions
