The 2025 season is a wrap, and we have our next set of anglers qualifying for the TBF National Championship where anglers compete for over 400k+ in cash and prizes as well as advancement opportunities into the highest levels of the sport. Nate Maher ran away with this event on the boater side bringing in both the heavy bag and big bass both days of the event to finish with a commanding 6lb+ lead over 2nd place. Nate finished with a 2-day total of 30.33lb including a 4.77lb big bass on day 1 and a 3.69lb big bass on day 2. The weights were certainly tight on the co-angler side, but Justin Bauer was able to beat the field by bringing in big bass on both days as well bringing his two-day total to 18.31lb with a 3.14lb day 1 big bass and 3.52lb big bass on day 2. Rumor has it Justin was able to anchor his day 2 bag in the last 20 minutes of the event to earn his spot to Nationals!

These two anglers will be joining Chancy Walter and Jim Garton who both qualified for the TBF National Championship back in May by winning our Clear Lake Qualifier.

The river was a new body of water for a lot of anglers and for a weekend forecasted to be filled with rain we were all lucky to stay dry throughout the event. A lot of fish were caught, no one got stuck in a backwater, and the Mississippi showed why it truly is a special place to fish. We are already looking forward to the 2026 season and it is never too early to reach out about TBF membership or creating your own club to participate in next year’s events. Let’s congratulate all our anglers on more time who made it to the TBF National Championship, and we look forward to cheering all these anglers on as they compete for a piece of the “Living the Dream” prize package at Nationals. Thank you to all the anglers who participated in the 2025 season, and we look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Event Overview

The District 17 semifinals were held on Lake Winnipesaukee under frigid conditions, with temperatures starting at a brisk 38°F. Despite the cold, the competition was intense and produced impressive results from both Angler and Co-angler divisions.

Angler Division Highlights

John Levesque dominated the Angler division, leading the tournament from start to finish. On day one, he brought in a bag weighing 15.37 lbs. He followed up with an outstanding performance on day two, landing 21.22 lbs of largemouth bass. His two-day total of 36.59 lbs secured a commanding victory, finishing 9 lbs ahead of his closest competitor.

Co-Angler Division Results

The Co-angler competition was much closer. Brayden Antosiewicz narrowly edged out Jeff Peron by just 0.16 ounces, with a winning total of 22.84 lbs. The tight race showcased the high level of competition among the co-anglers.

Winners by State

• NH Angler: John Levesque
• NH Co-angler: Brayden Antosiewicz
• Maine Angler: Anthony Gelardi
• Maine Co-angler: Zack Morris

Conclusion

The event on Lake Winnipesaukee tested anglers with cold weather and tough competition. Congratulations to all winners, especially John Levesque and Brayden Antosiewicz for their outstanding performances. The Ranger Cup winner was Nick Deering with a two day total of 24.42 lbs.

South Dakota Bass Federation hosted District 8 Semi-Finals on Lake Oahe north of Pierre
South Dakota. Day 1 was an exciting day, with almost a half a dozen small mouth bass weighing
in at over 5 pounds and another 2 fish over 6 pounds. We did however have mixed results with
some only weighing 1 or 2 fish. Our biggest bag of the event came across the scales at 27.55
pounds with Travis Seitzinger fishing for South Dakota. On the co-anglers’ side we had similar
results with a wide range of weights. With the top co-angler weight belonging to Jason Kushlan
at 16.78 pounds.

On day 2 some boats said the bite was firing up while others had similar success on the scale
overall weights were down from day 1. Having only around 4 or 5 fish across the scale at four
pounds with one fish almost toughing 6 pounds weighed by Joe Paulson at 5.98 pounds.
On the boaters side Nebraska angler Logan Greeno was the only one to crack 20 pounds with
a weight of 21.03 pounds . On the co-angler side results were very similar to day one with the
biggest co-angler bag belonging to Jeff Siepker at 19.78 pounds. In calculating event results 4
out of the top 5 boater spots belonged to South Dakota. With Seitzinger leading the way with a
two-day today of 45.41 pounds.The weather was gorgeous and the water was like glass most of
the weekend.

Saturday morning started with 47 boats from West Virginia and Virginia. Water conditions on the Ohio River were unusually clear with minimum current, with water temperatures running in the upper seventies. These conditions are unusual for fishing on the Ohio River for late September. Fishing conditions were tough for most anglers, but some of our local fisherman figured it out. We only had four anglers that caught five fish limits both days. The overall champion caught limits both days, for a total of 20.92 pounds, and the runner-up caught eight fish for two days, with the largest bag for the tournament weighing 12.08 pounds on the second day.

Special thanks to Scott Whitmore, President of the Virginia Bass Federation, for bringing a great bunch of anglers to West Virginia. Fishing was tough, but a good time and great fellowship were had by all.