MASSIVE MLF Weights & NPFL History! + Top March Prespawn Bass Baits

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This is before the first cast powered by bass cast radio

I'm Trevor Wagner and every Friday we break down what bass anglers need to know before the weekend begins

We're talking fishing news

tournament updates

Tackle and on the water tips you can use right now

So if you're getting ready to hit the water or maybe watch a little BPT this weekend

You've come to the right place. Let's go ahead and get started with this week's episode

So this week we have an event that's taking place right now as we speak on the BPT

We have two tournaments that just concluded last weekend that we're going to recap with the NPFL and

The tackle warehouse pro circuit that was taking place on santi Cooper and then we're going to talk at the end

A little bit about March fishing and what you need to be looking out for if you're hitting the water this March

All right guys, so let's kick things off with the tournaments that concluded last weekend

So it was the NPFL's first event of the season and so as it began

There was kind of a temperature shift. They were on Lewis Smith Lake

There's a little storm that are blowed in Thursday

Which kind of changed the lake a little bit from their pre-fishing what they were doing for when the tournament actually began

But the story to me in the headline was Patrick Walters

Okay, Patrick Walters on day one. He didn't have the greatest day

Let's see he actually came in with nine pounds and eleven ounces on the first day and he was in 29th place

Okay, so he was way down on the list

Wasn't really up there and then day two was a complete turnaround for him because he brought in 22 pounds in nine ounce bag

And he surged up and took the lead and then he ended up winning the event

You know

And so with Patrick Walters winning

You know, we know that he's a great bass master lead angler

But since the NPFL has been around he's been fishing that as well and he earned what they called the triple crown

Basically in the NPFL so he's won the championship

He won the 2025 angler of the year and he's got a regular season title as well

So again Patrick Walters it doesn't matter if you put them on the elite series with the scope you take the scope away from him

He still goes out there and he absolutely crushes bass when he is out there fishing and

Speaking of crushing bass we got to say in again, we're talking Lewis Smith lakes

We got to put things in perspective the big bass for this tournament went to JT Russell on day one

He brought in a five pound five ounce bass for the big bass of the tournament

skin

Big bass. It depends on what lake you're on depends on how big that bass is

So congrats to patty Walters, you know, taking the dub getting the triple crown and basically being the comeback kid of that event

You know down there in that 26

29th place and then jumping all the way up to first place

That's always an accomplishment when you're coming from that far back to jump up and take the dub

Now I want to briefly talk about the top 10 for this event at NPFL

So if you're looking at the top 10 and I'm going to run down real fast

Seven out of these top 10 NPFL anglers are also bass master elite

Anglers, okay, so in first place obviously we had Patrick Walters

Second place another one of those guys that can just catch him and that was Kyle Welcher

third place went to John Cox

And then fourth was Todd Aughton

fifth was Hank Cherry

Six was Derek

Seventh was Jason Williamson

Nine was Bill Lohan

I mean eight was Bill Lohan sorry nine was Shane Lehu and ten was Kevin Rogers

So if you notice the names seven out of those 10 anglers were bass master elite series anglers

That went over there and showed they don't need scope to win they can win with and without it

All right, so that was the NPFL again. That was the first one of the year

Um, their next one's going to come up a little bit later towards the end of March

And I'll give you that breakdown as we get a little closer

All right, so next up that also fished on that weekend was a major league fishing's tackle warehouse pro circuit

On santi Cooper now this one

They had a little bit bigger bass than that five pound

um five ounce big bass at the other one

That probably would have been the tiny bass for this event because the at santi Cooper

The big bass actually showed up now

They did have a major weather delay they were supposed to take off on day one on Thursday

And that was completely canceled um due to those dangerously high wins

Um, kicked up and made it too dangerous for them to get out. So

They did not launch on Thursday

So it became a another Friday and Saturday event

So it became a two-day derb

And during that two-day derb a very young angler a 19-year-old

Aaron Yavorsky

Absolutely

dominated this event

He brought in two bags both day one and day two over 30 pounds and absolutely put on a clinic

Bringing in the big bass for this event

Now that name sounds familiar. That's because this young angler actually qualified for the bass master classic

And he fished it on grand lake when he was only 18 years old. So

Again, he's one of the youngest anglers to ever qualify for the bass master classic and he did it in a team series

But he did make it there

So again this guy

He can fish. So let's put him perspective on Friday

He brought in a bag that weighed 35 pounds and four ounces. That's a giant pack

And then he followed it up with 32 pounds on Saturday

Giving him a 67 pound four-ounce total and it's the fifth highest cumulative two-day weight in a pro circuit history

earning him a hundred thousand dollars and more importantly

He earned a red crest qualification

So no one says he fished the bass master classic now. He's qualified for a red crest

And then I mentioned he's only 19 years old

So talk about a

promising career in front of that young fella. He did an absolutely fantastic job

At that event and surprisingly with those big bags he didn't have the big bass for day one or day two

The day one big bass went to TJ McKinsey

He brought in the double digit. He brought in a 10 pound five-ounce large mouth on day one

And day two cow lane brought in a nine-pound 15-ounce

Um bass you want to talk about heartbreaking man. You're so close to the double digit

You're like could you have eaten like two more shat out there like did something to get that ounce in there to get him a 10 pound bass

But again, congrats to those guys. They did an amazing job

So again, Aaron Yvorsky ended up winning it with 67 pounds and four ounces

So absolutely dominated and like I said, Santi Cooper put out some big bags

I'm putting a perspective in the two days

Um in second place Mateo

Toronto he brought in a 60 pound three-ounce two-day total, which is another that's just

Basically, you averaged 30 pound bags for two days, which is absolutely crazy

And cow lane you know who had the day two big bass with that nine-pounder

He finished the event with 59 pounds and seven ounces in third place

So again right there on that

60 pound mark for a two-day total, which is absolutely fantastic

So congrats to all the anglers out there that did an amazing job catching those big bass on Santi Cooper

They just showed out maybe that

Thursday

High wind just kind of blew it in set up the conditions perfect for them to go out there and catch those big bass

So congrats again, that was two events that happened last weekend

But now let's transition and look at the only professional tour event taking place this weekend

And that is major league fishing's bass pro tour stage three. That's right. This is their third stop

Now this one is a little bit different. It's something that they've done

That's going to change things up because the venue is actually two venues

They're fishing Lake Whitney on days one and two for the qualifying rounds and then

They're switching lakes and they're going to fish Lake Waco

For days three and four for their knockout championship round. So again two lakes

The qualifying rounds are going to be on Lake Whitney

And then basically the knockout championship rounds will be on Lake Waco

And this is kind of a I've used this term before, but it is a tale of two lakes

Okay, so they fish totally different

There's a little bit different aspects to them Lake Whitney

It's kind of more of your highland reservoir a little bit clear

They a lot have a lot of those steep contours

Um, so again, but Whitney is known to hold and push out a lot of those four to five pounds small mouth

Yes, you heard me right small mouth bass can also be caught in there as well as the largees that roam around

So be interesting to see if they catch any of those small mouth bass to go along with their large mouth while they're on like Whitney

Um, the other thing to note with this event

Um, there is a weight limit, you know a lot of them have weight limit this one is they

The keeper has to be above one pound eight ounce

So that's be a pound and a half bass in order for the or higher in order for them to keep it as they keep track

But again, we're in Texas these bass they're not they're not hunting down those two pound bass for this event

These guys are me going after those three the plus pound bass to get them in the boat and get them going

Okay, so again

That's where we got there and then of course on

Let's turn it away. So that's Lake Whitney

Again, it's going to be one of those Highland reservoirs style lakes as they go

Where Lake Waco where they're doing the knockout championship that is more of your shallower

flatter

lowland

grimy reservoirs

So again, you're going to see probably two totally different fishing

styles that are out there as they're fishing as they're going

So some storylines some things that really keep in mind as this have been is going

You know, is it going to be a hometown of managed to the out in Jones and them guys

um both he and junior live in the area

So again, but it hasn't always panned out guys. I've

I for fantasy

I've thrown my hat into the ring with a lot of anglers that are hometown and they have not fared so well

So again, will that change in this one? Will the

Outland Jones and out in Jones junior turn that around can they actually get something done with that local knowledge out there on those lakes

Um again, we're talking about power fishing and scope fishing on the two different lakes

Are they going to use that that period that they have it when are they going to use it?

How are they going to capitalize on it especially when you're on um Lake Whitney?

I think that's going to be a key factor in that one as they go

um

So also keep an eye on I mean you have that hot hand with Jacob Walker

Um, is he going to carry that momentum?

He is leading after the first two events in the angler of year category

How's he going to fare in the two different lakes bouncing back and forth?

Um, you also have

Is that like to call the Texas winner in ottefoe?

I mean he has three bpt wins in Texas

So, you know, he knows how to win in Texas

So, you know, keep an eye on ottefoe

Jeff Sprague obviously is a Texas resident. Is he going to come out there?

And then of course Zach Burge

And he just dominates in that shallow fishery. So if he can make it to that knockout round, you know, he might be one to watch as you go through

With all that being said on the bpt side if you guys get to go watch it this weekend

So what do I think this is going to be my I don't call it a hot tape but

My my prediction for this one. So what's it going to take on stage three that last championship day how much weight

Do I think that it's going to take to win again? They're going to be on Lake Waco for that championship round the top 10

So if you're doing fantasy fishing, they always ask you never been one to settle stand down or stand still

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You at the end when you pick your anglers

What do you think the weight is going to be at this event for the winner and I'm going to go with 46 pounds and eight ounces

It might be a little low might be a little high

but I

I don't think we're going to see a lot of fast paced

Fish every catch shoot out. I think this one's going to be down to

You know them not really going after the dinks. They're going to be going after

More of the bigger bass like I mentioned before they're going to be going after more of those three pound plus bass that are out there

Getting them in the boat. So I'm going with 46 pounds eight ounces

um

Out in Jones June out in Jones senior

Actually was talking about this is going to be one of those methodical fishing

Patterns on both these lakes. It's not something you're just going to go out there and just try to hope to go

so

Again and these are two lakes in Texas. We could see like we've seen at santi Cooper

We could see a ten pounder being brought in would not be surprising

If someone caught a ten pounder and put that on the score tracker as well as there going through

So again, am I wrong or am I right?

Let me know

Put it in the comments section if you're watching this on YouTube. Let us know

What do you think the winning weight is going to be on that lake?

All right, and like I said before and I say it all the time

To catch up on all of your fishing news if you want to tournament results or you're looking at

Upcoming events that are taking place that are taking place right now

If you want all that fishing news all those tournament updates

Don't forget to go to the bass cast

Dot com and check it out look through all the stuff and again

They're the ones that help us get on here and help let us share our knowledge with all of you guys that are out there

So check go check out the bass cast dot com for all your fishing news and tournament updates as we're going

All right for all of you that are hitting the water this weekend. It is March

Okay, so we've talked about this pre spawn phase coming in the last couple weeks in February

Well, guess what March is pretty much that pre spawn transitional phase

Across the nation now again unless you're really really far north

um, the bass are really starting to do this

Pre spawn phase transitional phase again the days are getting longer

And as those days get longer that's when the bass are starting to move up those transitional periods are gonna keep going

So again over the next couple weeks

I'll break down each of these different patterns as we go through

But today I'm just gonna give you the overall general consensus as we're going through

Because again that water is starting to warm up

You know those big females are gonna start going up into those spawning bays

But their first major you know drop offs outside of those shallow fts kind of where they're gonna be hanging out

Again, we've talked about those secondary points those channel swings

All those transitional areas as they're making them their way back up into the banks

And again those banks are gonna start warming up especially those deep coves those pockets

They're gonna start warming up a little bit better now

And so you're gonna start seeing those males move up in there start getting everything ready

So again, it's a good time to get out there and start targeting those

But again, it's one of those where you gotta find them

It's gonna be one of those times when you gotta go try to get those high percentage points

You know those high percentage areas to try to catch you some bass

So I'm gonna talk to you today about two different bates that I would like to that I typically throw this time of year

As I'm going out and finding them and hunting them down

And you'll hear this probably on other channels as well as you know the beginning of March everybody comes out and talks about their top bates for March

But for me these are the I'm just gonna talk about two because it's gonna be in a lot of them

One spring pre spawn all of that everybody knows

That red is the way to go and this red I'm gonna be talking about is the red

Lipless crankbait again, it's a good reactionary bait

It's a bait that you can get down to those deep holes if you find them where they're still deep

You can fish it shallow you can fish it deep

You can fish it if there's still some grass around the grass is turning coming

You can fish this at a lot of different depths and a lot of different ways

Again, you can yo-yo it you can straight retrieve it

You can kind of hop it you can grind it off a rocks you can do many different things

With the red lipless crankbait and now is the time if you're throwing that lipless crankbait make sure it's red

I didn't buy into it for a long time that red would trigger once I switched to red during spring

It's hard for me to put down the red lipless crankbait as I'm

Finding those bass and getting them to hit that reactionary strike

All right now as those bass are starting pushing up and they're a little bit shallower and they're moving in

My second bait that I'm going to be throwing is the

Ow as I hooked myself those are you listening

I just got myself in the finger with a very sharp bladed jig

That's right. This is the time is they're moving shallow. You're still looking for that reactionary bite

The bladed jig is a great way to get them to trigger and get them to strike now again

I this time of year. I will usually have a red with me

Some kind of red and black pattern that deeper color

But I also always with my chatterbaits. I will always have some kind of

Shiner color golden Shiner a regular Shiner

But some kind of white maybe with a little sharp truce and a darker tone on the top with it

To go and get those bass to strike

So that's my tip for you if you're going out this weekend tie on you a red lipless crankbait

And also put on a bladed jig go out there especially if you're finding them as they're pushed up a little bit

Shallower up in those banks and go out there and catch you some bass

All right guys. Well, that's it. So before your first cast this weekend

What's that one decision that you're going to make?

To help you put some more bass in the boat in the kayak or pull them into you on the shore

All right guys. Well, that's it for this week's episode of before the first cast on bass cast radio

If this has helped you prepare

Maybe learn a little bit about the tournament circuits that going on

Make sure that you like subscribe comment do all of those things help stroke that algorithm

Help us keep us on the air providing you with great tips and

Resources to help you catch more bass

All right. I'm Trevor Wagner. Remember fish smart

Fish prepared and we'll see you before the first cast

The average cost of a D wine Virginia is $11,352 and 47 cents drinking and driving costs more than your drinks

Learn more at what's the damage not org brought to you by Virginia DMV

There's a fire inside you you can't ignore stand still not a chance

You're a lifelong learner who's come this far now. We are here to help you keep going further

Capella University. What can't you do visit capella.edu to learn more