Toyota Series Championship: 380 Anglers Chase $200,000 and 3 REDCREST Spots

More than 380 pros and co-anglers are set to fish the Toyota Series Championship on Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tennessee, according to Major League Fishing. The winning pro takes home $200,000 and a spot in REDCREST, the circuit’s championship event, and three REDCREST berths in all are up for grabs. The field includes last year’s winner, several seven-figure career earners and anglers who live a short drive from the ramp.

What is on the line

The pro winner earns $200,000 and a REDCREST berth, and can add another $35,000 through the Phoenix MLF Bonus. The co-angler winner receives a Phoenix 518 boat. Pros finishing second through fifth collect $20,000 or more.

There are also $10,000 divisional bonuses for the top finisher in each regional division, and the same for the Wild Card Division. Two more REDCREST spots go to the highest-finishing member of the College Fishing National Championship team and the best finisher from the International Division.

Who knows Pickwick best

Experience on the water counts in tournament fishing, and several anglers have plenty of it here. Kyle Glasgow has fished 34 MLF events on Pickwick with six top-10 finishes. Donny Beck has 30 starts there and Trent Surratt has 23. Among co-anglers, Johnny Surratt leads with 20 events at Pickwick, including two wins.

The lake last hosted this championship in 2021, when Brent Crow won. MLF notes that conditions then included grass and not much of a forward-facing sonar bite. That is the technology that shows fish swimming ahead of the boat in real time.

A field full of big names

Roger Fitzpatrick, last year’s winner, and co-angler Jeff McCarnan have each fished more than 250 MLF events. Fitzpatrick has earned almost $690,000 with the organization. Banks Shaw, who is not yet 24, has earned over $1 million with MLF. Nick LeBrun has won $991,680 and Greg Bohannan more than $980,000. MLF says LeBrun passes $1 million when his $500,000 Ultimate Angler Championship check is counted, and Keith Poche is well past that mark if Bassmaster earnings are included.

The ages in the field run wide. Co-angler Jim Short is 84, and Wesley Dawson, at 72, is the oldest pro. Brenner Lynn is the youngest pro at 18, and 16-year-old Benton Nelson is the youngest co-angler.

Short drives and long trips

Jimmy Washam lives 13 miles from takeoff. Beck, Walker Brown and Preston Kolisek are also within 50 miles, and more than 50 anglers live within 150 miles. Others travel far: Fernando Rosa, a co-angler from Puerto Rico, has 1,742 miles to go, while Lynn has 1,651 miles from San Diego. Anglers also come from Japan, Italy and Mexico.

Why it matters for readers

For fans, this event decides who gets to fish REDCREST, one of the biggest events on the MLF calendar. For regular bass anglers, Pickwick is a well-known Tennessee River reservoir, and tournament results there often show what is working on the lake.

Who to watch

Surratt has the most top-10 finishes on Pickwick with 12, including four wins. Beck has nine, and Washam and Shaw have seven each. Only eight pros in the field have won on the lake: those four, plus Matteo Turano, Carter Nutt, Buddy Benson and Hayden O’Barr. Keith Honeycutt has qualified 16 times, the most of any angler, and fishes as a co-angler. Bohannan and Todd Castledine have each qualified 13 times, and both made the top 10 the last time the event was held at Pickwick.

Results were not available in the source. How the fishing plays out, and who earns the three REDCREST berths, remains to be seen.

Source: Major League Fishing