By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff

Bryan New launched his rookie season in blockbuster form by topping a stout field of well-established finalists and winning the St. Johns River Bassmaster Elite Series with a four-day total of 79-07.

Starting the final round in 6th place, New trailed day-3 leader Patrick Walters by 5-07. Saving his best for last, New posted the event’s second-heaviest bag, 26-04, and edged veteran Greg Hackney by a margin of 9-09. For his efforts, New earned $101,000.

New caught most of his fish out of lily pads, but he found a few keepers over main-river shell bars about halfway between Palatka and Dunn’s Creek, which connects to Crescent Lake. Targeting bars in about 5 to 7 feet, he fished a Berkley Warpig lipless crankbait in the bleeding shiner color with a slow yo-yoing technique.

“That wasn’t a winning-fish deal, but without those fish, I don’t win this tournament,” New said.

The pads that produced the bulk of his weight were located at the lower end of Lake George. Fishing 5-inch black and blue Zoom Zlinky worms Texas-rigged on a 5/0 Berkley Fusion hook with a 1/8- and 1/4-ounce weights, New said he focused on isolated pads.

“I fished dense pads too, but I definitely liked the sparse pads for multiple reasons,” he said. “First, on an isolated target, it’s easier to pick out where the fish are sitting and they have more light penetration. That’s important for the spawning fish I was targeting.”

The key, New said, was a meticulous presentation that maximized every aspect of his target area.

“You don’t just have one target on each cast; sometimes you’ll have 10 targets on each cast,” he said. “You can feel the sweet spots. You can feel a little rough patch on the bottom where there’s a bed or you can feel the hard spot of the root. Sometimes, you can even feel a little depression.

“I’ve always heard that slow and steady wins the race,” New said. “That’s not always my style, but I can do it.”

New caught good numbers the first three days. Day 1, which was shortened by a three-hour fog delay, yielded 12 pounds and put him in 22nd place. The second day, he added 20-03 and rose to 9th before securing his final-round berth with a day-3 limit of 21 pounds, which pushed him up to 6th.

Following the day-3 weigh-in, New said he’d approach day 4 focused on getting the big bites. He caught four in the 5-pound class and another over 4.

New qualified for the Elites by winning the Bassmaster Opens Angler of the Year title, an accomplishment that began with a win at his first 2020 tournament on Florida’s Kissimmee Chain.

Before the St. Johns event began, New stated that his 2021 goals included winning Bassmaster Angler of the Year – not only Rookie of the Year – and winning the Bassmaster Classic, which is set for June 11-13 on Lake Ray Roberts.

New summarized his Elite debut: “I have a pretty good start!”

Hackney committed his tournament to fishing cypress trees on Lake George’s east side. He caught 12-07 on day 1 and placed 19th and then rose to 3rd on Day 2 by adding 22-10. He’d improve to 2nd on day 3 and held that final position with weights of 23-06 and 11-07.

Returning to the Elites after a two-year hiatus, the Hackney caught all of his fish on a junebug-colored Strike King Rage Bug rigged on a 5/0 Hack Attack Flipping hook with a 1/4-ounce Tour Grade Tungsten weight.

“There’s not any cover left in the lake (2017’s Hurricane Irma killed the eelgrass) and this was one of the few areas that had enough depth and enough protection from the elements for those lake fish to spawn on," he said.

“There’s only a handful of docks and cypress trees in the lake and I spent one whole day in practice fishing all the way around (Lake George). I knew this was the area of the lake where the biggest population of fish lived and I knew where they used to spawn. I just looked for anything that was close by.”

Seth Feider finished third with 69-06. He turned in daily weights of 8-03, 18-08, 25-08 and 17-03.



Final Standings

1. Bryan New -- Belmont, NC -- 20, 79-07 -- 100 $101,000
Day 1: 5, 12-00 -- Day 2: 5, 20-03 -- Day 3: 5, 21-00 -- Day 4: 5, 26-04

2. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 20, 69-14 -- 99 -- $35,000
Day 1: 5, 12-07 -- Day 2: 5, 22-10 -- Day 3: 5, 23-06 -- Day 4: 5, 11-07

3. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 20, 69-06 -- 98 -- $30,000
Day 1: 5, 08-03 -- Day 2: 5, 18-08 -- Day 3: 5, 25-08 -- Day 4: 5, 17-03

4. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 20, 68-13 -- 97 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 13-03 -- Day 2: 5, 19-00 -- Day 3: 5, 26-07 -- Day 4: 5, 10-03

5. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 20, 67-05 -- 96 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 16-02 -- Day 2: 5, 17-05 -- Day 3: 5, 17-08 -- Day 4: 5, 16-06

6. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 18, 66-05 -- 95 -- $19,000
Day 1: 3, 12-14 -- Day 2: 5, 17-01 -- Day 3: 5, 23-07 -- Day 4: 5, 12-15

7. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 20, 66-02 -- 94 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 17-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-12 -- Day 3: 5, 21-01 -- Day 4: 5, 12-09

8. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 20, 64-08 -- 93 -- $17,000
Day 1: 5, 15-08 -- Day 2: 5, 15-08 -- Day 3: 5, 21-11 -- Day 4: 5, 11-13

9. Derek Hudnall -- Denham Springs, LA -- 20, 63-03 -- 92 -- $17,500
Day 1: 5, 22-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-00 -- Day 3: 5, 15-04 -- Day 4: 5, 09-10

10. Gary Clouse -- Winchester, TN -- 14, 54-01 -- 91 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 25-12 -- Day 2: 5, 19-05 -- Day 3: 2, 06-04 -- Day 4: 2, 02-12