Bill Lowen’s 2024 season brought nothing but turmoil, but he kicked 2025 off strong on Sunday, taking home his second career win in the first tournament of his 20th season. Last year, Lowen struggled on the Bassmaster Elite Series. When everything was said and done, he was in 84th place in the 2024 Angler of the Year points standings.
Known for being one of the most consistent anglers in the field, it certainly shook Lowen’s confidence.
“You know, after last year, I was questioning my abilities,” Lowen said after accepting his trophy at the St. John’s River. ”I always say when you can fish in your comfort zone, you fish to the best of your abilities, and it was a magical week for sure.”
Fortunately for Lowen, things on the St. John’s River in Palatka, Fla., shaped up perfectly for his style of fishing.
Shifting Conditions Make Things Difficult
The Bassmaster Elite series is a classic five-big bass tournament. Anglers weigh in their five biggest bass daily, and the angler with the highest total weight at the end of 4 days takes home the iconic blue trophy and a $100,000 check.
This week, individual anglers’ weights fluctuated drastically, day by day. For example, Jay Przekurat, the second-place finisher, started hot by weighing in 24 pounds, 15 ounces on Day 1. On Day 2, he only brought in 12 pounds, 12 ounces. Later in the tournament, his weights went back up.
This was due to a few factors. The first was the tidal influence on the St. John’s River. Tides were up in the mornings and would drop around midday, but that drop began later and later throughout the tournament, so each day brought a different prime time. Tides also brought in drifting vegetation, changing the landscape in key areas each day.
Bass were also in a transition period. Some fish were in full spawn mode, and anglers targeted them on beds utilizing sight fishing techniques. Others were still in pre-spawn, staging just outside of the prime spawning habitat.
That movement, along with fish transitioning with the tides, made dialing in a consistent pattern difficult.
The final day also brought a cold front, with Lowen stating that water temperatures were hovering at 54 degrees on championship day. That cold front resulted in six of the top 10 anglers bringing in less than 15 pounds of bass into the final weigh-in. The shifting weights throughout the tournament left victory wide open to anyone in the top 10.
How ‘Dollar Bill’ Won
On the final day, Lowen was in first place with a 5-pound, 4-ounce lead over Jay Przekurat. That was hardly a comfortable lead, given that the tournament was in Florida, which is known for big fish.
Numerous fish over 7 pounds were caught over the week, and anyone could take a big jump in weight by landing a Florida monster.
As Lowen stated in his post-tournament interview, he was fishing in his comfort zone. For him, that meant no forward-facing sonar and a swim jig. Lowen is a swim jig legend, teaching courses and giving seminars around the country about the technique. His choice swim jig was a 5/16-ounce blue craw Bill Lowen Signature Series Lure Swim Jig with a Zoom Super Speed Craw.
“The key was fishing that swim jig really slow. In that cold water, they just wanted that bait moving slowly,” Lowen said.
He had been finding success fishing it around vegetation and trees all week, but it slowed down for him on championship day. The temps dropped, and overnight, a large grass mat moved into his prime area and was in his way.
Instead of moving on to other areas, he decided to punch through the mat. Fortunately for him, he pulled out a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass.
That big fish ended up being vital for Lowen. The remainder of his day was slow, and he only landed four of his five bass. He lost his fifth fish three times and knew that he was cutting it close with only four fish going into weigh-in.
Fortunately for him, his big fish made up for it, and he walked away with a win of a slim 4 ounces.
A Win for Youth Anglers
Lowen is a class act angler. He has a longstanding tradition of gifting a randomly selected youth in the crowd a B.A.S.S. membership at any tournament he makes a top 10. With this first-place finish, he and his wife decided to up the ante by giving every single youth in the crowd a membership to B.A.S.S.
He cited his dreams of watching Denny Brauer as a youth as his reason for giving back to young anglers. An emotional Lowen said all he wanted to do when he was young was stand on the Bassmaster stage and be just like Denny. He certainly did that this weekend, and you have to love the guy for giving back to others while accepting a trophy for his own accomplishments.
Bassmaster Elite Series: Next Stop
The Bassmaster Elite Series continues its run in Florida in just a few days. From February 27 to March 2, the field will be fishing on Lake Okeechobee. Tune into the action over at Bassmaster.
