In only the second event of the Bassmaster Elite Series 2026 season, a rookie took home the trophy. With a win by a mere 1.5 pounds on the Bassmaster Elite Series at Lake Martin, Fisher Anaya continued the trend of young, hot anglers dominating professional bass fishing. The Elite series newcomer ended the weekend with a blue trophy and a $100K paycheck.
“This feels awesome,” Anaya said. “I didn’t know if I’d ever win one of these. My buddy Gerald Swindle always tells me it’s not easy to win one of these, so if you get a shot to win, you better make it work. I knew this one would set up in my wheelhouse; I just had to get the bites and land them.”
Here’s how the lake set up and how the young gun took home the win.
Mid-February on Lake Martin
Before the tournament, it seemed like the entire Elite field knew that this would be a close one. After practice, the general consensus was that bags would average out at around 10 pounds of spotted bass, and it would take a largemouth kicker (or two) to win out.
“What stands out about this place is the randomness of it all, and by that, I mean someone is going to win and be lucky,” Kyle Patrick said. “Somebody is going to key on spotted bass, go shallow, and catch a 5-pound largemouth, randomly and out of nowhere. That one 5-pound largemouth could take them all the way, given the universal low weight average of the spotted bass.”
With this being the first Livescope tournament of the Bassmaster Elite series season, it seemed primed for a young, tech-focused angler to win it. Go catch a limit, and then spend your time looking for a kicker.
The Techniques Fisher Used to Win His First Bassmaster Elite
That largemouth kicker wasn’t really a part of Anaya’s strategy, though. Before the off-limits period, Anaya had won a local tournament on the lake, exclusively with spotted bass. When discussing that tournament win, he said, “I had right at 15 pounds with all spotted bass and thought, ‘Maybe I can make something work down here.’ I fished the same exact way, just in different areas.”
Where and How Anaya Fished the Bassmaster Elite Series on Lake Martin
Anaya spent his tournament on the southern end of the lake, where the water was cleaner. He keyed in on shallow rock piles — less than 10 feet deep. There were piles of fish prepping to spawn, and they were staged on just about any cover he could locate near spawning areas.
The top-producing bait for Anaya was an unnamed dice bait rigged on a VMC redline treble hook with a nail weight. He said it was vital to keep the bait above the fish and present it from a distance.
“Staying my distance away from them was (important). I tried to hit them from 50 to 70 feet away to give them time to see the bait and not the boat,” Anaya said. It proved effective throughout the tournament, and he went into the final day with the lead.
The Competition at the Bassmaster Elite Series on Lake Martin
Still, he barely came out with the win. Brock Mosely was hot on his heels. While he started championship Sunday in second place, he had led much of the tournament. His tactics couldn’t be more different.
Mosely was targeting fish in shallow, dirty water on the northern end of the lake. His top baits were a Z-Man Evo Tungsten ChatterBait paired with a Yamamoto Zako, a Bill Lewis ATV Squarebill, and a jig.
Unfortunately for Mosely, Anaya had a stellar final day. He brought in a total of 15 pounds and 12 ounces to beat the competition. Livescope was yet again able to outperform the techniques of old.
What’s Next for the Bassmaster Elite Series?
The next stop for the Bassmaster Elite series is the big one, the Bassmaster Classic on the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn., March 13-15. If you can’t wait that long for more bass action, you’re in luck. Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour stop two at Lake Hartwell kicks off Feb. 19-22.
