Nine different anglers crossed the 100-pound mark this week at the Bassmaster Elite at St.Lawrence River — the most Century Belts ever awarded at a single smallmouth event in Bassmaster history.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORSAnd shockingly, that historic number almost wasn't even the most exciting thing that happened.Evan Kung holds up his championship trophy for the Bassmaster Elite at St.
Lawrence.(Amber Harding Snyder)Evan Kung made a furious final-day charge from behind to run down leader Trey McKinney and steal the tournament win right at the finish, capping a week in which he entered with his Elite Series career on the line.Kung came into the St.
Lawrence needing a strong finish just to keep his card in the Bassmaster Elite Series.Instead, he built a lead through four days of consistent fishing and closed it out with a Phoenix Boats Big Bass award (6 pounds, 13 ounces) on top of the tournament win."It was a crazy week," Kung said.
"I knew every day going in what I needed to catch just to stay in the Elites.Once I had that locked up, I went out today wanting the Century Belt.
Once I had that, I just went looking for big ones."TENNESSEE ANGLER LANDS MONSTER 15-POUND LARGEMOUTH BASS THAT SHATTERS STATE RECORD HELD SINCE 2015He described a gutsy final-day gamble that paid off: "I went to the lake for three hours, didn't catch a fish, came back in the river and caught that big one in the last 20 minutes.It was a crazy week."His pattern all week was simple and repeatable — about 95% drop shot, including several fish on a still-unreleased Great Lakes Finesse prototype bait."It's coming out soon," Kung said.Kung entered the final day trailing McKinney's overnight lead of 83-5 by a pound and a half.
He weighed in first among the two leaders and delivered a final-day bag of 27-12 — enough to vault him into the lead at 109-9 for the first time all week.That put the pressure squarely on McKinney, who needed 26-8 to answer and reclaim the win...