It’s been 32 long years since a B.A.S.S. Nation angler won the Bassmaster Classic. In 1994, Bryan Kerchal took home the trophy, crowning himself the first Nation angler to win “the Superbowl of Fishing.” Dylan Nutt wouldn’t be born for another 10 years.
Nutt, the 22-year-old from Nashville, made history yesterday by joining Kerchal’s ranks. He’s only the second B.A.S.S. Nation angler to take home the trophy. And to make the victory even sweeter, his twin brother Carter, along with partner Bryce Dimauro, earned a win at the 2026 Strike King College Classic Exhibition at Watts Bar the day before. It was a darn good weekend in the Nutt household.
I don’t know what those kids’ parents are feeding them, but I want in on it.
How Dylan Nutt Qualified for the Bassmaster Classic
Any Classic win is a huge accomplishment. Professional anglers spend their lives dreaming of winning a Classic, with very few ever hoisting the trophy. It cements an angler as the best of the best, and according to past Classic winners, it is a life-changing accomplishment.
What makes the accomplishment even more impressive for Nutt, is how he went about it. He didn’t take the traditional route. Most anglers in the Classic are the top finishers in points from the Bassmaster Elite series the prior year. However, there are three spots allocated for the top anglers from the B.A.S.S. Nation.
What Is the B.A.S.S. Nation?
The B.A.S.S. Nation is a grassroots amateur fishing circuit. Anyone can sign up and compete. All that is required is a B.A.S.S. membership.
B.A.S.S. Nation-affiliated clubs are all over the country. You can sign up and fish in a Nation tournament this year, likely in your home state. But don’t think that means you’ll be in the Classic next year.
Dylan’s Journey to the Classic
To earn one of the three Nation slots in the Classic, you’ve got to be in the top three in the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship. And you have to qualify for that as well.
You can qualify for that in one of two ways: either by placing in the top 20 of a B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier event, or working your way up from your local state tournaments, earning you a spot to fish the B.A.S.S. Divisionals. If you fish well in a Divisional Tournament, you get a spot at the B.A.S.S Nation Championship.
As you can tell, getting to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship is an accomplishment in itself. And getting to the Classic? You’ve got to go on a multi-month heater.
And Nutt did just that. He earned a spot at the Nation Championship by winning a Nation Qualifier at Pickwick last March. He then placed third at the 2025 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship at the Upper Mississippi River, earning his spot at the Classic.
Dylan’s Bassmaster Classic Performance
The field at the Bassmaster Classic is an intimidating bunch. Surrounded by the likes of legendary anglers like John Cox, Brandon Palaniuk, Jordan Lee, the Johnston brothers, and up-and-coming young guns like Trey McKinney and 25 Classic Champ Easton Fothergill, chances seemed slim that a Nations angler had a prayer of winning.
But Dylan didn’t get intimidated. He put his head down and worked. As soon as he qualified, he started practicing.
“I spent a month up here fishing every day just trying to get as much of an advantage as I could,” he said. “And it paid off. I feel like I know this place better than my home lake, and it showed this week. I put my time in out here, and I worked really hard at it and was able to pull it off.”
Nutt brought in 19-5 on day one, and then took the lead on day two, weighing in a tournament-best 26-11. He walked into Championship Sunday with a near 4-pound lead over Drew Cook. It looked like it would be a close one.
But no one could catch him. By the end of the tournament, his weight came in at 66 pounds, 13 ounces, beating second-place finisher Trey McKinney by nearly 10 pounds.
‘Secret Bait’ That Won the Classic
Nutt spent his time focusing on Fort Loudoun. He said he chose to focus on Loudoun because it fishes more like a river. “I’m very confident in my ability to catch them on the rivers like this, and the way they were setting up, it was in my wheelhouse,” he said.
He focused on prespawn staging areas, with largemouth and smallmouth moving in and out, targeting them with Forward Facing Sonar and a jighead minnow. You may be wondering, “What Minnow?” I’m glad you asked.
Interestingly enough, a mere 2 days before the start of the Classic, I was at a media event in Kentucky with Berkley. The brand was showing a crew of media folk a new line of baits called the Berkley Lab Series, the result of the awesome work of the scientists at Berkley. Little did we know that in a few days, it would make its mark by winning.
Now, I still can’t go into the details of the Lab Series baits. All I will say is that they are different, on the cutting edge, and clearly, they work. Be on the lookout for a full release article, as I am now very confident these baits will sell fast. A Classic win has that effect.
What the Bassmaster Classic Win Means for Anglers
This is one heck of a feel-good story. How can you not be excited for Nutt, a young 22-year-old kid from Tennessee who just took home $300,000 from winning a bass tournament? It’s awesome.
There are going to be some who talk down on it and reference his use of forward-facing sonar as yet another representation of the downfall of fishing. Before this particular win, I would have been inclined to agree.
But the nature of this win changed my mind. I’ve seen both sides of the argument about the technology and have accepted that it’s here to stay. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been a fan of it. Until this weekend, if I could have waved a magic wand and made it disappear, I would have.
But maybe, just maybe, forward-facing sonar isn’t ruining bass fishing. It’s saving it.
Hope for the Everyday Angler
This win brings hope back to the everyday angler. We’ve all heard about how bass fishing is getting more and more expensive, and getting to the top level has seemed harder than ever. Sure, financially it is. But it’s also easier.
Back in the day, young kids didn’t have a prayer. It took decades to get enough experience to compete at the top level. Sure, there was the one-off young guy who could compete, but it was the exception to the rule. Now, the rookie classes are nothing but young guys.
They don’t have enough years of life to keep up with the on-the-water experience of the old heads who dominated. But now, one can get really good with forward-facing sonar and have a shot at making it to the pros.
And it’s still not a cheat code. These young guys live on the water. They have experience. A guy who’s really good with FFS worked to get there.
But there’s a reason a Nations guy hasn’t won the Classic for over three decades. There was no way to make up for the massive deficit of time on the water between pro anglers and everyday amateurs.
Thanks to forward-facing sonar, that deficit can be made up. Every day, average Joes do have a shot. Dylan Nutt proved it and gave hope to anglers all around the country.
What’s Next for Dylan Nutt?
So, what happens to a B.A.S.S. Nation angler after they win the Classic? Well, first off, Dylan qualifies for next year’s Elite Series. He officially made it pro. All he has to do is participate in three Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said, “I can’t turn that one down. It’s a dream come true.” I know I’m excited to see the young phenom next year.
And while I haven’t yet been able to confirm it, I’m fairly certain this win will earn Nutt a spot in “The Tournament of Champions” this fall, where he will have the opportunity to fish for 1.25 million. The field of that tournament is made up of the top 25 anglers from the Elites and Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour, as well as any individual event winners from the year. It’s unclear whether the Classic and Redcrest are included.
However, if they are, Nutt’s win is a huge shakeup for the event. In an interview with tournament founder Brian Bird, I was told Old Hickory Lake in Nashville was selected in part because the pro field has virtually no experience on that body of water.
Well, that place is right in Dylan Nutt’s backyard. And as he did in Knoxville for the Classic, I’m sure he’ll put in the work to have it dialed. He’s done it before, and he can do it again. He’s certainly going to be a force to be reckoned with.
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