PARK FALLS, WI (August 13, 2025) — Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Illinois gained his second Bassmaster Elite occasion of his quick Elite profession final weekend at Michigan’s Lake St. Clair, weighing 20 smallmouth bass over 4 days totaling over 96 kilos. He did so in dominant trend – seizing the lead on day one, by no means relinquishing that lead, and besting his nearest competitor by over 5 kilos on the remaining weigh-in. His record-setting 96-1 bag was the heaviest four-day event weight ever registered at a Bassmaster occasion on Lake St. Clair.
McKinney caught most of his fish on the south finish of St. Clair’s Anchor Bay towards the mouth of the Clinton River. He was largely utilizing a sixth Sense 5-inch minnow with a St. Croix Legend Match Bass LBTS71MF VERSATILE spinning rod and a each a prototype sixth Sense soft-plastic dice-style bait and a Social gathering Prop spy bait on St. Croix Legend X2 LXTS71MF spinning rods.
“That new Legend X2 is a brilliant nice rod… extremely mild and really sturdy,” McKinney says. “Often while you get lighter and extra delicate the rods get extra brittle, however that’s not the case with these new SCVII blanks. I’ve been leaning on the 7-1 Legend X2 onerous for any type of spy or small finesse-style baits, which it does actually good as a result of it’s so mild and helps me really feel completely every thing.” At simply 20 years outdated, McKinney has a historical past of constructing historical past. Below the teaching and mentorship of Rick Cheatham, McKinney earned nationwide consideration at age 13, simply eight years in the past. Remarkably, he gained the Junior Bassmaster Championship, the FLW Junior World Championship, and the USA Bassin Subsequent Era Basic all in the identical 12 months. That had not been performed earlier than, nor has it since. Given all the thrill on social media surrounding expertise as of late, it’s vital to notice that every one of those titles and dominant performances have been completed with out forward-facing sonar. In 2021 – at age 16 – he turned the youngest angler to ever win AOY as a boater in a BFL collection. He did it once more the next 12 months in 2022. Once more, each of those important accomplishments have been earned with out reliance on forward-facing sonar. McKinney progressed to the Bassmaster Opens Sequence in 2023. Amidst a talent-choked discipline, McKinney completed within the top-20 in six of 9 occasions, ending third within the Opens EQ standings to earn a spot within the 2024 Bassmaster Elites.
In his rookie 12 months of the Bassmaster Elites final season at age 19, McKinney continued his march and have become the youngest angler to ever win an Elite Sequence occasion, posting a dominating win at Lake Fork with a tick below 131 kilos – the fourth-heaviest bag ever weighed at a Bassmaster Elite occasion. He additionally took third at St. Lawrence River, and sixth at each Lake Murray and the Harris Chain occasions, finally ending second in factors for AOY and incomes Rookie-of-the-Yr honors.
Triple-qualified for the 2025 Bassmaster Basic – his first ever – McKinney took to Lake Ray Roberts north of Fort Price on bass-fishing’s greatest stage in March of this 12 months and did what he all the time does… catch bass. He weighed a large 26-9 bag to guide on day one, regained his lead after day three, and completed the world’s most prestigious event in second place with 68-7.
At the moment, McKinney is 2 weeks away from the chance to make historical past but once more by including a brand new title to his prolonged checklist of accomplishments.
The 2025 Bassmaster Elite season ends with a finale on the Higher Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, August 21-24. McKinney enters the occasion tied for first place with Chris Johnston within the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Yr factors race.
“I’m positively feeling good about it,” he says. “You understand it’s a bizarre fishery. It adjustments a lot. You get two days of rain, the river fluctuates, they usually both transfer 50 yards down the best way or a half a mile. It may be a extremely complicated place. It’s harmful with quite a lot of spots the place you will get caught in the event you aren’t paying consideration. However I find it irresistible as a result of it’s all shallow water. There will be some scoping benefits in some locations, however quite a lot of it comes all the way down to doing it along with your eyes, so it’s a extremely enjoyable place to fish.” With one occasion left to go, McKinney (690 pts) must be a bit nervous about holding off the numerous expertise nipping at his heels within the Progressive AOY factors race. Guys like Johnston (690 pts), Kyoya Fujita (650 pts), Wisconsin native Jay Przekurat (648 pts), and others are all nicely inside placing distance. However McKinney isn’t displaying any stress.
“About the one factor I can do is fish onerous every single day of follow and see what I can study and discover earlier than the event begins, . After that… if it’s meant to be it’s gonna be. And if not, , there’s nothing else I can do about it and we’ll give attention to the Basic and making one other run subsequent season.” The 2025 Professional-Information Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River takes place August 21-24 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Comply with all of the motion at bassmaster.com. Comply with Trey McKinney and his persevering with journey on Fb and Instagram @treymckinneyfishing.
About St. Croix RodHeadquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly crafting the “Greatest Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with expert craftsmanship, St. Croix is the one main producer to nonetheless construct rods solely from design via manufacturing. The corporate stays family-owned, proudly owning and working duplicate manufacturing services in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With common trademarked collection similar to Legend®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph® and Mojo, St. Croix is revered by all forms of anglers from around the globe. The St. Croix Household of Manufacturers contains St. Croix Rod, SEVIIN Reels, St. Croix Fly, and Rod Geeks.
