All your favorite teams and sources in one place

Build your feed

Your Teams.
All Sources.

Build your feed

© 2024 BVM Sports. Best Version Media, LLC.

No results found.
Race for NPFL championship and Progressive AOY tight heading into Grand Lake
Buck Mallory pulled away on the last day at Lake Winnebago to win his first event of the season. (Courtesy: NPFL)

Race for NPFL championship and Progressive AOY tight heading into Grand Lake

OSHKOSH, Wis. (BVM) — The fifth of seven events in the first full season of the National Professional Fishing League ended this past Saturday with Buck Mallory taking home the trophy and $50,000 check. 

It was the Lawton, Michigan native’s first win of the season. With a total bag of 42 pounds, 10 ounces and final day bag of 14 pounds, 3 ounces, Mallory narrowly passed runner up Brandon Perkins by just 4 ounces. 

“Brandon made a great run at it, catching the biggest bag of the tournament,” NPFL CEO Brad Fuller said. 

Perkins final day bag was an impressive 17 pounds, 2 ounces beating the next biggest single day weight by 1 pound, 8 ounces.

Mallory was consistent throughout the event and it paid off. (Courtesy: NPFL)

Along with Perkins, third place finisher Paul Browning and fourth place finisher Marc Shilling were right in the mix with only a 10-ounce difference between the top four anglers. 

“When we got to the top five we really didn’t who was going to win,” Fuller said.

“It was one of the most exciting weigh-ins I’ve been to in a long, long time.” 

In the end, Mallory made key decisions on the final day and in practice earlier in the week that proved to be the deciding factor in his wind. Most importantly, on such a vast lake, he was able to locate areas that had plenty of fish and were basically his for the taking. 

“I think the key to Buck’s win was he found something that he really wasn’t sharing water with any other anglers,” Fuller said. “There were a few anglers that fished around him but if you look at the top four, Buck, Marc Shilling, Keith Carson, Brandon Perkins and then you throw Paul Browning in there as well. Paul Browning, Keith Carson and Marc Shilling were all fishing the same general area.”

It’s these types of scenarios and situations that the NPFL was hoping to create when they chose Lake Winnebago as the site for their final summer event. In what is arguably the hardest time to bass fish the League gave their anglers a challenge that was designed to make them work for it. 

“We wanted tough going into the last couple of the year because we knew it was going to be super close,” Fuller said. 

Heading into their final event before the championship, the race for both a spot in the championship and AOY is extremely close. 

“Realistically I’m going to say the top four right now all those guys have a legitimate shot to win the angler of the year,” Fuller said. 

It’s exactly what the NPFL was hoping for when they planned out the season and it’s the reason they are following up Lake Winnebago with Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. With the season on the line, the League has showcased the mental side of bass fishing and Lake Winnebago was just the start.

“We knew that decisions and the mental aspect of fishing was going to be on display… decisions absolutely played in and it’s going to be the exact same thing at Grand Lake,” Fuller said. “With the pressure of AOY, the pressure of the championship, with the pressure of just trying to cash a check at the last event of the year, all those are going to compound every decision you make.

“The guy that wins this is going to earn it.” 

Perkins made a run for first place but his impressive bag on Saturday wasn’t enough. (Courtesy: NPFL)

Currently, Perkins leads the AOY race with Shilling, John Soukup and Keith Carson all right in the mix. At the other end, anglers like Mitchell Webb and Eddie Carper have positioned themselves for a shot to get into the championship.    

The NPFL has not announced where the championship will take place but does know where the event will take place. 

“The championship is set, we know where we’re going, we know the venue, we know the lake, we know exactly when we’re going to be there,” Fuller said. 

Aside from holding back the information to build up excitement for the championship, the League has also chosen not to because they want to ensure an even playing field for all anglers. 

“We want to make sure that at the end of the year the best angler in the field is who wins that award,” Fuller said. 

If Lake Winnebago was a precursor for both Grand Lake and the championship, the NPFL will get what they want as the season wraps up.