MASSENA, N.Y. (July 26, 2025) – At roughly 10:45 a.m. EST on Saturday, MLFNOW! analyst Rob Newell made the unofficial call as Canadian pro Chris Johnston wrestled with a fat river smallmouth on Day 2 of Tackle Warehouse Invitational tournament on the St. Lawrence.
“I believe the Johnston beatdown is in full effect right now,” Newell quipped as Johnston fought the fish to the boat, referring to the Canadian pro’s 20-plus-pound morning and his burgeoning lead on the rest of the field.
That fish – a rotund 4 1/4-pound smallie built more like an Opah than a bass – resulted in a 3/4-pound cull that boosted Johnston to a 4-pound lead at the time. He would add to that lead shortly, culling up two more times in the next 90 minutes to cross the 25-pound mark and boost his cushion to 6 pounds. Johnston finished the day with 25-12 for the second straight day, giving him a two-day total of 51-8 and leaving Clay Reece (47-1), John Murray (44-14), Shaw Grigsby (44-12) and the rest of the Top 10 a tall hill to climb to catch the peerless Canadian pro.
“If your name is Johnston, you can lay claim to this river,” Newell said, referring to the success that Chris, his brother Cory and father Lynn have enjoyed on the St. Lawrence system for years.
Pro Banks Shaw, meanwhile, caught a modest bag of 17-5 to fall from second place to 11th. But while he’ll likely concede the battle on the St. Lawrence to Johnston, the Tennessee pro easily won the war: Shaw wrapped up the 2025 Fishing Clash Angler of the Year and Polaris Rookie of the Year titles by a wide margin. He’ll finish the season with a 60-plus-point gap over second place and take home bonuses of $50,000 for AOY and a Polaris Ranger 1000 UTV for ROY – plus an invitation to fish the Bass Pro Tour in 2026.
Heading into Saturday – the one day of competition without live sonar – many studious tournament fans had Johnston pegged as the most dangerous angler in the field. The Mercury pro’s knowledge of the St. Lawrence supplied him with a selection of key spots where he knew 5- and 6-pounders live. The potential speed bump, though, was that he was “maybe 50/50” in his confidence he could get them to bite.
“I wasn’t overly confident or thinking that it was a guarantee by any means,” Johnston said. “In the back of my mind, I knew that I could go catch maybe 19 to 22 pounds fishing some other stuff, but those places don’t have fish that will get you a 25 to 28 pounds. Fishing that way, you can easily not catch a fish. I didn’t go there knowing that I was going to catch 25 pounds.”
Johnston’s go-for-broke plan was rewarded quickly, though, as he connected with the first of a steady enough supply of 4 1/2- to 5-pounders while drifting big-fish haunts that he’s accumulated since he was 18 years old (“Doing it old school,” Johnston said). By 11 a.m., his livewell held over 22 pounds of smallmouth; it was up to 24 by noon, en route to the only 25-plus-pound bag of the day. Johnston’s morning success was in stark contrast to Day 1, when he struggled (by his standards) through much of the day before culling up to 25-12.
Johnston will head into Championship Sunday with an opportunity to collect his third major win on the St. Lawrence (he won a Toyota Series Northern Division event in 2021 and a Bassmaster Elite Series in 2023), and a chance to add $80,000 to his career winnings on a river that’s already accounted for roughly 25% of the $1.6 million he’s earned on the major tours to date.
“This is a fun tournament for me,” Johnston said. “It’s an awesome, high-stakes tournament where I don’t have to worry about points. I’m here to win. I can just go out and swing for the fences again (Sunday). I’m going with the same plan. I might fish one or two more areas that I didn’t get to Saturday and hit a couple spots that I can maybe fish a little more effectively with LiveScope. I may go out and catch 17, but I’m going to go where the big ones live and try to crack another 25-12.”
The top 30 pros advancing to the final day of competition on the St. Lawrence River are:
1st: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 51-8
2nd: Clay Reece, Lexington, Ky., 10 bass, 47-1
3rd: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 44-14
4th: Shaw Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla., 10 bass, 44-12
5th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 44-8
6th: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., 10 bass, 44-6
7th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 10 bass, 44-1
8th: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., 10 bass, 43-11
9th: John Levesque, Nashua, N.H., 10 bass, 43-9
10th: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 10 bass, 43-3
11th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 10 bass, 42-14
12th: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-13
13th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 10 bass, 42-11
14th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 42-10
15th: Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 10 bass, 42-7
16th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 10 bass, 42-5
17th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 42-3
18th: Blake Smith, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 42-3
19th: Nick Hatfield, Chuckey, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-0
20th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 42-0
21st: Jordan Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 41-15
22nd: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-8
23rd: Joshua McGeary, Mount Pleasant, Pa., 10 bass, 41-8
24th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., 10 bass, 41-7
25th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., 10 bass, 41-6
26th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 41-3
27th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 40-14
28th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 bass, 40-12
29th: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 40-10
30th: Gary Miller, Colborne, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 40-8
Overall, there were 433 bass weighing 1,578 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 87 pros Saturday. The catch included 85 five-bass limits.
Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to pro Jordan Wiggins of Cullman, Alabama, who brought a bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces to the scale.
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