GROVE, Okla. (Nov. 7, 2025) – If you want some indication of how tough and volatile the fishing is on Grand Lake right now, you need only look at the leaderboard turnover. On Day 2 of the 2025 Toyota Series Championship, only four pros in the Top 10 from Day 1 managed to stay there, and the top two pros fell out of it entirely. Moving up into the lead, Justin Luetkemeyer weighed 15 pounds, 5 ounces on Day 2 for a 29-13 total, while Roger Fitzpatrick moved into second with 15-2 to bring his total to 29-0. In third, Greg Bohannan tallied 29-5, and even Lee Livesay in 10th is within 2 pounds of the lead.
The clear trend through two days is that it’s good to be from the Ozarks. While proficiency on Ozark waters was not a guarantee of success, seven of the top 15 pros are clearly at home in the region – and, by extension, at home wrangling bass around docks, rocks and all that Grand Lake offers.
On Day 1, Luetkemeyer put together a solid bag on docks – exactly what you’d expect out of the young Lake of the Ozarks guide.
“I had a good practice. I wasn’t getting a lot of bites, but I was up here in the dirty water flipping, and I felt pretty good,” he said. “It was a grind, but I was catching bigger fish. Yesterday went well, and I don’t know what changed today. Either they weren’t there, or they weren’t biting.
“At 1:30 this afternoon, I had one 3-pounder and two 14-inchers,” he said. “We made a big run down to the dam, found some schooling fish and caught ‘em pretty quick.”
Luetkemeyer was fishing in college not long ago and actually finished eighth in the College Fishing National Championship on Grand Lake in 2021, when the lake was partially iced over during practice and some teams broke out crappie jigs to catch the finicky bass. Now, he’s on the cusp of a huge payday if he can make the right calls tomorrow.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” he said. “A few hours ago, I was all upset because I didn’t think I was going to come close to making a check. But that’s why we never give up and why I love bass fishing.”
As for the game plan, it sounds like Luetkemeyer is going to set the flipping jig aside, at least to start.
“I’m probably going to start down (the lake) and maybe work my way back and see how it goes,” he mused. “But I think I’m going to run to the clear water tomorrow.”
The top 25 pros that advanced to the Championship Round on Grand Lake are:
1st: Justin Luetkemeyer, Osage Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 29-13
2nd: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., 10 bass, 29-10
3rd: Greg Bohannan, Bentonville, Ark., 10 bass, 29-5
4th: Shane Long, Willard, Mo., 10 bass, 28-14
5th: Travis Pitt, Niceville, Fla., 10 bass, 28-11
6th: Adam Boehle, Warrenton, Mo., 10 bass, 28-8
7th: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., 10 bass, 28-4
8th: Riley Harris, Orange, Texas, 10 bass, 28-3
9th: Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 28-0
10th: Lee Livesay, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 27-14
11th: Eli Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., 10 bass, 27-12
12th: Chad Mrazek, Montgomery, Texas, 10 bass, 27-10
13th: Chance Shelby, Denham Springs, La., 10 bass, 27-5
14th: Tyler Weberg, Eugene, Mo., nine bass, 26-14
15th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, 10 bass, 26-14
16th: Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-7
17th: Tucker Smith, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 26-7
18th: Benjamin Travis, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 26-7
19th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 26-5
20th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., 10 bass, 26-4
21st: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-3
22nd: Carter Nutt, Nashville, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-2
23rd: T.J. Martin, Claremore, Okla., 10 bass, 25-15
24th: Jack Daniel Williams, Kingsport, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-10
25th: Bradley Sullivan, Shawnee, Okla., 10 bass, 25-9
Overall, there were 604 bass weighing 1,325 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 141 pros Friday. The catch included 94 five-bass limits.
After Day 2, both REDCREST 2026 berths were officially decided. Luca Vittorio Della Ciana of Perugia, Italy, secured the MLF International Division title, earning a $10,000 bonus and a coveted spot in REDCREST 2026. On the collegiate side, University of Montevallo’s Brody Robison of Dawson, Alabama clinched his own REDCREST qualification as the highest-finishing member of the College Fishing National Championship team. Both anglers will now advance to compete against the sport’s best at Table Rock Lake next spring, representing their divisions – and the next generation of Major League Fishing talent – on bass fishing’s most prestigious platform.
On the co-angler side, the race is just as tight or tighter. In first but tied by weight, Michael Luckey has 21-10 on nine fish. Technically in second, Glenn Hall also has 21-10 but on 10 fish. In third, Tommy Pritchard has tallied 21-5 through two days.
The top 25 co-anglers that advanced to the Championship Round on Grand Lake are:
1st: Michael Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 21-10
2nd: Glenn Hall, Wellsville, N.Y., 10 bass, 21-10
3rd: Tommy Pritchard, Bargersville, Ind., 10 bass, 21-5
4th: Giovanni Ceccarelli, Rimini, Italy, 10 bass, 20-1
5th: Jeremy Bouldin, Kings Mountain, N.C., seven bass, 18-13
6th: Ben Burk, Norman, Okla., eight bass, 18-13
7th: Jakob Labelle, Hinesburg, Vt., eight bass, 18-7
8th: Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, seven bass, 17-3
9th: Will Lancett, Jacksonville, Ark., seven bass, 15-10
10th: Les Brandenburg, Springfield, Mo., eight bass, 15-8
11th: Joshua Paul, Oliver Springs, Tenn., five bass, 15-6
12th: Brian Durham, Dinwiddie, Va., seven bass, 15-6
13th: James Cobbs, Vinemont, Ala., seven bass, 15-2
14th: Mark King, Gurdon, Ark., eight bass, 15-1
15th: Ryan Steinhoff, Beulah, Colo., seven bass, 15-0
16th: Kenny Manning, Bethpage, Tenn., six bass, 14-15
17th: Jason Wiley, Swainsboro, Ga., six bass, 14-12
18th: Kyle Malone, Troy, Ohio, seven bass, 14-9
19th: DJ Pugh, Overland Park, Kan., seven bass, 14-2
20th: Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., seven bass, 14-0
21st: Scott Standafer, Milford, Ohio, eight bass, 13-13
22nd: Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., eight bass, 13-12
23rd: Alex Moore, Chester, Ill., six bass, 13-10
24th: Noah Dickneite, Freeburg, Mo., seven bass, 13-8
25th: David Johnson, Memphis, Tenn., seven bass, 13-3
The final 25 pros and co-anglers will take off Saturday at 7 a.m. CT from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16th Street, in Grove. Saturday’s Championship weigh-in will also be held at the park and will begin at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/toyota-cherokees-11725.html
MLF Toyota Series Archive