Thanks to a 17-pound, 8-ounce second-day haul, Clanton, Alabama’s Wesley Gore holds the lead at the halfway point of the 2026 Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigee Waterway in Columbus.
Coupled with his first-day, 15-pound, 12-ounce total, Gore holds a more than 2 1/2 pound lead over Brookeland, Texas’ Dakota Ebare at the turn, with a total of 34 pounds, 7 ounces. Union City, Tennessee native John Garrett sits in third after a two-day haul of 29-6.
Thursday’s leader, 3-time Elite Series winner Bill Lowen, sits in 10th place, just over six pounds back of the lead.
Gore landed a four-pounder and a five-pounder within an hour of yesterday’s launch, setting himself up for a big day
“Today just flowed,” Gore said during the weigh-in. “We got a little front coming through (Saturday), hopefully not too much changes. But I feel good about it. If it’s meant to be, we’ll get ‘em. I promise you that.”
Faced with the Tenn-Tom’s massive size, Lowen stayed close to the two local pools where he was able to fish in solitude. He didn’t catch a significant number of fish, but he managed to find some quality bass.
“It was a fun day; I love fishing rivers, I love fishing shallow and I’m fishing the way I love to fish,” Lowen said, via the Bassmaster website. “I was fortunate to get three of the right bites. It’s not easy to get those big bites.”
The best areas, Lowen said, were hard bottom patches that served the fish’s current spawning needs.
Ebare said the conditions on the Tenn-Tomm remind him of the river bottoms he grew up fishing.
“It’s been a blessing, just having a lot of fun,” Ebare said. “I feel like a kid again. Anytime you put me around some cyprus trees and some grass, I’m having fun.”
After yesterday’s cutdown, the remaining 50 anglers launched this morning in hopes of increasing their totals. The top 10 anglers earn their way into tomorrow’s final round, which will air on FS1 beginning at 7 a.m. As of press time, the top 10 were separated by just six pounds.
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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