HUNTINGTON, Ore. – After zeroing out the weights for Championship Sunday, R
ich Craft of Puyallup, Wash. sealed the victory with a five-fish limit of 18.26 at the second stop of the 2026 BAM Super 60 Pro Tour on Brownlee Reservoir.
Craft led the top-10 field into Championship Sunday after qualifying with a two-day total of 34.97 and 25 keepers. His win earned the $50,000 top prize at the televised bass battle presented by the City of Huntington, Oregon, Bass Boat Technologies,
Tackle Warehouse and conservation sponsor Fisherman’s Warehouse.
“It’s surreal – it’s crazy,” he said. “It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s crazy to have three days come together like they did with zero practice.”
Rather than force a rigid plan, Craft allowed the fish to dictate his decisions throughout the tournament. That flexibility ultimately produced the winning weight.
Roboworm Straight Tail Worm
"I had a gut feeling today and switched to a Roboworm,” he said. “I caught a fish that gave me a one-pound upgrade, and I won by just a pound."
Craft's early event centered around bluff walls before conditions forced a transition.
BAM 2026 S60 BROWNLEE Champion - Rich Craft
"For that topwater bite, you got to find the steepest bluff walls," he said. "You've got to throw it like an inch from the bluff. Let it sit there and give it a couple of twitches and if they don't blow up on it, reel it in and do it again. They hit within the first two-feet."
Teckel USA Kicknocker Walking Bait
His topwater presentation featured a Teckel Kicknocker thrown on a Dobyns Champion Extreme 703.
As the conditions changed, his winning pattern evolved.
"Once the wind started, my topwater bite died," he said. "I went to the dropshot. I was flippin' a bait ball with the dropshot. It was on a bank in 30-feet of water."
Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm
Craft's dropshot setup was tied to seven-pound Sunline and thrown on a Dobyns XTASY 752. He relied on a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm in Natural Shad before making the tournament-winning shift.
"I switched up today to a six-inch Roboworm with a straight tail in Texas Tilapia,” he said.
Craft offered simple advice for anglers approaching unfamiliar water as he did.
"Keep an open mind, especially these without practice," he said. "If you come in with game plan, especially when it doesn't work out. You have to be flexible, keep moving and stick to your confidence baits."
Hickey's Reset Takes Runner-Up
Disappointed by 14.87, Jason Hickey of Weiser, Idaho rebounded from his opening day. He added 16.16 on Day Two to qualify for Championship Sunday with a total weight of 32.03. His final day of competition earned the second place position with 17.33 pounds for a $8,467.00 payday.
"The only thing that didn't go right was the first day," he said. "I put in a bunch of time in the river. I was gonna run up the river, but the bottom fell out – like the craziest, lowest I've ever seen that river, and I couldn't get up there."
Instead of forcing the original plan, Hickey abandoned it and restarted from scratch.
"I went out and fished old school stuff that I've fished all my life," he said.
Electronics became an important tool, but not for the reason many might expect.
"I've got two LVS34 Live transducers on the back end of my boat, one on either of the jackplate, so I can do LiveScope scanning while I am idling," he explained.
Rather than searching for bass, Hickey focused on finding forage.
"Once I realized that these specific groups of crappie – the way the set up – if I could find those, I didn't need to see bass,” he revealed. “I just needed to see the bait. Brownlee bass, they eat crappie. That's their primary forage."
Fishing bait-rich areas in 25- to 40-feet of water, Hickey relied on a Carolina-rig with four- to six-inch creature baits in any variation of Green Pumpkin.
"I was throwing a heavy action rod with 20-pound fluorocarbon, a 1-oz lead sinker, and 20-inch leader,” he said. “Usually with simple stuff like a lizard or Super Spook.”
Mariani Adjusts to Finish Third
California pro Joe Mariani of Winters reached Championship Sunday after qualifying with 82 scorable bass, before sacking up 16.18 for a final-day performance to finish third and earn $6,831.
His strategy centered around Google Earth research and quantity over quality.
"Farther down the lake, it looked more like a lake than a river and I would prefer to fish a lake than a river and so I kind of just took the boat that way in the morning and found cleaner water,” he said. “Cleaner water smallmouth are easier to catch and that proved to be true."
Mariani targeted deeper smallmouth in the 25- to 40-foot range.
Drop Shot Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm[/caption]
"I was drosphotting a little Berkley Flat Worm, which is a classic staple smallmouth bait,” he said. “Right off the bat, they were biting it, so I just stuck with it."
His dropshot consisted of a Goby-colored Flat Worm with a 1/4-ounce weight on a 7’2” spinning rod. The plastic was tied to 15-pound braid connected to a 10-pound leader.
Shifting from keeper count to heaviest five, Championship Sunday required Mariani to come with a completely different approach.
"The first two days, I was not around the fish to win,” he said. “I decided to go shallow in the trees and bushes around the cuts."
The adjustment paid immediate dividends.
"I used the urchin bait and landed 60 fish,” he added.
Hideup Kyu Coike
Mariani threw the 13 mm Hideup Coike in a dark brown color with a nail weight and single hook.
"It has a slow sink, just twitch a couple times and they come and get it,” he said.
Three days of competition ultimately showcased the versatility of Brownlee Reservoir. BAM’s next Super 60 Pro
Tour stop will be at the Columbia River on July 31 – August 2. It is the final regular season event of the year.
“The BAM Super 60 was a tremendous event and a pleasure to be part of. It was great working with the BAM staff and such a great group of anglers. The Brownlee Super 60 was a huge success, and everyone in Huntington really enjoyed having the event here. From everything I heard, the anglers had an outstanding experience as well. I’ll do everything I can to help bring BAM back to Huntington. Thank you very much for putting on such a great event!” — Travis Young
Note: BAM Pro Tour anglers are ranked in Pro Tour events by both the heaviest five fish limit (Weight) and numbers of scorable bass caught (Keepers).
First place is held by the angler with the five heaviest bass, and second place is the highest keeper count. The standings then continue to alternate by weight/keepers.
Anglers ranked by weight on the leaderboard are denoted with an asterisk.
Anglers add to both of their Day One rankings on Day Two as an accumulated two-day total. Once both days are tallied, the field is cut to the top-10, all results are zero-ed out and the final 10 anglers fish for the five heaviest bass on Day Three to determine the champion.
Best of the Rest
Full Final Results And Payout
Event Overview
The West’s top professional bass anglers will converge on Brownlee Reservoir for the second stop of the BAM Trail Super 60 Pro Tour. Presented by the City of Huntington, Oregon, Bass Boat Technologies, and Tackle Warehouse, this premier televised bass fishing event promises three days of intense competition as anglers battle for championship honors, big bass awards, and a share of one of the richest payouts in Western bass fishing.
Launching from Farewell Bend State Park, the three-day event will showcase the best anglers in the West while delivering extensive media exposure through the BAM Trail television series, live tournament broadcasts, social media, podcasts, websites, and Bass Angler Magazine’s print and digital platforms.
Hosted in partnership with the City of Huntington, OR the event is expected to bring anglers and their families from across the Western United States to the Huntington area, generating tourism and economic impact for local businesses.”
Media representatives are welcome to attend to report, film, interview anglers, or cover the event.
For media requests contact: Mark Lassagne 925-787-3474 mark@bassmag.com
Tournament Schedule:
The lake has been off-limits and no Information and to all contestants since May 26th There are no Official Practice days
Daily weigh-ins will take place at Stevenson Memorial Lion’s Park and are open to the public.
Friday afternoon June 26: Live weigh in starting at 3:00 pm
Saturday afternoon June 27: Live weigh-in starting at 3:00 pm
Top Ten Pro’s and Co’s are announced.
Award the Tackle Warehouse and Black Bear Diner contingency winners
Payouts from 11th place through the final paid position.
Sunday afternoon June 28: Live weigh-in starting 3:00 pm
Top Ten Pro’s compete for the championship
Awards will include a $50,000 check, the Bass Boat Technologies $500 contingency, and payouts to the Top 10.
Complete Rules and Event Information is Available at www.bamtrail.com
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