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Johnston Extends Lead, Shaw Clinches AOY at Tackle Warehouse Invitational St. Lawrence River

 Jul 26th, 2025 by Chris Munchow 

Modified Jul 26th, 2025 at 11:09 PM

Johnston Extends Lead, Shaw Clinches AOY at Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches

Canadian pro catches limit weighing 25-12 for second consecutive day to maintain control heading into final day

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 St. Lawrence River smallmouth on Day 2 of Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches.

“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.

Link to Photo of Day 2 Leader Chris Johnston
Link to Photo Gallery of Day 2 on-the-water: Working to make the cut on the St. Lawrence
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 2 from the St. Lawrence River

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

Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

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.

The three-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is hosted by the Town of Massena and features professional bass anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000.

In Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition, the full field competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, now advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight.

The final 30 anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET Sunday from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena, New York. The Championship weigh-in will be held at the boat launch and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 6 at the St. Lawrence River Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 1 on CBS Sports Network.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Bubba, Deep Dive, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, VOSKER, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitationals updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.