Parade of Bassmaster champions 2016
Oct 26th, 2016 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 26th, 2016 at 12:00 AM
Check out these images of the regular season tournament champions from the 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series. Some old favorites along with first-timers as well.
Images by Joel Shangle/BassFIRST.com.
Rick Clunn kicked off the 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series season with a victory on the St. Johns River in Florida. Not bad for this senior citizen. He turned 70 in 2016.
Britt Myers took his first Elite Series win on Winyah Bay in his home state of South Carolina.
A duo of lakes, Bull Shoals and Norfork in Arkansas, were kind to Randall Tharp in 2016. This former FLW Tour Champion won his first Elite Series event on those bodies of water.
Takahiro Omori reminded everyone that he’s still a force on the Elite Series with his victory on Wheeler Lake in Alabama.
Yep, good old Mr. Washed Up himself Kevin VanDam had a pretty okay year in 2016. Winning not one, but two regular season Bassmaster Elite Series events. The first on Toledo Bend Reservoir in Louisiana. The second on Cayuga Lake in New York. Oh yeah, he also won the special Bassmaster Classic Bracket event on the Niagara River in New York.
If it weren’t for a pesky disqualification Greg Hackney would likely have won his third Angler of the Year (AOY) title. Due to his mistake he finished fifth overall instead in the AOY race. Plus, he did win at BASSfest on Lake Texoma on the Texas/Oklahoma border. So, not too bad all things considered.
Justin Lucas sat on a community hole on the Potomac River in Maryland and grinded out his second Bassmaster Elite Series victory.
The Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wisconsin was home to Ott DeFoe’s first Bassmaster Elite Series win and it was the final event of the 2016 regular season.