With the extended summer-like conditions in Michigan, anglers were glad to receive some true fall weather to welcome in the Semi-Final on the Halfmoon Chain of Lakes. As the anglers launched their boats into the brisk air, they knew that it would take a big bag of bass to emerge victorious over the two-day competition.

Day 1 saw cloudy skies with some wind, but the fishing seemed to be hit or miss for the anglers. The biggest bag of day 1 was brought in by boater Rylan Hamlin with a total of 5 bass for 17.73 and also the largest bass of the day with a 5.12 largemouth. The largest bag on the co-angler side was Nick Ireland with 4 bass for 6.57. The largest bass on the co-angler side was hoisted up by Rodney Craft with a 3.21 largemouth, which ultimately held for both days.

Perhaps it was fate that both the boater and co angler leaders after day 1 ended up being paired together for Day 2, as they kept the heat on the competition and at the end of day 2 both Rylan Hamlin and Nick Ireland were crowned the victors! Rylan had an amazing day 2 on the water with a 5 fish total of 20.39, anchored by the overall big bass of the event, a 6.23 Michigan behemoth largemouth! That brought Rylan’s two-day total to 38.12, a commanding victory! Rylan said the key to his success was noting the drop in water temp overnight, changing tactics from more of a bait focused pattern, to running some of his old honey holes until he found the mega school on a hard spot.

On the co side, Nick held off the competition in a true nail biter, winning by just .11 of a lb. His Day 2 bag included 2 bass for a total of 2.41, combined for a total weight of 8.98 lbs. His key to success was also adapting to the conditions each day and maximizing on all of the bites he got. Congratulations to all of the competitors in the 2025 Michigan Semi-Final!

It turned out to be a close tournament with tough fishing conditions. Catching big fish
would be the challenge as the numbers of small fish was there. Flat calm and 75
degree average water temperatures was what awaited the 50 anglers during the
practice period for the TBF District 21 National Semi-Finals. During tournament days
the wind averaged 5-10 mph with gusts to 20.

Jeremy Fuentes from New Mexico weighed in 11.95 lbs. Day 1 to take a lead on the
boater side and followed it up with 10.75 lbs. Day 2 for a total of 22.70 lbs. On the Co
Angler side, Richard Sainz from New Mexico weighed in 12.06 lbs. on
Day 1 and 8.34 lbs. Day 2 for a total of 20.40 lbs. They would not look back and went on
to claim the Boater and Co-Angler 2025 District 21 Champion titles. Both will be moving
on to the 2026 TBF National Championship. Joining them will be the top boater from Colorado, Troy Stinson with a 2-Day total of
17.72 lbs. and top Co-Angler from Colorado, Carey Goldberg with a 2-Day total of 13.79
lbs. Brian Hickey was the highest finishing boater from Colorado during the tournament with
a 2-day total of 19.31 lbs. but had already qualified to the 2026 TBF National
Championship through the TBF State Champions Program along with his son, Kaden
Hickey. A total weight of 650.16 lbs. was brought to the scales.
CTBF would like to thank you the City of Grove, GRDA, and Cherokee Casino for
hosting the event.

SEPT 20th – 21st, 2025

Beautiful weather for the event. We had 47 teams for the event, a great bunch of guys eager to fish the Bay of Quinte. The Bay of Quinte is on of the greatest fishing areas in Ontario.

District 14 Boater Champion

District 14 Co-angler Champion

With the cool weather we had the week prior and an algae bloom last week, made it a bit of a tough bite for some anglers, but it was figured out and there were some great weights brought in.