OKEECHOBEE, FL – The dock talk heading into the 2026 Falcon Boats Divisional Series Championship presented by Mercury Marine was that the bite on Lake Okeechobee was way off compared to events in the past. Lake levels sat low for most of 2026. Rains in recent months pushed the lake up almost two feet, and it is currently holding at 12.41 feet above sea level.
The season ending event drew 125 qualified teams from across Florida, southern Georgia and Alabama to the historic waters of Lake Okeechobee. Every team is chasing the top prize: a Falcon Boats F205 powered by a Mercury 250 Pro XS, equipped with 8 foot Power-Pole Blades, a Lowrance Ghost X trolling motor and two Lowrance Elite FS 12 units.
The tough bite proved true for most of the field, but a handful of teams found the quality fish Okeechobee is known for. Teams brought 485 bass to the scales on Day 1, and only six bags topped the 20 pound mark.
At the close of scales, Clayton Walls of Lithia and Brantley Hall of Plant City sat atop the leaderboard with a five bass limit weighing 24.23 pounds. The duo qualified through the Central Florida and Kissimmee divisions. They anchored their tournament leading bag with a 7.90 pound kicker, good for second place Big Bass on the day.
Derek Daniels of Macclenny and Michael T. Johnson of Raiford qualified through the Harris and North River divisions. They sit in second place with a five bass limit of 23.30 pounds.
Chad Schroeder of Zephyrhills and Anthony Cilladi of Oviedo qualified through the Toho division and are in third place with 23.11 pounds. The 2024 Xtreme Bass Series Champions are going for their second championship title.
Rounding out the Top 5, Shane Walls of Lakeland and David Crews of Lake Wales are in fourth place with 22.69 pounds. Chris Hamlin of Apopka and Rich Patterson of Winter Garden follow in fifth with 21.94 pounds. Just 2.29 pounds separate first from fifth, and with weights carrying over, the championship is wide open heading into the final day.
The biggest fish of the day belonged to Danny Glisson of Auburndale and Clay Mock of Winter Haven. Their 8.63 pound bass was the only fish over 8 pounds weighed on Day 1 and earned them first place Big Bass. The team sits sixth with 21.44 pounds.
Two division champions are tied for seventh with 19.40 pounds each. One is the Panhandle Division Champions, John McClenny and Reid Heard of Cairo and Bainbridge, Georgia. The other is the Istokpoga Division Champions, Shane and Tracen Phillips of Lake Placid. Roger Gonzalez and Dan Weber sit ninth with 19.21 pounds, and Brian and Brice Prowant of Moore Haven round out the Top 10 with 18.91 pounds.
The top 25 teams will get paid for the weekend, and the 25th place mark currently sits at 14.75 pounds. More than 40 teams are within five pounds of that line, so a solid bag on the final day could move a large part of the field into the money.
The championship wraps up tomorrow, Saturday, October 17. Teams launch from C. Scott Driver Park at approximately 7:00 a.m. The final weigh-in begins at 3:00 p.m., with the first flight checking in at 3:30 p.m.
| Pl | Team | Day 1 Fish | Day 1 Big Bass | Day 1 Weight | Day 2 Fish | Day 2 Big Bass | Day 2 Weight | Total Weight | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Daniels & Michael T. Johnson | 5 | 23.30 | 5 | 7.45 | 27.85 | 51.15 | Falcon F205, Mercury 250 Pro XS, Lowrance Ghost-X, 2 Lowrance Elite FS-12's, 2 8' Power-Pole Blades + $400 2nd Big Bass Day 2 + $500 Frequent Fishing Program Winner | |
| 2 | Shane Walls & David Crews | 5 | 4.83 | 22.69 | 5 | 22.26 | 44.95 | $4,000 + 2 8' Power-Pole Blades ($9,000 value) | |
| 3 | Chad Schroeder & Anthony Cilladi | 5 | 23.11 | 5 | 21.49 | 44.60 | $2,500 + Lowrance HDS Pro 12 ($5,870 value) | ||
| 4 | Nicholas Hoinig & Matt Wieteha | 5 | 18.55 | 5 | 6.67 | 23.54 | 42.09 | $2,000 | |
| 5 | Clayton Walls & Brantley Hall | 5 | 7.90 | 24.23 | 5 | 16.17 | 40.40 | $1,500 + $400 2nd Big Bass Day 1 | |
| 6 | Mark Blevins & Mike Jackson | 5 | 18.48 | 5 | 21.90 | 40.38 | $1,200 | ||
| 7 | Junior Solis & George Short | 5 | 16.52 | 5 | 7.06 | 23.41 | 39.93 | $1,100 + Fitzgerald Fishing Team of the Year | |
| 8 | David McIntyre & Michael S. Johnson | 5 | 12.29 | 5 | 27.03 | 39.32 | $1,000 | ||
| 9 | Roger Gonzalez & Dan Weber | 5 | 19.21 | 5 | 19.55 | 38.76 | $1,000 | ||
| 10 | Chris Hamlin & Rich Patterson | 5 | 6.36 | 21.94 | 5 | 16.73 | 38.67 | $1,000 | |
| 11 | Justin Dunaway & Elly Dunaway | 5 | 16.42 | 5 | 22.08 | 38.50 | $800 | ||
| 12 | Calan Hawkins & Austin Baskette | 5 | 11.84 | 5 | 8.66 | 25.97 | 37.81 | $600 + $850 Day 2 Big Bass | |
| 13 | DJ Buckholdt & Will Bennion | 5 | 16.90 | 5 | 19.04 | 35.94 | $600 | ||
| 14 | Johnny Johnson & Kenny Cooke | 3 | 10.79 | 5 | 5.68 | 23.63 | 34.42 | $600 | |
| 15 | Andrew Ready & Jonathan Waters | 5 | 6.43 | 15.39 | 5 | 18.35 | 33.74 | $600 | |
| 16 | Randy Sebring & Jack Sebring | 5 | 5.63 | 18.66 | 5 | 6.65 | 14.63 | 33.29 | $500 |
| 17 | Jeremy Smith & Ben Smith | 5 | 13.20 | 5 | 19.44 | 32.64 | $500 | ||
| 18 | James Romig & Coltyn Morris | 5 | 16.07 | 5 | 16.33 | 32.40 | $500 | ||
| 19 | Deryl Williams & Tyler Griffis | 5 | 18.36 | 4 | 13.94 | 32.30 | $500 | ||
| 20 | Pete Roberson & Rob Roberson | 5 | 5.06 | 15.45 | 5 | 5.66 | 16.79 | 32.24 | $500 |
| 21 | Norris Newhouse & Junior Cook | 5 | 14.75 | 5 | 16.38 | 31.13 | $500 | ||
| 22 | Shane Phillips & Tracen Phillips | 5 | 6.99 | 19.40 | 5 | 10.97 | 30.37 | $400 | |
| 23 | Danny Glisson & Clay Mock | 5 | 8.63 | 21.44 | 5 | 8.34 | 29.78 | $400 + $850 Day 1 Big Bass | |
| 24 | Brian Prowant & Brice Prowant | 5 | 7.19 | 18.91 | 5 | 10.35 | 29.26 | $400 | |
| 25 | Eric Lewis & Phil Cury | 5 | 14.67 | 5 | 13.94 | 28.61 | $400 | ||
| 26 | John Mobley & Patrick Pierce | 5 | 13.34 | 5 | 15.06 | 28.40 | |||
| 27 | Jim Topmiller & Lonny Mead | 5 | 14.11 | 5 | 14.07 | 28.18 | |||
| 28 | Joshua Shuler & Dustin Shuler | 5 | 12.20 | 5 | 15.19 | 27.39 | |||
| 29 | John Horsefield & Greg Swearingen | 4 | 11.52 | 5 | 15.86 | 27.38 | |||
| 29 | John O'Farrell & Scott Myers | 5 | 13.51 | 5 | 13.87 | 27.38 | |||
| 31 | Jesse Williams & Brandon Williams | 5 | 9.98 | 5 | 7.28 | 17.10 | 27.08 | ||
| 32 | Victor Knight & Stephen Goree | 5 | 13.30 | 5 | 13.03 | 26.33 | |||
| 33 | Steven Keith & Daniel Robertson | 5 | 12.59 | 5 | 13.67 | 26.26 | |||
| 34 | Jamie Stephens & Kyle Wieczorek | 5 | 17.46 | 5 | 8.68 | 26.14 | |||
| 35 | David Kilbury & Tim Reuwer | 5 | 11.72 | 5 | 14.35 | 26.07 | |||
| 36 | Donnie Feagle & Josh Lester | 5 | 5.01 | 14.86 | 5 | 11.03 | 25.89 | ||
| 37 | Tony Campbell & Sammy Jay Acree | 5 | 12.77 | 5 | 13.09 | 25.86 | |||
| 38 | Jonathan Semento & Rick Bak | 5 | 10.10 | 5 | 15.50 | 25.60 | |||
| 39 | Demetrius Hart & Steven Coleman, Jr. | 5 | 15.21 | 5 | 10.09 | 25.30 | |||
| 40 | Mike Androlevich & Jason Burgess | 5 | 13.70 | 5 | 11.52 | 25.22 | |||
| 41 | Kyle Zainitzer & Karl Zanitzer | 2 | 5.58 | 5 | 19.52 | 25.10 | |||
| 42 | Weston Wirtz & Jared Wagner | 5 | 12.48 | 5 | 12.46 | 24.94 | |||
| 43 | Jason Fromm & Kevin Swenszkowski | 5 | 13.01 | 5 | 11.88 | 24.89 | |||
| 44 | Rodney Yavorsky & Chuck Gomez | 5 | 5.35 | 13.82 | 5 | 10.65 | 24.47 | ||
| 45 | Mike Akers & Truman Patterson | 5 | 9.26 | 5 | 14.89 | 24.15 | |||
| 46 | James Woods & Haley Woods | 5 | 8.62 | 5 | 15.29 | 23.91 | |||
| 47 | Randy Ashby & Jesse Howard | 5 | 12.11 | 5 | 11.48 | 23.59 | |||
| 48 | Jeremy McPhail & Casey Marsh | 5 | 13.74 | 5 | 9.50 | 23.24 | |||
| 49 | Dennis Hart & Don Bunting | 5 | 11.43 | 3 | 6.75 | 11.74 | 23.17 | ||
| 50 | Raymond Burdine & Christian Santos | 5 | 7.39 | 5 | 15.66 | 23.05 | |||
| 51 | JD Romig & Jordon Register | 4 | 5.43 | 5 | 17.15 | 22.58 | |||
| 52 | James Green & Jack Tennant | 5 | 13.66 | 5 | 8.85 | 22.51 | |||
| 53 | Brian Hart & Colby Berger | 5 | 9.72 | 5 | 12.69 | 22.41 | |||
| 54 | Jason Brewer & Steve Coleman | 5 | 14.23 | 3 | 8.10 | 22.33 | |||
| 55 | Conner Herring & Dustin Chavous | 5 | 8.03 | 5 | 14.27 | 22.30 | |||
| 56 | Chris Novak & CJ Novak | 5 | 12.08 | 5 | 9.80 | 21.88 | |||
| 57 | Andrew Grosswald & Blake Lee | 5 | 5.89 | 14.50 | 5 | 7.33 | 21.83 | ||
| 58 | Michael Graham & Curt Perry | 4 | 10.48 | 5 | 10.92 | 21.40 | |||
| 59 | Steven Andux & Matthew Miller | 5 | 10.27 | 5 | 10.76 | 21.03 | |||
| 60 | Tom Strong & Mark Strong | 5 | 9.40 | 5 | 11.06 | 20.46 | |||
| 61 | John Stambaugh & Jim Elsessor | 1 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5 | 15.19 | 20.19 | ||
| 62 | Robert Branagh & Charlie Coleman | 5 | 10.02 | 4 | 10.14 | 20.16 | |||
| 63 | James Newell & Daniel Hinkelman | 5 | 7.94 | 5 | 12.11 | 20.05 | |||
| 64 | John McClenny & Reid Heard | 5 | 5.91 | 19.40 | 0 | 0.00 | 19.40 | ||
| 65 | Mark Lundgren & Boogie Brown | 3 | 5.25 | 4 | 13.58 | 18.83 | |||
| 66 | Clint Combast & Tracey Isabella | 5 | 7.68 | 5 | 10.01 | 17.69 | |||
| 67 | Mickey Williams & Robert Thomas | 5 | 7.87 | 17.62 | 0 | 0.00 | 17.62 | ||
| 68 | Ed Mathis & Dominick Andux | 5 | 9.26 | 5 | 8.23 | 17.49 | |||
| 69 | John McKinney & Brandon Bennett | 5 | 7.84 | 5 | 9.28 | 17.12 | |||
| 70 | Grayson Faircloth & Brad Cox | 5 | 10.00 | 5 | 6.70 | 16.70 | |||
| 71 | James Williams & Jimbo Williams | 3 | 3.90 | 5 | 12.61 | 16.51 | |||
| 72 | Levi Green & Emanuel Cantera | 3 | 5.21 | 5 | 9.35 | 14.56 | |||
| 73 | Joey Pate & Jessy Nash | 4 | 6.76 | 2 | 7.77 | 14.53 | |||
| 74 | Matt Holben & Andrea McMillan | 4 | 8.37 | 4 | 5.96 | 14.33 | |||
| 75 | Richard Delabar & Anthony DiFonzo | 5 | 14.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 14.02 | |||
| 76 | Jesus Villegas & Eddie Dominguez | 5 | 13.58 | 0 | 0.00 | 13.58 | |||
| 77 | Robert Kirk & Richard Kirk | 5 | 12.68 | 0 | 0.00 | 12.68 | |||
| 78 | Colt Williams & Abbigail Williams | 1 | 3.31 | 5 | 9.06 | 12.37 | |||
| 79 | Lee Stalvey & Parker Stalvey | 5 | 12.27 | 0 | 0.00 | 12.27 | |||
| 80 | Bob Grosso & Lonny Cornett | 2 | 4.39 | 5 | 7.58 | 11.97 | |||
| 80 | James Sponaugle & Scott Sponaugle | 5 | 7.16 | 3 | 4.81 | 11.97 | |||
| 82 | Chris Hunter & Christine Kasper | 3 | 11.45 | 0 | 0.00 | 11.45 | |||
| 83 | Raymond Rupp & Warren Loudermilk | 4 | 11.09 | 0 | 0.00 | 11.09 | |||
| 84 | Allen Duke & Kenny Strange | 5 | 10.90 | 0 | 0.00 | 10.90 | |||
| 85 | Ronny Pruitt & Nick Johnson | 5 | 10.75 | 0 | 0.00 | 10.75 | |||
| 86 | Claude Loftin & Isaac Dorland | 5 | 10.65 | 0 | 0.00 | 10.65 | |||
| 87 | David Keisel & Jordan Keisel | 5 | 10.41 | 0 | 0.00 | 10.41 | |||
| 88 | Brian Villalobos & Mark Hill | 5 | 5.73 | 10.37 | 0 | 0.00 | 10.37 | ||
| 89 | Mark Staton & Bryan Moore | 5 | 9.58 | 0 | 0.00 | 9.58 | |||
| 90 | Scott Funnell & Kaden Funnell | 5 | 9.21 | 0 | 0.00 | 9.21 | |||
| 91 | Christian Hacht & James Morrison | 5 | 8.66 | 0 | 0.00 | 8.66 | |||
| 92 | Clayburn Reed & Christian Reed | 5 | 8.38 | 0 | 0.00 | 8.38 | |||
| 93 | John Stahl & Casey Gonzalez | 5 | 7.99 | 0 | 0.00 | 7.99 | |||
| 94 | Dave Radebaugh & Ronnie Byrd | 5 | 7.91 | 0 | 0.00 | 7.91 | |||
| 95 | Rick Helmuth & Gary Niemi | 5 | 7.81 | 0 | 0.00 | 7.81 | |||
| 96 | Briar Keene & Shane Keene | 5 | 7.57 | 0 | 0.00 | 7.57 | |||
| 97 | Terry Mullis & Kim Mullis | 4 | 6.90 | 0 | 0.00 | 6.90 | |||
| 98 | Tommy Beasley & Harold Beasley | 5 | 6.87 | 0 | 0.00 | 6.87 | |||
| 99 | Michael Fletcher & Jason Young | 2 | 5.95 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.95 | |||
| 100 | Matthew Elixson & Hunter Pruitt | 4 | 5.49 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.49 | |||
| 101 | Steven Worden & Justin Jones | 5 | 5.43 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.43 | |||
| 102 | Kyle Brewer & Cheryl Brewer | 3 | 5.27 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.27 | |||
| 103 | Jacob Morrison & Trent Gay | 2 | 5.13 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.13 | |||
| 104 | John Myers & Reggie Bush | 3 | 4.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 4.02 | |||
| 105 | Rodney Gillis & Wade Bass | 1 | 3.62 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.62 | |||
| 106 | Bobby Simpson & Steve Cannon | 4 | 3.31 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.31 | |||
| 107 | Ryan Schmidt & John Greek | 1 | 3.09 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.09 | |||
| 108 | Frank Lauria & Ron Stoker | 1 | 2.47 | 0 | 0.00 | 2.47 | |||
| 109 | David Simpson & Jason Foss | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Mike Hall & Cody Morgan | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Joey Wood & Bryson O'Steen | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Bryant Allen & Dempsey Allen | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | David Finch & Hunter Boykin | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Bill Rutkowski & Chris Rutkowski | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Daniel Bennett & Allen Pellicer | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Chris Lee & Charlie Mathis | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Chip Mclendon & Carolyn Mclendon | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Daryl Morris & David Sharp | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Neil Davis & Brent Stagg | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Logan Murphy & Knox Murphy | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Nick Ward & Eugene Watkins | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Jay Hagood & Chris Cooper | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | McCoy Carter & Roman Carter | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 109 | Tommy Studstill & Wally Grant | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
