Chris Johnston stands sixth after opening day of The Champions bass tournament

It was a decent start to The Champions for Canadian Chris Johnston.

Johnston, of Peterborough, Ont., stood sixth after the first day at the US$3.25-million bass tournament. Johnston’s catch weighed 12 pounds one ounce, and included a fish weighing five pounds three ounces that left him tied with Dustin Connell for the day’s biggest.

American Matt Robertson was the opening-day leader with 20 pounds on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tenn.

The Champions is in its inaugural year and is the unofficial world bass fishing championship. The record purse includes $1.25 million for the winner.

The field includes the top-25 competitors from both the Elite Series and Major League Fishing. Also qualifying for the event were Cory Johnston, of Cavan, Ont., Jeff Gustafson of Kenora, Ont., and Evan Kung, of Pickering, Ont.

All four Canadians have won Elite Series events, with Chris Johnston twice also claiming overall honours (2024-25). And in 2023, Gustafson became the first — and only — Canadian to win the $1-million Bassmaster Classic, pro bass fishing’s most prestigious competition.

All anglers will participate in the first two days of the tournament, with the top-15 qualifying for the event final Saturday. But there’s also a team element as the circuit with eight or more competitors in the final will secure the Champions Cup.

Cory Johnston, Gustafson and Kung all have a lot of work to do to crack the top-15. Johnston took 43rd overall (eight pounds three ounces) while Gustafson was 61st (two pounds 10 ounces), one spot ahead of Kung (one pound nine ounces).

The Champions is being run and hosted by World Bass Enterprises, an organization founded by Texas businessman Brian Bird. It was Bird who came up with the idea of a world championship tournament during a fishing trip in Minnesota in August 2024.

The event is providing an interesting twist on the use of forward facing sonar, a hot-button topic in pro bass fishing.

On the first two days, anglers pick which one they want to use the technology while going without it on the other. Then for the championship finale, competitors will be allowed to use FFS for a three-hour window during their eight hours on the water.

Old Hickory Lake offer competitors largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass. The waterway covers about 91 square kilometres and stretches roughly 156 kilometres along the Cumberland River.


This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2026.

The Canadian Press