Top 10 baits from the Toyota Series Championship on Grand Lake
by Major League Fishing 12 Nov 19:21 GMT
Roger Fitzpatrick wins 2025 Toyota Series Championship © Rob Matsuura / Major League Fishing
The Toyota Series Championship Presented by Phoenix Boats on Grand Lake was a fascinating mix of old school and new school, and one of the tougher, tighter events in recent memory.
Earning the win, Roger Fitzpatrick edged ahead with a spinnerbait and a jig, but the Top 10 had plenty of minnows and Neko rigs in the mix as well.
Here's what worked best in the Toyota Series' final big event of the season.
1. Spinnerbait makes the difference for Fitzpatrick
Fishing docks, the backs of docks, cables and other near-shore cover, Fitzpatrick caught almost all his big fish on a spinnerbait.
A 1-ounce Omega double-willow spinnerbait with a big No. 7 blade to imitate gizzard shad was the key bait, with no trailer. He also used a 1/2-ounce Omega Flippin' Jig trailered with a Bojangle Baits Nos Craw, which picked up a keeper or two off shallower docks every day.
For tackle, the Ozark veteran used 7-foot, 4-inch St. Croix Legend Xtreme rods with 20-pound P-Line Fluorocarbon on 8.1:1 Daiwa Tatula reels.
2. Gill picks off shallow fish
Using a worm and other things, Drew Gill picked off shallow, mostly isolated fish on docks, rocks and wood.
"A Big Bite Baits Nekorama played a role for me, skipping docks, fishing brush, fishing some isolated patches of rocks - it weighed a good handful of fish," he said. "I also used an undisclosed dice bait. Everything was shallower than 6 feet. Some of it was isolated cover, and some of it was floating over channel swings or under docks."
For his worm, Gill used a 7-6, medium-light Phenix K2 Torzite rod with a 2000 Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Platinum Signature spinning reel, a 15-pound Seaguar Grand Max leader and a 1/16-ounce Neko weight with a 1/0 Roboworm Rebarb Hook.
3. Smith comes up big in the fall again
Almost unbeatable in fall championships, Tucker Smith nearly did it again this week. Fishing drains, points and brush down the lake, Smith was ounces away from the win.
Throwing a jig and several minnows, Smith targeted fish all throughout the water column. A 1/2-ounce Picasso Old School Dock Rocket was his jig of choice, and for his minnows he used a 6-inch Yamamoto Hinge Minnow as well as a few others. Fishing for high fish, he used a Picasso Tungsten Ball Jig in the 3/16-ounce size, as well as the 3/8- and 1/2-ounce models depending on the depth and the vibe of the fish.
For his jig setup, Smith used a 7-1, heavy G. Loomis GLX with an 8.1:1 Shimano Metanium and 20-pound P-Line Ultimate fluoro. For his minnows, he used a 7-1, medium G. Loomis NRX+ for the 1/2-ounce minnow and a 6-10, medium-light model for the lighter minnows.
"I switched up between the three sizes, and I caught a good one in the morning on a jig," he said. "I was starting off in the morning in a ditch, and those fish were active in the morning and the afternoon. In the morning they would feed good - they were swimming around and super active, but they weren't super grouped up, it was more singles, doubles and a few schools. As the day went on, I would move from my morning spot and go fish some brush, and main river points that were deeper. The later in the day, the more those fish grouped up in wolf packs. Once they started grouping up, I would go back in those ditches in the afternoon, and they were biting better and swimming around a lot more."
4. Harris leans on a minnow and umbrella rig
Fishing down the lake with the rest of the minnow crew, Riley Harris rallied big on Day 2 with nearly 16 pounds.
"I was pretty much on the minnow and umbrella rig," he said. "I got keyed in the last day of practice. They were on those 2- to 4-inch threadfin. I tried so hard to make them eat other things, but I could not get them to eat anything else. It seemed like they were so particular on those threadfin and didn't want anything big."
For his umbrella rig, Harris used small 6th Sense Divine Swimbaits, and he used a 6th Sense Ozzie and a 6th Sense Strobe Shaker as well.
5. Old-school success for Boehle
Going all-in on his strengths, Adam Boehle picked apart docks all week for a Top-10 finish.
His primary baits were a Crock-O-Gator Head Knocker Buzzbait and a 3/4-ounce E-Factor jig with a green pumpkin Strike King Rage Bug for a trailer.
"It was really just junk fishing," he said. "I fished docks between a foot of water and 10 foot, mostly based on dock shade or cover around a dock."
6. O'Barr finishes the year with another Top 10
Earning his eighth Top 10 of the season, Hayden O'Barr also found success with a minnow down the lake.
For O'Barr, a Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow was the ticket. He used a 6-10, medium-light TigeRodz for his stick and 10-pound Sunline Sniper with 16.5-pound Sunline Almight.
"The fish were eating such tiny threadfin, that was about all you could get them to eat," he said. "They got so pressured in the area I was in. There were a lot of boats; there were probably 15 boats on Day 1 and Day 2 in like a 100-yard stretch. A lot of people caught them on Day 1, but by Day 2, those fish were hard to catch."
7. Boat trouble no issue for Mrazek
Chad Mrazek ran into motor trouble on both Day 1 and Day 2, which limited what he could do. Still, he turned in a remarkable performance, mostly throwing a minnow on isolated targets.
"I broke down the first two days, and I pretty much had to drop the trolling motor and fish," he said. "I was fishing isolated targets from 12 to 20 foot, I wasn't getting real shallow at all."
Fishing a champagne shad 6th Sense Shindo on a 3.5-gram head, he used a 7-foot, medium 6th Sense Response rod.
8. Isolated fish also key for Shaw
Fishing wood, rock and docks up near takeoff, Banks Shaw knocked out his 15th Top 10 of the year.
For Shaw, a Rapala CrushCity Janitor worm was key, which he paired with a VMC RedLine Neko Hook and a 3/32-ounce nail weight.
"The last day of practice, I didn't like how down lake looked," he said. "I was around so many boats. I figured out something on the last day on wood around the ramp, and I found one good stretch and caught a bunch on it the first day. I just expanded on it, but it was so hard to find a big one. It wasn't hard to catch the fish at all, and I thought surely I would run across one or two big ones."
9. Mix of patterns works for Luetkemeyer
Leading the tournament after Day 2, Justin Luetkemeyer had a shot at putting together an incredible event with multiple patterns in play.
"All through practice and all through Day 1, my best bite was skipping a jig under docks," he said. "It seemed like if there was brush underneath them it was better, but they were grouped up under the docks. I had a dozen or so spots I hit and probably caught fish on half of them. I felt pretty good - I even left some stuff."
Then, his docks disappointed him.
"Day 2, I never got a bite doing that, and at 1:30, I ran all the way down to the lower end," he said. "I found them schooling on bait, and I used a Damiki and swimbait to catch them.
"I had a couple areas I was pretty excited about. One of them, the bait left and the fish were still there. Another, the fish left and the bait was still there. Another had everything, but I could have just beat it up too bad on Day 2 - it was my best area, I could see 'em, I just never caught a kicker."
For baits, the Lake of the Ozarks guide used a 3/4-ounce Crock-O-Gator Football Jig with a NetBait Paca Chunk Sr., a 1/2-ounce head with a 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad and a 1/4-ounce VMC Hybrid Swimbait Jig with a Keitech Swing Impact FAT.
10. Counting rocks the name of the game for Brumnett
One of many locals in the field, Eli Brumnett mostly fished deep during the event, though he did it a lot differently than many others in the field.
"In practice, I couldn't catch them on the docks," he said. "I knew there were still some fish out deep, because I was seeing bigger shad in 30 to 40 foot of water. Tournament day, I ran all my deep stuff and caught a couple solid fish right off the bat.
"I really don't know how to explain it," he said. "I fished three different spots. I would rotate them, and sit on one for two hours and then another for two hours. I've never fished that slow in my life, it was horrible."
Literally counting rocks down deep points with a homemade 1/2-ounce jig that he trailered with either a sapphire blue chunk or a green pumpkin 6th Sense Bodega was the main game plan. On Day 3, he tried to find new fish, shooting for the win and a big bag.
"If I'd known I only needed 13 pounds, I would have set on one point all day," he said. "Day 3, I was headhunting, just looking for a big one out deep. I didn't have anything late in the day, so I pulled up on the bank and caught a limit on a ChatterBait. Then I went back out deep to one of my points, and I caught a 4 and a high 2 in the last 40 minutes."