It was a slow, but steady pace for Dylan Akins on the final day of the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s at Tims Ford Lake, but it was just the type of day the Emmanuel University graduate needed to earn the top prize.

With a daily total of 14 pounds, 12 ounces, Akins defeated his head-to-head opponent Aaron Jagdfeld (12-12) to earn the victory and a spot in the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic at Lake Ray Roberts in Fort Worth, Texas. Not only will the Georgia native compete in the Classic, he also earned paid entry into the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens with the use of a fully rigged Nitro Boat and Toyota Tundra.

“I’m pretty speechless,” Akins said. “I knew it was going to be close, but I had no idea. I’m feeling really blessed right now.”

The Bracket victory puts a bow on what was a special season for Akins. He and partner Chase Carey earned 2024 Bassmaster College Series overall Team of the Year honors with a third-place finish in the Lunkers Division standings and then a Top 10 finish at the Strike King Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops at Lake Hartwell.

“It has been amazing,” he said. “Chase and I have always been really consistent, but we had a little better finish than average and put them all together. Coming here and having to put a whole string of good days together was crazy.”

Using some of the lessons he has learned on his home waters of Lake Lanier, Akins targeted suspended smallmouth and largemouth that were feeding on threadfin shad. He saw groups of bass all the way down to 50 feet of water, but the bass hanging around in the top section of the water column ate the best.

While a Strike King 3X Z-Too rigged on a 3/16-ounce jighead landed some key bass, a STORM Chug Bug triggered the majority of his bites, especially from the smallmouth swimming just under the surface. He discovered that bite during his practice period when more bass than not did not swim to his Damiki presentation.

After getting several bites, Akins figured it could be the bait that separated him from the other eight competitors.

“Say the bass are 10 feet down; it would take a second to call them up. Unlike a walking bait, the Chug Bug makes a big splash,” Akins explained. “I could keep it in the same spot and work it repeatedly. It triggers a schooling-type deal. The bigger ones would come up and follow it for a second and eventually take it.

“It was one of the most fun topwater bites I’ve been on. The lake was awesome.”

After practice, Akins felt he had a chance to make the final day but wasn’t sure if his primary areas held enough bass to win the whole tournament. As the event progressed, he was able to expand and find several new areas that held keeper bass.

On Hurricane Helene-shortened Day 1, Akins landed 14-4 to land in second before landing 16-0 on Day 2 to advance to the bracket rounds and claim the overall No. 1 seed with a two-day total of 30-4. Then on Day 3, Akins caught 16-7 to narrowly advance past Andrew Blanton, who caught 16-3 in the shallows.

While a light mist fell early in the day, Akins and Jagdfeld fished in calm and cloudy conditions. Akins caught his first keeper in the first hour but suffered a long lull after that.

“Other days, it was like every fish I threw at was crazy. The weather had them (feeding),” he said. “I was seeing so many fish not even close to the surface, or they would come up and nip the bait. For the first three or four hours, I was thinking it was going to be a long day and just hoping for a limit.”

As the day progressed, Akins explored some new water and located one stretch that held quality smallmouth. There, he filled out a limit and made several key culls.

“I saw some surface activity and went over there and expanded on it,” Akins said. “That creek was really good to me. In the afternoon they were going crazy.”

Jagdfeld caught plenty of smallmouth on the final day, but many of them fell below the 18-inch keeper limit, leaving the Adrian College graduate scrambling toward the end of the day. Along with a jighead minnow, Jagdfeld threw a Pop-R and a Spook.

After being stuck on three bass most of the day, Jagdfeld made a late rally to fill his limit and cull, but it wouldn’t be enough to beat Akins.

The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and local businesses hosted the tournament.