ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Jason Christie can’t believe he is leading the 2026 Maxam Tire Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound.
The nine-time B.A.S.S. champion entered this tournament just trying to get plenty of points to stay inside the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour cutline. Instead, Christie is out in front with a three-day total of 66 pounds, 7 ounces with the opportunity to claim his second blue trophy of the 2026 season.
“(I’m) Absolutely shocked. This tournament was all about getting points for the Classic,” the 2022 Classic champion said. “Missing it two years in a row, and the next one being at Hartwell, it wouldn’t be a cool Hartwell Classic if I wasn’t there.”
Remarkably, he leads this tournament after falling one bass short of a limit on Day 2. After opening the tournament with 24-1, Christie only brought four bass weighing 15-8 to the scales Day 2. Then, the Oklahoma pro cracked 26-14 on Semifinal Saturday, the second biggest bag of the day.
He anchored that limit with a 9-7 largemouth that took over Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament.
“I sure needed that bite. Kudos to (David) Mullins. He told me about that spot. It was a one cast thing, I made the cast and caught it. One day I’ll return the favor.”
The numbers look good on paper, but the fishing is hard. Christie has only received six to seven bites every day. Two of the three days, he has executed on all of those bites.
“If I get a bite, I’ll fish the next 500 yards and not get anything,” he remarked. “If you get a bite, you might as well pick up the trolling motor and run a mile. I don’t know why, because you see bass swimming around. I don’t know if it is the way they set up or what.
“It is so random that it’s almost a pattern.”
Christie is making the long run west to target largemouth stationed on isolated hard cover targets anywhere between 6 inches of water and 8 feet of water. Current is king across the system, and while the water may be 10 feet deep, a lot of the bass are up in 2 feet of water.
On Semifinal Saturday, the current picked up considerably in the Chowan, so much so that Christie noticed distinct current seams.
“The one thing about current is, the water is about the same in any section of the column. That water rolls and for some reason, they want to be up high. Yesterday it was slick. It was ripping today.”
As far as bait selection is concerned, Christie quipped, “The Indian’s got a new arrow.”
Around noon, Christie only had three bass in the livewell. With time ticking down before he had to make the long run back to Elizabeth City, he caught two quality bass, that 9-7 and another 5, that lifted him to his total weight.
“I told Jake (Latendresse) I felt like I was going to catch some before I left,” he said. “Literally in the next 15 to 20 minutes I caught two big ones.”
After plenty of pre-tournament hype about the potential for 30- to 35-pound stringers, the biggest limit of the tournament is over 27 pounds. Christie believes that will change on Championship Sunday.
“I think guys will push it,” he said. “I’ve been back an hour early every day and the bite is better later in the day. I’m shocked there hasn’t been a 30-pound bag. It’s just time. If we had more time … oh my goodness.”
Drew Cook, meanwhile, rocketed up to second place with a total of 65-4. The Georgia pro was remarkably consistent the first two days, catching back-to-back 19-11 limits before catching 25-14 on Semifinal Saturday. It’s a tournament Cook did not see unfolding like it has.
“It was a tough practice, but I caught some big ones. You have to account for a billion things in this deal. It has been a fortunate week. I ran there and ran back. It sounds simple, but that is a huge deal here.”
The seven-time Classic qualifier is targeting isolated hard cover in shallow water. Most of the time, Cook is catching them blind casting a Neko-rig and a HideUp Coike to stumps and wood around the bank and just off the bank.
“It seems like you just have to go and keep going,” he said. “Every one of them I caught yesterday were blind casting. Today, a lot of them were off the bank. This morning, they were around overhanging trees. Somewhere around 10 o’clock, they moved away from that.”
As the wind kicked up and started moving water out of the river, the bite improved.
“It seems like the later I’m over there, the better,” Cook said. “It is a catch 22, because you never know what the run back is going to be like. Today, I thought it was going to take forever. I gave myself two hours to get back and I had an hour to kill when I got back.”
Missouri’s Cody Huff moved into third with a total of 63-9. Huff opened the tournament by catching 23-1 before landing limits weighing 17-9 and 22-15.
Huff has hunkered down in the Roanoke River looking for isolated targets to throw his Bass Pro Shops Urchin X at. Most of his bites have come between 5 and 10 feet of water. He added a lot of the bass he is catching are late postspawners.
His first bite of Day 3 was a 5-pounder, which set the tone for a productive day. He reached the 20-pound mark around mid-morning, which allowed him to practice for a decent portion of the afternoon.
“It is one of those deals where you could catch all 2-pounders or all 6-pounders,” Huff said.
Christie earned a $1,000 bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day.
Kyle Welcher caught 27-10 on Semifinal Saturday, claiming the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament in the process.
Lee Livesay earned the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency for accurate reporting.
Carbondale, Ill., pro Trey McKinney reclaimed the lead in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 554 points. Cook is second with 540 points while Canadian pro Cory Johnston is third with 538 points. Tennesseans Cole Sands and John Garrett round out the Top 5 with 533 points and 525 points respectively. South Carolina’s Brandon Cobb is sixth with 515 points; Minnesota’s Bob Downey is seventh with 504 points; Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat is eighth with 494 points; Alabama’s Kyle Welcher is ninth with 485 points; and Georgia’s Caleb Hudson is 10th with 480 points.
Hudson leads the Pro-Guide Batteries Elite Series Rookie of the Year race followed by Fisher Anaya in second with 470 points and Pake South in third with 405 points.
The Top 10 pros will launch from Waterfront Park beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The winner will earn the $100,000 first-place prize as well as a coveted blue trophy.
Bassmaster LIVE will begin at 8 a.m. ET on FS1 and continue until 12:30 p.m. LIVE will move to Bassmaster.com at 1:30 p.m. and continue until weigh-in time at 3. The weigh-in will also be streamed on the website.
The Elizabeth City Hooked on the Harbor Festival will be held in conjunction with the final two days of the Elite Series event. A number of local vendors and food trucks will be showcased at Waterfront Park from Noon to 5 p.m.
Visit Elizabeth City is hosting the tournament.