How 2024 Stacked Up

The 2024 UNBC season seemed like a pretty good fish catching year but when the totals were all added up it was an incredible record breaking year. The total weight caught was 1,183.31 pounds breaking 2021's record by 96 pounds the 430 bass weighed in beat out last years record by 6 fish & the 2.751 pound average of all fish weighed again beat out 2021 by .106 of a pound. Several factors probably contributed to these high numbers like good weather, peak spawn on Shell, good bite on Grindstone & no doubt LIVE SCOPING. Shell Lake broke the the total weight per tournament record w/312.42 lbs. & average weight per fish record w/3.29 lbs. 2021 on Shell prevously held both those records which was another bed fishing episode. Rookie team Hunter Hermansen & Kody Hermansen who in their first ever UNBC tourney won it on Shell w/21.10 lbs. setting a new all smallmouth bag record & is a second all time heavyweight bag. Kody also caught the big bass of the year that day a 5.13 lb. brownie. But maybe even more immpresive was Doug Richert's post spawn largemouth on Nelson Lake which went 5.11 lbs.  Schlapper/Blazer weighed a record breaking yearly total of 81.49 lbs. & right behind them (& I mean right behind them) Team Henck had 81.40 for the season, their 25 fish averaged an amazing 3.259 & 3.256 pounds per fish(both new records) which when you stop & think about those numbers it's mind blowing, there's days when catching a legal fish for the box is dam tough & these guy's average fish brought to the scale was 3 1/4 WOW great job. Schlapper/Blazer's two tourney wins this year gives them a record career high in total wins with 12. Our Angler's of the Year Gene & Larry Henck have rewrote about all the circuit's career records which include: most points 874.66, total weight 996.13 lbs. total fish 382, H2H wins 33(14 more than 2nd), most TOC qualifications 15, most tourneys fished 79, most money finishes 35, most total prize money & Larry has won the most big bass awards w/6. Expect 2025 to be good as well a lot depends on weather, schedule & of coarse how much the new technology in fishing moves forward with the anglers. Just a heads up for those of you fishing without the new live sonar there's going to be tournaments going forward where you have absolutely have no chance to win that's just the cold hard truth like it or not