With one of the warmest November visits to Rocky Fork in recent memory, expectations for the fall bite were low. Water temperatures remained in the high 60s, and there were no obvious signs of large schools of shad. The morning started with overcast skies and no wind, leaving the water’s surface smooth as glass.
But as they say in Ohio, if you don’t like the weather, wait an hour.
By midday, while still overcast, the thin cloud cover almost made it feel like a bluebird-sky day. The afternoon ended much the way it started, except with a steady wind across the lake.
Once tournament director Bobby Farmer opened the scales, the excitement of the day’s catch began to build. Anglers brought in 33 fish total, a strong mark for a November tournament based on previous seasons. But the thrills didn’t stop there.
Weighing in a monster 6.32-pound largemouth, Rob Crabtree not only secured Big Bass honors for the season but may have also set a new all-time club record for the largest bass ever weighed in competition. Coupled with four more bass to complete his limit, Crabtree finished with an impressive five-fish bag weighing 16.99 pounds.
As the weigh-in came to a close, first place was clearly locked up, but what about Angler of the Year? Surely Herman Baker, who entered the event with a 7.93-point lead, had it in the bag, right?
Well, in a rare occurrence for Baker, he was unable to reach the five-fish limit at Rocky Fork, finishing with a total weight of 5.78 pounds. That opened the door for Crabtree to not only erase the 7.93-point deficit but also capture the 2026 Angler of the Year title by 3.28 points.
It was a fantastic and hard-fought finish to an amazing season by both anglers, each ending the year with more than 80 pounds of bass weighed during competition.
You must be logged in to post a comment.