Illinois angler Ethan Fields wins the Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Toledo Bend with 73-3

Toledo Bend turned over on the last day of the Bassmaster Elite Qualifier, and Ethan Fields still had enough to hang on. The angler from Carlyle, Ill., won the three-day event out of Many, La., with 15 bass weighing 73 pounds, 3 ounces, according to B.A.S.S. His bags were 28-2, 27-4 and a tougher 17-13 on Day 3.

The win was worth $71,317 and a spot in the 2027 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell, scheduled for March 19–21. Buddy Benson finished second with 70-12 and Jace Lindsay was third with 69-1. Ty Faber took big-bass honors with a 9-0 Toledo Bend bass.

Fields spent the week in a creek north of the Pendleton Bridge, working timber-covered flats and docks. He stayed in that same area all three days. B.A.S.S. says most of his fish ate a Hideup Coike Fullcast, with others on a jighead minnow, and that precise casts and fast retrieves were key. On the final day his bank-cruising fish disappeared, but two 5-pounders helped carry the 17-13 bag.

The 131-angler field now heads to the Elite Qualifier finale on Lake Guntersville, Nov. 11–13. Kaden Buchmann leads the points race with 244, and the top 10 in the final standings earn invitations to the 2027 Bassmaster Elite Series.

Photo: Ethan Fields with his catch at Toledo Bend. Credit: Andy Crawford, via B.A.S.S./Bassmaster.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Bassmaster — Fields takes final day at Toledo Bend (Oct. 23, 2026).