Jeff Gustafson comes up short in bid to repeat as Bassmaster Classic champ, but 3 Canadians make final day

There was no Cinderella story for Canadian professional angler Jeff Gustafson as he was unable to repeat as the Bassmaster Classic Champion.

A year after becoming the first Canadian ever to win the most prestigious trophy in bass fishing, and its $300,000 USD grand prize, Gustafson didn't make the cut for the final day of fishing Sunday, but the three other Canadians in the competition did — with Cory Johnston finishing sixth, his brother Chris finishing 25th Cooper Gallant from Bowmanville, Ont., finishing 12th.

Anglers are allowed to weigh a maximum of five bass per day and the combined total determines the winner. But only the top 25 from the field of 56 anglers get to fish on the third and final day, known as Championship Sunday.

Long-time fishing TV and radio host Bob Izumi, says the competition is so intense you need everything to go right to win a major competition.

"It's like going to a PGA golf tournament where any one of competitors really can win that tournament," he said after the final weigh-in was completed and he saw that the man known simply as "Gussy" hand the trophy to Justin Hamner who ultimately took the title.

"When you look at Gussy he ended up one pound and seven ounces outside of making the Day 3 cut. So he really wasn't that far away. He wasn't in last place, he wasn't near the bottom, he was middle of the pack and middle of the pack isn't bad when you're competing against the best in the world!"

The three other Canadians did make the cut and Gallant started the final day in sixth place overall. That put him in what is called the "Super Six Final" meaning lots of pomp and circumstance in the arena-turned-weigh-in station.

After the thunderous introduction they weighed his final haul and he dropped to 8th place, eventually ending up in 12th when the rest of the pack weighed their catches.

Jeff Gustafson won at the Bassmaster Elite final on the Tennessee River in 2020 and will continue on in the elite pro fishing circuit. (James Overstreet/Bassmaster)

But he was upbeat when they handed him the microphone to address the thousands of fans inside Tulsa Oklahoma's BOK Center.

"My first Classic was in 2016 and I was out there (in the stands)," the 26-year old said to Bassmaster Classic MC, Dave Mercer. "Just like these kids here, I dreamt of being on this stage one day. If you want to be up on this stage here you can do it. One hundred percent!"

The Johnston brothers from the Peterborough, Ont., -area, also made the cut for the final day with Chris finishing 25th and Cory finishing 6th.

"Overall the Canadians did pretty darn good at this year's classic," said Izumi. "These are 56 anglers that all are capable of winning and you've got 4 Canadians that are in the top 30-odd places. How good is that?"