Canadian Evan Kung, shown in this handout photo, won the Elite Series final tournament of the year, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, at Clayton, N.Y. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) (Mandatory Credit)

After he finished the Elite Series season with his first-ever win, Canadian Evan Kung can end the year with an unofficial world title and a million-dollar payday.

Kung, 27, of Pickering, Ont., won last month's Series finale on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, N.Y. He earned over US$100,000 for the victory while securing his spot on the circuit next year.

But the win also qualified Kung for, "The Champions," the unofficial world bass fishing championship event. It will be held Oct. 28-Nov. 1 on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tenn., and offers a record US$3.25-million purse, with the winner receiving $1.25 million.

The field will include the top-25 competitors from both the Elite Series and Major League Fishing as well as two amateurs who won pre-event raffles. Also qualifying for the Elite squad were brothers Chris Johnston (Peterborough, Ont.) and Cory Johnston (Cavan, Ont.) and Jeff Gustafson of Kenora, Ont.

All four have captured Elite Series tournaments, with Chris Johnston also twice claiming overall honours. And in 2023. Gustafson became the first — and only — Canadian to win the $1-million Bassmaster Classic, pro bass fishing's more prestigious competition.

The Champions is being run and hosted by World Bass Enterprises, an organization founded in January by Texas businessman Brian Bird. He came up with the idea of a world championship tournament during a fishing trip in Minnesota in August 2024.

"What I saw was we had two very awesome leagues out there full of great anglers that have great internal championships," Bird said. "I just thought there needed to be a tournament that brought the best anglers from both organizations together for a true world championship."

All anglers will participate in the first two days of the tournament, with the top-15 qualifying for the event final. But there will also be a team element as the circuit with eight or more competitors in the final will secure the Champions Cup.

Each day of competition will end with a weigh-in, which spectators can attend free of charge. But there'll be plenty to keep onlookers busy while anglers are on the water.

"We'll have bands playing all day, a petting zoo and fishing for kids," Bird said. "There will be B-B gun ranges, archery and axe-throwing.

"There's just so many different events going on throughout the day and the coolest part of it is it's free to the public. And if people don't want to do all that, we have an outdoor expo at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel that will also be free."

The event will be broadcast via pay per view. It will also provide an interesting twist on the use of forward facing sonar, a hot-button topic in pro bass fishing.

On the first two days of the event, anglers will pick which one they want to use the technology while going without it on the other. Then for the championship finale, competitors will be allowed to use FFS for a three-hour window during their eight hours on the water.

"It's not turn it on, turn it off, then turn it on again later," Bird said. "If you turn it on at 9 a.m. you have it till noon and then they will lock it out.

"We have lockboxes so it will be locked out where they can't use it. I know some love it (using FFS in tournaments), some hate it and if this isn't split right down the middle then I don't know what is."

Old Hickory Lake will offer competitors largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass. The waterway covers about 91 square kilometres and stretches roughly 156 kilometres along the Cumberland River.

Bird envisions the event becoming pro bass fishing's official world championship. This year's competition will include anglers from Canada, Japan and the U.S.

"We'd like this to be the yearly tournament that's recognized as the world championship," he said. "We want to see potentially more opportunities for more anglers to get into this.

"Bass fishing is really a growing sport across the world with more and more people coming every year trying to qualify to get into these series. People can say what they want … but you'll have a hard time convincing me that this isn't the new world championship of bass fishing."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2026