Georgia's Hudson waits out a win in Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race

CLAYTON, N.Y., Aug. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On paper, Caleb Hudson's path to the 2026 Pro-Guide Batteries Elite Series Rookie of the Year title seemed smooth. The 24-year-old Georgia pro took over the lead against a heralded set of first years after the circuit's second stop and after each subsequent tournament he remained there. But it took until the season's last day — while his main competitor was fishing and he was not — to seal the deal.

Hudson ended up with 621 points, outgunning Alabama's Fisher Anaya by a mere 2 points. Pake South of Texas finished a distant third with 569. The winner earned a $10,000 bonus.

The fact that Hudson was still in contention on Championship Sunday was a testament to his competitiveness and angling skill.

He entered the season-ending tournament on the St. Lawrence River leading Anaya by 12 points, but on Day 1 Anaya temporarily overtook him — sitting in 9th while Hudson languished in 54th. On Day 2, however, he jumped up to 37th, giving himself another day of fishing and another chance to retake the lead.

On the third day of competition, Hudson surged again, catching over 25 pounds of smallmouth bass for the second consecutive day. He rose up to 19th place. Anaya, however, also rose, up to 8th. That meant that Hudson would sit on the sidelines as his colleague attempted to usurp his lead. If Anaya moved up as high as 6th, he'd be the Rookie of the Year. Instead, he fell to 9th. Despite earning his first Century Belt, it was not enough and Hudson was called to the stage to accept his accolades.

"I think today has been at least 30 hours long," Hudson said. "I did this in the most stressful way possible."

While he did participate in Live today, he said he tried his best not to fixate on the race.

"I never looked at BassTrakk until the end of the day," he said. "I didn't even know who was in the Top 10 because I never pulled it up."

Onstage, he seemed mostly relieved that the race was over and that he'd come out on top. There had been stumbling blocks during the season, but he'd always been in control of his own destiny until now.

The season started out strong, with five straight checks, but then at Santee Cooper he finished 81st, followed by a 52nd at the Pasquotank. What had once been a lead of 91 points in the ROY race was whittled down to 8.

"Shallow largemouth are not my deal," he explained. "I knew there would be three tournaments this season that would be about survival for me: The Tennessee-Tombigbee, Santee Cooper and the Pasquotank. I survived one of them and then I got some tournaments back in my wheelhouse. I love smallmouth."

No one could doubt his credentials coming into the season. Despite his professed distaste for shallow largemouths, Hudson had won last year's 2025 Nitro Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Lake Okeechobee presented by Bass Pro Shops. Nevertheless, even he could not have envisioned the season that he had.

"My goal was just not to suck," he said. "I didn't want to fall on my face."

Indeed, he did nothing of the sort, cashing seven checks in nine events. In three of the first five tournaments he made the final day group of 10. They were on three very different bodies of water: Lake Martin, a spotted bass factory; the Arkansas River, a shallow river system, and Lake Murray, an impoundment dominated by blueback herring and mostly largemouth bass.

Nevertheless, Anaya, who won at Lake Martin, the second event of the season, kept things close. He earned the same number of checks as Hudson but more Top 10s. In addition to the win, he finished 2nd at the Pasquotank, 5th at the Arkansas River and 9th this week at the St. Lawrence. While Hudson had qualified for this year's Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour through the EQs, Anaya earned his berth there by winning the 2025 TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship. He'd also won the overall EQ points title.

Hudson's 19th place finish this week at the St. Lawrence may not have been the best result of his rookie season, but it might be the one that satisfies him the most and that he looks back upon most fondly. After a first day where he "lost one fish after another," on Day 2 he went back to basics and started practice over.

"I fished all new water," he said. "If things don't go right and you feel like you know what to do, go do it. Even on Day 3, I was still practicing. I caught all of my fish that day on a boulder I'd found on Day 2 but didn't catch any from it when I found it. It had a lot of fish on it but I caught when I caught and then never really culled."

In addition to winning the Rookie of the Year race, Hudson finished 7th overall in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year contest. He compared his lofty company at the top with looking around the stage on one of his multiple Top 10 finishes.

"I feel almost out of place," he said. "I'm surround by guys I've looked up to for a long time."

Still, while Rookie of the Year wasn't a priority at the beginning of the season, now that he's earned the title he's set his goals higher going forward.

"I want to make a run at AOY at some point," he said. "I may have to wait for Trey (McKinney) and the Johnstons to retire to do it, but I want to try to get there."

Media Contact: Mandy Pascal, Communications Manager, 334-414-8677, [email protected]

SOURCE B.A.S.S.