Lowen lifts second Elite trophy with narrow St. Johns victory

PALATKA, Fla., Feb. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Twice in three days vegetation threatened to thwart Bill Lowen's efforts. Both times persistence prevailed, as the Brookville, Ind., pro tallied a four-day total of 73 pounds, 14 ounces to win the 2025 FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River.

Lowen, who won his first Elite title at Pickwick Lake in 2021, placed third on Day 1 with 21-5, then took over the lead with a second-round limit of 24-4. Sacking up 18-1 on Semifinal Saturday, Lowen held the top spot and entered Championship Sunday with a 5-4 lead over his nearest competitor.

Day 4 proved excruciatingly stingy, as Lowen struggled to coax fish that showed increasing sensitivity to the week's severe cold front. He missed his limit by one keeper, but after anchoring an otherwise slim bag with a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass, Lowen turned in a final bag that went 10-4 and edged Jay Przekurat by 4 ounces.

"Today was weird; I lost my fifth fish three times, and one of them was a good one — maybe 4 or 5 pounds," Lowen said. "I've always said, 'When it's your time, it's your time and you can't do anything wrong.'

"Even though I lost those fish, the good Lord was looking out for me. To say I'm a two-time Elite winner is unbelievable."

Lowen caught all of his fish in Deep Creek, north of the tournament site, on the river's east bank. He chose this artery because its 20-plus-foot depths offered greater stability than shallower areas.

"It was all dependent on the tide, and the tide just never got right today," Lowen said. "All week, my bigger bites came when the tide got low, but that window got later and later every day."

Lowen caught his Day 1 fish on a blue craw 3/8-ounce signature series Lure Parts Online flipping jig with a Zoom Super Chunk. From then on, he did most of his work with a 5/16-ounce blue craw signature series Lure Parts Online swim jig with a Zoom Super Speed Craw.

"The key was fishing that swim jig really slow," Lowen said. "In that cold water, they just wanted that bait moving slowly."

That tactic, while clearly productive, was not without risk, and a Day 2 entanglement nearly cost Lowen the tournament. When one of his better fish became ensnared in a sunken tree, Lowen tensely tugged and manipulated his rod for a couple of minutes until the main branch miraculously broke and released the fish.

Two days later, Lowen's painfully slow final round saw Deep Creek taunting him with a random obstruction that blocked one of his key areas. With the cold front dropping his water temperatures, Lowen targeted areas with slightly greater warmth.

"Last night during the high tide, a grass mat moved into one of my best bends in the creek," Lowen said. "I had caught a 5 and a 6 there in the last three days and that mat was in my way.

"I said, 'I'm just going to punch through that mat,' so I dropped right through that mat and caught that 7-7. I've been dropping through a lot of mats this week and never got a bite. If that mat hadn't blown in there and I hadn't dropped through there, I wouldn't have caught that key fish."

Przekurat, who makes his home in Plover, Wis., finished second with 73-10. The 2022 Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year started strong and kept himself in the conversation all week.

After taking the Day 1 lead with 24-15, Przekurat managed only 12-12 in the second round but slipped only one spot to second. Adding 16-10 on Day 3, Przekurat slipped to third before gaining back one notch with his final-round limit of 19-5.

Przekurat caught most of his Day 1 weight by targeting prespawners and bed fish in Salt Springs Run. The next three days saw him focus more on targeting fry guarders (male bass protecting hatchlings) with jerkbaits in canals below Lake George.

On Day 4, Przekurat started in the canals, but later returned to Salt Springs and added a key fish on a dropshot with a Strike King Baby Z-Too.

"I started on the fry guarders just to get my day going, and then I was trying to catch a kicker in the springs," Przekurat said. "With the fry guarders, it seemed like the quicker the better.

"It would take them a minute to get on it. As soon as they would start coming for the bait, you had to make sure it was in the strike zone, because if it was a little bit too far outside the fry ball, they wouldn't bite."

Shane LeHew finished third with 73-9. His daily weights were 18-4, 17-3, 17-14 and 20-4.

Devoting most of his attention to throwing a Berkley Stunna jerkbait at fry guarders, LeHew anchored his biggest bag with a 7-7.

"I had a fantastic day," LeHew said. "I went to the canal where I caught almost all of my fish in. For whatever reason, it's been super special.

"I decided to go try and find a big one on bed. I went to a bed that had a 2-pounder in practice and there went that 7-7. It took me about 10 minutes to catch her, and then I caught the male, and it was a 3-pounder.

"I said, 'I just went from (stinking) really bad to doing really well really quick.' I caught both of those bed fish on the new Berkley MaxScent Stank-Bug."

John Cox of Debary, Fla., won the $2,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for his 8-13. Cox also won the $1,000 Day 1 daily award.

Austin Felix of Eden Prairie, Minn., won the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency award. Lowen won the $1,000 award for leading the Progressive Angler of the Year standings.

John Garrett of Union City, Tenn., won the $2,000 Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag award for his Day 3 limit of 31-6.

Brock Mosley took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, while Cox earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Lowen earned an additional $4,000 while LeHew claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant. Garrett and Patrick Walters both earned $1,000 for being the third- and fourth-highest placing entrant, respectively.

Contact:
Chad Gay
[email protected]

SOURCE B.A.S.S.