Going into the last two tournaments of 2024, Caleb Sumrall was at a crossroads in the seventh year of his career on the Bassmaster Elite Series.

If Sumrall bombed in one or both tournaments last month in New York State at Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence River, his favorite place to chase bass away from home, he would miss the next Bassmaster Classic for a third straight year. Like he has said before, you can’t win it if you ain’t in it.

The New Iberia outdoorsman is in it, the 2025 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Ray Roberts about an hour from Fort Worth, Texas. He qualified with a strong 13th-place finish Aug. 8-12 at Lake Champlain and relied on a clutch Day 3 effort to fish Championship Sunday on Aug. 18 at the St. Lawrence River, where he finished 10th.

On the fourth and final day of the season, Sumrall stood tall and proud at the weigh-in on the big stage with Bassmaster emcee Dave Mercer. Emotions overcame the pro bass angler who was the first of the tournament’s Top 10 Elites to weigh bass that Sunday in Waddington, New York.

Sumrall’s 18 pounds, 11 ounces, gave him a four-day total of 87 pounds, 3 ounces, worth $16,000. He finished 30th in the Angler of the Year standings with the same number of points, 548, as Eleva, Wisconsin, bass pro Pat Schlapper and one notch ahead of Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Arkansas, with 545.

Mercer said, “Caleb, you’re leading this event. More importantly, you came into this northern swing needing two big finishes and you definitely had two big finishes and narrowly missed the Top 10 last week. You got it done here this week … heading back to Louisiana knowing mission accomplished.”

The 37-year-old Westgate High School graduate’s voice cracked as he spoke into the mic.

“Man, that means a lot, dude. I mean, sorry I’m choked up already. Last year was a tough year, a year you question everything you do. You grind, work so much, do so much homework, spend so much money to do this, to travel the country and fall short of your goal. It hurts, hurts bad,” Sumrall said, trying to regain his composure. “So, you know, when you accomplish it, it feels really good, you know. I caught my fish yesterday and made it back to check-in and, oh, I’m like, ‘I’m back in the Classic, man!’

“If you ever fished one (Sumrall has fished three Classics), one of the last things you want to do is work one so …” he said, relieved and chuckling as his voice trails off. “I don’t want to work one ever again and I got it done, man. It really feels good.”

Sumrall competed in the Bassmasters Classic in 2018, 2020 and 2022. He missed Classics in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Through most of this season he was way outside the cutline projected to be at No. 40. He began the season fairly strong with a 31st in the Elites’ opener at Toledo Bend. Then he was 60th and 84th at Lake Fork and the Harris Chain in Florida, respectively, before sandwiching two 26th-place finishes at Florida’s St. Johns River and Alabama’s Wheeler Lake around an 83rd-place finish at Lake Murray in South Carolina.

He was 56th at Smith Lake, also in Alabama, to set the stage for his comeback attempt in New York.

Sumrall, true to his word, thrived in the Northeast. His 58 pounds, 7 ounces, fell shy of Semifinal Saturday (actually Semifinal Sunday because Day 2 was postponed in Plattsburgh) but he still moved up to 38th in AOY. He was inside the cut but had to stay there while he and everyone tapped the mostly smallmouth bass population on St. Lawrence River.

At the end of the regular-season finale, Mercer was impressed and said, “Incredible. How does a dude from Louisiana, I mean, these northern finishes, simply, Champlain’s been good to you in the past, but this one is not the easiest one. How did you get it done here these past few weeks?”

“I stopped being scared of that lake (Lake Ontario),” he said as both laughed softly. “I took my Xpress – I’ve gotta give so much credit to the Xpress family for taking chances with me five years ago – running an all-welded aluminum boat 100 miles one way into Lake Ontario. Totally safe. I caught my bass the first two days. Day 3 was a little crazy but I tried to go but it was a little too bad. We ended coming back to the river and salvaging our tournament.”

Sumrall had no keepers in the livewell as of midday Championship Saturday but showed up with a limit in Waddington. That evening on his Facebook page he posted, “What a day!!! Zero bass at 12 o’clock and thinking that I was going to drop out of the Classic to catching 20-13 the last couple hours! Squeaked in the Top 10 and we gonna have us some fun tomorrow.”

At the weigh-in, with a large crowd hanging on to every word, he continued and said, saluting his main sponsor this year, “Another shoutout to Riki Pike, Creele Steel (COO). I wouldn’t be here without you, and all my partners, all my sponsors and my family back home watching, rooting me on. I love you all to death and thank you so much.”

Sumrall was the only Bassmaster Elite from Louisiana to automatically qualify for the 2025 Classic. However, Greg Hackney of Gonzales finished 41st with 506 points, one notch below the Top 40. He could make it if someone double qualifies.

Ditto for Tyler River of Raceland, who was 42nd with 504 points.

Logan Latuso of Gonzales finished 65th with 411.