Lake Wilson, KS (Sept. 12, 2026) — The father-son team of Everett and Jim Walker took the honors as they landed the largest fish of the day, a 4.35 pound smallmouth bass, to win Hays Bass Anglers Association’s 2026 Big Bass Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at Lake Wilson. The event hosted thirty teams from across the state for the club’s 26th annual event. Temperatures were held in check by a stiff north-easterly breeze but that didn’t hold back anglers from catching fish as the numbers of fish caught, and the weights were better than most expected throughout the day. The team of Walker and Walker weighed in a healthy smallmouth bass during the 2 o’clock hour to claim the top prize of the event. “We’d just fished through an area when we looked back and saw a fish feeding on the surface,” said Jim Walker of Haysville, KS. “We turned around and I tossed a paddle-tail over where the fish was feeding and caught him,” Walker said. Only two-hundredths of a pound separated the top two bass of the event. Following the event additional prizes were given out from the event’s sponsors. The top prize was presented to the winners of the 2026 Big Bass Challenge by Marine Specialty, who donated additional prize money and a new Lowrance Ghost Trolling Motor. HBAA wants to thank the hourly sponsors of the event: Sporer Land Development, Messer LLC, FAS Firearms & Accessory Supply, Nex-Tech Wireless and Advantage Glass Plus. Additional sponsors include: A&A Coors, Lazy H Ranch, Heads Up Decoys, Unruh Farms, Hayzlett Farm & Ranch, Rohr Carpet Cleaning, Roofmasters , Auto World and Walmart of Great Bend

Watch this video with photos from the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbC_6NOjPAM