Top 6 Baits That Dominated the 2025 Bass Pro Tour on Chickamauga & Nickajack

Here’s a full breakdown of the lures that helped the top anglers succeed in Stage 4 of the 2025 Bass Pro Tour (BPT) Series, including Jake Lawrence's historic last-minute win.

Here are the lures that led to success at Stage 5 of the 2025 Bass Pro Tour on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack. See what Jake Lawrence, Jacob Wheeler, and others used to climb the leaderboard. | MLF

Stage 4 of the 2025 BPT Tour on Lakes Cickamauga and Nickajack included one of the most dramatic endings in bass tournament history. Rookie Jake Lawrence edged out superstar Jacob Wheeler in the final 20-seconds of competition. Lawrence caught many of his key fish, including that last one, on a buzz bait. It’s worth noting, he was the only one in the Top 10 using a buzz bait.

Top Baits From the Last BPT Event on Lake Chickamauga

The last time this group of Bass Pro Tour anglers competed on Lake Chickamauga was in 2021. It was June that time and the fish were positioned on deep ledges. One of the all-time greats, Kevin VanDam won the event on deep-diving crankbaits. And right there in second place, catching most of his fish on deep-crankbaits too, was Jacob Wheeler.

Top 6: What Worked Best on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack

Following is a breakdown of the six (there was a two-way tie for fifth) most effective baits used by the Top 10 finishers at the 2025 BPT on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack in Tennessee.

1. Bladed Vibrating Jig -A Proven Power Fishing Producer

There were five mentions of bladed vibrating jigs among the Top 10 BPT anglers. | MLF

Among the five mentions a vibrating jig got among the Top 10 anglers, Cole Floyd did best with it at third place. He fished shallow bars, looking for high-percentage areas, like channel bends or intersections of creek channels in 3-feet of water or less. His bait of choice was a 1/2-ounce, white, Strike King Thunder Cricket with a Strike King Z-Too as a trailer.

Fourth place, Ron Nelson, fifth place, Wesley Strader, sixth place, Michael Neal and tenth place, Justin Lucas were the rest of the group who leaned into a bladed vibrating jig at some point during the week.

2. Topwater Baits -Walker, Popper, and Buzzbait

Matt Becker found success with a popper style topwater bait. | MLF

Topwater lures were credited three times among these anglers, but there were a variety of styles. I guess technically, Jake Lawrence’s buzz bait fits in here, making it four topwater mentions. But the rest were using topwater hard baits.

Second place, Jacob Wheeler used a Rapala PXR Jowler 127 walking bait in matte shad. Third place Cole Floyd used a Strike King Sexy Dawg in bone color in the same places he used his vibrating jig. And Matt Becker found success with a bluegill colored OSP Louder Popper on shallow, flat points with grass and sand.

3. Soft Stick Baits for Spawning Bass

Winner Jake Lawrence said that in addition to the buzz bait everyone is talking about, a wacky-rigged Senko got him some key bites. | MLF

Apart from the buzz bait that got all the headlines at this tournament, champion, Jake Lawrence also credited a wacky-rigged 5-inch Yamamoto Senko among his arsenal. Seventh place Matt Becker, also used a Senko but he fished it as a weightless Texas-rig. And Justin Lucas he fished a wacky-rigged Berkley The General for bedding bass.

4. Neko Rig Success From the Shallows to the Ledges

The BPT on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack required both power tactics and finesse. | MLF

Three pros gave credit to the Neko rig. First place Jake Lawrence mentioned a a Big Bites Nekorama Neko Rig which was part of his rotation of baits to target fry- guarders and roaming fish. Ninth place Justin Cooper said he used a Neko Rig Bass Pro Shops Cut Tail worm to fish a roadbed during his forward-facing sonar period. And Justin Lucas said he used a green pumpkin colored Berkley Magnum Hit Worm Neko-Rigged to chase river ledge fish in 12-18 feet of water.

5. Shaky Minnows and Drop-Shots When the Bite Required Finesse

Wesley Strader used a Zoom Winged Fluke on a tungsten jighead to target smallmouth bass. | MLF

Two different riggings of finesse-style soft plastics are tied with two mentions apiece.

Winner Jake Lawrence included a Yamamoto Scope Shad on a 1/4-ounce head and Jacob Wheeler, to nobody’s surprise, was shaking a Crush City Freeloader in electric shad color on a 1/4-ounce VMC Hybrid jighead.

Michael Neal says her caught some fish on a 6-inch Roboworm in red crawler on a drop-shot rig. And Drew Gill said he worked isolated beds in 4-6 feet of water using a drop-shot Big Bite Baits Nekorama worm.

Why a Variety of Lures and Techniques Were Key for Late Spring Tennessee Bass

With the variety of water available during this competition and the fact that this is the time of year when bass can be in all three phases of the spawn at once, we saw a wide range of baits producing. Horizontal-moving power baits like vibrating jigs and topwater baits were key. But then, slow, vertical, finesse presentations like wacky-rigged Senkos and drop-shot worms were equally important.