New Bern, NC – The Eastern NC Bass Challenge concluded its 2025 regular season this past Saturday on the Neuse River. A total of 99 teams launched in pursuit of a final shot at glory before the championship event in August.
Anglers were met with challenging conditions, as recent heavy rains led to high, muddy waters across much of the river system. As a result, many teams opted to make long runs to clearer water in search of better fishing conditions—and for one team, that decision paid off.
Brandon and Wilson Johnson claimed their first-ever NC Bass Challenge victory by bringing an impressive 19.23-pound limit to the scales. Their strategic move to leave the Neuse and fish alternative waters ultimately led to a $4,100 payday, courtesy of Neuse Sport Shop.
“We took a long ride to reach our spot and had about 10 pounds in the first 15 minutes. The bite improved throughout the day. We caught fish on a variety of baits—topwater, worms, chatterbaits, and other moving lures. It was one of those special days on the water.
The ride back was rough, with 3- to 4-foot waves out of the southwest. Along the way, our rub rail came off, the trolling motor strap broke, the bracket was damaged, and our trim stopped working altogether. Thankfully, after some prayer and patience, the trim started working again. We made it to check-in with about seven minutes to spare.”
Despite the chaos, the Johnsons’ perseverance and performance delivered them a well-deserved win! They took home our Neuse Sport Shop $4,100 1st place prize!
The NC Bass Challenge now looks ahead to the season-ending Championship, scheduled for August 2–3 on the Roanoke River in Plymouth, NC. The top prize of $10,000 is up for grabs, thanks to the generous support of Collins Boating in Smithfield, NC.
The Bass Challenge paid cash prizes to our top 16 teams in this event. It took 11.47 pounds to finish inside the Bass Challenge money line.
| PLACE | TEAM | FISH | BIG FISH | FINAL | |
| 1 |  |
Brandon Johnson / Wilson Johnson | 5 | 5.67 | 19.23 |
| 2 | |
Brandon Sykes / Kevin Sutton | 5 | 4.26 | 16.77 |
| 3 | Jordan Brown / Brandon Carter | 5 | 4.11 | 15.07 | |
| 4 |  |
Justin Coley / Tony Coley | 5 | 4.4 | 14.84 |
| 5 | |
JT Denton / Stephen Denton | 5 | 3.78 | 13.94 |
| 6 | Robert Perkins / Spencer Barrow | 5 | 4.12 | 13.66 | |
| 7 | Joey Rouse / | 5 | 5.46 | 13.16 | |
| 8 | Brody Brown / Carl Whittington | 5 | 2.89 | 12.52 | |
| 9 | |
Paul King / Brad Stain | 5 | 3.26 | 12.51 |
| 10 | Daniel Boseman / Jordan Hughes | 5 | 4.23 | 12.41 | |
| 11 | Greg Milligan / Tom Warner | 5 | 6.14 | 12.23 | |
| 12 | Ricky Foss / George Long | 5 | 3.88 | 12.08 | |
| 13 | Powell Kemp / sub(Scotter Lilley) | 5 | 3.32 | 11.87 | |
| 14 | Will James / Mike James | 5 | 0 | 11.74 | |
| 15 | Dean Thompson / Steve Vann | 5 | 0 | 11.61 | |
| 16 | Walt Goff / Phillip Gibson | 5 | 4.15 | 11.47 | |
| 17 | Timmy Piacitelli / Joey Beall | 5 | 0 | 11.2 | |
| 18 | Scott Combs / Sammy Barrow | 5 | 0 | 10.52 | |
| 19 | James Abston / Ronald Jones | 5 | 0 | 10.42 | |
| 20 | Bryan Bell / Garise Andrews | 5 | 0 | 10.1 | |
| 21 | Chase Crocker / Tyler Little | 5 | 0 | 9.93 | |
| 22 | Dennis Boykin / Jimmy Hipkiss | 5 | 0 | 9.64 | |
| 23 | Justin Chamblee / Josh Powell | 5 | 4.05 | 9.24 | |
| 24 | Wayne Hoskins / William Hoskins | 5 | 0 | 9.05 | |
| 25 | Seth Barnes / Brian Williams | 4 | 5.18 | 8.73 | |
| 26 | Chris Turner / Ricky Mize | 5 | 0 | 8.29 | |
| 27 | Eric Brown / Rusty Brown | 5 | 0 | 8.17 | |
| 28 | Tony Coats / Ronald Straughn | 5 | 0 | 8.16 | |
| 29 | Brock Rouse / Parker Mills | 5 | 0 | 8.11 | |
| 30 | Jason Parker / Alex Heatherman | 5 | 0 | 7.98 | |
| 31 | Zeb West / Rex Thomas | 5 | 0 | 7.95 | |
| 32 | Fred Stancil / Clayton Boyette | 5 | 0 | 7.6 | |
| 33 | Andrew Pittman / Laura Bailey | 5 | 0 | 7.58 | |
| 34 | Steve Michaels / Jonathon Dail | 5 | 0 | 7.52 | |
| 35 | Matthew Watkins / Avery Watkins | 5 | 0 | 7.5 | |
| 36 | Chris Williams / Dale Wilson | 5 | 0 | 7.33 | |
| 37 | Thomas Craft / Shane Craft | 5 | 0 | 7.16 | |
| 38 | Dylan Reason / Austin Lancaster | 5 | 0 | 6.97 | |
| 39 | Garret Brown / Ayden Alcock | 5 | 0 | 6.77 | |
| 40 | Roger Thomas / Dylan Thomas | 5 | 0 | 6.73 | |
| 41 | Chris Hamilton / Jamie Hill | 3 | 0 | 6.52 | |
| 42 | Richard Ludwig / Mary Ludwig | 4 | 0 | 6.39 | |
| 43 | Jeremy Ives / Tremain Newton | 4 | 0 | 6.37 | |
| 44 | Jody Wynn / Troy Modlin | 4 | 0 | 6.21 | |
| 45 | Jason Smith / Rick Foss, Jr. | 4 | 0 | 5.81 | |
| 46 | Ronnie Casey / | 3 | 0 | 5.02 | |
| 47 | Lee Jones / Anthony Jones | 2 | 0 | 4.21 | |
| 48 | David Jones Jr / Amy Jones | 1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | |
| 49 | Eugene Foushee / sub(Tony Horton) | 2 | 0 | 3.74 | |
| 50 | Mike May / Cliff Jenkins | 2 | 0 | 3.11 | |
| 51 | Jerry Langley / Matthew Langley | 1 | 0 | 1.58 | |
| 52 | Adam Harris / Timothy Harris | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Adam Richardson / Bentley Richardson | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Al Kennedy / Justin Kennedy | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Andy Harris / Jesse Gilbert | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Billy Paderick / Jesse Grady | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Blake Eatmon / Cason Price | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Bobby Clark / Tommy Hughes | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Bobby Lassiter / Chris Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Brandon Parson / | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Brandon Pearce / Stacey Hobson | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Braxton Bridgers / Alan Edwards | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Brian Cooper / Heath Parker | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Bryan Briesemeister, Jr. / Bryan Briesemeister, Sr. | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Charlie Allen / Lee Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Cole Wilkins / Zach Marland | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Craig Goess / Matthew Oakley | 5 | 0 | 10.28 / 0 (Late) | |
| 52 | Donna Wilson / Mike Whitehurst | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Edward Townsend / Dexter Hurley | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Harold Herring / Gerald Herring | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Hunter Jones / David Jones | 5 | 0 | 12.52 / 0 (Late) | |
| 52 | Jacob Brown / Rhett Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Jason Davidson / James Davidson | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Jason Pittman / Jeremy Hodge | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Jason Tripp / Brandon Overton | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Jerry Hardy / Larry Rebels | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Jon Williams / Ethan Howard | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Josh Brown / Kyle Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Junebug Barrow / Roy Norvell | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Kevin Jones / Tyler Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Larry Thomas / Dennis King | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Lee Smith / | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Mitchell Hofler / Greyson Reel | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Mitchell Mason / | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Noah Peters / Jesse Wade | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Norwood Ligon / | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Robbie Nanney / Bucky Bass | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Roger Tucker / Samuel Tucker | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Ron Clark / Ronnie Clark | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Scott Griffin / Jay Allen | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Shawn Dunlap / Ken Kipler | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Steve Bishop / Daryl Peele | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Tyler Faggart / Travis Badget | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Wayne Harris / Larry Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Wayne Stallings / Justin Everett | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Will McKeel / Cody Barnes | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Wyatt Kimmy / Adam Lowe | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | Zach Wallace / Shane Powell | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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