Can Hank Cherry kick off his 2026 NPFL season the same way he did the 2026 Bassmaster Elites?
LINCOLNTON, SC (February 25, 2026) – The 2026 National Professional Fishing League Championship starts tomorrow on Northern Alabama’s Lewis-Smith Lake, where the top 42 angler’s from the League’s 2025 campaign are set to compete for $250,000.
Hank Cherry, winner of the first 2026 Bassmaster Elite event at Lake Guntersville just three weeks ago, is one of those anglers. Cherry finished 12th in the 2025 NPFL AOY points race to qualify for The League Championship.
“I kind of like that place,” Cherry says of the deep, ultra-clear Smith Lake. “I’ve been looking forward to getting back to another good spotted bass fishery.”
The back-to-back 2020 and 2021 Bassmaster Classic champion received a lot of attention for his recent win at Lake Guntersville, where he threw a 1/8-ounce curlytail grub in nontypical weather conditions to best the Elite field. A lot has been said and written about the bait, but not about the way Cherry was fishing it.
“I was throwing the 1/8-ounce and 3/16-ounce jig-and-grub combinations on ten-pound Zhing fluorocarbon and the high-speed 8.1:1 SEVIIN GS Casting reel,” says Cherry, who credits the GS’s gearing and extreme casting adjustability as integral to his winning presentation.
“The spool tensioner, magnetic brake, and centrifugal brake on that reel provide three points of adjustability, so figuring out how to throw that light bait on the GS really wasn’t too difficult,” Cherry says. “It’s an extremely smooth and free reel to begin with because of the premium-quality Japanese bearings on the spool shaft. And there’s so much micro-adjustability on the spool tensioner as well… a lot more than I’ve seen and it actually clicks when you adjust it which gives you a really strong idea of where you’re at.”
Cherry says people may be surprised at where he had the reel’s centrifugal brake set. “I actually had the centrifugal brake beneath the side plate set on 3, which is one of the higher settings,” Cherry reports. “From there, I just let off on the magnetic brake and that spool tension as much as I could. It was easy to find the sweet spot where I could just whip that thing as far as I could with no overrun. I’m learning that particular reel just really works well for that technique. Same with squarebills, jerkbaits and other light lures… and I can easily slow it down when I need to throw something heavy.”
Cherry says speed was the other factor. “The GS comes in three speeds, and I needed the fast one (8.1:1) with that grub presentation,” he says. “I would swim the grub, pause it, and let it fall, then pick up the slack. That’s where I needed the speed, because nine times out of ten, they’d bite it on that stop or that little fall. When I felt that little tick on the fall, I needed to be able to take the line up fast and just kind of lay into the rod without knocking slack into the line with any kind of violent rod or handle jerks. It was slick.”
The verdict on whether Cherry’s grub will play at this weekend’s NPFL Championship isn’t in, but bass fans should expect Cherry to be in the hunt on Smith Lake for other reasons. Put simply, Cherry has fought through the injuries which have held him back from being his best over the past few years.
“I had to have my elbow repaired two years ago. I had torn ligaments, so that took some time to get healthy,” he says. “Then last year I had carpal tunnel with some arthritis in both hands. I had one surgery in late October and another in December. I just had to work on them and get them stronger to this point to be able to fish. They were very tender. Anybody that’s had that kind of surgery… it’s not really that invasive, but it’s very, very tedious. There’s a lot of weird pain and a lot of scar tissue that you have to bust through to be able to use your hands. But fast forward to where I’m at now… I would say my left hand is at 90% and my right hand is about 75%. Both of them are twice as good as they were last year, and I’m continuing to work hard in rehab so they’ll continue to improve.”
Cherry opens up on the mental impacts of such physical limitations and challenges. “Just, with everything that transpired, just knowing that I couldn’t do my job effectively… as hard as it was physically, it was equally hard on the mental level,” he says. To have to continuously fight through pain… just like any other athlete, sometimes you just get a little upset when you can’t do the things you absolutely need to do. I’m glad the surgeries are behind me and I’ve obviously had to change things a little bit, on the road and at home. But I’m back and I’m grateful. I’ve been in the gym a bunch, too, which has helped. I’m off and running and looking forward to winning as many Bassmaster Elite and NPFL events as I can.”
After this weekend’s NPFL Championship, Cherry will be at the Bassmaster Classic for a day, spending time with fans on Friday March 13. “Then we’re off to the Harris Chain in Florida for the NPFL Stop One, which I’m looking forward to,” Cherry says. “I’m very fond of that place. That’ll be a lot flipping and maybe some site fishing. From there we go to another Bassmaster Elite event, which is at the Tom Bigby waterway in Columbus, Mississippi. It’ll be getting back to my roots, river fishing. So, the next several events should be really fun. They’re all pretty much no forward-facing sonar, and I’m just looking to hopefully get another win or two somewhere along the way. I’m incredibly grateful to be feeling healthy again, and for all the support I’ve received from my fans and my sponsors.”
Follow Hank through his website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
Follow all the action at this weekend’s NPFL Championship at thenationalprofessionalfishingleague.com.
About SEVIIN Reels
Wherever and however you fish, the reel in your hand should help create better experiences. Born from St. Croix Rod’s seven decades of design and manufacturing expertise, industry-leading customer service, and unbroken private ownership by the Schluter family dating back to 1977, SEVIIN reels are meticulously engineered and purpose-built to help anglers conquer every species on every piece of water on the planet. SEVIIN focuses on reels and reels only, designing and marketing products that improve the angling experience, regardless of the rods anglers choose. Seven seas, seven continents, seven days a week, SEVIIN reels are fueled by a collective love of fishing surpassed only by our passionate desire to deliver the most reliable reels on the water. The St. Croix Family of Brands includes St. Croix Rod, SEVIIN Reels, St. Croix Fly, and RodGeeks.
