COLUMBUS, Miss. — As the saying goes, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over, and Trey Schroeder was on the right end of that adage Friday after winning the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Tombigbee River presented by SEVIIN.

Schroeder, a 25-year-old resident of tiny Theodosia, Mo., mounted a come-from-behind win with 14 bass totaling 42 pounds, 12 ounces over the three-day tournament. That was just enough weight to edge veteran angler Stephen Browning who finished second with 42-4.

Just about everyone at Friday’s final weigh-in at East Bank Landing had already conceded the tournament to Browning, the Hot Springs, Ark., pro who’s in his 30th year fishing with B.A.S.S. and was looking for his first B.A.S.S. victory in a decade.

It seemed logical. After all, Browning was surging as the tournament progressed and he vaulted from seventh place and into the lead with a 15-10 limit on Day 3. Schroeder, meanwhile, only had four bass in his bag when he came to the stage. That largemouth quartet registered 12-6, however, which let him slip past Browning and to the top of the leaderboard.

The outcome surprised even Schroeder, who gasped when his final weight was announced. He shot his arms into the air in excitement before hoisting the winner’s trophy, and he still was in disbelief after the crowd had cleared out.

“I didn’t think there was any chance I had won,” he said.

BASSTrakk listed Schroeder with an 8-5 total on Friday when the weigh-in began, more than four pounds lighter than his actual catch. Though anglers are encouraged to use BASSTrakk throughout the day, they are not required to do so. But with many anglers and fans accustomed to following the action on BASSTrakk, they saw those numbers and assumed Browning had won.

Schroeder said he doesn’t weigh his fish until he catches his fifth bass.

“I get to five and then I weigh (the one) I’m culling first,” he said. “Then I get rid of my smallest one once I weigh the rest of them. It was my plan to do that today, too, but I never got that fifth keeper bite. I probably had seven or eight bites today … and only four keepers.”

Schroeder pocketed $34,502 cash for the win, part of a $229,090 purse split among the Top 45 of 155 anglers entered in the tournament. He also won a spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour when it’s held March 13-15 in Knoxville, Tenn., on the Tennessee River.

The former Strike King Bassmaster High School Series and Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops angler marveled at the prospect, something he’s dreamed of since co-founding his prep bass fishing team back in Missouri.

“I can’t believe it. Ever since starting that high school club, it’s just been the bug,” he said, his voice cracking with the emotion of the moment.

Schroeder said this tournament fished much like the areas he practiced in while competing for McKendree University in Illinois. In fact, he didn’t even venture onto the main river in the tournament, preferring to fish in nearby Columbus Lake the entire time.

“I didn’t burn a half tank of gas the whole week,” he said. “Finding a hard bottom was what gave me the confidence to stay in Columbus Lake … When I put my poles down and I could (sense them going into) gravel and sand, it started to feel right.

“So, when I put in, I went to the first piece of grass I saw, the water willow stuff,” he said. “The qualifiers we fished at McKendree were on 400-acre lakes and they fished like ponds. It was like that here … I felt at home.”

Schroeder used only two lures to bag his best bass.

“Thirteen of the 14 fish I weighed this week came on a (white) 6th Sense swim jig with a white Stroker Craw by 6th Sense on the back,” he said. “One of them came on the Clout, which is the Sixth Sense version of a Senko. I had some in the bottom of my boat and I threw it out there (on Thursday) and caught a 3-pounder.”

Browning, 58, finished third the last time B.A.S.S. fished on the Tombigbee River, way back in October 2004, and he was confident the 15-10 sack he caught Friday was enough to win the fifth B.A.S.S. event of his illustrious career. He said it was difficult finishing just shy of his goal to qualify for his 11th Bassmaster Classic.

“It’s just hard to swallow right now,” Browning said.

Rounding out the Top 10 anglers on Championship Friday are third, Michigan’s Bo Thomas, 41-10; fourth, Georgia’s Byron Kenney Jr, 41-0; fifth, Georgia’s John Duvall, 39-12; sixth, Alabama’s Matt Adams, 39-10; seventh, Pennsylvania’s Grae Buck, 39-2; eighth, Georgia’s Cody Stahl, 36-8; ninth, Alabama’s Russ Lane, 35-1; 10th Alabama’s Cody Nichols, 35-15.

Schroeder caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass, as well — a 6-4 on Day 1 that earned him an additional $750 cash.

The derby on the Tombigbee River is the second Division I Bassmaster Open of the year, with the season opener held at Georgia’s Clarks Hill in January. Two more tournaments remain in the division (on the Upper Chesapeake Bay July 23-25 in Maryland and July 31-Aug. 2 on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York.)

The Top 50 anglers in both the Division 1 and Division 2 Open standings will qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers, which starts in September. The Top 10 anglers in that inaugural three-tournament competition will win spots in the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series.

Visit Columbus, Mississippi hosted this week’s event.