NASHVILLE â Matt Robertson just became $1.25 million richer. But don’t expect the Kentucky bass fishing pro to pack up and move into a mansion anytime soon.
“We ain’t moving out the trailer, baby. Trailer trash for life!” Robertson declared during a Saturday evening news conference after winning World Bass Enterprises’ inaugural The Champions tournament on Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee.
The Bassmaster Elite pro backed up a week’s worth of trash talk by bringing 20 pounds, 2 ounces of bass to the scales on Championship Saturday, claiming the largest first-place prize in professional bass fishing history.
And despite all that confidence, even Robertson seemed a little overwhelmed by the moment.
“Dude, it’s freaking insane. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” he said.
Robertson, of Kuttawa, Kentucky, dominated the first two days of competition, then delivered another monster bag Saturday after the weights reset to zero. Pake South finished second with 13 pounds, 7 ounces, taking home $500,000, while Wesley Strader earned $300,000 for third place.
The historic tournament brought together top anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series and Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour, along with two amateur qualifiers, to compete for a record $3.25 million purse.
But for Robertson, the payday is about much more than the money.
Robertson might not be upgrading his own home, but he already knows where some of that $1.25 million is going.
His wife is getting a new vehicle. And he’s planning to buy a couple more trailers.
Before the final weigh-in, Robertson told OutKick OutDoors that he’d been eyeing two trailers for sale near his home, one priced around $60,000 and the other around $80,000.
“I’m for sure buying a couple more trailers,” he said. “They’re bought, and my wife, she gets her new ride.”
And after securing the championship, he doubled down on those plans.
“I hate to tell anybody, but them things are sold,” he joked.
Behind Robertson’s larger-than-life personality, however, is a man who hasn’t forgotten where he came from.
“I didn’t grow up with much,” he explained during his post-victory press conference. “I worked so much paycheck to paycheck … I went through real struggles in life.”
Those experiences, he said, helped prepare him for the pressure of competing for life-changing money.
Robertson admitted that the money will drastically change his life, but he insisted he wasn’t particularly nervous about the stakes.
In fact, when OutKick OutDoors asked him what winning would mean before the results were officially announced, he had something else on his mind.
“I want that damn trophy. It’s what I want,” he said. “Everybody talking about the 1.25. Like, I want the money too, but I want to get my hands on that trophy.”
While Robertson’s victory might have looked easy from the leaderboard, it took some unconventional strategy to get there.
Rather than fishing the main lake, he traveled through the navigation lock at Old Hickory Dam to target smallmouth bass in the tailwater below the dam.
Robertson discovered his productive fishing area during practice and made the gamble that the bigger fish would be there when it mattered.
“If I hadn’t found that spot, I wouldn’t have won this thing,” Robertson said.
The strategy certainly paid off. Robertson caught the tournament’s only 20-pound bag on Thursday, then added another strong day Friday to secure the top qualifying position for Saturday’s championship.
But his honey hole wasn’t exactly a secret.
MLF pro Ron Nelson had also discovered productive water below the dam, and the two
