{"id":361653,"date":"2026-08-03T16:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/361653\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:18:11","slug":"winning-anglers-named-in-great-miami-riverway-fishing-challenge-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/361653\/","title":{"rendered":"Winning anglers named in Great Miami Riverway fishing challenge | Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dustin<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dustin Burns caught a 19.5 inch smallmouth at the 2026 Great Miami Riverway Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge.<\/p>\n

Great Miami Riverway \/ Contributed<\/p>\n

At the 2026 Great Miami Riverway Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge, a West Milton angler won the competition for the second time in a row with the largest smallmouth.<\/p>\n

Kyle Grosvenor, who was among the winners of the 2021 challenge, took top honors for the largest fish of this year’s tournament with a 20.75-inch smallmouth bass that held the lead from opening day through the close of competition, according to a release from the Miami Conservancy District.<\/p>\n

Grosvenor’s win capped a month of chasing bronze backs across one of the Midwest’s premier smallmouth fisheries, the release stated.<\/p>\n

The fishing challenge overall brought together 59 anglers from across the region for a month-long, catch-and-release competition with 456 fish, celebrating fishing, recreation and the Great Miami River itself.<\/p>\n

The list of winners are:<\/p>\n

Top 3 Largest Smallmouth Bass:<\/p>\n

1. Kyle Grosvenor \u2013 20.75″<\/p>\n

2. Dustin Burns \u2013 19.50″<\/p>\n

3. Dillon Browning \u2013 19.25″<\/p>\n

Competitive Series \u2014 Top 5 Bag:<\/p>\n

The most competitive category of the tournament came down to inches, with the top anglers assembling five-fish bags.<\/p>\n

1. Derek Pyles \u2013 91.00″ (18.75″, 18.50″, 18.50″, 18.25″, 17.00″)<\/p>\n

2. Jimmy Kaulig \u2013 90.00″ (19.00″, 18.25″, 17.75″, 17.50″, 17.50″)<\/p>\n

3. Justin Bridges \u2013 90.00″ (18.75″, 18.50″, 17.75″, 17.50″, 17.50″)<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Derek Pyles won the competitive series during the 2026 Great Miami Riverway Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge.<\/p>\n

Great Miami Riverway \/ Contributed<\/p>\n

IGFA Bass Grand Slam:<\/p>\n

One of the tournament’s more unique challenges required anglers to log three qualifying bass species within a 24-hour period. Sponsored by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the Grand Slam category again proved that the Great Miami River offers exceptional multi-species fishing opportunities, the release stated.<\/p>\n

1. Dustin Burns \u2013 completed June 22<\/p>\n

2. Derek Pyles \u2013 completed June 26<\/p>\n

3. Jimmy Kaulig \u2013 completed July 5<\/p>\n

4. Robert Watson \u2013 completed July 11<\/p>\n

Fly Division Winners:<\/p>\n

Largest Smallmouth Bass: Jake Carter \u2013 18.25″<\/p>\n

Competitive Series \u2013 Top 5 Bag: Ken Carter \u2013 68.25″<\/p>\n

Random Drawing Prize Winners:<\/p>\n

Slot 1 (12″\u201313.75″): Derek Pyles, Dustin Burns, Andrew Trimbach<\/p>\n

Slot 2 (14″\u201315.75″): Luke Cetnar, Jesse Freeland, Clifford Stanfield<\/p>\n

Slot 3 (16″\u201317.75″): Kyle Grosvenor, Aaron Bozarth, Dylan Hicks<\/p>\n

Slot 4 (18″+): Jimmy Kaulig, Dustin Burns, John Hollingshead<\/p>\n

Fly Division Drawing Winners: Pamela Allen, Ken Carter<\/p>\n

Anglers and community members gathered to celebrate the season at an award ceremony on July 29, at Crooked Handle Brewing Co. in Piqua, meeting fellow anglers and connecting with tournament directors.<\/p>\n

\"Dillon<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dillon Browning caught a 19.25 inch smallmouth at the 2026 Great Miami Riverway Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge.<\/p>\n

Great Miami Riverway \/ Contributed<\/p>\n

Registration for the 2027 Great Miami Riverway Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge will open in spring 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dustin Burns caught a 19.5 inch smallmouth at the 2026 Great Miami Riverway Smallmouth Bass Fishing Challenge. Great…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-361653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}