“It’s a dream come true,” said Nick Trim on Saturday after his big win at the BASS Nation Championship in La Crosse. 

The Galesville angler led the entire way against more than 250 others by bringing in 77 pounds over the four days of the tournament. That weight was four pounds better than second place finisher Noah Winslow of Connecticut.  

Not that the win didn’t come with some ups and downs along the way. After the first two days, heavy fog kept anglers off the water for half of Day Three. Trim lost a bit of his lead going into Saturday’s final day of fishing.  

“The morning started out really rough, you know, so to make it work, make it happen, and overcome, was amazing. I felt pressure until I caught that last fish that put me over 20 pounds, and then I let it all out. It was pretty magical.” 

 Trim was fishing in Pools 8 and 9. Most of the week he was using a jig to catch his largemouth but switched over to using a jerkbait on Saturday. He said the smallmouth attacked it on the final day.  

Part of his catch was the second biggest bass caught in the tournament, a six-pound smallmouth. “Oh my gosh, I screamed at the top of my lungs, then quickly looked around to see if anyone heard me, I didn’t want them to know where I caught it.” He said that it was one of the biggest ones he’s caught here on the river.  

It was only topped by a 7-pound-15-ounce bass caught the next day by Chris Miller. “That’s a whale.”  

With the win, in addition to the trophy and a $50,000 check, Trim gets to move up to the next level of competition, the Elite Series, along with a spot in next year’s Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of bass fishing. 

Continuing the dream… 

“I’ve been working at this for the last few years, to make the Elite Series, and a Classic is every bass fisherman’s dream. I’m just overwhelmed with emotion.”