Pennington goes solo, repeats as Commissioners’ Cup winner

HOT SPRINGS — Cole Pennington of Bee Branch made history by winning his second straight Commissioners’ Cup Presented by Xpress Boats Senior Division fishing championship on Lake Hamilton last Saturday, and he duplicated something only accomplished one other time in the event: winning it single-handedly.

The seventh annual championship for senior and junior anglers, organized by the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, drew a record-breaking 74 boats to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery.

Pennington did what only Beau Browning, who is now fishing in professional tournaments, had done in winning the Senior Division by himself. Pennington’s partner from last year’s championship, Eli Hagans of Clinton, was in the boat again but only as an observer, taking photos and videos while Pennington did all the heavy fish lifting — Hagans had aged out and is a freshman at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee. Pennington’s father served as the boat captain.

His 5.14-pound largemouth was the big fish that pushed his five-bass stringer to 17.29 pounds for the win, and in doing so, Pennington received a $3,000 check to go toward his college education.

“I’ve been thinking about either going to Bethel, too, to fish with Eli, or to go to college locally for two years … I want to be a game warden,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about that (being an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission game warden) for a long time. My grandpa (Don Pennington of Van Buren County) and Eli’s dad were partners. I grew up around that.”

Nic Sutton and Dawson Cooper from Melbourne were second in the Senior Division with 15.89 pounds, while third place went to Hunter Sanders and Zane Cobb from Hot Springs with 15.72 pounds. In the Junior Division, the Garland County team of Jaxon Livingston and Jake Gaston took first with 16.71 pounds, followed by Bennett Bullard and Kei Blaylock from Benton with 11.73 pounds and Cooper Ward and Cannon Ward from Hot Springs placing third with 10.43 pounds.

Hunter Sanders also landed a massive 7.49-pound bass for the Big Bass prize.

Pennington got in two hours of practice around a stormy Friday to prepare for Saturday’s event and found some nice fish — a 4-pounder on the first cast, a 3-pounder soon after — in spots he was familiar with in some grass. The storms and the short fishing time available kept him close to the hatchery, though. He said he started seeing “a bunch more fish” and gave that area a rest. But early on Saturday, the fish were finicky, and the morning began slowly. He checked the map for similar spots elsewhere.

“When I caught that kicker fish, I was just shaking, and I knew I had it,” he said of the 5.14-pounder, caught at about 12:30 p.m. “I was just shaking.”

Pennington relied on three baits, he said, but the one that sealed the deal was a crankbait, ripping it out through the grass. “The fish would come up and bust the water, but go back down and hide back in the grass,” he said.

Repeating as the champion was “pretty crazy,” Pennington said. “Normally for every tournament, if I go out and have a good practice, I get tingly all in my body and feel good about how it will go. I had that Friday. I told my dad, ‘I’ve got a good feeling about tomorrow.’ I started slow but then got going … I’ve only fished in that Commissioners’ Cup twice, and I’m two for two.”

While his goal of becoming a game warden is paramount, Pennington still wants to fish competitively. “I would never let this sport down,” he said. He has a state high school championship tournament scheduled for the end of May at Bull Shoals with hopes of qualifying for the Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship at Clarks Hill Lake in Georgia starting July 31.

Competitors gathered Friday for registration at Trader Bill’s Outdoors, another event sponsor, and were feted with a meal from Whole Hog Cafe of North Little Rock. Boats headed out Saturday at safe light to fish for over $25,000 in prizes, scholarships and pro-guided trips.

“The turnout was incredible,” Deke Whitbeck, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation president, said. “I want to thank the parents and boat captains for fostering a love of Arkansas’s outdoors in their kids.”

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CUTLINES:

BOOST FOR COLLEGE
Cole Pennington of Bee Branch holds the $3,000 scholarship check he received for winning the 2025 Commissioners’ Cup Presented by XPress Boats to apply toward his college education, which will help him toward his goal of one day becoming a game warden.

BIG TURNOUT
The seventh annual Commissioners’ Cup Presented by Xpress Boats drew its largest-ever number of entries, with 74 boats taking competitors out on Lake Hamilton Saturday, May 3.

LUNKER OF THE TOURNEY
Hot Springs’ Hunter Sanders landed the Big Bass in the Commissioners’ Cup, a largemouth weighing 7.49 pounds.

WEIGHING ON THOSE YOUNG ARMS
Junior Division competitors Jaxon Livingston and Jake Gaston of Garland County came close to matching Senior winner Cole Pennington as they took their division with 16.71 pounds of bass.

Photos by Tyler Lawrence of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.