Billy Strings Competes In 2025 Bassmaster Celebrity Pro-Am Fishing Tournament

Guitarist Billy Strings has shown a passion for fishing over the years and he took that life-long interest to compete in the 2nd Annual Progressive Bassmaster Classic Celebrity Pro-Am driven by Yokohama Tire. Strings was paired with professional angler Mike Iaconelli for the tournament held on Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I go [bass fishing] as often as I can,” Strings told Rolling Stone in 2022. “Sometimes I’ll get home from a long-ass tour and I should probably just go to bed, but instead I put the boat in the water.”

Strings and fellow fisherman/musician Les Claypool have made music and gone fishing together. Last year during a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, Strings addressed his long-in-the-works collaborative album with Claypool.

”We were getting together there for a while working on tunes whenever we weren’t fishing,” Strings revealed. “We’re trying to make an album about fishing. We got a handful of tunes, just need to find some more time to get together, but the fish are always biting.”

The AMA also revealed Strings’ passion for fishing got in the way of a potential musical collaboration. Strings confirmed he turned down an offer from Sturgill Simpson to collaborate on his Cuttin’ Grass bluegrass albums in favor of a fishing trip.

“Yeah, it’s true,” Strings wrote when asked about the would-be collaboration. “I mean we already had the trip planned and I would have had to bail out on my friends. I hated to miss those sessions and I often wondered if sturgill felt slighted in any way because of it .. I sure hope not.. but we kayaked and caught some smallmouth and it was great.”

The 2025 Bassmaster pro-am tournament was won by the team of comedian/actor Lavell Crawford and professional bass fisherman Emil Wagner. Strings and Iaconelli tied for 14th place in the competition.

Click through the below posts for photos and more from the tournament.