Abu Garcia pro Adrian Avena notches first Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour Victory with a final two-day weight of 85 pounds.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (June 12, 2023) – Adrian Avena secured his first Major League Fishing BPT win Sunday, June 11, on Cayuga Lake in New York. Avena locked down the win and a $100,000 paycheck by catching a dominating total weight of 105 pounds over his four fishing days.

Avena started the event in 17th place with 21 pounds, 2 ounces on day one of the qualifying round and jumped to seventh place after a monster comeback with a 24 pound, 14 ounce effort on day two. When weights zeroed to begin the knockout round, Avena started by catching a leading 29 pounds, 6 ounces on Saturday before slamming the door shut with 28 pounds, 10 ounces on the final day of the event.

“This event means a lot to me and my family, and it’s my first win since I won on Lake Champlain in my very first professional event ever,” said Avena. “It’s been a long time coming; I worked hard this week and tried to focus on fishing a little deeper than the other anglers and it paid off for me – I am super pumped and I have a lot of people who have believed in me.”

Avena focused on deeper spawning areas that had a little less pressure than most anglers and was able to catch some 6-pound quality bass each of the final days which was the difference in the event. He fished a chartreuse shad colored Berkley Gulp! Minnow on both a dropshot rig and a Berkley Half Head Jig which allowed him to see his bait better as the water dirtied up.

He fished both presentations with a 7-foot medium action Abu Garcia Fantasista X spinning rod and an Abu Garcia Revo Rocket spinning reel spooled with 10-pound Berkley x9 Braid and a Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader.

“We are proud of Adrian and his accomplishments throughout his professional career,” said Marc Kempter, VP of Marketing Communications. “Adrian has been a great ambassador and partner for both the Abu Garcia and Berkley brands for a long time, and his success on the water this week is well deserved.”