AnglersChannel

Davis Fishes Familiar Habitat For La Crosse Win

Barry Davis, of Startex, S.C., won the Huk Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series at Mississippi River powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia with a five-fish limit measuring 88 inches.
Photo by B.A.S.S.
August 15, 2020

LA CROSSE, Wisc. — He was more than 700 miles from home, but Barry Davis of Startex, S.C., targeted a familiar scenario to win the Huk B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series at the Mississippi River powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia. Davis’ five fish measured 88 inches.

Davis’ individual fish were 18 1/2, 18 1/4, 17 3/4, 17 1/4 and 16 1/4. For his achievement, he earned a $5,553 prize package of cash and merchandise.

In the third of five regular-season events, anglers were allowed to launch at any public ramp or public access area within tournament waters, which comprised of Upper Mississippi Pools 7, 8 and 9, along with any connecting creeks and canals. Fishing from a Bonafide SS127, Davis fished Pool 9 and spent his day focusing on sloughs with habitat similar to his home waters.

“I was fishing the crossover sloughs midpool all day long,” Davis said. “I was fishing 6 feet or less on cut-back banks with wood close by. The key was I found where current was in a bend that had laydowns all in it.

“With that cut-back bank, I’m familiar with fishing that because a lot of our rivers in South Carolina are about the same size as that cut-through. When I found that on Wednesday, that felt like home to me. I felt comfortable with it.”

Davis reports a fast start that yielded 12 fish in the first hour.

“I put my limit up in the first 30 minutes and upgraded my last fish just after that hour,” he said. “Everything else I caught the rest of the day was 14 to 15 inches, but I broke off a good fish late today.”

Davis caught his fish on shaky heads with Victory Tackleworks Clutch Craws in watermelon green and green pumpkin. The former was his morning color, while the latter served him better later in the day.

“I mainly used a 1/16-ounce shaky head, but I also had a 3/16-ounce rigged up for deeper water,” Davis said. “All but one of my fish came on the 1/6-ounce.”

To ensure he got on his early morning bite, Davis recently installed a Torqeedo 1103 ultralight outboard motor. The 3hp unit gave him the edge in reaching a prime area first.

“There were 13 competitors putting in where I [launched] this morning, and later in the day six of them told me they had planned to go to the area I fished,” he said. “That was my key — the drag race was won by me.”

Joey Vanyo of Lakeville, Minn., placed second with 87 inches. Fishing Pool 9, he focused on current breaks and island sand humps. Vanyo caught fish on a shad color Storm Arashi squarebill, a 3/8-ounce silver/shad Warbird spinnerbait and a Carolina-rigged black/blue Zoom Brush Hog.

“The key was I increased current and I found a ledge on the main-river channel where the bass were keying on an undercut bank,” Vanyo said. “I was using the Carolina rig in that spot.”

Brady Storrs of Gibbon, Neb., finished third with 87 inches. Ties are broken by the single largest fish, in this case a 19 3/4-incher caught by Vanyo. Storrs committed his day to Pool 7, where he did all of his work by fishing a leopard color Spro popping frog over mats.

“I caught a few fish around wood that was in the mat, but for the most part, it was just straight mat,” Storrs said. “If the mat had deeper water closer to it, I felt like there was a higher quantity of larger fish there. I was also fishing mats with a lot [of] cleaner water and I think that had them in there, too.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were Mike Elsea (86 3/4), Zach Gibbons (85 1/2), Eric Siddiqi (85 1/2), Zach Humphries (85 1/4), Lance Burris (84 3/4), Casey Reed (84 1/4) and Cody Milton (83 1/2).

For complete results, visit TourneyX.com.

The tournament was hosted by Explore La Crosse.

by AnglersChannel

Lucas Wins Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

Fresh off MLF Win at Sturgeon Bay, Alabama Pro Drop-Shots Berkley Flat Worm to Another Victory and Wins $160K in Sandusky, Ohio

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 14, 2020) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the stage Friday weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie. Lucas’ four-day total of 20 bass weighing 79-2 gave him the victory by just one ounce over the No. 1 ranked angler in the world, second-place pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, and earned Lucas the top prize of $160,000, including the lucrative $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus contingency award. The victory was the first pro-level win of Lucas’ career in FLW competition.

“I’m at a loss for words because when I went out today, I was not expecting to win,” said Lucas, who pushed his career earnings to more than $1.68 million. “I expected to go out there and try to catch a big bag., but I really felt like Wheeler and Bertrand were going to put something special together.

“Then, to only win by one ounce… I’ve had that fall the other way on me before,” Lucas continued. “Early in my career I lost by 3 ounces to Scott Martin on the Potomac River, and I really needed the money back then. It was a big deal – a $90,000 difference. And this one was even bigger – a $125,000 difference. So, for it go in my favor this time is huge.”

Lucas said that he spent most of his week targeting a big piece of sunken steel off of a shoal near Kelly Island.

“I don’t know if was a sunken boat or an old channel marker or what – I’ve been calling it the space missile all week – but the fish were using the backside of it as a current break,” Lucas said. “It wasn’t hard to stay on because it was big – like 16 feet long and 5 feet tall.”

Lucas used the same bait all week, also the same bait that he dominated the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Sturgeon Bay with last month – a Berkley PowerBait Maxscent Flat Worm (green-pumpkin). He fished the worm on a drop-shot rig with a ½-ounce weight and an unnamed No. 2 drop-shot hook on Berkley X5 Braid Line Crystal tied to an 8-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon leader. His rod and reel setup was a 7-foot medium-action Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier Spinning Rod paired with a size 30 Abu Garcia REVO MGXtreme Spinning Reel.

“I really felt like I had found the right quality of fish in practice and I knew that if I could go out there and capitalize on my bites – get 5 to 7 bites a day – I could make it work,” Lucas said.

“The last two years have been a struggle. I got my butt kicked in the first four tournaments this season. So to end my season like this, cashing five checks in a row and winning this one – the most money I’ve ever won in my life – I definitely feel like I turned my entire season around,” Lucas went on to say.

The top 10 pros on Lake Erie finished:

1^st:       Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 20 bass, 79-2, $160,000
2^nd:      Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 20 bass, 79-1, $35,000
3^rd:       Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., 20 bass, 74-10, $30,000
4^th:       Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 20 bass, 74-6, $25,000
5^th:       Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 20 bass, 73-12, $22,000
6^th:       Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 20 bass, 72-14, $21,000
7^th:       David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 20 bass, 68-7, $19,000
8^th:       Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., 19 bass, 67-10, $18,000
9^th:       Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., 20 bass, 66-12, $17,200
10^th:     Jason Lambert of Michie, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-3, $16,000

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 44 bass weighing 144 pounds, 8 ounces caught by pros Friday. Eight of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 25 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday night primetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament at Lake Erie was hosted by the City of Sandusky and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center. The total purse for the event was more than $1.3 million, including a top prize of up to $160,000.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Thursday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, the 2019 Polaris Rookie of the Year, clinched the 2020 AOY title this week after his 34^thplace finish. Nelson will receive his entry fees paid for the entire 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit season for his win.

FLW anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota, the Pro Circuit championship. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota will be held on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-29.

MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit Super Tournaments will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Scroggins Saves Roumbanis’ Day 3

by AnglersChannel

Giant Smallmouth Will Determine Outcome Of Bassmaster Elite Series Event At Lake St. Clair

Michigan smallmouth mecca Lake St. Clair will host the Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair Aug. 20-23, 2020.

Photo by B.A.S.S.

August 13, 2020

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — Tucked between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair may live in the shadow of its Great Lakes neighbors, but these bountiful waters will offer plenty of opportunities when the Bassmaster Elite Series visits Aug. 20-23.

Renowned as a smallmouth powerhouse, the lake shared by the United States and Canada has a history of impressive tournament showings, including last year’s Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, which Minnesota pro Seth Feider won with a three-day total of 77 pounds, 15 ounces.

Daily takeoffs will be at 6:30 a.m. ET from Lake St. Clair Metro Parks in Harrison Township. Weigh-ins will be held back at the park each day at 3:10 p.m. A first-place prize of $100,000 will be on the line, along with valuable AOY points that will help anglers earn berths in the 2021 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic.

Texan Clark Wendlandt took third in that event, and he’s looking forward to another shot at the waters known by some as “the Sixth Great Lake.”

“Going by local tournament reports, I think the fishing’s going to be great,” Wendlandt said. “A lot of fish are going to be caught and I think some big weights. Seth (averaged over) 25 a day, and I think we can expect something like that.”

At 26 miles long and 24 miles wide, St. Clair covers 430 square miles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a shipping channel that reaches about 27 feet deep, but the lake averages only about 11 feet.

Due to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions, anglers are limited to the U.S. waters of Lake St. Clair and all connecting rivers, creeks and canals, including Lake Huron. Anglers will not be allowed to travel south of the Ambassador Bridge (Hwy. 3) spanning the Detroit River.

Wendlandt believes all of the U.S. tournament waters could be in play. Most of the anglers will disperse across St. Clair’s main body where they’ll seek isolated rockpiles with scattered weeds, sometimes a little of both. Also, channel markers, particularly their anchor chains, have been known to give up sizable smallmouth.

“I think guys that spend time in the Detroit River will have a chance, but there will be plenty of tournament waters to fish,” said Wendlandt, who currently ranks sixth in the Bassmaster AOY standings. “Lake St. Clair is just perfect for smallmouth. Gobies and maybe perch are going to be the main forage. But just like all the Great Lakes, it has come on like gangbusters since the gobies entered the system.”

An invasive species that reached the Great Lakes during the 1990s, the round goby has played a significant role in the quality of St. Clair’s smallmouth fishery. Anglers will target their fish with drop shots, tubes, Carolina rigs and crankbaits.

Variables include:

Weather — St. Clair is notorious for turning brutally rough when strong winds blow. Big waves increase running time and decrease fishing time. With drifting a common tactic, inclement weather could limit opportunities for some.

The playing field — Much of the field has fished Lake St. Clair before, but with tournament waters reduced, some will find key waypoints are no longer in play.

Lake Huron — Traversing the west side of the St. Clair River, anglers have access to Huron’s west side, in particular, the fertile Saginaw Bay area. A long run could yield opportunity with little to no competition, but it will chew up a lot of valuable fishing time. Feider said he’s not expecting a lot of Huron reports.

“St. Clair is on fire and the good stuff in Huron, with the exception of the mouth of the St. Clair River, is too far to go,” he said. “Saginaw Bay is 70 to 80 miles from the mouth of the river.”

Wherever anglers fish, the weigh-ins will likely see most bringing five-bass limits to the stage. Several are likely to break the 20-pound mark each day, and the elusive Century Club (100 pounds) is not out of the picture.

After Chris Johnston came close during his win on the St. Lawrence River in late July, a triple-digit weight would mark the first time an angler has caught 100 pounds of smallmouth in a B.A.S.S. event.

That’s no easy task. But there are only a handful of fisheries where such a feat is conceivable, and Lake St. Clair is definitely one of them.

Real-time action from the Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair will be carried on Bassmaster LIVE at Bassmaster.com and ESPN3 beginning at 7 a.m. ET. Coverage will also be broadcast on ESPN2. Check your local listings for details.

by AnglersChannel

Bertrand Reclaims Lead at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 13, 2020) – The stage is now set for a dramatic regular-season finale Friday at the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie. The top 10 is loaded with former FLW Cup champions, Anglers of the Year, and an accomplished local pro with a vast wealth of experience on Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair.

MLF pro Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Arizona, who led the tournament after day one, weighed a five-bass limit Thursday totaling 22 pounds, 14 ounces to reclaim the lead with a three-day total of 62-12.

Pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, (60-9), who has finished 1^stand 2^nd in the previous two Super Tournament events, vaulted into second place after bringing in a limit weighing 22-5. Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, (59-8), Arkansas’ Spencer Shuffield (57-14) and Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, (57-0) round out the top five. Local angler Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, (55-4) sits in sixth place.

The four-day event featured 187 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) angling for a piece of $1.3 million, including the first-place prize of up to $160,000.

With the field now cut to 10 and a 2-pound, 3-ounce cushion heading into the final day, Bertrand is ready to see how it all shakes out on Championship Friday.

“This morning I caught two fish early that really helped me slow down,” said Bertrand, who finished the MLF Bass Pro Tour season ranked No. 20 overall. “I had six hours to get just three more bites, and it turned out to be a great day of fishing. I even made a couple of culls, and that’s about as much as you can ask for in this tournament right now.

“Every day, as guys fall off it opens more water up,” Bertrand continued. “Yesterday, I was sharing a spot with 7 or 8 guys. Today, it was three. Tomorrow, it’ll likely be just one or two of us in the area. There is less fish, for sure, but we have the freedom to move around now and that at least gives me a chance.”

Bertrand said that his key baits and spots have remained the same all week – he’s drop-shotting a small island shoal with a Berkley PowerBait Maxscent Flat Worm.

“I’m definitely excited to be leading going into the final day,” Bertrand said. “We’ll try to get a good night’s rest and prepare for anything tomorrow. I’m hoping to go back out to the same spot and burn it up. But it could be blowing 20 miles per hour in the morning and I might be fishing for largemouth. Who knows what’ll happen, but either way I’m super excited and ready to see how it all shakes out.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake Erie are:

1^st:       Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., 15 bass, 62-12
2^nd:      Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 60-9
3^rd:       Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala, 15 bass, 59-8
4^th:       Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 57-14
5^th:       Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 15 bass, 57-0
6^th:       Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 55-4
7^th:       Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., 15 bass, 54-6
8^th:       Jason Lambert of Michie, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-3
9^th:       David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 52-11
10^th:     Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., 15 bass, 52-2

Finishing in 11^th through 30^th are:

11^th:     John Cox of DeBary, Fla, 15 bass, 52-2, $14,000
12^th:     Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa., 15 bass, 51-8, $14,000
13^th:     Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif, 15 bass, 51-4, $14,000
14^th:     Boyd Duckett of Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 49-14, $14,000
15^th:     Joseph Webster of Winfield, Ala., 14 bass, 49-11, $14,000
16^th:     Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 49-4, $14,000
17^th:     Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 49-3, $14,000
18^th:     Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, 13 bass, 48-11, $14,000
19^th:     Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, 14 bass, 47-15, $14,000
20^th:     Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo., 12 bass, 47-10, $14,000
21^st:     Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio., 15 bass, 47-9, $11,000
22^nd:    Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala., 13 bass, 47-8, $11,000
23^rd:     Fred Roumbanis of London, Ark., 14 bass, 47-4, $11,000
24^th:     Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., 13 bass, 45-13, $11,000
25^th:     Mitch Crane of Columbus, Miss.., 15 bass, 45-1, $11,000
26^th:     Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 45-1, $11,000
27^th:     Jon Canada of Helena, Ala., 15 bass, 44-15, $11,000
28^th:     Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., 15 bass, 44-0, $11,000
29^th:     Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., 15 bass, 43-8, $11,000
30^th:     Joshua Weaver of Macon, Ga., 14 bass, 43-6, $11,000

Full results for the entire field can be/ found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 181 bass weighing 567 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 44 pros Thursday. The catch included 26 five-bass limits.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament at Lake Erie is hosted by the City of Sandusky and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center. The total purse for the event is more than $1.3 million, including a top prize of up to $160,000.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Thursday. Now, only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The final 10 anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EDT Friday from the Shelby St. Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby St., in Sandusky. Friday’s championship weigh-in will be held at the Paper District Marina, located at 611 W. Shoreline Drive, beginning at 4 p.m.

Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage at FLWFishing.com.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water broadcast will air on all four days of competition, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran is joined by Toyota Series pro Todd Hollowell and MLF’s Marty Stone to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

AnglersChannel.com - Your #1 Tournament Resource

AnglersChannel.com is your one-stop resource for all things Tournament Bass fishing. We have the largest Tournament calendar, weekly results, podcasts and more to give you the edge in your next Tournament. Coast to coast, at any level. AnglersChannel.com, YOUR #1 Tournament Resource!

by AnglersChannel

New York Bassmaster Elite Events Reel In More Than 7 Million Viewers

Bassmaster Elite Series angler Jamie Hartman treats a live audience to one of his many fish catches during his four days on Lake Champlain.

Photo by B.A.S.S.

August 13, 2020

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Historic victories, record fish catches and dramatic finishes during back-to-back events proved to be must-watch television for sports fans as the Bassmaster Elite Series’ New York swing drew in a combined audience of 7.2 million viewers over eight days of coverage on ESPN2.

Between televised coverage on ESPN2 and the livestream on Bassmaster.com and ESPN3, fans watched more than 214 million minutes of live tournament coverage during the two events.

The action started at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at the St. Lawrence River, where on Day 1 of the event Paul Mueller, of Naugatuck, Conn., produced on-screen fireworks when he landed a 7-pound, 13-ounce smallmouth bass — believed to be the biggest smallmouth ever caught in an Elite Series tournament. On the final day, Mueller and Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario, battled treacherous waves and 20 mph gusts on Lake Ontario as both anglers fought to reach the 100-pound mark. After coming from behind to capture the win, Johnston fell just short of the century mark but took home the coveted blue trophy with a whopping four-day total of 20 smallmouth bass that weighed 97 pounds, 8 ounces and made history bybecoming the first Canadian to win an Elite Series tournament.

Heading into the tournament, Johnston was ready to provide anglers and fans a much-needed enthusiasm boost. “It’s been a weird year, and I think we need to be out there on the water doing what we love to do. With ESPN2 covering the events, it was a great couple of weeks for the fans watching there and on Bassmaster LIVE.”

Savvy fishing enthusiasts knew weights would be close on Lake Champlain, but with less than 3 pounds separating 10th place from first, Championship Sunday was set up perfectly for viewers craving another exciting finish. ESPN2 coverage had just kicked off for the afternoon when Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk went on a 45-minute flurry that helped him leapfrog from fifth place to claim his fourth B.A.S.S. win.

In the midst of this action, Palaniuk took time to explain to viewers how he used electronics to locate and catch large bass, continuing the trend of explaining techniques and offering tips to new anglers that viewers have seen over the past three events and have traditionally found on Bassmaster LIVE.

“I want our broadcasts to be entertaining and educational for anglers of all levels whether it’s the first or 100th event they have watched,” said Palaniuk. “That’s why I do my best to explain what I’m seeing out there in the moment.

“With more people working from home we have more people enjoying fishing, so being able to share our tournaments with many of those people through a network like ESPN2 is huge!”

B.A.S.S. worked in conjunction with local hosts to ensure the tournaments adhered to guidelines issued by the State of New York for professional sports competitions, which included diagnostic testing as well as protocols for daily health screenings for all athletes and staff via the CrewMinders safety check platform and a host of other safety and social distancing measures. Under these guidelines, no fans or spectators could attend the tournaments.

“We are thankful to all of our local hosts as well as our partners at ESPN, who have helped B.A.S.S. safely bring the fun of competition and beauty of these fisheries into the homes of millions of fans during our three most recent tournaments,” said Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO.

The 2020 Bassmaster Elite season continues on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair Aug. 20-23, with live coverage on Bassmaster.com, ESPN2 and ESPN3. Weigh-ins will be aired on Bassmaster.com. Check local listings for ESPN2 broadcast times.

A complete schedule can be found at Bassmaster.com/tv-schedule.

by AnglersChannel

AC Insider Podcast - Jamie "The Hammer" Hartman

This week Chris and the boys welcome in Jamie "The Hammer" Hartman to the show to talk about his Elite Series season thus far and how making the decision to "go Pro" later in life has helped his journey be so successful. Michele joins the crew for the second half of the show and David gets a little out of hand. Check it out!

by AnglersChannel

Lucas Moves into Lead, Nelson Clinches AOY Title at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 12, 2020) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Wednesday weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces, to take the lead after day two of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. Lucas’ two-day total of 10 bass weighing 41-5 gives him a slim 3-ounce advantage heading into day three of the four-day Super Tournament that features 187 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals from FLW and MLF angling for a piece of $1.3 million, including the first-place prize of up to $160,000.

A group of people in a boat on a body of water

Description automatically generatedThe 2016 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champion Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Missouri, sits in second place, just 3 ounces behind Lucas with 41-2. Pro Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, has a two-day total of 40-13, good for third place, while day one leader Arizona’s Josh Bertrand fell to fourth with a two-day total of 39-14. The field is now cut to 50 for Thursday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to Championship Friday.

“It looks really good on the scales, but it was not easy,” said Lucas, who won the final MLF Bass Pro Tour event of the season last month in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. “I only had seven keeper bites today, and I lost two of them. I only put five keepers in the boat and I never culled one time. So, it looks good but it was really tough to get there today.”

Lucas said that he spent the day hunting for active smallmouth that are ready to feed.

“They’re hard to find, but there are a few out there,” Lucas said. “Most of mine are coming on my 2D sonar. I think they’re attracted to the boat. I see them come up under the boat and then I drop straight down onto them. It can be awhile, between bites, though. Today it was hours.”

Lucas said that all of his fish came on a Berkley PowerBait Maxscent Flat Worm, and that he is “all in” on his spots.

“I don’t really have a backup plan,” Lucas said. “I do have one other area that I haven’t hit yet, but I don’t think the fish are as big there. I think 18 pounds would be a good bag there, but I think it’ll take 20 pounds a day to win this thing.

“I’m trying to stay away from the crowd – there just isn’t enough fish out there to go around,” Lucas went on to say. “I have a lot of confidence here in the summer, though. I know I can find some little sweet spots out there.”

The top 20 pros after day two on Lake Erie are:

1st: Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-5
2nd: Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 41-2
3rd: Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 10 bass, 40-13
4th: Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., 10 bass, 39-14
5th: Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 38-11
6th: Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 38-4
7th: Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, 10 bass, 37-9
8th: Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 37-4
9th: Fred Roumbanis of London, Ark., 10 bass, 36-5
10th: Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., 10 bass, 36-2
11th: Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 35-4
12th: Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-1
13th: Boyd Duckett of Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 34-15
14th: Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-12
15th: Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 34-12
16th: Joseph Webster of Winfield, Ala., 10 bass, 34-6
17th: David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 34-6
18th: Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 34-4
19th: Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 34-4
20th: Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa., 10 bass, 33-11

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Anglers were also vying for the prestigious 2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) title that is determined by the most points accumulated over the six Pro Circuit events in 2020.

Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, the 2019 Polaris Rookie of the Year, clinched the 2020 AOY title Wednesday, after bringing in a limit and ending the day in 18th place. Nelson can finish no worse than 50th place, which clinches the title for the Michigan pro after bringing a 73-point lead into the event. Nelson will receive his entry fees paid for the entire 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit season for his win.

Nelson also won the $500 Berkley Big Bass award Wednesday in the pro division after bringing a 6pound largemouth to the scale.

Overall there were 754 bass weighing 2,206 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 174 pros Wednesday. The catch included 121 five-bass limits.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, the top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Thursday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EDT each day from the Shelby St. Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby St., in Sandusky. The weigh-in each day will be held at the Paper District Marina, located at 611 W. Shoreline Drive, beginning at 4 p.m.

by AnglersChannel

Gleason’s Don’t Want the Party to End

Courtesy of Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

I was leaving the Shelby Street boat launch at the conclusion of take off for day one of the final FLW Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event of the year when I saw Randi Gleason pulling out of the parking lot.

Randi’s husband is Darold Gleason. An FLW Pro Circuit rookie and one of several anglers who came to Lake Erie on the bubble to make the Tackle Warehouse TITLE presented by Toyota. Anglers have to finish in the top 50 in points to qualify.

I’m not sure she’d admit it, but I’m fairly certain Randi was already checking FLW’s Live Leaderboard when I saw her… ten minutes after boats had launched. The Gleason’s pull no punches when it comes to their steadfast support of one another or their enthusiasm for competitive fishing.

“Say a prayer for five nice ones if you would,” Randi said emphatically. “He’s gotta catch them today so we can keep this thing going… we don’t want the party to end!”

The party Randi refers to is traveling around the country together for Darold’s professional fishing career. A full time pro bass fishing gig is something both Gleasons’ have dreamt of for years.

Darold has been a part of the fishing industry for over a decade. As a legendary guide on Toledo Bend Reservoir, as a field staff staple for Toyota Bonus Bucks, Carhartt, and Yamaha Power Pay, as a talented regional competitor, and as one of the good dudes of the sport.

So when Gleason qualified for the FLW Pro Circuit at the end of 2019, they knew what they were getting into. And they were all in.

Their 2020 season began on a high note, with great finishes at Sam Rayburn and the Harris Chain. Randi and their pup “Rowdy” enthusiastically traveled with Darold, making up team Gleason and it seemed their dream season was off to the races… until 2020 decided to throw a wrench in everyone’s plans.

The struggles began with a less-than-desired performance at Lake Martin for Gleason, who credited bad decision making en route to a triple digit finish. Followed by a global pandemic essentially shutting the world down and redefining the Gleason’s “new-normal”, as Randi is a Cystic Fibrosis patient.

Cystic Fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic disease in the United States, and puts patients at far greater risk when it comes to the effects of COVID-19. The Gleason’s love for each other is so strong they couldn’t fathom finishing the 2020 season without being attached at the hip to one another.

So days before the Lake Chickamauga event, they bought themselves a 5th wheel trailer so Randi could travel to and from FLW tournaments safely and comfortably. Darold, a long-time Toyota Bonus Bucks participant, tows his Phoenix boat with the Tundra and Randi tows the 5th wheel with her brother’s borrowed truck.

Both Darold and Randi have hearts and personalities big enough to fill Lake Erie; throw their dog Rowdy in the mix and you start to understand “the party” theme Randi referred to.

After another substandard finish at Lake Chickamauga, and shooting par on the Mississippi River, Gleason came into this event in 53rd place in the points race. And he’s certainly feeling the pressure to qualify for the Tackle Warehouse TITLE on Sturgeon Bay later this month.

“I’ve got my work cut out for me but that’s indicative of my entire career,” Gleason said before day one. “I’m sure most of my peers feel the same way, but it never comes easy for me. I feel like I always have to out work my competition. Either way, I’m grateful to have a chance to qualify this week. I’m feeling the pressure for sure, but I guess I’m prepared for it in a way.”

That pressure was only compounded by the fact this Louisiana born angler had never seen any of the Great Lakes, let alone fished them. To make matters worse he heard the whispers and dock talk of anglers saying they needed to make a 100-mile run to Lake St. Clair if they wanted to excel in this tournament.

“My poor brain was spinning in circles every night after practice,” Gleason joked. “Four days of practice sounds like a lot but it doesn’t feel that way when trying to break down a Great Lake. I decided to maximize my fishing time and not make any long runs.”

Gleason’s decision proved fruitful as he currently sits in 25thplace after weighing 16+ pounds of Lake Erie smallmouth on day one. Randi’s supportive prayers came true and their dreams live to fight another day.

If Darold can back up his day one efforts today and tomorrow the Gleason’s might have to fire up some Robert Earl Keen at the Sandusky campground, cause this party ain’t over yet!

by AnglersChannel

Arizona’s Bertrand Leads Day One of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 11, 2020) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Josh Bertrand of Sun Tan Valley, Arizona, brought five bass to the scale Tuesday weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces, to jump out to the early lead after day one of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. Bertrand will now bring an 8-ounce advantage into day two of the four-day Super Tournament that features 187 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals from FLW and MLF angling for a piece of $1.3 million, including the first-place prize of up to $160,000.

The main decision facing tournament competitors Tuesday was where they wanted to fish. With Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair all in play for anglers, the field was spread out, with an estimated 30 to 40 boats making the long 80-mile run from Sandusky to Lake St. Clair. Tournament leader Bertrand was not among those that made the trip – he stuck to Lake Erie and had to grind out his day on the water.

“It was pretty risky both ways you went,” said the 31-year-old Bertrand, who has career earnings of more than $710,000 “It was risky to make the long run and try to fish for numbers, and it turned out to also be risky fishing close. I was around a lot of guys that did not catch a limit today, and it was very difficult to catch five fish.”

Bertrand said that he spent his day cycling through about 15 different spots, and that he managed seven keeper bites.

“It was not an easy day of fishing, but it worked out perfectly,” Bertrand said. “Things just clicked for me. I’m not really doing anything different – just drop-shotting a Berkley (PowerBait Maxscent) Flat Worm, like everyone else. It was just one of those days that you’re really thankful for, because it all worked out.

“I don’t feel great about any of the days moving forward, because I have no idea how they’re going to go,” Bertrand went on to say. “They could all go really well like today. But it’s always tough fishing in waves. You have to do everything a bit slower and really take your time. Fighting a fish, driving your boat, pulling up to a new area – you can’t get in a rush. Slow and steady will win the race when we’re fishing the rough water.”

The top 10 pros after day one on Lake Erie are:

1^st:       Josh Bertrand of San Tan Valley, Ariz., five bass, 22-6
2^nd:      Boyd Duckett of Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 21-14
3^rd:       Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 21-7
4^th:       Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo., five bass, 20-14
4^th:       Joseph Webster of Winfield, Ala., five bass, 20-14
6^th:       Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 20-6
7^th:       Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales, La., five bass, 20-0
8^th:       Tommy Dickerson of Orange, Texas, five bass, 19-13
9^th:       Kelly Jordon of Flint, Texas, five bass, 19-10
10^th:     Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, five bass, 19-1

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, won Tuesday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division with a 5-pound, 14-ounce smallmouth bass.

Overall there were 767 bass weighing 2,132 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 180 pros Tuesday. The catch included 122 five-bass limits.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 187 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Thursday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

by AnglersChannel

California Delta Set to Host Toyota Series Return

OAKLEY, Calif. (Aug. 11, 2020) – The 2020 Toyota Series Western Division is set to return to competition next week in Oakley, California, with the Toyota Series event at the California Delta, Aug. 19-21. Hosted by the City of Oakley, the three-day tournament will feature a return to action for the region’s best bass-fishing pros and co-anglers as they cast for a top prize of up to $65,000, plus a $35,000 bonus if the winner is a qualified Phoenix Boat owner.

The event will be the first western tournament FLW has held since the organization paused all competition in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament will be held under an abundance of caution, with limited attendance to anglers and essential tournament staff only.

“The California Delta has been fishing a little bit stingy as of late, but it’s still the Delta and the potential is always there to see the big 25+ pound limits,” said pro Blake Dyer of Walnut Creek, California, who won the Toyota Series event on the fishery in 2019. “The key to doing well in this one is going to be time management. We’ve got a shorter day, and we’re going out of Big Break Marina – not Russo’s – so it will definitely change things up a bit from last year.

“The fish are going to be set up in their typical summertime patterns,” Dyer continued. “We’re going to see a lot of fish caught on topwater and there is going to be a lot of guys punching. The tide is always a factor. It’ll be important to find areas that have some current flow, clean grass and baitfish present in the area.”

In 2019, Dyer won the event with a three-day total of 62 pounds, 13 ounces. Dyer predicted that this event will see a slight drop in the winning weight.

“I think 18 pounds a day would be pretty good, and if you could catch 20 (pounds) a day over three days, that would certainly be special,” Dyer went on to say. “That being said, anything is possible on the Delta. I’m guessing it’ll take a weight in the high 50s to win.”

Anglers will take off daily at 6:30 a.m. PDT from Big Break Marina, located at 100 Big Break Road, in Oakley. Weigh-ins will also be held at Big Break Harbor and will begin at 12:30 p.m. Attendance is limited and fans are encouraged to follow the event online through the “FLW Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at FLWFishing.com.

In Toyota Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event, scaling up for every 20 boats over 160 and scaling down for every boat below 160. With a 160-boat field, pros fish for a top prize of $40,000, plus an extra $35,000 if FLW PHOENIX BONUS qualified. Co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of $65,000, plus an extra $35,000 if FLW PHOENIX BONUS qualified. Co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard (valued at $33,500) plus $5,000 cash.

The Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $235,000 cash, including a $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus for qualified anglers. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship will be held Dec. 3-5 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Toyota Series on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Tennessee Lakes To Host Bassmaster High School And Junior National Championships

August 10, 2020

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — National championships for the fastest-growing youth and high school fishing circuits in the country will be held on Tennessee fisheries, B.A.S.S. announced today.

The Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Championship presented by Academy Sports + Outdoorswill return to Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley at Paris, Tenn., for the sixth time, while the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Junior Championship for second- through eighth-grade anglers will be held on the Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreational Lake at Huntingdon, Tenn.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with B.A.S.S. and once again host the Bassmaster High School Championship at Paris Landing on beautiful Kentucky Lake,” said Tara Wilson, Assistant Director of the Henry County Tourism Authority. “Kentucky Lake is undoubtedly one of the top lakes in the country for bass fishing, and we are proud to be able to showcase this fishery and welcome all the participants to Henry County.”

As many as 275 high school teams are expected to compete Oct. 22-24 for the high school championship crown. Each two-angler team is accompanied by a coach who runs the boat and can give advice on fishing techniques and patterns.

Student anglers qualify for the championship through four High School Opens.

“They are the best of the best among 13,000 high school B.A.S.S. members representing more than 1,300 high school fishing clubs nationwide,” said Hank Weldon, High School & Youth Series Senior Manager. “Young anglers have faced a variety of challenges this year, but we’re so excited to give this resilient group the opportunity to compete for a national title.”

The High School Series debuted in 2013 and has grown immensely since its inception. The program emphasizes sportsmanship, academics and a conservation ethic while giving young anglers a chance to improve and test their fishing skills in competition among their peers.

In March 2020, high school fishing took center stage at the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing when back-to-back high school national champions Grayson Morris and Tucker Smith from Briarwood Christian School alongside their boat driver, local college angler J.T. Russell, became the first high school anglers to fish alongside the pros at the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk. Smith has notched two Top 20 finishes in Bassmaster High School Series events in 2020 while Morris has moved on to compete in the college ranks.

Another growing tournament program is the Bassmaster Junior Series, which will field up to 70 teams in that group’s championship Oct. 19-20 at the Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreational Lake. As in the high school competitions, they will compete as two-angler teams accompanied by a coach.

“All roads to the Junior Bassmaster National Championship bring anglers to Carroll County, and we are excited to have these talented juniors and their families in our community,” said Brad Hurley, President of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. “We expect the 2020 tournament to be the best ever!”

Bethel University is hosting both tournaments in conjunction with the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce for the Junior Championship and Henry County Tourism Authority for the High School Championship.

“We are delighted to be hosting the Bassmaster High School and Junior Championships again,” said Bethel University Athletic Director Dale Kelley. “It has been a tremendous success in past years and we expect nothing less for this year's event. Bethel University, along with the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and Henry Country Tourism Authority, will be working hand in hand to make for another successful championship event."

Each tournament will be covered on Bassmaster.com.

by AnglersChannel

Wisconsin’s Laufenberg, Illinois’ Shoraga Earn Wins at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Double-Header on Ohio River in Paducah

PADUCAH, Ky. (Aug. 10, 2020) – It was a double-header for bass anglers this past weekend in Paducah with two Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River events.

Boater Cade Laufenberg of Onalaska, Wisconsin, brought a five-bass limit to the scale totaling 11 pounds, 8 ounces to win Saturday’s event and $3,842, while Dan Shoraga of West Frankfort, Illinois, brought in five bass weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces on Sunday to earn the win and $4,671.

"This is my first win away from home, so it feels so good to finally have a ‘signature’ win,” said Laufenberg, who earned his third career FLW victory. “I’ve been fishing these Illini division events to qualify for the Regional Championship in La Crosse, so to now have the automatic-qualification feels unbelievable.

“I caught them early, and had my weight by 8:30 (a.m.),” Laufenberg continued. “The river is stabilizing now, but it had been dropping and the fish were seeking the strongest current. I targeted sandbars and rock points with a drop-shot rig to catch a couple, then I threw a white Big Bite Baits tube on a jig head, just dragging it off the drops.

“I also caught a few on a Carolina rig,” Laufenberg went on to say. “The key was just mixing it up. We did a lot of different things but stayed in one area for most of the day. Most of our fish were smallmouth, but we did catch a few largemouth as well.”

The top five boaters on Saturday were:

1^st: Cade Laufenberg of Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 11-8, $3,842

2^nd: Jay Peterson of Clinton, Ill., four bass, 10-1, $1,921

3^rd: Jeremy Mull of Pawnee, Ill., four bass, 9-9, $1,792

4^th: Riley Walk of Neoga, Ill., four bass, 9-8, $789

4^th: Peyton Coleman of Paducah, Ky., three bass, 9-8, $1,289

4^th: Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo., four bass, 9-8, $789

Complete results for Saturday can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Mull brought a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass to the scale to earn Saturday’s Boater Big Bass award of $510.

Coleman was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500 Saturday. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Amanda Black of Toledo, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $1,921 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 8 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top five co-anglers Saturday finished as follows:

1^st: Amanda Black of Toledo, Ill., four bass, 8-10, $1,921

2^nd: Steven Yeun of Elgin, Ill., four bass, 7-15, $960

3^rd: Eugene Kim of Lindenhurst, Ill., three bass, 7-5, $641

4^th: David Short of Royalton, Ill., three bass, 7-1, $448

5^th: Kristian Dus of Chicago, Ill., three bass, 6-6, $384

Sunday’s winner, Dan Shoraga, said that he targeted one 60-yard stretch on the Cumberland to earn his victory.

“They bit a little bit better for me on Sunday than they did on Saturday,” Shoraga said. “It was still pretty tough – I only had six bites all day, and I lost one and one was a short fish.

“I wasn’t doing anything special, just fishing below the dam with a shaky-head rig in 6 to 8 feet of water,” Shoraga continued. “I had four or five really good eddies that I just kept working, rotating through back and forth.”

The top five boaters on Sunday were:

1^st: Dan Shoraga of West Frankfort, Ill., four bass, 13-4, $4,671

2^nd: Scott Freeman of Chicago, Ill., three bass, 11-5, $2,305

3^rd: Justin Berger of Murray, Ky., four bass, 11-0, $1,224

4^th: Ryan Lewis of Glasford, Ill., five bass, 10-2, $856

5^th: Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo., four bass, 9-10, $734

Complete results for Sunday’s event on the Ohio River can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Ron Dickens of Doniphan, Missouri, brought a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale to win Sunday’s Boater Big Bass award of $235.

Brandon Broadway of Golconda, Illinois, was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member on Sunday and took home the $500 contingency award.

Mike Swetland of Tamaroa, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,535 Sunday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top five co-anglers Sunday finished as follows:

1^st: Mike Swetland of Tamaroa, Ill., five bass, 7-11, $2,535

2^nd: Dale Renth of Mascoutah, Ill., three bass, 6-1, $918

3^rd: Ryan Murphy of Paris, Ill., five bass, 5-14, $612

4^th: Joe Andres of New Athens, Ill., two bass, 5-3, $428

5^th: Andy Paschedag of Worden, Ill., three bass, 5-0, $367

Dickens caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $235.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Double-Header on the Ohio River was the third and fourth of five qualifying events in the Illini Division.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Illini Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 15-17 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, hosted by Explore La Crosse. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held Nov. 11-13 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina and is hosted by Visit Anderson. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Hamilton Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on James River

Apex’s Joyce Wins Co-angler Division

HENRICO, Va. (Aug. 10, 2020) – Local boater Jeff Hamilton of Henrico, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event on the James River in Henrico, Virginia. Hamilton earned a total of $3,756 for his victory.

I stayed in the Chickahominy, bouncing around to a couple of different spots,” said Hamilton, who earned his first career FLW win. “I mainly rotated between a shaky-head rig and a (Z-Man Evergreen JackHammer) ChatterBait. Later in the day the clouds started blocking the sun and we had a little bit of shade, so I picked up a Pop-R and ended up culling three or four times. I also caught my biggest fish – around 5 pounds – on it.

“The key was to just keep moving,” Hamilton continued. “I was just rotating spots, letting them rest for a little bit, then I’d keep moving. The lucky 5-pounder at the end of the day helped a lot, too.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

1^st: Jeff Hamilton of Henrico, Va., five bass, 17-9, $3,756

2^nd: Chris Daves of Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 17-3, $1,878

3^rd: Jacob Powroznik of North Prince George, Va., five bass, 16-13, $1,743

4^th: Ryan Powroznik of Hopewell, Va., five bass, 15-14, $876

5^th: Robert Ramsey of Hubert, N.C., five bass, 15-12, $751

6^th: Todd Harris of Clemmons, N.C., five bass, 15-1, $689

7^th: Chris Atwell of Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 14-12, $626

8^th: James Wall of Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 14-5, $563

9^th: Rob Uzzle of Hampton, Va., five bass, 14-4, $1,001

10^th: Michael Coleman of South Chester, Va., five bass, 14-2, $438

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Jacob Powroznik won the day’s $490 Boater Big Bass Award after bringing a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass to the scale.

Uzzle took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Keith Joyce of Apex, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,878 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

1^st: Keith Joyce of Apex, N.C., five bass, 16-4, $1,878

2^nd: Victor Riveras of Newport News, Va., five bass, 13-6, $939

3^rd: Brad Hendrix of Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 11-2, $627

4^th: Ryan Drewery of Petersburg, Va., five bass, 10-9, $438

5^th: Nathan Grose of Summersville, W. Va., five bass, 10-8, $376

6^th: Eric Hubbard of Broad Run, Va., five bass, 10-5, $344

7^th: Tim Garner of Margo, Va., five bass, 10-0, $297

7^th: Matt Hall of Woodlawn, Va., five bass, 10-0, $297

9^th: Aaron Anders of Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 9-12, $250

10^th: Tracy Gravely of Petersburg, Va., five bass, 9-7, $208

10^th: Doug Griles of Providence Forge, Va., five bass, 9-7, $208

Michael Baldwin Jr. of Petersburg, Virginia, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award and earned $245.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the James River was the fourth of five qualifying events in the Piedmont Division.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Piedmont Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 22-24 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia, hosted by the Gainesville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

by AnglersChannel

Evansville’s Sisk Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on Ohio River in Cannelton

Columbus’ Smith Earns Co-angler Victory

CANNELTON, Ind. (Aug. 10, 2020) – Boater Marty Sisk of Evansville, Indiana, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event on the Ohio River in Cannelton, Indiana. For his victory, Sisk earned a total of $3,718.

Sisk was one of just two limits weighed in Saturday, as the Ohio River was fishing tough for competitors. Sisk said that he was happy to have caught five.

“I caught my first bass of the day on a spinnerbait, and the rest came flipping a black neon-colored tube,” said Sisk, who earned his sixth career FLW victory. “It was very tough, but I was happy to catch what I had.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

1^st: Marty Sisk of Evansville, Ind., five bass, 7-9, $3,718

2^nd: Mark Dove of North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 7-5, $1,859

3^rd: Chris Wilkinson of Farmersburg, Ind., four bass, 6-4, $1,238

4^th: Jeramiah Sifers of Sellersburg, Ind., two bass, 6-1, $1,352

5^th: Kevin Meunier of Lamar, Ind., three bass, 5-11, $744

6^th: Scott Bateman of Jasper, Ind., three bass, 5-8, $682

7^th: Brandon Barker of Magnet, Ind., three bass, 4-12, $620

8^th: Shane Oxford of St. Meinrad, Ind., four bass, 4-9, $527

8^th: James White of Martinsville, Ind., four bass, 4-9, $527

10^th: Danny Abrams of Greensfork, Ind., three bass, 4-6, $434

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Sifers earned the day’s $485 Boater Big Bass award with a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass.

Boater Nick Uebelhor of Loogootee, Indiana, took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Bill Smith of Columbus, Indiana, earned the win in the Co-angler Division Saturday after catching four bass weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces. Smith earned $1,859 for his victory.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

1^st: Bill Smith of Columbus, Ind., four bass, 5-14, $1,859

2^nd: Steven Sanders of Orleans, Ind., one bass, 3-15, $1,171

3^rd: Kade Oliver of Muncie, Ind., three bass, 3-11, $619

4^th: Dustin Burton of Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 3-8, $403

5^th: Cory Malcolm of Bremen, Ind., three bass, 3-8, $403

6^th: Charlie Kuebler of Jasper, Ind., three bass, 3-4, $341

7^th: Dan Miller of Greenwood, Ind., three bass, 2-15, $310

8^th: John Chaney of Evansville, Ind., one bass, 2-14, $279

9^th: Bo Bivins of Evansville, Ind., two bass, 2-11, $248

10^th: Conner Sevier of Fort Branch, Ind., two bass, 2-9, $217

Sanders caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $242.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River in Cannelton was the fourth of five qualifying events in the Hoosier Division.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Hoosier Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 15-17 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, hosted by Explore La Crosse. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

About FLW

by AnglersChannel

Bright Line and Smelly Baits Matt Lee’s Tips for Smallmouth

Courtesy of Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

Major League Fishing pro Matt Lee may have cut his teeth fishing for largemouth and spotted bass south of the Mason-Dixon line, but the Alabama native has proven his smallmouth chops time and again throughout his professional career. Lee looks forward to the yearly northern swing, when tournament trails head north to famed bronze-bass fisheries.

Lake Erie out of Sandusky, OH is the playing field for FLW Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers this week and it’s sure to come with its share of drama. Big water, big brown bass, and long runs are on the minds of all competing anglers. Lee is coming off two solid tournaments on Sturgeon Bay and the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, where smallmouth were key for both finishes.

While it sounds like the Lake Erie smallmouth have been somewhat unreliable for the Carhartt pro this week, Lee still graciously laid out two tips for catching more smallmouth that you can take to the bank.

Use bright braided line

Finesse equipment is synonymous with northern smallies like spaghetti is with meatballs. Lee is an expert with his spinning setups and doesn’t hesitate to admit they do the lion share of his heavy lifting when catching smallmouth. Lee’s first tip comes before he ever begins to decide what lure(s) he might throw; first he fills his size 30 Quantum Smoke S3 Spinning Reels with highly visible 30-lb. Seaguar Smackdown braid.

“Using a super high-vis line color is extremely helpful,” Lee said. “I’ve been using the ‘Flash Green’ color. Having a bright main line helps in multiple ways. It makes it easier for me to see what my bait is doing, and it helps me detect bites. You’ll be able to see if your bait is on the bottom or still sinking, and if your line jumped with a bite or if it’s swimming off to the side much, much easier.”

Lee always ties a Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon leader to his braided main line when finesse fishing. So he still gets the sneaky, subtle advantages of fluorocarbon, while also taking advantage of the visibility, sensitivity, and durability of braid.

“I’m still young but I’m not scared to admit that bright line helps me keep eyes on it,” Lee joked. “In all seriousness, seeing what your bait is doing while it’s on the bottom is a big deal in finesse fishing. It also saves me a lot of money cause I’m only going through 8-15 feet of fluorocarbon leader line at a time instead of a whole spool.”

Add scent to your soft plastics

A second step Matt Lee takes when he knows he’s headed to battle with smallmouth is adding different scents to his soft plastic finesse baits. Its no secret smallmouth are aggressive sight feeders and locate most of their meals with their eyes. Ironically, that’s why Lee believes scents work so well on bronzebacks.

“Smallmouth might see your lure from a long way off but they don’t always just race in and eat it,” Lee explained. “I think your lure catches their attention and a lot of times they’ll come in for a closer look. That’s where adding scent is key. When that bait has natural scent flowing off of it I don’t think those smallmouth can help themselves.”

While you might not think of clear water fisheries as ideal places to start boosting soft plastics with scent, Lee conceded he only takes this step when targeting northern smallmouth. He genuinely believes this process gives him a potential edge over his competition. And when you fish against the bunch Lee does, you can’t take anything for granted.

“I must have gone through two bottles of scent adding them to my 6^th Sense Ned Fry Worms at Sturgeon Bay,” Lee admitted. “There isn’t any brand or particular flavor I live and die by, I’ve tried them all. Pro-cure, Gulp, BANG – they all seem to work. As long as you have some kind of scent for those smallmouth to key in on when they cruise by your bait, you’ll catch more fish.”

by AnglersChannel

The 2020 Bass Champs Team Championship presented by Yamaha headed to the Red River - Shreveport, LA

Courtesy of Bass Champs:

Guaranteed payback over $200,000 - details listed below

We are excited to be going back to Shreveport for the 2020 Championship.
We have made a few adjustments for this year's event.
The length limit on all fish will be 12 inches.
AOY teams will be boats 1-4 on day one, all other teams will draw
their boat #'s at registration and will go in reverse order on day 2.

Click here for Featured Lodging locations

The Red River is off-limits Monday, September 14th - Wednesday, October 6th
Official Practice Days are October 7th - 9th
(ONLY COMPETITORS ARE ALLOWED IN BOAT DURING OFFICIAL PRACTICE DAYS)
Competition days are October 10th-11th
Competition is limited to pools 3,4,& 5
Registration is from 3:00 - 5:30 PM on Friday, October 9th (at Red River Marina)
Entry fee is $320 per team
(James Wood Bonus free entry fees and Junior Discounts
are not available for Championship)
Dinner with door prizes on Friday at 6:00 PM

Marina and Tournament location:
Red River South Marina
250 Red River South Marina Road
(Use 7154 Barksdale Blvd for GPS)
Bossier City LA 71111
Phone: 318.747.9545
http://redriversouthmarinala.com

To see a map of the off-limits areas click here

5 fish limits both days - 12" length limit
* No information rule *
During the off limits period, official practice, and competition days, other than
using publicly-available information (e.g. newspaper and Internet reports)
competitors cannot solicit, receive, or gather any information via phone,
electronic devices, or any other means about locating or catching fish
on tournament waters from non-competitors. All information must be
accessed prior to official off limits periods

Fishing License: A Louisiana license is required by all anglers
and may be purchased by calling 888.765.2602.

* Anyone born after January 1^st, 1984 must have completed a “Free” Boating safety course, which can be taken on line.
This is required of boat operator only.

LAW&F web site is: http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Registration- Dinner & Banquet: Red River South Marina
Friday, October 9th, 2015
Registration: 3:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.
Dinner & Banquet 6:00 p.m.
Red River South Marina (There will be a large tent set up in the parking lot of the marina)

FREE DOOR PRIZES - Tickets will be handed out @ Friday Registration

Day 1 of competition
Saturday, October 10th:
Red River South Marina
Take-off at safe light - 1st flight will be due in at 3:00 PM
Boat #'s will be provided during Friday night registration
(flights will be reversed on day 2)

Day 2 of competition
Sunday, October 11th:
Red River South Marina
Take-off at safe light - 1st flight will be due in at 3:00 PM
Awards & Check distribution approximately 4:30-5:00 PM

by AnglersChannel

Dowdy & Lamb win with 3 bass for 21.10!!!

Courtesy of Extreme Bass Series Social Media

You don't always need a 5 bass limit to win. Earl Dowdy and Andrew Lamb proved that today by winning stop #7 for the Polk County Division at Lake Parker. They bested the 21 boat field with 3 bass totaling 21.10 pounds! The 9.87 pound TrophyCatch Florida kicker that anchored their bag was also the event's Big Bass. Second place went to the team of Jason Brewer and Steven Coleman with a 15.32 pound bag. Brian Stahl and Sean Larsen took third place with 14.38 pounds, followed by DrTramell Vickers and Terry Pierce with 13.16 pounds to finish in 4th.

Place	Team	Alternate	# of Fish	Big Fish	Weight	Winnings
1	Earl Dowdy & Eddie Yearry		3	9.87	21.10	$1,060.00
2	Steve Coleman & Jason Brewer		5		15.32	$420.00
3	Brian Stahl & Sean Larsen		5		14.38	$200.00
4	Trammel Vickers & Terry Pierce		5		13.16	$120.00
5	Cole Shmucker & Jacob Schmucker		5		9.79
6	Jeff Herndon & Yovani Crespo		5		9.08
7	Jason Danes & Dell Danes		5		7.58
8	Will Evans & Colby Evans	Colby Evans & Cory Vrabel	4		6.73
9	Chris Clark & Robert Cramer		2		6.29
10	Bubba Coleman & Kyle Brewer		5		5.50
11	Andrew Hall & Casey Hall		0		0.00
11	Tony Bartels & Zach Bach				0.00
11	Dave Ochs & Wayne Combs				0.00
11	Verbon Goble & Mark Krutzky				0.00
11	Chris Futrell & Jessica Young				0.00
11	Sean Clark & Tom Sell				0.00
11	Ron Dowdy & Hunter Dowdy				0.00
11	Daniel Garcia & Robert Garcia				0.00
11	Tyson Dunlap & Tyler Banniza				0.00
11	Jacob Eaton & Austin Reynolds				0.00
11	Travis Finley & Willie Finley				0.00

by AnglersChannel

Females in Fisheries Conservation Scholarships Awarded

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The fourth annual Noreen Clough Memorial Scholarships for Females in Fisheries have been awarded to Katherine Abbott, of Amherst, Mass., a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Audrey Baetz, of Northville, Mich., who is studying at Nicholls State University.

Noreen Clough blazed many trails in the field of fisheries. As the first female regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and later as the B.A.S.S. Conservation Director, her long and distinguished career was dedicated to the conservation and management of fish and wildlife. Clough passed away in January 2015 from pancreatic cancer. As a tribute to her, friends and colleagues established an endowment to provide a scholarship for female students working toward a career in fisheries conservation.

Abbott is working with the Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UMass Amherst to understand how dam removals impact small streams across the state. There are thousands of small, obsolete dams in Massachusetts that impair natural river connectivity by interrupting fish passage, flow, sediment and nutrient movement. Dam removal is increasingly used as a tool for stream restoration, yet the extent and timescale of ecological recovery following removal is not well understood. Abbott’s research objectives include providing state agencies — including the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration and MassWildlife — with data on water quality, invertebrates and fish.

As a new member of “Gar Lab” at Nicholls State University, Baetz’s research will focus on species diversity, life history and trophic ecology in restored Mississippi River floodplains. Her project will primarily focus on gar, a prehistoric family of fish often dependent on floodplain connectivity for foraging, spawning and nursery habitat. By using stable isotope analysis and tracking their movements throughout the floodplain, Baetz hopes to gain information that will be used for the conservation and management of these fish.

“Both of these young women have a bright future in fisheries, but in addition to their academic strengths, they stood out from many of the other applicants because they were avid anglers,” said Gene Gilliland, B.A.S.S. Conservation Director.

Gordon Robertson, retired Vice President of Government Affairs for the American Sportfishing Association and a long-time colleague of Clough’s, added, “Noreen put a high value on lessons learned from recreational fishing from both a resource understanding and appreciation perspective but also from a perspective of understanding anglers and how they think and react to resource and social issues. She saw this basis as being valuable to researchers, field managers and administrators when attempting to get resource user groups to respect and understand one another and be able to work toward a common goal for the resource in a constructive manner.”

Abbott and Baetz will each be awarded a $1,000 scholarship to be used for college expenses.

by AnglersChannel

CALLING ALL GUIDES!!!!!

Click there image above for more info!

by AnglersChannel

Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Set to Visit Sandusky For Final Event of Season

Super Tournament on Lake Erie to Feature FLW and Major League Fishing Pro Anglers Competing for $1.3 Million Purse

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 5, 2020) – The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit is set to visit Sandusky, Aug. 11-14, for its sixth and final regular-season event – the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie. Hosted by the City of Sandusky and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center, the lucrative bass-fishing Super Tournament will feature nearly 200 anglers from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) competing for a piece of more than $1.3 million, with a top award of $160,000.

The event will also showcase the exciting finale to the extremely competitive 2020 Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) and Polaris Rookie of the Year (ROY) races. Michigan pro Ron Nelson holds a 73-point lead in the AOY race, while 23-year-old Texan Kyle Hall leads the ROY race, holding a slim lead over Tennessee’s Jimmy Washam.

“This is going to be a really exciting tournament to end the season,” said Nelson, who was the 2019 Polaris Rookie of the Year. “The biggest factor in this event is going to be the wind. If it is calm, guys are going to be making long runs. If it’s rough, we’re going to have to fish the islands and the bay and you’re going to really have to change your strategy.

“Personally, I’m going to be more conservative and won’t be making any long run unless I make the Top 50 cut on Thursday,” Nelson continued. “My priorities are a little different than most, though. I’m not going for the tournament win – I’m going for the AOY win. Consistency is the key, there.”

Nelson said that he expects to see both largemouth and smallmouth bass play a big role in the event, and that a lot of competitors would weigh in both species over the event.

“For the smallmouth guys, Ned rigs, drop-shot rigs and tubes will all be important baits,” Nelson said. “The guys targeting largemouth will be throwing typical swimjigs, ChatterBaits, flipping jigs and frogging.

“The key to doing well in this one is going to be landing the fish that you hook,” Nelson went on to say. “Everyone is going to find fish, but the guy who fishes clean and lands everything that bites is going to win.”

The Super Tournament will also feature MLF pro anglers competing in the event alongside the FLW pros. MLF announced an abbreviated 2020 Bass Pro Tour schedule due to their mid-season pause related to the coronavirus, which prompted FLW Executive Vice President Kathy Fennel to create the opportunity for both FLW and MLF pros. Pros competing in this event include former FLW champions Bryan Thrift, Justin Atkins, John Cox, Brad Knight, Anthony Gagliardi, Jacob Wheeler, Brent Ehrler, David Dudley and Darrel Robertson. They’ll be joined by numerous MLF anglers, including Bobby Lane, Skeet Reese and Keith Poche.

Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. EDT each day from the Shelby St. Public Boat Launch, located at 101 Shelby St., in Sandusky. The weigh-in each day will also be held at the Boat Launch and will begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and at 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

The total purse for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at Lake Erie is more than $1.3 million, including $10,000 through 100th place.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Thursday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition on Championship Friday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

FLW anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the Tackle Warehouse TITLE presented by Toyota, the Pro Circuit championship. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse TITLE presented by Toyota will be held on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-29.

by AnglersChannel

AC Insider Podcast - "Welcome Home"

This week Chris and the boys welcome in the Champlain Champ, Mr. Brandon Palaniuk to the show to talk about his recent Elite Series win on lake Champlain! Michele joins the crew again for the Sportsmans Wrap up and more!

by AnglersChannel

Bishop Hartley High School Wins FLW High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing Lake Erie Open

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 3, 2020) – Ohio’s Bishop Hartley High School duo of Braden McNamara and Mike Abbott brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces to win the FLW High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing Lake Erie Open.

For their win on Lake Erie, the team now advances to the 2021 High School Fishing National Championship.

The top two teams that qualified for the 2021 High School Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Bishop Hartley High School, Columbus, Ohio – Braden McNamara and Mike Abbott, five bass, 15-15

2nd: A1 Angler Development Club – Derek Rodriguez of Okemos, Mich., and Cougar Fagan of Albion, Mich., five bass, 15-2

Rounding out the top 10 were:

3rd: Wheelersburg High School, Wheelersburg, Ohio – Matthew Strickland and Pete Newman, five bass, 14-1

4th: Bag 5 Bassin’ – Brock Sauder of Carlock, Ill., and Brayden Blunier of Roanoke, Ill., five bass, 13-14

5th: St. Francis Desales High School, Columbus, Ohio – Nicholas Seitz and Brock Vogel, five bass, 13-2

6th: Renegades Bass Club – Rance Eddleblute of Stockport, Ohio, and Levi Jarvis of McConnelsville, Ohio, five bass, 12-1

7th: Renegades Bass Club – Brant Moore and Eli Ponchak, both of McConnelsville, Ohio, five bass, 12-5

8th: Shelby High School, Shelby, Ohio – Brayden Hoehn and Joel Berelsman, five bass, 11-5

9th: Howell High School, Howell, Mich. – Owen Januszewski and Mathias Dahline, four bass, 10-10

10th: Chambersburg High School, Chambersburg, Pa. – Dylan Barefoot and Carson Forrester, five bass, 10-0

Complete results from the event can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The event launched from the Shelby St. Public Boat Launch in Sandusky, Ohio, and was hosted by the City of Sandusky.

The FLW High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing Lake Erie Open was a free, two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12 and open to any FLW and Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10 percent of teams at each Open event along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships will advance to the 2021 High School Fishing National Championship. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.

In addition to the High School Fishing National Championship, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest open high school bass tournament, the 2021 High School Fishing World Finals, held in conjunction with the National Championship. More than $2.8 million in scholarships and prizes were offered at the 2020 World Finals.

Full schedules and the latest announcements are available at HighSchoolFishing.org and FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

Bowling Green State University Wins Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI Tournament on Lake Erie

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Aug. 3, 2020) – The Bowling Green State University team of Jamesen Simion of Saline, Michigan, and Cameron Wilt of Alvada, Ohio, won the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI at Lake Erie event Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce. The victory earned the Bowling Green bass club $2,000 and qualified them to compete in the 2021 College Fishing National Championship.

The Falcons duo won by a thin 2-ounce margin over the second-place team of Blake Johnson and Zachary Graham from Adrian College, who weighed in five bass totaling 15 pounds, 15 ounces. The tournament launched from the Shelby Street Boat Launch in Sandusky, Ohio.

The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2021 College Fishing National Championship are:

1^st: Bowling Green State University – Jamesen Simion, Saline, Mich., and Cameron Wilt, Alvada, Ohio, five bass, 16-1, $2,000

2^nd: Adrian College – Blake Johnson, Mooresville, Ind., and Zachary Graham, Gallipolis, Ohio, five bass, 15-15, $1,000

3^rd: Adrian College – Alex Henderson, Adrian, Mich., and Griffin Fernandes, McCordsville, Ind., five bass, 15-10, $500

4^th: Adrian College – Tyler VanBrandt, Morenci, Mich., and Jarrod Layton, Maybee, Mich., five bass, 15-2, $500

5^th: Kent State University – Tanner Ward, Coshocton, Ohio, five bass, 14-13, $500

6^th: Adrian College – Shane Nelson, Wadsworth, Ohio, and Sean Mercier, Brighton, Mich., five bass, 14-10

7^th: Adrian College – Hunter Schneider, Milin, Ind., and Brayden Federer, Deerfield, Mich., five bass, 14-7

8^th: Adrian College – Cody Batterson, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, and Matthew Davis, Coloma, Mich., five bass, 14-1

9^th: University of Rio Grande – Eli Daniels, Portsmouth, Ohio, and Evan Bowman, Gallipolis, Ohio, five bass, 14-1

10^th: Ramapo College – Alex Johnson, Milltown, N.J., and Zachary Potter, Haddon Township, N.J., five bass, 13-13

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI event on Lake Erie was hosted by the City of Sandusky. It was the second of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Northern Conference anglers. The next events for College Fishing anglers will be on Aug. 21 – the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI at the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI at the California Delta in Oakley, California.

Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI teams compete in regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI National Championship.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

BREAKING DOWN POCHE’S DISQUALIFICATION

Courtesy of FLW

August 3, 2020

Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Rule No. 12 regarding Boat and Horsepower Regulation recently came under scrutiny after Major League Fishing pro Keith Poche’s day one weight was disqualified at the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries.

The rule is written as follows:

12. BOAT & HORSEPOWER REGULATION • All boats must be propeller-driven, a minimum of 18 feet in length and have a rear deck. All boats must be equipped with wheel steering; no other steering device will be permitted. Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated livewell space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass. Minimum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition will be 150 horsepower. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition will be 250 horsepower, not to exceed the horsepower capacity set forth on the “Maximum Capacities” placard described below. (Abbreviated for this article; full rules for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit can be found at FLWFishing.com.)

Poche fished out of an aluminum boat with a 90-horsepower outboard motor on day one of the event, not meeting the minimum 150-horsepower outboard motor requirement for all anglers on the Pro Circuit.

“We have an obligation to our anglers and the sport to enforce the rules, in letter and intent, without exception,” says Kathy Fennel FLW Executive Vice President and General Manager. “These rules are readily available to all competitors and the general public. It’s unfortunate that Keith was unaware of our rule regarding the minimum outboard horsepower requirements, but we would have been doing a disservice to the other 199 anglers competing in the event had we not disqualified his weight for the day.”

The 150-horsepower outboard requirement rule was instituted in 2012, after pro John Cox used a 17-foot aluminum boat with a small 75-horsepower outboard engine to win the 2011 FLW Tour event at the Red River. The rule was implemented at the request of the FLW Tour pro field and has been reviewed by the advisory board every year since. It has never been brought up to be eliminated.

The rule regarding minimum outboard requirements only applies to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit. There are no minimum outboard requirements for any other FLW circuits, including the Toyota Series, the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine, Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI and High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing.

Rules are evaluated on an annual basis through the angler board and released each fall for the following year’s events. Updated rules and details for the 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit are expected to be finalized in mid- to late-October 2020.

by AnglersChannel

Lawton’s Mallory Claims Title at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake St. Clair

Indiana’s Bauer Wins Co-angler Division

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Aug. 3, 2020) – Boater Buck Mallory of Lawton, Michigan, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 25 pounds, 5 ounces to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Lake St. Clair in Harrison Township, Michigan. For his victory, Mallory earned a total of $4,652.

" src="blob:https://anglerschannel.com/7c178de2-44fb-426c-953a-abd3f3bb97c3" alt="A person wearing a helmet Description automatically generated" align="right" hspace="12" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2" class="Apple-web-attachment Singleton" style="width: 4in; height: 2.25in; opacity: 1;">The tournament was the second of five events in the Michigan Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps.

“I was fishing in the main lake on St. Clair,” said Mallory, who earned the first victory of his career. “The key was sticking around and grinding it out. I didn’t leave a 100-yard stretch the whole day. I just did circles and circles and circles until I couldn’t do them anymore. And then I did it five more times and caught one more good one that got me the win.”

Mallory said that his key bait was a drop-shot rig with a Strike King ElazTech Z Too soft jerkbait with an Eco Pro Tungsten Full Contact drop-shot weight.

“I didn’t realize that I would be so emotional when I finally got a win,” Mallory went on to say. “I was so due. I’m really excited.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

1^st: Buck Mallory of Lawton, Mich., five bass, 25-5, $4,652

2^nd: Mike Raber of Wolcottville, Ind., five bass, 24-10, $2,326

3^rd: Heath Wagner of Angola, Ind., five bass, 23-3, $1,318

4^th: Beau Bickford of Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 23-3, $1,318

5^th: Hugh Cosculluela of The Woodlands, Texas., five bass, 22-12, $894

6^th: Wyatt Walker of Parma, Mich., five bass, 22-9, $820

7^th: Robert Lefere of Jackson, Mich, five bass, 22-1, $708

7^th: Wayne Macklin of Linden, Mich., five bass, 21-10, $708

9^th: Chris Stanford of Omaha, Neb., five bass, 21-6, $596

10^th: Andrew Smith of Chesterfield Township, Mich., five bass, 21-3, $496

10^th: Chase Morgan of Danville, Ind., five bass, 21-3, $496

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Smith earned the day’s Boater Big Bass Award of $685 after bringing a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass to the scale.

Cosculluela was also the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Tom Bauer of Martinsville, Indiana, won the Co-angler Division and $2,326 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 23 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

1^st: Tom Bauer of Martinsville, Ind., five bass, 23-10, $2,326

2^nd: Austin Freed of Wolcottville, Ind., five bass, 22-14, $1,163

3^rd: Kenneth Lesner of Westland, Mich., five bass, 22-4, $777

4^th: Davis Stutzman of Shipshewana, Ind., five bass, 21-12, $543

5^th: Daniel Hechler of Franklin, Ohio, five bass, 21-4, $465

6^th: Marvin Washington of Canton, Mich., five bass, 21-3, $426

6^th: Aaron Stahley of Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 20-12, $388

8^th: Matthew Kime of Holland, Ohio, five bass, 19-14, $349

9^th: Scott Sims of Morgantown, Ind., five bass, 19-13, $310

10^th: Bill Miller of Metamora, Mich., five bass, 19-12, $613

Miller caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch added to his winnings as he earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $342.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Michigan Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 15-17 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, hosted by Explore La Crosse. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

by AnglersChannel

Georgia’s Carter Wins Toyota Series Tournament on Wheeler Lake

DECATUR, Ala. (Aug. 2, 2020) – Boater Kip Carter of Mansfield, Georgia, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces to win the three-day Toyota Series at Wheeler Lake tournament in Decatur, Alabama. Carter’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 41-14 earned him the win by a comfortable 4-pound, 11-ounce margin over second-place angler Harry Peyton of Guntersville, Alabama, and earned Carter the top payout of $22,286 in the second tournament of the 2020 Toyota Series Southeastern Division.

Carter’s win this week was particularly special to him since he used his 2002 aluminum tunnel hull “beater” rig to help him get the job done.

“I’ve had that tunnel hull for 16 years,” said Carter, who has 50 career top-10 finishes in FLW competition. “It’s a special boat to me. I bought it to fish the Ocmulgee River, which is a shallow, shoaly-type river, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that it worked pretty darn good in a lot of lakes that have shallow backwaters and silted-in creeks.

“To be able to just run in out of creeks – over those big silted-in flats – at will, without worrying about hitting anything makes it an invaluable tool here on these lakes in the southeast.”

When it comes to shallow, silted-in creeks and backwaters, Wheeler Lake fits the bill, and Carter knew his tunnel hull would be an asset this week.

After running a lot of creeks in practice, Carter settled on Limestone Creek as his best shot at winning. Limestone has multiple tiny creeks seeping into it, and Carter utilized several of them throughout the week.

“I would fish back in the true creeks when it was sunny and slick,” he says. “And I did catch a few fish that way, but if the wind got up and we got some clouds, I’d go back out into the flats. When it got right in those flats, I could catch those better 4-pound fish out there.”

During the week, Carter did most of his damage with two lures: a 3/8-ounce Dirty Jigs buzzbait teamed with a black Zoom Horny Toad and a 3/8-ounce white swim jig with a Zoom Super Chunk, also white.

“The first couple of days, the swim jig was the key player,” Carter said. “Today, it was all about the buzzbait. The wind and clouds probably helped that bite – and I had some vicious bites on it today.

“This win has been a long time coming,” Carter went on to say. “I did a lot of celebrating out on the water today with some special fish catches. It’s something to finally pull one of these tournaments off; I get choked up just thinking about it.”

The top 10 pros on Wheeler Lake finished:

1st: Kip Carter of Mansfield, Ga., 15 bass, 41-14, $22,286

2nd: Harry Peyton of Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 36-15, $8,636

3rd: Dustin Smith of Grand Island, Fla., 14 bass, 34-8, $7,686

4th: Andrew Johnson of Glencoe, Ala., 15 bass, 34-2, $5,572

5th: Lavoyd Lemmond of Decatur, Ala., 15 bass, 32-8, $5,214

6th: Jesse Millsaps of Jasper, Ga., 14 bass, 31-8, $4,514

7th: Josh Bragg of Jacksonville, Ala., 15 bass, 30-3, $3,900

8th: Lynn Johnson of Attalla, Ala., 13 bass, 29-12, $3,343

9th: Dustin Neat of Dunnville, Ky., 14 bass, 27-10, $2,786

10th: Bill Spratlin of Rockford, Ala., 12 bass, 26-9, $2,229

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Smith took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Millsaps brought a 5-pound, 5-ounce largemouth bass to the scale Thursday – the largest fish weighed by a boater in the event.

Cal Culpepper of Hamilton, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 28 pounds, 13 ounces. Culpepper took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Wheeler Lake finished:

1st: Cal Culpepper of Hamilton, Ga., 15 bass, 28-13, Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat w/115-hp outboard

2nd: Flint Davis of Leesburg, Ga., 14 bass, 25-7, $2,909

3rd: Lew Moore of Roanoke, Ala., 13 bass, 24-13, $2,367

4th: Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Ga., 11 bass, 19-0, $2,037

5th: Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., 10 bass, 18-11, $1,746

6th: Hayden O’Barr of Gurley, Ala., 11 bass, 18-0, $1,705

7th: Ryan Methvin of Leoma, Tenn., 10 bass, 15-15, $1,164

8th: Josh Webster of New Market, Ala., nine bass, 14-11, $1,018

9th: James Littich of Davidson, N.C., eight bass, 14-3, $873

10th: Ryan Arnold of Gadsden, Ala., seven bass, 11-3, $727

The Toyota Series at Wheeler Lake was hosted by Decatur Morgan County Tourism. It was the second of three regular-season tournaments in 2020 for Southeastern Division anglers. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will be the Toyota Series at Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, Aug. 18-20. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

Palaniuk Comes From Behind To Win Bassmaster Elite Event At Lake Champlain

Brandon Palaniuk, of Rathdrum, Idaho, has won the 2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a four-day total of 80 pounds, 1 ounce.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
August 2, 2020

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Turning in his best performance of the week, Brandon Palaniuk leveraged a blistering afternoon bite to sack up 21 pounds, 6 ounces and win the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a four-day total of 80-1.

This is the fourth B.A.S.S. win for the 2017 Angler of the Year from Rathdrum, Idaho. He earned a first-place prize of $100,000.

After a strong start yielded a pair of 4-pound-class fish by 8:30 a.m., Palaniuk continued catching quality smallmouth throughout the day. A key move and a heads-up response led him to the gold mine that produced a 4-4, a 4-6 and a 4-8 between 12:10 and 1:56 p.m.

“I had one boulder and I shut down before I got to it and as I came off pad, I see a dot on my (Humminbird) Down Imaging and I’m like, ‘Holy cow, that looks like a giant smallmouth,’” Palaniuk said. “I grabbed my rod, threw my bait back before I even dropped my trolling motor.

“The boat’s drifting away, I drop my trolling motor, I pick up and my line’s swimming off. I set the hook and a 4 1/2-pounder goes airborne — way back there. After I caught that fish, I rolled up to the boulder and they were stacked on top of it. Then, every single boulder on that flat in 28 to 32 feet of water had a 4-plus-pounder on it.”

Sticking with what produced the majority of his bites this week, Palaniuk caught his final-round fish on a drop shot with a green pumpkin/blue fleck X Zone Finesse Slammer. He used a No. 2 drop-shot hook and a 3/8-ounce VMC tungsten teardrop weight.

After three days of mostly calm conditions, Championship Sunday brought strong winds, clouds and occasional showers. Noting that the wind likely moved schools of baitfish into the areas he fished, Palaniuk said his game plan came together as well as he’d hoped.

Keeping himself within striking distance all week, Palaniuk placed eighth on Day 1 with 19-12, slipped to 11th on Day 2 with a limit of 18-10 and made the final Top 10 cut on Day 3 by rising to fifth with 20-5.

“It was just one of those days where everything worked out,” he said. “All week long, I said, ‘Just give me a shot,’ because I looked at the weather and I knew we were going to get that windy weather we got in practice.

“I had a really good practice and I felt like I could literally drive around, look at my (Humminbird) LakeMaster charts, pull up on a spot and catch big ones. I think the wind this morning helped push those baitfish up and it moved a lot of those fish up. Those fish aren’t resident fish; they chase schools of bait.”

Spending his day targeting flats with scattered rock and boulders within the Inland Sea (Champlain’s northeast section), Palaniuk said his pattern was so reliable he actually moved with the bait schools. He started on a likely spot and drifted with the wind until he no longer spotted fish on his Humminbird 360.

“When I started not seeing them, I’d jump to the next place and catch another big one,” Palaniuk said. “I hit one magical school this afternoon and every single boulder I could see on with Mega 360 (Imaging) had a big one on it.

“I literally started laughing while I was fighting them, because it was that good.”

Seth Feider of New Market, Minn., finished second with 78-14. After mixing it up with largemouth and smallmouth for three days, he focused on the latter Sunday and caught a limit of 19-14 to go with his previous bags that went 20-1, 21-7 and 17-8.

Feider caught his bass on a flat with a grassline point in 12 feet. He used a medium-diving crankbait and a Carolina-rigged Zoom Speed Craw.

“It’s where I’d been starting every day and then leaving and going largemouth fishing (around marina docks),” Feider said. “I knew with the cloudy skies my largemouth bite was out today, so I leaned on it as hard as I could.

“I got really lucky and caught two great big ones that gave me a chance. It just wasn’t enough.”

Jamie Hartman of Russellville, Ark., finished third with 78-5. Hartman took the lead on Day 1 with 22-1 — the event’s biggest bag — and held the top spot for two more days with bags of 20-3 and 17-8. He added 18-9 Sunday.

Focusing on a rocky point with grass, Hartman caught his fish on a Carolina rig with a craw bait and a 3/8-ounce peanut butter and jelly color Riot Baits Lil’ Creeper jig with a twin-tail trailer. Today’s dim weather seemed to stifle the hot morning bite he had experienced the previous three days.

“The bites were slow; very spaced out — it took me until 11 before I had a decent weight,” Hartman said. “The mornings had been slow, but when the sun would come up, it was like a light switch and they started eating good. We didn’t get that today.”

Feider won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with a 6-6 largemouth he caught on Day 2, earning an additional $1,000.

Hartman took home $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, and Jason Williamson earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

The tournament was hosted by the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, City of Plattsburgh and Clinton County with support from the Office of the Governor of the State of New York.

2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 7/30-8/2
Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4

Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 20 80-01 100 $100,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 20-05 Day 4: 5 21-06
2. Seth Feider New Market, MN 20 78-14 99 $28,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 17-08 Day 4: 5 19-14
3. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 20 78-05 98 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 17-08 Day 4: 5 18-09
4. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 20 77-13 97 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-04 Day 3: 5 20-10 Day 4: 5 18-02
5. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 20 76-11 96 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 19-09 Day 4: 5 19-07
6. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 20 76-01 95 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 17-15 Day 4: 5 19-01
7. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 20 75-04 94 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 19-01 Day 4: 5 16-02
8. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 20 74-02 93 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 18-09 Day 4: 5 16-10
9. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 20 73-13 92 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 21-08 Day 3: 5 18-11 Day 4: 5 16-07
10. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 20 73-10 91 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 19-07 Day 4: 5 16-05
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 06-02 $1,000.00
2 Seth Feider New Market, MN 06-06 $1,000.00
3 Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 05-05 $1,000.00
4 Seth Feider New Market, MN 05-01 $1,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Seth Feider New Market, MN 06-06 $1,000.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

by AnglersChannel

Monsoor Wins Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi Rive

La Crosse Pro Catches Four-Day Total of 54 Pounds, 10 Ounces to Win $125K

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Aug. 1, 2020) – The man deemed the “Godfather of the Mississippi River” finally got it done at home. La Crosse’s own 71-year-old Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wisconsin, caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win $125,000 at the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 54-10.

The limit gave him the win by a narrow 1-pound, 12-ounce margin over the No. 1 ranked angler in the world, pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 52-14 and earned $35,000.

“I can’t believe it. Winning at home is the neatest thing in the world. I’m going to remember this moment forever,” said Monsoor, who broke his own record as the oldest angler to ever win an FLW pro-level event. “This tournament had 50 of the best guys from MLF, and the top guys from FLW – it doesn’t get any harder than that. I am the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do what I love. To win at home – I can’t believe it.”

Monsoor caught the majority of his fish this week doing exactly what the Mississippi River legend is known for – throwing a swim jig. His jig of choice this week was a white Humdinger Tom Monsoor swim jig with a 3½-inch Yamamoto Swim Senko (pearl with silver flake). Monsoor also mixed in a homemade football-head jig with a Yamamoto Cowboy trailer and a homemade Bitsy Bug-type jig with a Fat Baby Craw to put together his winning limits.

“I caught two or three fish this week on the Bitsy Bug, but other than that everything came on the football jig and the swimming jig,” Monsoor said. “Gravel bars and drops with weeds seemed to be the two key areas this week.”

Now that the 71-year-old pro has finally earned the big win at home that had seemed to elude him for most of his career, he plans to spend a relaxing Sunday right where you’d expect to see him – back out on the water.

“I can’t wait to go out there tomorrow and see if those two schools of largemouth that I had found in practice are still there,” Monsoor went on to say. “I’m going to sleep in until 9 a.m. or so and recuperate, then I’m getting back out there.”

The top 10 pros on the Mississippi River finished:

1st: Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., 20 bass, 54-10, $125,000
2nd: Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 20 bass, 52-14, $35,000
3rd: David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 20 bass, 52-5, $30,000
4th: Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., 20 bass, 50-15, $25,000
5th: Tyler Stewart of West Monroe, La., 20 bass, 50-7, $22,000
6th: Cody Meyer of Auburn, Calif., 19 bass, 48-12, $21,000
7th: Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Ala., 20 bass, 48-11, $19,000
8th: Clark Reehm of Elm Grove, La., 20 bass, 48-9, $18,000
9th: Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 20 bass, 48-7, $17,000
10th: Scott Wiley of Bay Minette, Ala., 15 bass, 42-6, $16,000

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 46 bass weighing 102 pounds, 15 ounces caught by pros Saturday. Nine of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 11 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday night primetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries was hosted by Explore La Crosse. The event featured a field of 200 anglers from FLW and Major League Fishing competing for $1.3 million.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament competition, the full field of 200 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Friday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition on Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit Super Tournaments fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

by AnglersChannel

Hughes & Stewart win over $21,000 with 21.86 lbs. Huckabee & Johnson win AOY in the East

Place Boat Truck Angler 1 Angler 2 Fish Big Bass Wt. Prize Amt.
1 MARSHALL HUGHES
HEMPHILL , TX COLE STEWART
HEMPHILL , TX 3 10.62 21.86
$21,350 w/ Big Bass, CaptainsCash, Atlas, SureLife
2 JOE WILKERSON
MANY , LA HALLECK WILKERSON
NOBLE , LA 3 7.62 16.91
$4000.00
3 MATTHEW BENEFIELD
HUFFMAN , TX LARRY BENEFIELD
HUFFMAN , TX 3 0 16.06
$3000.00
4 BENJAMIN GULETT
CONVERSE , LA DUSTIN RIVERS
NOBLE , LA 3 0 15.87
$2000.00
5 SKEETER FOWLER
GRAND SALINE , TX BEN MATSUBU
MILAM , TX 3 0 15.83
$8800.00 w/ Skeeter Bonus Cash , James Wood Motors
6 ANDRE MARTIN
LENA , LA GLEN FREEMAN
ZWOLLE , LA 3 0 15.54
$1200.00
7 RICHARD CHUMLEY
JOAQUIN , TX MILES MCDANIEL
MILAM , TX 3 0 14.41
$1100.00
8 BJ HESTER
DEVILLE , LA DAVID CZUDEK JR
LEESVILLE , LA 3 9.69 14.36
$1040.00
9 KRIS WILSON
MONTGOMERY , TX BRYAN LOHR
LUMBERTON , TX 3 0 14.35
$1025.00
9 RONNIE BLAND
BURKEVILLE , TX MALCOLM FRANKS
FLORIEN , LA 3 0 14.35
$1025.00
11 GERALD MITCHELL
JENA , LA JASON LEBRUN
CHOUDRANT , LA 3 0 13.88
$1010.00
12 SAM HUCKABEE
SHREVEPORT , LA TOBY JOHNSON
BOSSIER CITY , LA 3 0 13.06
$1000.00
13 CHARLES HICKMAN
HUNTINGTON , TX TERRY HICKMAN
KINGWOOD , TX 3 0 12.50
$1000.00
14 NOLAN GASKIN
BROUSSARD , LA CHRIS TORRY
YOUNGSVILLE , LA 3 0 12.44
$1000.00
15 SEAN MECHE
LAKE CHARLES , LA RODNEY OWENS
RAGLEY , LA 3 0 12.42
$950.00
16 ROBERT HENDERSON JR
STONEWALL , LA CODY NORRED
GLOSTER , LA 3 0 12.00
$1900.00 with Skeeter Bonus Cash
17 CHRIS GABLE
BILOXI , MS STEVEN RAMSEY
DIBERVILLE , MS 3 0 11.67
$850.00
18 JUSTIN COOPER
ZWOLLE , LA ROBERT LAFITTE
MANY , LA 3 0 11.62
$850.00
19 CHARLIE MCGEE
WESTLAKE , LA KEVIN COMEAUX
SULPHUR , LA 3 0 11.59
$800.00
20 HORACE FRAZIER
MANY , LA ED MELTON
HOUSTON , TX 3 0 11.43
$800.00
21 JONATHAN SIMON
ORANGE , TX COREY STANLEY
ORANGE , TX 3 0 11.10
$1300.00 with Skeeter Bonus Cash
22 IKE STEPHENS
SIMPSON , LA LEE BROWN
LEESVILLE , LA 3 0 11.02
$800.00
23 JODY HOLT
JASPER , TX RAYMOND BALCEROWICZ
CROSBY , TX 3 0 10.78
24 ROBERT NAQUIN JR
DEVILLE , LA STEPHEN TRAIL
RECTOR , AR 3 0 10.68
25 CODY PITT
MANY , LA LANE MASTERS
FISHER , LA 3 0 10.66
26 JACOB LOVELADY
NOBLE , LA JOSEPH KEZERLE
NOBLE , LA 3 0 10.54
27 KEN SMITH
RICHARDSON , TX KEVIN LASYONE
DRY PRONG , LA 3 0 10.37
28 LARRY WEPPLER
HOUSTON , TX DENNIS FIKES
HOUSTON , TX 3 0 10.33
29 HAROLD ALLEN
SHELBYVILLE , TX MATT LOETSCHER
MANY , LA 3 0 10.15
30 MICHAEL BEDGOOD
COUSHATTA , LA JERRY HESTER
COUSHATTA , LA 3 0 9.94
31 JACOB JOHNSON
LAKE CHARLES , LA SHANE CORMIER
RAGLEY , LA 3 0 9.93
32 JUSTIN CHILDRESS
MANSFIELD , LA ROY LOVE JR
STONEWALL , LA 3 0 9.89
33 RICHARD STEPHENS
HINESTON , LA RUSSELL MILLER
ELMER , LA 3 0 9.86
34 MATHEW ARMAND
HESSMER , LA JARRED WILLIAMS
BUNKIE , LA 3 0 9.77
35 BOBBY VICE
GROVES , TX RICKY GUY
HUMBLE , TX 3 0 9.76
35 BILL STARK
EVADALE , TX DAVID MORGAN
SILSBEE , TX 3 0 9.76
37 MARTIN ELSHOUT
ABITA SPRINGS , LA MARK PRICE
RUSTON , LA 3 0 9.70
38 MARKUS ELDER
NEW WAVERLY , TX ROBERT MIKES
SHINER , TX 3 0 9.16
39 JOHNNY VINES
GROVES , TX SHANNON PRICE
PORT ARTHUR , TX 3 0 9.09
40 SCOOTER CLARK
CENTER , TX RYAN PINKSTON
CENTER , TX 3 0 9.07
41 JERREL PRINGLE
HEMPHILL , TX KEITH KEELE
TENAHA , TX 3 0 8.85
2 Pair Amphibia Sunglasses Early Entry Drawing
42 MICHAEL MITCHELL
LAKE CHARLES , LA NATHAN MITCHELL
LAKE CHARLES , LA 3 0 8.60
43 PETE LOWE
WOODWORTH , LA DAVID ROSHTO
ALEXANDRIA , LA 3 0 8.53
44 WILL CARSTENS
ALEXANDRIA , LA ROSS BRYANT
ALEXANDRIA , LA 3 0 8.52
45 SHELBY SHAW
HUNTSVILLE , TX WESLEY LEWIS
KIRBYVILLE , TX 3 0 8.51
46 CHARLIE BROWN III
FLINT , TX TIM BAKER
FLINT , TX 2 0 8.41
47 MATTHEW BOYT
CONVERSE , LA JENNIFER CARTER
CONVERSE , LA 3 0 8.30
48 JOEL MAYFIELD
PERKINSTON , MS RYAN PATTERSON
PASCAGOULA , MS 3 0 8.24
49 DEAN LEWIS
BOSSIER , LA JOHNNY COSTELLO
BOSSIER CITY , LA 3 0 8.22
50 CORY RAMBO
ORANGE , TX RUSTY CLARK
SAM RAYBURN , TX 3 0 8.14
51 CRAIG MASSEY
HOUSTON , TX SCOTT HOLIFIELD
GRAND BAY , AL 3 0 8.13
52 DOUG MCCAIN
LAKE CHARLES , LA MASON MCCAIN
LAKE CHARLES , LA 3 0 8.02
53 JOSPEH NORRIS
BOSSIER CITY , LA BARTON BLAKELOCK
WAELDER , TX 3 0 7.59
53 MATTHEW WRIGHT
BRIDGE CITY , TX CAMERON MALLETT
BUNA , TX 3 0 7.59
55 JAMES DAVIS JR
FERRIDAY , LA CEDRIC JACKSON SR
FERRIDAY , LA 3 0 7.36
56 BRANNON MIRE
BLOUSSARD , LA DENNIS NARCISSE
ST MARTINVILLE , LA 3 0 7.34
57 CLAY DARDEAU
RAGLEY , LA CRAIG BEAN
LAKE CHARLES , LA 3 0 7.18
58 TYLER TATE
BEAUMONT , TX BLAKE CAIN
BEAUMONT , TX 3 0 6.97
59 DAMON BOREL
HEMPHILL , TX
3 0 6.82
60 AUSTIN ROACH
BIG SANDY , TX BRADLEY DASSONVILLE
DIANA , TX 3 0 6.15
61 DARRELL LYONS
HEMPHILL , TX BILLY GATWOOD
HATTIESBURG , MS 3 0 5.53
62 TIM BOYES
LEAGUE CITY , TX
3 0 3.82
63 JOHNATHANE ALMEIDA
ORANGE , TX DANNY THIBODEAUX
ORANGE , TX 1 0 3.64
64 DOMONICK POULLARD
HOUSTON , TX MELVIN DUNN
ORANGE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 SHANE MITCHELL
HORNBECK , LA TYLER MITCHELL
COUSHATA , LA 0 0 0.00
64 MIKE RICHARDSON
THORNDALE , TX JANA RICHARDSON
THORNDALE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 ERIC PHILLIPS
KERENS , TX JAMIE PHILLIPS
KERENS , TX 0 0 0.00
64 KALEB LASYONE
DRY PRONG , LA JAMES BURGE
PINEVILLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 CAVIN COURVILLE
LAKE CHARLES , LA CAMERON BASS
LAKE CHARLES , LA 0 0 0.00
64 JASON WILLIAMS
NEDERLAND , TX RICK WILLIAMS
NEDERLAND , TX 0 0 0.00
64 RANDY MILLENDER
TEAGUE , TX KENNETH NICHOLS
TEAGUE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JEFFERY LOFTIN
COUSHATTA , LA JT HINDS JR
COUSHATTA , LA 0 0 0.00
64 PHILIP HANKS
BUNA , TX MARK OSBORNE
NEDERLAND , TX 0 0 0.00
64 QUINTON MCKNIGHT
WELLS , TX JERRY MCKNIGHT
WELLS , TX 0 0 0.00
64 BEN SOUTH
JASPER , TX MARC WOOLEMS
JASPER , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DENNIS COURTNEY
LAKE CHARLES , LA GRADY MAYEAUX
RAGLEY , LA 0 0 0.00
64 TYLER WALKER
BURTON , TX STEVEN WALKER
BURTON , TX 0 0 0.00
64 TED PRIESING
DALLAS , TX VIRGIL CHANEY
JASPER , TX 0 0 0.00
64 ROBBIE JOHNSON
GOODRICH , TX JARROD CLARK
SANTA FE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 MIKE EDWARDS
ETOILE , TX MIKE GREER
DERIDDER , LA 0 0 0.00
64 MATTHEW LEE
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS , TX CHRIS BAUGH
PROSPER , TX 0 0 0.00
64 GARY KINARD
FORNEY , TX JACOB KINARD
FORNEY , TX 0 0 0.00
64 TERRY STEVENS
HUTTO , TX LAYNE STEVENS
HUTTO , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DANNY BENNETT
HUNTSVILLE , TX
0 0 0.00
64 ALLEN SHELTON
FARMERS BRANCH , TX JOHN MCCALMONT
ROCKWALL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 LAMARCUS MCCRAY
HOUSTON , TX JAMES ROZELL
HOUSTON , TX 0 0 0.00
64 RICKY BLANKINSHIP
MANY , LA DAVID CURTIS
BROOKLAND , TX 0 0 0.00
64 RICKY MADOLE
MANY , LA RONNIE MADOLE
SHREVEPORT , LA 0 0 0.00
64 EASTON HEIGLEY
BROOKELAND , TX BLAKE SCHROEDER
WHITEHOUSE , TX 0 0 0.00
$500 Cash Conservation Bonus
64 DANIEL HICKMAN
HUNTINGTON , TX PATRICK GAMMILL
LUFKIN , TX 0 0 0.00
64 PHILIP CRELIA
CENTER , TX TJ GOODWYN
CENTER , TX 0 0 0.00
64 ROBERT MORE
LEESVILLE , LA JERRY COUTEE
MONTGOMERY , LA 0 0 0.00
64 CHRIS CLEMENS
LUFKIN , TX DALLAS COLE
LEESVILLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 ADAM DUNN
HOUSTON , TX JOSHUA WARE
NEW CANEY , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CHRIS HUEBEL
NEDERLAND , TX DON GOULD
MAURICEVILLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 PHIL MARKS
DALLAS , TX BRET STAFFORD
TEMPLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 MIKE LOTT
MONTGOMERY , TX JIMMY ROZELLE JR
PORTER , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JEDIDAH HOLT
LIVINGSTON , TX CODY MILLER
LIVINGSTON , TX 0 0 0.00
64 SIDNEY AUCOIN
PATTERSON , LA ROBERT GANN
FLORIEN , LA 0 0 0.00
64 KIRK LELEUX
KIRBYVILLE , TX ROGER JOHNSON JR
VIDOR , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DONNIE MARTIN
JOAQUIN , TX MATTHEW JONES
HUMBLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 GREG OSTERTAG
MT VERNON , TX BRENT EDWARDS
MIDLOTHIAN , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CHAD KEMP
BRIDGE CITY , TX BRENT KEMP
ORANGE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CADE DURIO
LAKE CHARLES , LA JOHN DURIO
HEMPHILL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 TREY BURFORD
GLOSTER , LA CHARLES YOUNG
GRAND CANE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 ROY GEESEY
CROWLEY , LA JEFFRY NICKEL
CROWLEY , LA 0 0 0.00
64 DANNY LASHLEY
BOYCE , LA MICHAEL IVEY
OTIS , LA 0 0 0.00
64 DERRICK LABORDE
HESSMER , LA RAYFORD LABORDE
HESSMER , LA 0 0 0.00
64 ANDREW GOLDEN
CENTER , TX JOHN BARRERA
MILAM , TX 0 0 0.00
64 BOB SIGNORIN
OAKHURST , TX TRAVIS SIGNORIN
WILLIS , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CODY CLARK
HERMPHILL , TX CODY JORDAN
HEMPHILL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 KEITH DELANEY
POLLOCK , LA TED PATE
ALEXANDRIA , LA 0 0 0.00
64 CODY WOODS
JACKSONVILLE , TX ROBERT JONES
JACKSONVILLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JOEY CANTRELL
SADLER , TX SHANE ALLISON
COLLINSVILLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 GEORGE RINKLE
DALLAS , TX WILSON BASDEN
STREETMAN , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DEVIN BUSHLAND
ALLEN , TX CARSON KIRKHUFF
COLLEYVILLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 RICH REMEDIES
ZWOLLE , LA TRAYCE EZERNACK
ZWOLLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 MARLIN LANGTON
ROWLETT , TX JOE WHIDDON
TERRELL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 KRISTOPHER PICKETT
COUSHATTA , LA CHRISTOPHER GORDON
CLARENCE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 JONATHAN EDWARDS
HEMPHILL , TX BRENT EDWARDS
HEMPHILL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 REID TALLEY
MIDLAND , TX THOMAS MCCOMIC
MIDLAND , TX 0 0 0.00
64 MIKE WINSLOW
NEWCANEY , TX ZACHARY BAKER
SPLENDORA , TX 0 0 0.00
64 COLE GARRETT
WINNFIELD , LA DANNY KELLOGG
CALVIN , LA 0 0 0.00
64 CHARLES GALLAGHER
LAWTON , OK JEANNE GALLAGHER
LAWTON , OK 0 0 0.00
64 WILLIAM LAPRARIE
BALL , LA JAMES MAXWELL
PINEVILLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JONATHAN LANCASTER
QUITMAN , TX JOSH PRIEST
QUITMAN , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JAMES BENEDICT
TOLBERT , LA GARRETT BENEDICT
TOBERT , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CASEY BURLEIGH
ORANGE , TX CAMERON ROANE
BEAUMONT , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JACOB BAKER
TERRELL , TX MATTHEW KIRKLIN
HAWKINS , TX 0 0 0.00
64 RICHARD BACON
BASILE , LA COLE MOORE
ANACOCO , LA 0 0 0.00
64 GARY BOURN
BULVERDE , TX RUSTY REEDY
SPRING BRANCH , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JACE GREEN
BUNA , TX DEREK TORTORIS
VIDOR , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JEFF MANOUS
HEMPHILL , TX BILLY EDDINS
BROADDUS , TX 0 0 0.00
64 LUKE ILES
PRARIEVILLE , LA
0 0 0.00
64 JORDAN BREAUX
SULPHUR , LA DANIEL BREAUX
SULPHUR , LA 0 0 0.00
64 COLLIN BODE
CONROE , TX JACKSON CARRELL
BEDIOS , TX 0 0 0.00
64 ERIC BRIGMAN
BRYAN , TX HAROLD MOORE
CALDWELL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 SHANNON HALE
NACOGDOCHES , TX TODD NEWMAN
NACOGDOCHES , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CHANCE ARCENEAUX
LAKE CHARLES , LA DWIGHT ABSHIRE
SANTA FE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 BRIAN SHOOK
CHINA , TX JOHN ILES
LUFKIN , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DAVE REDINGTON
WINNSBORO , TX LEE SANDERS
HILLSBORO , TX 0 0 0.00
64 MIKE SOLIZ
ORANGE , TX EDDIE CHOATE
BEAUMONT , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JACK TINDEL III
ORANGE , TX DALTON SOLIZ
ORANGE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 PHILLIP STRAHAN
MARTHAVILLE , LA NOLAN POWELL
MARTHAVILLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 WILLIAM WALKER
JENA , LA SAMUEL CANOE
GEORGETOWN , LA 0 0 0.00
64 SHAWN VERINSKY
LUMBERTON , TX BLAKE COLE
ORANGE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JOHN WALKER
BROOKELAND , TX KIRK MCCARTY
BROOKELAND , TX 0 0 0.00
64 RICKEY ELLIOTT
SPRING , TX JOHNNY GRICE
ARP , TX 0 0 0.00
64 BILL DAIGLE
LAFAYETTE , LA ANDRE CHAPMAN
CHURCH POINT , LA 0 0 0.00
64 BRANDON DAVIDSON
LITTLE ELM , TX JIM FURR
HEMPHILL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 LARRY DEAN
HUMBLE , TX DENNIS GAU
MAGNOLIA , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JIMMY DUCK III
CENTER , LA BENJI DUMAS
MINDEN , LA 0 0 0.00
64 MIKE TAYLOR
JASPER , TX RANDY DEARMAN
ONALASKA , TX 0 0 0.00
64 ANDREW FATERKOWSKI
MONTGOMERY , TX BILLY DRIGGERS
HUNTSVILLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DUANE PITTMAN
PRAIRIEVILLE , LA DWIGHT MINOGUE
KEITHVILLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 HEATH CROCKER
CALHOUN , LA JUSTIN WEBB
CALHOUN , LA 0 0 0.00
64 DEREK MONG
MANY , LA CD MONG
MANY , LA 0 0 0.00
64 MATTHEW DELANEY
POLLOCK , LA MATTHEW NUGENT
DRY PRONG , LA 0 0 0.00
64 COLBY BASCO
CHENEYVILLE , LA DEREK BASCO
CHENEYVILLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 LESLIE HARPER
HEMPHILL , TX GARY FRICK
HEMPHILL , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DOUG PERKINS
PORTER , TX BRAD HENSLEY
CLEVELAND , TX 0 0 0.00
64 MARK MARTIN
VIDOR , TX JIMMY MOORE
ORANGE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CLAYTON BOULWARE
ZAVALLA , TX ALBERT COLLINS
NACOGDOCHES , TX 0 0 0.00
64 COLE BREWER
LEESVILLE , LA ROB RICHARDS
SPRING , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DALE BOREN
FORT WORTH , TX RICK SCOTT
HUMBLE , TX 0 0 0.00
64 DON DICKERSON
PINEVILLE , LA JASON FOUNTAIN
PINEVILLE , LA 0 0 0.00
64 WESLEY DAWSON
CHESTER , TX TEDDY CLOIDE
VIDOR , TX 0 0 0.00
64 JERE BICE
LAKE CHARLES , LA MICHAEL MCDONALD
IOWA , LA 0 0 0.00
64 GENE BAGLEY
BEAUMONT , TX MITCH STEPHENSON
BEAUMONT , TX 0 0 0.00
64 CODY NAQUIN
THIBODAUX , LA BLAKE NAQUIN
THIBODAUX , LA 0 0 0.00
64 CHET SLAYDON
DE RIDDER , LA JOHNNIE FRANKS
HEMPHILL , TX 0 0 0.00

by AnglersChannel

Hartman Overcomes Hardship To Hold Lead In Bassmaster Elite At Lake Champlain

Jamie Hartman, originally of Newport, N.Y., is leading after Day 3 of the 2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a three-day total of 59 pounds, 12 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
August 1, 2020

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Despite a potentially disastrous impediment, Jamie Hartman of Russellville, Ark., held on to his lead at the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a three-day total of 59 pounds, 12 ounces. After taking the Day 1 lead with 22-1 — the event’s heaviest bag — Hartman added 20-3 on Friday and followed with 17-8 Saturday.

Hartman, who leads second-place angler Dave Mullins by only an ounce, lost an hour and a half of late-morning fishing time to a mechanical issue. A service technician identified a battery problem and a replacement got Hartman back on his way around Noon.

“I tried to shake it off on the way in and said, ‘Okay, let’s go get this done, get back out here and catch up,’” said Hartman, a native New Yorker who moved to Arkansas two years ago. “I tried to do that, but mentally it just spins you out.

“I’ll take what I have, but I had a little fish in my bag that I couldn’t cull. But I’ve made it to Championship Sunday, so I’ll try to make these New York home-state people proud.”

Fortunately, Hartman enjoyed a fast start to his morning with a 15-pound limit by 8:30. He caught all of his fish on the point where he ended Day 1 and started Day 2.

Hartman caught one of his five smallmouth on a drop shot when he spotted the fish on his electronics. A Carolina-rigged craw with a 1-ounce weight produced his other keepers.

“It was all kinda different today; the fish weren’t on the end where they were [on Days 1 and 2] where it sets up perfectly,” Hartman said. “They moved to the middle where there’s more moss, so it was really hard to work the bait through there. They had to hit it right away because I wasn’t getting to drag it much.”

After returning to the water, Hartman went back to his starting spot. But he couldn’t improve on his last upgrade, which he made at 9:47 a.m. Moving to “The Gut” — a popular area between Champlain’s northwestern branch and the Inland Sea — he tried various presentations over an area with shallow rock and grass.

After fishing flawlessly the first two days and most of Saturday, Hartman suffered a costly loss toward the end of the semifinal round when a broken wacky rig leader cost him a solid fish that looked like it would have helped his cause.

“I hadn’t retied that leader after yesterday and it broke right at the knot,” Hartman said. “I know it was a good one; I know what lives there. That one good fish would have been a difference-maker.

“It was just an all-around frustrating day. I just had a rough, rough day. It was just one thing after another.”

With cloudy, rainy conditions and southeast winds of 10 to 20 mph forecast for tomorrow, Hartman said he believes his heavily weighted Carolina rig will still produce. He also believes the rough water will limit the weekend recreational traffic.

Mullins, who hails from Mt. Carmel, Tenn., improved from fifth place to second by adding 20-10 to his previous weights of 19-13 and 19-4 for a three-day total of 59-11.

Depth, he said, was the key variable today.

“The first two days, I caught them all shallow cranking,” Mullins said. “But today, I started deep because the shallow bite hadn’t started turning on until about Noon. I caught four 4-pounders and lost one big one.

“Then, I went shallow for about three hours and never got a bite; but I went back out deep with about an hour left and caught another big one.”

Mullins caught his Day 3 fish on a drop shot with a goby-style bait over rock structure in 30 feet.

Koby Kreiger of Alva, Fla., is in third place with 59-2. He missed several fish on the Zara Spook that produced his first two days’ weights of 18-1 and 22-0, but he made a key adjustment and added 19-1 Saturday.

“The difference between yesterday and today was that yesterday, I caught everything that bit and today, I had a chance at a 22-pound bag and it just didn’t happen,” Kreiger said. “Yesterday, when I’d catch a fish, it would come up with what I call ‘friends’ with it. But today it was just singles. Maybe there wasn’t as much competition to eat the bait as there was yesterday.

“They wouldn’t eat my Spook, so I had to switch to a smaller profile with a Rebel Pop-R and they ate it. The bad thing is, the popper is so slow to fish, you can’t cover as much water as you can with the Spook.”

Seth Feider of New Market, Minn., fell to fourth place with 59-0, but is still in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with the 6-6 largemouth he caught Friday.

Only the Top 10 anglers will compete Sunday for the $100,000 first-place prize — and with less than 3 pounds separating 10th place from first, the event is as wide open as any in recent memory.

Sunday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET at Plattsburgh City Marina. The weigh-in will be held back at the marina at 3 p.m.

Live coverage of the event will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster LIVE at Bassmaster.com with simulcasts on ESPN2 and ESPN3. Check local listings for ESPN2 times.

The tournament is being hosted by the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, City of Plattsburgh and Clinton County with support from the Office of the Governor of the State of New York.

2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 7/30-8/2
Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 59-12 100
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 17-08
2. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 15 59-11 99
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-04 Day 3: 5 20-10
3. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 15 59-02 98
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 19-01
4. Seth Feider New Market, MN 15 59-00 97 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 17-08
5. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 15 58-11 96
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 20-05
6. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 15 57-08 95
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 18-09
7. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 15 57-06 94
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 21-08 Day 3: 5 18-11
8. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 15 57-05 93
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 19-07
9. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 15 57-04 92
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 19-09
10. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 15 57-00 91
Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 17-15
11. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 15 56-04 90 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 16-15
12. Buddy Gross Chickamauga, GA 15 55-04 89 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-02 Day 2: 5 17-06 Day 3: 5 16-12
13. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 15 55-02 88 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-08 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 5 16-12
14. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 15 55-01 87 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 16-08 Day 3: 5 19-03
15. Jeff Gustafson Keewatin Ontario CANADA 15 54-15 86 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 18-05 Day 3: 5 19-07
16. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 54-05 85 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 18-11 Day 3: 5 20-05
17. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 15 54-01 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 18-08 Day 3: 5 17-09
18. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 15 53-12 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 19-04 Day 3: 5 18-08
19. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 15 53-12 82 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 5 18-01
20. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 15 53-10 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 18-13 Day 3: 5 16-01
21. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 15 53-00 80 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 16-11 Day 3: 5 18-02
22. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 15 53-00 79 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 17-11
23. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 15 52-13 78 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 18-08 Day 3: 5 15-12
24. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 15 52-13 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 17-10 Day 3: 5 17-09
25. Frank Talley Temple, TX 15 52-11 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 18-11 Day 3: 5 17-15
26. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 15 52-09 75 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 18-04 Day 3: 5 14-15
27. Hunter Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 15 52-06 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 16-00
28. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 15 52-06 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 18-05 Day 3: 5 18-00
29. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 15 52-06 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 16-15
30. Chris Johnston Peterborough Ontario CA 15 52-04 71 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 16-12 Day 3: 5 16-02
31. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 15 52-03 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 17-05 Day 3: 5 15-02
32. Drew Cook Midway, FL 15 50-14 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 5 16-07
33. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 15 50-09 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 17-05 Day 3: 5 16-03
34. Shane Lineberger Lincolnton, NC 15 50-04 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 17-08 Day 3: 5 15-00
35. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 15 50-01 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-14 Day 2: 5 19-11 Day 3: 5 14-08
36. Rick Morris Lake Gaston, VA 15 47-00 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 16-02 Day 3: 5 12-10
37. Rob Digh Denver, NC 15 46-13 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 17-09 Day 3: 5 10-14
38. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 15 44-11 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 16-10 Day 3: 5 10-08
39. Derek Hudnall Denham Springs, LA 15 44-07 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 17-02 Day 3: 5 10-10
40. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 12 40-02 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 17-13 Day 3: 2 03-13
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 06-02 $1,000.00
2 Seth Feider New Market, MN 06-06 $1,000.00
3 Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 05-05 $1,000.00

by AnglersChannel

Hartman Maintains Lead At Bassmaster Elite Series Event On Lake Champlain

Jamie Hartman, originally of Newport, N.Y., is leading after Day 2 of the 2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a two-day total of 42 pounds, 4 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
July 31, 2020

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Reversing his game plan, Day 1 leader Jamie Hartman of Russellville, Ark., added 20 pounds, 3 ounces to Thursday’s weight of 22-1 and retained the top spot in the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a two-day total of 42-4.

Hartman ended Day 1 by stopping on a rocky point close to the tournament site and catching a 4-pounder 10 minutes before the 3 p.m. weigh-in began. Friday, he started on this spot and quickly lit up the BASSTrakk leaderboard by securing a solid limit of smallmouth in less than two hours.

“I took a lot of pressure off this morning in the first hour and a half, I had 18 1/4 pounds,” said Hartman, a New York native who moved away from his home state to pursue a career in professional bass fishing. “Then I figured I only needed two more 4-pounders, but it took all the way to the last two hours to do it.

“That spot was on my way to a big flat I wanted to fish in the lake’s north end, so I just said I’m going to start there and see if the fish were there, and they sure were. Hopefully, they’ll reload and I’ll get on them tomorrow morning.”

Having fished this spot in years past, Hartman said his nearly immediate bite on Day 1 told him the point held greater potential than he had anticipated. With Friday’s calm, clear conditions contrasting Thursday’s partly cloudy and increasingly breezy complexion, he started Day 2 expecting fireworks and the bass mostly cooperated.

Hartman caught those early fish on a Carolina rig with craw bait on a 3/0 Owner extra-wide gap hook. He used a 1-ounce weight and a 3-foot leader, which helped him keep his bait above the grass.

“The spot had scattered grass and rock, so the Carolina rig was absolutely perfect, and my hookup to landing ratio is really good,” he said. “I said I was going to put it in my hand this week before we started because I lost so many fish last week [at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite on the St. Lawrence River]. I said I’m going to swing with the big one this time.

“I was using a steady retrieve and whenever I’d come through a patch of grass, I’d pop the rig to snap it out of that grass. They’ll whack it every time when I do that.”

By midmorning, he decided he was not going to upgrade on his starting point, so he made a move to avoid burning up too much of the spot’s population. Heading to his northern flat, he focused on scattered grass in about 10 to 15 feet.

“I didn’t want to keep hammering my starting spot,” Hartman said of his plan to manage the bass. “I didn’t even go back to it on the way in. I didn’t want to catch another one off that spot; I need them for tomorrow.”

When the Carolina rig failed to produce, Hartman went to a 1/2-ounce Riot Baits Lil’ Creeper jig with a swimbait trailer. He was again targeting smallmouth but ended up making a key cull with a largemouth around 2:30 p.m.

Seth Feider of New Market, Minn., is in second place with 41-8. After anchoring his fourth-place Day 1 catch of 20-1 with a 5-4 largemouth, Feider added a limit of 21-7 Friday that included another huge largemouth that went 6-6.

Feider caught Friday’s big fish by targeting boat docks with milfoil and flipping a 5/8-ounce Outkast Tackle jig with a chunk-style trailer. While largemouth on marina docks produced most of his Day 1 weight, today told a different tale.

“I did most of my damage this morning on smallies; I ended up weighing four smallies and one buckethead (largemouth),” Feider said. “My smallmouth spot was a grass point in 10 to 12 feet on a big flat. I caught two on drop shot and two on a crankbait.”

Koby Kreiger of Alva, Fla., is in third place with 40-1. After posting 18-1 Thursday, he added 22 pounds on Day 2. Noting that a Heddon Super Spook Jr. and two jerkbaits — a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 and a Megabass Vision 110 — produced his fish, Kreiger said today’s calm, sunny conditions plus a cleaner performance yielded a better sack.

“It slicked off, which made it easier for me to see the fish and for them to see my bait,” Kreiger said. “Yesterday, I jumped off a couple and today, I fished clean.

“I’m fishing a great big flat in 10 feet with isolated rocks and isolated grass patches on it. I can see them pretty far out with my Humminbird 360; that shows me what’s in front of the boat when I’m drifting.”

Feider is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 6-6 largemouth.

Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET at Plattsburgh City Marina. The weigh-in will be held at the marina at 3 p.m.

Live coverage of the event will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster LIVE at Bassmaster.com with simulcasts on ESPN2 and ESPN3. Check local listings for ESPN2 times.

The tournament is being hosted by the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, City of Plattsburgh and Clinton County with support from the Office of the Governor of the State of New York.

2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 7/30-8/2
Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 10 42-04 100
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 20-03
2. Seth Feider New Market, MN 10 41-08 99 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 21-07
3. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 10 40-01 98
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 22-00
4. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 10 39-05 97
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 20-02
5. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 10 39-01 96
Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 5 19-13
5. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 10 39-01 96
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-04
7. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 10 38-15 94
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 19-02
8. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 10 38-11 93
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 21-08
9. Buddy Gross Chickamauga, GA 10 38-08 92
Day 1: 5 21-02 Day 2: 5 17-06
10. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 10 38-06 91
Day 1: 5 20-08 Day 2: 5 17-14
11. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 10 38-06 90
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 18-10
12. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 10 37-14 89
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 19-06
13. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 10 37-11 88
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 19-07
14. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 10 37-10 87 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 18-04
15. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 10 37-09 86
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 18-13
16. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 10 37-01 85
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 17-05
17. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 10 37-01 84
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 18-08
18. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 10 36-08 83
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 18-08
19. Hunter Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 10 36-06 82
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 19-06
20. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 10 36-05 81
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 17-13
21. Chris Johnston Peterborough Ontario CA 10 36-02 80
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 16-12
22. Rob Digh Denver, NC 10 35-15 79
Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 17-09
23. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 10 35-14 78
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 16-08
24. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 10 35-11 77
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 17-11
25. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 10 35-09 76
Day 1: 5 15-14 Day 2: 5 19-11
26. Jeff Gustafson Keewatin Ontario CANADA 10 35-08 75
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 18-05
27. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 10 35-07 74
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 18-00
28. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 10 35-05 73
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 18-00
29. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 10 35-04 72
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 19-04
30. Shane Lineberger Lincolnton, NC 10 35-04 71
Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 17-08
31. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 10 35-04 70
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 17-10
32. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 10 34-14 69
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 16-11
33. Frank Talley Temple, TX 10 34-12 68
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 18-11
34. Drew Cook Midway, FL 10 34-07 67
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 17-11
35. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 10 34-06 66
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 18-05
36. Rick Morris Lake Gaston, VA 10 34-06 65
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 16-02
37. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 10 34-06 64
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 17-05
38. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 10 34-03 63
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 16-10
39. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 10 34-00 62
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 18-11
40. Derek Hudnall Denham Springs, LA 10 33-13 61
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 17-02
41. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 10 33-10 60 $7,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 17-04
42. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 10 33-08 59 $7,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 16-15
43. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 10 33-05 58 $7,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 14-14
44. Destin DeMarion Grove City, PA 10 33-03 57 $7,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 17-10
45. Greg DiPalma Millville, NJ 10 33-03 56 $7,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-15 Day 2: 5 16-04
46. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 10 33-01 55 $5,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 16-14
47. Drew Benton Blakely, GA 10 33-00 54 $5,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 16-15
48. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 10 32-15 53 $5,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 16-12
49. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 10 32-11 52 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 16-14
50. Cody Hollen Beaverton, OR 10 32-11 51 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 16-06
51. Jake Whitaker Fairview, NC 10 32-08 50 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 18-08
52. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 10 32-05 49 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 17-05
53. Bob Downey Hudson, WI 10 32-04 48 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 18-04
54. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 10 32-03 47 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 14-03
55. Mike Huff Corbin, KY 10 32-00 46 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 17-00
56. Dale Hightower Mannford, OK 10 31-15 45 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 17-09
57. Brett Preuett Monroe, LA 10 31-15 44 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 14-11
58. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 10 31-14 43 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 15-07
59. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 10 31-14 42 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 15-09
60. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 10 31-14 41 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-14 Day 2: 5 16-00
61. Jay Yelas Lincoln City, OR 10 31-13 40 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 16-13
62. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 10 31-11 39 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-08 Day 2: 5 15-03
63. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 10 31-05 38 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 14-08
64. Wes Logan Springville, AL 10 30-15 37 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 12-05
65. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 10 30-15 36 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 16-06
66. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 10 30-14 35 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 15-10
67. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 10 30-11 34 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 13-09
68. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 10 30-04 33 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 11-15
69. John Cox Debary, FL 10 30-00 32 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 14-15
70. Quentin Cappo Prairieville, LA 10 29-15 31 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 5 16-05
71. David Fritts Lexington, NC 10 29-14 30 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 13-04
72. Jesse Tacoronte Kissimmee, FL 10 29-14 29 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 5 16-04
73. Randy Pierson Oakdale, CA 10 29-09 28 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-04 Day 2: 5 13-05
74. Harvey Horne Bella Vista, AR 10 29-01 27 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 11-14
75. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 10 28-11 26 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 15-12
76. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 10 28-07 25 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 10-02
77. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 10 28-01 24 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 14-04
78. Randy Sullivan Breckenridge, TX 10 28-00 23 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-14 Day 2: 5 13-02
79. Bill Weidler Helena, AL 10 27-15 22 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 13-13
80. Chris Groh Spring Grove, IL 10 27-10 21 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 14-12
81. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 9 27-04 20 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 4 10-01
82. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 10 26-14 19 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 15-06
83. Tyler Carriere Youngsville, LA 10 26-04 18 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 14-09
84. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 10 24-08 17 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 11-09
85. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 9 21-07 16 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 4 11-07
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 06-02 $1,000.00
2 Seth Feider New Market, MN 06-06 $1,000.00

by AnglersChannel

Monsoor Holds Lead Heading into Final Day at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries

LA CROSSE, Wis. (July 31, 2020) – Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wisconsin, brought a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces, to the scale Friday to retain his lead after day three of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries. Monsoor now enters the fourth and final day of competition as the No. 1 seed in the Super Tournament that features 200 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) competing for a piece of the $1.3 million prize pool.

Monsoor has crossed the stage with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 42 pounds even, which gives him a slim 1-pound, 1-ounce lead over second-place pro MLF angler Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, who caught five bass today weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces. Birge has weighed in 15 bass totaling 40 pounds, 15 ounces in his three days of competition.

“It was pretty tough, today. At noon I only had 7½ pounds, and I went through around 50 fish to even get that,” said Monsoor, who has one prior win – on the Potomac River in 2017 – in Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition. “Right at the end of the day I pulled up to a weed bed and caught my biggest fish of the day, and two other nice ones. You just have to keep plugging away and never give up out there.

“I caught more fish today than I had on the first two days combined, but I just couldn’t find the big ones,” Monsoor said.

Monsoor spent his morning on two offshore spots in Pool 8, near the Black River. His first spot was producing until an altercation with a local water ski boat in the same area shut it down.

“That kind of wrecked my morning,” said Monsoor. “I’ve been here all my life, and I’ve never had anybody do that before. They ski there all the time. I fish there all the time. There’s never been a problem. That took the edge off right away. I was having fun until that. I was going to catch some fish there, too. But he shut it down.”

Monsoor managed to catch around 10 pounds off of his second area before running into his three bigger fish later in the day.

With numerous top-10 finishes and six career victories on the Mississippi River in various levels of FLW competition, a victory on the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit is the only trophy that has eluded Monsoor here in La Crosse. With one day left, Monsoor said all he can do is fish as hard as he can.

“The big FLW events are my worst tournaments,” Monsoor went on to say. “The worst! I couldn’t do any worse. And I’ve had the best practices before these events. This is the first one it hasn’t screwed me on. So, I want this one really bad. All you can do is fish as hard as you can, and nobody fishes harder than me. I know that. I don’t stop.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on the Mississippi River are:

            1^st:       Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., 15 bass, 42-0
2^nd:      Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., 15 bass, 40-15
3^rd:       David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 15 bass, 40-8
4^th:       Scott Wiley of Bay Minette, Ala., 14 bass, 40-5
5^th:       Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 39-12
6^th:       Tyler Stewart of West Monroe, La., 15 bass, 39-9
7^th:       Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 39-0
8^th:       Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Ala., 15 bass, 37-13
9^th:       Clark Reehm of Elm Grove, La., 15 bass, 37-10
10^th:     Cody Meyer of Auburn, Calif., 14 bass, 37-9

Finishing in 11^th through 30^th are:

            11^th:     Clayton Batts of Butler, Ga., 15 bass, 37-3, $14,000
12^th:     Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 37-2, $14,000
13^th:     Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., 15 bass, 37-2, $14,000
14^th:     Adrian Avena of Vineland, N.J., 15 bass, 37-1, $14,000
15^th:     David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., 15 bass, 36-15, $14,000
16^th:     Bradford Beavers of Summerville, S.C., 14 bass, 36-14, $14,000
17^th:     Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., 15 bass, 36-14, $14,000
18^th:     Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., 15 bass, 36-13, $14,000
19^th:     Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., 15 bass, 36-13, $14,000
20^th:     Matt Lee of Bremen, Ala., 15 bass, 36-10, $14,000
21^st:     Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., 15 bass, 36-9, $11,000
22^nd:    Jacob Wall of New Hope, Ala., 15 bass, 36-3, $11,000
23^rd:     Kurt Mitchell of Milford, Del., 15 bass, 35-15, $11,000
24^th:     Alton Jones Jr. of Lorena, Texas, 15 bass, 35-10, $11,000
25^th:     Chad Warren of Sand Springs, Okla., 15 bass, 35-8, $11,000
26^th:     Jon Englund of Farwell, Minn., 15 bass, 35-5, $11,000
27^th:     Matthew Stefan of Junction City, Minn., 15 bass, 35-4, $11,000
28^th:     Darrell Davis of Dover, Fla., 15 bass, 35-2, $11,000
29^th:     Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 34-14, $11,000
30^th:     Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., 15 bass, 33-14, $11,000

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 217 bass weighing 497 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 48 pros Friday. The catch included 36 five-bass limits.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super-Tournament competition, the full field of 200 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Friday. Now only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The final 10 anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CDT Saturday from Stoddard Park, located at 502 Forest Lane, in Stoddard. Saturday’s Championship weigh-in will also be held at Stoddard Park and will begin at 4 p.m. Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage at FLWFishing.com.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water broadcast will air each day of competition, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran is joined by Toyota Series pro Todd Hollowell and MLF’s Marty Stone to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts are live streamed on FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

Scum Frog Wins Royal Rumble at 2020 Ultimate Frog Challenge on the California Delta

D’Iberville, Mississippi. (July 29, 2020) – Scum Frog was a late entry into the 2020 Ultimate Frog Challenge (UFC) on the California Delta but the company came to event day swinging to win the coveted UFC Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble is a special competition within the UFC event. The 2020 Royal Rumble saw 7 teams – selected by 7 different frog manufacturers, compete head-to-head for the coveted “Top Frog” trophy which is presented to the highest finishing team - and the frog brand they represent.

The team of Kris Huff and Kent Simpson took the “Top Frog” Royal Rumble title, edging out all competitors on the strength of Scum Frog’s Launch Trophy Series Popper – a bait that makes just enough noise when twitched.

“We figured that the fish had seen dozens of frogs skip across their head so we agreed to fish slow and let the frog do the work. We also knew because of Scum Frog’s low profile, the fish were seeing more of our frogs than any other. Day one we caught a small, three-fish limit of 8.63 and knew we had ground to make up.” said Scum Frog Pro Staffer Kris Huff

Scum Frog has made a significant investment since being acquired by American Baitworks in 2018. The company has designed new frog profiles like the Launch Frog and introduced new color profiles in the Painted Trophy Series. The extensive effort has quickly made Scum Frog a “must-have” for tournament frog fishing.

“Day 2 of the tournament we decided to make a big run back towards our “home water” on the Delta. We knew that the early, low light conditions were going to have the fish set up different. We caught multiple smaller fish in the low light in open water around tulies on the new Scum Frog Launch Frog. The Launch Frog moves an incredible amount of water and is heavy enough to bulldog through choppy water. With a small limit by 9 am, we knew it was time to hit the duckweed and after making a few casts I landed a California Delta 7.10lbs hog!. We finished with a two-day total of 22.61 anchoring our 2nd place overall finish and earning us the Royal Rumble top frog award.” said Kris Huff

Scum Frog’s sister company Snag Proof took home the overall win and a $5,400 payday thanks to the hard work of Billy Hume and Mike Kuhlman, who showed how incredible the delta fishery can be, as they almost tilted the scales with an amazing two-day, 6-fish limit totaling 30.16 pounds, earning them the UFC6 Championship title!

They indicated that the Snag Proof brand of frogs was the key to victory and also playfully explained that “GET THE NET” duties were equally divided, as both caught a good share of the fish that were landed.

You can see the complete line up of Scum Frog product at www.scumfrog.com and fishing tackle retailers across the country.

by AnglersChannel

RELiON Battery Joins 1% for the Planet – Gives Back to the Environment

Leading global lithium battery provider, RELiON Battery, vows to donate 1% of annual sales to environmental causes

Rock Hill, SC (July 30, 2020) – Today, RELiON Battery announced that they have become a member of the international non-profit organization, 1% for the Planet, pledging to donate 1% of annual sales to fund eco-friendly, earth-conscious causes and organizations around the globe.

“We are thrilled to be a member and support a forward-thinking organization like 1% for the Planet. This partnership is a natural fit for our core values. We, along with our customers, live and breathe adventure and relish the opportunities that our planet provides. Our tagline, Challenge Your Limits, reflects our philosophy to push yourself to greatness. So, it’s only logical to give back and support organizations making a realdifference,” said RELiON CEO Paul Hecimovich.

Members of 1% for the Planet contribute one percent of annual sales directly to any of the approved nonprofit environmental organizations in the network. Nonprofits are approved based on referrals, track record and environmental focus. Thousands of nonprofits worldwide are currently approved.

“Currently, only 3% of total philanthropy goes to the environment and, only 5% of comes from businesses. The planet needs bigger support than this, and our growing network of member businesses is doing its valuable part to increase giving and support on the ground outcomes. We're excited to welcome RELiON Battery to our global movement of over 2,700 businesses," said Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet.

RELiON’s membership with 1% for the Planet is only the start of a long-term mission for positive environmental impact. RELiON calls this quest Limitless Blue – blue battery, blue sky, blue ocean – because action has no limits.“Limitless Blue is about reducing our impact on the planet and using our business for a force of good moving forward. We face a long list of environmental challenges around the world. It is in all of our interests to work towards creating a healthier planet and we believe business has a responsibility to give back,” explained Hecimovich.

RELiON’s lithium iron phosphate batteries offer several advantages over other technologies in terms of resource consumption and safety, and have great potential to help reduce carbon emissions when used in wind and solar power systems. Most importantly, LiFePO4 batteries are inherently stable and non-combustible, and free from dangerous and messy outgassing, fumes and leaks.

“RELiON customers enjoy being in nature, living off-the-grid, fishing, sailing and much more. We feel that given the environmental friendliness of lithium batteries, it is our duty to do better as a business, making our batteries as sustainable as possible for our customers whom enjoy being outdoors,” added Hecimovich.

To learn more about RELiON Battery, visit relionbattery.com and connect on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About RELiON Battery:

RELiON is a global innovator of battery storage ideas. Founded in 2014, the company is on a mission to bring LiFePO4 battery solutions to the global market. RELiON products power a range of applications including, Recreational Vehicles, Marine, Electric Vehicles, Solar Powered Solutions and more. The company offers a full range of services and high-quality products that continue to pave the way forward to a greener and more efficient future for energy storage. For more information on RELiON, visit www.relionbattery.com.

About 1% for the Planet:

1% for the Planet is a global organization that connects dollars and doers to accelerate smart environmental giving. Through our business and individual memberships, 1% for the Planet inspires people to support environmental organizations through annual membership and everyday actions. We advise on giving strategies, we certify donations and we amplify the impact of the network.

Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, our members have given more than $225 million to environmental nonprofits to date. Today, 1% for the Planet is a network of more than 2,700 business members, an expanding core of individual members and thousands of nonprofit partners in more than 60 countries. Look for our logo and visit www.onepercentfortheplanet.org to learn more.

by AnglersChannel

B.A.S.S. Nation Northeast Regional Championship At Lake Erie Canceled

July 31, 2020

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The 2020 TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Northeast Regional Championship, scheduled for August 19-21 on Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay, has been canceled. The tournament cancellation was prompted by various state regulations, which would have prevented competitors from several states and B.A.S.S. staff from traveling to and from Pennsylvania for the event.

In addition to teams from Pennsylvania, the Northeast Regional Championship includes teams from Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island.

“We’re obviously disappointed to see an event of this caliber canceled,” said Mark Jeanneret, Executive Director of Erie Sports Commission. “We know that Erie is a world-class bass fishery, but with the various statewide travel restrictions in place, it became obvious that we would not be able to host a full field of participants, significantly diminishing the level of competition.

“B.A.S.S. has been a great partner as we collectively worked through the changing landscape of sporting events this year. We’re looking toward 2021 and remain hopeful that Erie will be able to serve as the host of this prestigious event in the future.”

The top finishing boater and nonboater from each participating state at the Northeast Regional Championship would have advanced to the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Championship at Lake Pickwick to compete for a spot in the 2021 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic. Officials say they are working toward a solution for impacted anglers.

“It is disappointing any time we have to cancel a tournament, especially knowing how much these championships mean to our grass-roots anglers,” said Jon Stewart, B.A.S.S. Nation Director. “I will be working alongside these state presidents to find a fair way to advance anglers from this region to November’s National Championship.”

by AnglersChannel

Quantum Hosting Two High School / College Tournaments this Fall

The 4th Annual Quantum Next Gen High School & College Open returns to Grand Lake, Oklahoma the weekend of September 19th and 20th. For high school anglers we’ve got more good news -- Quantum is extending their support to host a second Next Gen High School Open on one of the best fisheries in the world, Texas’s Sam Rayburn Reservoir the weekend of October 31st and November 1st.

There is no entry fee to participate in either event; every angler that competes receives a free special edition Quantum Accurist cranking rod and more than $20,000 in prizes will be given away to the top teams!

Grand Lake

Registration takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 19th at Wolf Creek Park. Dinner, seminars, and registration prizes will be provided. Competition will take place on Sunday, September 20th at Grove’s Wolf Creek Park boat ramp.

Major League Fishing pro and former Carhartt College fishing champion Matt Lee will be in Grove, OK to help host the event and to share both fishing tips and career advice with all young competitors.

“In 10+ years of being around high school and college tournaments, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an incredible product pay-out in a no entry fee event, not to mention, it is run in a first-class way and the attendance is great,” says Matt Lee.

To register for Grand Lake tournament, please visit:

https://angler-nation.com/nextgen

or call tournament director Joe Davis at 918-831-6970.

Sam Rayburn

Quantum is excited to double down their support for the next generation of anglers by hosting a second High School Open on legendary Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

The event will be similar to the Grand Lake schedule of events with registration taking place Saturday afternoon, October 31st at Cassels-Boykin Park and the tournament being held on Sunday, November 1st out of Cassels-Boykin Boat Ramp.

Follow this link www.texasbassonline.com, to register for the Sam Rayburn event or contact Pete Bruener at (936) 615-1433, the B.A.S.S. Nation Youth Director for Texas.

by AnglersChannel

Monsoor Vaults into Lead on Day Two of FLW Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River

LA CROSSE, Wis. (July 30, 2020) – Local pro Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wisconsin, caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces, to vault to the top of the leaderboard on day two of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries in La Crosse. Monsoor’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28-11 will give him a 12-ounce advantage as the event enters into day three of competition in the four-day Super Tournament that features 200 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) competing for a top cash award of up to $160,000.

After starting the day in seventh place, Monsoor caught a limit in Pool No. 8 consisting of two smallmouth and three largemouth bass Thursday to move into first place. He says that the tournament is still completely up for grabs with two days of competition remaining and the fishery changing each day.

“I can’t believe that the River has been fishing as tough as it has been, but I had more weight today than I did yesterday so I guess it wasn’t too bad,” said Monsoor, a 17-year FLW pro veteran who has 25 previous top-10 finishes on the Mississippi River in FLW competition. “Yesterday I started out in Pool 7 and it did not work out. My two starting spots I didn’t get a bite – and I thought I could catch a limit at both. But that’s La Crosse – it can change overnight.

“Today I hunkered down in Pool 8 and it worked out a little better,” Monsoor continued. “I tried everything. I threw a topwater, I threw a popper, I threw a buzzbait, a football jig, a swimming jig, a Senko, and a homemade Bitsy Bug. All my weight is coming on the jig, but I’m trying other stuff. I see some big fish feeding but they ain’t biting. I don’t know why, yet.”

Monsoor said he remains on the lookout for the “big bite”, and that he almost had it in the boat late yesterday.

“Near the end of the day yesterday I thought I had snagged a stick, because it wasn’t fighting – it wasn’t moving. Then it came to the surface and opened its mouth – it was a 4- or 5-pounder – and the hook flew out. I’ve got good hooks, but the fish just didn’t get all of it. That bass would have been another couple of pounds, at least.

“That’s why this is still anybody’s tournament,” Monsoor went on to say. “I could get nothing tomorrow, and somebody else can catch a big bag. You can just stumble into them. I’m going to keep looking because I haven’t really found them yet.”

The top 20 pros after day two on the Mississippi River are:

1st: Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 28-11
2nd: Scott Wiley of Bay Minette, Ala., 10 bass, 27-15
3rd: Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Ala., 10 bass, 27-14
4th: Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 27-13
5th: Bradford Beavers of Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 27-9
6th: Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 27-4
7th: Tyler Stewart of West Monroe, La., 10 bass, 27-3
8th: Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-2
9th: Clark Reehm of Elm Grove, La., 10 bass, 26-7
10th: Clayton Batts of Butler, Ga., 10 bass, 26-1
11th: Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 10 bass, 25-7
12th: Matt Lee of Bremen, Ala., 10 bass, 25-7
13th: David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-7
14th: Mike McClelland of Blue Eye, Mo., 10 bass, 25-4
15th: Jon Englund of Farwell, Minn., 10 bass, 25-1
16th: Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 25-1
17th: David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., 10 bass, 24-15
18th: Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., 10 bass, 24-13
19th: Kurt Mitchell of Milford, Del., 10 bass, 24-12
20th: Jesse Wiggins of Logan, Ala., 10 bass, 24-11

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, won the $500 Berkley Big Bass award Thursday in the pro division after bringing a fish weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces to the scale.

Overall there were 797 bass weighing 1,774 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 190 pros Thursday. The catch included 119 five-bass limits.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super-Tournament competition, the full field of 200 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now advance to Friday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CDT each day from Stoddard Park, located at 502 Forest Lane, in Stoddard. The weigh-in each day will also be held at Stoddard Park and will begin at 4 p.m. Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage at FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

MILLSAPS GRABS LEAD IN TOYOTA SERIES ON WHEELER

Courtesy of FLW

July 30, 2020 by Rob Newell
Wheeler Lake doled out some lumps today in the second event of the Toyota Series Southeastern Division season. Only 14 pros managed to crack the 10-pound mark and six pros took a zero on the day.

Leading the way is Jesse Millsaps of Jasper, Ga., with five fish weighing 14 pounds, 15 ounces. His biggest bass weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, which was certainly the difference maker in nudging him to nearly 15 pounds in a challenging summertime grinder.

Complete results

Day 1 Midday Update

“That big one came about one hour into the day – it was my fourth fish,” he says. “Once I got it in the boat, I knew I could relax because I had the rest of the day to catch my fifth fish.”

Given the ultra-tough fishing conditions on Wheeler’s main lake, Millsaps chose to do his work in creeks today. He fished two different creeks to catch a total of eight keepers.

“I started the morning fishing topwaters and then switched to slow-dragging a worm once the sun got up,” he says. “I caught my three biggest fish in the first creek I fished. Once I got a limit in there, I decided to leave the area and switch over to another creek. I culled a couple of times in the other creek, which was a big help. After that, I left the primary areas to try to save some fish for the next couple of days.”

Millsaps noted that he picked the two creeks because both of them have a very similar type of structure.

“The two places I’m fishing in the two creeks set up almost identical to each other,” he says. “They both have the right stuff for what the fish use this time of year to feed.”

Millsaps says he will reveal more about the right ingredients tomorrow should he have another good day.

Kip Carter

2. Kip Carter – Mansfield, Ga. – 13-5

One look at Kip Carter’s aluminum tunnel hull boat was a dead give away that he had played the creek game on day one.

“It’s no secret I’m fishing pretty shallow,” Carter says. “I’m fishing three different creeks because I couldn’t find any single one that was super hot. So I’m mixing several different creeks up to make this work, which burns up a lot of time because I have to run all the way out of one and all the way back into another one.

“I probably could use my Ranger to get where I’m going and it would be faster, but this is the boat I brought and it’s the one I’m stuck with – I’m not driving five hours home to get the Ranger.”

Carter says Wheeler is tough, but that’s the way he likes it.

“Tough tournaments are no fun but they’re the ones I seem to do the best in,” he says. “I like it when six or seven bites will get you in the top 10. Today I actually caught about 10 keepers so it wasn’t too bad. But these creeks are small, so I don’t know how much they have left in them.”

3. Lynn Johnson – Attalla, Ala. – 13-1

Lynn Johnson also plied creeks for his third place showing on day one.

“It’s summer, it’s hot, and when it gets this way, I go looking for current and cooler water,” Johnson says. “I’m fishing back in several creeks that all have cooler water. A lot of the main lake is nearly 90 degrees or even higher, so I’m looking for something that’s at least five or six degrees cooler than that. Today I actually found some that was 79 degrees.”

Once back in the creeks, Johnson is fishing a worm around small current breaks.

“Anything that gives them an ambush point in that current,” he says. “Today I had a fish coughed up a couple of those little pumpkin seed bream. That’s what they’re doing – sitting behind those breaks eating any little baitfish that come drifting by in the current.”

4. Lavoyd Lemmond – Decatur, Ala. – 13-1

The creek crew continues with Lavoyd Lemmond, who found several backwater creeks to his liking today.

“It’s all shallow, shallow fishing,” Lemmond emphasizes. “I’m mostly flipping wood and grass. It’s more about the area – it’s loaded with bait and fish. We probably caught 20 or 30 fish today – in fact, my co-angler is leading his side with 12 pounds and something. The water is not necessarily cool; it’s warm stained water, but it’s moving back and forth, which keeps a lot of bait flush in there.”

5. Andrew Johnson – Glencoe, Ala. – 12-8

Make that two Johnsons in the top five – Andrew Johnson is the son of Lynn Johnson (3rd) and both are doing well on Wheeler. Both are fishing creeks, but the creeks are on opposite ends of the lake.

“He wanted one end of the lake, so I went the opposite way,” Andrew says. “We’re probably fishing similar type water: up in a creek somewhere. We like to find that cooler water with some current, for sure. If I can find water temperatures in the low 80s, I’m happy. I did try to focus more on stained water today. If it got too clear, I moved; I actually moved around a lot, bouncing around fishing anything that looked good.”

Top 10 Boaters

1. Jesse Millsaps – Jasper, Ga. – 14-15 (5)

2. Kip Carter – Mansfield, Ga. – 13-5 (5)

3. Lynn Johnson – Attalla, Ala. – 13-1 (5)

4. Lavoyd Lemmond – Decatur, Ala. – 13-0 (5)

5. Andrew Johnson – Glencoe, Ala. – 12-8 (5)

5. Dustin Neat – Dunnville, Ky. – 12-8 (5)

7. Josh Bragg – Jacksonville, Ala. – 11-6 (5)

8. Harry Peyton – Guntersville, Ala. – 11-2 (5)

9. Kyle Glasgow – Guin, Ala. – 10-12 (5)

10. Edward Guice – Decatur, Ala. – 10-10 (5)

10. Bill Spratlin – Rockford, Ala. – 10-10 (5)

10. Logan Johnson – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 10-10 (5)

Flint Davis

Davis leads co-anglers

Flint Davis of Leesburg, Ga., leads the co-angler side with a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces. He fished behind fourth-place pro Lavoyd Lemmond to catch his fish.

“I mostly used a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog to catch all my fish today,” Davis says. “I couldn’t have done it without Lavoyd. He’s a great pro partner and he is around a lot of fish. He let me cast into places a lot of pros might not have – so I couldn’t have caught what I did today without his help.”

Top 10 Co-Anglers

1. Flint Davis – Leesburg, Ga. – 12-10 (5)

2. Cal Culpepper – Hamilton, Ga. – 11-11 (5)

3. Jared Murphree – Toney, Ala. – 9-4 (5)

4. Lew Moore – Roanoke, Ala. – 9-2 (3)

5. Todd Lee – Jasper, Ala. – 9-0 (5)

6. Ryan Methvin – Leoma, Tenn. – 8-12 (5)

7. Hayden Obarr – Gurley, Ala. – 7-15 (5)

8. Jeffrey Ford – Trion, Ga. – 7-14 (5)

9. Jeff Ragsdale – Gardendale, Ala. – 7-10 (4)

10. Ryan Arnold – Gadsden, Ala. – 6-14 (4)

by AnglersChannel

Late-Day Bonus Helps Hartman Take Lead At Bassmaster Elite On Lake Champlain

Jamie Hartman, originally of Newport, N.Y., is leading after Day 1 of the 2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with 22 pounds, 1 ounce.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
July 30, 2020

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — An afternoon decision paid off big for Jamie Hartman of Russellville, Ark., who nabbed a day-ending bonus that helped him claim the Day 1 lead of the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with 22 pounds, 1 ounce.

At the day’s conclusion, Hartman’s name appeared next to three of the Top 10 Big Bass — a 5-pounder, a 4-14 and a 4-4. He also added a 4-0 just 10 minutes before the weigh-ins opened at 3 p.m.

“I upgraded in the last few minutes on the way in; I was pretty much done and I just hit something on the way in, made three casts and caught a 4-pound smallmouth,” said Hartman, a native New Yorker. “That spot was just a steep drop with some grass on top of it.

“I’ve fished it in the past and I’ve never caught a big fish off of it, but I’ve caught some decent fish. I was basically scouting for tomorrow, so after catching a 4-pound smallmouth, I think they’re there.”

Hartman’s late-day bonus spot exemplified the type of habitat he eventually settled into. Finishing his day with a mixed bag of three smallmouth and two largemouth, Hartman actually got off to a slow start but eventually turned his day around by adjusting his location.

“I went up north and the water was so calm that it was tough for me to get bit at all,” he said. “I ground it out for a while, got a couple of bites and made one move. When I finally made the move to go fish what I wanted to fish, it all came together. I bounced around to several different spots within the same area, making decisions on what to fish.”

Hartman generally described his area as a mix of rock and grassbeds in 12 to 15 feet. The key, he said, was targeting the right type of grass, specifically taller patches of milfoil.

“I was watching my electronics and making sure I was around patches of grass,” he said. “I was making sure I was in the high enough grass.”

Hartman caught his bass on a mix of soft-plastic presentations. Although he tried to get the fish interested in reaction baits early, a Carolina rig proved most productive.

“I tried to catch them on a swimbait like I did in practice. But there was no wind, so they wouldn’t eat it,” he said.

With the grassy shallows of the Ticonderoga area at Champlain’s lower end presenting the tempting potential for big largemouth, Hartman admitted he considered making the 70-mile run.

“When I had a slow start, I thought I had made the wrong decision by not running to Ti, but I slowly started to put it together,” he said. “I just kept reminding myself: pick off one at a time. They’re good ones, so we’ll keep going.”

Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Ga., is in second place with 21-2. Noting that Champlain’s smallmouth have often confounded him in the past, Gross mainly focused on largemouth Thursday. But with the lake about 4 feet below normal, he caught them in places where he has targeted smallmouth.

“I had spent a lot of time looking for structure for smallmouth, but the largemouth took over some of my spots and it’s really helping a lot,” Gross said. “As low as the water is, it’s pulling the largemouth out to the first places on the drops, and it’s making them a little easier for me to find them.”

Fishing the lake’s north end, Gross caught his fish on a prototype bullethead jig from Nichols Lures with a Zoom Chunk trailer and a Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBait with a Zoom Z-Craw trailer. The latter, he said, proved most strategic in finding his bites.

“I used moving baits to cover a lot of water,” he said. “I haven’t been getting a ton of bites, but when I do, it has been quality. So, I’m having to run a whole lot of water.”

Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga., is in third place with 20-8. Targeting solely smallmouth, he committed to the lake’s north end where he targeted offshore humps, shoals and boulders in 15 to 40 feet.

“I caught my fish on a drop shot with a Yum Warning Shot and a 3/8-ounce weight,” Frazier said. “I had a midmorning flurry, and then I caught a couple of bigger ones later once the sun came out.”

Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Md., is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 6-2 largemouth.

Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. CT at Plattsburgh City Marina. The weigh-in will be held back at the marina at 3 p.m.

Live coverage of the event will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster LIVE at Bassmaster.com with simulcasts on ESPN2 and ESPN3. Check local listings for ESPN2 times.

The tournament is being hosted by the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, City of Plattsburgh and Clinton County.

2020 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 7/30-8/2
Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 5 22-01 100
Day 1: 5 22-01
2. Buddy Gross Chickamauga, GA 5 21-02 99
Day 1: 5 21-02
3. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 5 20-08 98
Day 1: 5 20-08
4. Seth Feider New Market, MN 5 20-01 97
Day 1: 5 20-01
5. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 5 19-13 96
Day 1: 5 19-13
5. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 5 19-13 96
Day 1: 5 19-13
7. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 5 19-12 94
Day 1: 5 19-12
8. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 5 19-12 93
Day 1: 5 19-12
9. Chris Johnston Peterborough Ontario CA 5 19-06 92
Day 1: 5 19-06
9. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 5 19-06 92
Day 1: 5 19-06
9. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 5 19-06 92 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06
12. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 5 19-04 89
Day 1: 5 19-04
13. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 5 19-03 88
Day 1: 5 19-03
14. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 5 18-12 87
Day 1: 5 18-12
15. Wes Logan Springville, AL 5 18-10 86
Day 1: 5 18-10
16. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 5 18-09 85
Day 1: 5 18-09
17. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 5 18-08 84
Day 1: 5 18-08
17. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 5 18-08 84
Day 1: 5 18-08
19. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 5 18-07 82
Day 1: 5 18-07
20. Rob Digh Denver, NC 5 18-06 81
Day 1: 5 18-06
21. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 5 18-05 80
Day 1: 5 18-05
21. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 5 18-05 80
Day 1: 5 18-05
23. Rick Morris Lake Gaston, VA 5 18-04 78
Day 1: 5 18-04
23. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 5 18-04 78
Day 1: 5 18-04
25. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 5 18-03 76
Day 1: 5 18-03
26. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 5 18-01 75
Day 1: 5 18-01
27. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 5 18-00 74
Day 1: 5 18-00
27. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 5 18-00 74
Day 1: 5 18-00
27. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 18-00 74
Day 1: 5 18-00
30. Shane Lineberger Lincolnton, NC 5 17-12 71
Day 1: 5 17-12
31. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 5 17-10 70
Day 1: 5 17-10
32. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 5 17-09 69
Day 1: 5 17-09
33. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 5 17-07 68
Day 1: 5 17-07
34. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 5 17-05 67
Day 1: 5 17-05
35. Brett Preuett Monroe, LA 5 17-04 66
Day 1: 5 17-04
36. Jeff Gustafson Keewatin Ontario CANADA 5 17-03 65
Day 1: 5 17-03
36. Harvey Horne Bella Vista, AR 5 17-03 65
Day 1: 5 17-03
36. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 5 17-03 65
Day 1: 5 17-03
36. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 5 17-03 65
Day 1: 5 17-03
40. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 5 17-02 61
Day 1: 5 17-02
41. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 5 17-01 60
Day 1: 5 17-01
42. Hunter Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 5 17-00 59
Day 1: 5 17-00
43. Greg DiPalma Millville, NJ 5 16-15 58
Day 1: 5 16-15
44. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 5 16-13 57
Day 1: 5 16-13
45. Drew Cook Midway, FL 5 16-12 56
Day 1: 5 16-12
46. Derek Hudnall Denham Springs, LA 5 16-11 55
Day 1: 5 16-11
47. David Fritts Lexington, NC 5 16-10 54
Day 1: 5 16-10
48. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 5 16-09 53
Day 1: 5 16-09
49. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 5 16-08 52
Day 1: 5 16-08
50. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 5 16-07 51
Day 1: 5 16-07
51. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 5 16-06 50
Day 1: 5 16-06
52. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 5 16-05 49
Day 1: 5 16-05
53. Cody Hollen Beaverton, OR 5 16-05 48
Day 1: 5 16-05
54. Randy Pierson Oakdale, CA 5 16-04 47
Day 1: 5 16-04
55. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 5 16-03 46
Day 1: 5 16-03
55. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 5 16-03 46
Day 1: 5 16-03
57. Drew Benton Blakely, GA 5 16-01 44
Day 1: 5 16-01
57. Frank Talley Temple, TX 5 16-01 44
Day 1: 5 16-01
57. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 5 16-01 44
Day 1: 5 16-01
60. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 5 16-00 41
Day 1: 5 16-00
61. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 5 15-14 40
Day 1: 5 15-14
61. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 5 15-14 40
Day 1: 5 15-14
63. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 5 15-13 38
Day 1: 5 15-13
64. Destin DeMarion Grove City, PA 5 15-09 37
Day 1: 5 15-09
65. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 5 15-05 36
Day 1: 5 15-05
66. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 5 15-04 35
Day 1: 5 15-04
67. John Cox Debary, FL 5 15-01 34
Day 1: 5 15-01
68. Mike Huff Corbin, KY 5 15-00 33
Day 1: 5 15-00
68. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 5 15-00 33
Day 1: 5 15-00
68. Jay Yelas Lincoln City, OR 5 15-00 33
Day 1: 5 15-00
71. Randy Sullivan Breckenridge, TX 5 14-14 30
Day 1: 5 14-14
72. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 5 14-09 29
Day 1: 5 14-09
73. Dale Hightower Mannford, OK 5 14-06 28
Day 1: 5 14-06
74. Bill Weidler Helena, AL 5 14-02 27
Day 1: 5 14-02
75. Bob Downey Hudson, WI 5 14-00 26
Day 1: 5 14-00
75. Jake Whitaker Fairview, NC 5 14-00 26
Day 1: 5 14-00
77. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 5 13-13 24
Day 1: 5 13-13
78. Jesse Tacoronte Kissimmee, FL 5 13-10 23
Day 1: 5 13-10
79. Quentin Cappo Prairieville, LA 5 13-10 22
Day 1: 5 13-10
80. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 5 12-15 21
Day 1: 5 12-15
80. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 5 12-15 21
Day 1: 5 12-15
82. Chris Groh Spring Grove, IL 5 12-14 19
Day 1: 5 12-14
83. Tyler Carriere Youngsville, LA 5 11-11 18
Day 1: 5 11-11
84. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 5 11-08 17
Day 1: 5 11-08
85. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 10-00 16
Day 1: 5 10-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 06-02 $1,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------

by AnglersChannel

Bassmaster Elite Tournament Moved To Lake Guntersville

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Bassmaster Elite Series tournament previously scheduled for Cayuga Lake earlier in July will instead be held Sept. 30 – Oct. 3 on Alabama’s historic Lake Guntersville, B.A.S.S. officials announced today. Daily launches and weigh-ins will take place at Goose Pond Colony Resort Marina in Scottsboro, Ala., which is hosting the event.

“We are excited to host another B.A.S.S. event and showcase our facilities at Goose Pond Colony,” said Scottsboro Mayor Robin Shelton. “I know the event will be as successful as last year’s event, and I am looking forward to working with this staff again.”

Lake Guntersville has hosted 24 major B.A.S.S. events, including the 2020 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk. The Big G also took the No. 2 spot in Bassmaster Magazine’s list of Best Bass Lakes of the Decade. Lake Guntersville is known for its breathtaking scenery and easy access, but big fish swim there as well. Most big-bass prizes are awarded to fish topping the 8-pound mark, with 10-plus-pounders taking center stage on occasion.

Angler Jamie Hartman raised the coveted blue championship trophy when the Elite Series visited Scottsboro in June 2019, winning the four-day tournament in dramatic fashion coming from tenth place to win with a total of 79 pounds, 10 ounces. In March of this year, Hank Cherry dominated the 2020 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Guntersville. Cherry weighed in a massive 29-3 limit on Day 1 of the tournament en route to a wire-to-wire victory.

“While it has been challenging to reschedule events, we intend to complete a full schedule of tournaments,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “We are thankful to our friends at the City of Scottsboro for partnering with us to offer anglers another opportunity to fish on one of our country’s best lakes while showcasing the area’s beauty for our audience.

“Our anglers and fans are going to really enjoy the fishing on Lake Guntersville in the fall.”

Officials emphasized that they will adhere to all local and state guidelines to ensure the event is safe for athletes, staff and the host community.

The Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville will kick-off a busy schedule of fall derbies that will see the Elite Series pros competing on Santee Cooper in Clarendon County, S.C., Oct. 8-11, Tennessee’s Lake Chickamauga Oct. 16-19, and Texas’s Lake Fork for the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Nov. 5-8.

For more information, visit Bassmaster.com.

by AnglersChannel

Wiley Leads Day One of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River

LA CROSSE, Wis. (July 29, 2020) – Wiley, Alabama’s Scott Wiley brought a five-bass limit to the scale Wednesday totaling 15 pounds, 3 ounces, to take the early lead on day one of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Wiley will bring a slim 5-ounce advantage into day two of the four-day Super Tournament that features 200 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) competing for a top cash award of up to $160,000.

MLF pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, who won the Lake Chickamauga Super Tournament last month, sits in second place, just 5 ounces behind Wiley with 14-14. Local favorite Tom Monsoor of La Crosseweighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 3 ounces, and currently sits in seventh place.

“I’m happy to be leading, but there is still a lot of fishing left to do,” said Wiley, an eight-year FLW pro with two career top-10 finishes. “I’m having to hit a lot of places, just hopscotching around and catching one here, one there. I’m on a pattern and I hope that what I’m doing can hold up.

“I went to Pool No. 9 this morning,” Wiley continued. “My first area that I went to, I struck out. I ran around a little bit, then went over to this little drain and I caught a limit in about 45 minutes. I locked back up to Pool No. 8 and caught two big ones this afternoon – both around 3½ pounds – and that was pretty much my day.”

Wiley’s limit consisted entirely of largemouth bass. Although he is unsure of whether his pattern can hold up over multiple days, he remains optimistic heading into the second day of competition.

“The guys in this event are good, and you’ve got to do whatever you can to stay on top of the fish,” Wiley went on to say. “I don’t know if I’ve got a lot of fish left down there (Pool No. 9), but we’re going to go down there and see what we can do with them.”

The top 10 pros after day one on the Mississippi River are:

1^st:       Scott Wiley of Bay Minette, Ala., five bass, 15-3
2^nd:      Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 14-14
3^rd:       Derrick Snavely of Piney Flats, Tenn., five bass, 14-8
4^th:       Joey Cifuentes of Clinton, Ark., five bass, 14-6
5^th:       Jesse Wiggins of Logan, Ala., five bass, 14-5
6^th:       Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., five bass, 14-4
7^th:       Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 14-3
8^th:       Bradford Beavers of Summerville, S.C., five bass, 14-2
9^th:       Robert Nakatomi of Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 14-1
10^th:     Mitch Crane of Columbus, Miss., five bass, 13-15
10^th:     Matt Lee of Bremen, Ala., five bass, 13-15

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Kevin Meeks of Smyrna, Tennessee, won Wednesday's $500 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a fish weighing 5 pounds even to the scale.

Overall there were 810 bass weighing 1,789 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 191 pros Wednesday. The catch included 126 five-bass limits.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super-Tournament competition, the full field of 200 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Friday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition on Championship Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit “Super Tournaments” will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CDT each day from Stoddard Park, located at 502 Forest Lane, in Stoddard. The weigh-in each day will also be held at Stoddard Park and will begin at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and at 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage atFLWFishing.com.

Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 11 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday nightprimetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.

For complete details and updated information visitFLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Life on the Road - BASS Edition!

This week Chris and the boys take a slight detour from their usual guests and welcome in two ladies who are very important to the success of their significant others. Tiffanie McCall, Brandon Palaniuk's girlfriend & Kayla Jocumsen, wife of Elite Series Champ Carl Jocumsen join the guys to talk about life on the road, quarantine and more! Strike King's Mark Copley also joins the show to talk about virtual ICAST & Chris discuss' his snakebit weekend!

by AnglersChannel

Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Event Returns to Pickwick

Florence, AL. (July 23, 2020) – If last year’s 22-pound limit of winning smallmouth are any indication, Toyota Bonus Bucks members can expect a great weekend of fish catching and fellowship as the 9th Annual Toyota Bonus Owners tournament returns to Pickwick Lake at Florence, Alabama the weekend of September 19th and 20th, 2020.
The tradition-rich weekend kicks-off Saturday afternoon with a registration meeting where Team Toyota pro anglers will be on hand to greet guests and talk fishing. B.A.S.S. tournament staff will conduct the tournament and be onsite Saturday afternoon as well for angler registration.
Launch and weigh-in for Sunday’s competition will take place at McFarland Park. The top 31 teams in the tournament are guaranteed a paycheck, and a free gift bag will be given to the first 200 anglers to sign up for the tournament.
COVID-19 safety measures that adhere to local government guidelines and regulations will be put in place during the Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Event to help provide protection for the health and well-being of all tournament participants. Registered teams will be sent information about the measures prior to the tournament.
Only one of the team members must be currently registered in the Toyota Bonus Bucks Program to be eligible to compete in the Toyota Owners Tournament. (To be eligible to participate in Toyota Bonus Bucks- participant must own or lease a 2016 or newer Toyota Tundra, Tacoma, Sequoia, or 4Runner) Visit toyotafishing.com for more Program details. Bassmaster Elite Series, MLF, and FLW Tour pros are not eligible to participate in the Owners Tournament. Teams are required to pre-register by September 7, 2020.
Participants are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible for this prize-rich event. Limited space is available. To register, visit toyotafishing.com. You can also call the Toyota Bonus Bucks Headquarters at (918) 742-6424, or email: [email protected].

by AnglersChannel

Pennsylvania’s Lorenzo and New York’s Sperling Earn Wins at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Double-Header on Lake Cayuga

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. (July 27, 2020) – It was a double-header for bass anglers this past weekend in Union Springs with the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Lake Cayuga events.

Boater John Lorenzo of Kane, Pennsylvania, brought five bass to the scale Saturday totaling 21 pounds, 6 ounce to win the first event of the weekend and earn $4,037, while boater Chris Sperling of Cato, New York, brought in a limit of bass weighing 21 pounds, 4 ounces, on Sunday to earn the win and the top prize of $11,761, including the lucrative FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency award.

“I was fishing mostly the mid- to south-lake area, fishing grass with a homemade green-pumpkin-colored jig,” said Lorenzo, who earned the third FLW win of his career. “The key was to keep moving – the fish were widely scattered, and you wouldn’t get more than one or two bites at each spot.

“I spent a week here before the event just marking waypoints,” Lorenzo continued. “Each waypoint that I marked was just one or two bites, and I had to hit all of them.

“I’d been in quite a drought. I won an event in 2005 and again in 2010, but it was a long time coming for this third one,” Lorenzo went on to say. “It feels awesome to get a win here on of my favorite lakes in the country.”

The top five boaters on Saturday were:

1^st: John Lorenzo of Kane, Pa., five bass, 21-6, $4,037

2^nd: Mike Shumanis of Bethlehem, Pa., five bass, 20-8, $2,019

3^rd: Tyler Conde of Chepachet, R.I., five bass, 20-6, $1,345

4^th: Joe Labarbera of Montrose, Pa., five bass, 20-2, $1,442

5^th: George Yund of Glenmont, N.Y., five bass, 20-1, $807

Complete results for Saturday can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Clifford Chilson of Liverpool, New York, brought a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale to win Saturday’s Boater Big Bass award of $545.

Labarbera was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Tim Nichols of Pittsgrove, New Jersey, won the Co-angler Division and $2,019 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top five co-anglers Saturday finished as follows:

1^st: Tim Nichols of Pittsgrove, N.J., five bass, 18-15, $2,019

2^nd: Logan Fitzpatrick of Pennsville, N.J., five bass, 18-8, $1,009

3^rd: Chad McDonald of Berkeley Springs, W. Va., five bass, 17-3, $675

4^th: Chris Hurley of Carlisle, Pa., five bass, 16-14, $471

5^th: Bill Spindler of Turnersville, N.J., five bass, 16-5, $370

5^th: Travis Miller of Colchester, Conn., five bass, 16-5, $370

5^th: William Allie of Wynantskill, N.Y., five bass, 16-5, $370

Matthew Karll of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division Saturday, weighing in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $272.

On Sunday, anglers competed on the same fishery but with different conditions – a strong wind was now in play for competitors.

“I kind of bounced around throughout the day, mainly on the south end, but I did come back north near the end of the day and caught a couple of key fish in the grass,” said Sperling, who earned his first career FLW victory. “I was fishing in 15-feet-of-water, just deep cranking.

“The key for me Sunday was the wind – on Saturday we didn’t have any and I really struggled – but I knew it was going to blow, so I just put the crankbait in my hand all day,” Sperling said.

Sperling’s crankbait of choice was a ghost shad-colored Spro Little John DD 70.

The top five boaters on Sunday were:

1^st: Chris Sperling of Cato, N.Y., five bass, 21-4, $11,761

2^nd: Tyler Conde of Chepachet, R.I., five bass, 19-15, $1,529

3^rd: George Kunkel of Bath, Pa., five bass, 19-15, $1,529

4^th: Casey Smith of Macedon, N.Y., five bass, 19-4, $856

5^th: Michael Sentore of Gloucester City, N.J., five bass, 19-0, $934

Complete results for Sunday’s event on Lake Cayuga can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Evan Luta of Bradford, New York, brought a 6-pound, 1-ounce smallmouth bass to the scale Sunday to earn the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $470.

Sperling was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $7,000.

Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey’s Mike Wotanowski won the Co-angler Division and $1,835 Sunday after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top five co-anglers Sunday finished as follows:

1^st: Mike Wotanowski of Lake Hopatcong, N.J., five bass, 19-10, $1,835

2^nd: Michael Burke of Breinigsville, Pa., five bass, 17-0, $918

3^rd: Thomas Dellinger of Womelsdorf, Pa., five bass, 16-13, $612

4^th: Henry McKee of Haddon Heights, N.J., five bass, 16-10, $428

4^th: Kyle Smith of Williamstown, N.J., five bass, 16-9, $602

Smith caught Sunday’s largest bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $235.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Double-Header on Lake Cayuga was hosted by the Village of Union Springs. The events were the first and second of five qualifying events in the Northeast Division.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Northeast Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

by AnglersChannel

Satsuma’s Buntin Earns Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Tournament on Alabama River

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (July 27, 2020) – Boater Sean Buntin of Satsuma, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit bass to the scale Saturday totaling 12 pounds, 1 ounce to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event on the Alabama River in Prattville, Alabama. Buntin topped his nearest competitor, Ben Weldon of Petumpka, Alabama, by just 3 ounces and earned $4,296 for his victory.

“I’m so excited and pumped, I could cry,” said Buntin, who earned the first FLW victory of his career. “I’ve fished close to 50 events and put a lot of work in. I finally got the win, and it is awesome.”

Buntin said that he was fishing a deep brush pile when he noticed bass schooling near a little outlet ditch. He quickly capitalized to put the winning limit in his livewell.

“I was fishing a deep brush pile when I happened to look up the river and there was a little ditch that looked like there was some action on it,” Buntin said. “I slowly made my way up there and chunked a (River2Sea) Whopper Plopper in there and they just smoked it. About 10 casts later I had my weight for the day.

“I had a limit by 7:45 a.m.,” Buntin continued. “They all came on the Plopper, fished on a 7-foot, 8-inch FX Custom cranking rod. It’s made for crankbaits, but it works really nice for that Plopper.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

1^st: Sean Buntin of Satsuma, Ala., five bass, 12-1, $4,296

2^nd: Ben Weldon of Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 11-14, $2,053

3^rd: Steve Jones of Moss Point, Miss., five bass, 11-10, $1,099

4^th: Chris Rutland of Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 10-13, $769

5^th: David Wesson of Southside, Ala., five bass, 10-3, $659

6^th: Byron Smith of Tyrone, Ga., five bass, 9-15, $604

7^th: Jody Wilson of Blue Ridge, Ga., five bass, 9-12, $549

8^th: Casey O’Donnell of Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 9-9, $466

9^th: Anthony Goggins of Clanton, Ala., five bass, 9-9, $466

10^th: Brent Reaves of Alexander City, Ala., five bass, 9-8, $385

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Weldon caught brought a 5-pound, 1-ounce largemouth bass to the scale to add $515 – the day’s Boater Big Bass award – to his winnings.

Thomas Frink of Cedartown, Georgia, was the highest-finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member and took home an extra $500. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Rodney Graham of Childersburg, Alabama, won the Co-angler Division and $1,648 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

1^st: Rodney Graham of Childersburg, Ala., five bass, 8-12, $1,648

2^nd: Troy Calloway of Sylacauga, Ala., four bass, 8-8, $824

3^rd: Dennis Sandoval of Decatur, Ala., five bass, 7-0, $549

4^th: Donnie Gamble of Bessemer, Ala., five bass, 6-11, $385

5^th: Wayne Kilgore of Attalla, Ala., four bass, 6-5, $330

6^th: Mark Denney of Perry, Ga., five bass, 6-4, $302

7^th: Willie Hill of Tuskegee, Ala., four bass, 6-3, $275

8^th: William Yoerg of Odenville, Ala., two bass, 6-2, $449

9^th: Justin Foster of Zebulon, Ga., five bass, 6-1, $220

10^th: Gary Marlowe of Montgomery, Ala., three bass, 5-11, $192

Yoerg caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a nice 4-pound, 11-ouncer. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $202.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Alabama River was the fourth of five qualifying events in the Bama Division.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Bama Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, hosted by the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

by AnglersChannel

Powhatan’s Pike and Spring Grove’s Estes Tie for Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Potomac River

Columbia’s Patkas Wins Co-angler Division

MARBURY, Md. (July 27, 2020) – Boaters Cody Pike of Powhatan, Virginia, and Keith Estes of Spring Grove, Virginia, both brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces to tie for the win at the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Estes earned a total of $4,262 after contingency awards, while Pike took home $10,262, including the lucrative $7,000 FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency award.

The tournament was the fourth of five events in the Shenandoah Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps.

“Today was a slow grind for me, and everything that I caught came fishing extremely slow in the grass with soft plastics and Strike King creature baits,” said Estes, who earned his second career win in FLW competition. “The key was just being patient. I love river fishing – especially when there is an outgoing tide – so I had to wait for the small window at the end of the day with the outgoing water and it paid off for me in the end.”

“I was fishing grass – not the thick matted hydrilla, but the sparser deep grass,” said Pike, who also picked up the second win of his FLW career. “It had to be the deepest grass that you could find. I caught them all on a black-and-blue-colored 3/8-ounce Dave’s Tournament Tackle Swim Jig.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

1st: Keith Estes of Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 14-14, $4,262

1st: Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va., five bass, 14-14, $10,262

3rd: John Duarte of Middle River, Md., five bass, 14-5, $1,451

4th: Mike Roselle of La Plata, Md., five bass, 14-4, $1,215

5th: Carlton Owens of Franklin, Va., five bass, 14-0, $870

6th: Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., five bass, 13-12, $798

7th: Todd Langford of Great Falls, Va., five bass, 13-9, $689

7th: Robert Henderson of King George, Va., five bass, 13-9, $689

9th: Ben Jacobi of Richmond, Va., five bass, 13-8, $580

10th: Jack Dice of Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 11-10, $508

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Cavin Young of Prince George, Virginia, earned the day’s $615 Boater Big Bass award with a 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth.

Pike took home an extra $7,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Jonathan Patkus of Columbia, Maryland, earned the win in the Co-angler Division Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces. Patkus earned $2,175 for his victory.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

1st: Jonathan Patkus of Columbia, Md., five bass, 12-10, $2,175

2nd: Cornell Badra of Clarksburg, Md., five bass, 12-0, $1,088

3rd: Matt McCluskey of Ashburn, Va., four bass, 11-2, $726

4th: Richard Hare of Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 10-3, $507

5th: Mark Blankenship of Christiansburg, Va., five bass, 10-1, $435

6th: Timothy Kinder of Manassas, Va., five bass, 9-14, $899

7th: Austin Burdette of Pembroke, Va., five bass, 9-7, $363

8th: Alex Titus of Annandale, Va., five bass, 9-6, $326

9th: John Poos of Manassas, Va., five bass, 9-1, $272

9th: Bernie Scheiner of Burke, Va., four bass, 9-1, $272

Edward Dustin of Fredericksburg, Virginia, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $307.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Shenandoah Division presented by A.R.E. based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 8-10 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.

by AnglersChannel

Brown and Diggs take the win on Neely Henry

By Jason Duran
Photos by Chris Brown

July 25 – Gadsden, AL– The fourth stop of the Alabama Bass Trail North Division at Neely Henry Lake was an exciting win for the team of Adam Brown and Greg Diggs. The team planned to fish skinny water and ended up winning by the skinniest of margins. With 15.67 pounds of Neely Henry bass, they took home the $10,000 prize and qualified for the ABT Championship.

The first-place team of Adam Brown and Greg Diggs originally planned to fish creeks, but since they were boat 183, they expected lots of other teams to be in those creeks. To help them have more areas to fish, they decided to use a shallower running boat to go even more shallow than the competition. They went with that plan until they pulled into their first creek, looked around and noticed hardly anyone else was there. “When we pulled in, we just sat there for a minute and stared at each other in shock that we had it almost all to ourselves,” said Diggs. They were then able to not only fish shallow in the creeks, but also target the mouths of the creeks.

Adam said “the plan all along was to go shallow this time of year.” He shared, “that the deep bite here really is just hard and there are only a couple good areas that are usually covered up with fishermen.” They spent the day rotating between three creeks in a 10-mile radius from take-off, fishing water from 2-6 feet. Both have been fishing Neely Henry a long time and were able to use that history to put together this win. Two key baits that were used: a black and blue Bo’s Jig and a chartreuse and white Bo’s Spinner Bait. “We have lost many times by an ounce and to win by an ounce really feels good after losing that way before.”

Bradley Jones and Broox Goza finished in second place with 15.52 pounds. Broox said they really wanted to “catch them out of the grass, but the grass bite just isn’t working right now.” He shared that he found some fish in practice that were keying in on shad, so they decided to make that the plan and spent most of the day targeting main lake bars with shad. Bradley said that pattern “produced a limit around 10 pounds.” In those areas they used a homemade spinner bait and buzz bait with a Horny Toad trailer. In the afternoon, the weather began to change as the rain moved in hard. With conditions changing, they decided to go shallow “flippin’ shallow gravel bars” according to Broox and were able to catch a key 4-pound fish that helped them upgrade their limit to move them into second place.

The third-place team on Neely Henry was Mark McCaig and Tim Hurst with a total of 14.38 pounds. Tim said they “spent most of the morning fishing shallow and had an 8-pound limit around 11:30.” That limit included a really good spotted bass and a 3.75 largemouth. Mark said they covered a lot of water “starting about a mile north of take-off and fishing south all the way to the Neely Henry Dam.” Tim said, “the bite got better in the afternoon when wind started picking up in the area where they were fishing”. During the afternoon they were able to cull three of their morning fish and upgrade to their 14.38 weight. That limit included two spotted bass and three largemouth. They left the area early because the storms were getting closer and “neither of them wanted to get struck by lightning.” They caught over 15 fish all day on three key baits. The large spotted bass was caught on a Reactions Innovations beaver in Green Pumpkin, and Tim caught their largest fish (largemouth) on a Dirty Jigs Canterbury Craw Jig. They also used a Strike King 5 XD Crankbait in Sexy Shad.

The top ten standings are below for a full list of results visit.
https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/nhl-results/

by AnglersChannel

Johnston Battles Rough Water To Win Bassmaster Elite At St. Lawrence River

Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, has won the 2020 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with a four-day total of 97 pounds, 8 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

July 26, 2020

CLAYTON, N.Y. — His home waters were off-limits this week, but that didn’t stop Canadian standout Chris Johnston from winning the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River with a whopping four-day total of 20 smallmouth bass that weighed 97 pounds, 8 ounces.

The first Canadian to claim an Elite title, Johnston was the only competitor to break 20 pounds each day. Hailing from Peterborough, Ontario, he placed second on Day 1 with 27-0 and held that position for two more days with weights of 24-12 and 23-0.

Entering Championship Sunday a little more than 2 pounds off the lead, Johnston added a final limit of 22-12 to surge ahead of Connecticut pro Paul Mueller and win by a margin of 1-10. Mueller had led the event all three days going into the final round.

“This has been a crazy year fishing-wise for me; I had two of the worst tournaments probably in my career and to bounce back and win on the St. Lawrence, of all places, is just incredible,” said Johnston, who finished 71st and 59th in the first two Elite Series events this year. “I’ve wanted a big tournament win on the St. Lawrence River bad, and it finally came together.

“I’ve watched Bassmaster my whole life and even if you’d asked me three or four years ago, I didn’t think I’d be here in this position. It’s been surreal. I can’t even describe how cool it feels.”

Throughout the week, Johnston used several baits, including a tube, a Ned rig and a black hair jig. On Sunday, he caught his fish on a drop shot with a green pumpkin Berkley Flat Worm. He needed a 3/8-ounce tungsten weight for proper presentations on Lake Ontario, where steady 6- to 8-foot waves made everything more difficult than it had been the three previous days.

The first two days saw Johnston plucking early keepers from a rocky point inside the river and then moving out to fish Lake Ontario rockpiles in 20 to 40 feet. On Saturday and Sunday, he did the majority of his work in the Great Lake.

The tournament’s first three days offered mostly calm conditions, but Sunday saw strong southwest winds which created conditions so rough that many anglers who qualified for the Championship round elected to stay in the safer confines of the St. Lawrence River. A lifetime of experience told Johnston Lake Ontario held his best opportunity to catch a winning bag, so he committed to one key area with several rockpiles in 20 to 50 feet of water along a 500-yard stretch.

“The biggest thing with the weather is just getting to your spot,” Johnston said of his safety-conscious navigation. “Once I got there, I just went upwind and drifted into the spot and then held on the spot as long as I could. Then I’d blow off the spot and do another drift."

In 2019, Johnston experienced the inverse of this year’s finish, leading the St. Lawrence event for three days before settling for the runner-up position.

“Finishing second last year makes this win all that much sweeter,” Johnston said. “I can’t wait to get home and celebrate with family and friends.”

Johnston earned $102,000 for his victory.

Mueller finished in second place with 95-14. After leading the event for three days, he found the rough waters of Lake Ontario less generous. In the Championship round, he added 18-15 to his previous weights of 27-1, 25-1 and 24-13.

He targeted rockpiles and rock breaks in 17 to 21 feet and caught all of his fish on a drop shot with a Berkley Flat Worm in the natural shad color. Uncertain of how long it would take him to run back through the rough water to the weigh-in site, Mueller left the lake around 1:45 p.m. and ended up with time to fish the river.

“Honestly, I think I feel like I left too early because I didn’t know how rough it was going to be,” Mueller said. “I felt like everything else I did today was flawless. I should have pushed it to the max, but I had no idea how long it was going to take to get back and that’s just inexperience on a body of water with that type of wind.”

Mueller's second prize earnings came to $27,000. He will also take home $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program.

Brock Mosley of Collinsville, Miss., finished third with 84-2. His daily weights were 24-2, 19-13, 20-4 and 19-15.

Celebrating the birth of his second child on Wednesday, Mosley bucked the overwhelmingly smallmouth-heavy trend and targeted St. Lawrence’s robust, but largely overlooked, largemouth population around residential docks and flat rock shoals.

“I caught all of my fish on a 3/8-ounce green pumpkin Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBait because I could cover a lot of water,” Mosley said. “That was the key. I had to cover a lot of water to run into a good one.

“I used a couple of different trailers so I could fish an area with one trailer and then go back through it with a different trailer. I ended up catching a few smallmouth, too, but I caught them fishing for largemouth."

Mueller won the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week with his 7-13 smallmouth. The bass, which he described as the “fish of a lifetime,” was just 7 ounces shy of the New York state record and is believed to be the largest smallmouth ever caught in a B.A.S.S. event.

The tournament was hosted by Jefferson County in cooperation with the Village of Clayton and the 1000 Islands Clayton Chamber of Commerce.

2020 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River 7/23-7/26
St. Lawrence River, Clayton NY.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Chris Johnston Day 1: 5 27-00 2. Paul Mueller Day 1: 5 27-01 3. Brock Mosley Day 1: 5 24-02 4. Chad Morgenthaler Day 1: 5 23-06 5. Micah Frazier Day 1: 5 22-12 6. Taku Ito Day 1: 5 20-08 7. Cory Johnston Day 1: 5 19-07 8. Clark Wendlandt Day 1: 5 26-03 9. Brad Whatley Day 1: 5 19-06 10. Brandon Palaniuk Day 1: 5 17-08 ------------------ Peterborough Ontario CA 20 97-08 100 $102,000.00
Day 2: 5 24-12 Day 3: 5 23-00 Day 4: 5 22-12
Naugatuck, CT 20 95-14 99 $27,000.00
Day 2: 5 25-01 Day 3: 5 24-13 Day 4: 5 18-15
Collinsville, MS 20 84-02 98 $21,000.00
Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 20-04 Day 4: 5 19-15
Reeds Spring, MO 20 81-03 97 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 24-01 Day 3: 5 22-08 Day 4: 5 11-04
Newnan, GA 20 81-01 96 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 19-11 Day 4: 5 18-13
Chiba JAPAN 20 80-10 95 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 23-00 Day 3: 5 20-00 Day 4: 5 17-02
Cavan CANADA 20 80-09 94 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 19-03 Day 3: 5 25-08 Day 4: 5 16-07
Leander, TX 18 76-11 93 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 21-10 Day 3: 5 18-13 Day 4: 3 10-01
Bivins, TX 20 74-10 92 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 19-08 Day 3: 5 21-11 Day 4: 5 14-01
Rathdrum, ID 18 66-01 91 $15,000.00
Day 2: 5 21-15 Day 3: 5 20-05 Day 4: 3 06-05
-----------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 07-13 $1,000.00
2 Chris Johnston Peterborough Ontario CANADA06-05 $1,000.00
3 Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 06-10 $1,000.00
4 Chris Johnston Peterborough Ontario CANADA04-13 $1,000.00

by AnglersChannel

10.49 Monster Wins Mega Bass on Lake Fork

Tommy Ellis, Athens, LA tops a record field of over 1800 anglers at the
Mega Bass on Lake Fork with a 10.49 lb. monster.
Wins a new Skeeter ZX 200 - Yamaha 200 SHO plus $15,000 Cash.

Top 50 money earners at Mega Bass
for complete results click here
Angler City State Weight Prize Amount
TOMMY ELLIS Athens LA 10.49 Skeeter ZX 200 - Yamaha 200 SHO
Plus
$15,000.00
JERRY DEAN II McKinney TX 10.02
$15,000.00
STEVE TRIMBLE Duncanville TX 9.10
$15,000.00
JOSHUA PEARCE Murchison TX 8.98
$15,000.00
BILLY GILBERT Hot Springs AR 8.73
$15,000.00
BRAD ROGERS Yantis TX 8.63
$15,000.00
TIM WILCOXSON Rockwall TX 8.37
$15,000.00
DARRELL DODD Como TX 9.81
$1000.00
DANNY KRAATZ Azle TX 8.35
$1000.00
ANTHONY JONES Willis TX 8.32
$1000.00
CLAYTON CEGLINSKI Yantis TX 7.72
$1000.00
SHAWN WASURICK Greenville TX 6.46
$1000.00
RORY LAYNE Dallas TX 2.60
$1000.00
JOHN BOISVERT Lewisville TX 2.54
$1000.00
CODY OBRIEN Frisco TX 7.86
$900.00
PENNY LINKINHOKER Kilgore TX 7.84
$900.00
MATT HENRY Milledgeville GA 7.70
$900.00
GEORGE SHIPPEY Mount Pleasant TX 7.37
$900.00
RONNIE JONES Marshall TX 2.78
$900.00
CURTIS DANIELS Emory TX 2.58
$900.00
CORY ANDERSON Fort Worth TX 2.49
$850.00
BOBBY PEEK Greenville TX 2.49
$850.00
RANDALL HORTON Russellville AR 7.52
$800.00
MICHAEL SIERRA San Antonio TX 7.48
$800.00
MARK SHORES Irving TX 6.39
$800.00
BOBBY PEEK Greenville TX 2.69
$800.00
BOBBY PEEK Greenville TX 2.66
$800.00
KADEN WIEDENFELD Boerne TX 2.56
$800.00
BRANDON MARKS Buna TX 7.24
$700.00
JERRET GILCREASE Allen TX 6.95
$700.00
JOSEPH RAINS Gainesville TX 2.53
$700.00
DENISE BRADFORD Emory TX 2.51
$700.00
SAM TRINCA Alba TX 2.47
$700.00
KYLE KEATING Barry TX 2.45
$700.00
JOSEPH LEHEW Fort Worth TX 2.40
$650.00
LARRY COX Wichita Falls TX 2.40
$650.00
JOE DAVID HICKS Wichita Falls TX 6.72
$600.00
DEREK JONES Sunnyvale TX 2.63
$600.00
JEFF BARLOW Garland TX 2.51
$600.00
TYLER DENNIS Mesquite TX 2.44
$600.00
JOE DAVID HICKS Wichita Falls TX 2.41
$600.00
RILEY LAMBERT Rye CO 2.36
$600.00
CHARLES BENEDICT Forney TX 2.82
$500.00
MIKE DORCZ Huffman TX 2.61
$500.00
BRENT CANTRELL Wortham TX 2.43
$500.00
JOSHUA COOK Texarkana AR 2.39
$500.00
TREVOR ROMANS Celina TX 2.39
$500.00
KENNETH MOORE Red Oak TX 2.34
$500.00
MARK ANGELO Richardson TX 2.64
$400.00

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