Georgia Boater Paul Marks Jr. Takes Lead into Final Day of Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American
Savannah River Division boater catches 13-pound, 6-ounce limit to take 2-pound, 10-ounce lead, final 10 boaters and co-anglers set for Championship Friday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (May 30, 2024) – Day 1 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Presented by T-H Marine was tough, and Day 2 was even tougher. Limits are a big achievement on Lake Cherokee this week, and a 12-pound bag can rocket an angler up the leaderboard at an astonishing rate.
With the Day 1 leaders faltering, Paul Marks, Jr., of Cumming, Georgia, tallied 13 pounds, 6 ounces to jump up to a 26-1 total, which gives him an edge of more than 2 pounds over Dillon Falardeau of Hixson, Tennessee , who weighed 12-2 on Day 2 to bring his total to 23-7. While that’s a commanding lead mathematically for Marks, the way the lake is fishing probably won’t allow anyone to sleep easy.
The final 10 boaters and Strike King co-anglers are now set, and competition will resume tomorrow morning on Championship Friday. The three-day tournament, hosted by Visit Jefferson County TN, showcases the nation’s best weekend grassroots anglers, and awards the winning boater a top prize of up to $120,000 – and an automatic qualification into REDCREST 2025, MLF’s most prestigious event – and the winning Strike King co-angler a top prize of $50,000.
The winner of last year’s regional on Lake Eufaula and runner-up in the most recent Tackle Warehouse Invitationals stop, the 23-year-old Marks entered the event as one of the favorites. Sporting acres of screen on his rig and all the accompanying skills, the Georgia angler is again showing why he’s considered a top prospect.
Weighing exclusively smallmouth, Marks has relied on a Zoom Z-Swim in Tennessee shad, picking off smallmouth on various points all over the lake.
“I caught a few the first day — I had a really good bag the first day,” he said of practice. “The rest of practice, I pretty much drove around.”
Marks seems to know what he’s looking for, which is the presence of bass and particular structural features.
“It’s the way the islands are pointing, and the way the points are — from a contour standpoint and a current standpoint,” he said. “And, if there are stripers there, there’s no bass; if there’s bass, usually there are no stripers.”
Many local observers have expressed shock at how tough the fishing is, and Marks is surprised as well.
“I expected like 14 a day to do good, not whatever I’ve had,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen it this bad. I wasn’t liking it in practice, but now I’m liking it.”
He’d really like if things hold up for one more day.
“I’d probably cry,” Marks said about the prospect of winning the All-American. “It’s a staple. It’d definitely help kickstart a career for me.”
Sitting in second and within striking distance, Falardeau charged up the leaderboard from sixth on Day 2. A full-time guide and lodge owner at Lake Chickamauga, Falardeau is in hot pursuit of a fishing career after 10 years in the Army — so, winning the All-American would be perfect for him.
“I’ve got this one area I’ve found with a good population of fish, and I’m staying in that really small area — I don’t know if there’s enough for tomorrow,” he said. “But I do have one rock with 12, maybe 15 bass on it, and they’re all 3 pounds. I caught a 3-2 yesterday and a 3-4 today off it. Once you catch one, you can give it a couple hours, and they set back up, but I just can’t get another one off of it.”
Five off the magic rock would go a long way on Championship Friday. If Falardeau can pull it off, it’d probably be one of the first times the winning spot at the All-American was found in bed.
“The big thing on a lake like this with such a big drawdown is an app, Field Maps,” Falardeau explained. “I basically lay down in bed at night and find my spots when the lake is 30-foot low. The rock I’m fishing, I found last night laying in bed.”
Tomorrow, he knows what he’s going to do.
“Once I have my limit every day, I’ve been pulling the trolling motor and leaving and practicing,” he said. “I did that today, and it was a waste of 2 hours. I know where there’s a 16-pound bag, so I’m going to sit on it all day.”
With a little luck (or maybe a lot, considering the tough fishing), this could be a big week for Falardeau.
“[Winning the All-American] would be life-changing for me,” he said. “Being a full-time guide, leaving for a full week, I don’t get paid, and I’m scraping by. I love guiding, but this is what I want to do for a living. This is what I’ve always wanted to do for a living, and that would give me the boost to be able to go to the next level.”
The Top 10 boaters advancing to the final day of the All-American on Cherokee Lake are:
1st: Paul Marks Jr., Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 26-1
2nd: Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-7
3rd: Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., 10 bass, 23-4
4th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 bass, 20-12, $500
5th: Pete Saele, New Lenox, Ill., nine bass, 20-8
6th: Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., nine bass, 20-8
7th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., 10 bass, 20-2
8th: Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., 10 bass, 20-1
9th: Jason Barnes, Concord, N.C., eight bass, 20-0
10th: Ian Leybas, McAlester, Okla., nine bass, 19-6
Finishing in 11th through 49th are:
11th: Eli Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., 10 bass, 19-6, $3,000
12th: Bradley Enfinger, Donalsonville, Ga., nine bass, 18-1, $3,000
13th: Jacob Woods, Loudon, Tenn., eight bass, 17-2, $3,000
14th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., seven bass, 16-14, $3,000
15th: Jordan Hartman, Benton, Ky., eight bass, 16-6, $3,000
16th: Jake Lee, Powell, Tenn., seven bass, 15-11, $3,000
17th: Tyler Ivie, West Haven, Utah, six bass, 15-4, $3,000
18th: Thomas Rallo, Eldon, Mo., six bass, 15-4, $3,000
19th: Brian Wilson, Nancy, Ky., six bass, 15-3, $3,000
20th: Jackie Flack, Cullman, Ala., seven bass, 14-15, $3,000
21st: Andrew Shufelt, Peterborough, Ontario, seven bass, 14-1, $2,000
22nd: Jim Vitaro, Wooster, Ohio, seven bass, 13-15, $2,000
23rd: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., six bass, 13-13, $2,000
24th: Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., seven bass, 13-11, $2,000
25th: Eldon Newcomb, Mt. Vernon, Ky., six bass, 13-9, $2,000
26th: Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown,Tenn., six bass, 13-8, $2,000
27th: Andy Newcomb, Camdenton, Mo., six bass, 12-8, $2,000
28th: Dan Shoraga, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 11-1, $2,000
29th: Donavan Carson, Bluff City, Tenn., six bass, 11-0, $2,000
30th: Michael McMahon, Hackettstown, N.J., five bass, 10-12, $2,000
31st: Evan Eldred, Goodrich, Mich., six bass, 10-9, $1,500
32nd: Jeff Clark, Van Buren, Ark., four bass, 10-5, $1,500
33rd: Vernelle Quinnie, Duncanville, Ala., five bass, 10-2, $1,500
34th: Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md., five bass, 9-13, $1,500
35th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., five bass, 9-12, $1,500
36th: Josh Lee, Powell, Tenn., four bass, 8-15, $1,500
37th: Aspen Martin, White, Ga., four bass, 8-6, $1,500
38th: Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., four bass, 7-14, $1,500
39th: Cody Mackie, McMinnville, Tenn., three bass, 7-12, $1,500
40th: Austin Lawson, Charleston, Ark., three bass, 6-11, $1,500
41st: Brandon Medlock, Lake Placid, Fla., two bass, 5-11, $1,500
42nd: Tyler Wilson, Brooklet, Ga., three bass, 5-6, $1,500
42nd: Aaron Yavorsky, Palm Harbor, Fla., three bass, 5-6, $1,500
44th: Cody Carl, Lake Lotawana, Mo., two bass, 5-5, $1,500
45th: Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., one bass, 3-14, $1,500
46th: Randy Williams, New Richmond, Ohio, two bass, 3-8, $1,500
47th: Roger Pope, Statesville, N.C., one bass, 3-0, $1,500
48th: Rick Funk, Middleton, Idaho, zero bass, 0-0, $1,500
48th: Phil Smith, Orange, Texas, zero bass, 0-0, $1,500
A full list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 123 bass weighing 273 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 43 boaters Thursday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits.
Justin Parchman of Oologah, Oklahoma, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 10-3 to lead the Strike King Co-angler Division at Cherokee Lake after Day 2, with a two-day total of eight bass for 17-7. Justin McGaha of Knoxville, Tennessee, sits second with 16-7, and Ashley Klaus of Thomson, Georgia, finished third with 15-4. With the weights correspondingly low on the co-angler side, Championship Friday is even less of a sure thing for the backseaters.
The Top 10 Strike King co-anglers advancing to the final day of competition at the All-American on Cherokee Lake are:
1st: Justin Parchman, Oologah, Okla., eight bass, 17-7
2nd: Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., seven bass, 16-7, $250
3rd: Ashley Klaus, Thomson, Ga., seven bass, 15-4
4th: Caleb Welch, Bolivar, Mo., seven bass, 14-8
5th: Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., six bass, 13-6
6th: Tyler Nekolny, Coral Springs, Fla., six bass, 13-6
7th: Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 12-1
8th: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., five bass, 11-14
9th: Terry Laverack, Martin, S.D., six bass, 11-12
10th: Rodney Tapp, Inman, S.C., six bass, 11-7
Finishing in 11th through 49th are:
11th: Brian Carroll, Glencoe, Ala., six bass, 11-7, $1,500
12th: Colby Elliott, Blairsville, Ga., six bass, 11-3, $1,500
13th: Stacy Metz, Staley, N.C., five bass, 10-3, $1,500
14th: Douglas Guidorzi, Fenton, Mo., five bass, 9-15, $1,500
15th: Matthew Strickland, Portsmouth, Ohio, five bass, 9-8, $1,500
16th: Stephen Vick, Dandridge, Tenn., five bass, 9-7, $1,500
17th: Zion Dunaway, Campbellsburg, Ind., three bass, 9-0, $1,500
18th: Philip James, Benton, Ark., four bass, 9-0, $1,500
19th: Dennis Blakely, Norwalk, Ohio, four bass, 8-11, $1,500
20th: Cody Stokes, Ooltewah, Tenn., four bass, 8-2, $1,500
21st: Larry Elliott, Enoree, S.C., four bass, 8-1, $1,000
22nd: Chase Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., three bass, 6-10, $1,000
23rd: Thad Hewitt, Delaware, Okla., three bass, 6-4, $1,000
24th: Connor Kapp, Benton, Pa., three bass, 6-3, $1,000
25th: Marcus Mann, Benton, Ky., three bass, 6-2, $1,000
26th: William Thomas Cowart, Danielsville, Ga., three bass, 5-15, $1,000
27th: Jerry Vitiello, Wayne, N.J., two bass, 5-13, $1,000
28th: Kris McCarter, Pheba, Miss., two bass, 5-13, $1,000
29th: Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., two bass, 4-14, $1,000
30th: Bart Burford, Loose Creek, Mo., two bass, 4-9, $1,000
31st: Bill Hockaday, Nashville, Ark., two bass, 4-7, $750
32nd: Brian Rodriguez, Orlando, Fla., two bass, 3-14, $750
32nd: Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., two bass, 3-14, $750
34th: Daniel Dobransky, Kuna, Idaho, two bass, 3-10, $750
35th: James Moore Jr., Lampasas, Texas, two bass, 3-8, $750
36th: Josh Kauffman, Marysville, Pa., one bass, 2-9, $750
37th: Jeremiah Toliver, Las Vegas, Nev., one bass, 2-8, $750
38th: Jonathan Ceaser, Maidens, Va., one bass, 2-5, $750
39th: Melvin Veasey, North Little Rock, Ark., one bass, 2-2, $750
40th: Peter Owen, Barnstead, N.H., one bass, 1-15, $750
41st: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., one bass, 1-14, $750
42nd: Lamar Oxford, Dale, Ind., one bass, 1-11, $750
43rd: Jeremy White, Dittmer, Mo., one bass, 1-11, $750
44th: Ross Turner, Kingston, Ga., zero bass, 0-0, $750
45th: Ryan Legg, Parma, Ohio, zero bass, 0-0, $750
46th: Terry Bucciarelli, Ypsilanti, Mich., zero bass, 0-0, $750
47th: Keith Westrick, Marietta, Ga., zero bass, 0-0, $750
48th: Luke Shrader, Monticello, Ky., zero bass, 0-0, $750
49th: Gary Huber II, Saint Charles, Mo., zero bass, 0-0, $750
Overall, there were 80 bass weighing 157 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 35 Strike King co-anglers on Thursday. The catch included four five-bass limits.
The final 10 boaters and Strike King co-anglers will launch Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. ET from the TVA Cherokee Dam Boat Launch, located at 2805 N. Highway 92 in Jefferson City. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the boat launch and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and encouraged to follow the event’s online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Friday from 6:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
The full field of 49 boaters and 49 Strike King co-anglers competed on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. Now, after two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 10 boaters and co-anglers based on two-day total cumulative weight, and the final 10 anglers compete tomorrow on Championship Friday. The boater and co-angler that catch the heaviest three-day total weight will be crowned the 41st Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champions.
The 2023 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine was 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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, advanced to one of six Regional Championships where they competed to finish in the top six, which then advanced them to compete in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
Television coverage of the 2024 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will premiere November 16 on CBS Sports. The full television air schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
MLF Toyota Series Western Division Wraps Season with Upcoming Toyota Series at California Delta
OAKLEY, Calif. (May 30, 2024) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats is set to visit Oakley, California next week, June 5-7, for the third and final regular-season event of the 2024 Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – the Toyota Series at the California Delta Presented by Suzuki Marine.
The three-day bass-fishing tournament, hosted by the City of Oakley, will feature a number of the west coast’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers competing for a top prize of up to $75,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor in the co-angler division.
“This event is going to be very unique for a June tournament on the Delta,” said Elk Grove, California pro Ken Mah, who has nine top-10 finishes on the California Delta in MLF Toyota Series competition. “Typically, this time of the year the fish are predominantly postspawn, but I feel like the system is running behind and we’re still seeing a lot of prespawn fish being caught. So the weights are going to be a little bit better – slightly higher than we normally see in June.
“There are a lot of fish biting in the system,” Mah continued. “I think guys are going to be spread out. It’ll be typical Delta fishing – catch them however you want. We’ll see vibrating jigs, square-bills, flipping, pitching, punching, throwing frogs. For co-anglers, throwing a (Yamamoto) Senko and a drop-shot worm will be the deal.”
Mah said that in order for an angler to do well, they’re going to need to handle the tides.
“The key to doing well is going to be working the tides,” Mah said. “We have high tide early, and it’ll pretty much go out to a minus tide at the end of each day. So the angler that develops a pattern where they can catch them during high and low tide – it’ll be low tide during most of this tournament – is going to win.”
With the fish biting well, Mah said he expects weights to be better throughout the entire field.
“There was a local team tournament las weekend that took 25 (pounds) to win, which isn’t anything crazy on the Delta, but the thing that I was most impressed with was that even 21st place had 14.98 pounds,” Mah went on to say. “I could absolutely see someone winning with 65 pounds, but I think if a guy can catch 19 pounds a day for three days then I could see them being right there at the end with a chance to win.”
Anglers will launch at 6 a.m. PT each day from Big Break Marina, located at 100 Big Break Road in Oakley. Weigh-ins will also be held at the marina and will begin at 2 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend and encouraged to follow the event online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.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 up to $75,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of up to $100,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard plus $5,000 cash.
The 2024 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2025. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2024 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 7-9 on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Madison County Commission, and the Huntsville Sports Commission.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, FX Custom Rods, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters, YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Saginaw Bay ready to show out for Bassmaster College Series regular-season finale
May 30, 2024
Saginaw Bay ready to show out for Bassmaster College Series regular-season finale
BAY CITY, Mich. — The Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops will wrap up the regular season at Saginaw Bay — one of the most underrated fisheries in the country — and Michigan pro Bo Thomas believes conditions will be just right for big bags.
“It is the type of fishing that only a few people get to experience in their whole lives,” said Thomas, who fishes the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN. “That place is absolutely unreal. There are just so many bass. You can fish in the river, fish out in the lake or you can gamble and go fish for smallmouth. You can do anything you want there.”
Competitors will launch from Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City June 6-7 beginning at 5:30 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. This will be the last chance for anglers competing in the Legends Trail to earn a berth to the 2024 Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, which is scheduled for Aug. 22-24 on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell.
Saginaw Bay has awed anglers since the College Series first visited there in 2021. Located on the southwest side of Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay and the Saginaw River hold impressive numbers and quality of both largemouth and smallmouth.
The beginning of June usually means smallmouth will be heading toward shallow water for the spawn, if they aren’t spawning already. A full moon will occur two days before the tournament starts, making that scenario more likely if the water temperatures are warm enough. The Charity Island region gets a lot of attention from anglers this time of year.
“Wind plays a big factor,” Thomas said. “If they do have a warming trend coming into the tournament, playing the wind is going to be key whether it is going to be a prespawn bite or spawn bite. If the wind blows in from Huron, it will blow in cold water and cool down the whole bay. The spawn won’t take place if that is the case.
“The smallmouth will be around boulders and rock on sand flats. Typically, this time of year, you won’t see them very deep.”
Thomas believes smallmouth will likely be the ticket to winning, if winds allow anglers to access the big waters. Traditional smallmouth techniques like fishing a drop shot, tube or a Ned rig will be productive in any scenario. But if a team finds prespawn smallmouth, a jighead minnow could come into play, too.
The largemouth, meanwhile, will be in a prespawn mode. The flats on the outer edges of the bay feature grassbeds and reed lines, allowing anglers to flip, frog and use a bladed jig to catch these bass. The Saginaw River also holds an impressive population of largemouth, and those bass will likely be in the creeks and cuts off the main river.
“Largemouth will play for most of the field,” Thomas said. “They will be back in the canals that you can get to on the west or east side of the lake. The south end can be really good too. They will be along grasslines and weed clumps. If you want to go shallow, you can punch mats and throw a frog up shallow.”
Following the College Series event, Saginaw Bay will play host to the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series and a concurrent Bassmaster Junior Series event on June 9.
Go Great Lakes Bay is hosting the event.
2024 Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2024 Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2024 Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
2024 Bassmaster College Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
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MLF Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Set to Visit Potomac River for Northern Division Opener
MARBURY, Md. (May 30, 2024) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats is set to open the 2024 Northern Division with the first event of the season next week, June 5-7, in Marbury, Maryland – the Toyota Series at the Potomac River.
The three-day bass-fishing tournament, hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners, will feature a number of the west coast’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers competing for a top prize of up to $75,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor in the co-angler division.
“This is going to be a really good tournament,” said Toyota Series pro Todd Langford of Great Falls, Virginia, who has eight career top-10 finishes and one victory on the Potomac River in MLF competition. “Guys are going to catch them everywhere. The fish are all postspawn, and they’re biting a little bit better than they were a few weeks ago.
“I don’t expect to see a ton of big fish – 5+ pounders – but numbers are good right now,” Langford continued. “There is more grass than ever. Maybe the big ones are just hiding better. But lately it’s been taking around 16 pounds a day to win some local tournaments, and in May that is a little bit off.”
Langford said that he doesn’t expect forward-facing sonar to play much of a role in this tournament, but that anglers will likely be catching them on a variety of baits, including frogs, swimbaits, ChatterBaits and (Yamamoto) Senkos.
“The fish a biting pretty good, and everything is going to work,” Langford said. “The key is going to be finding something to yourself. All of the creeks will be in play, and it’s going to be so important to find the little areas that people may have overlooked, so you’re only sharing the areas with a couple of guys as opposed to 40 others.”
Langford went on to predict that the winner would likely have a three-day total right around 50 pounds.
“It’s very tough to duplicate the big bags right now,” Langford said. “I expect the winner will have one big day – around 20 pounds, and then back it up with a couple of 15-pound days. Weights are going to be tight.”
Anglers will launch at 6 a.m. ET each day from Smallwood State Park, located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park and will begin at 2 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend and encouraged to follow the event online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.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 up to $75,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of up to $100,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard plus $5,000 cash.
The 2024 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2025. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2024 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 7-9 on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Madison County Commission, and the Huntsville Sports Commission.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, FX Custom Rods, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters, YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Kentucky’s Wilson and Illinois’ Feldermann Tied at the Top after Day 1 of Phoenix All-American Presented by T-H Marine at Cherokee Lake
Great Lakes and Mountain Division anglers catch 12-pound, 15-ounce limit to tie for first and take early lead in the race for up to $120,000
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (May 29, 2024) – The early going of the 41st annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Championship Presented by T-H Marine on Cherokee Lake has not been easy for the anglers. Rising water has the fish in a tricky mood, and most of the 49 boaters and Strike King co-anglers have struggled to figure them out.
On the boater side, more than half the field failed to weigh a limit on Day 1, and nobody cracked 13 pounds. Still, the cream always rises, and Brian Wilson of Nancy, Kentucky, and Mike Feldermann of Galena, Illinois , both boated 12 pounds, 15 ounces to tie for the lead. They are narrowly ahead of Tyler Ivie of West Haven, Utah, Paul Marks Jr of Cumming, Georgia, and Lucas Murphy of West Columbia, South Carolina, each of whom caught bags in the 12-pound range.
The three-day tournament, hosted by Visit Jefferson County TN, showcases the nation’s best weekend grassroots anglers, and awards the winning boater a top prize of up to $120,000 – and an automatic qualification into REDCREST 2025, MLF’s most prestigious event – and the winning Strike King co-angler a top prize of $50,000.
If there’s a common thread among the early leaders, it’s that experience is paying off. Though Feldermann had never been to Cherokee Lake before pre-practice, the Mississippi River legend has pretty much seen it all during 171 tournaments and 12 wins (the most recent coming in April) across FLW and MLF competition. So, as usual, Feldermann went out, fished hard and came back with five.
“It seems like every tournament is a little different,” he said. “Some tournaments, when you do really good in practice, you seem to get a little more nervous throughout the day. But, when you know it’s a grind, you just settle in and let the chips fall. The other thing is, I’ve been fishing tournaments since 1989 — you could call it seasoned.”
Today, the seasoned angler got away from the tech wizards pestering the smallies mid-lake.
“I went up the river, and I had one rod on the deck, and I just flipped the whole day,” he said. “I fished about a 10-mile section. I was catching them off isolated bushes in practice, and I waypointed them and ran them today and threw at a few new spots.”
Flipping for fish that have nearly infinite cover options, Feldermann didn’t get many bites, but he covered enough water and made enough presentations to fill out his limit.
“I snapped the big one off today and just caught five keepers,” he said. “Pretty basic — just running and gunning, hitting pockets and points and different bushes.”
Competing in his 199th tournament with MLF, Wilson’s old Kentucky home is less than 100 miles from Cherokee. Though he doesn’t fish the lake a lot, he’s got plenty of experience on similar highland impoundments and knows his way around the conditions the field is facing this week.
“I keep expecting some of the fish to show up in the bushes, and I did catch almost a 4-pounder flipping, but for some reason, they’re not jumping up there,” he said. “It may take ‘em a little while to get there. But, usually when the water comes up really fast, I try to concentrate on steeper banks.”
Steep banks and being in the right zone put Wilson in the mix early.
“I didn’t have a very good practice, but I got a couple bites in an area of the lake,” Wilson said. “Normally, when I have a practice like that, I just hunker down and work it real good. It worked for me today and enabled me to go chasing the smallmouth.”
Running a combo pattern, Wilson started the day looking for a limit before striking out in search of the smallmouth Cherokee is best known for.
“The largemouth, I’m concentrating on steeper banks, and I’ve got a little deal to try to get them to trigger, because they’re not wanting to bite very much,” he explained. “I went smallmouthin’ late in the day after the wind got up, throwing a swimbait.”
Despite his experience with similar conditions, Wilson did not expect the fishing to be as tough as it was.
“It surprised me; I thought 15 to 17 pounds would be leading,” he added. “I don’t think someone can catch that all three days, but I really expected to see a bag like that, especially late in the day when I saw the bigger smallmouth were biting. It’s surprising to be tied for the lead, but I’ll take it.”
While Feldermann is no stranger to the winner’s circle, Wilson has earned over $97,000 in his career with MLF at just about every non-pro level imaginable but never actually hoisted a trophy. This would be a good week for the first one.
“This is my third All-American, and I’ve never won an FLW or MLF tournament,” he said. “I’ve had some seconds, and some top fives, but I’ve never got the W. It would be nice for my first one to be this, but we’ll see.”
The Top 20 boaters after Day 1 of the All-American on Cherokee Lake are:
1st: Brian Wilson, Nancy, Ky., five bass, 12-15
1st: Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., five bass, 12-15
3rd: Tyler Ivie, West Haven, Utah, five bass, 12-13
4th: Paul Marks Jr., Cumming, Ga., five bass, 12-11
5th: Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., five bass, 12-9
6th: Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 11-5
7th: Jordan Hartman, Benton, Ky., five bass, 10-14
8th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., five bass, 10-13
9th: Jason Barnes, Concord, N.C., four bass, 10-10
10th: Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 10-5
11th: Andy Newcomb, Camdenton, Mo., five bass, 10-0
12th: Eldon Newcomb, Mt. Vernon, Ky., five bass, 9-14
13th: Bradley Enfinger, Donalsonville, Ga., five bass, 9-13
14th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., five bass, 9-12
15th: Jacob Woods, Loudon, Tenn., four bass, 9-10
16th: Jackie Flack, Cullman, Ala., four bass, 9-9
17th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., five bass, 9-7
18th: Eli Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 9-6
19th: Jake Lee, Powell, Tenn., four bass, 9-3
19th: Donavan Carson, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 9-3
A full list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 164 bass weighing 355 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 45 boaters Wednesday. The catch included 16 five-bass limits.
Pop Catalin of Cookeville, Tennessee, leads the Strike King Co-angler Division at Cherokee Lake after Day 1 with a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce — a massive bag considering the grueling circumstances. Catalin will begin Day 2 of competition on Thursday with a 1-pound, 4-ounce advantage over second-place co-angler Caleb Welch of Boliver, Missouri, who weighed in five bass totaling 10 pounds, 13 ounces on the opening day.
The Top 20 Strike King co-anglers after Day 1 of the All-American on Cherokee Lake are:
1st: Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 12-1
2nd: Caleb Welch, Bolivar, Mo., five bass, 10-13
3rd: Terry Laverack, Martin, S.D., five bass, 9-12
4th: Matthew Strickland, Portsmouth, Ohio, five bass, 9-8
5th: Tyler Nekolny, Coral Springs, Fla., four bass, 7-13
6th: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., three bass, 7-8
7th: Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-7
8th: Justin Parchman, Oologah, Okla., three bass, 7-4
8th: Stephen Vick, Dandridge, Tenn., four bass, 7-4
10th: Brian Carroll, Glencoe, Ala., four bass, 7-2
11th: Dennis Blakely, Norwalk, Ohio, three bass, 6-10
12th: Zion Dunaway, Campbellsburg, Ind., two bass, 6-5
13th: Marcus Mann, Benton, Ky., three bass, 6-2
14th: Colby Elliott, Blairsville, Ga., three bass, 6-1
15th: Jerry Vitiello, Wayne, N.J., two bass, 5-13
16th: Larry Elliott, Enoree, S.C., three bass, 5-12
17th: Philip James, Benton, Ark., two bass, 4-13
18th: Cody Stokes, Ooltewah, Tenn., two bass, 4-4
19th: Ashley Klaus, Thomson, Ga., two bass, 4-1
20th: Kris McCarter, Pheba, Miss., one bass, 4-0
Overall, there were 80 bass weighing 172 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 34 Strike King co-anglers on Wednesday. The catch included 4 five-bass limits.
Anglers will launch Thursday and Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET from the TVA Cherokee Dam Boat Launch, located at 2805 N. Highway 92 in Jefferson City. Weigh-in will be held each day at the boat launch and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and encouraged to follow the event’s online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Friday from 6:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
The full field of 49 boaters and 49 Strike King co-anglers compete on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 10 boaters and co-anglers, based on two-day total cumulative weight, and the final 10 anglers compete on Championship Friday. The boater and co-angler that catch the heaviest three-day total weight will be crowned the 41st Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champions.
The 2023 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine was 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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, advanced to one of six Regional Championships where they competed to finish in the top six, which then advanced them to compete in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
Television coverage of the 2024 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will premiere November 16 on CBS Sports. The full television air schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Travel Tuesday - Why Your Pro Staff Needs a Getaway
By Pete Robbins - Half Past First Cast
Pro Staff Directors, Marketing Managers and Tackle Company Moguls, I’m talking to you:
As a longtime member of the fishing media as well as a consultant to several successful fishing lodges, I think that I’m uniquely situated to tell you why you need to bring your pro staff together at a fishing lodge – with or without media. I’ve been to a number of these events and have observed others carefully. I’ve seen some that worked, others that failed, and I’ve heard both the positive and negative feedback from all parties involved. Done properly, one of these gatherings can jumpstart your media campaigns and build brand knowledge and loyalty that a paycheck alone does not provide.
Here are my reasons:
Some Pro-Staffers are Tough to Corral – It’s not limited to veterans, or rookies, or those with young children, but I hear from pro-staff managers all the time about sponsored anglers who seem to shirk every possible get together, or somehow cut short their appearances at boat shows and the like. Some of those guys may be great when they actually show up. If you go to a remote lodge in Mexico, Alaska or some location that they cannot easily drive away from, you have them “trapped.” If it’s a place where the service, food and fishing are great, they may even enjoy it. Once they’re on site, you have their complete attention for a predetermined amount of time.
Product Testing – Several years ago, Hanna booked a group from Daiwa, including engineers from Japan, a videographer, and top pros Brent Ehrler and Ish Monroe, for a trip to El Salto. Their purpose was to go through some prospective products and evaluate them in great detail. What do you need in order to do that? Not just an opportunity to sequester your staff, but also a place where they’re going to get lots of bites from hard-fighting fish in situations that’ll stress rods and reels. Watching them every day at lunchtime filling out forms and discussing minutiae, I could tell they got their money’s worth.
Product Knowledge – If you’re going to give your staffers a chance to try about-to-be-introduced products and to gain the knowledge to describe them accurately, again, you need to do two things: (1) Describe accurately what makes the products different than the last generation and better than the competition; and (2) Put them in a place where they can truly test them out. The former can be done over drinks (I’ve also seen it done in a classroom setting) and the latter needs to be done on a place where bites are plentiful.
Media Awareness – For the same reasons given above, you need to be able to explain to the media why your new products are relevant. Face it, the flood of press releases and pre-ICAST promotional materials all blend into each other. By putting the gear in the hands of the people who will write about it, you can answer both on-the-record and off-the-record questions. Be sure that you give them something to take home, both the gear itself and some sort of swag. If they fly in, offer to ship it to their home to make sure it gets there.
Media Relationships – Even if you don’t have a specific product to introduce, by allowing media to get to know your pros better, it means they’re more likely to call them for help. The first media event I attended was organized by Pete Gluszek and held at Lake Cobbosseecontee, Maine in 2007. I might never have met some of those pros but for spending time in the boat with them there, and I’ve maintained great working relationships with several of them over the past 14 years.
Media Production – If you need content for YouTube, your website, or other social media channels, a trip to a place that’s loaded with fish allows you to gather enough for a year in a single week.
A Note on Cost -- Obviously these trips can get expensive in a hurry, often prohibitively so. Going longer distances likely increases your costs, although it decreases the chances that your pros or media will “escape.” One way to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses is to engage in a tradeout with the lodge. They may need rods or lures or electronics to get them through the year, and you can establish a dollar-for-dollar trade of gear for trips. That serves the added bonus of putting your gear in the hands of people with disposable income to spend on fishing trips – which could boost sales. Another way to reduce your cost is to combine efforts with other companies who are under the same umbrella but not direct competitors. For example, there are rep groups who deal with SPRO, Gamakatsu and AFTCO who’ve managed to engage in a “three for the price of one” effort.
And Advice for the Lodges and Outfitters:
Give Out Merchandise – Even if it’s a tackle company or clothing company running the show, your lodge or outfitting service should distribute swag to writers and anglers – hats, shirts, etc. With the former group, they might end up writing about your location specifically (or at least mentioning it) and with the latter group you never know when your logo will show up on TV, in a magazine or on the web.
Use Photos in Your Advertising – With the anglers’ and the sponsoring company’s permission, your operation can gain additional traction by showcasing pics of fishing “influencers” holding up big fish at your property. Grosse Savanne is one of our favorite US locations, and they’ve benefitted greatly by their association with pros like Bill Lowen and television stars like Mark Zona.
A Few Additional Notes:
Need Not Be a Formal Fishing Lodge – One of the best media events I’ve attended was a Shimano/G.Loomis get-together in Lower Alabama in 2014. They rented a large house at a residential country club and brought in a chef to cater to us. None of us had ever heard of the place, but it had an incredible several hundred acre private lake (electric motor only) that clearly hadn’t received much intelligent fishing pressure. It was loaded with giants – our group caught several double digits despite unusually adverse weather. In fact, a freak ice storm shut down the Pensacola airport and the highway to it, and most of us were “stranded in paradise” for a few extra days.
Need Not Be Your Primary Species – Obviously, if you’re a tackle company focused primarily on bass fishing, the lion’s share of your media efforts need to focus on bass (duh). That doesn’t mean that you can’t send some of your staffers off in search of other targets. A flipping stick that can tame 40 pound redfish or 150 pound yellowfin tuna will likely hold up during tournament competition.
One of the most productive trips I’ve taken was when Keith Combs and I went to Alaska (a state which has no viable bass fishery) in the summer of 2019. While we weren’t able to promote his sponsors directly, the “fish out of water” angle enabled me to get him much more press than I would have on a bass fishing trip – including exposure in Texas Monthly, a fly fishing publication and a saltwater publication, along with the usual bass outlets.
If you’d like more FREE advice on how to arrange a proper pro staff outing or media gathering, hit me up by email any time and we can flesh out your needs and the solutions to your specific situation.
Chowan River Set to Host MLF Bass Pro Tour U.S. Air Force Stage Five Presented by WIX Filters
EDENTON, N.C. (May 28, 2024) – Major League Fishing (MLF) and the Bass Pro Tour, showcasing the top anglers in the sport of professional bass fishing, are set to visit Edenton, North Carolina, and the Chowan River next week, June 4-9, for the fifth regular-season event of the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – the U.S. Air Force Stage Five at the Chowan River Presented by WIX Filters.
The six-day tournament, hosted by the Town of Edenton, the Chowan County Tourism Development Authority and Harbor Towns Cruises, will feature a field of 79 professional anglers, including Ott DeFoe, back-to-back Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler , reigning two-time REDCREST Champion Dustin Connell and the 2023 REDCREST Champion. North Carolina’s own Bryan Thrift. They’ll be competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
"Visit Edenton is proud to collaborate with Major League Fishing to bring the Bass Pro Tour to our charming historic town," said Visit Edenton Tourism Director Erienne Mizell. "This partnership underscores our commitment to outdoor recreation and showcases Edenton's coastal beauty. Together, we aim to create an unforgettable event that highlights our community's appeal and stimulates local economic growth."
The tournament will feature the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament is being filmed for broadcast later this year on Discovery.
Pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, has had a home near the Chowan River for the past 20 years and said he’s looking forward to a great event.
“The Chowan River is a healthy fishery and has everything in it,” explained Dudley. “It’s a cover-heavy river system, so guys can flip grass, throw around matted duckweed and flip and pitch around cypress trees. There’s a lot of hard cover and a lot of grass.”
While storms and rainy conditions are currently being forecast during the competition, Dudley said that anglers should really pay attention to the wind direction each day and how that will affect the fishery.
“The river fluctuates with the wind, much like a tidal system, and wind direction will play a big role in how high or low the water level gets in the river,” said Dudley. “A hard southwest wind will blow the water out of the sound and lower the water level significantly.”
Dudley said he expects to see topwater baits, frogs, ChatterBaits and flipping to be key throughout the event.
“I think we’ll see fish in every stage of the spawn and there will be a lot of power fishing in this event – not much forward-facing sonar in play,” said Dudley. “I think most of the fish will be caught in 3 foot of water or less. Fishing in a foot of water will be considered deep.”
While the minimum weight requirement is only 1 pound, 8 ounces, Dudley said he expects to see some big fish caught during the event.
“The Chowan River is a great fishery, with some big bass in it,” said Dudley. “I think we’ll see a 7-pounder win the Berkley Big Bass each day and it will probably take 12 scorable bass per day to advance to the next round.”
Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from Pembroke Creek Park, located at 716 W. Queen Street in Edenton. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Saturday and Sunday, June 8-9, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Colonial Waterfront Park, located at 510 S. Broad St. in Edenton, for the MLF Watch Party and Kids Fishing Derby. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing each day. Additional fishing gear will be provided onsite for the fishing derby or kids can bring their own. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration on Championship Sunday to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 79 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2025 championship.
The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday – the 39 anglers in Group B on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers that finish first through 10th from both groups advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the U.S. Air Force Stage Five at Lake Eufaula Presented by WIX Filters Knockout Round will air as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 26 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Nov. 2. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, REDCON1, Star brite, Suzuki, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and WIX Filters.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
It's Tournament Week for the Minn Kota & Humminbird Owners Tournament!
Minn Kota and Humminbird are hosting their second annual Owners Tournament at Pickwick Landing State Park from May 30th to June 1st, 2024. The event is open exclusively to amateur anglers and features over $180,000 in guaranteed prizes and payouts. Key Tournament Details:
- Total Payouts: Over $180,000 in guaranteed prizes and payouts.
- Grand Prize: $50,000 for the largest bass of the tournament.
- Hourly Payouts: $63,525 in total, with ten places paid each hour for all three days. Over $30,000 in Draw Prizes as well.
- 1st: $1,000, 2nd: $500, 3rd: $300, 4th: $250, 5th: $225, 6th: $200, 7th: $175, 8th: $150, 9th: $125, 10th: $100.
- Entry Fee: $275 for three days, $175 for two days, $125 for a single day, per angler.
- Eligibility: Boat captains must own a Minn Kota or Humminbird product. Co-anglers without these products can participate.
- Format: Individual competition with a big bass format and hourly payouts.
- Early Entry Prize: Abu Garcia Veritas 7’0” Medium Heavy Rod for the first 250 two or three-day online entrants.
- Location: Pickwick Landing State Park, Tennessee.
The Minn Kota and Humminbird Owners Tournament offers a unique format with multiple cash payouts each day during the hourly weigh-ins, totaling 210 hourly cash payouts across the event. This format provides amateur anglers of all skill levels with opportunities to win.
For more information on the tournament and to register, visit www.minnkotaowners.com.
Twin Brother Tandem Dylan & Carter Nutt from 3rd Ranked University of North Alabama Take National Championship
FLORENCE, AL (May 24, 2024) – The scales are closed, prizes have been awarded, and a new national champion has been crowned for the 2024 season. The Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops wrapped up today and when the scales closed Dylan & Carter Nutt from the 3rd ranked University of North Alabama won the event with a two-day total of 52.36 pounds.
Lucas Bowers & Fisher Rodgers from the University of South Carolina made a second day charge and finished in 2nd, and Nathan Reynolds & Banks Shaw, also from UNA, take 3rd place.
Click here to view the final tournament standings.
On Day 1 of tournament competition, Dylan & Carter Nutt weighed in a five bass limit for 27.80 pounds, including the big bass of the day weighing in at 7.87 pounds. On Day 2 of tournament competition, with winds, rain and storms battering the region due to a storm that popped up mid-morning in the Florence, Alabama area, the twin brothers steadily put together a strong limit that weighed in at 24.56 pounds. That five bass limit on Day 2 also included the Overall Big Bass of the tournament, tipping the scales at 8.20 pounds. For the tournament victory, the anglers earned $5,000, as well as several contingency awards to include $1,000 ACA logo contingency, $500 T-H Marine Atlas Awards, a Power-Pole for Overall Big Bass, and 2,500 points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
Finishing the event in 2nd, with 43.74 pounds, are Lucas Bowers & Fisher Rodgers from the University of South Carolina. The two anglers were in 10th place after Day 1. On the final day of tournament competition, they weighed in 24.62 pounds to climb 8 places. For their 2nd place finish, Bowers & Rodgers earned $2,500.
Rounding out the Top 3 are Nathan Reynolds & Banks Shaw, with a two-day total weight of 42.72 pounds. They also represented the 3rd ranked University of North Alabama. Reynolds & Shaw were in 13th place after Day 1 with 18.61 pounds, but thanks to a five fish limit weighing 24.11 pounds on Day 2, the duo was able to climb into 3rd overall in the final tournament standings. Reynolds & Shaw won $1,500, as well as claimed the $2,000 top prize for being the highest-finishing Yamaha Power Pay eligible team.
The Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is the final event of the 2023-24 season for the Association of Collegiate Anglers on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. This week’s tournament was also the final ACA event to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. In the coming days, the ACA will provide detailed write-ups on the event and contingencies awarded, publish a new episode of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast, as well as update the points for college fishing’s only all-encompassing National Rankings system.
The ACA would like to send a special thanks to Bass Pro Shops, the presenting sponsor of this National Championship tournament, as well as all of the series partners that support these college anglers. Another “thank you” goes to Visit the Shoals for their hospitality and help hosting this event in Florence, AL. The host city once again rolled out the red carpet to the anglers, coaches, and college fishing fans.
Fish Tip Friday - Bass Nation Angler Spotlight - Nick Trim
By Vance McCullough - AC Insider
Nick Trim, Local Hammer, National Tour Hopeful
A lot of anglers talk about versatility, but the most successful pros have something they can hang their hat on; something they do better than most, especially when conditions favor that approach. Nick Trim knows what he’s good at.
“Two of my four BFL wins have been during the spawn,” said Trim. “I really have the spawn dialed-in, as far as smallmouth go, and both of these tournaments fell during the spawn. Outside the spawn I don’t have as much success, but in both of these tournaments I got to do what I love to do and that’s catch spawning smallmouth.”
‘Both of these tournaments’ would be the recent MLF Bass Fishing League event that Trim won with a weight of over 20 pounds and, earlier in May, the B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier that he led all 3 days before sealing the victory by a margin of nearly 6 pounds. In addition to their similar timing, both events took place on the upper Mississippi River where the Galesville, Wisconsin angler is a force to be reckoned with, especially in the spring of the year.
But it’s not just the fish that Trim has a mastery over.
An early adopter of technology, Trim has been picking the pockets of fellow competitors by catching hard-to-see spawners for a long time. “I started doing this about 4 years ago, 5 years ago. I was the only one doing it – I know that for a fact – doing it all with my Humminbird Mega 360.” Lately Trim has added Garmin LiveScope to his arsenal. “Since LiveScope came out I’ve been able to really dial it in. Between the 360 and the LiveScope I can tell you when the fish picks up my bait without even feeling it bite.”
Sometimes, one plus one equals more than a simple doubling of values. In Trim’s case, the combination of two types of electronics has improved his game exponentially. “With 360 you can see them in the bed, but with LiveScope you can see how she reacts to your bait, when she bites it. And I can tell how big the fish is. With 360 I could never tell how big the fish was, so I wasn’t as efficient because I had to catch all of them. Now I can pick and choose which fish I’m going to catch with the LiveScope, just like I was looking at them with my eyes.”
While the technology is available to all, not all anglers have taken the time to master it. Trim knows how to get the most from his units and that, he says, has made all the difference.
“I know a lot of guys around here that have it but just don’t know what they’re doing. They maybe think they do, but if they did, I wouldn’t be winning. I think it’s time,” said Trim of his secret ingredient to the winning formula. “I was one of the first to learn it. There will be guys catching on. I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can, but I know guys are coming and they’re gonna be way better at it than I am, but I’ve been doing it consistently for so long. I’ve put in hours and hours and hours on it and did nothing else for four seasons, so I know if fish are on beds, I have perfected the ability to catch them.
“And I also think a lot of guys don’t have dual technology. I wouldn’t be comfortable without one or the other. My 360 and my LiveScope are both key players.”
Trim also knows what he’s not good at.
“I’ve fished against Tristan McCormick, for instance. Tristan is known for LiveScoping. That’s what he does, but me going out in 40 feet of water and doing what he does, I’m no good at it. I’m terrible at it. I proved that at Ouachita, but you put me in 3-to-5 feet of dirty water where you can’t see fish and give me Perspective Mode, I can do it.”
Trim is no stranger to high level competition. He placed in the Top 5 at a MLF Invitational last year on the upper Mississippi. He laughs now about being stuck in a lock with the other four top finishers including Jared Lintner, Steve Lopez, Tom Monsoor and eventual winner Matt Stefan. “We all thought we were going to get locked out and not weigh our fish. We all made it back with about two minutes to spare.”
Trim hopes to continue rubbing shoulders with Tour level pros as he tries to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite series via the Opens EQ. “We’re four derbies in on that one and I think I’m sitting in 78th. It’s got to be the hardest circuit you could put yourself through. I enjoy the heck out of it. It’s been so much fun but they’re going to start the northern swing here after we get done at Eufaula, toward the end of June, and hopefully I can climb the ladder, but hopefully the B.A.S.S. Nation National Championship goes my way and I don’t have to worry about it.”
As do most anglers, Trim works a regular job when not fishing tournaments and the company he works with is also his title sponsor, River Valley Remodelers. Other sponsors include “Motor Socks. Local company here that makes neoprene covers for your trolling motor, rigging tubes and Power-Poles, stuff like that, keeps everything looking nice and fancy and neat. Blaises Repair, TLC Therapy, T&T Tackle, Power-Pole, Mercury, Pheonix – they’re all a huge part of what I do. The Opens are an expensive venture, and I couldn’t do it without support from any of these.”
Dylan & Carter Nutt From 3rd Ranked University of North Alabama Take the Day 1 Lead at the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship
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Lee Leads Wire-to-Wire to Win MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
Alabama pro earns third MLF Bass Pro Tour win on fishery and earns $100,000 top prize, Kevin VanDam catches 7-12 largemouth to win $100,000 Big Bass award
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 23, 2024) – The first time Abu Garcia pro Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama, ever tasted tournament victory, competing on Lake Guntersville at age 17, he earned the win throwing a topwater frog. Ever since, he’s continued to hone his skills with his favorite technique, waiting for a chance to show them off on the national stage.
When he finally got the chance at General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Lee made sure to take advantage.
Lee caught each of his seven scorable bass during Thursday’s Championship Round and nearly all his weight throughout the event walking a Berkley Swamp Lord over matted hydrilla on Lake Toho. His 27-pound, 14-ounce final-day total proved just enough to clinch a second Heavy Hitters championship belt.
Lee entered this week as the clear favorite thanks to his two prior wins on the Kissimmee Chain in Bass Pro Tour competition, including the inaugural Heavy Hitters event in June 2020. And for much of the event, he made it look easy. He led Group B through both days of qualifying, stacking more than 60 pounds on SCORETRACKER® during a Day 1 he called “insane,” then won the Knockout Round.
Come Championship Thursday, though, his fish proved far less cooperative. Whether due to five days of fishing pressure, the variable minimum weight increasing to 3 pounds or the calm, blue-sky conditions that greeted the Top 10, the entire field had to grind for bites, Lee included. It took him two hours to book his first scorable bass.
But, leaning on the hundreds of hours he’s spent frogging mats on Guntersville through the years, the Alabama native eventually figured out which tricks to try to generate just enough bites. He crawled his frog painfully slowly, especially when he knew he was around active fish. He also doctored one frog, removing the silicone strand legs and replacing them with super-glued jig rattles, saying the added noise helps attract bass through the thicker slop.
Most important was knowing where to look amid a sea of hydrilla. Lee learned during practice that he could get more bites through bigger mats than small, matted clumps. From there, he covered water to identify which areas were better than others, using the extra practice time he earned during the Qualifying Round to expand his list of waypoints. That proved vital, as Lee said certain mats stopped producing during the course of the event due to fishing pressure and boat traffic.
“They had to be hollow underneath, … and where you had that kind of cheese,” Lee explained. “They weren’t way out on the outside where there was isolated clumps. I was looking for the bigger mats in areas where they just looked fresh almost, and I was looking for blowholes, where fish come up, blowing through the mat.
“It’s Guntersville 101. I do this every fall since I was 16, the exact fishing that I did this week. It was no different. The grass was the same, and it was just awesome because of how identical it fishes to there.”
Lee used beefed-up tackle to throw his Swamp Lords, which he believes was key. He primarily wielded a Jordan Lee signature series 7-6 heavy rod from Abu Garcia — designed to be a flipping stick — instead of his usual, 7-3 frog rod. He also turned to a 7-9 punching rod in the thickest mats, spooling both with 50-pound Berkley X5 braid. The heavier rods gave him more power to winch bass out of the thick grass.
“I didn’t want to mess up the mats,” Lee said. “That’s kind of what I’ve learned about going in and getting them, you ruin a place, and then you’ve got to drag them out. You can catch a fish right there in the same hole that you’ve caught one before, and that happened a ton this week where you’d find them just packed in out of the same spot.”
Lee bounced from spot to spot Thursday morning before landing on a mat that produced a three-fish flurry in the final half four of Period 1, giving him the lead. He extended his advantage with two more scorable bass around noon.
Then, his bite went dormant. Lee went more than two hours without adding to his total. During that time, several anglers crept within one scorable bass of his lead, and Poche eventually passed him with a little more than 90 minutes left in the competition day.
Lee didn’t panic, though. He returned to one of the mats he’d fished early in the morning. While he didn’t get any bites there initially, he’d noticed that it didn’t show signs of fishing pressure. The decision proved to be worth $100,000.
“I thought there was some fish around there,” Lee said. “I had some bites throughout the week right there. But I just decided that was really my only other place I thought wasn’t getting a lot of fishing pressure.”
While Lee lifting a trophy (or, in this case, a belt) has become a common sight at the highest level of tournament fishing, he’ll remember this win for how he pulled it off.
“I’m really just blown away how good it was to me this week, catching them one of my favorite ways, fishing this heavy hydrilla,” Lee said. “I grew up fishing like this. I was really comfortable when I found this bite. And it was just a special bite. It got tougher as the week went on, but I stayed patient, and man, it was just awesome.”
The top 10 pros at the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops on the Kissimmee Chain finished:
1st: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., seven bass, 27-14, $110,000
2nd: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 23-10, $25,000
3rd: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 19-4, $20,000
4th: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., four bass, 18-14, $118,000
5th: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 12-5, $20,000
6th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., two bass, 8-7, $44,500
7th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, two bass, 8-1, $13,500
8th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., one bass, 7-0, $17,500
9th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, two bass, 6-12, $11,000
10th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, zero bass, 0-0, $8,000
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 31 scorable bass weighing 132 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the final 10 pros in Thursday’s Championship Round. A bass had to weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable in the Championship Round.
The six-day General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes was hosted by Experience Kissimmee and showcased the top 30 pros that qualified via the Bass Pro Tour competing in a no-entry fee tournament for massive daily Big Bass Bonuses and a payout of $100,000 to the winner.
The 15 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round was complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advanced to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights were zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers competed to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights were zeroed, and the highest one-day total won the top prize of $100,000.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 10 and running each Saturday through Sept. 14 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Jordan Lee Leads Final 10 into Knockout Round, Thrift Banks $30K Big Bass Award at MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters
Lee earns Knockout Round win by 7-13, Thrift boats 7-pound, 11-ounce largemouth to win $30K Knockout Round Big Bass Award, Final 10 anglers set for Thursday’s Championship Round
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 22, 2023) – The two anglers who dominated their respective groups during the Qualifying Round at General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops picked up right where they left off during Wednesday’s Knockout Round.
Abu Garcia pro Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama, led the way with 49 pounds, 14 ounces. Trading the top spot with him throughout the day was pro Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tennessee, who wound up right behind him with 42-1. California pro Brent Ehrler , the only angler to find a consistent bite during a grueling third period, finished third with 40-2, while Bryan Thrift’s 7-11 won him $30,000 as the Berkley Big Bass.
While it’s not often that the same bite in the same areas holds up throughout an entire Bass Pro Tour event, it sure looks like Thursday’s Championship Round is shaping up to be a slugfest between Coulter and Lee, both of whom have done their damage in matted hydrilla in Lake Toho with Berkley Swamp Lord frogs. The two anglers have been the most dialed in since competition began on the Kissimmee Chain, and both secured their spots in the Top 10 during the first period Wednesday before laying off their best water.
There will be no holding back during the Championship Round, when not only will $100,000 and the title belt be on the line for the tournament winner, but another $100,000 will be up for grabs for the angler who catches the biggest bass. Watch the action from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. ET on the MLFNOW! live stream at MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV app.
Link to Hi-Res Photo of Knockout Round Winner Jordan Lee
Link to Hi-Res Photo of Bryan Thrift’s $30,000 Big Bass Winner
Link to Photo Gallery of Knockout Round Highlights
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights from Knockout Round of Heavy Hitters on the Kissimmee Chain
No surprise, Lee started the Knockout Round in the area that produced the bulk of his 63-4 total from his first day of qualifying – still the best day any angler has put together all week. However, he found “the grass had changed, so the fishing kind of changed with it.”
That forced Lee to adjust his location a bit. He didn’t land his first scorable bass until almost an hour after lines in. But once he relocated a school, the beatdown was on.
During a two-hour window that included a 15-minute period break, Lee stacked 12 scorable bass totaling 33-4 onto SCORETRACKER®, more than enough to cement his place among the Top 10.
“It was awesome,” he said. “I didn’t really know how many fish I could catch after a couple days of fishing, but I think it went really good.”
The key for Lee was covering water quickly to find sweet spots within the vast expanse of hydrilla. He explained that most of the bass seem to be congregated within small zones, the locations of which have changed a bit during the event due to grass growth and fishing pressure.
“It’s not a lot of big, giant mats with just fish everywhere,” he said. “It’s more like you find them, and they’re schooled up in one spot, and that’s where I’m catching them.”
Around 11 a.m., realizing his spot in the Championship Round was secure, Lee eased off the gas and shifted his focus to finding new hotspots and trying to catch the biggest bass of the day. He said he succeeded in the former and nearly in the latter, boating a 7-3 lunker midway through the third period.
Lee also saved a few areas that he’s discovered during the event for the Championship Round. His plan is to run from spot to spot until he finds one with a population that he thinks can earn him a second Heavy Hitters belt and a third BPT win on the Kissimmee Chain.
“I bounced around a lot,” he said, “and that’s what I’m going to do tomorrow is bounce around and try to find the area that’s most productive.”
One variable Lee and the rest of the Championship Round field will have to contend with is a boosted variable minimum weight. In a wrinkle unique to Heavy Hitters, bass will have to weigh at least 3 pounds to count toward anglers’ totals. As a result, Lee thinks the winning strategy will center less around finding numbers of fish and more on generating a handful of the right bites. Landing those bigger bites – far from a given when fishing a frog among thick mats – will also be pivotal.
“I still think you’re going to have to catch six or seven, at least – maybe a few more – to get the win, and some big ones, some of those 6- and 7-pounders,” Lee said. “You’ve always got to have your best day on the last day to win.”
The top 10 pros from the Knockout Round that advance to Thursday’s Championship Round on the Kissimmee Chain are:
1st: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 16 bass, 49-14
2nd: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 42-1
3rd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 13 bass, 40-13
4th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., seven bass, 25-4
5th: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 21-15
6th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, five bass, 20-13
7th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, seven bass, 20-10
8th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, seven bass, 20-9
9th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., four bass, 16-6
10th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., four bass, 13-2
Eliminated from competition after the Knockout Round on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are:
11th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., four bass, 12-12
12th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, five bass, 12-9
13th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 12-7
14th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., four bass, 12-4
15th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., three bass, 11-4
16th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, two bass, 4-6
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 104 bass weighing 337 pounds, 1 ounce caught by the 16 pros on Wednesday, which included three 7-pounders, two 6-pounders and two 5-pounders caught from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.
Berkley Big Bass Bonus Award Winners:
Group A Day 1: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala. (9-3), $10,000
Group B Day 1: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala. (7-14), $10,000
Group A Day 2: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn. & Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif. (7-10), $10,000
Group B Day 2: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark. (7-9), $10,000
Knockout Round: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C. (7-11), $30,000
Championship Round: TBD, $100,000
The General Tire Heavy Hitters at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Bass Pro Shops features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.
The 15 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round was complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advanced to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights were zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers competed to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The final 10 anglers will launch Thursday at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. The General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2023 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on Championship Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and Rumble.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 10 and running each Saturday through Sept. 14 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
MLF Pros Visit Osceola County High School Anglers Fishing Club to Talk About Boater Safety
| KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 22, 2024) – Four of the professional anglers competing at General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in central Florida visited with some local young Osceola anglers this week to talk about staying safe while on the water.
Major League Fishing (MLF) pros Ott DeFoe, Edwin Evers, Andy Montgomery and Britt Myers took some time Monday evening to meet with student anglers from the Osceola High School Anglers Fishing Club at their bi-weekly club meeting to talk about boater safety – particularly the importance of selecting and always wearing the right personal floatation devices (PFD) every time they are on the water. The MLF pros compete across the country, but DeFoe said he enjoys stops like this to remind young anglers about the importance of safety, on or off the water. “No one ever thinks they’re going to be in an accident,” DeFoe said. “It often happens when you least expect it. We want to make sure to remind all of these young anglers that it can happen to anyone, no matter how experienced they are. Wearing your life jacket is one of the most simple things that you can do to greatly improve your safety on the water. I wear my Onyx PFD absolutely every time I crank up my big outboard.” Montgomery, who had the student anglers cracking up with his stories of testing out ‘improper’ life jackets, said he wanted to remind the Osceola teens to make sure they had the right life jackets for the right situation. “It’s important to wear the correct life jackets – not some of those ‘belly jackets’ that make you float upside down – you can’t breathe out of your toes,” Montgomery joked. “Whether you’re using an automatic-inflatable life vest or a full life jacket, always make sure to check they are in good condition and appropriate for your activity on the water.” |
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| Lamar Chisholm, founder of the Osceola County High School Anglers Fishing team, said that the student anglers were very receptive of the pro anglers and their advice.
“The kids had a great time hearing from the pros, and everyone was super appreciative of the new Onyx PFDs, goodie bags and pizzas that the anglers brought with them,” Chisholm said. After the presentation, the Osceola anglers were treated to a pizza party, life jackets and goodie bags donated by MLF and MLF’s Exclusive Life Jacket sponsor, Onyx. Many MLF anglers wear Onyx’s automatic inflatable life jackets, and the same personal flotation device (PFD) is also the required game-day safety wear for MLF camera crews and officials throughout all competitions, including the General Tire Heavy Hitters event this week. The MLF event was held in conjunction with National Safe Boating Week. National Safe Boating Week (May 18-24) is the official launch of the 2024 Safe Boating Campaign. The yearlong campaign promotes the value of voluntary, consistent life jacket wear by recreational boaters. U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in four out of every five recreational boating fatalities in 2022, and that 75 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets. More photos from the event can be found HERE. For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. About Major League Fishing |
Annual Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament raises more than $385,400 for Terry Heart Institute
Three-day tournament and boat drawing have raised more than $7 million for Wolfson Children’s patients since 1989. Jacksonville, Florida, May 22, 2024 – Last week, more than 1,000 anglers from across Florida and the Southeast took to the St. Johns River for the 35th annual Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament. The tournament, which takes place in Palatka, Fla., has grown to become one of the largest bass fishing tournaments in the state since it began in 1989.
The three-day event featured different competitions each day, with the main tournament on Saturday, May 18. Parker Stalvey of Green Cove Springs, Fla., and Syler Prince of Palatka, Fla., won first place overall with a five-fish aggregate weight of 27.79 lbs.
The duo is no stranger to the annual tournament. Stalvey has competed for several years and finished in 10th place last year. Prince took home first place in the Lads & Lasses competition in 2023 and first place in the VIP & Friends event two years ago.
Second place went to the father-son team of Joe and Joey Cotromano of Yulee, Fla., with a total weight of 23.61 lbs. Third place went to Terry Mullis of Ocala, Fla., and Miranda Crews of Charlton, Ga. The father-daughter team had a total weight of 23.52 lbs.
During the VIP & Friends Tournament on Friday, May 17, Thomas Boney of Fruit Cove, Fla., and Tyler DeRuiter of St. Johns, Fla., took home first place with a five-fish aggregate weight of 23.60 lbs. Derek Daniels of Macclenny, Fla., and Michael Johnson of Raiford, Fla., came in second place with an overall weight of 22.77 lbs., and Tim Mann and Troy Ray of Jacksonville, Fla., came in third with an overall weight of 21.35 lbs.
The first-place winners of Thursday’s Lads and Lasses Tournament were Brian and Michelle Sousa of St. Augustine, Fla., with a five-fish aggregate weight of 25.25 lbs., followed by Chris and Nikki Cercy of Middleburg, Fla., in second place with an overall weight of 20.42 lbs. Camren Teuton and Ryleigh Hansford of Palatka, Fla., placed third with an overall weight of 20.23 lbs.
Winners took home more than $48,000 in cash prizes.
Reeling in hope
The 2024 Bass Tournament raised more than $385,000 in sponsorships and donations for the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Heart Institute at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. All proceeds help to fund life-saving cardiology and heart surgery equipment and state-of-the-art technology.
In 1989, the Plant Facilities Department at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville organized and launched the tournament to help fund capital improvements and new technology. The event has raised more than $7 million for Wolfson Children’s and the patients treated there.
“We extend our heartfelt appreciation to every angler and member of the community who joined the tournament or secured a ticket for our annual boat drawing. It’s because of their support that Wolfson Children’s can continue its mission of providing world-class care close to home,” said Allegra C. Jaros, MBA, president of Wolfson Children’s Hospital. “Together, we’re making a difference in the lives of children and families across Northeast Florida and beyond.”
While the anglers may have put away their rods and reels, there is still time to support the cause through the annual bass boat drawing. For a suggested donation of $20, anyone can enter a drawing for a chance to win a 21’ 2024 Bullet Boat model 21XRS with a trailer, courtesy of Bullet Boats, valued at $97,000 (Mercury motor to be included).
Like the tournament, all proceeds from the boat drawing benefit the Terry Heart Institute. Ticket sales close Friday, May 31, at noon, and the winner will be announced on Saturday, June 1. Tickets can be purchased online at wolfsonbasstournament.com.
"For 35 years, thousands of anglers, volunteers, sponsors, the City of Palatka, and many others have united for one important cause, supporting Wolfson Children’s Hospital and its patients," said Sam Dean, tournament co-chair and Baptist Health System Director of Plant Facilities. "This tournament wouldn't be possible without their support, and we are grateful for their recognition of the event's impact year after year."
Top sponsors for the 2024 tournament included:
- Title Sponsors: Miller Electric Company and W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor, Inc.
- Grand Sponsor: Facility Automation Solutions
- Ambassador Sponsors: Baston-Cook Construction, Fickling Construction, Inc., Perry-McCall Construction, Inc. and Smith Brothers Plastering Company, Inc.
The 36th annual Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament is scheduled for May 15-17, 2025. Early bird registration for the Saturday tournament is now open online until Saturday, June 8, 2024, at noon.
Jordan Lee Coasts to Qualifying Round Win, Rose Wins $10K Big Bass Award at MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters
Wednesday’s Knockout Round field set as eight anglers advancing from Group B
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 21, 2023) – Despite locking up a spot in the Knockout Round of General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Bass Pro Shops during his first day on the water, pro Jordan Lee of Guntersville, Alabama, used every minute of the second qualifying day for Group B to his advantage.
Lee hauled his biggest bass of Tuesday, a 6-pound, 7-ounce specimen, over the gunwale just seconds before the end of competition. The buzzer-beater anchored his tally of 19-6 on six scorable bass, which was more than enough to maintain his spot atop the standings. His two-day total of 82-10 topped legendary pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan – competing in his final event – by 21-11.
While Lee and the other anglers who started the day near the top of SCORETRACKER® spent much of the day in what he called “search mode,” pro Mark Rose of Wynne, Arkansas, provided the most entertaining action. Rose, who started the day in 14th place, blasted 37-13 on seven bass, including a 7-9, which earned him $10,000 as the day’s biggest catch.
Like Brandon Coulter a day prior, Lee’s objective Tuesday wasn’t to catch as much weight as he could. Instead, he used the day to prepare for Wednesday’s Knockout Round with a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense.
Lee spent much of the day exploring new water, looking for more schools of bass living in the matted hydrilla on Lake Toho. He’s optimistic he found a few spots that could produce if the bite falters in his Day 1 area, including the one that produced his 6-pounder just before lines out.
“I had three bites here in about five minutes,” Lee said of the spot. “So, maybe I’ll have a little something up here to myself. I don’t really know. It looks good, but we’ll see tomorrow.”
Lee will hope he never has to turn to the backup plan. He did his best to make sure the zone that produced the bulk of his 63-4 on Sunday — a mark no other angler eclipsed across two days of qualifying combined — can carry him through the rest of the tournament, chasing off at least one other angler who stumbled upon the spot.
While Lee almost certainly will have company there tomorrow, he’s all-in on his frog bite, throwing a Berkley Swamp Lord on his signature 7-6, heavy Jordan Lee casting rod from Abu Garcia. The 2020 Heavy Hitters champion told MLFNOW! viewers that he’s been waiting for a tournament that could be won frogging mats like he does during the fall on Lake Guntersville in his home state of Alabama. Given that he and Coulter both used the technique to lead their respective groups through qualifying, this looks like his chance.
“I feel like tomorrow is going to be fun,” he said. “I’ve got some areas I feel like I can put the trolling motor down and (Power-Pole) down and frog, and that’s what we’re going to do. I feel like you can get right in a hurry, for sure.”
The top eight pros from Qualifying Group B that now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on the Kissimmee Chain are:
1st: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 24 bass, 82-10
2nd: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 20 bass, 60-15
3rd: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 20 bass, 56-2
4th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 17 bass, 55-15
5th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 15 bass, 45-15
6th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., nine bass, 42-7
7th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 13 bass, 36-1
8th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 11 bass, 33-9
Group B anglers finishing the event in 9th through 15th place are:
9th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., nine bass, 31-15
10th: Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla., 10 bass, 28-8
11th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., eight bass, 26-2
12th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., seven bass, 22-10
13th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., eight bass, 21-9
14th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 21-3
15th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., six bass, 17-7
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 78 bass weighing 252 pounds, 2 ounces caught by the 15 pros on Tuesday, which included one 7-pounder, three 6-pounders and four 5-pounders caught from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.
The General Tire Heavy Hitters at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Bass Pro Shops features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.
The 15 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. Now that each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
In addition to the tournament, Big Bass Bonuses are awarded in each round of competition with payouts of $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000 awarded to the single biggest fish in the Group A and B Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
Anglers will launch each day of competition at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2023 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and Rumble.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 10 and running each Saturday through Sept. 14 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Full Field Set to Compete in the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops
FLORENCE, AL (May 21, 2024) - This week, the Association of Collegiate Anglers will host its final event of the 2023-24 season on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. The 2024 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is the 19th edition of college fishing’s longest-running National Championship event. Set to be contested at Pickwick Lake in Florence, AL on May 23-24, 2024, the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops will feature a field of 400 of the top collegiate anglers competing in this no-entry-fee, nationally televised, triple points event which will feature media coverage on a variety of streaming platforms, live coverage, social media promotions and is nationally televised on several networks.
The full field of 200 teams will compete for two days in hopes of claiming the National Championship title, along with over $30,000 in prizes and contingencies, as well as triple points to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
Official practice continues today, with the final day of official practice and Angler & Sponsor Banquet occurring on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be official competition days, with weigh-in and takeoff happening at McFarland Park in Florence, AL. Live weigh-in will be streamed each afternoon on the ACA website. Official weigh-in will begin at 2:00 PM (CT) on both Day 1 and Day 2.
Lake and weather conditions are setting up for a summertime slugfest out on these two Tennessee River fisheries. A mix of sunshine and clouds will greet the anglers during official practice, with high temperatures holding steady in the upper 80’s. Bass will be spread out across a variety of areas on both fisheries, and it will be exciting to see how anglers go about catching their fish. Read a complete lake preview at this link.
The total payout for the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops exceeds $30,000 in prizes and contingencies. The no-entry-fee event will pay out the Top 40 places in the final standings, numerous exact places, and a Power-Pole to the Overall Big Bass. View the complete prize list here.
The Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops will be the final ACA event to count towards the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. School bass fishing clubs and teams will be eligible to earn triple points this week. First place will receive 2,500 points, and schools will be eligible to earn points for their three highest-finishing teams inside of the Top 150 of the final tournament standings.
24 of the Top 25 teams are registered to compete at Pickwick Lake this week. For teams that have three high finishes, there is potential for them to earn approximately 7,000 points. Given that the standings are stacked so tightly now, there will be an opportunity for teams to make major moves in the rankings.
Live coverage for the event continues with the Live Blog through the conclusion of Official Practice tomorrow. The live blog will also be active during both days of tournament competition. As mentioned above, live weigh-in will be streamed on the ACA website both afternoons. Also, follow along with ACA social media channels for additional coverage and content. Follow this link to keep up with all things regarding the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
Whataburger brings bold flavors to Wheeler Lake with fourth-consecutive Elite Series sponsorship
May 21, 2024
Whataburger brings bold flavors to Wheeler Lake with fourth-consecutive Elite Series sponsorship
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — For the fourth consecutive year, Whataburger, the beloved burger chain known for bold flavors and fresh ingredients served up just like you like it, has signed on as a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament title sponsor. The 2024 Whataburger
“At Whataburger, we’re all about creating memorable moments, and that’s exactly what we’ve been able to do with the Bassmaster Elite tournament over the last four years,” said Whataburger Director of Sponsorships Jeff Altman. “Wheeler Lake is a prime location for these anglers and their families and fishing fans from all over to enjoy a day at the lake and celebrate afterwards at their nearest Whataburger. It's truly a special experience we're proud to be a part of.”
The last B.A.S.S. event to be held on Wheeler Lake was the May 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open presented by SEVIIN, where Wisconsin pro Adam Rasmussen won with 54 pounds, 15 ounces. Wheeler is the second-largest lake on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama and stretches 60 miles from Guntersville Dam to Wheeler Dam near Rogersville. Stumpy flats and creek channels are popular areas to find bass midlake, while the lower end features steep banks and long points.
Whataburger locations in nearby Decatur, Athens, Florence and Huntsville will keep anglers and fans fueled up on their way to the free, family-friendly Elite Series Outdoors Expo at Ingalls Harbor in Decatur, held in conjunction with the Elite Series event. The Outdoors Expo will bring together fishing and Whataburger fans alike to learn about exciting new menu items and play games to win prizes at the Whataburger tent.
“We’re very excited Whataburger is serving as title sponsor for the Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson. “The Wheeler Lake event is always a very popular stop for tournament anglers. North Alabama is bass fishing country, and we look forward to welcoming fishing fans from the area. The Whataburger partnership is a great fit for everyone, and we always enjoy their on-site presence where they share the Whataburger experience and promote North Alabama’s Whataburger locations.”
Live coverage of all four days of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake starts Thursday, June 13 on Bassmaster.com. The tournament will air on FS1 on Saturday, and, for the first time, coverage of an Elite Series event will be available on FOX on Sunday. For more information, visit Bassmaster.com.
About Whataburger
Whataburger serves up Goodness 24/7. Our original recipes are made to order, just like you like it, and we pride ourselves on extraordinary hospitality and meaningful connections in our communities. That’s what’s led fans to Whataburger since Harmon Dobson served our first customer in 1950. Headquartered in San Antonio, we’ve stayed close to our roots while building sales of more than $3 billion annually across our 15-state footprint and over 1,000 restaurants. Even with our exceptional menu, we know that people make the difference at Whataburger. That’s why we’re among QSR Magazine's Best Brands to Work For in 2023 and consistently win culture excellence awards, including Top Workplaces 2023. Want to become part of our orange spirit? Apply to become a Family Member (what we call our employees) at Whataburger.com/careers. Just hungry for a great meal? Download our app on iOS or Android to order ahead. Shop Whataburger-branded merchandise and selected sauces, including our famous Fancy and Spicy Ketchup, at Whatastore.com and find Whataburger original-recipe products in grocery stores. See our press kit for a list of locations, fun facts, milestones and other company information.
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.
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Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.com
Grandma was a Bass’n Gal, Grandpa was a Bassmaster
By Alan McGuckin for Vexus Boats
If anybody has the right to say bass fishing is in their blood, it’s Texas angler Cory Rambo.
Raised on Lake Sam Rayburn, the tackle store owner and highly accomplished tournament angler now cuts across East Texas waves in a smooth-riding Vexus® VX20 from Jorgensen Marine; however, his first boat was a far smaller vessel his grandfather, pro angler Bill Gregory, helped him acquire through the young Rambo’s grass mowing efforts.
“My grandma, Eudora, competed in Bass’n Gals events. Grandpa was a member of the famous Piney Woods Bass Club, and he also competed in Ray Scott’s early Bassmaster events, so bass fishing was just a way of life for me as a kid,” reflects Rambo.
Now age 47, Cory Rambo’s life moves at a much faster pace than it did on the shores of Sam Rayburn in the 1980s. He works two jobs: one as the owner of the highly successful Rambo Outdoors tackle store in Orange, Texas, and the other as a hospitality liaison for Richard Construction. Both jobs allow him to utilize his gift for connecting with folks to make their lives a little more fun.
“Being an independent tackle store owner is not easy in a world full of huge retailers, but we’ve been super successful since we opened seven years ago because we work hard to stay on top of what the fish are biting in this area. And we make sure we have an unmatched selection of tackle and lures to connect our customers to the fish, whether they’re headed to Rayburn, Toledo, the Sabine River, or the Gulf of Mexico,” says Rambo.
Some of the secret sauce in Rambo’s retail success is the fact he hires highly knowledgeable college anglers from nearby Lamar State. They’re young, passionate, and super educated on hot lure trends. Couple that youthful energy with Rambo’s in-depth knowledge gained from years of on-the-water experience, and it quickly becomes a formula that’s hard to rival.
In a region of America that's home to so many hard-core anglers, Rambo and longtime partner Rusty Clark have won 19 boats and 17 Angler of the Year titles, including four Bass Champs AOY titles, their latest coming just last year. If you know anything about bass fishing on the Texas-Louisiana border, you know that’s a wildly impressive resume.
“Rusty’s about ten years older than me. I’ll admit that I’m the lightning rod, and thank heavens, he’s the ground wire. It’s a relationship that works on the water extremely well,” grins Rambo.
An angler of Rambo’s caliber can choose to run just about any brand of boat that floats, so why does he run a Vexus?
“In one word—trust. I know I can trust people like Randy Hopper and Keith Daffron, who lead the Vexus brand in Flippin, Arkansas. These guys are lifetime boat builders, and in my opinion, their commitment to building an innovative boat that’s both strong and performance-driven is simply the best in the business,” says Rambo.
That’s a serious statement from a highly successful human who says with a smile, “My job is to make people happy.”
To learn more about the VX20 fiberglass rig that Rambo loves and the complete offering of Vexus® Boats please visit vexusboats.com.
Coulter Wins Group A Qualifying Round, Splits Big Bass Award with Ehrler at MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters on the Kissimmee Chain
Knoxville, Tennessee angler leads top eight anglers advancing from Group A, 15 anglers in Group B set to wrap Qualifying Round Tuesday
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 20, 2024) – Knoxville, Tennessee, pro Brandon Coulter didn’t need to catch a bass during the second day of qualifying for Group A at General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops . The 39-pound, 3-ounce total Coulter racked up on Day 1 on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes had him safe to qualify for Wednesday’s Knockout Round before he ever made a cast based on final results from Monday.
So, Coulter focused on finding new water where bass would bite his frog, pocketing some extra cash via the daily Berkley Big Bass Bonus along the way. Check and check.
Coulter added 24-1 to his tally on five scorable bass, bringing his two-day total to 63-4. That won Group A by 11-12 over pro Ryan Salzman of Huntsville, Alabama. The highlight of his day was a 7-10 lunker that ate his Berkley Swamp Lord during the first period. The beast tied Coulter with Redlands, California, pro Brent Ehrler for the daily big bass award. The two will split the $10,000 prize as a result.
While Coulter accomplished what he set out to achieve Monday and led his group through qualifying for just the second time during his Bass Pro Tour career, the Tennessee native admitted to battling some frustration.
After he caught more than 60 bass Saturday (all on a topwater frog), Coulter likened the second day of qualifying to doing his chores as a kid while his friends played outside. He knew he needed to lay off those fish in hopes he can return to his best spot after weights zero for the Knockout Round. But passing up the hot frog bite, especially as a few competitors stacked up weight in his Day 1 spot, tested his willpower.
“Today was a work day for me, meaning I had to expand my area; I couldn’t go just catch,” Coulter said. “I hear other guys catching them, and I know they’re on the juice, and I know I can just go catch them on a frog, and it’s like, no, you’ve got to work today.
“I wanted to catch them. That's what we do; we’re fishermen. And I also know that a frog bite like this is so volatile that it can stop any day. Water comes up, we get a big rain, so many things can happen. Bluegill, they’re small right now, they gain a little bit of weight, and they swim to the bottom. There’s so many things that can happen that can ruin it, so while it’s going on, you’re like, I want to get some of that.”
Still, Coulter’s day wasn’t without its share of excitement. He caught more than half his weight from two bass about 20 minutes apart.
First, while exploring to see how far away from his Day 1 spot he could find fish, Coulter boated the 7-10. Afterward, he ran to a completely new area of matted hydrilla in Lake Toho. Within minutes, a 7-6 inhaled his Swamp Lord.
“I just ran around, I found some grass, idled around it, and literally the first grass mat I pull up to, I catch a 7-something,” he said.
That was one of four new spots where Coulter found populations of bass Monday. While he doesn’t think any is as productive as his starting spot, he knows the reconnaissance could pay off if that area gets overcrowded during the Knockout or Championship Rounds.
“I probably expanded to four different little areas – none of them as good as what I had, but places I think I can go catch a bass,” Coulter explained. “The Knockout Round can come down to that if there’s five guys in that juice area and all of a sudden it’s getting beat up and you have to go find one here and one there, and I think I got a few places.”
Ultimately, restraining himself from returning to his “juice area” only made Coulter more eager to get back on the water Wednesday. Even though there will almost certainly be other anglers jostling over the zone, he feels confident it can continue to produce.
“I know what I’m going to do,” he said. “There’s no debating what I’m going to do, where I’m going to go. I feel very confident in my setup, what I’ve got going on. I know what I’m looking for.”
The top eight pros from Qualifying Group A that now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on the Kissimmee Chain are:
1st: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 17 bass, 63-4
2nd: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 13 bass, 51-8
3rd: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 15 bass, 48-12
4th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 47-14
5th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 13 bass, 45-3
6th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 11 bass, 40-0
7th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 12 bass, 35-9
8th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 33-2
Finishing the event in 9th through 15th place are:
9th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 28-6
10th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., nine bass, 28-1
11th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., six bass, 26-7
12th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., eight bass, 25-12
13th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., seven bass, 21-5
14th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., seven bass, 20-4
15th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., six bass, 17-5
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 87 bass weighing 293 pounds, 6 ounces caught by the 15 pros on Monday, which included three 7-pounders, one 6-pounder and seven 5-pounders caught from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.
The General Tire Heavy Hitters at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Bass Pro Shops features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.
The 15 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
In addition to the tournament, Big Bass Bonuses are awarded in each round of competition with payouts of $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000 awarded to the single biggest fish in the Group A and B Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
Anglers will launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2023 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and Rumble.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 10 and running each Saturday through Sept. 14 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Wieda Gets the Win at Home at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Ohio River-Tanners Creek
Ohio’s Sykes Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (May 20, 2024) – Boater Sean Wieda of Alexandria, Kentucky, caught a five-bass limit weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River at Tanners Creek . The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Buckeye Division. Wieda earned $4,279 for his victory.
For Wieda, this was a big “finally” moment – winning a BFL event on his home waters.
“I’ve been fishing here for 25 years, and I’ve come close to winning a bunch,” he said. “I’ve got several seconds and thirds. Springtime is my favorite time of year. The water was up, and the fish were spawning. The biggest key for me was I was fishing for spawners that you couldn’t see. A lot of people try to catch the ones up on the bank, and what I do is try to find where the males are and back off in front of them in like 2 or 3 feet of water, which is deep water for the river.”
Wieda calls the technique “blind sight-fishing.” He says often the females will be out a hair deeper, just out of sight. Making repeated casts out in front of visible beds and understanding how to trigger bites are keys to Wieda’s approach.
“Most of my fish were caught on a soft plastic I call the Wieda Bug that I make,” he said, “and my biggest fish was caught on an Ark Z-Series (Z-Alpha) square-bill.
“The (fish I caught on the) square bill was a spawner also,” Wieda added. “Sometimes you can get them to react to something like that. That fish was 2 to 3 feet off the bank, and I couldn’t see her or anything, but I saw the male up there and I ran the crankbait through there four or five times.”
When fishing the soft plastic, Wieda used a 7-foot, 6-inch Ark Randall Tharp Series rod with the Ark Gravity 8 reel.
Wieda, who owns Wieda’s Marine, a Phoenix Boats dealership, also offered a sincere thanks to his support team.
“Thanks to my crew at Wieda’s Marine,” he said. “Not only do they take care of customers all over the United States, but they take really good care of me and allow me to get out there and fish. I’ve been fishing them (BFLs) for years. It was good to finally win here. I’ve had some other wins, but I’ve never won there on my home water, so that was pretty special. I’m excited.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Sean Wieda, Alexandria, Ky., five bass, 9-4, $4,279
2nd: Nick Leonard, Amelia, Ohio, five bass, 8-7, $2,140
3rd: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 8-3, $1,212
3rd: Kevin Spivey, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 8-3, $1,817
5th: Jason Steele, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-12, $856
6th: Michael Nesbitt, St. Paris, Ohio, five bass, 7-9, $749
6th: Roger Hahn, Fairfield, Ohio, five bass, 7-9, $1,049
8th: Chad McCarty, Tipp City, Ohio, five bass, 7-7, $642
9th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-2, $571
10th: William (Bill) Spivey, Middletown, Ohio, five bass, 7-0, $499
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Kevin Spivey of Hamilton, Ohio, caught a bass that weighed 3 pounds, 8 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $605.
Ryan Sykes of Fairfield, Ohio, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,140 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 6 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Ryan Sykes, Fairfield, Ohio, five bass, 6-7, $2,140
2nd: Landen Wisener, Russells Point, Ohio, four bass, 5-8, $1,070
3rd: Brian Blinn, Troy, Ohio, three bass, 5-7, $712
4th: Aaron Napier, Franklin, Ohio, four bass, 4-15, $499
5th: James Jeffers III, Athens, Ohio, four bass, 4-10, $510
5th: Douglas Shope, Arcanum, Ohio, four bass, 4-10, $410
7th: Jesse Foster, Franklin, Ohio, four bass, 4-7, $357
8th: Andrew Worrall, Burlington, Ky., four bass, 4-6, $321
9th: Rob Webber, Elyria, Ohio, three bass, 4-5, $285
10th: Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, three bass, 4-4, $250
Chad McQueen of Fairfield, Ohio, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $302, catching a bass that weighed in at 3 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
The next event for BFL Buckeye Division anglers will be held June 8, at Mosquito Lake in Cortland, Ohio. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
VanDam’s Favorite Lure for Florida
By Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
It was a 19-hour drive in his Toyota Tundra from Kalamazoo to the highly familiar waters of Florida’s Kissimmee Chain, but Kevin VanDam is feeling very much at home this week as he takes a tiny break from his pro tournament retirement to sit in second place after Day 1 of the MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters event, a special stand-alone event he qualified for last season.
“I’ve probably competed in about 30 events in Florida throughout my pro career. I’ve always enjoyed this state because the lakes are expansive and full of so much vegetation,” says VanDam.
He actually notched one of his 29 mind-boggling career victories on Kissimmee’s Lake Toho in March of 2008 by ripping a Red Eye Shad from the submerged vegetation he treasures, and the submerged salad was certainly in play during Sunday’s opening round of competition when a Strike King Thunder Cricket vibrating jig helped him land 13 bass totaling 40 pounds to sit second behind Jordan Lee.
However, when asked to name his all time favorite lure over thirty years of fishing in Florida, “KVD” chose a swim jig.
“It doesn’t matter where you go in Florida, from Okeechobee to the St. Johns River and the Kissimmee and Harris Chains in between, a swim jig has proven to be my all-time best lure for covering a ton of water and catching above average sized fish in this state,” says VanDam.
Sure, a soft stick bait like a Senko or Strike King Ocho catches thousands of Florida bass each year, but VanDam says it’s the snag-free speed and efficiency a swim jig offers that makes him call it his all-time favorite lure for Florida.
White, along with black-blue, are the two swim jig colors he leans on most, with green pumpkin sunfish serving as a back-up option. If he’s trying to keep the jig super shallow around lily pads or Kissimmee grass, he uses a lighter 1/4 -ounce, but if he wants it to hunt slightly deeper over submerged eel grass, he’ll tie on a 3/8 ounce.
A Strike King Rage Craw matched to the color of the jig skirt is always his trailer. He spools up with 50-pound braid, on a somewhat speedy 7.5:1 Lew’s reel and 7’ 4” medium-heavy action rod.
“I can’t say a swim jig will be my primary lure this week on Kissimmee, but you can bet I’ll have a couple ready to go on the front deck. It’s truly a lure that works in every season of the year in Florida. I’m definitely going to miss competing in Florida now that I’m retried. This state’s been special to me,” concludes VanDam.
It sure would be wildly special if “The GOAT” found a way to win this – his final ever pro level event – in a state that’s been as much a treasure to his unparalleled career as the swim jigs he’s often counted on to carry the load in the Sunshine State.
Pennsylvania’s Gray Earns First Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Potomac River
New Jersey’s Kevin Jones Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
MARBURY, Md. (May 20, 2024) – Boater Daniel Gray of Butler, Pennsylvania, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Potomac River . Hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners, the tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Northeast Division. Gray earned $10,926, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
Prior to the tournament, Gray checked the “usual spawning areas” and determined that this phase of the spawn was pretty well finished.
“Usually they go in shallower to spawn where the grass is a little bit more sporadic,” he said. “But as soon as they pull out of there, there’s so much grass this year, it’s so thick, that they just start dispersing through that, and it’s hard to find them.”
It’s also hard to catch them. Topwater and flipping can pull big fish out of thick grass, but Gray had a different strategy.
“I had to find some areas where the grass wasn’t totally topped out yet. That and some hard cover,” he said.
He was able to locate a couple such areas in practice. The key was being able to work a moving bait over the top of the grass.
“My main thing was a square-bill crankbait,” Gray said. “That’s what I fished all the grass and some of the hard cover with. And I did some flipping with a (Zoom) Speed Craw and threw a drop-shot.
“The square bill I was throwing over the grass. I was feathering it through, and I had to hold my rod high. It was just kind of a feel thing. I tried to tick the top of the grass so it wasn’t burying into it.”
Gray used a Strike King KVD 1.5 square-bill. Popping it off the tops of the grass helped trigger reaction bites.
“(Another key was) knowing when to get to the grass when the current was moving,” Gray added. “When it died off I ran and did other things. I ran up into a creek and fished where there was still a little bit of current – just staying in some moving water.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Daniel Gray, Butler, Pa., five bass, 17-5, $10,926 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Christopher Sanno, Landisburg, Pa., five bass, 16-14, $1,963
3rd: Robert Grike, Dumfries, Va., five bass, 16-10, $1,309
4th: Brian Mullaney, Ijamsville, Md., five bass, 15-14, $850
4th: Zachary Borger, Brodheadsville, Pa., five bass, 15-14, $1,380
6th: Doug Jenkins, Saint Leonard, Md., five bass, 15-11, $720
7th: Gary Marean, Manassas, Md., five bass, 15-8, $654
8th: John Baranik, Earleville, Md., five bass, 15-5, $589
9th: Rick Anderson, Dover, Pa., five bass, 14-15, $523
10th: Ryan Bauman, Reading, Pa., five bass, 14-13, $458
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Zachary Borger of Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $530.
Kevin Jones of Mount Holly, New Jersey, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,963 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Kevin Jones, Mount Holly, N.J., five bass, 16-5, $1,963
2nd: Billy Micciulla, Toms River, N.J., five bass, 14-13, $981
3rd: Jesse Ketchum, Columbia, Md., five bass, 14-12, $655
4th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 13-14, $708
5th: Kade Wesner, Lancaster, Pa., five bass, 13-9, $393
6th: Andrew Hostler, Tyrone, Pa., five bass, 13-8, $360
7th: Keyshawn Bratcher, Altamonte Springs, Fla., five bass, 13-5, $327
8th: Patrick Stansbury, Westminster, Md., five bass, 12-15, $294
9th: Lenny Baird, Stafford, Va., five bass, 12-14, $262
10th: Christopher Dam, Staatsburg, N.Y., five bass, 12-11, $229
Nathan Routzahn of Myersville, Maryland, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $265, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
The next event for BFL Northeast Division anglers will be held June 29, at Lake Oneida in Brewerton, New York. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Trim Gets Win No. 4 at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at the Mississippi River in La Crosse
Minnesotan Luebben Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
LA CROSSE, Wis. (May 20, 2024) – Boater Nick Trim of Galesville, Wisconsin, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin . Hosted by Explore La Crosse, the tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Great Lakes Division. Trim earned $10,718, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
Trim is on a roll on the Mississippi River. Last weekend at the 2024 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier out of La Crosse, he threw down a three-day wire-to-wire win. Then he followed it up with the only 20-pound-plus stringer of the tournament to win the BFL.
“I pretty much just kept it rolling,” Trim said. “We put in at Pool 8. I ran up to Pool 7 and caught like 17 pounds, and then I locked down and ended up catching my three biggest fish in Pool 8 after 1 o’clock.”
Trim weighed in a limit of smallmouths that he caught off beds using Garmin LiveScope in perspective mode. He located beds in 3- to 5-foot-deep gravel areas out of the current on the main river or just off the main river.
Trim said the fish were actually in between spawning waves and catching 20-plus greatly outperformed his expectations.
“The problem was the water came up 3 feet, so all the sudden you can’t see them,” he said. “You can’t visually look at them. That’s where the LiveScope comes in. Both events were the same thing. Today (Saturday) it came down a little bit. The first fish I caught was the only good fish I caught in practice. It was a 4-2, and I could visually see it with my eyes. Every other fish I weighed in I caught looking at with my LiveScope.”
Trim caught his fish using a variety of common bed-fishing lures, including a drop-shot with a Keitech 2.8 Swing Impact FAT Swimbait, a Missile Baits D Bomb, a Yamamoto Senko and a Ned rig. His kicker fish was a 5-pounder, and after throwing “everything I had in the boat” at it, he finally caught it on the Senko.
“The 5-pounder was in an area on Pool 8 I haven’t ever really fished, but I was going along and I just saw this big fish swimming around on my graph,” he said. “It kind of settled in on this dark spot that I assumed was its bed, and I threw in there and caught her within 30 minutes.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Nick Trim, Galesville, Wis., five bass, 20-6, $10,718 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Clayton Weber, West Salem, Wis., five bass, 19-5, $1,859
3rd: Mark Myers, Cedar Falls, Iowa, five bass, 19-1, $1,238
4th: Dan Mohn, Lansing, Iowa, five bass, 18-9, $1,292
5th: Jackson Perry, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 18-7, $744
6th: Parker Kratochvill, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 17-3, $682
7th: Greg Oppegard, West Saint Paul, Minn., five bass, 16-6, $1,105
8th: Aiden Denzer, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 16-5, $527
8th: Kory Rose, Waterloo, Iowa, five bass, 16-5, $527
10th: Chris Aswegan, Tiffin, Iowa, five bass, 16-3, $434
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Greg Oppegard of West Saint Paul, Minnesota, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $485.
Cade Luebben of West Concord, Minnesota, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,859 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Cade Luebben, West Concord, Minn., five bass, 15-2, $1,859
2nd: Chris Stelter, Chisago City, Minn., five bass, 14-7, $929
3rd: Brandon Troupe, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 13-9, $619
4th: Jason Olson, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., five bass, 13-7, $434
5th: Tim Himsl, Moline, Ill., five bass, 13-6, $372
6th: John Kimmes, Hastings, Minn., five bass, 13-1, $341
7th: Brian Billett, Elgin, Ill., five bass, 13-0, $310
8th: Hertz Skaer, Holmen, Wis., five bass, 12-15, $379
9th: Ryan Coon, LeClaire, Iowa, five bass, 12-14, $248
10th: Adam Boyce, Glenview, Ill., five bass, 12-13, $217
Gage Griffin of Lake Forest, Illinois, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $242, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Mark Myers of Cedar Falls, Iowa, leads the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 488 points, while Jason Olson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, leads the Fishing Clash Great Lakes Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 495 points.
The next event for BFL Great Lakes Division anglers will be held June 15, at Wolf River Chain in Winneconne, Wisconsin. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional tournament on Pools 13-17 of the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Whitewater Fishing adds new neutral color to its surging Lightweight Tech Hoodie collection
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MUSKEGON, Mich. (March 20, 2024) – Lightweight performance fishing shirts provide comfortable and versatile protection from the sun’s harmful rays while wicking moisture to keep warm-weather anglers cool during the heat of the hunt. But many so-called fishing tech shirts have a downside. It’s called permastink. The lightweight polyester that performs so well in warm temperatures has a very small pore structure that can trap and tightly grip bacteria and odor molecules. Once trapped, these odors can be difficult or impossible to remove, even with repeated washings. |
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Whitewater’s Lightweight Tech Hoodie delivers anglers a triple dose of technology to keeps anglers dry, protected from solar radiation, and smelling fresh. Our 100% polyester interlock fabric delivers supreme, next-to-skin comfort, while wicking perspiration to keep anglers comfy and dry. UPF 30 provides both UVA and UVB skin protection that effectively blocks over 96% of ultraviolet radiation. Finally, an antimicrobial treatment controls and prevents odors, including permastink that can infiltrate untreated polyester garments. |
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Whitewater’s stretchy material is like witchcraft, too. Silky smooth to the touch. And it maintains its athletic fit after numberless wearing and washing. Functions like another layer of skin, one that protects you from the sun and draws moisture away. In these economic times when every purchase is under scrutiny, these top-shelf fishing shirts pass the performance and practicality tests. |
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Lightweight Tech Hoodie FEATURES:
$34.99 |
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ABOUT WHITEWATER Whitewater performance fishing apparel gives anglers distinct advantages whenever Mother Nature’s unpredictability conspires to ruin angling adventures. Whether faced with wind, rain, snow, sun, or extreme temperatures, Whitewater apparel equips anglers with the ability and confidence to overcome the elements, so they apply their focus and energies on fighting fish, not the conditions. Whitewater is a brand by Nexus Outdoors, headquartered in Muskegon, Michigan, USA. Learn more and order at whitewaterfish.com. |
Siddiqi commits to offshore bite to score big Bassmaster Kayak Series win at Guntersville
May 19, 2024
Siddiqi commits to offshore bite to score big Bassmaster Kayak Series win at Guntersville
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — By committing to an offshore area of Lake Guntersville, Eric Siddiqi claimed his second career Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX trophy with a two-day total of 189.5 inches, earning $11,500 in the process.
The Cincinnati, Ohio, angler landed 96.25 inches on Day 1 before adding 93.25 inches to his total on Day 2, enough to outlast South Carolina’s Barry Davis in second (187 inches) and Connecticut's Ryan Nye in third (186.75 inches).
“I love ledge fishing,” Siddiqi said. “So, I decided to go out and give that a shot. I caught some big ones out there in practice and had a couple spots.”
Siddiqi’s first Bassmaster victory came in 2022 when he won the National Championship on Richard B. Russell Lake on the South Carolina/Georgia border. This win at Guntersville, he said, means just as much.
“I was starting to feel like I forgot how to fish this year,” Siddiqi said. “My father passed away at the beginning of last year and the last year and a half has been tough for me. This is as big as (winning) the Championship for me.”
This week didn’t start particularly smoothly for Siddiqi. After installing a new Garmin LiveScope system to his kayak at Dugout Bait and Tackle in Georgia, Siddiqi’s truck experienced mechanical issues, delaying the start to his practice.
Once he did hit the water, however, he found two viable patterns he could fish, one offshore pattern and one shallow pattern. With Kentucky Lake ledge experience, Siddiqi elected to fish offshore and split time between two structural elements of a “community hole” on Lake Guntersville.
“The shallow spot I had, I’ve fished before in tournaments and I know there are big fish in there. But sometimes it is tough to get five of them especially if there is more than one other person in there with you,” he explained. “I was thinking about going there the morning of the first day and then moving, but the other spot was a 40-minute drive. I really didn’t make the final decision on where I wanted to fish until I got to the end of the road (on tournament morning) and needed to turn right or left.”
Each morning, Siddiqi started on a long point that was 3 feet deep on top with grass and eventually dropped into 30 feet of water. Once the point dropped to 6 feet or deeper, the point had a harder bottom that bass were relating to.
In the afternoons, he would move off the point to a subtle hump that started in 30 feet of water and rose to 28 feet. It also featured hard-bottom.
A Neko-rigged Berkley MaxScent Hit Worm with a heavier nail weight and a No. 1 VMC Redline hook was a key presentation in both areas.
“A lot of times I was having to dead stick it and I never really felt any of the bass bite, especially the big ones. Whenever I twitched or moved it nothing was happening,” he explained.
He caught just six bass each day, but the ones he landed were the right size.
On Day 1, Siddiqi saw fish schooling on the point. Most of them were white bass, but he was able to coax a couple of quality largemouth bass into biting his Neko rig, including a 20.25-inch lunker. He also got a key bite with a Megabass topwater bait.
“I couldn’t really get them to eat anything but that, but I wanted to have something with a good hookup ratio. I don’t throw it often, but it seemed like a good thing to throw,” he said.
Later in the day, he landed two more bass over 20 inches around the offshore hump.
“Day 2 followed a similar script, as Siddiqi opened his day by catching a 19-inch spotted bass, followed by several limit fillers. His one misstep came about midday, when he lost a bass that was well over 21 inches.
“I was reeling it and trying to keep up with it. When I got it to the boat, I went to net it and it came up and shook off. That one hurt for a long time. I was pretty sure that fish lost it for me.”
After a three-hour lull, Siddiqi landed a 22.25 largemouth before a giant patch of eelgrass covered up his casting lane.
Davis, meanwhile, landed in 19th with 90.25 inches on Day 1 before jumping into the runner-up position on Day 2 with a limit measuring 96.75 inches.
“It was a good time of year to have a Guntersville tournament,” he said. “I had a lot of bites. I fished some stuff I had never fished before. I actually did some offshore fishing, which isn’t me. I found bass everywhere I went.”
Two different bites played out for Davis. On Day 1, he launched from the Goose Pond area of Guntersville and focused on bream beds located close to shell as well as hydrilla beds. His bigger bites came in 6 to 7 feet of water. With clouds most of the day, Davis was able to catch the majority of his bass on a True South V Twin buzzbait with a 3.8 FIVE Bass Tackle paddletail swimbait trailer.
On Day 2, he decided to fish an offshore ditch where he lost a big one at the end of the first day and caught several bass to start the morning. The particular spot had a grass edge in 5 to 6 feet of water that then dropped off into 12 feet. Most of his bass were caught with a FIVE Bass Tackle football jig paired with a FIVE Bass Tackle Clutch Craw trailer.
“You would pull up some grass with the jig, but you could usually pull it loose from the hydrilla and that is when I got a lot of my bites,” he said.
Nye was consistent throughout the event, landing 92 inches on Day 1 before catching 94.75 inches on the final day. The majority of his time was spent in an area he found in practice he believed to hold a good population of bass. He used a Martins Custom Baits bladed jig and a wakebait.
Pennsylvania’s Alex Miller landed the Big Bass of the Tournament, a 22.50-inch largemouth he caught on the final day.
The Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce hosted the tournament.
A full list of results from the Yamama Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series at Lake Guntersville scored by TourneyX can be found here.
2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Yamaha Rightwaters2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Partner: MotorGuide, YakGear2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Sponsor: Dakota Lithium
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Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, cgay@bassmaster.
Corbishley Conquers Lake Hartwell
North Carolina angler Mike Corbishley wins stop number two of the NPFL season on Lake Hartwell with a three-day total of 44 pounds, 1 ounce, taking home the NPFL Shield and the $100,000 top prize.
With a three-day total weight of 44 pounds, 1 ounce, Mike Corbishley takes the victory at stop number two of the NPFL season at Lake Hartwell, hosted by Anderson County. Corbishley had his toughest day of the week with 12 pounds, 9 ounces on day one, added 17 pounds, 7 ounces on day two, and 14 pounds, 1 ounce on the final day to earn the NPFL shield and the $100,000 top prize. Embracing a run and gun style on Lake Hartwell for three days, Corbishley got stronger as the event went on and made hay when the sun was behind the clouds later this afternoon.
“It was fairly bright out there until 3 pm and I was exhausted from running around, sitting down, standing up, over and over,” he said. “When the storms rolled in, I caught a second wind and went hard in the paint. I had 9 pounds at that time, and culled up three times in the last couple hours.”
Corbishley fished a mix of herring patterns and brush piles throughout the event, but on the final day, he dedicated his efforts to his “best brush” and burned 40 gallons of gas running circles around Hartwell.
“I had a mix of piles,” he added. “On day one, I caught some on a herring pattern and some on brush/rock. On day two, it was mostly the piles. My practice was horrible; in the past, when I had a bad practice and could not get things going, I like to run and mark as much good stuff as I can and revisit it throughout the event with Lowrance Active Target 2, and it works out.”
When the action picked up in the afternoon, Corbishley’s first cull was a 3-pounder. On the very next pile, he hooked a 5-pound largemouth and lost it 10 feet from the boat. His hopes of finally getting it done diminished, but he stayed put and made two crucial culls before check-in.
“I thought I blew it; I thought that was how it was going to end and I was going to come up short again,” he added. “When I was in the weigh-in line, I weighed my fish; I knew what I had. When Big Al told me what I needed, I knew it was going to be super close. It was unbelievable to finally make it happen after being so close so many times.”
With the victory, Corbishley takes him the NPFL Shield and a cool $100,000 payday for his efforts. Now, what will he do with the money?
“It’s life-changing,” he concluded. “My wife and I have been talking about buying land to build a house and this will make it possible. I want to give a big shout-out to my wife and my sponsors, without them and their support, I would never be able to do this – I don’t know what to say. Lowrance, Mercury Marine, Victaulic, Power-Pole, Dirty Jigs, Nichols Lures, National Coatings and Supplies, Hatterasman, Bajio Sunglasses, 13 Fishing and Cashion Rods – thank you.”
Hunter Sales
After a tough start to his tournament with 9 pounds, 10 ounces on day one, Hunter Sales added 16 pounds, 9 ounces on day two and 17 pounds, 5 ounces on the final day to earn his first NPFL victory with a three-day total weight of 43 pounds, 8 ounces on Lake Hartwell.
Despite a tough day one, Sales made a huge comeback this week with some of the biggest bags of each of the final two days. Staying versatile and adapting as things changed was key to getting his event back on track.
“Any time you have a tough day, it’s easy to look back and think about things you could have done differently,” he said. “You just have to roll with it; god has a plan for everyone. I found a topwater bite late on day one and I wish I could have gotten on it sooner, but it was staying open to change that turned things around."
On day two, Sales fully expected to catch fish on top water, but after a few bites early, it faded and he had to make a change yet again.
“I threw a fluke on day one and it did not work, but later on day two, they got on it. Today, I caught almost everything on a fluke and weighed one fish on a Neko rig. Hartwell is one of those lakes you have to adapt and sometimes it seems like it's hour by hour.”
One of his best finishes in a tour-level tournament, Sales was disappointed by the second-place finish but is going to use it as fuel to get back to the top the rest of the season.
“It’s the best finish of my career, biggest payday and I am tickled to death,” he added. “Second stings, especially after my tough day one, but god takes care of his people, and he took care of me this week – I am blessed. I was almost not going to be able to fish this week but a lot of my sponsors stepped up to get me on the water – Yamaha Motors, Morristown Marine, Seaguar Line, SaltX, Thompson Truck Group, Z-Man, National Kennel Club, and more, the list goes on and on.”
Kyle Welcher
With a three-day total weight of 42 pounds, 9 ounces, Kyle Welcher finished the event on Lake Hartwell in third place. Welcher caught 16 pounds, 11 ounces on day one, had his toughest day on day two with 9 pounds, 10 ounces, and added 16 pounds, 2 ounces on the final day to wrap up an excellent week.
Knowing he needed a big bag to make up for his slip-up on day two, Welcher started his day ensuring he was going to get paid. With a double-digit limit, he set off to find something new, where he may find something to give him a chance at winning.
“I fished free today, running around and looking at new stuff,” he said. “If I did what I had done, I had no shot to win. I caught a 4.5-pound fish off a bed, and the rest of my fish came on traditional herring-type deals.”
While finishing in third place wraps up a solid week, Welcher had a mental blunder on day two that cost him the win this week.
“On day two, I tied on a hook for soft plastics, one I hate throwing, but I knew it worked out here. A lot of people had caught fish on it and I gave it a shot,” he added. “It cost me big – I lost three big fish on that before swapping hooks, but those bites were why I only had 9 pounds yesterday. That is fishing, I made a mental mistake.”
Will Harkins
Will Harkins caught a three-day total weight of 42 pounds, 4 ounces to finish stop number two of the NPFL season in fourth place. Despite a costly penalty on day two, where he had to release his limit of fish at the midpoint of the day, he salvaged his day with 9 pounds, 14 ounces. Harkins had a weight of 16 pounds, 4 ounces on day one and 16 pounds, 2 ounces on day three.
Richard Kee
Richard Kee started on day one with 14 pounds, 7 ounces, added 11 pounds, 7 ounces on day two, and 15 pounds, 15 ounces on day three to finish in the fifth-place spot with a total weight of 41 pounds, 13 ounces.
Rest of the Best:
Jason Burroughs 41-13
Trent Palmer 41-11
Drew Cook 41-9
John Cox 41-5
Bailey Gay 41-4
Lee Charges to Early Group B Lead at Major League Fishing’s General Tire Heavy Hitters on the Kissimmee Chain
2020 Heavy Hitters Champion catches 18 bass weighing 63 pounds, 4 ounces to lead Day 1 of Qualifying Round for Group B, 15 anglers in Group A to wrap their Qualifying Round Monday
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 19, 2023) – As he wrapped up practice for General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops, pro Jordan Lee of Guntersville, Alabama, felt confident. Believe it or not, despite his track record of success on national tours as a whole and on Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in particular, Lee said that’s not common. The last time he remembers feeling that way entering an event was the last time Heavy Hitters took place on the Kissimmee Chain, an event he won in June of 2020.
But even Lee didn’t envision what unfolded Sunday.
On a Kissimmee Chain that has proven stingy for many of the 30 anglers in the field, Lee authored one of the most memorable days of his decorated career. He stacked 18 bass totaling 63 pounds, 4 ounces onto SCORETRACKER® during the opening day of qualifying for Group B, and he did it despite easing off the throttle for the third and final period. Lee, who had topped 50 pounds by the end of the second stanza, leads Kevin VanDam by 22-12.
As if that wasn’t enough, Lee also earned $10,000 in Berkley big bass cash for catching the biggest fish of the day, a 7-14 stud. Like most of his fish, the lunker ate a Berkley Swamp Lord frog in matted hydrilla in Lake Toho.
“What an awesome day on the water,” Lee said. “It really doesn’t get much better. I can’t remember the last time it was that much fun just as far as the strikes and getting bit.”
Lee’s track record on the Kissimmee Chain made him one of the favorites before he ever made a cast this week. He won the first ever Bass Pro Tour event in 2019 on the fishery as well as the aforementioned Heavy Hitters event.
But instead of leaning on the same staples that have won him $319,000 across three prior BPT events on the chain, Lee turned Sunday to a technique he’s honed fishing matted grass during the fall on Lake Guntersville in his home state of Alabama.
“It really reminded me of Guntersville,” Lee said. “It’s fishing just like it, and with all the grass out there, I just feel real comfortable doing it. We don’t really fish a lot of lakes with this much grass, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the years just fishing at home a lot in the fall. It kind of translates into fishing down here.”
While Florida lakes are synonymous with vegetation, the Kissimmee Chain isn’t typically regarded as a frogging hot spot, particularly at this time of year. However, a boom in hydrilla growth in Toho combined with low water levels have produced a swath of grass that is topped out but not too thick — the perfect environment for throwing a frog, as illustrated by the fact that Group A leader Brandon Coulter employed the same approach as Lee.
Lee stumbled upon the pattern on the second day of what had been a challenging practice.
“I was flipping in practice, and I was just fishing around,” he said. “I was struggling; I wasn’t getting bit. And I thought I saw some blowholes in the mat — that's what we call them, where the fish blow through the mat and make holes out there. But I was like, eh, I really don’t know. And I fired a frog out there, and one came up on it, another one came up on it, and another one came up on it. Then I started doing it and started getting bit like crazy.”
Lee’s frog of choice, the Swamp Lord, has been the biggest star of the first two MLFNOW! broadcasts. Lee noted that the bait’s larger profile and weight make it ideal for fishing through mats. He threw it on a 7-foot-6, heavy Jordan Lee rod from Abu Garcia paired with an 8.1:1 gear ratio Abu Garcia Revo STX reel spooled with 50-pound Berkley X5 braid.
“It’s a heavy frog and weighs down in the mat,” Lee said of the Swamp Lord. “When you’re fishing that hydrilla, it’s thick, and it’s hard for the fish to bust through, so if you’re throwing a real lightweight frog, you’re not going to get as many bites.”
The biggest of Lee’s bites came in the first hour of competition. While he said he didn’t think it would retain Berkley Big Bass honors all day, Lee was never particularly close to losing his grip on the $10,000 prize being handed out each day during the Qualifying Round. In fact, underscoring the dominance of his performance, Lee also caught the second-biggest bass of the day, a 6-13.
“I would have took absolutely nothing for an almost 8-pounder on a frog,” he said. “But I got paid for it. I got $10,000 for the biggest fish of the day, which, man, that’s awesome.
Given that no other anglers in Group B ventured into the grass mats, Lee remains confident that he can ride his frog bite all the way through Thursday’s Championship Round. He has a feeling he’ll have some more company as the tournament progresses, but his comfortable cushion over the cut line gives him an entire day to explore the mats in search of fresh groups of fish during Group B’s second day of qualifying on Tuesday.
“I’m pretty confident,” he said. “Normally, I wouldn’t be, but it just depends on the number of guys that kind of catch on. There wasn’t anybody today, but I know how it goes, it's pretty obvious. But, I feel confident it can win the tournament if I play my cards right and find the right schools of them.”
The standings for the 15 pros from Group B after Day 1 of the Qualifying Round on the Kissimmee Chain are:
1st: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 18 bass, 63-4
2nd: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 13 bass, 40-8
3rd: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 13 bass, 40-6
4th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 11 bass, 32-13
5th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 10 bass, 26-13
6th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, eight bass, 24-9
7th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., six bass, 18-9
8th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., five bass, 15-6
9th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., four bass, 14-3
10th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., five bass, 13-9
11th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., three bass, 13-4
12th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., four bass, 13-0
13th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 7-6
14th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., two bass, 4-10
15th: Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla., one bass, 2-10
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 106 bass weighing 330 pounds, 14 ounces caught by the 15 pros on Sunday, which included one 7-pounder, one 6-pounder and six 5-pounders caught from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.
The General Tire Heavy Hitters at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Bass Pro Shops features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.
The 15 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
In addition to the tournament, Big Bass Bonuses are awarded in each day of competition with payouts of $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000 awarded to the single biggest fish in the Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
Anglers will launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2023 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and Rumble.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 10 and running each Saturday through Sept. 14 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Twin kickers lift Hamblin and Brown to Bassmaster High School Series win at Sam Rayburn
May 19, 2024
Twin kickers lift Hamblin and Brown to Bassmaster High School Series win at Sam Rayburn
JASPER, Texas — Typically, anglers strive for something unique en route to tournament success, but for Aiden Hamblin and Austin Brown, a shameless dose of redundancy delivered victory in the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
Sacking up a five-bass limit of 18 pounds, 2 ounces, the seniors representing the Pilot Point Bearcats Bass Team edged their nearest competitors, Ridge Mabile and Evan Aucoin of the Assumption Mustangs Bass Club by a margin of 2-1.
Earning the $2,214 team prize, Hamblin and Brown claimed their spot in the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series Championship scheduled for Chickamauga Lake, Aug. 1-3.
“This means the world to us,” Brown said. “We’ve been at this for four years and we’ve had some really close finishes, but we’ve never been able to secure the win.
“Especially on one of the greatest lakes in the country, to come out here in May — the best time to fish Rayburn — and win, that means a lot to us and our team.”
Hamblin said he and Brown stayed on the lake’s west side and fished coves in Caney Creek. They rotated through three main spots and targeted flooded bushes, trees and stumps.
“We fished another event on Rayburn in March and it was 6 feet low at that time,” Hamblin said. “We finished fifth in that event and we figured out what was going to be under water (when the lake rose), so that helped us.”
Noting that he and his partner caught all of their fish in 5 to 8 feet, Hamblin said they fished a Texas-rigged black/blue Strike King Rage Menace on a 3/0 Gamakatsu straight-shank hook with a pegged 3/16-ounce weight, wacky-rigged 5- and 6-inch Yum Dingers (black/blue and junebug, respectively) and a Spro Bronzeye Popping Frog.
The latter produced their best bites, including a pair of 5-pound, 7-ounce kickers. Brown said the bait’s color pattern — black body with chartreuse legs — played a key role in tempting big bites.
“The bluegill the bass were feeding on had bright (chartreuse) tips on their tails, so that frog imitated them really well — it stood out on top of the water,” Brown said. “You had to get it really shallow and in the shade and then you had to pop it really slow. They would pop it after the pause.”
As Hamblin explained, he and Brown would switch to the plastics in the less dense cover. The wacky rig ultimately out-performed the Texas rig.
“I was skipping the wacky rig under branches and popping it,” Hamblin said. “It was hit or miss. Sometimes, they’d hit it after I’d pop it. Sometimes, they’d hit it after a long pause.”
The winners had their limit by 7:30 a.m. and culled throughout the day until finishing their weight at 1:30 p.m. Brown caught the two 5-7s on the frog — one at 11 and the other at 1:30.
“The first 5-pounder that I caught, the reel wasn’t connected to the rod very well and when I set the hook, the reel exploded off the rod,” Brown said. “I had to hold the reel and fight the fish at the same time. It was (nearly) a catastrophic event.”
Amplifying the day’s drama, Brown said their second kicker was nearly identical to the first.
“The two 5-7s were on the same tree about 2 1/2 hours apart,” he said. “It was right at the end of the day and we were like, ‘Let’s just roll back to that tree where we caught that first big fish.’
“I cast the same frog and the strike was identical to our first big fish. That tree won it for us, for sure.”
Mabile and Aucoin finished second with 16-1.
Connor Crawford and Brody Beam of the Liberty County Anglers won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for their 6-12. Crawford and Beam finished 11th with 14-7.
The Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce and Jasper County hosted the event.
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
Oklahoma Angler Chris Jones Wins MLF Toyota Series at Lake Eufaula
EUFAULA, Okla. (May 19, 2024) – An Oklahoma native with more success than just about anyone on the state’s largest lake, Chris Jones of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, leaned on his Lake Eufaula experience to find the out-of-the-way area that produced all his keepers during the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats stop on the reservoir.
But it was keen observation and a clutch decision during the competition that ultimately allowed Jones to add a second Toyota Series trophy and another win on Eufaula to his collection.
Noticing that his biggest bites during the first two days had come on a BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher, Jones committed himself to throwing the frog Saturday morning. The decision paid off in the form of a 6-pound, 8-ounce kicker. The lunker anchored a 17-6 limit — the heaviest bag of the day and second-best all week — which vaulted him from second place after Days 1 and 2 to first. Jones’ three-day total of 46-7 topped Eli Brumnett of Wagoner, Oklahoma, by 2-11.
For the win, Jones earned $30,031 and a trip to the Toyota Series Championship on Wheeler Lake.
Minutes before catching the 6-8, Jones almost gave up on his frog bite. Dissecting flooded willow bushes on the south end of the lake, he had promised himself he would keep the Pad Crasher in his hands until at least 9 a.m.
At 8:57, he hadn’t yet gotten a bite. But he decided to hit one more stretch of bushes before changing tactics. His patience paid off with the biggest bass of the tournament.
“I was fixing to put (the frog) down, and I came around a point of willows and threw it underneath there and caught that big one,” Jones said. “And I knew I had a chance.”
After Day 1, Jones felt confident he was around the winning fish. Making a 33-mile run to the area where he also won a 2011 Phoenix Bass Fishing League event, Jones sacked up 17-0 on the opening day, which placed him in second.
A self-described member of the “muddy water mob,” he embraced the dirty water in that portion of the lake, which he believes is the reason he never saw another competitor. With falling water levels making the bite tough on Eufaula, having his fish to himself proved key.
“It was just past experience and knowing that area, and it set up right,” he said. “I really wanted to stay away from the area where they (Bass Pro Tour anglers) fished, and that was the clean areas. And I knew if I could get bit down there that I wouldn’t see another boat, and I didn’t see another boat for three days.”
Jones’ bite faltered a bit on Day 2. Enduring two long stretches without a bite, he weighed in just 12-1. He was able to fill out his limit flipping a junebug YUM Spine Craw and throwing a BOOYAH Mobster swim jig , but the quality he’d caught on Day 1 eluded him. That prompted him to dedicate himself to throwing the frog to start Day 3.
“I had several fish just come up and swipe at my swim jig, but whenever I’d get a frog bite, they’d inhale it,” he explained. “So, I was just committed to it. I knew if I could get around enough of them, that I could get the right bites on the frog.”
Jones caught the rest of his keepers Saturday flipping the Spine Craw. Added to his kicker, they proved enough to earn him a fifth MLF win with a throng of friends and family present to celebrate his coronation. His youngest son joined him on the stage at weigh-in, where he shouted out a litany of supporters in the audience. Having them on hand made this victory particularly sweet.
“It means the world to me,” Jones said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so it’s kind of emotional.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Eufaula finished:
1st: Chris Jones, Bokoshe, Okla., 15 bass, 46-7, $30,031
2nd: Eli Brumnett, Wagoner, Okla., 15 bass, 43-12, $12,637 (includes $1,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
3rd: Jeff Lugar, Princeton, Texas, 15 bass, 42-1, $9,009
4th: Zane Parker, Kingwood, Texas, 15 bass, 40-13, $7,508
5th: Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, 15 bass, 40-4, $7,257
6th: Phillip Lunceford, Stigler, Okla., 15 bass, 39-14, $6,006
7th: Blake Schroeder, Whitehouse, Texas, 15 bass, 39-1, $5,255
8th: Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., 15 bass, 38-13, $4,505
9th: Lance Crawford, Broken Bow, Okla., 14 bass, 34-15, $3,754
10th: Charley Slaton, Valliant, Okla., 13 bass, 34-14, $3,003
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Pro Shonn Goodwin of Moore, Oklahoma, won the $500 Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division Thursday with a bass weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces. On Friday, pro Ty Faber of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, earned the $500 Berkley Big Bass prize after bringing a bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces to the scale.
Brumnett took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF 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 Phoenix MLF Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
Dillon Saffle of Eureka, Missouri, won the Strike King Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 28 pounds, 2 ounces. Saffle took home the top prize package worth $33,500, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard motor.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers on Lake Eufaula finished:
1st: Dillon Saffle, Eureka, Mo., 13 bass, 28-2, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd: Scott Parsons, Rogers, Ark., 11 bass, 27-3, $3,843
3rd: Mike Cassanova, Frisco, Texas, 10 bass, 26-3, $3,074
4th: Joe Lee, Midlothian, Texas, 11 bass, 25-14, $2,690
5th: Leavitt Hamilton, Gonzales, La., 10 bass, 24-11, $2,456
6th: Brian Strickland, Yantis, Texas, nine bass, 22-3, $1,921
7th: Albert Rayborn, Hammond, La., nine bass, 21-5, $1,537
8th: Justin Overstreet, Brookeland, Texas, eight bass, 20-13, $1,345
9th: Tony Burnham, Lincoln, Neb., 10 bass, 19-13, $1,153
10th: Tommy Sikes, Como, Texas, nine bass, 19-4, $961
Dewey Larson of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was the Berkley Big Bass $150 award winner in the Strike King co-angler division Thursday, with a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass, while the Day 2 $150 award on Friday went to Dakotah Edwards of Talala, Oklahoma, with a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass.
With all three regular-season events in the Toyota Series Southwestern Division now complete, pro Cole Moore of Anacoco, Louisiana, was crowned the Fishing Clash Southwestern Division Angler of the Year (AOY) and earned the AOY payout of $5,000 with 755 points, while Justin Overstreet of Brookeland, Texas, is the Strike King Co-angler of the Year with 754 points and took home the $2,000 prize.
The Toyota Series at Lake Eufaula, hosted by Vision Eufaula, was the third and final regular-season event for the Toyota Series Southwestern Division. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will be the Toyota Series at Potomac River , June 5-7, in Marbury, Maryland. For a complete schedule of events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The 2024 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2025. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2024 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 7-9 on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Huntsville Sports Commission.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, FX Custom Rods, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Toyota Series, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular tournament updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook , Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Hehr and Johnston win Bassmaster College Series event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
May 17, 2024
Hehr and Johnston win Bassmaster College Series event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
JASPER, Texas — Ashton Hehr and Trevor Johnston went where no one else went and did what no one else did.
Such intrepid ambition delivered big results for the Texas A&M University anglers, who tallied a two-day total of 42 pounds, 7 ounces and won the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Bass Pro Shops.
On Day 1, Hehr and Johnston placed second with 19-14. Adding a final-round limit of 22-9 — the event’s heaviest bag — the winners edged Cade Lipham and Caleb Coleman of Drury University by 2-1. Hehr and Johnston took home the top prize of $4,930.
“If you would have told me five or six years ago that this would happen, I would not have believed it,” Hehr said. “Trevor and I have fished all our lives and we’ve seen the struggles of tournament fishing.
“This year has been incredible; we’ve also had a first place on another trail. We’re seeing our hard work pay off.”
Where they fished
Hehr and Johnston, both juniors majoring in Business Management and Ag Leadership, respectively, committed their event to Ayish Bayou on the lake’s east side. With their competitors dispersed throughout the western side, they fished shallow hard spots in strategic solitude.
“There wasn’t anyone going up there, so we knew we’d have it all to ourselves,” Hehr said.
As Johnston explained, their game plan allowed them to fish at their own pace and effectively manage their fish.
“We didn’t have to worry about anyone else fishing around us, so we milked five spots all day,” he said. “We would fish a spot, then leave for a while to let the fish reload.”
Best baits
Johnston said he and his partner used two baits to catch their fish. First was a 7/16-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Football Finesse Jig paired with a Strike King Rage Craw, both in Okeechobee Craw.
They also caught fish on a 10-inch Strike King Rage Anaconda worm. The winners Texas rigged the big worm on a 5/0 hook with a 3/8-ounce weight.
“The finesse jig was definitely the (most productive),” Johnston said. “The key was slowly milking each spot. We’d make multiple casts to where the fish were.”
Hehr said he and Johnston had their limit by 8:30 a.m. both days, but it took them until about noon to complete each day’s final weight.
“The early mornings were a struggle, but once it picked up, it was pretty steady,” Hehr said. “I think the fish were pulled way up in some of the creeks and they hadn’t pulled out onto those hard spots until later.”
Memorable moment
Hehr said their largest fish was a 7-pounder. A kicker of that size is noteworthy enough, but their big bass put on a show that turned frustration into victory.
“The highlight of the day was when I make a bad cast with the finesse jig and got hung in a tree,” Hehr said. “The jig was dangling over a tree limb and that big 7-pounder came up and ate it on top while it was dangling.
“That was the coolest blow up I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Second and third
Lipham and Coleman finished second with 40-6. After placing fifth on Day 1 with 18-12, the Drury University anglers added 21-10.
Lipham said he and Coleman fished around the 147 Bridge. They based their plan on local knowledge.
“My grandparents have a house on the lake, right around Veach Creek and, looking at the history of the lake, it looks like 80% of the tournaments get won from that Cassels-Boykin area down to (the Veach area),” Lipham said. “We focused our practice on that area and that’s where we found them.”
Lipham and Coleman targeted hydrilla in 14 feet of water. They caught their bass on Texas-rigged 10-inch Berkley Power Worms and Berkley Hit Worms.
They also caught keepers on a Carolina-rigged Senko. As Lipham recalled, the Texas rigs produced their best bites, including a Day 1 kicker that dramatically changed their fortune.
“The first day, we caught a 7 1/2 on the big worm,” Lipham said. “Without that fish yesterday we would have been middle of the pack.”
Of their stronger Day 2 performance, Lipham said: “We were able to milk that school that we had found. On Day 1, we left them biting because we didn’t want to burn them up. But today we really swung on them.”
Caleb Hudson and Tanner Hadden or University of South Carolina Union finished third with 39-7. Their daily weights were 18-3 and 21-4.
Hampton Shull of Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., won the Big Bass award with a 9-8. Shull finished 16th with 29-15.
The Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce and Jasper County hosted the event.
2024 Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2024 Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2024 Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
2024 Bassmaster College Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
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Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 256-424-2390, cgay@bassmaster.
2024 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Bass Pro Shops 5/16-5/17
Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Jasper TX.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Ashton Hehr - Trevor Johnston Texas A&M University 250
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 22-09 Total: 10 42-07
2. Cade Lipham - Caleb Coleman Drury University 249
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 21-10 Total: 10 40-06
3. Caleb Hudson - Tanner Hadden University of South Carolina - U 248
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 21-04 Total: 10 39-07
4. Jackson Paden - Joey Bissing University of Tennessee 247
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 13-14 Total: 10 35-04
5. Caden Denny - Cody Monlezun Texas A&M University 246
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 12-06 Total: 10 32-00
6. Tripp Bowman - Matthew Nesbit LSU - Shreveport 245
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 18-13 Total: 10 31-14
7. Dawson Lynch - Sonny Mann Tarleton State University 244
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 17-01 Total: 10 31-11
8. Nathan Fideldy - Laindree Richardson Drury University 243
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 14-00 Total: 10 31-10
9. Kade Hillestad - John Kyle Pearce University of Louisiana Monroe ( 242
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 18-15 Total: 10 31-08
10. Bryce Balentine - Giancarlo Russo Florida Gateway College 241
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 19-08 Total: 10 31-07
11. Ryan Thomas - Jack Alexander University of Montevallo 240
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 31-02
12. Trace Antunes III - Slade Davis University of Montevallo 239
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 17-11 Total: 10 30-10
13. Anderson Jones - Lander University 238
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 16-10 Total: 10 30-08
14. Elijah Jackson - University Of Alabama Bass Fishi 237
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 16-11 Total: 10 30-03
15. Tyler Chmelar - Kase Kramer Tarleton State University 236
Day 1: 5 13-03 Day 2: 5 16-13 Total: 10 30-00
16. Hampton Shull - Lander University 235
Day 1: 5 11-12 Day 2: 5 18-03 Total: 10 29-15
17. Stetson Southard - Walker Wilburn Tarleton State University 234
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 12-06 Total: 10 29-15
18. Luke Wenger - Braxon Hightower Dallas Baptist University 233
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 14-15 Total: 10 29-14
19. Miles Smith - LSU - Shreveport 232
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 20-05 Total: 10 29-12
20. Robert Hunt - Dillon Robertshaw Missouri State University 231
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 15-02 Total: 10 28-13
21. Dylan May - Evan Newell Carson-Newman University 230
Day 1: 5 10-11 Day 2: 5 17-12 Total: 10 28-07
22. Grayson Ball - Sellers Odom Calhoun Community College 229
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 16-06 Total: 10 28-07
23. Connor Dunn - Cade Johnson Texas A&M University 228
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 16-08 Total: 10 28-05
24. Brayden Ruckman - Cason Price Carson-Newman University 227
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 12-15 Total: 10 28-05
25. Parker Lambert - Aaron Shumaker Lander University 226
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 18-13 Total: 10 28-04
26. Callaway Robinson - Tucker Pearson Georgia College 225
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 17-02 Total: 10 28-03
27. Drake Wadsworth - Stone Smith Northwestern State University 224
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 16-05 Total: 10 28-02
28. William Tew - Brayden Nichols LSU - Shreveport 223
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 10-14 Total: 10 28-01
29. Kaden Buchmann - Chase Wodzinski Lander University 222
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 15-09 Total: 10 28-01
30. Bryant Martin - Luke Batts LSU - Shreveport 221
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 13-13 Total: 10 28-01
31. Seth Jones - Bryson O' Steen Florida Gateway College 220
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 14-10 Total: 10 27-09
32. Brody Robison - Colton White University of Montevallo 219
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 14-02 Total: 10 27-07
33. Connor Koch - Kane Weekley Southeastern University 218
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 15-01 Total: 10 27-01
34. Austin Wadzinski - Stone Robertson University of Tennessee 217
Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 12-12 Total: 10 27-01
35. Hunter Keller - Garrett Christy Catawba Valley Community College 216
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 12-07 Total: 10 26-13
36. Matthew McGrehor - Cody Tiemann Calhoun Community College 215
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 13-15 Total: 10 26-13
37. Hunter Greer III - Luke Iles Northwestern State University 214
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 12-10 Total: 10 26-11
38. Colby Ullery - Hayes Pate Faulkner University 213
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 13-07 Total: 10 26-11
39. Mason Lyons - Dalton Blakley Kentucky Christian University 212
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 09-02 Total: 10 26-09
40. Lane Clark - Tallis Morrison Erskine College 211
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 5 16-08 Total: 10 26-08
41. Aric Szambelan - Alex Wood Missouri State University 210
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 13-08 Total: 10 26-07
42. Brant Langley - Cody Morgan Southeastern University Fishing 209
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 5 14-04 Total: 10 26-06
43. Christian Moore - John Mizell Tarleton State University 208
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 12-15 Total: 10 26-04
44. Layton Brown - Parker Brown Dallas Baptist University 207
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 12-00 Total: 10 26-01
45. Josh Finnerty - Cody Gaynes Georgia College 206
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 11-04 Total: 10 26-00
46. Joe Bezold - Jordan Bezold Nku Bassmasters Club 205
Day 1: 5 11-06 Day 2: 5 14-09 Total: 10 25-15
47. Cody Domingos - Matthew Dettling University of Tennessee 204
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 25-13
48. Beau Browning - University of Montevallo 203
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 13-07 Total: 10 25-12
49. Gabe Hannon - Alexander Blanchard LSU 202
Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 12-04 Total: 10 25-11
50. Storm Cline - Gabe Fishlock Carson-Newman University 201
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 25-10
51. Luke Bennett - Tarleton State University 200
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 5 12-07 Total: 10 25-09
52. Easton Bouma - Zachary Ward Drury University 199
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 12-11 Total: 10 25-09
53. Curt Ferguson - David Derubertis Drury University 198
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 12-12 Total: 10 25-09
54. Andrew Ready - Trey Garrett Southeastern University 197
Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 12-14 Total: 10 25-08
55. Will Harris - Cole Rankin Carson-Newman University 196
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 10-06 Total: 10 25-05
56. Colby Bryan - Alex Standerfer Catawba Valley Community College 195
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 13-02 Total: 10 25-05
57. Asa Putnam - Briar Dodson University of Montevallo 194
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 12-13 Total: 10 25-05
58. Shaden Farley - Trace Kight III Murray State College 193
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 15-11 Total: 10 25-04
59. Skyler Stevens - Bryson Caudle Faulkner University 192
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 14-00 Total: 10 25-04
60. Kaden Raichel - Mason Kornegay University of Montevallo 191
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 14-13 Total: 10 25-02
61. Brendon Brones - Porter Welch Lamar State College Orange 190
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 08-11 Total: 10 25-01
62. Alex Gore - Colby Reece Carson-Newman University 189
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 10-05 Total: 10 25-00
63. Dallas Copeland - Mario Botan Texas A&M University 188
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 11-08 Total: 10 25-00
64. Jeremy Monda - Will Boyd Jr Florida Gateway College 187
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 13-08 Total: 10 24-15
65. Drew Pitts - Nicholas Dellaporta Carson-Newman University 186
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 11-00 Total: 10 24-14
66. James Dubose - Daylon Milam University of Montevallo 185
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 11-12 Total: 10 24-13
67. Jacob Witkowski - Mark Harris Dallas Baptist Univesity 184
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 13-11 Total: 10 24-11
68. Hayden Gaddis - Ben Cully Carson-Newman University 183
Day 1: 5 12-12 Day 2: 5 11-15 Total: 10 24-11
69. Ryan Pero - Ben Tschoerner Stephen F Austin State Universit 182
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 11-02 Total: 10 24-10
70. Grant Dohle - Jake Mantovani Missouri State University 181
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 14-01 Total: 10 24-06
71. Brodie Paige - Cooper Arthur Louisiana Tech University 180
Day 1: 5 13-03 Day 2: 5 11-03 Total: 10 24-06
72. Triston Richardson - Mason Mccormick LSU - Shreveport 179
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 10-00 Total: 10 24-04
73. Stevie Mills - Andrew Turner Carson-Newman University 178
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 13-00 Total: 10 24-04
74. Roy Crush IV - Brice Hudler Texas A&M University 177
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 24-03
75. Wyatt Ford - Joseph Stingley University of Montevallo 176
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 10-06 Total: 10 24-01
76. Andrew Oswalt - Evan Mabrey University of Montevallo 175
Day 1: 5 10-14 Day 2: 5 13-03 Total: 10 24-01
77. Cross Campbell - Dylan Armstrong East Texas Baptist University 174
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 10-12 Total: 10 24-00
78. Carson Huether - Zachary Wolfe Carson-Newman University 173
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 12-03 Total: 10 23-14
79. Brooks Leonard - Stran Stevens Lone Star College 172
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 09-15 Total: 10 23-13
80. Andrew Howell - Jordan Pennington University of Montevallo 171
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 5 11-11 Total: 10 23-13
81. Connor Foreman - Joe Krejci Texas A&M University 170
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 3 04-12 Total: 8 23-11
82. Parker O'Bryan - Miller Dowling University of Montevallo 169
Day 1: 5 08-11 Day 2: 5 15-00 Total: 10 23-11
83. Caden Gettys - Cole Weaver Catawba Valley Community College 168
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 08-12 Total: 10 23-11
84. Garrett Smith - Andrew Blanton Lander University 167
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 5 15-12 Total: 10 23-05
85. Dylan Breaux - Joel Richard Nicholls State University 166
Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 09-14 Total: 10 23-05
86. Khristian Rousseve - Shamar Pierre LSU - Shreveport 165
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 12-14 Total: 10 23-05
87. William Reeder - Tyler Richardson Louisiana Tech University 164
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 11-07 Total: 10 23-05
88. Sam Semper - Tarleton State University 163
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 09-09 Total: 10 23-04
89. Andrew Rickman - Ty Manterola Dallas Baptist University 162
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 13-11 Total: 10 23-02
90. Jeremy Dellinger - William Hammond Lander University 161
Day 1: 5 10-13 Day 2: 5 12-05 Total: 10 23-02
91. Noah Trant - Evan Howe Northwestern State University 160
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 08-07 Total: 10 23-01
92. Corey Morris - Brayden Mercer East Texas Baptist University 159
Day 1: 4 12-06 Day 2: 5 10-11 Total: 9 23-01
93. Nathan MacDonald - James Ikerd II Mississippi State University 158
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 11-13 Total: 10 23-01
94. Brayden Batchelor - Alex Belin Georgia Southern University 157
Day 1: 5 10-13 Day 2: 5 12-03 Total: 10 23-00
95. Hunter Jenkins - Dallas Baptist University 156
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 08-05 Total: 10 22-15
96. William Hadraba - Andrew Price Baylor University 155
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 09-11 Total: 10 22-12
97. Blair Erickson - Jackson Pontius University of Montevallo 154
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 11-03 Total: 10 22-12
98. Peyton Matherne - Beau Landry LSU 153
Day 1: 5 10-12 Day 2: 5 11-15 Total: 10 22-11
99. Peyton Bryant - Brezlyn Hightower Murray State College 152
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 11-07 Total: 10 22-11
100. Ryan Rhodes - Blake Beste Tarleton State University 151
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 09-10 Total: 10 22-09
101. Ty Allison - Dyson Lewis Catawba Valley Community College 150
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 10-01 Total: 10 22-05
102. Landon Brown - Grant Rice Morehead State University 149
Day 1: 5 09-13 Day 2: 5 12-07 Total: 10 22-04
103. Camden Kozikoski - Dayne Kobriger Drury University 148
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 13-12 Total: 10 22-03
104. Zach Williams - Austin Comer MS State 147
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 10-09 Total: 10 22-02
105. Edward San Juan - Joshua Sonnier Lamar State College Orange 146
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 12-03 Total: 10 21-15
106. Dylan Reed - Cooper Hughes 145
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 5 12-10 Total: 10 21-14
107. Xander Patton - Stephen Brooks Emmanuel College 144
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 10-15 Total: 10 21-14
108. Aiden Neely - Ryan Blair Tarleton State University 143
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 10-11 Total: 10 21-12
109. Luke McGuffin - Rylan Green Erskine College 142
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 5 11-11 Total: 10 21-11
110. Robert Campbell - Nick Manning MS State 141
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 08-01 Total: 10 21-09
111. Josh Kerr - Ty Mechler Texas A&M University - Aggie Ang 140
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 11-01 Total: 10 21-08
112. Chance Shelby - Southeastern Louisiana Universit 139
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 09-08 Total: 10 21-07
113. Chase Hubble - Brent May University of Florida 138
Day 1: 5 08-14 Day 2: 5 12-08 Total: 10 21-06
114. Devan Perkins - Kade Palmer LSU 137
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 09-08 Total: 10 21-03
115. Brody Hopper - Carson Palmer Carson-Newman University 136
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 10-01 Total: 10 21-02
116. Grant Gale - Bryce Atkinson Tarleton State University 135
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 10-02 Total: 10 21-02
117. Brayden Stoker - Tucker Kendall Tarleton State University 134
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 10-02 Total: 10 21-01
118. Braydon Kelley - East Texas Baptist University 133
Day 1: 5 09-15 Day 2: 5 11-01 Total: 10 21-00
119. Matthew Owen - Daniel May Sam Houston State 132
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 5 11-14 Total: 10 20-14
120. Matthew Massey - Matthew Gunn Erskine College 131
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 09-06 Total: 10 20-14
121. Caleb Bomer - Reed Allen Texas A&M University 130
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 10-13 Total: 10 20-14
122. Connor Green - Joshua Roberts Faulkner University 129
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 10-10 Total: 10 20-13
123. Gracie Gregory - Noah Brooks Kentucky Christian University 128
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 09-12 Total: 10 20-12
124. Garrett Sullivan - Matthew Poss Faulkner University 127
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 11-03 Total: 10 20-09
125. Avery Myers - Kyran Hepko Missouri State University 126
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 12-01 Total: 10 20-08
126. Christian Gerlach - Kenneth Clark IV University Of Mary Baylor Hardin 125
Day 1: 5 10-11 Day 2: 5 09-12 Total: 10 20-07
127. Luke Salvail - Kyle Johnson Calhoun Community College 124
Day 1: 5 07-06 Day 2: 5 13-00 Total: 10 20-06
128. Baylen Guy - Teurlings Catholic High School - 123
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 10-05 Total: 10 20-06
129. CJ Lawrence - Carson Owen Murray State College 122
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 2 04-10 Total: 7 20-05
130. Sean Ferguson - Miguel Cooper Kansas State University 121
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 5 10-10 Total: 10 20-05
131. Hunter Stuart - Tarleton State University 120
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 10-00 Total: 10 20-05
132. JD Sewell - Holden Hatcher Lamar State College Orange 119
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 10-08 Total: 10 20-04
133. Atlan Pfluger - Breckett Long Texas A&M University 118
Day 1: 5 10-06 Day 2: 5 09-13 Total: 10 20-03
134. Tyler Gunter - Cabe Mackey Catawba Valley Community College 117
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 5 11-10 Total: 10 20-02
135. Landon Hernandez - Gavin Gomez Texas A&M University 116
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 5 11-09 Total: 10 20-02
136. Drake Hemby - Ewing Minor Carson-Newman University 115
Day 1: 4 08-11 Day 2: 5 11-06 Total: 9 20-01
137. Carson Hickman - Jacob Dobbs Tarleton State University 114
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 08-08 Total: 10 19-15
138. Wes Smith II - Grant Harris Catawba Valley Community College 113
Day 1: 5 10-14 Day 2: 5 09-01 Total: 10 19-15
139. AJ Bowdoin - Preston Waltisperger Texas A&M University 112
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 09-06 Total: 10 19-15
140. Austin Rose - Dylan Benson East Texas Baptist University 111
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 10-03 Total: 10 19-15
141. Storm Clark - River Eubanks University of Montevallo 110
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 09-13 Total: 10 19-14
142. Ian Carter - Bryce Distefano LSU - Shreveport 109
Day 1: 5 11-10 Day 2: 5 08-03 Total: 10 19-13
143. Solomon Glenn - University of Montevallo 108
Day 1: 5 10-11 Day 2: 5 09-01 Total: 10 19-12
144. Tanner Smith - Cameron Gates Kentucky Christian University 107
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 5 09-04 Total: 10 19-12
145. Willem Van Der Heijden - Jack Middlebrook Tarleton State University 106
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 4 10-09 Total: 9 19-10
146. Tucker Evans - Stephen F Austin State Universit 105
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 5 08-14 Total: 10 19-08
147. Aaron Hawkins - Broxson Daigle Texas A&M University 104
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 5 10-07 Total: 10 19-08
148. Christian Boyd - Landon Sexton Shelton State Community College 103
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 4 10-02 Total: 9 19-06
149. Turner Barksdale - Jared Walters Shelton State Community College 102
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 5 08-13 Total: 10 19-05
150. Benjamin Lewis - Jase Blanco Nicholls State University 101
Day 1: 4 06-01 Day 2: 5 13-03 Total: 9 19-04
151. Cole Klasing - Adam Green Greenville College Bass Fishing 100
Day 1: 5 10-06 Day 2: 5 08-12 Total: 10 19-02
152. Logan Howarter - Carrson Sizemore Kentucky Christian University 99
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 19-01
153. Ben Hatcher - Sam Hatcher University of Alabama 98
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 5 10-00 Total: 10 19-00
154. Tyler Morris - Hunter Hamilton LSU - Shreveport 97
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 09-10 Total: 10 19-00
155. Drew Blasi - Noah Amundson Kansas State University 96
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 07-14 Total: 10 18-14
156. Clayton Easter - Trevor Easter Tarleton State University 95
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 10-01 Total: 10 18-14
157. Braden Lankford - Sam Sutter Murray State College 94
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 5 09-01 Total: 10 18-12
158. Dylan Mclaughlin - Matt Brault Erskine College Bass Fishing 93
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 08-14 Total: 10 18-10
159. Caden Cardoza - Judd Morgan University of Tennessee 92
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 08-05 Total: 10 18-07
160. Brett Jolley Jr. - Cade Nettles East Texas Baptist University 91
Day 1: 5 08-10 Day 2: 4 09-10 Total: 9 18-04
161. Palmer Parrish - Clemson University 90
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 3 04-15 Total: 8 18-03
162. Will Rhyne - Lander University 89
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 08-12 Total: 10 18-03
163. Blake Wheat - Zachary Helton Carson-Newman University 88
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 08-13 Total: 10 18-03
164. Clay Henderson - Brant Rowland Drury University 87
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 5 08-07 Total: 10 18-02
165. Savannah Goode - Fisher Edwards Georgia College 86
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 08-07 Total: 10 18-01
166. Dylan Reid - Jaxson Smoak Georgia Southern University 85
Day 1: 4 09-06 Day 2: 5 08-11 Total: 9 18-01
167. Christian Bales - Dylan Mcgee Kentucky Christian University 84
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 09-09 Total: 10 18-00
168. David Bartlett - Drake Longstaff Greenville College Bass Fishing 83
Day 1: 5 09-03 Day 2: 5 08-12 Total: 10 17-15
169. Jase White - Lane King Drury University 82
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 5 09-02 Total: 10 17-11
170. Holt Avery - Skyler Meuse Texas A&M University 81
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 5 08-06 Total: 10 17-07
171. Peter West - Braylin Lewis Faulkner University 80
Day 1: 4 07-09 Day 2: 5 09-12 Total: 9 17-05
172. Landon Robbins - Mason Thompson University of Tennessee 79
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 07-10 Total: 10 17-04
173. Nick Pemberton - University of Montevallo 78
Day 1: 5 07-12 Day 2: 5 09-03 Total: 10 16-15
174. Carson Dillinger - Texas A&M University 77
Day 1: 4 05-12 Day 2: 5 10-15 Total: 9 16-11
175. Tyler Gentry - Jackson Wyatt Texas A&M University 76
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 5 08-05 Total: 10 16-05
176. Dallas Taylor - Kentucky Christian University 75
Day 1: 1 05-12 Day 2: 5 09-10 Total: 6 15-06
177. Shepard Rowe - East Texas Baptist University 74
Day 1: 4 11-00 Day 2: 2 04-01 Total: 6 15-01
178. Zane Stroman - Logan Clark East Texas Baptist University 73
Day 1: 4 06-06 Day 2: 5 08-11 Total: 9 15-01
179. Will Wester - TJ McKenzie Emmanuel College 72
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 4 06-09 Total: 9 14-09
180. Michael Canonica - Seth Proctor University of Tennessee 71
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 2 03-13 Total: 7 13-09
181. Kaleb Brown - Cole Moulton Lander University 70
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 13-08 Total: 5 13-08
182. Luke Frankowicz - Louisiana Tech University 69
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 3 04-11 Total: 8 13-03
183. Collin Burgess - Reagan Smith Tarleton State University 68
Day 1: 5 12-11 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 12-11
184. Cody Clifton - Samuele Amodeo Missouri State University 67
Day 1: 4 06-00 Day 2: 3 06-06 Total: 7 12-06
185. Colden Harman - Lance Fuhr Clemson University 66
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 11-15 Total: 5 11-15
186. Jordan Sylvester - Julien Meyer University Of Louisiana Lafayet 65
Day 1: 5 11-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 11-12
187. Taylor McMullen - Anna Kay Emmanuel College 64
Day 1: 4 07-05 Day 2: 2 03-14 Total: 6 11-03
188. London Copelin - Jacob Wandel University Of Arkansas 63
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 10-15
189. Jake Leinonen - Clemson University 62
Day 1: 1 02-15 Day 2: 5 07-11 Total: 6 10-10
190. Gus McLarry - Jared West Texas A&M Commerce Fishing Club 61
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 10-05
191. Jackson Plyler - Cambell Hall NC State University 60
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-12
192. Andrew Sell - Missouri State University 59
Day 1: 5 08-10 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-10
193. JD Clarke - Kaden Mueck Stephen F Austin State Universit 58
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-08
194. Walter Trulock - MS State 57
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-03
195. Riley Aebi - Ben Burns Stephen F Austin State Universit 56
Day 1: 4 07-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 07-08
196. Lane Bailey - Catawba Valley Community College 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
------------------------------
BIG BASS OF TOURN
Hampton Shull Greenville, SC 09-08 $0.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 180 946 2210-15
2 174 906 2172-12
------------------------------
354 1852 4383-11
Brandon Coulter Paces Group A on Day 1 of Major League Fishing’s General Tire Heavy Hitters on the Kissimmee Chain
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 18, 2023) – While the bite on the first day of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops was feast or famine for much of the 15-angler field, Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes served up everything a bass angler could ask for. Kissimmee produced quality bites on a diverse mix of techniques and surrendered a 9-pound Florida stud for the first Heavy Hitters big-bass bonus of the event.
Knoxville, Tennessee pro Brandon Coulter led the group after catching 12 bass for 39 pounds, 3 ounces, a near 7-pound lead over Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, who weighed 10 scorable bass totaling 32-1 to end the day in second place.
With tight weights, every angler still has a legitimate chance to advance to the Knockout Round, where the stakes are raised and the big bass payout increases to $30,000.
Huntsville, Alabama pro Ryan Salzman, who finished the day in third place, caught the heaviest bass of the day Saturday right at the end of Period 1 – a largemouth that weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces. The fish came on Z-Man ChatterBait Jack Hammer with a Houdini-colored Z-Man RaZor Shadz trailer. For the lunker, Salzman will take home a $10,000 Big Bass Bonus. Big Bass Bonuses are awarded each day throughout the competition, with payouts of $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000 being awarded for the single biggest fish in the Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
The 15 anglers in Group A will now have the day off Sunday, while the 15 anglers in Group B will begin their Day 1 Qualifying Round. Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition on Monday.
After a slow start to the day, where he failed to catch a scoreable bass for the first two hours, Coulter caught fire for the rest of the day. He estimates catching well over 60 bass, with a dozen reaching this round's 2-pound variable minimum weight. Coulter is also right on the mark for his goal weight and shouldn't have to catch many more fish to advance when his group returns to the water on Monday.
"It was a heck of a day, and I barely missed my goal – I was hoping for 40 pounds and came up a little short," he said. "The first period, I didn't have anything going until right before the period ended. What a day it turned into after that, once I figured out the bite."
Coulter surmised that switching from a punching pattern to a frog was the key.
“I didn’t even have a bite on a frog in practice and was catching them in the hydrilla punching,” he said. “Toward the end of practice, I noticed I was getting bites as soon as the bait came through the mat, which told me they were higher in the water column, so I threw a few frogs in the boat.”
Since his mat-punching pattern was so strong in practice, he stuck with it until switching to a bone Berkley Swamp Lord frog at the end of the first period.
“My first bite was a 4-15 and she choked it,” Coulter said. “We started counting and it was 62 bass on that same frog, which was brand new out of the package earlier in the day. A lot of the fish were around 1-12, and I don’t care who you are; that’s still fun to catch a bunch of fish that size in the slop.”
Coulter fished his frog on a 7-foot, 5-inch extra-heavy Fenwick World Class rod with an 8.3:1 Abu Garcia Zenon X reel and 65-pound Berkley X5 braided line. Another key was reading the grass and finding the right areas.
“It’s the same thing I do on Guntersville and Chickamauga, and when you find the right grass mix, it becomes much easier,” he said. “It was an absolutely perfect day for frog fishing since many people haven’t gotten on the bite yet. It’s like when the fish first get out on the ledges and haven’t been harassed yet.”
Coulter is thrilled with his catch, but looking ahead knows that things will change when he returns to Kissimmee on Friday.
“The conditions are going to be different, and I know I’m going to do some different stuff,” he said. “I’ll treat Monday as a practice day to expand and try my best to catch the biggest bass of the day.”
The standings for the 15 pros from Qualifying Group A after Day 1 on the Kissimmee Chain are:
1st: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 39-3
2nd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 32-1
3rd: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., six bass, 29-15
4th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., seven bass, 22-1
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., six bass, 21-10
6th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., four bass, 18-11
7th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, four bass, 10-8
8th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., three bass, 10-4
9th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., four bass, 9-15
10th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., four bass, 9-13
11th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., three bass, 8-13
12th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., two bass, 8-9
13th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, three bass, 8-5
14th: Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., two bass, 7-1
15th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., one bass, 2-9
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 71 bass weighing 239 pounds, 6 ounces caught by the 15 pros on Saturday, which included one 9-pounder, one 7-pounder and four 6-pounders caught from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.
The General Tire Heavy Hitters at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Bass Pro Shops features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.
The 15 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
In addition to the tournament, Big Bass Bonuses are awarded in each round of competition with payouts of $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000 awarded to the single biggest fish in the Group A and B Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
Anglers will launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Day 2 of the event, Sunday, May 19, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to visit Big Toho Marina located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee, to watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing. Heavy Hitters competitors will cross the stage at 4:30 p.m. following lines out and will be available to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2023 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and Rumble.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 10 and running each Saturday through Sept. 14 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Joe Uribe Closes out Second WON Bass Lake Havasu Open Championship
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – May 17, 2024 –– If there had been a betting line on a list of anglers that had the best odds of winning the 2024 Ranger Boats WON Bass Lake Havasu Open presented by Mercury, Bridgford Foods pro Joe Uribe Jr. would have been right at the top of that list. The Phoenix, Ariz pro has had a long history of major wins at Lake Havasu, and he added to that list today in the shadow of London Bridge.
Uribe, who led by less than an ounce after conclusion of the second day over second place Del Rio, Tex. pro Kurt Dove, and only slightly more than Micah Jones of Kingman, Ariz. in third place. Word amongst the competitors was that the angler amongst the top three who managed to post 18 pounds on the final day would likely take the win.
Uribe came to the Riviera Marina as the last angler to weigh-in and dropped 17.93 pounds on the WON Bass scales to claim his second victory in a WON Bass Lake Havasu Open with a three-day winning weight of 57.31 pounds. Jones finished third for the event with 54.40 pounds, while Dove slipped to third place with 53.38 pounds. He was followed in fourth place by Lake Havasu City, Ariz. pro Roy Hawk with 53 pounds and pro Todd Kline of San Clemente, Calif. finished fifth with 51.88 pounds.
The veteran pro used a variety of techniques to weigh fish during the three-day event. He described his first day as a “junk fishing fest” to try and figure out exactly what he needed to set up on. Late in the first afternoon, he put all of the pieces of the puzzle together to what became the ultimate pattern. “I figured out a particular combination of depth, cover and technique that afternoon, and once that came together, I could see exactly what I needed to target,” he said. “I weighed a couple of fish on a spinnerbait and a squarebill, but the majority of the weight came from flipping matted grass and laydown tules in 3 to 5 feet of water, and that was the key.”
Uribe said that the pattern was inspired by the late Aaron Martens, the three-time WON Bass U.S. Open Champion who won a Bassmaster Elite Series on Lake Havasu by targeting matted tules in deeper water with a Flipping rig. “I remembered that Aaron had won this time of the year, so I put that in my memory bank as something to look for in the event,” he said. “When I found the bite, I got excited, and each time I caught a fish, I said a little thank you to Aaron; I could feel him looking down on me.”
The pattern was one that relied on a slightly scaled down “Finesse Flipping” setup. He paired a 7’3” heavy action Daiwa Taula Elite Takahiro Omori Pitching rod with an 8.1:1 Tatula Elite Pitching and Flipping reel spooled with 40-pound-test Sunline SX-2 braided line. He threaded a 3/4-ounce VOSS Tungsten Flipping weight and tied a 3/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Flipping hook which he rigged with a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver 4.20 in Big Texan color.
He reported that the postspawn females he was targeting were taking refuge in the shad around the matted vegetation that was blown into pockets in Windsor Bay and around the mouth of the river itself. “I am so blessed to have won this tournament, I went out here and fished free and clean and just felt like The Lord was watching over me,” he said. “It was just a great event, and a lot of fun; I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of playing this game and having a chance to do well.”
Second place finisher Jones spent much of his event behind the wheel of his boat. In an interview with WON Bass Tournament Director Bill Egan, Jones described his week. “I ran a total of 210 miles in the three days of the event and I’m exhausted,” he said. “I used a spinnerbait and a Raid Baits swimbait to catch all of my fish this week, and while I’d loved to have won, these are hard tournaments to get; I’m stoked to have finished second.”
In the AAA Division, James Fenney III of Vista, Calif. claimed the title of Champion with a three-day total weight of 51.62 pounds. He outlasted David Crunden of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. who finished second with 51.24 pounds. Third place in the AAA Division went to Adam Gragg of Acton, Calif. with 50.92 pounds, he was followed in fourth place by Ronnie Orbaker of Madera, Calif. with 50.22 pounds and Eric Norgard of Monrovia, Calif. finished fifth with 50.08 pounds.
Each of the pros and AAA anglers who finish in the top five will also earn a Golden Ticket berth into the 2025 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic
The top 10 in each division are posted below: for complete standings, visit https://wonbassevents.com/
|
WON Bass Lake Havasu Open 5/15 to 5/17/2024 |
||||||||
|
Place |
Pro Day 3 | Hometown |
Fish |
Pnlty |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Total |
|
1 |
Joe Uribe, Jr. | Surprise AZ |
15-15 |
17.21 |
22.17 |
17.93 |
57.31 |
|
|
2 |
Micah Jones | Kingman AZ |
15-15 |
20.86 |
18.37 |
15.17 |
54.40 |
|
|
3 |
Kurt Dove | Del Rio TX |
15-15 |
18.49 |
20.79 |
14.10 |
53.38 |
|
|
4 |
Roy Hawk | Lake Havasu City AZ |
15-15 |
17.39 |
17.69 |
17.92 |
53.00 |
|
|
5 |
Todd Kline | San Clemente CA |
15-15 |
18.38 |
17.52 |
15.98 |
51.88 |
|
|
6 |
Zack Hayes | Blythe CA |
15-15 |
17.14 |
17.70 |
16.55 |
51.39 |
|
|
7 |
Jerry Ballesteros | Rancho Cucamonga CA |
15-15 |
18.15 |
14.58 |
17.72 |
50.45 |
|
|
8 |
Bill Brown | Grand Junction CO |
15-15 |
16.73 |
15.70 |
18.01 |
50.44 |
|
|
9 |
David Thies | Lake Havasu City CA |
15-15 |
17.05 |
16.25 |
15.75 |
49.05 |
|
|
10 |
J D Blackamore | Yorba Linda CA |
15-15 |
15.42 |
16.60 |
16.68 |
48.70 |
|
|
Place |
AAA Angler Day 3 | Hometown |
Fish |
Pnlty |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Total |
|
1 |
James Fenney, III | Vista CA |
15-15 |
19.94 |
15.23 |
16.45 |
51.62 |
|
|
2 |
David Crunden | Lake Havasu City AZ |
15-15 |
0.50 |
15.20 |
22.17 |
13.87 |
51.24 |
|
3 |
Adam Gragg | Acton CA |
15-15 |
18.41 |
14.03 |
18.48 |
50.92 |
|
|
4 |
Ronnie Orbaker | Madera CA |
15-15 |
20.86 |
14.04 |
15.32 |
50.22 |
|
|
5 |
Eric Norgard | Monrovia CA |
15-15 |
15.59 |
17.24 |
17.25 |
50.08 |
|
|
6 |
Wesley Nunley | Washington UT |
15-15 |
16.73 |
19.04 |
13.81 |
49.58 |
|
|
7 |
Anthony Hunt | Clovis CA |
15-15 |
17.05 |
15.61 |
16.78 |
49.44 |
|
|
8 |
Dave Phillips | Nampa ID |
15-15 |
16.82 |
15.95 |
16.07 |
48.84 |
|
|
9 |
David Childress | Bakersfield CA |
15-15 |
17.52 |
15.11 |
15.95 |
48.58 |
|
|
10 |
Damon Motley | Orange CA |
15-15 |
17.26 |
13.33 |
17.92 |
48.51 |
|
As the winner of the 2024 Ranger Boats WON Bass Lake Havasu Open presented by Mercury, Joe Uribe Jr. earns the Ranger Boats / Mercury Motor prize boat provided by Bass Pro Shops, and the Golden Tickets to the 2025 Bassmaster BASS Nation National Championship will be awarded to the top five Pro and AAA anglers and will further develop the season long competition to see who will receive guaranteed slots into the 2025 Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers.
The 2024 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada moves next to the California Open at Clear Lake April 17 to 19, 2024. The series will culminate with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October. The full schedule of the five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 31–Feb. 2, Lake Shasta - Champion Nick Wood – 47.42 pounds
April 17-19, Clear Lake – Champion Austin Bonjour – 83.28 pounds
May 15-17, Lake Havasu – Champion Joe Uribe Jr. – 57.31 pounds
Sept. 18-20, Lake Mead
Oct. 14-16, U.S. Open at Lake Mohave
For complete details to register for future events, or to find results, look to wonbassevents.com and WONews.com to hear the latest news about the 2024 season and beyond and follow along at Facebook.com/
The 2024 WON Bass Lake Havasu Open was brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Phenix Rods, Yamamoto Baits, Bill Lewis Lures, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad, Bioenno Power, SOG Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Gamma Line, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, DD26 Fishing, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine and Signature Gates.
Local presenting sponsors were Go Lake Havasu, Anderson Toyota and Riviera Marina. Daily takeoffs and weigh-ins were being conducted at Riviera Marina.
Cherokee Lake Set to Host 41st annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine
Jefferson City gears up for $120,000 grassroots bass-fishing championship, offering weekend anglers advancement opportunities to the 2024 Toyota Series Championship and REDCREST 2025
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (May 16, 2024) – Major League Fishing (MLF) returns to Tennessee, next week, May 29-31, for the 41st annual Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Championship Presented by T-H Marine on Cherokee Lake. The three-day tournament, hosted by Visit Jefferson County TN, will showcase the nation’s best weekend grassroots anglers, and awards the winning boater a top prize of up to $120,000, and an automatic qualification into REDCREST 2025, MLF’s most prestigious event.
In addition to the automatic REDCREST 2025 qualification and the chance to win $300,000, the highest-finishing boaters and co-anglers from each of the seven regionals at the All-American advance to the 2024 Toyota Series Championship, where they will have a shot at winning up to $235,000, including the lucrative $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus, and $33,500, respectively.
Jefferson County, Tennessee, played host to a very successful All-American Championship in 2021. That event, however, was held on Douglas Lake. Church Hill, Tennessee boater Brant Grimm, who called Douglas and Cherokee lakes his “home fisheries” added his name to the illustrious list of BFL All-American winners.
“We are thrilled to once again be hosting the All-American Championship in Jefferson County, this time on Cherokee Lake,” said Lauren Hurdle, Director of Tourism for Visit Jefferson County TN. “The tournament could not be scheduled for a better time of year, as it is going to really showcase just how amazing this fishery is. Cherokee Lake has hosted numerous Major League Fishing events, including the Bass Pro Tour and countless Phoenix Bass Fishing League events. It will be so exciting to see what these top grassroot anglers are able to produce on these waters.”
The BFL All-American serves as a pathway for anglers who wish to advance to the Toyota Series, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and ultimately the Bass Pro Tour. Former All-American champions who currently compete on the Bass Pro Tour and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include Shaw Grigsby (1984), Stephen Browning (1996), Jacob Wheeler (2011), Jeremy Lawyer (2016), Nick LeBrun (2018) and Connor Cunningham (2022).
Local Toyota Series pro Jimmy Neece Jr. of Bristol, Tennessee, said he expects to see a lot of action on Cherokee Lake during this event.
“I don’t think they could have picked a better time of year to hit Cherokee Lake,” said Neece. “The weather should be great, and the fish are in the perfect bite window, so this should be a pretty exciting, diverse event.
“I think we’ll see a lot of fish caught out deep and some up in the shallow cover. The upper end of the lake should play really well with the flipping and topwater bite.”
Neece said he thinks it will take about 13 pounds per day to make it into the top 10 on Championship Friday and 16 pounds per day to win the event.
“I’ve fished Cherokee Lake my whole life and can remember a time when you never caught a smallmouth,” said Neece. “But the fishery has shifted through the years. Smallmouth have been dominant for the last few years, but largemouth are starting to make a comeback now and this event is really setting up to be won with a combination of species.”
Cherokee Lake, also known as Cherokee Reservoir, is an artificial reservoir formed by the impoundment of the Holston River behind Cherokee Dam. The dam was built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1941 to create hydroelectric energy during World War II.
“Cherokee Lake is a TVA lake, designed for power generation,” said Neece. “The TVA typically draws water out of the lake each fall, sometimes up to 30 to 50 feet, but with the spring rain, the lake starts rising and is usually at full pool by now. However, it’s currently still about 6-8 foot low.
“We’ve had a lot of rain, so it should start getting better and be at full pool by the time the tournament starts next week, which will make for a better topwater bite,” Neece explained. “On the mid to lower end of the lake, I expect to see a lot of fish caught out deep – deep-cranking, swimbaits and things like that – but the topwater bite should be good down there as well.”
Neece said go-to-baits like the Heddon Zara Spook Walking Bait and a Carolina rig are usually key staples on the fishery.
“I expect to see a combination of shallow and deep fishing during this event,” said Neece. “There will be a lot of [Garmin] LiveScoping going on, and I expect to see guys doing really good live scoping, but also think we’ll see other guys do well fishing up shallow or fishing the river.
“In this event, river rats, ‘scopers and traditional fisherman can all do really well,” Neece continued. “There’s a lot of backwater, creeks and shallow flats in Cherokee Lake. You can catch fish on bluff walls or in the backs of creeks, it all depends on who’s got the ability to get the furthest north up the river.”
Anglers will launch each day at 6:30 a.m. ET from the TVA Cherokee Dam Boat Launch, located at 2805 N. Highway 92 in Jefferson City. Weigh-in each day will be held at the boat launch and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and encouraged to follow the event’s online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Friday from 6:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
The full field of 49 boaters and 49 Strike King co-anglers will compete on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 10 boaters and co-anglers, based on two-day total cumulative weight, and the final 10 anglers compete on Championship Friday. The boater and co-angler that catch the heaviest three-day total weight will be crowned the 41st Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Champions.
The 2023 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine was 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 Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, advanced to one of six Regional Championships where they competed to finish in the top six, which then advanced them to compete in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
Television coverage of the 2024 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will premiere November 16 on CBS Sports. The full television air schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Paden and Bissing manage windy conditions to lead Bassmaster College Series event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
May 16, 2024
Paden and Bissing manage windy conditions to lead Bassmaster College Series event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
JASPER, Texas — While anglers often state that they’d rather be lucky than good, Jackson Paden and Joey Bissing of the University of Tennessee combined the two and sacked up a five-bass limit of 21 pounds, 6 ounces to lead Day 1 of the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Bass Pro Shops.
In the final of three events on the series’ new Lunkers Trail, Paden and Bissing were the only team to break 20 pounds. Their opening effort leads Ashton Hehr and Trevor Johnston of Texas A&M University by 1-8.
“We were just bouncing around, in and out, and trying to get bites,” Bissing said. “I feel like we may have gotten a little lucky today.”
Noting that he and his partner fished far uplake, Bissing said they worked five main areas where they focused most of their efforts on brush and wood.
“It wasn’t as much about the size of the bushes, but where they were located,” Paden said. “If it was on a point, it seems like we could get bit.”
Rotating through their spots yielded a limit by about 8:30 a.m. Paden and Bissing made their final cull at noon.
“We caught a lot of our weight just off the bank on a drop shot with a finesse worm, but we also caught fish flipping bushes with a Texas-rigged Big Bite Baits Scentsation Cliff Hanger Worm,” Paden said. “We also fished a Carolina rig out deep. That produced our biggest fish — a 5 3/4 — around noon.
“It was never really slow for us. We caught 20 to 25 keepers. We caught fish from a foot of water to 15 feet, but up shallow produced best. There was a lot of bait in the area, but there was definitely a lot of fry guarders up there too.”
An approaching weather system brought a day of windy conditions and afternoon thunderstorms. Paden said he and Bissing leveraged the day’s complexion by focusing on windblown banks where the water movement stimulated the fish.
“It was windy all day, so we started flipping a heavier weight when the wind picked up,” Paden said. “We went from a 3/8- to a 1/2-ounce.”
Looking ahead to Friday’s championship round, the leaders are confident their overall game plan can hold up. However, they’re concerned about the storm’s impact. They’ll visit some of the same areas they fished today, but they’ll be ready to adjust as needed.
“We’re gonna try to replicate what we did today,” Paden said. “Hopefully all this rain and thunder didn’t mess our spots up too much, but we’ll just have to figure it out tomorrow.”
Hehr and Johnston are in second place with 19-14, while Caden Denny and Cody Monlezun — also of Texas A&M University — are in third place with 19-10
Mason Lyons and Dalton Blakley of Kentucky Christian University are in the lead for Big Bass honors with a 9-5. Lyons and Blakley placed ninth with 17-7.
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6 a.m. CT at Umphrey Family Pavilion. The weigh-in will be held at the pavilion at 2 p.m.
The Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce and Jasper County are hosting the event.
2024 Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2024 Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2024 Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
2024 Bassmaster College Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
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Massive Day Two vaults Joe Uribe into Lead on day two at WON Bass Arizona Open
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – May 16, 2024 –– With conditions maintaining in the mild category on the second day of the 2024 Ranger Boats WON Bass Arizona Open presented by Mercury, it was a solid bet that there would be some fireworks. That solid bet paid off.
Turn 121 of the premier tournament anglers on a body of water like Lake Havasu, and you’re bound to see some impressive displays of angling skill. Give the cream of the crop of that field the second consecutive day of calm conditions, and the results could be scary.
When the morning of day two dawned and Phoenix, Ariz. pro Joe Uribe Jr. – a multi-time winner on Lake Havasu – saw the conditions, he knew exactly what to do. Armed with his understanding of the fishery, the conditions presented and his particular skillsets, Uribe turned loose a shallow water attack that produced 22.17 pounds that catapulted him from 21st place into the day two lead with 39.38 pounds.
That’s not to say that Uribe has the event sewn up, Kurt Dove, the veteran pro from Del Rio, Tex. posted a 20.79-pound limit on day two that moved him into the runner-up position with 39.28 pounds after being in a tie for seventh place after day one.
Keeping the two of them honest was the second-place finisher from the first day of competition, Micah Jones. Jones, from Kingman, Ariz. backed up his first round weight of 20.86 pounds with an 18.37-pund day to finish third for the day with 39.23 pounds. Todd Kline, who has also claimed victory on Havasu in the recent past, the San Vicente, Calif. pro had a second consecutive day crowding the 18-pound mark to finish fourth with 35.90 pounds. Roy Hawk, a two-time U.S. Open Champion from Lake Havasu City, Ariz. and longtime national touring pro rounded out the day in fifth place with 35.08 pounds.
Uribe said that he spent the first day trying to dial in what to do, but as the day progressed, he figured out what would produce the better quality bites. “I really had to junk fish on day one because we did have that overcast conditions, but once the sun came up, I figured out what they were doing,” he said. “I adjusted to that program around nine o’clock this morning and had a great day.”
The Bridgford Foods pro said that he went shallow and stayed there. “I have this certain mixture of ingredients that I had to find involving a certain depth range and cover that are producing the right bites,” he said. “I didn’t get a lot of bites today – probably six or seven – but when I did, they were the right ones.”
He also said things would change tomorrow, and that he would have to adjust again. “It looks like we’re going to get some wind and I’ll have to change again, but that’s what I do – always open minded,” he reported. “I will go out there and do the best I can, and if it goes well, it will work out, I’m just going to have to go fishing and let the rest fall into place.”
Dove, a veteran of the Bassmaster Elite Series, FLW Tour and MLF Big 5 Tackle Warehouse circuits said that he feels like he’ll have to have at least 18 pounds to have a shot. “It’s really anybody’s game right there,” the Megaware Keelguard pro said. "We’re all so tight in the top three that I know I have to perform.”
The Texas based pro revealed that he is using a two-pronged approach that relies on a topwater pattern, backed up by a pair of finesse techniques in “The Bowl” area of Lake Havasu. “I got more bites on the first day, but got two of the right bites today [including the 7.31-pound Big Bass of the Day on the pro side] and it really helped, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Mitch Southern from Yucaipa, Calif. took the lead in the AAA division by being a part of Dove’s 20.79-pound day with a total weight of 37.58 pounds. Second place went to David Crunden of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. with 37.37 pounds. Anthony Matthews of Parks, Ariz. placed third for the day with a total weight of 36.01 pounds while the fourth place AAA went to Wesley Nunes of Washington, Utah with 35.77 pounds and Chad Procaska of Blythe, Calif rounded out the top five with 35.35 pounds.
The top 10 in each division are posted below: for complete standings, visit https://wonbassevents.com/
|
WON Bass Lake Havasu Open 5/15 to 5/17/2024 |
||||||||
|
Place |
Pro Day 2 | Hometown |
Fish |
B/B |
Pnlty |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Total |
|
1 |
Joe Uribe, Jr. | Surprise AZ |
10-10 |
5.47 |
17.21 |
22.17 |
39.38 |
|
|
2 |
Kurt Dove | Del Rio TX |
10-10 |
7.31 |
18.49 |
20.79 |
39.28 |
|
|
3 |
Micah Jones | Kingman AZ |
10-10 |
6.63 |
20.86 |
18.37 |
39.23 |
|
|
4 |
Todd Kline | San Clemente CA |
10-10 |
18.38 |
17.52 |
35.90 |
||
|
5 |
Roy Hawk | Lake Havasu City AZ |
10-10 |
4.03 |
17.39 |
17.69 |
35.08 |
|
|
6 |
Zack Hayes | Blythe CA |
10-10 |
3.98 |
17.14 |
17.70 |
34.84 |
|
|
7 |
Shaun Bailey | Fontana CA |
10-10 |
5.25 |
16.79 |
17.40 |
34.19 |
|
|
8 |
Chris Raza | Orangvale CA |
10-10 |
7.68 |
18.59 |
15.58 |
34.17 |
|
|
9 |
Jeff Baird | Washington UT |
10-10 |
5.25 |
18.41 |
15.50 |
33.91 |
|
|
10 |
Jim Moulton | Merced CA |
10-10 |
5.61 |
15.15 |
18.65 |
33.80 |
|
|
Place |
AAA Angler Day 2 | Hometown |
Fish |
B/B |
Pnlty |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Total |
|
1 |
Mitch Southern | Yucaipa CA |
10-10 |
4.51 |
16.79 |
20.79 |
37.58 |
|
|
2 |
David Crunden | Lake Havasu City AZ |
10-9 |
0.50 |
15.20 |
22.17 |
37.37 |
|
|
3 |
Anthony Matthews | Parks AZ |
10-10 |
4.41 |
18.49 |
17.52 |
36.01 |
|
|
4 |
Wesley Nunley | Washington UT |
10-10 |
4.40 |
16.73 |
19.04 |
35.77 |
|
|
5 |
Chad Prochaska | Blythe CA |
10-10 |
17.11 |
18.24 |
35.35 |
||
|
6 |
James Fenney, III | Vista CA |
10-10 |
6.21 |
19.94 |
15.23 |
35.17 |
|
|
7 |
Ronnie Orbaker | Madera CA |
10-10 |
20.86 |
14.04 |
34.90 |
||
|
8 |
Mason Herrera | Star Valley AZ |
10-10 |
17.14 |
16.85 |
33.99 |
||
|
9 |
John Harris | San Diego CA |
10-10 |
18.59 |
15.37 |
33.96 |
||
|
10 |
Craig Klatt | Las Vegas NV |
10-10 |
17.91 |
15.97 |
33.88 |
||
The winner of the 2024 WON Bass Lake Havasu Open earns the Ranger Boats / Mercury Motor prize boat provided by Bass Pro Shops, and the Golden Tickets to the 2025 Bassmaster BASS Nation National Championship will be awarded to the top five Pro and AAA anglers and will further develop the season long competition to see who will receive guaranteed slots into the 2025 Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers.
Each of the pros and AAA anglers who finish in the top five will also earn a Golden Ticket berth into the 2025 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic
The 2024 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events Consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada moves next to the California Open at Clear Lake April 17 to 19, 2024. The series will culminate with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October. The full schedule of the five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 31–Feb. 2, Lake Shasta - Champion Nick Wood – 47.42 pounds
April 17-19, Clear Lake – Champion Austin Bonjour – 83.28 pounds
May 15-17, Lake Havasu
Sept. 18-20, Lake Mead
Oct. 14-16, U.S. Open at Lake Mohave
For complete details to register for future events, or to find results, look to wonbassevents.com and WONews.com to hear the latest news about the 2024 season and beyond and follow along at Facebook.com/
The 2024 WON Bass Lake Havasu Open is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Phenix Rods, Yamamoto Baits, Bill Lewis Lures, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad, Bioenno Power, SOG Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Gamma Line, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, DD26 Fishing, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine and Signature Gates.Local presenting sponsors are Go Lake Havasu, Anderson Toyota and Riviera Marina. Daily takeoffs and weigh-ins are being conducted at Riviera Marina.
Max Hernandez takes Day One Lead at WON Bass Arizona Open with 22.27 pounds.
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – May 15, 2024 –– One thing about desert lakes… you never know what you’re gonna get.
With a Colorado River impoundment like Lake Havasu, there are plenty of opportunities to fish however you want. You can choose power or finesse techniques, and the chances are, you’ll have a chance to be competitive. If you prefer to fish for largemouth or smallmouth, you’ll still have a shot at placing in the money.
On day one of the 2024 Ranger Boats WON Bass Lake Havasu Open presented by Mercury, the 121-boat field filled with Pro and AAA anglers headed out onto the calm waters of Lake Havasu. The conditions seemed surreal, as the area was blanketed in an overcast sky that typically means sturdy desert winds, yet there was barely a breath of a breeze.
The conditions alternated throughout the day, yet one thing that did not was the plan that day one leader Max Hernandez of Queen Creek, Ariz. used to post 22.27 pounds and take the lead on day one of the event. He and his AAA partner for the day, Kadyn Jaramillo used the patterns Hernandez developed in practice to take the day one lead.
They were followed in second place by Kingman, Ariz pro Micah Jones and his AAA partner Ronnie Orbaker with 20.87 pounds. Third place for the day went to Desert Hills, Ariz. pro Ian Boehm and AAA Frank One with 20.09 pounds while fourth place was claimed by Wildomar, Calif. pro Rich Vincent and AAA James Feeney III with 19.94 pounds. Pro Conrad Demecs of Phoenix, Ariz and his AAA partner James Meeks rounded out the day one top five with 18.90 pounds.
Hernandez had limited practice due to his work schedule at Arizona’s Salt River Power Company and his HMR Marine Carpet Restoration Company, so he made the best use of the time. “I really had to focus because I only had Monday and Tuesday to practice,” he said. “I found my primary pattern on Monday and developed something I thought might help on my second day, that really helped.”
Hernandez fished two spots all day and was surprised he was able to get on his first area. “I was boat 93 today, and I ended up having the area all to myself – I had 14 pounds at 11:00,” he said. “My afternoon pattern really produced; we culled four of the fish we caught in the morning to get our 22 pounds.”
He is looking forward to the second day of the event. “I feel really good about what I’ve been doing,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to get better; it’s a mixture of two different things and I’ll keep rotating through them.”
Jones said that he struck early and was able to save something going into the second day. “I fished shallow, mostly in the river, but did go out on the lake to do some ‘Scoping (Livescoping),” he said. “I had most of my weight at around 11:00 today but kept looking around to try and expand things. I’m fishing for postspawn fish, and If I can locate them tomorrow, I feel really good about what I can do.”
Each of the pros and AAA anglers who finished in the top five have earned a Golden Ticket berth into the 2025 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic
The top 10 in each division are posted below: for complete standings, visit https://wonbassevents.com/
|
WON Bass Lake Havasu Open 5/15 to 5/17/2024 Day One Standings |
||||||
|
Place |
Pro Day 1 | Hometown |
Fish |
Day 1 |
B/B |
Total |
|
1 |
Max Hernandez | Queen Creek AZ |
5-5 |
22.27 |
3.61 |
25.88 |
|
2 |
Micah Jones | Kingman AZ |
5-5 |
20.86 |
6.63 |
27.49 |
|
3 |
Ian Boehm | Desrt Hills AZ |
5-5 |
20.09 |
5.90 |
25.99 |
|
4 |
Rich Vincent | Wildomar CA |
5-5 |
19.94 |
4.16 |
24.10 |
|
5 |
Conrad Demecs | Phoenix AZ |
5-5 |
18.90 |
18.9 |
|
|
6 |
Chris Raza | Orangvalle CA |
5-5 |
18.59 |
7.68 |
26.27 |
|
7 |
Kurt Dove | Del Rio TX |
5-5 |
18.49 |
18.49 |
|
|
8 |
Taj White | Glendale AZ |
5-5 |
18.49 |
6.22 |
69.86 |
|
9 |
Jeff Baird | Washington UT |
5-5 |
18.41 |
5.25 |
23.66 |
|
10 |
Todd Kline | San Clemente CA |
5-5 |
18.38 |
18.38 |
|
|
Place |
AAA Angler Day 1 | Hometown |
Fish |
Day 1 |
B/B |
Total |
|
1 |
Kadyn Jaramillo | Cottonwood CA |
5-5 |
22.27 |
5.37 |
27.64 |
|
2 |
Ronnie Orbaker | Madera CA |
5-5 |
20.86 |
20.86 |
|
|
3 |
Frank Ono | Hidden Valley Lake CA |
5-5 |
20.09 |
3.39 |
73.53 |
|
4 |
James Fenney, III | Vista CA |
5-5 |
19.94 |
6.21 |
26.15 |
|
5 |
Jeff Meeks | Blythe CA |
5-5 |
18.90 |
18.90 |
|
|
6 |
John Harris | San Diego CA |
5-5 |
18.59 |
18.59 |
|
|
7 |
Kevin Hoppe | Lake Havasu City AZ |
5-5 |
18.49 |
18.49 |
|
|
8 |
Adam Gragg | Acton CA |
5-5 |
18.41 |
18.41 |
|
|
9 |
Adam Gragg | Acton CA |
5-5 |
18.41 |
18.41 |
|
|
10 |
Michael Grisham | Glendale AZ |
5-5 |
18.38 |
18.38 |
|
The winner of the 2024 WON Bass Lake Havasu Open earns the Ranger Boats / Mercury Motor prize boat provided by Bass Pro Shops, and the Golden Tickets to the 2025 Bassmaster BASS Nation National Championship will be awarded to the top five Pro and AAA anglers and will further develop the season long competition to see who will receive guaranteed slots into the 2025 Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers.
The 2024 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events Consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada moves next to the California Open at Clear Lake April 17 to 19, 2024. The series will culminate with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October. The full schedule of the five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 31–Feb. 2, Lake Shasta - Champion Nick Wood – 47.42 pounds
April 17-19, Clear Lake – Champion Austin Bonjour – 83.28 pounds
May 15-17, Lake Havasu
Sept. 18-20, Lake Mead
Oct. 14-16, U.S. Open at Lake Mohave
For complete details to register for future events, or to find results, look to wonbassevents.com and WONews.com to hear the latest news about the 2024 season and beyond and follow along at Facebook.com/
The 2024 WON Bass Lake Havasu Open is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Phenix Rods, Yamamoto Baits, Bill Lewis Lures, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad, Bioenno Power, SOG Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Gamma Line, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, DD26 Fishing, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine and Signature Gates.
Local presenting sponsors are Go Lake Havasu, Anderson Toyota and Riviera Marina. Daily takeoffs and weigh-ins are being conducted at Riviera Marina.
Kyle Welcher Takes Day One NPFL Lead on a Tough Lake Hartwell
Making a key decision to change his approach first thing this morning, Alabama pro Kyle Welcher takes the day one NPFL lead at Lake Hartwell with 16 pounds, 11 ounces. His effort gives him a 7-ounce cushion over Will Harkins going into day two.
“I gambled a little bit this morning and decided I was going to change how I started the event,” he said. “I really thought it was going to be easier to catch some 2.5-pound fish but the sun made them not want to commit – they would go down on a bait but not come up.”
Welcher expects the cloud and storms forecasted for day two to help the bite and notes that the off day Wednesday moved a bunch of his spawning fish off the beds. “Most of those fish left,” he added. “I do have a few left on beds, but if I could have, I would have caught them today. The weather tomorrow in practice made the fish bite a lot better, so hopefully that is the case tomorrow.”
Will Harkins
A man on a mission, NPFL pro Will Harkins is continuing to get it done in 2024. Taking the win on Logan Martin in February, Harkins picked up where he left off and sits in the second-place spot on day one with a total weight of 16 pounds, 4 ounces.
Knowing throughout practice that Lake Hartwell was fishing tough, Harkins dedicated his practice to locating as many “transition type areas” as possible and ended up with over 120 areas he thought may play, and has several sneaky places he is confident he has to himself.
“Practice was all about running around and marking things I thought may be “different” from the normal,” he said. “I feel like most of the folks fishing offshore are targeting similar type things, and I am fishing more off the wall, if that makes sense.”
An expert with his electronics, Harkins is fishing how he is comfortable and rotating through as many waypoints as possible. While keeping an eye on where boats are focusing, he is mixing in community holes on Lake Hartwell and hoping to land in the right area at the right time.
“I don’t know if I burned my best places today or not, but I caught 30 to 40 bass,” he added. “I am starting my morning on some shad spawn areas, gambling a little bit, and then settling into my program. I am hoping the weather tomorrow helps.”
Buddy Gross
In the third-place spot, Georgia pro Buddy Gross caught 15 pounds, 14 ounces on day one on Lake Hartwell.
Jason Burroughs
With 15 pounds, 9 ounces, Jason Burroughs sits in the fourth-place spot on day one. Dealing with misfortune in the form of boat problems and lost fish, he is thrilled with a solid start to the tournament.
“It was not the best day, but not terrible,” he said. “I caught about what I was thinking I could catch with the weather conditions, but leaving take-off I broke my hot foot spring and ran wide open on Hartwell today.”
Once he got settled in, he got to work catching fish, but one lost fish cost him a much better bag. “I wasted the first part of the morning fishing the shad spawn and it did not work, besides a few small fish. It was a gamble but I was able to make it work later on fishing targeting transition area and ended up losing one good fish. With the weather tomorrow, they are going to bite.”
Matt Mollohan
South Carolina pro Matt Mollohan sits in the fifth-place spot on Lake Hartwell with a day-one weight of 14 pounds, 12 ounces. After a tough practice, he skipped out on the shallow herring bite and focused his efforts on the offshore fish to get his tournament off to a good start,
“In 2022, I screwed myself here and missed out on the deal. This go around, I came in expecting the herring to be going off and that just wasn't the case,” he said. “I made a change late in practice to fish deeper water and caught a bunch of bass. With the sun high today, I had to make yet another change. I went back to the bank and adjusted on the fly – it worked out.”
Mollohan is the highest-finishing Bass Cat Boats pro angler on day one.
Richard Kee
With 14 pounds, 7 ounces on day one, Tennessee pro-Richard Kee sits in the sixth-place spot on Lake Hartwell. After a slow start to the morning, he started to get into some fish and salved his day. “Will (Harkins) and I were not sure how the sun would affect things, but it worked out,” he said. “I found some fish mid-morning and was able to get a few in the boat, but I ran around a bit, burned 30 gallons of gas, and survived. We thought this may be a day to survive, and if we could, we felt like we could do okay. We will see how that plays out.”
Rest of the Best:
Chris Whisenant 14-0
Isaac Peavyhouse 14-0
Jacoby Adkins 13-14
Michael Stout 13-12
Wolfson Children’s Hospital 35th annual Bass Tournament returns to Palatka this week with three-day event
May 15, 2024 Wolfson Children’s Hospital 35th annual Bass Tournament returns to Palatka this week with three-day event
Competition benefits the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Heart Institute at Wolfson Children’s.
What: The 35th annual Wolfson Children's Hospital Bass Tournament kicks off on Thursday with the Lads & Lasses Tournament, VIP & Friends Tournament on Friday and the main Tournament on Saturday. On-site registration for Lads & Lasses will open Thursday, May 16, at 4 am; On-site registration for VIP & Friends will open Friday, May 17, at 4 am; and on-site registration for the main Tournament will open Saturday, May 18, at 3 am.
Where: Palatka City Docks, 309 River Street, Palatka, Fla. 32177.
Tournament schedule:
- Thursday, May 16: Weigh-in begins at 3 pm. Lads & Lasses winners announced.
- Friday, May 17: Weigh-in begins at 3 pm. VIP & Friends winners announced.
- Saturday, May 18: Weigh-in begins at 3 pm.
Visuals and interview opportunities at Saturday, May 18, event:
- Anglers participating in and bystanders enjoying the bass fishing events.
- Tournament weigh-ins for participating anglers.
- Interviews with Wolfson Children’s Hospital President Allegra Jaros and Wolfson Children’s Bass Tournament Committee Co-Chairs Sam Dean and Brian Seay.
- Interviews with tournament winners, once announced.
Wolfson Children’s Hospital representative Katie Nussbaum will be on-site Saturday and can be reached at 770.519.0698.
The highlights:
- More than $48,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to competitors.
- For a suggested donation of $20, anyone may enter a drawing for a chance to win a 21’ 2024 Bullet Boat model 21XRS with a trailer, courtesy of Bullet Boats, valued at $97,000 (motor to be included). All proceeds from the drawing will help fund new technology for the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Heart Institute at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. To enter the bass boat drawing, visit wolfsonbasstournament.com. Ticket sales close Friday, May 31, 2024, at 12 pm (this date and time are subject to change).
- This year’s bass boat drawing will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2024 (this date is subject to change).
- Now in its 35th year, the Wolfson Children's Bass Tournament is one of the largest and longest-running bass fishing tournaments in Florida.
- Since the first tournament in 1989, the event has raised more than $7 million for Wolfson Children’s and the patients treated there.
For more information about the Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass tournament, enter the bass boat drawing or donate to the hospital’s mission, visit wolfsonbasstournament.com.
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Wolfson Children’s Hospital relies on the generosity of members of our community. To support Wolfson Children’s Hospital, please visit wolfsonchildrens.com/give.
About Wolfson Children’s Hospital of Jacksonville
Nonprofit Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, is a part of Baptist Health, Northeast Florida’s most comprehensive health system serving every stage of life. Wolfson Children’s is the only children’s hospital in Northeast Florida and serves as the pediatric referral center for North Florida, South Georgia and beyond. Staffed 24/7 by pediatric nurses and other healthcare professionals specially trained to work with children, the 281-bed, patient- and family-centered hospital features the latest pediatric medical technology in a welcoming, child-friendly environment. At Wolfson Children’s, nationally recognized pediatric specialists representing nearly every medical and surgical specialty work with pediatricians to provide care for children of all ages with congenital heart conditions, cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes and endocrinology disorders, orthopedic conditions, behavioral health conditions, traumatic injuries, and more. Wolfson Children’s collaborates with pediatric organizations, including Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, the University of Florida College of Medicine—Jacksonville and Mayo Clinic Florida. A Magnet™-designated hospital since 2010, Wolfson Children’s Hospital has been named among the U.S. News & World Report 50 Best Children’s Hospitals year after year, and in 2021, was selected as one of only eight children’s hospitals in the country as a Leapfrog Top Children’s Hospital, a recognition of patient quality and safety. For additional information, please visit wolfsonchildrens.com.
Lake Hartwell Preview – A different Hartwell this go around
The NPFL returns to Lake Hartwell to kick off stop #2 of the 2024 NPFL Season. With the 2024 Championship event behind us, the NPFL returns to action this week at Green Pond Landing, on the famous Lake Hartwell. Hosted by Anderson County, Lake Hartwell produced for the NPFL field in April of 2022, where Drew Six took the victory by targeting deep spawning fish, and outlasted the shad spawn bites as the final scales closed.
Collin Smith
This year, a month later in the season with several natural factors at play, Lake Hartwell is looking a lot different. Colin Smith knows the lake as well as anyone in the field and says despite May and June being two of his favorite months to fish, it might be a tougher week than most expected due to major weather that swept through the area recently. “We have had it all recently – crazy weather, tornados and trees and power lines down,” he said on Saturday, before the official practice period.
“Our neighboring counties had it worse, but the fish will be biting and someone will catch them well. I love this time of year; there is so much happening and so many things that ‘should’ be playing out here. However, it has been tough.”
With everything said, Smith said some of the local events have seen some decent weights, but it's been tough to be consistent day over day. In the NPFL, those who come out on top will have strung together three good days. 3-pound bites could be tough to come by with added pressure on the lake in the weeks leading up to the event.
“I’d guess it's about 80% post-spawn, which means the fish are in thank ‘funk’ and nothing is for certain each day as things change,” he added. “This is an event where getting a big bite will make a huge difference. Under normal circumstances, it should be fishing better than it is, but the pressure on this lake has been unreal the last few weeks. Combined with the post-spawn deal, it could be hard to come by a 3-pound fish. It’s a marathon this week, not a sprint. You need to fish throughout practice, and the tournament, with an open mind because things are changing”
Brandon Perkins
In 2022, with the weights tight at the top, Brandon Perkins was right where he wanted to be on the final day. Weather and fishing pressure affected his bite and threw him a curve ball on the final day. His shallow “sight-fishing” pattern faded quickly. Now in 2024, Perkins is fresh off a victory at the inaugural NPFL Championship which changes the entire outlook of his season. Practice kicked off on Sunday and Perkins was bouncing around trying to figure out how he should focus his practice period.
“Water temperatures are a lot warmer and they are way further along in the spawning process,” he said. “There are some fish spawning, but for the most part, it seems like, as of now, most of the fish are not shallow.”
With the weather on Sunday, Perkins was hoping to get a good look around in shallow water to determine if he should continue focusing a portion of his practice on the bank, where he had success in 2022. With lots of anglers offshore fishing for pressured fish, he hopes to avoid fishing in a crowd as much as possible and hopes to find less pressured bass.
“The places from 2022 are dirtier and different, and the majority of the fish I have seen and caught have been offshore,” he noted. “The problem is, those fish are super hard to catch, there are boats all over them, and the few I have caught have been smaller sized. Looking forward to tomorrow and Tuesday, I feel like I know where and what I need to do, where the fish are at, but it’s going to come down to figuring out how to catch a few of the bigger fish – and fishing less pressured areas.”
Jesse Wise
Making a top ten on Hartwell in 2022, Jesse Wise has been super consistent throughout his time on the NPFL with top-five Progressive Angler of the Year finishes. Wise has had an up-and-down practice, through the midpoint of Tuesday and like Collin Smith, knows a big bite or two will make or break the event.
“These fish are super educated but the one thing we have is the low light bite – you can get a few fish to commit,” he said. “I have been able to do that during practice, but the next day I only caught a few keepers, so being consistent is tough.”
Wise noted lots of boats are fishing “the same types of things” and the fish show interest but are very hard to get to bite. Like the others, he feels like local pressure and fishing being in “the funk” are responsible, but like always, someone will catch them.
“These fish are tired and not wanting to eat,” he added. “I like these tougher events, but it’s stressful. If you don’t land a few big fish, you are not getting paid out here this week. I was thinking more before, but now 12 pounds per day should cash a check, and maybe 47 pounds total to win.”
How to Watch
Tune in daily from May 16 through 18 to watch daily action from Lake Hartwell with Live Coverage here and on the FREE PHYX TV App beginning on Thursday. Follow along and watch the daily LIVE Leaderboard, LIVE Blog, and on-the-water photo galleries and blogs of the anglers on Lake Hartwell.
Under the Go Live Tab, choose LIVE Broadcast or check out the real-time leaderboard on the Weigh Live Tracker with estimated weights entered by the anglers on the water and join us for the LIVE Weigh-ins, here!
And be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, & Twitter.
NPFL Stop #2 on Lake Hartwell is hosted by Anderson County. For more event Information, click here.
WIX Filters Signs on as Official Sponsor of Major League Fishing
Leading manufacturer and distributor of innovative filtration products named presenting sponsor of MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage Five
BENTON, Ky. (May 14, 2024) – Major League Fishing (MLF), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced today that WIX Filters, a global manufacturer and distributor of quality filters designed to exceed performance demands, has signed on as an Official Sponsor of Major League Fishing and been named the Presenting Sponsor of MLF Bass Pro Tour U.S. Air Force Stage Five at the Chowan River Presented by WIX Filters.
Founded in 1939 in an old cotton mill in Gastonia, North Carolina, WIX Filters now has 11 facilities in eight different countries and manufactures more than 210 million filters annually. An industry leader in filtration product line breadth, WIX revolutionized the filtration industry, turning the filter market upside down and quickly becoming the industry standard with the invention and patent of a spin-on oil filter design.
“WIX Filters has a long history of supporting fishing enthusiasts through our extensive lines of filtration products for boats, personal watercraft, off-road vehicles and the trucks that pull them,” said Tina Davis, Senior Marketing Manager for WIX Filters. “Major League Fishing provides an ideal platform for WIX Filters to reach an audience of fiercely self-reliant do-it-yourselfers who value the craftsmanship, quality and performance that we deliver.”
The agreement provides significant brand exposure on the MLFNOW! livestream and across all MLF platforms, including the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats, Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine, Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI and MLF High School Fishing Presented by Tackle Warehouse circuits.
For 85 years, WIX Filters has been committed to continued product innovations and development to support its customers. From lawnmowers to locomotives, WIX has the right filter for everyone.
“We are thrilled to welcome WIX Filters into the growing list of Major League Fishing sponsors,” said Chris Bork, MLF Vice President of Sponsorship. “WIX provides the coverage, quality and service anglers need, and its dedication to innovation and performance partners perfectly with the mission and goals of MLF.”
For more information on WIX Filters and its premium quality filters designed to exceed performance demands, visit www.wixfilters.com. For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing, its tournaments and sponsors, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About WIX Filters
Since 1939, WIX® Filters has been an innovator in filtration products. WIX designs, manufactures and distributes products for automotive, diesel, agricultural, industrial and specialty filter markets. Its product line includes oil, air, cabin interior, fuel, coolant, transmission and hydraulic filters for automobiles, trucks, off-road equipment and manufacturing applications. Follow WIX Filters on Facebook at facebook.com/wixfilters, Instagram at @wixfilters or YouTube at youtube.com/TheWixFilters.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Seven Non-Fishing Things to Love About Bear Trail Lodge
By Pete Robbins - Half Past First Cast
We probably wouldn’t vacation as often in Alaska if the state didn’t have such incredible fishing. Don’t get me wrong – there are lots of non-angling sights and activities to explore, enough to keep us coming back several times, but it’s the world class populations of trout, salmon and saltwater species like halibut that make the Last Frontier such a compelling repeat destination.
Bear Trail Lodge, in Bristol Bay, has now hosted me three times, and led me to numerous amazing catches, from king salmon to sockeye to silvers to rainbow trout to Dolly Vardens to grayling. In addition to the constantly-changing Naknek River out their back door, they have over 20 different flyout locations available, so I’ve only tasted a fraction of their angling greatness. I want to head back early in the king salmon season, and then again in the fall for the truly jumbo rainbows – but I know that no matter when I return, or for how long, the product will be consistently excellent. Here are seven things that have next to nothing to do with fishing that mean it should be on your list, too.
It's a Family Affair – The lodge is run by Nanci Morris Lyon and her husband Heath Lyon, and her 24 year-old daughter Rylie Booth is now a partner, along with her husband Wade. All of them are warm and inviting (along with being superior anglers and guides) and they immediately make you feel like a part of the family. Unlike some places we’ve been where there’s a very “corporate” or detached feeling, once you’re on the grounds everything is hands-on. It creates an inviting atmosphere where all of the guests and staff intermingle seamlessly.
Window on the World – The main lodge features a huge window overlooking the Naknek, mostly clear with some stained glass accents, that provides a window into the outdoors while you enjoy a libation, appetizers and conversation. Not only can you gauge what the conditions are going to be like that day, but on two of my three trips to the lodge I’ve observed bears while sitting there. You get the respite of being indoors and catered to while still enjoying the sights of Bristol Bay.
Dinner Companions – The guides and staff eat with the guests every night. It’s something that I’ve only seen happen regularly at one other lodge (in Zimbabwe) and again it makes the whole operation feel more intimate. I want to know not only about the fishing we’ll enjoy, but also about where they come from, how they ended up in Bristol Bay, and what they plan to do with the rest of their lives. We’ve become lifelong friends with some of the guides not only as the result of time in the boat or on the stream, but through these meals.
Kicking Plastic – Each guest is issued a BTL water bottle upon arrival, and there are two refill stations with filtered water throughout the lodge. Not only does this encourage you to stay hydrated, and to take a full water bottle on all of your flyouts, but it also substantially reduces plastic waste. As with Casa Vieja Lodge, we like when outfitters show respect for the environment that provides their way of life.
Drink of the Day – In addition to free-flowing wine and beer, each day during Happy Hour there’s a bartender (usually Nanci herself) mixing up a “Drink of the Day,” something special to get the fish stories flowing. On our most recent trip, I recall Moscow Mules and the Fintip (aka, margarita) and may have had a few too many of the others to remember, but I can assure you they were good.
“Open Fridge” Policy – No one should every go hungry at Bear Trail Lodge. There’s a ridiculous breakfast buffet, the lunchtime sandwiches are too big for many of us to get our mouths around, and the pre-dinner appetizers really preclude the need for the subsequent three-course meal (although we consistently indulge anyway). Nevertheless, there is an open door policy on the refrigerator, so if you crave milk and cookies at midnight, or a pre-breakfast cinnamon bun, all you need to do is sneak into the kitchen and grab what you want.
Strong Swag Game – Most fishing lodges recognize that shirts and hats repping their brand fill a customer need, produce additional revenue, and serve as a source of advertising. Nevertheless, not all of them invest in quality or extensive lineups of gear. Bear Trail Lodge is a standout in this respect – with a wide variety of colors, styles and sizes from premium brands like Simms and Patagonia. Take what you want, tell them what you took, and they’ll add it to your bill at the end. Hanna and our friend Lisa spent a portion of every happy hour “shopping” in the hallway and they came home with some killer gear.
I cannot stress enough that everyone needs to go to Alaska at some point in their lifetime, and for many of you Bear Trail Lodge is the turnkey way to get a taste of the state’s best fishing. If you’d like to book a trip, or learn more about the experience, email us and let’s get the ball rolling.
Walters scores wire-to-wire victory in Bassmaster Elite Series event at Lake Murray
May 13, 2024
Walters scores wire-to-wire victory in Bassmaster Elite Series event at Lake Murray
PROSPERITY, S.C. — Despite the gloomy weather, Monday brought bright prospects for Patrick Walters, who leveraged the opportunity to inflict a straight-up South Carolina smackdown en route to notching a wire-to-wire victory in the Minn Kota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray.
“What an amazing week; I don’t even know where to start,” said Walters, who notched his fifth major victory with B.A.S.S. “Today, I would have been happy with 17 pounds. Every single spot we went to today, we caught ’em.”
Following Thursday’s storms, which postponed the event’s scheduled start to Friday, a mostly cloudy Day 1 saw Walters catch 25 pounds, 8 ounces and establish a lead of 3-3. Adding a second-round limit of 19-13 kept Walters on top and expanded his margin to 4-15. With 21-14 on Day 3, Walters carried a margin of 8-4 into the final round.
Saving the best for last, he rocked Championship Monday with 26-12 — the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament worth a $2,000 bonus — and tallied an incredible four-day total of 93-15. Besting Missouri pro Cody Huff by 12-11, Walters won his third blue trophy and the $102,000 top prize. He also has two career wins in the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN.
“I did not think I was going to catch 25 or 26 pounds this week,” Walters said. “To do that on the final day — that’s how you do it. That’s how you get it done.”
Notably, Walters, who also won Elite titles at Lake Fork (2020) and the St. Lawrence River (2023) set the Bassmaster Elite record for the largest winning margin of 29-10 during his Lake Fork win. This was the third Elite event in a row won by a double-digit margin and the sixth in Elite Series history.
Walters, who weighed the biggest bag on Days 1, 3 and 4, said the final round’s complexion — overcast, sporadic light rain — kept the bite rolling all day. The first day saw similar conditions, while days 2 and 3 were clear and bright.
Like many of his competitors, Walters focused on bass that were targeting blueback herring near the surface. This time of year, herring spawn in the early morning hours and disperse once the rising sun intensifies. Dimmer skies prolong the surface bite.
“The clouds definitely helped,” Walters said. “I thought they absolutely chewed today. I probably caught four 20-pound bags today. I caught a bunch of 3-pounders.
“You kinda felt like you’re doing something wrong because you’re catching so many fish. It was one of those days.”
All week, Walters targeted the surface feeders with a Zoom Super Fluke on a 1/0 VMC Neko hook, a Rapala Precision XTreme Jowler 127 and a Clutch Darter glidebait. After the topside action subsided, he’d go deep with a Zoom Brush Hog Carolina-rigged on a 4/0 VMC EWG hook.
“I would throw the Carolina rig when the fish weren’t schooling, when they were just not active at all,” Walters said. “You could see them moving around, that’s when I would slow down and drag the ball and chain. That was when I was waiting on them to school.
“The Carolina rig didn’t produce any today, but it produced a big one the first three days,” Walters said. “Day 2, I caught my biggest one on it and Day 3, I caught one of my bigger ones on it.”
Walters opened Monday on a point not far from takeoff. After sacking up 20 pounds by about 8:30 a.m., he relocated to another point near the Dreher Shoals Dam, where he added several big culls.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got the tournament won, unless something crazy happens and someone catches 29 pounds,’” Walters said. “I was like, ‘I have 20 pounds, let’s go have fun and close the door.’
“I went down there and closed the door. I caught a 6-7 and two 5s. It was unbelievable.”
Hailing from Ava, Mo., Huff also turned in his best effort in the final round. That limit of 25-3, added to this previous weights of 22-1, 13-13 and 20-3 totaled 81-4.
“It went from the lowest lows to the highest highs,” Huff said of his day’s unfolding. “First thing this morning, I had them blowing my baits out of the water and missing them. But boy, did my day turn around.”
Huff anchored his big final-round effort with a 7-6. He caught his fish on wakebaits, a flat-side crankbait and a jighead minnow rig.
Rookie JT Thompkins of Myrtle Beach, S.C., finished third with 77-13. His daily weights were 21-1, 19-5, 18-9 and 18-14.
Thompkins also targeted the herring eaters and caught his fish on topwaters, Yamamoto D-Shads and Yamamoto Senkos rigged with tail spinners. Essential to his success was that ability to make long, precise casts to breaking fish.
“With herring fish, you have a lot of schoolers and a lot of pressure and you need a good quality rod and reel to make a long cast,” Thompkins said. “I was using a 7-7 FX Extreme Custom Rods medium-heavy with a SEVIIN reel. That rod has a good parabolic bend and I was able to easily hook up with a high percentage of these fish.”
Huff won the $1,000 award for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day with a 7-6. That fish also earned Huff the $2,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament award.
Huff took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, while sixth-place finisher Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Ill., earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Walters earned an additional $4,000 while McKinney claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
McKinney leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 478 points. Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala., is in second with 448, followed by Chris Johnston of Otonabee, Canada, with 423, Cory Johnston of Cavan, Canada, with 415, and Huff with 413.
McKinney also leads the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings, followed by Thompkins with 378 points, Kyle Patrick of Cooperstown, N.Y., with 365, Alabama pro Wesley Gore with 363 and Tennessee pro John Garrett with 360.
The event was hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country.
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
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Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitte
Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 865-201-6458, cgay@bassmaster.
Farmersburg’s Wilkinson Gets Win No. 10 at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Ohio River
New Castle’s Senter Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
CANNELTON, Ind. (May 13, 2024) – Boater Chris Wilkinson of Farmersburg, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Ohio River at Rocky Point. The tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. Wilkinson earned $4,437 for his victory.
Wilkinson is no stranger to the Ohio River. The MLF veteran has now won 10 BFL tournaments, with eight of them coming on stretches of the river. So he knew how to handle the muddy water that followed storms and heavy rains during the week.
“I was just trying to find a little bit cleaner water,” he said. “That’s kind of what I was searching for. I was able to find a couple spots. They’re basically creeks. I fished creeks the whole time and didn’t fish the main river at all.”
Wilkinson fished wood the entire day and started out flipping a Hog Snatcher Baits creature bait. He caught a few keepers that way early on.
“It seemed like when the sun came up in practice I was catching most of my fish on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits,” he said. “So when the sun got up (in the tournament), I switched to the spinnerbait and buzzbait. That’s how I caught most of the fish in the afternoon.”
The buzzbait produced two key bites. The rest came on a spinnerbait from Hook Some Bass Bait Company. Overall, Wilkinson landed about 15 keeper bass on the day to earn his win.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 11-10, $4,437
2nd: Ryan Deal, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 11-5, $1,958
3rd: James Whitaker, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 9-4, $1,307
4th: Jeramiah Sifers, Sellersburg, Ind., five bass, 8-10, $914
5th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 7-3, $750
5th: Kevin Meunier, Lamar, Ind., five bass, 7-3, $750
7th: Nick Uebelhor, Jasper, Ind., five bass, 6-10, $1,120 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., five bass, 6-10, $620
9th: Blake Knies, Jasper, Ind., five bass, 6-2, $522
10th: William Briere, Mooresville, Ind., four bass, 5-9, $457
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Wilkinson caught a bass that weighed 3 pounds, 2 ounces, and also earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $520.
Brian Senter of New Castle, Indiana, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,071 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Brian Senter, New Castle, Ind., five bass, 8-12, $2,071
2nd: Tony Burke, Bloomington, Ind., five bass, 6-12, $960
3rd: Jarrod Pickel, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 6-4, $641
4th: Rod Yoder, West Lafayette, Ind., three bass, 6-3, $448
5th: Steven Atwood, Lexington, Ind., two bass, 5-13, $739
6th: Darrell Duke, Hawesville, Ky., three bass, 5-9, $352
7th: Bo Bivins, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 5-8, $320
8th: Scott Roberts, Jeffersonville, Ind., four bass, 5-7, $288
9th: Paul Eckert, Jasper, Ind., four bass, 5-4, $256
10th: John Thomas, Quincy, Ind., four bass, 5-1, $224
Steven Atwood of Lexington, Indiana, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $255, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, James Whitaker of Cincinnati, Ohio, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 497 points, while Paul Eckert of Jasper, Indiana, leads the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 490 points.
The next event for BFL Hoosier Division anglers will be held June 15, at Ohio River-Tanners Creek in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional tournament on Mississippi River Pools 13-17 in Quad Cities, Illinois. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Louisiana’s Fleming Throws Spinnerbait to Post Second Career Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Lake Sardis
Samuel Jones of Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
SARDIS, Miss. (May 13, 2024) – Boater Dakota Fleming of Oak Grove, Louisiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Sardis. The tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Mississippi Division. Fleming earned $2,694 for his victory.
For Fleming, winning at Sardis was all about adapting to changing water levels and fishing pressure.
“A week ago, I thought I had something dialed in,” he said. “As the water’s been rising, it’s been coming up on grass. Not marine vegetation, but just grass that grew on these flats while the lake was low. And the fish were keying on that.”
Fleming found three key grass areas, but he wasn’t sure they would hold out with conditions changing. Plus, he was boat No. 30. Knowing that a lot of anglers were dialed into the flooded grass, Fleming was pretty sure he’d have to get in line to fish those spots if he hit them first thing in the morning. So, he made a change at takeoff.
“I was so unsure about even catching a limit,” Fleming said. “He (the tournament director) called my number, and I dropped the trolling motor and started fishing an island by where we were taking off. I caught one about three casts into the day. They were still calling boat numbers.”
Fleming landed another keeper on the island then spent the rest of the day fishing flooded grass with a white and chartreuse spinnerbait and fishing points where he had had some luck with a crankbait in practice. He kept the rotation up all day, even though the crankbait bite never materialized.
“It was all spinnerbait,” he said. “I never could get anything going flipping. The cranking bite was no good. I heard there were people that caught them on frogs, but I never found anything great with topwater except gar.
“It’s a pain to fish it (the spinnerbait) in the grass and try to keep it clean, but to me it was getting bit better than the ChatterBait. So I was willing to keep cleaning it off just to get a couple extra bites.”
Fleming boxed a limit by about 10:30. Then he caught one more keeper and made a crucial cull at about 1 p.m., replacing a 1-pounder with a 4-pounder. That fish was the difference-maker in his win.
“I already had one in the box that was 4 1/2 and then had that 4. It went a long way in that type of tournament where it’s just that tough.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Dakota Fleming, Oak Grove, La., five bass, 14-0, $2,694
2nd: Hayze Hutzel, Flowood, Miss., five bass, 12-1, $1,122
2nd: Daniel Walker, Collierville, Tenn., five bass, 12-1, $1,122
4th: John Anderson, Bay Springs, Miss., five bass, 12-0, $1,429 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th: Logan Main, Lumberton, Miss., five bass, 10-10, $539
6th: Jeff Johnston, Marion, Ark., five bass, 10-6, $494
7th: Chris Jones, Senatobia, Miss., four bass, 9-8, $449
8th: Steve Hatch, Long Beach, Miss., four bass, 9-4, $381
8th: Michael Swider, Oxford, Miss., four bass, 9-4, $381
10th: Michael Aycock, Petal, Miss., four bass, 8-12, $314
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Bill Brock of Amory, Mississippi, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $290.
Samuel Jones of Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,347 Saturday, after bringing four bass to the scale that totaled 8 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Samuel Jones, Fuquay Varina, N.C., four bass, 8-1, $1,347
2nd: Joseph Breeden, Brandon, Miss., four bass, 7-14, $674
3rd: Randy Maples, Amory, Miss., three bass, 7-5, $594
4th: Jeff Ingle, Como, Miss., four bass, 7-4, $314
5th: Michael Marlin, Nesbit, Miss., two bass, 6-7, $269
6th: Toby Finch, Olive Branch, Miss., two bass, 5-12, $247
7th: Marian Hall, Hattiesburg, Miss., three bass, 5-3, $225
8th: Shane Long, Pontotoc, Miss., two bass, 4-12, $191
8th: Brandon Mast, Mathiston, Miss., three bass, 4-12, $191
10th: Mike Gebhart, Baton Rouge, La., three bass, 4-9, $157
Randy Maples of Amory, Mississippi, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $145, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 6 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Dakota Fleming of Oak Grove, Louisiana, leads the Fishing Clash Mississippi Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 733 points, while Randy Maples of Amory, Mississippi, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 733 points.
The next event for BFL Mississippi Division anglers will be held July 20, at Lake Ferguson in Greenville, Mississippi. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional tournament on Wright Patman Lake in Texarkana, Texas. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Wartburg’s Dagley Earns First Career Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Douglas Lake
Kentucky’s Shrader Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (May 13, 2024) – Boater Jonathan Dagley of Wartburg, Tennessee, caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Douglas Lake. Hosted by the Jefferson County Dept. of Tourism, the tournament was the third event of the season for the BFL Volunteer Division. Dagley earned $4,037 for his victory.
For Dagley, high water was a big factor in the win, but it took a clue from his co-angler, Darren Kelly, and an audible midway through the morning to unlock the go-to pattern.
“I got on a really good crankbait bite on Thursday, and I tried to force-feed it for an hour and a half today (Saturday),” Dagley said. “Nothing happened. I pulled up in this shallow pocket, and my co-angler caught a fish on a ChatterBait. Then I picked up a spinnerbait and threw it for a little while. He caught another fish on a ChatterBait. Then I dropped everything and started running shallow brush in the first third of cuts.”
Dagley put down the crankbait, picked up the ChatterBait and spent the rest of the day slow-rolling it around flooded brush and yards. He burned through water in an area about 6 miles from takeoff, never fishing the same cut twice. In addition to Dagley earning the win, Kelly finished fourth among co-anglers, and they caught about 35 keepers between them.
All of Dagley’s bass came on a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer fished on a 7-foot, 3-inch rod from Dixie Custom Rods. Dagley’s limit included one nice smallmouth. The rest were largemouth bass, and all were postspawn.
“We had the trolling motor on 9 for almost nine straight hours – eight and a half hours, basically,” Dagley said. “We fished behind a lot of boaters that were flipping. Everybody was flipping, and we just kept that ChatterBait in our hand. I wanted to throw a spinnerbait, but they would not eat it like they would the ChatterBait.
“It was the funnest way to catch them,” he added. “That’s the way I love fishing. I was really disappointed in the crankbait, but the ChatterBait made my day.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Jonathan Dagley, Wartburg, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $4,037
2nd: Derrick Snavely, Piney Flats, Tenn., five bass, 11-12, $2,019
3rd: Donavan Carson, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 11-5, $1,143
3rd: Hayden Gaddis, Dandridge, Tenn., five bass, 11-5, $1,143
5th: Steven Redmond, Sevierville, N.C., five bass, 11-4, $807
6th: Chip Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., five bass, 11-3, $706
6th: Tyler Altizer, Abingdon, Va., five bass, 11-3, $706
8th: Timothy Wacker, Clinton, Tenn., five bass, 11-1, $606
9th: Tim Saylor, Johnson City, Tenn., five bass, 10-15, $504
9th: Ronnie Getz, Strunk, Ky., five bass, 10-15, $504
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Jordan Mullins of Pikeville, Kentucky, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $545.
Luke Shrader of Monticello, Kentucky, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,285 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Luke Shrader, Monticello, Ky., five bass, 12-5, $2,285
2nd: Josh Massengale, Oliver Springs, Tenn., five bass, 11-6, $1,000
3rd: Cody Krabbe, Palisade, Colo., five bass, 10-2, $666
4th: Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., five bass, 9-7, $567
5th: Keith Gunsauls, Dandridge, Tenn., five bass, 9-0, $400
6th: Billy Farck, Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 8-11, $367
7th: Tim Martin, Jonesborough, Tenn., five bass, 8-10, $333
8th: Cody Stokes, Ooltewah, Tenn., five bass, 8-9, $300
9th: T.J. Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 8-7, $267
10th: Bud McKelvey, Knoxville, Tenn., four bass, 8-3, $233
Shrader tied Tyler Andrew of Maryville, Tennessee, for the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award, with each of them catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day. They each earned $135 for their share of the award.
After three events, Hunter McClaskey of Elizabethton, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 715 points, while Keith Gunsauls of Dandridge, Tennessee, leads the Fishing Clash Volunteer Division Co-angler of the Year race with 730 points.
The next event for BFL Volunteer Division anglers will be held June 8, at Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional tournament on Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Georgia. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Delaware Boater Mike Morris Wins at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at the Potomac River
North Carolina’s Barr Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division
MARBURY, Md. (May 13, 2024) – Boater Mike Morris of Dover, Delaware, caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on the Potomac River. Hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners, the tournament was the second event of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Morris earned $5,475 for his victory.
While preparing for the Potomac River tournament, Morris practiced in all the major creeks, fishing “all the way from the bottom to the top” of the system. He figured out that he could get bit fishing a variety of cover and structure, with grass, laydowns and riprap being his best targets.
“I caught a few on laydowns; not that many,” Morris said. “My bigger fish actually came on some riprap throwing a Big Mouth Lures spinnerbait in a blue herring color.”
Once he left the riprap, Morris ran to a few areas with pea gravel banks.
“There was some grass sitting in about 3 feet of water off those pea gravel banks, and I figured out that I could catch those fish throwing a spinnerbait and a shaky head,” he said. “It was a 1/8-ounce shaky head with a watermelon candy Zoom Finesse Worm, and I was dipping the tail with chartreuse dye. I was also throwing a drop-shot in that grass as well. The majority of those fish were postspawners.”
Morris worked the grass by sitting on the outside edge and throwing up to the pea gravel. Then he’d work his lure out to the inside grass edge.
Altogether, Morris had plenty of areas to cycle through. The biggest key in determining which ones to fish was the wind.
“I had to run them in accordance with the way the wind was blowing,” he said. “If the wind was blowing on my spots, I couldn’t get bit.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Mike Morris, Dover, Del., five bass, 16-7, $5,475
2nd: Robert Hoyt Jr., Union Hall, Va., five bass, 16-6, $2,737
3rd: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 16-4, $1,827
4th: Mark Tornai, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 16-3, $2,147
5th: Peter Davis, North Dinwiddie, Va., five bass, 16-1, $1,049
5th: Joseph Thompson, Coatesville, Pa., five bass, 16-1, $1,549 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Fred Aldridge, Brandy Station, Va., five bass, 15-15, $912
8th: Lee Cox, Frederick, Md., five bass, 15-12, $821
9th: Brian Laclair, Denton, Md., five bass, 15-3, $730
10th: Gary Marean, Manassas, Va., five bass, 15-1, $639
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Mark Tornai of Fredericksburg, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $870.
Stephen Barr of Wilmington, North Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,737 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Stephen Barr, Wilmington, N.C., five bass, 16-13, $2,737
2nd: Brian Bruce, Bumpass, Va., five bass, 16-1, $1,904
3rd: Rumnea (Rum) Kelly, Boyds, Md., five bass, 15-2, $913
4th: Andre Wynn, Windsor Mill, Md., five bass, 15-0, $639
5th: Kevin Farley, Cana, Va., five bass, 14-15, $547
6th: James (Boo) Burtner, Penn Laird, Va., five bass, 14-11, $502
7th: Jeff McBeth, New Philadelphia, Ohio, five bass, 14-10, $456
8th: Shaquille Freeman, Farmville, Va., five bass, 14-8, $411
9th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 13-13, $515
10th: Troy Bowings, Essex, Md., five bass, 13-4, $319
Brian Bruce of Bumpass, Virginia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $435, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Chris Brummett of Lynch Station, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 489 points, while James (Boo) Burtner of Penn Laird, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 494 points.
The next event for BFL Shenandoah Division anglers will be held June 22, at Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 BFL Regional tournament on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Lawrence Holds on to Win Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula
Buchanan, Tennessee pro outlasts 149 pros to win by 11-ounce margin and take home the top prize of $115,000
EUFAULA, Ala. (May 12, 2024) – Heading into the season, the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals field was stacked with fascinating rookie talent, and some would say that pro Jake Lawrence of Buchanan, Tennessee, led the pack. After a 2023 season at the lower levels that featured constant success, he entered national competition with two Toyota Series wins under his belt, plus a bunch of other tournament-fishing successes.
This week at Stop 4 Presented by E3 Sport Apparel at Lake Eufaula, Lawrence got it done at the Invitationals level (the third level he’s won at with MLF), which earned him a hefty payday, put him in the lead of the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race and qualified him for REDCREST 2025.
After topping 20 pounds each of the first two days, Lawrence entered the final day with a moderate lead, and he needed about all of it to win. Weighing in 16 pounds, 4 ounces on Day 3, he totaled 59-10 for the win and the $115,000 top prize. In second, Paul Marks, Jr., of Cumming, Georgia, totaled 58-11, and pro Colby Miller of Elmer, Louisiana, rocketed up to third with 20-11 on Day 3, which gave him a 57-2 total.
One of the original ledge lakes, the best of the Tennessee River have a solid history on Eufaula. At the right time of year, the fish set up offshore a lot like they do on Kentucky Lake, Pickwick Lake or any of the other famous reservoirs on the chain. This week, to beat out a Top 10 filled with some of the best young talent and best locals that could be found anywhere, Lawrence was able to lean on his roots.
“I’ve spent very little time on Eufaula, but I have about 20 years’ worth of offshore fishing experience and knowledge to fall back on,” Lawrence said. “It’s something I take for granted, but to have that foundation of knowledge of offshore fishing, I’m comfortable out there; I love doing that. If I can make that happen, you bet that’s where I’m going to be.”
Lawrence got into the game early on Kentucky Lake, having grown up in the area and fished collegiately at Bethel University. Kentucky is where he got his first big win – a Toyota Series triumph in 2018, when he ran from Barkley south of Paris and blew the field away with three days of masterful fishing. This week, Lawrence put in his time behind the wheel to find the fish in practice, and then put it together on derby day.
“I really wasn’t exactly sure what I had,” he said. “A lot of us, including myself, spent a tremendous amount of time idling this week in practice, made very, very few casts, and so we weren’t really sure what we were on, or how well they would bite.”
Fishing schools in creeks and on the main river, Lawrence ended up relying on a handful of baits, one of which he thinks set him apart. Like many in the Top 10, he threw a few minnows on jigheads, including a Rapala CrushCity Freeloader and a Jenko Tremor Shad, on 3/16- to 1/2-ounce heads. Lawrence also dragged a jig a little, and a lizard on a Carolina rig, but the ace up his sleeve was a 3/4-ounce long bill Tennessee River Tremor Head with a 5-inch Castaic Jerky J.
“I didn’t see anybody else throwing it,” said the Tennessee pro of his scrounger setup. “Even though we were all rotating the same schools, I feel like I caught a couple each day that I don’t know how else I would have been able to trigger them – just because everything else I was throwing was the same as the rest of the field.”
Targeting the most tightly clustered portions of schools with the Tremor Head, Lawrence was able to catch some key fish on it each day.
“These were fairly small groups of fish, but inside of that group, there would be a smaller cluster that would be competitive and work with each other to bite,” he said. “I would pan through the school until I found that one little section.
“Once I found that, most of the time I would make my cast and just retrieve it,” he detailed. “You wanted to keep it about 2 or 3 feet off the bottom. I would speed it up and not stop it but slow myself back down. I wanted to envision one racing up to it, and I’d scurry it away, and then they’d basically run into it. You’d get 30 followers for every one that would touch it, and then you’d only catch one out of every four or five that would touch it. Usually, when they’re on that Tremor Head, you can’t get it through the school.”
The bite was not easy all tournament with plenty of pros fishing for hours with little to show for it, and some being in the right place at the right time for big flurries. That seemed to catch up to the whole field on the last day, when only Miller and pro Justin Barnes topped 20 pounds. Lawrence didn’t crack, though, and still brought enough back to Lakepoint Resort State Park at the end of it to earn the win.
“I expected to be able to pull up on my morning hole and get a 17- to 19-pound limit and cruise through day and free myself up to look for some new groups,” he said. “I was very fortunate yesterday to catch that bag early and gave myself three hours yesterday afternoon to look for some schools. Today, it was extremely tough to trigger a bite. I knew I had to continue to bounce the schools and run the schools as efficiently as I could.”
In the end, the former insurance salesman turned fishing guide turned tournament pro was able to defend his lead and come away with the trophy.
“There’s so many grimy days that we have, long days away from family, it’s days like today that push us through and keep us going,” he said with trophy in hand. “To be able to get the win here, it’s something I’ve always dreamed of; it’s something I’ve always wanted. When it’s gametime, it’s just to catch the next bass. To have it all come together this week, it’s fantastic, and I can’t thank everybody enough.”
The top 30 pros at the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 4 on Lake Eufaula Presented by E3 Sports Apparel are:
1st: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., 15 bass, 59-10, $115,000
2nd: Paul Marks, Jr., Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 58-15, $50,000
3rd: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 15 bass, 57-2, $20,000
4th: Tucker Smith, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 56-15, $18,000
5th: Cal Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 56-5, $17,000
6th: Justin Barnes, Ellaville, Ga., 15 bass, 55-12, $16,000
7th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 15 bass, 54-11, $15,000
8th: Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 52-9, $14,000
9th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 52-9, $13,000
10th: Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., 15 bass, 50-14, $12,000
11th: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., 15 bass, 50-14, $10,000
12th: Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, 15 bass, 49-12, $10,000
13th: Mark Condron, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 14 bass, 49-1, $10,000
14th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 15 bass, 49-1, $10,000
15th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 15 bass, 48-13, $10,000
16th: Brad Jelinek, Lincoln, Mo., 15 bass, 47-13, $10,000
17th: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 47-7, $10,000
18th: Braxton Setzer, Wetumpka, Ala., 15 bass, 46-14, $10,000
19th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 46-7, $10,000
20th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 46-7, $10,000
21st: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., 15 bass, 46-6, $10,000
22nd: Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., 15 bass, 46-3, $10,000
23rd: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 46-0, $10,000
24th: Flint Davis, Leesburg, Ga., 15 bass, 45-13, $11,000
25th: Blake Hall, Rogersville, Ala., 15 bass, 45-10, $10,000
26th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 45-5, $10,000
27th: Rusty Salewske, Alpine, Calif., 15 bass, 42-15, $10,000
28th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., 15 bass, 42-11, $10,000
29th: Ethan King, Wilsonville, Ala., 12 bass, 41-15, $10,000
30th: Matt Baty, Bainbridge, Ga., 15 bass, 41-13, $10,000
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 146 bass weighing 429 pounds even caught by the final 30 pros Sunday. Of the 30 final day competitors, 28 brought a five-bass limit to the scale.
The three-day tournament, hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce, featured a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000. The next Tackle Warehouse Invitational event will take place June 15-17 at the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 5 Presented by 7Brew on Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, New York.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advanced to the final round on Championship Sunday, where competed for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula Presented by E3 Sports Apparel was determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and now receives an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula Presented by E3 Sports Apparel will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 26 on CBS Sports Network.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Walters widens his lead as Bassmaster Elite Series event winds down at Lake Murray
May 12, 2024
Walters widens his lead as Bassmaster Elite Series event winds down at Lake Murray
PROSPERITY, S.C. — The thrill of a blistering start more than offset any frustrations of a long dry spell, as Patrick Walters held on to his lead for a third day in the Minn Kota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray.
Day 1 saw the two-time Elite Series champion from Eutawville, S.C., launch what has thus far been a dominant performance with the tournament’s heaviest bag — 25-8. That opening pace-setter gave Walters a 3-3 lead.
Adding a second-round limit of 19-13 kept him in the top spot and expanded his margin to 4-15. Then with 21-14 on Semifinal Sunday, Walters pushed his three-day total to 67-3 and now heads into Championship Monday with a margin of 8-4 over rookie JT Thompkins. (Severe weather postponed the event’s scheduled start by one day).
“I had most of my weight by 8:30,” Walters said. “It doesn’t matter when you get ’em or how you get ’em, as long as you get ’em in the boat.”
Since Day 1, Walters has done the majority of his damage by targeting the early-morning blueback herring spawn. Bass feed aggressively when these large baitfish become distracted with reproduction, so he has been mimicking the profile and motion of this food source with topwater baits and soft-plastic jerkbaits.
Walters is mainly fishing points where spawning herring congregate. He’ll work the shallows until the sun’s increasing intensity ends that morning action and then he’ll move out a little deeper and drag a Carolina-rigged Zoom Brush Hog.
While the C-rig yielded a solid bass each of the first two days, the third saw that shallow action delivering the goods. In Walters’ view, success hinges on selecting the right point from Murray’s many options.
“I think it’s just time and place, I really do,” Walters said. “You have to stop on the right spot and we’ve been blessed to stop on the right one every day.”
Notably, Walters admitted that doing so required a little early-morning perseverance. As he recalled, Day 3’s early activity, it was not immediate.
“Each day, I have not caught my weight off my first spot,” Walters said. “It was my second, third or fourth spot. Today, I caught one or two fish on my first spot and then caught a limit of about 10 pounds on my next one.
“I thought they were biting pretty good because they were schooling, so I thought, ‘I’m going to run to my big-fish spot.’ They’re tough to get, but I thought, ‘If they’re biting I’m going to go utilize it.’”
Good call. As Walters described, the bass were primed and ready.
“When I pulled up, it was gangbusters,” he said. “It was lights-out and I caught all of my weight in 45 minutes.
“When I set the boat down, I was going to stop 200 yards out and go in. But I saw them blowing up, so I put the boat back on pad and ran straight to them.”
After his morning smash fest, Walters was unable to upgrade. He fished in and out of his areas the rest of the day, but despite the drought, he knew he had positioned himself well.
“I knew when I got to 20 pounds, I was going to be in good shape,” he said. “When you catch 20 pounds a day, that’s a really good herring bite. Out there on the points, it’s hard to catch 25 a day. They really gotta be biting.”
No surprise, Walters said he plans on sticking with the game plan that has carried him for three days. In his estimation, meeting his Day 3 level will slam the door shut.
“Catch another 20, seal the deal and go from there,” Walters said. “No matter how we have to catch ’em — even if we have to catch ’em dragging a worm.
“I’ll try to catch them early and try to take the pressure off. I think we have some clouds coming in, so I think the fish are really going to bite.”
Hailing from Myrtle Beach, S.C., Thompkins is in second place with 58-15. On Day 1, Thompkins caught 21-1 and tied for seventh place. A second-day limit of 19-5 moved him up five spots to second, and a Day 3 catch that went 18-9 kept him there.
Despite a solid outcome, Thompkins said Semifinal Sunday did not begin well.
“This morning was one of the worst mornings I’ve had (in terms of) hooking up with fish,” Thompkins said of his topwater troubles. “I had a good bag in the morning, but I lost a 25-pound bag. It was just really hard to set the hook.”
Fortunately, Thompkins regrouped and made a key adjustment that helped him improve his hookup efficiency.
“I made a big change and started throwing a bait with one hook,” he said. “I started throwing a Fluke and that had a better hookup ratio.”
Rookie Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Ill., is in third place with 58-13. His daily weights have been 21-9, 16-13 and 20-7.
McKinney said his first two stops were disappointing, but making the right adjustment led him to a productive day.
“Finally, I pulled into the right spot and caught one, caught two, then I caught three, then I caught four and I was like, ‘I got 18 pounds,’” McKinney said. “Then I caught a 5-pounder and I’m like, ‘I got 20 pounds.’
“It happened that fast. That’s something that can happen anywhere.”
McKinney caught his bass on soft-plastic jerkbaits and small topwater baits.
Luke Palmer of Coalgate, Okla., won the $1,000 award for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day with a 7-4. That bass also now leads the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament honors.
Walters is in the lead for the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament award with his 25-8 on Day 1.
McKinney leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 481 points. Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala., is in second with 448, followed by Chris Johnston of Otonabee, Canada, with 423, Cory Johnston of Cavan, Canada, with 415 and Cody Huff of Ava, Mo., with 408
McKinney also leads the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings.
The Top 10 remaining anglers will take off at 7 a.m. ET Monday from Dreher Island State Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3 p.m., with the winning angler earning $100,000.
The event is being hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country.
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew's, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
About B.A.S.S.B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
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Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 865-201-6458, cgay@bassmaster.
2024 Minn Kota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray 5/10-5/13
Lake Murray, Columbia SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 15 67-03 103
Day 1: 5 25-08 Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 21-14
2. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 15 58-15 102
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 19-05 Day 3: 5 18-09
3. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 15 58-13 101
Day 1: 5 21-09 Day 2: 5 16-13 Day 3: 5 20-07
4. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 15 57-06 100
Day 1: 5 22-05 Day 2: 5 16-02 Day 3: 5 18-15
5. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 15 56-15 99
Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 19-12 Day 3: 5 17-08
6. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 15 56-10 98
Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 5 19-12 Day 3: 5 17-07
7. Cody Huff Ava, MO 15 56-01 97
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 13-13 Day 3: 5 20-03
8. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 15 54-15 96
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 17-13 Day 3: 5 17-04
9. John Garrett Union City, TN 15 54-01 95
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 13-12 Day 3: 5 19-04
10. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 15 53-09 94
Day 1: 5 19-00 Day 2: 5 16-04 Day 3: 5 18-05
11. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 15 53-07 93 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-08 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 15-12
12. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 15 53-04 92 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-09 Day 2: 5 16-15 Day 3: 5 16-12
13. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 15 53-04 91 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 18-07 Day 3: 5 18-07
14. Wes Logan Springville, AL 15 52-10 90 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 17-03 Day 3: 5 18-11
15. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 15 52-05 89 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 20-04 Day 3: 5 19-13
16. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 15 52-05 88 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-14 Day 2: 5 16-03 Day 3: 5 17-04
17. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 15 51-14 87 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-15 Day 2: 5 18-11 Day 3: 5 16-04
18. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 15 51-02 86 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-05 Day 2: 5 13-09 Day 3: 5 18-04
19. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 15 50-13 85 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 14-00
20. John Cox Debary, FL 15 50-10 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 19-01 Day 3: 5 14-07
21. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 15 50-09 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 17-06 Day 3: 5 17-08
22. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 15 50-05 82 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 16-03 Day 3: 5 14-04
23. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15 50-05 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 18-07 Day 3: 5 14-11
24. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 15 50-02 80 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 21-00 Day 3: 5 13-08
25. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 15 50-02 79 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 16-00 Day 3: 5 16-13
26. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 15 49-12 78 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 15-02 Day 3: 5 19-01
27. Mike Huff London, KY 15 49-07 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 12-08 Day 3: 5 15-10
28. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 15 49-07 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 14-03 Day 3: 5 18-04
29. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 15 49-04 75 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 17-02 Day 3: 5 19-04
30. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 15 49-04 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 15-05 Day 3: 5 17-04
31. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 15 48-14 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-11 Day 2: 5 20-05 Day 3: 5 10-14
32. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 15 47-15 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 12-11 Day 3: 5 15-08
33. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 15 47-14 71 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 16-04 Day 3: 5 15-09
34. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 15 47-13 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 15-06 Day 3: 5 15-01
35. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 15 47-09 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 15-05
36. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 15 47-08 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 13-00 Day 3: 5 13-12
37. Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 15 47-08 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 14-00 Day 3: 5 15-10
38. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 15 47-03 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 16-12 Day 3: 5 16-01
39. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 15 46-11 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 13-03 Day 3: 5 16-10
40. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 46-09 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 15-12
41. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 15 46-04 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 11-09 Day 3: 5 15-05
42. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 15 45-01 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 12-11 Day 3: 5 12-04
43. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 15 44-11 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 12-11 Day 3: 5 13-03
44. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 15 44-10 60 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 5 13-06
45. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 14 43-15 59 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-15 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 4 08-06
46. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 15 42-11 58 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 15-12 Day 3: 5 12-11
47. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 15 41-03 57 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 16-00 Day 3: 5 09-08
48. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 15 40-10 56 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 5 10-05
49. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 12 38-01 55 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 14-09 Day 3: 2 06-12
50. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 11 36-14 54 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 13-08 Day 3: 1 02-01
------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 06-06 $1,000.00
2 Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 06-03 $1,000.00
3 Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 07-04 $1,000.00
------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 94 492 1633-07
2 85 471 1407-02
3 47 242 779-08
------------------------------
226 1205 3820-01
Iaconelli’s Blueback Herring Blueprint
By Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships
Team Toyota pro Mike Iaconelli has fished all three Elite Series tournaments held on South Carolina’s Lake Murray, and after day twos’ weigh-in concluded, he’s still yet to miss a paycheck on this fishery. The veteran Iaconelli tied for second place here in 2011, 11th place in 2023, and backed those performances up with another strong tournament on Murray this week, heading into semifinal Sunday in 29th place.
Iaconelli believes there are several reasons he gels with this 50,000-acre reservoir on the Saluda River, perhaps most pointedly is his experience catching bass that feed on herring. But Ike’s experience is drawn from bass that chase alewife herring on fisheries like Lake Champlain, not the blueback herring present in Lake Murray.
“Alewife and blueback herring are like distant cousins but the way they spawn, and how bass set up to feed on them is almost exactly the same,” Iaconelli explained. “When the bass spawn ends, the herring spawn starts, regardless of species.
“Herring are dispersion spawners. They seek out places like flat shoals, a hard spot on a point, and gravel banks or red clay bottom here in South Carolina. Any kind of hard substrate is key when targeting a herring spawn. Low-light time periods are critical for both species as well.”
The longtime Yamaha Outboards pro got an early education on alewife herring and how they affect bass fishing a place called Fairview Lake in the Pocono Mountains. As Iaconelli explained, there are a lot of parallels with bass focused on either species of herring. So even though Iaconelli doesn’t have a plethora of experience on lakes with bluebacks to draw from, he’s comfortable leaning on his familiarity with alewives.
There are also similarities in terms of bait selection. Iaconelli laid out some of the nuances he’s learned when targeting bass feeding on herring.
“Herring, alewives and bluebacks, they move different than other baitfish,” Iaconelli offered. “They move differently than threadfin or gizzard shad, different than bluegills or golden shiners. Herring are their own animal when it comes to movement. The best way I can describe it is, it’s a straight-line movement.”
Not all bass fishermen are straight-shooters but according to Iaconelli all herring are straight-swimmers. You see this reflected in Iaconelli’s bait selection for herring chasers, but he even tailors his retrieve and cadence to mimic a herring’s straight swimming tendency.
This week on Lake Murray, and most anytime he visits a fishery with herring as a predominate forage base, Iaconelli employs a pencil-popper style topwater, a soft plastic jerkbait, and a shallow-diving crankbait.
“A Berkley Cane Walker, a PowerBait Jerk Shad, and Berkley Frittside 5 squarebill have been my key lures on Murray,” Iaconelli said. “Those are staples for herring lakes, but more than just the lures I change up my retrieve on these fisheries.
“I pull my Jerk Shad on herring lakes instead of twitching it. Instead of walking a topwater like normal, I spend most of my retrieve straight reeling or sprinting my topwater and throw in a few back-and-forth walks every so often. Then a Frittside naturally has very straight forward movement, which is key.”
Pure pattern fishing has been one of Iaconelli’s biggest strengths throughout his 27-years as a professional angler. There are few better at figuring out and then replicating a pattern than Iaconelli, and perhaps no one better at articulating his thoughts and process to fishing fans. That same passion that started 700 miles away in the Pocono Mountains is alive and well at Lake Murray this week.
Tennessee’s Jake Lawrence Catches 22-6 to Take Lead on Day 2 at Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula
Forward-facing sonar expert targets Eufaula ledges to bring 1-pound, 7-ounce lead into Championship Sunday
EUFAULA, Ala. (May 11, 2024) – The offshore game stayed strong on Day 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 4 Presented by E3 Sport Apparel on Lake Eufaula, but not everyone was able to take full advantage, as evidenced by the amount of fluctuation on the leaderboard. Moving up from sixth, pro Jake Lawrence of Buchanan, Tennessee, caught 22 pounds, 6 ounces to take the lead with a 43-6 total. In second, Guntersville, Alabama’s Cal Lane moved up from fifth with 20-11 for a 41-15 total, just 1-7 back of Lawrence.
In third, pro Paul Marks Jr., of Cumming, Georgia, tallied 41-3, and Day 1 leader Tucker Smith of Birmingham, Alabama, caught 18-1 to drop to fourth with 40-12. Heading into the final day, the Top 30 features many of the best anglers the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals has to offer, and at least the top four are all within striking distance of a win.
Born and bred on the Tennessee River, Lawrence is no stranger to offshore fishing – his first Toyota Series win came back in the days before forward-facing sonar, with fish he wormed up off a Kentucky Lake bar. Now, with his knowledge from years past and some great technological skills, Lawrence is in hot pursuit of his first Invitationals win.
“We’ve had a lot of changes with the water level, and the color of the water, and it’s really changing a lot of stuff,” Lawrence said. “It’s moving them around, and I’m fortunate that I’ve got one little hole that’s really holding up so far. And nobody seems to be messing with it, so I’m able to go in there and get a decent little limit, and then catch one or two here and there.”
Fishing mostly offshore schools and ledges, Lawrence says the bites are not very easy to come by.
“I’m straight Tennessee River,” he said. “I’ve got some brush, but I really haven’t been able to make that happen this week. I’ve caught a few, and I caught a big one in practice, but I can just tell that’s not the deal – or at least in the areas that I’m doing it. These schools are so sporadic. You really have to spend all day to get five to seven big bites. It’s not your typical school fishing, where we know we’re going to catch 30 or 40 of them. You just don’t get very many of them to bite.”
According to Lawrence, rising water has scattered the bass around the offshore spots, when they should be grouping up better by the day.
“With all this current you would think that it would really congregate them and pull them together, but it’s actually done the opposite,” he said. “It’s really scattered them. A lot of them have gone up top (on the ledges), like way up on top of it, on the flat portion of it, and just scattered out. On top, there will be one every 10 or 15 feet. You have to have competition – something to make these fish bite – because if you find a solo out there, you might as well not even throw at it.”
On Days 1 and 2, Lawrence caught some of his best weight out of a school in the back of a creek, which he should be able to get on again on Day 3. Putting time in behind the console looking for offshore fish is right up his alley.
“It was the second [day of practice] that I started finding a bunch, so that’s when I knew that things were going to line up and be what I wanted them to be,” he said. “It’s one of those deals – out there is my comfort zone. My home away from home. I think it’s going to be fun.”
Lawrence is coming off a close call in the season-opener on Sam Rayburn, when he finished second to Drew Gill, and then a disappointment at his home waters of Kentucky Lake. So, he badly wants to win.
“Even in a $100 jackpot I’ve never come that close to winning and not won; I just needed five more minutes,” said Lawrence of his runner-up at Rayburn. “That lit a fire under me. I thought I wanted to win before Rayburn, but when I got that close …
“And of course, coming on the backside of Kentucky Lake, which was kind of a subpar – you know, it didn’t really pan out the way I expected. It would mean the world to me. I almost can’t even put that into words what it would mean to me. I want a win so bad.”
Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, now advance to Championship Sunday. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce, featured a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025.
The top 30 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Alabama’s Lake Eufaula are:
1st: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., 10 bass, 43-6
2nd: Cal Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-15
3rd: Paul Marks, Jr., Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 41-3
4th: Tucker Smith, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 40-12
5th: Mark Condron, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 10 bass, 39-10
6th: Ethan King, Wilsonville, Ala., 10 bass, 38-7
7th: Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 10 bass, 37-4
8th: Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 10 bass, 36-7
9th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 10 bass, 35-14
10th: Justin Barnes, Ellaville, Ga., 10 bass, 35-9
11th: Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., 10 bass, 35-7
12th: Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 10 bass, 35-4
13th: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 10 bass, 35-4
14th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 35-3
15th: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., 10 bass, 34-0
16th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., 10 bass, 33-7
17th: Braxton Setzer, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 33-6
18th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., 10 bass, 33-4
19th: Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, 10 bass, 33-3
20th: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 33-1
21st: Brad Jelinek, Lincoln, Mo., 10 bass, 32-15
22nd: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-15
23rd: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-8
24th: Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., 10 bass, 32-7
25th: Flint Davis, Leesburg, Ga., 10 bass, 32-2
26th: Matt Baty, Bainbridge, Ga., 10 bass, 32-2
27th: Blake Hall, Rogersville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-1
28th: Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 31-15
29th: Rusty Salewske, Alpine, Calif., 10 bass, 31-6
30th: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 31-5
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award was split by pros Alec Morrison and Kyle Hall, as each brought a bass to the scale that weighed at 5 pounds, 3 ounces.
Overall, there were 598 bass weighing 1,593 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 131 pros Saturday. The catch included 103 five-bass limits.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula Presented by E3 Sports Apparel will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.
The final 30 anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. CT Sunday from Lakepoint Resort State Park, located at 104 Lakepoint Drive in Eufaula. Sunday’s Championship weigh-in will also be held at the State Park and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula Presented by E3 Sports Apparel will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 26 on CBS Sports Network.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.