Medlock Grinds Out Victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Toho
Holmes Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 27, 2023) – Boater Brandon Medlock of Lake Placid, Florida, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Toho . The tournament, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, was the first event of the season for the BFL Gator Division. Medlock earned $6,011 for his victory.
Medlock said he began his tournament by running south to flip pencil reeds and started off the day catching two quality largemouth. He had found the pattern during practice, and as soon as he caught his first two fish, he made the decision to stick with targeting reeds all day.
Medlock said he relied on a Yamamoto Senko, a Zoom Brush Hog, a Lil’ Chub hook-tail worm and a jig to entice bites, and those baits provided a total of 10 bass during the tournament for Medlock.
“I just kept switching up baits and flipping two or three baits on a spot and then I’d move on,” Medlock said. “I thought it was going to take 30 pounds to win. They were biting really good all week, but it was actually tough during the tournament. I wasn’t expecting it to be that tough, but the lake has been pounded for three weeks straight.
“There are a lot of really good anglers that fish the BFL events, so this win feels really good,” Medlock said. “In my opinion, it’s harder to win a BFL than a multi-day event. Usually, you have to have just one miraculous day for everything to come together in a one-day tournament.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
2nd: Michael Howes, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 22-10, $3,006
3rd: Stanley Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 21-8, $3,746 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Ben McCann, Bradenton, Fla, five bass, 19-6, $1,403
5th: Garrett Rocamora, Lithia, Fla., five bass, 19-5, $1,202
6th: Bill Day, Frankfort, Ky., five bass, 19-2, $1,102
7th: Tracen Phillips, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 19-0, $1,002
8th: Max Moneuse, Parrish, Fla., five bass, 18-13, $902
9th: Mark Peiser, Tavares, Fla., five bass, 18-11, $802
10th: Tommy Young, Union Park, Fla., five bass, 18-9, $701
L’Marquis Holmes of Tallahassee, Georgia, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $3,503 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 20 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
2nd: Larry Mullikin, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 18-14, $1,503
3rd: Kenneth Hunnicutt, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 15-11, $1,008
4th: Joseph Knapp Jr., Keystone Heights, Fla., five bass, 14-9, $701
5th: Hernan Gonzalez, Saint Cloud, Fla., five bass, 14-6, $576
5th: Tyler Nekolny, Coral Springs, Fla., five bass, 14-6, $576
7th: Robert Oakley, Nokomis, Fla., five bass, 14-2, $476
7th: Cletus Gaskins, Sanderson, Fla., five bass, 14-2, $476
9th: Shannon Bryson, Merritt Island, Fla., five bass, 13-1, $376
9th: Chase Brumfield, Middleburg, Fla., five bass, 13-1, $376
The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.
Patterson Finds Feeding Fish, Tops Field at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Guntersville
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (Feb. 27, 2023) – Boater Johnny Patterson of Grant, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Guntersville . The tournament, hosted by the Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce, was the second event of the season for the BFL Choo Choo Division. Patterson earned $6,300 for his victory.
Patterson said he chose to stay close to takeoff on the upper end of Guntersville after fishing the Toyota Series event the previous weekend.
“It was a typical Guntersville pre-spawn bite with really no place being any better than another,” said Patterson. “I fished grass pretty shallow, probably four to five feet of water, with red- and shad-colored (Bill Lewis) Rat-L-Traps. We didn’t catch a whole lot of fish – maybe 12 to 15 keepers all day long.”
Patterson said there seemed to be definite feeding times where he would get a flurry of bites. At 1:30, Patterson landed a 5-pounder and a 7-pounder on back-to-back casts. Patterson said he found a gizzard shad in the 7-pounder’s throat – an obvious sign of an actively feeding fish.
“It never occurred to me that I might win this tournament after my disappointing showing at the Toyota Series event,” Patterson said. “I would just catch them and put them in the livewell and keep on digging. I didn’t really think I had that much weight until I started pulling them out of the livewell.”
“The Choo Choo division is just stacked with great fishermen, so it’s a real honor to pull one of these off,” Patterson added.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
2nd: Gil Summerlin, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 24-3, $3,000
3rd: Lamar Patterson, Fyffe, Ala., five bass, 23-7, $2,000
4th: Jeff Kitchens, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 23-0, $2,100 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th: David Land, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., five bass, 22-3, $1,200
6th: Creig Kimbro, Monteagle, Tenn., five bass, 21-13, $1,100
7th: Michael Morrison, Stamping Ground, Ky., five bass, 21-8, $1,470
8th: Thomas White, Iron City, Tenn., five bass, 21-5, $900
9th: Jim Murray Jr., Parrott, Ga., five bass, 20-15, $800
10th: Cam Busby, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 20-14, $700
Fisher Anaya of Eva, Ala., caught a largemouth that weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,000.
Martin Warms Up to Earn Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Ouachita
Clark Dominates Strike King Co-Angler Division
MOUNT IDA, Ark. (Feb. 27, 2023) – Boater Blake Martin of Dardanelle, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Ouachita . The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Arkie Division. Martin earned $4,507 for his victory.
“I thought this tournament would be won in clear water, so I tried fishing deep grass, but I couldn’t figure it out,” said Martin. “So, I went up into mud into the river like I’m used to.
“I wasn’t catching much; the wind was blowing and I was cold,” Martin added. “And it’s funny - that’s the reason I found the fish I did. I was just trying to get out of the wind in the back of a pocket and was just fishing while I was trying to warm up. It turns out they were way more shallow than I thought they would be.”
Martin said most of his fish came in 1 to 2 feet of water on a Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer, and the bait provided enough weight to post his first BFL win in three tries.
“I thought I could compete in them, but never thought I would win a BFL,” Martin said. “I’ve been fishing my whole life, but I didn’t expect this.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
2nd: Samuel Hutson, Benton, Ark., five bass, 17-4, $2,908
3rd: Braxton Shifflett, Jessieville, Ark., five bass, 14-15, $1,502
4th: Chris Huselton, Conway, Ark., five bass, 14-14, $1,052
5th: Matt Wood, Jessieville, Ark., five bass, 14-12, $901
6th: Teddy Bogard, White Hall, Ark., five bass, 14-11, $1,326 Includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
7th: Damian Roberts, Dumas, Ark., five bass, 14-9, $751
8th: Austin Johnston, Mena, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $676
9th: Justin Bean, Benton, Ark., five bass, 14-6, $601
10th: Jordan Haas, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 13-15, $526
Hutson caught a largemouth that weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $655.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
2nd: Taylor Nichols, Stephens, Ark., five bass, 12-3, $1,116
3rd: Steven Logan, Hugo, Okla., three bass, 11-14, $1,063
4th: Lance Fowler, Dardanelle, Ark., five bass, 11-9, $521
5th: Steve Meredith, Jessieville, Ark., five bass, 11-5, $446
6th: John Hankins, Atkins, Ark., three bass, 11-2, $390
6th: Mike Toska, Hot Springs, Ark., four bass, 11-2, $390
8th: Dave Tull, Waldron, Ark., five bass, 10-10, $335
9th: Derek Dixon, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 10-8, $498
10th: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., five bass, 10-5, $260
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. 5-7 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Oklahoma. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury 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 outboard.
The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.
Luetkemeyer Nets Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Familiar Table Rock Lake
Short Claims Strike King Co-Angler Division
KIMBERLING CITY, Mo. (Feb. 27, 2023) – Boater Justin Luetkemeyer of Lake Ozark, Missouri, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Table Rock Lake. The tournament was the first event for the BFL Ozark Division. Luetkemeyer earned $7,000 for his victory.
Luetkemeyer, 25, began fishing Table Rock Lake during his College Fishing days at the University of Missouri, and has fished the body of water quite a bit during the last five years. He calls it his “second home lake” after Lake of the Ozarks. His familiarity with Table Rock paid off, as he was able to make slight adjustments that helped him key in on a winning pattern.
“I had a really good practice and was catching them a little bit more shallow for Table Rock this time of year – in trees and brush piles in the 20- to 30-foot range,” said Luetkemeyer. “I hit some of my areas, and there wasn’t much wind, and the fish that I did find in those areas were not active.
“So, I pulled into one of my better areas from practice, and there were some bait fish that had pushed in there, and I saw on my Garmin Livescope that the bass were feeding on them,” Luetkemeyer added. “Right away I caught one of my biggest fish – a 4-pounder – and I told my co-angler, ‘We’re probably going to stay here all day long.’”
Luetkemeyer said he sat on the mid-lake spot for six hours and caught an estimated 30 or 40 keepers there during the tournament. Luetkemeyer’s baits of choice were the YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. Umbrella Rig when the wind blew, and a Kaitech Swing Impact FAT Swimbait. He said he had to keep the boat 80 to 100 feet from the fish and make long casts to the fish with the swimbait. That one spot provided enough weight for the win for Luetkemeyer and an eighth-place finish for his co-angler.
“It was just a right time at the right place kind of thing,” Luetkemeyer said. “This win is something I’ve dreamed about for a long time. This is my second season of fishing BFLs, so I’m glad to get this win, and I hope to get many more in the future.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Justin Luetkemeyer, Lake Ozark, Mo., five bass, 18-14, $7,000
2nd: Eric Olliverson, Lampe, Mo., five bass, 18-5, $3,000
3rd: Ryan Butler, Blue Eye, Mo., five bass, 17-3, $2,500 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Dustin Lippe, Blue Eye, Mo., five bass, 17-1, $1,770
4th: Brock Bila, Ozark, Mo., five bass, 17-1, $1,300
6th: Shawn Kowal, Linn Creek, Mo., five bass, 16-15, $1,100
7th: Mark Long, Cape Fair, Mo., five bass, 16-14, $1,000
8th: Jason Beem, Gravette, Ark., five bass, 16-8, $800
8th: Cullen Baxter, Columbia, Mo., five bass, 16-8, $800
8th: Jacob Wisecup, Ava, Mo., five bass, 16-8, $800
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Nick Morris of Princeton, Missouri, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,000.
Kirk Short of St. Clair, Missouri, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $3,500 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Kirk Short, St. Clair, Mo., five bass, 15-5, $3,500
2nd: Brad Tyer, Grain Valley, Mo., five bass, 14-1, $1,500
3rd: Grant Denbow, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 13-12, $1,000
4th: Kyle King, St. Louis, Mo., five bass, 12-12, $700
5th: Aaron Lorenz, Branson West, Mo., five bass, 12-5, $600
6th: Adler Odle, Willow Springs, Mo., three bass, 11-7, $550
7th: Matthew Newman, Jasper, Mo., four bass, 10-11, $500
8th: Terence Booth, Ozark, Mo., four bass, 10-10, $450
9th: Joshua Karpowecz, Hermann, Mo., four bass, 10-2, $400
10th: Brian Huber, Saint Charles, Mo., four bass, 10-0, $350
Short also earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $500, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
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. 5-7 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Oklahoma. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury 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 outboard.
The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.
Sato Posts Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Hartwell
Jones Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
LAVONIA, S.C. (Feb. 27, 2023) – Boater Spencer Sato of Gainesville, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Hartwell . The tournament, hosted by the City of Lavonia, was the second event of the year for the BFL Savannah River Division. Sato earned $12,119, including the lucrative $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus, for his victory.
In only his fifth time on Lake Hartwell, the 25-year-old Sato said he focused his efforts on main-lake features early, and managed to eke out a small limit by 9:30. Online research by Sato had provided him with a couple of other promising areas, so he relocated down the lake and found two groups of quality fish. He landed another couple of 4½-pounders, then decided to let the spot rest.
Sato said he caught 15 to 20 keepers during the course of the day by targeting structure, secondary points and bends in ditches in 20 to 45 feet of water with a finesse swimbait on a 3/8-ounce head. After he let his quality fish area rest for an hour and a half, he returned and caught another 4-pounder and a 3½-pounder and had his final weigh bag.
“I knew at that point I might have a top-five finish,” Sato said. “With the weather warming, I thought it would trigger the big largemouth to bite, and people caught big ones here and there, but nobody managed to put together a stringer of big ones.
“I know a lot of guys go a long time without ever winning a BFL event, so to knock one out pretty early in my fishing career is definitely a big accomplishment for me,” Sato added. “I’m very thankful and grateful for it.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Spencer Sato, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 19-11, $12,119 (includes $7,000 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
2nd: Paul Marks, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 19-1, $2,059
3rd: Chase Stewart, Ware Shoals, S.C., five bass, 18-9, $1,374
4th: Brent Willey, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-2, $892
4th: Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 18-2, $1,362
6th: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 17-11, $755
7th: Bradley Day, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 17-9, $686
8th: Tallis Morrison, Royston, Ga., five bass, 17-8, $618
9th: Adam Rice, Belton, S.C., five bass, 17-1, $549
10th: Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 16-12, $780
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Matthew Justice of Fair Play, South Carolina, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $565.
Timothy Jones of Honea Path, South Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $2,059 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 18 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Timothy Jones, Honea Path, S.C., five bass, 18-12, $2,059
2nd: Todd Huntley, Inman, S.C., five bass, 16-5, $1,030
3rd: James Akins, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 15-0, $687
4th: Damon Phillips, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 14-5, $480
5th: Mark Yarborough, Salem, S.C., five bass, 13-9, $412
6th: Brandon Hendrix, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 13-6, $378
7th: Michael Miller, Greenville, S.C., five bass, 12-14, $343
8th: Darren Jeter, Candler, N.C., five bass, 12-13, $292
8th: Joseph Tucci, Salem, S.C., five bass, 12-13, $574
10th: Thomas Pennell III, Boiling Springs, S.C., five bass, 12-12, $240
Tucci earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $282, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After two events, Paul Marks of Cumming, Georgia, leads the BFL Savannah River Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 494 points, while Todd Huntley of Inman, South Carolina, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 494 points.
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. 12-14 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury 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 outboard.
The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.
Gill Fishing Signs Fletcher Shryock to Pro Angler Team
The veteran big-bass specialist will represent Gill Fishing as he competes inthe Major League Pro Bass Tour, General Tire Heavy Hitters in 2023
Photo credit: Major League Fishing
BUFORD, Ga. (Feb. 22, 2023) — Gill Fishing, a leading maker of foul weather and performance fishing apparel, announces today it has signed Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour competitor Fletcher Shryock to its pro angler team. Shryock, a veteran angler who has earned more than $612,000 in his decade-plus professional career, adds another podium threat to Gill Fishing’s talented roster in 2023.
“I’ve learned that as a pro angler, it’s crucial to have confidence in the products you use and trust the people that make them. We fish in a lot of nasty weather, which is why I’m thrilled to partner with Gill Fishing. Their apparel is the best you can buy, and it allows me to perform my best, no matter how cold, wet or hot it is,” Shryock says. “The Gill Fishing team has a strong mix of established veterans and up-and-comers, and I’m proud to join this group of accomplished anglers.”
A former professional motocross racer, Shryock is a fierce competitor who thrives in big moments. He began his pro fishing career with a flash by winning the 2011 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on Lake Norman, just the second major event he had ever competed in. In addition to earning a pair of top 10 finishes in 2022 on MLF’s Bass Pro Tour, his ability to consistently land big fish earned him a coveted spot in the 2023 Bass Pro Shops REDCREST, the world championship of professional bass fishing, as well as the General Tire Heavy Hitters field, an all-star competition featuring MLF’s top big-bass anglers.
“Fletcher was just born to compete. We love the energy he brings on tournament day, but also the discipline and drive he displays in his preparation.He’s a true believer in the idea that there’s no substitute for time on the water, and that’s why he competes at the sport’s highest level,” says Dominic McCarthy, executive vice president for Gill North America. “We’re thrilled that Fletcher has put his trust in Gill Fishing’s apparel and for him to join our other pro anglers, who I expect to spend a lot of time on the podium this year.”
The addition of Shryock is part of Gill Fishing’s growing presence in MLF. In January, Gill Fishing announced a multi-year sponsorship of the MLF Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League.
To learn more about Gill Fishing’s tournament-inspired apparel and footwear, including the rigorous testing they’ve passed, visit www.gillfishing.com.
Rob Lee and Steve Winslett win ABT Lake Martin with 16.06
By Jason Duran
The 10th season of the Alabama Bass Trail began for the South Division on Lake Martin hosted by Lake Martin Tourism Association. Launch and weigh-in for this event was held at Wind Creek State Park. Lake Martin is well known as a lake where you can catch a lot of fish. This lake has an abundance of largemouth and spotted bass. In this event, 221 teams weighed in a limit. Rob Lee and Steve Winslett rose above the pack and caught 16.06 of Lake Martin bass to finish first and win $10,000.
Rob Lee and Steve Winslett are no strangers to the ABT leaderboard. They won the first event in 2022 on Logan Martin Lake and spent the rest of the year in the top of the AOY standings. They have had 3 wins including a win at Lake Martin. They started practice on Wednesday in separate boats wanting to “fish for the bigger fish, and on our first stop, Rob caught a 3 pounder that dictated what we needed to do the rest of the day. We both talked about it and decided we were not going to go spotted bass fishing. Instead we were going to stay shallow to try and get a big bag today. It worked out today. The fish are changing so much right now; they weren’t everywhere, just certain places. They bit one way yesterday and totally different today. You have to keep a fresh mind, stay confident, and trust your partner. That’s why we really work well together because we trust each other. Today we caught fish that each of us found separately in practice. We fished from Hwy 280 to the back of Blue Creek and every pocket in between. We targeted fish running irregularities on the bank. We used a a Jig with Zoom chuck we Steve used a black and blue with a brown chunk and Rob used a brown jig with a green Pumpkin chunk. The key was imitating crawfish and skipping the jig. We are pretty hard headed to how we fish and sometimes it pays off.”
Gentry Gordy and Hunter Farish caught 14.21 pounds and won $5,000 to take second place. “We spent half a day in practice. Gentry just picked up his new boat on Thursday and came to practice on Friday. After the fog lifted, we broke the boat in and spent some time looking around a little. We came here over the winter and found where the fish were setting up, so we knew where they should be headed. The game plan this morning was to head to the Blue Creek area and to throw a brim-colored Dirty Jigs Swim jig with a Big Bite Pro Swimmer trailer in tilapia magic. We fished around rocks drops. We knew with the weather warming up and the sun coming out we needed to go check the back of some of these pockets. The swim Jig played out ok, but we mixed it up with holding a YUM Dinger in green pumpkin and a 1/32 oz weight. We fished it off shallow banks around docks, blow downs or some other shallow structure. We cast it out and held it in the structure- if you aren’t getting hung up, you aren’t fishing is slow enough. The big fish of the tournament weighted 5.78 pounds came on a black Spro Poppin Frog. It takes a kicker fish here to do well in a tournament, and we kept them honest all day by throwing the Spro Frog around the shallow areas. This is our best finish ever in the ABT and a goal for us is AOY.”
The third-place team of Jacob George and Ryan Sweeney shared, “practice was rough for us. I don’t know if we had any good days in practice. We had one good day back in January over a month and a half ago, but there has been big change since January. The plan this morning was to start on a ditch we found in practice. The ditch was in the back of a pocket, and we figured maybe some fish would be sitting in them. We only caught one small keeper there on a Strike King Red Eye Shad Crankbait. We then made the move to the Kowaliga area where we spent the rest of the day. In this area, we targeted fish in shallow water, less than five feet. The fish were around laydowns and docks. Here we slow rolled a War Eagle ½ oz spinnerbait in white or white and chartreuse and a modified Strike King ½ oz spinnerbait with #5 Colorado. We caught 12-15 fish throughout the day.” They weighed in 12.83 pounds and earned a $4,000 pay day.
The top five standings are below for a complete list of standings please visit:
https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/lake-martin/results/
Download and listen to the ABT Podcast on your favorite Podcast app by searching for “Alabama Bass Trail Podcast.” The Podcast is released each week on Tuesday.
For Live coverage from this event and others visit https://www.youtube.com/@alabamabasstrailtv
Rookie Joey Cifuentes III notches first Bassmaster Elite Series win on Lake Seminole
Joey Cifuentes III of Clinton, Ark., has won the 2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole with a four-day total of 85 pounds, 2 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 26, 2023
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — Despite enduring several painful losses, Arkansas rookie Joey Cifuentes III held on to sack up a final-round limit of 18 pounds, 7 ounces and win the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole with a four-day total of 85-2.
After placing sixth on Day 1 with 19-13, Cifuentes took over the top spot with a Day 2 limit of 26-1 — the tournament’s heaviest bag. He added 20-13 on Saturday and entered Championship Sunday with a lead of 4-1 over Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La.
In the final round, Cifuentes held off a serious charge by fellow rookie Kyoya Fujita of Minamitsuru, Yamanashi, Japan, who caught 19-15 on Championship Sunday and ultimately finished second with 76-6.
Along with his first blue trophy, Cifuentes collected the top prize of $100,000.
“I can’t believe this,” a visibly relieved Cifuentes said. “Today was so wild; you have to expect (pressure) when you have Tyler Rivet behind you.
“I knew I had a cushion, but I didn’t think it was going to take that much weight to do it.”
Cifuentes entered the final round with slightly more than a 4-pound advantage over the red-hot Rivet, who won last week's season opener at Lake Okeechobee.
After fishing fairly clean on Day 3, Cifuentes struggled with several painful losses that threatened to derail his Championship Sunday effort, including a bass he estimated at 6 to 7 pounds that came unbuttoned right at the boat late in the day.
“I just tried to block out everything that happened; it’s really hard to do, but I just kept my nose down and tried to stay positive knowing I’d get a bite somewhere else,” Cifuentes said. “That was the key and I did that.”
Such concentration facilitated a plodding pace, as Cifuentes stuck with his week’s tedious pattern of targeting standing timber in a bay off Spring Creek. As he explained, this area offered the right mix of clear water, prespawn staging habitat and proximity to expansive spawning flats.
“I was using my Garmin LiveScope (forward-facing sonar) on the edge of the spawning flats on the outside edge of the grass,” he said. “I was looking for where the main channel swing came in, where fish would be coming and going.
“I went and looked at those places and I found fish. I caught them in practice and that’s what I did in the tournament.”
As the tournament advanced, Cifuentes noticed that his most consistent action came in areas where two to three trees clustered. Large cypress stumps also produced, but the key factor, he said, was the spawning crappie that likely provided a food source for prespawn bass.
Cifuentes spent part of Sunday on the spot he’d previously fished. After losing fish on that spot, he moved to a similar area, also in Spring Creek, where he ended up catching everything he weighed.
He caught his fish on a drop shot with a 1/4-ounce weight and a 6-inch hand-poured finesse worm in the morning dawn color. To minimize his snagging risk, he Texas rigged his bait on a 1/0 hook.
Cifuentes also beefed up his Abu Garcia spinning tackle by spooling his Revo SX reel with 15-pound Berkley x5 braid and adding a 15-pound Berkley 100% fluorocarbon leader.
“With that heavier tackle, I could put more pressure on the fish and steer them through the timber,” he said.
Fujita, who missed his first victory by a margin of 8-12, spent all four days in the Flint River. He caught limits of 16-12, 16-5 and 23-6 and 19-15.
“I am so happy,” Fujita said. “Today, I caught big fish. The key for me was to find clean water.”
Fujita fished docks with a 4.8-inch Deps Bull Flat in green pumpkin with a 6/0 hook and a 3/32-ounce weight. The bait produced 10 fish, including two of the largest ones he weighed. He also caught bass on a unique cube-shaped Japanese bait with small appendages on each side.
“I used that bait to catch fish that were (cruising the shoreline),” Fujita said.
Fujita said he received a rude awakening when he saw firsthand the hazards of Seminole’s treacherously shallow wood.
“I (damaged) my boat during pre-practice, so I got a new boat,” he said.
After making a strong run at back-to-back wins, Rivet finished third with 74-2. Also fishing the Flint, he turned in daily weights of 17-4, 19-11, 25-11 and 11-8.
“I still feel like I’m dreaming; everything has happened perfectly,” Rivet said of his two Top 10 finishes to open the season. “Today was the only day I just didn’t know what was going on.
“But I have a new favorite lake — Seminole. It looked like home and that’s what helped me get into my comfort zone.”
Rivet targeted spawning bass, but he said he was not able to see the fish in the turbid water. Watching for the movement of territorial fish chasing off bream and other intruders gave him visual guidance for targeted casts.
The first three days saw Rivet catching bass on a prototype Xcite Baits popping frog and an Xcite Baits Xtreme Stix (stickbait). He caught all of his final-round fish on an Xcite Baits Sucka Punch creature bait in the junebug and magic craw colors.
Rivet took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program while Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Fujita earned an additional $2,500 as the highest-placing entrant and Pat Schlapper of Eleva, Wis., claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
Cifuentes earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day Sunday, a 5-12 largemouth. He also won the $2,000 VMC Monster Bag award for his Day 2 catch of 26-1.
Fujita also won the $2,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament with the 8-6 he caught on Day 3; however, South Carolina angler Brandon Cobb's 8-12 at Lake Okeechobee is still leading the field for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Year honors.
Hunter Shryock of Ooltewah, Tenn., won the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency award for the most accurate weight reporting.
Rivet leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 206 points. Australian Carl Jocumsen is in second with 193, followed by Cifuentes with 190, Cobb with 187, and Brandon Card of Salisbury, N.C., with 184.
Cifuentes also leads the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings.
2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole 2/23-2/26
Lake Seminole, Bainbridge GA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 20 85-02 104 $103,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 26-01 Day 3: 5 20-13 Day 4: 5 18-07
2. Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi 20 76-06 103 $38,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 23-06 Day 4: 5 19-15
3. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 20 74-02 102 $31,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-11 Day 3: 5 25-11 Day 4: 5 11-08
4. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 20 73-04 101 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 18-00 Day 4: 5 21-07
5. Derek Hudnall Zachary, LA 20 72-09 100 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 19-04 Day 4: 5 19-12
6. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 20 70-11 99 $19,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 5 18-09 Day 4: 5 17-13
7. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 19 70-09 98 $18,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 24-07 Day 3: 5 22-13 Day 4: 4 09-00
8. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 20 69-01 97 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 19-04 Day 4: 5 16-01
9. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 20 66-08 96 $16,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 19-10 Day 3: 5 17-11 Day 4: 5 14-02
10. Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 20 65-01 95 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 23-09 Day 3: 5 08-10 Day 4: 5 13-08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Arey Shelby, NC 08-01 $1,000.00
2 Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 06-05 $1,000.00
3 Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi JAPAN08-06 $1,000.00
4 Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 05-12 $1,000.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi JAPAN08-06 $2,000.00
VMC MONSTER BAG
Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 26-01 $2,000.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 102 515 1433-10
2 96 500 1453-03
3 48 245 733-02
4 9 49 161-09
----------------------------------
255 1309 3781-08
Illinois team of Wilburn and Hill claim Bassmaster High School Series win at Lay Lake
Trevor Wilburn and Kagen Hill of Century High School in Illinois have won the 2023 Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Lay lake presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors with 19 pounds, 5 ounces.
Photo by Chase Sansom/B.A.S.S.
SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. — Trevor Wilburn and Kagen Hill live 6 1/2 hours from Lay Lake, but they looked right at home on Saturday, winning the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Lay Lake presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors.
The duo from Century High School in the small town of Ullin, Ill., caught 19 pounds, 5 ounces to win the second stop on the 2023 Bassmaster High School Series circuit. The total was nearly 4 pounds more than their nearest competitors in the tournament, which attracted more than 200 teams from 12 states.
“It feels like a once-in-a-lifetime thing to travel this far and have an outcome like this,” Wilburn said.
Willburn and Hill, both 17, caught all their bass on a bluegill-colored spinnerbait with a large gold Colorado blade and a smaller orange Colorado blade. They had a limit in the boat by 10 a.m. and switched to other lures, hoping to trigger even bigger bites. But the spinnerbait was the only one working for them.
“We kept it at the top of the water column, in no more than 4 or 5 feet of water, dragging it through the (dollar grass),” Hill said, noting the 17-pound Seaguar line they used. “If it would get caught in the grass, we’d shake it free and drop it back in.”
Their bite was consistent, too, with the biggest bass weighing an even 5-0. That one fish weighed more than they caught overall in the first Bassmaster High School tournament of the year held in January on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes. The teammates finished that derby with only two bass weighing 2-13.
“We’ve been at this for a while now,” Hill said. “We’ve been skunked out. We’ve zeroed. We’ve had close calls. But we finally got one. It’s a very satisfying feeling.”
Their boat captain, Rex Wilburn (Trevor’s dad), agreed.
"This is a pretty emotional moment,” Rex Wilburn said. “They took a butt-kicking down in Florida. But they didn’t give up ... They give it all they’ve got.”
Nick Keith Jr. and Jagger Wells of Alabama’s Munford High School finished second with 15-8. The duo used shaky head jigs (green pumpkin) to catch their best bass, dragging the lures on the reservoir bottom in 6 to 8 feet of water.
Rounding out the Top 5 teams were, third, Alex Barrett and Davis Ray of Alabama’s Fayetteville High School with 15-7; fourth, Avery Padgett and Ethan Young of Alabama’s Zion Chapel High School with 15-6; and fifth, Nolan Holloway and Jackson Fanning of Georgia’s Morgan County High School with 15-4.
Presley Lannom and Trevor Sanford of Tennessee’s Mt. Juliet High School won the Big Bass of the Tournament award with a 5-12.
The Top 25 teams earned a spot in the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series Championship presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors. The date and fishery for that event are yet to be announced.
2023 Strike King Bassmaster High School at Lay Lake presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors 2/25-2/25
Lay Lake, Shelby County AL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Trevor Wilburn - Kagen Hill Century High School - IL 0
Day 1: 5 19-05 Total: 5 19-05
2. Nick Keith Jr. - Jagger Wells Munford High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 15-08 Total: 5 15-08
3. Alex Barrett - Davis Ray Fayetteville High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 15-07 Total: 5 15-07
4. Avery Padgett - Ethan Young Zion Chapel - AL 0
Day 1: 5 15-06 Total: 5 15-06
5. Nolan Holloway - Jackson Fanning Morgan County High School - GA 0
Day 1: 5 15-04 Total: 5 15-04
6. Bre Arnold - Connor Clark Good Hope Fishing Team - AL 0
Day 1: 5 14-05 Total: 5 14-05
7. Max Himmel - Tyler Morris Catholic High School of Baton Ro 0
Day 1: 5 14-04 Total: 5 14-04
8. Walker LaRue - Joe Vaulton Alcoa Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 5 14-03 Total: 5 14-03
9. Richard Johnson - Stuart Norman Lakeland High School - FL 0
Day 1: 5 14-02 Total: 5 14-02
10. Lainie Holbert - Sarah Swindle Riverside High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 14-00 Total: 5 14-00
10. Carter Pjesky - JD McBroom Kaneland High School - IL 0
Day 1: 5 14-00 Total: 5 14-00
12. Jonbrady Buttram - Cadence Barrett Fayetteville High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 13-15 Total: 5 13-15
13. Mason Martin - Grant Raney East Limestone High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 13-13 Total: 5 13-13
14. Presley Lannom - Trevor Sanford Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 13-11 Total: 5 13-11
15. Cameron Whitehead - Christopher Johnson Rehobeth High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 13-10 Total: 5 13-10
16. Blalock Eskew - Ellis Turner Heard County High School - GA 0
Day 1: 5 13-09 Total: 5 13-09
17. Kasen Pemberton - Ethan Berry Chipley Bassmasters - FL 0
Day 1: 5 13-06 Total: 5 13-06
18. Justin McGee - Sadie Wallace Bibb Country - AL 0
Day 1: 5 13-04 Total: 5 13-04
19. Evan Wood - Taedem Ashworth Mt. Pleasant High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 13-00 Total: 5 13-00
20. Griffin Ralph - Kaleb Snow Lakeside Fishing Team - AR 0
Day 1: 5 12-12 Total: 5 12-12
21. Hayes Finch - James Lamberth Alabama Christian Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
22. John James Coco - Wesley Macdonald Oak Mountain High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
23. Jackson Mitchell - Evan Mabrey Hueytown Student Anglers - AL 0
Day 1: 5 12-05 Total: 5 12-05
24. Corbin Bornstein - Thomas James Lipscomb Academy - TN 0
Day 1: 5 12-04 Total: 5 12-04
25. Drew Turnbull - Thomas Turnbull Evangel Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 12-04 Total: 4 12-04
26. Makenzie Bailey - Dalton Bailey Winter Springs High School - FL 0
Day 1: 5 12-03 Total: 5 12-03
27. Andrew Kunz - Jacob Hood Bibb Country - AL 0
Day 1: 5 12-01 Total: 5 12-01
28. Camden Randall - James Roop Mt. Pleasant High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 11-10 Total: 5 11-10
29. Kade Crowson - Slade Davis Evangel Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 11-08 Total: 5 11-08
30. Coleman Dyess - Baldwin County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 11-08 Total: 5 11-08
31. Hayden Hammond - Coleman Self RoCo Anglers - NC 0
Day 1: 5 11-05 Total: 5 11-05
32. Ethen Gardner - Alabama Christian Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 5 11-04 Total: 5 11-04
32. Joseph Mashburn - Kobe Walden Clinton High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 11-04 Total: 5 11-04
34. Parker Ramsey - Luke Hoesley Hoover High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 11-02 Total: 5 11-02
35. Langston Martin - Lee County Anglers - AL 0
Day 1: 4 11-02 Total: 4 11-02
36. Carson Howell - Talen Ashworth Mt. Pleasant High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 10-14 Total: 5 10-14
37. Sailor Whitehead - Luke Bramhall Riley's Catch - NC 0
Day 1: 5 10-13 Total: 5 10-13
38. Carson Holbert - Owen Stamm Eagleton College and Career Acad 0
Day 1: 5 10-11 Total: 5 10-11
39. Charlie Mathis - Braden Sullivan Dixie County High School - FL 0
Day 1: 5 10-11 Total: 5 10-11
40. Caleb Martinez - Logan Carter Lincoln County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 10-10 Total: 5 10-10
40. Luke Salvail - Tyler Seikel Grissom High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 10-10 Total: 5 10-10
42. Ben Puckett - Jesse Klutts Henry County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 10-08 Total: 5 10-08
43. Hunter Travis - Jameson Norris Baldwin County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 10-07 Total: 5 10-07
43. Carson Winn - Jake Krauth Franklin High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 10-07 Total: 5 10-07
45. Bryant Johnson - Kendrick Johnson Baldwin County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 10-05 Total: 5 10-05
46. Donovan Wellman - Culley Mcdowell Warren County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 4 10-04 Total: 4 10-04
47. Conner Cordle - Tyson Summers Alabama Christian Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 5 10-03 Total: 5 10-03
48. Brody Kellum - Carson Thompson Franklin County High School - GA 0
Day 1: 5 10-01 Total: 5 10-01
48. Temern Pfaffenberger - Reece Chambless DeWitt High School - AR 0
Day 1: 5 10-01 Total: 5 10-01
50. Easton Morris - Hunter Thrash Jemison High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-12 Total: 5 09-12
50. Landon Story - Garrett Sharp East Limestone High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-12 Total: 5 09-12
52. Jake Lovingood - Harlyn Nelson Alcoa Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 5 09-11 Total: 5 09-11
53. Drayke Clayton - Spencer Lovett Mt. Pleasant High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 09-09 Total: 5 09-09
53. Destin Morales - Samuel Cobb Jr Livingston Parish High School - 0
Day 1: 5 09-09 Total: 5 09-09
55. Ben Chance - River Rushlow Franklin High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 09-08 Total: 5 09-08
56. Derek Davis - Connor Jaco Mt. Pleasant High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 09-07 Total: 5 09-07
57. Clay Bales - Jaydon Jones South Laurel High School (10073) 0
Day 1: 5 09-05 Total: 5 09-05
58. Cole Mcausland - Alex Gordon American Christian Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-04 Total: 5 09-04
59. Landon Rhine - Gabe Morrow Lamar High School - AR 0
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
59. Spencer Stewart - Nathan Baldwin Springville High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
61. Brody Mitchell - James Mitchell Grissom High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-01 Total: 5 09-01
62. Grant West - Lydia West Scottsboro High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-01 Total: 5 09-01
63. Alex Smith - Cade Bowden Saraland High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 09-00 Total: 5 09-00
64. Charleigh Blackwell - Connor Sunday Hoover High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 08-15 Total: 5 08-15
64. Jackie Hatfield - Graham Willis Alcoa Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-15 Total: 5 08-15
66. Brady McCormick - Harris Jones Briarwood Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 08-15 Total: 2 08-15
67. Ian Fryer - Jaden Sanford Smiths Station High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 08-14 Total: 5 08-14
67. Jameson Pursley - Hayden Spears Warren County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-14 Total: 5 08-14
69. Preston King - Briarwood Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 3 08-14 Total: 3 08-14
70. Max Flatten - Hayden Ries Glacial Lakes High School - SD 0
Day 1: 5 08-12 Total: 5 08-12
70. Will Thompson - Chandler Millsap Briarwood Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 08-12 Total: 5 08-12
70. Brady Vest - Brody Hopper Cullman High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 08-12 Total: 5 08-12
73. Max Hondorp - Panhandle Youth Anglers - FL 0
Day 1: 5 08-09 Total: 5 08-09
73. Kayden Waller - Michael Harris Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-09 Total: 5 08-09
75. Spencer Grooms - Hudson Galimore Auburn High School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 08-08 Total: 4 08-08
76. Connor Kennedy - Jaylee Coates Mid Florida Youth Anglers - FL 0
Day 1: 4 08-05 Total: 4 08-05
77. Evan Newell - Kody Glass Mid Florida Youth Anglers - FL 0
Day 1: 5 08-03 Total: 5 08-03
78. Kaden Cornelius - Elijah Page Good Hope Fishing Team - AL 0
Day 1: 4 08-03 Total: 4 08-03
79. Caden Schilling - Slade Jones Hixson High School - TN 0
Day 1: 3 08-02 Total: 3 08-02
80. Caden Stevens - Hunter Crittenden Franklin County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-01 Total: 5 08-01
80. Turner Tharpe - Blake James Rhea County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-01 Total: 5 08-01
82. Alex Gore - Colby Reece Jefferson County High School - T 0
Day 1: 5 08-00 Total: 5 08-00
83. Drew Bradstreet - Kamden Bradstreet Bradstreet Homeschool - FL 0
Day 1: 4 08-00 Total: 4 08-00
83. Jack Fitzgerald - Landen Manning Mt. Pleasant High School - TN 0
Day 1: 4 08-00 Total: 4 08-00
85. Jamison Drake - Alex Girodo East Limestone High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 07-15 Total: 5 07-15
86. Kaleb Page - Kasen Page Coffee County School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 07-14 Total: 5 07-14
87. Samuel Branum - Baldwin County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 07-14 Total: 4 07-14
88. Andrew Graves - Michael Maynor Hewitt Trussville High School - 0
Day 1: 5 07-09 Total: 5 07-09
89. Luke England - Jed Defee Baldwin County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 07-08 Total: 5 07-08
90. Jacob Baugh - Scott York Skyline High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 07-06 Total: 5 07-06
91. Eli Galloway - Mylan Tuberville Baldwin County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 5 07-05 Total: 5 07-05
92. Peter West - Zach Knight Gallatin High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 07-04 Total: 5 07-04
93. Noah Carruth - Ty Carruth Alabama Bass Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 5 07-02 Total: 5 07-02
93. Luke Malik - Ashton Ozolins Sumner County Bass Team - TN 0
Day 1: 5 07-02 Total: 5 07-02
95. Easton Booth - Kolton Booth Geneva High School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 07-00 Total: 4 07-00
96. Jordan Guest - Landon Guest Skyline High School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 06-06 Total: 4 06-06
97. Buckner Anderson - Greyson Widgeon Scottsboro High School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 06-05 Total: 4 06-05
98. Brody Brinson - Isaiah Mussnug Sumner County Bass Team - TN 0
Day 1: 3 06-01 Total: 3 06-01
98. Jordan Houston - Luke Hurst Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 3 06-01 Total: 3 06-01
100. Andrew Jones - Carson Underwood Hewitt-Trussville High School - 0
Day 1: 2 06-00 Total: 2 06-00
101. Seth Loggins - Jett Swann Good Hope Fishing Team - AL 0
Day 1: 4 05-13 Total: 4 05-13
102. Levi Huffstetler - Carson Weber Alcoa Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 3 05-13 Total: 3 05-13
103. Cole Reid - Jordan Thomas Hayden High School - AL 0
Day 1: 3 05-11 Total: 3 05-11
104. Briley Tomlin - Kole Bradford Falkville High School - AL 0
Day 1: 3 05-10 Total: 3 05-10
105. Cole Martin - Josh Bowen Lakeside High School - AR 0
Day 1: 3 05-09 Total: 3 05-09
106. Elijah Lawler - Landon Reed New Hope High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 05-07 Total: 2 05-07
107. Landon Parker - Jake Watson DeWitt High School - AR 0
Day 1: 3 05-04 Total: 3 05-04
108. Rooksby Gordon - Fisher Deason American Christian Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 4 05-03 Total: 4 05-03
108. Landon Rousseau - Brody Berninger Skyline High School - AL 0
Day 1: 4 05-03 Total: 4 05-03
110. Milam Mcillwain - Landon Lewis Creekwood High School - TN 0
Day 1: 2 05-03 Total: 2 05-03
111. Fisher Tyler - Blake Ingram Salem High School - AR 0
Day 1: 3 05-00 Total: 3 05-00
112. Miles Allen - Ethan Roths St. Xavier High School - KY 0
Day 1: 5 04-15 Total: 5 04-15
113. Kaden Casey - Collin French Montgomery County High School - 0
Day 1: 4 04-13 Total: 4 04-13
114. Jackson Edenfield - Hunter Harris Chiles High School - FL 0
Day 1: 3 04-06 Total: 3 04-06
115. John Cooper - Gabriel Avalos Scotts Hill Student Anglers - TN 0
Day 1: 2 04-06 Total: 2 04-06
116. Mason Carden - Dawson Bryant Shelby County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 04-02 Total: 2 04-02
117. Carter Burdette - Thomas Wright Circle Christian School - FL 0
Day 1: 3 04-01 Total: 3 04-01
118. Chris Fallon - Briar Dodson Gardendale High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 04-00 Total: 2 04-00
119. Skipper Stallings - Tyler Wakefield Evangel Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 3 03-09 Total: 3 03-09
120. Reese Ray - Connor Mccown Glenmora High School - LA 0
Day 1: 2 03-08 Total: 2 03-08
121. Brady Talbot - Bryce Distefano Live Oak High School - LA 0
Day 1: 3 03-06 Total: 3 03-06
122. Cody Adams - Barron Ellis Chiles High School - FL 0
Day 1: 2 03-06 Total: 2 03-06
123. Isaac Garvin - Blake Gibson Valley Springs High School - AR 0
Day 1: 1 03-06 Total: 1 03-06
124. Colby Onderdonk - Dalton Kelly Saraland High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 03-04 Total: 2 03-04
125. Dylan Fulk - Briar Shock Richland County High School - IL 0
Day 1: 1 03-04 Total: 1 03-04
125. Grant Laney - Trey Trotter III Fairview High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 03-04 Total: 1 03-04
127. Annie Lassiter - Logan Evans Soddy Daisy High School - TN 0
Day 1: 2 03-03 Total: 2 03-03
127. C.J. Stanley - Colton Parten Rhea County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 2 03-03 Total: 2 03-03
129. Luke Abston - Sam Dunn Spain Park High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 03-02 Total: 1 03-02
130. Austin Kelly - Chase Woodham Rehobeth High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 03-01 Total: 2 03-01
131. Fletcher Brasington - Mo Katz IV Headland High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 03-00 Total: 2 03-00
132. Elijah Griffith - Jake Carney Sale Creek High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 03-00 Total: 1 03-00
133. Holten Phillips - Hunter Little Hot Springs Lakeside - AR 0
Day 1: 2 02-15 Total: 2 02-15
134. Jack Canoles - Owen Darden Fayetteville High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 02-13 Total: 1 02-13
135. Cooper Lumpkin - Jackson Simpson American Christian Academy - AL 0
Day 1: 1 02-12 Total: 1 02-12
136. Cole Pickett - Dutch Kor Many High School - LA 0
Day 1: 3 02-11 Total: 3 02-11
137. Storm Clark - Levi Bolton Harris County Bass Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 2 02-11 Total: 2 02-11
138. Maclaine Butters - Noah Sherman Franklin High School - TN 0
Day 1: 2 02-10 Total: 2 02-10
139. Joshua Stokes - Ryan Smith Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 2 02-05 Total: 2 02-05
140. Palmer Norris - Lucas Pace Scottsboro High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 02-05 Total: 1 02-05
141. Jack Mcillwain - Dyson Weaver Creekwood High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 02-04 Total: 1 02-04
141. Tanner Russell - Hunter Hodges Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 02-04 Total: 1 02-04
143. Caleb Baird - Eli Baird Portland High School - TN 0
Day 1: 2 02-02 Total: 2 02-02
144. Blade Rice - Trace Jones Ariton High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-15 Total: 1 01-15
145. Trey Connell III - Bowen Jones Ariton High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-14 Total: 1 01-14
146. Franklin Mangrum - Kaden Mangrum Sulphur High School - LA 0
Day 1: 1 01-13 Total: 1 01-13
147. Austin Sawyer - Damian Pugh Eufaula High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-12 Total: 1 01-12
148. Lucas Milewski - Micah Dixon Franklin High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 01-11 Total: 1 01-11
149. Logan Kirkland - Robert Turner Rehobeth High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-10 Total: 1 01-10
150. Colin Chavers - Copelin Prewitt Vestavia Hills High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-09 Total: 1 01-09
150. Ryan Leiffer - Collier DeClerk Bentonville High School - AR 0
Day 1: 1 01-09 Total: 1 01-09
150. Tucker McCoy - Ethan Hopkins Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-09 Total: 1 01-09
153. Konner Allen - Tristan Henry 901 Bass Club - TN 0
Day 1: 1 01-08 Total: 1 01-08
153. Caleb Johnston - Colin Cosenza Many High School - LA 0
Day 1: 1 01-08 Total: 1 01-08
155. Carter Fountain - David Campbell Briarwood Christian School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-07 Total: 1 01-07
155. Gavin Seewald - Tate Turner Hoover High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-07 Total: 1 01-07
157. Colt Canterberry - Abram Whitehead Hayden High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-05 Total: 1 01-05
157. Landon Myers - Luke Morris Alcoa Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 1 01-05 Total: 1 01-05
159. Cody Burns - Slade Kitchens Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 1 01-03 Total: 1 01-03
159. Daniel Lowhorn - Wade Mackie Monterey High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 01-03 Total: 1 01-03
161. Jamison Conyer - Brendan Brown Gallatin High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 01-02 Total: 1 01-02
161. Kolby Leger - Nicholas Vitello Sulphur High School - LA 0
Day 1: 1 01-02 Total: 1 01-02
161. Hollis Rose - Grant Arnold Jefferson County Patriot Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-02 Total: 1 01-02
164. Cole Wampler - Mason Wampler Rhea County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Total: 1 01-00
165. Joseph Abercrombie - Zachary Manasco Saraland High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Patrick Adcock - Kaide Scheer Cullman High School (10106) 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Wayland Adkisson - Clay George BGA High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Drake Anderson - Scottsboro High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Paul Baker - Ashton Albert CT BASS Thunder - CT 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Isaac Bauer - Cason Ewing Cullman High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Cody Carden - Isaiah Yates Skyline High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Braylon Carden - Beulah High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Evan Conn - Collin Allison Vestavia Hills High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Brayden Cranford - Owen Jordan Sumner County Bass Team - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. AJ Danner - Gauge Wallace Helena High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Griffin Davison - Robert Stanley Escambia Academy Fishing Team - 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Daylin Doak - Brooks Putnam Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Parker Dodson - Preston Dodson Scottsboro High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Easton Douglas - Riley Spring Dixie County High School - FL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jed Draper - Kaden King Franklin County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Easton Drennon - Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Josh Foshee - Lance Roberts Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Greer Gammon - Deacon Blair Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jess Goggans - Drake Dooley Scottsboro High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Andon Goins - Izack Hancock Sale Creek High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Triton Graham - Huntley Dees Citronelle High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Levi Harris - Zane Roberts Fairview High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Justin Holloway - Ethan Webb Ariton High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Tyler Jackson - Walter Salter Eufaula High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Avery Johnson - Drake Middleton Riverside High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Brody Jones - Parker Batts Jefferson County High School - T 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Bryant Kennamer - Daniel Olinger Skyline High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Aiden King - Brody Porter Shelby County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Connor Koch - Hudson Windham Capital City Bass Hunters - FL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Ethan Long - Peyton Long Shelby County High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jaidon Lovett - Bridget Mathis Dixie Bass Masters - FL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Gaige Lunsford - Robert Ayers Meigs County High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Aubrey Madison - Emory Nichols Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Michael Markham - Carter Davidson Tallassee High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Tyler Martin - Blake Rogers Sequatchie County High School - 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Tanner Mason - Matthew Mason DAR High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jacob McCurdy - Christopher Naugher Piedmont Fishing Team - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Tyler Mims - Lane Mims Isabella High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Brett Mouw - Logan Kinsella Hill Toppers - IL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Mason Mullins - Caden Graham Soddy Daisy High School - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jacey Murphy - Shannon Cook Fayetteville High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Riley North - Karson Peterman Rehobeth High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jerry Nugent III - Landon Stockstill Tuerlings Rebel Fishing Team - L 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Luke Outlaw - Ariton Bass Team - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Dylan Owens - Brody Shepherd Rehobeth High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jack Pickett - Skyline High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Kaden Randles - Landon Black DAR High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Ethan Reeves - Noah Reeves Mortimer Jordan High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Jeremiah Sharrott - Linkon Patrick Fairview High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Mason Taylor - Wesley Kent Dekalb Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Ethan Tedder - Evan Tedder Muscle Shoals High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Andrew Terry - Carson Bryant DCHS Fishing Team - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Bradford Vandemark - Elias Hitson Eagleville Fishing Club - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Connor Watts - Parker Myers Rehobeth High School - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Lawton Williams - Eli Cooke Cleveland County - NC 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Matthew Wilson - Grady Mcclendon Holy Spirit Tuscaloosa - AL 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
165. Toben Yearwood - Ryan Hart Franklin County High School - GA 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BIG BASS OF TOURN
Presley Lannom Lebanon, TN 05-12 $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 83 593 1226-05
----------------------------------
83 593 1226-05
Joey Cifuentes III maintains lead at Bassmaster Elite on Lake Seminole
Joey Cifuentes III of Clinton, Ark., is leading after Day 3 of the 2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole with a three-day total of 66 pounds, 11 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 25, 2023
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — On Semifinal Saturday, Joey Cifuentes III stuck with his game plan, tallied a three-day total of 66 pounds, 11 ounces, and retained his lead in the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole.
The rookie from Clinton, Ark., placed sixth on Day 1 with 19-13 before taking the top spot with a Day 2 limit of 26-1 — the tournament’s heaviest bag. Cifuentes added 20-13 on Saturday and heads into Championship Sunday with a lead of 4-1 over Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La.
“I’m not going to say I can do 20 again tomorrow, but I feel like it’s there,” Cifuentes said. “I saw some really good fish today.”
Cifuentes committed his time Saturday to Spring Creek, where he fished standing timber in about 20 to 22 feet. Targeting groups of trees and large cypress stumps proved the most productive.
When his Day 2 bite slowed around noon, Cifuentes moved shallow to flip vegetation before finishing his day in the offshore timber. Today, it was all about the wood.
“I stayed in my area and my goal was to get 20 pounds; I got it and I left,” Cifuentes said. “I kinda weaseled back close and ended up catching a couple good bass, then I left around 10:30.
“I found another spot where I saw some good fish swimming around the bottom. I may hit it up tomorrow, but I’m going to start on my primary area and I’m going to try and get another 20 pounds.”
Describing his main spot and the new area, Cifuentes said he’s targeting deep timber on the edge of a spawning flat. Using his forward-facing sonar to watch for specific fish, he’s making short pitches with a drop shot.
Cifuentes is using a 1/4-ounce weight and a 6-inch hand-poured finesse worm. For snag avoidance amid the timber, he’s Texas rigging his worm on a 1/0 hook.
“I like that little hook because it’s less visible,” Cifuentes said. “I think that’s helping me get bites. I didn’t lose any fish today, I fished clean.”
Cifuentes said he feels confident his spots hold the potential winning fish. He specifically chose Spring Creek because it had the right mix of clear water, timber and spawning habitat.
He’s hopeful that his chosen spots will allow him to continue intercepting bass on their way to and from the spawning grounds.
“Today, all my fish were postspawn; yesterday, they were all prespawn,” Cifuentes said. “I think I have fish coming to me also. I learned that today, so that’s exciting.”
Rivet is in second place with 62-10. His daily weights were 17-4, 19-11 and 25-11.
Coming off his first Elite win at last week’s event at Lake Okeechobee, Rivet spent his day in the Flint River where he caught bass on a popping frog and an Xcite Baits Xtreme Stix (stickbait), which he fished Texas rigged and wacky style.
“I caught one fish on the frog — on my third cast,” Rivet said. “I threw the frog for a while, but it has to be the right scenario. It has to be a little dirty and shallow. The one I caught was on a bed, so she came out and ate it.”
Rivet said all of his bass were on beds. Turbid water prevented him from actually sight fishing, but reading the clues guided his presentations.
“I know they’re there by the way they’re acting; I can see them swirling around and chasing stuff,” he said. “It’s all about throwing in there at the right time. If you see one swell, you've got to put your bait in that swell.
“When they’re trying to eat something and (the bait) is in their face, they eat it.”
Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., is in third with 61-9. After an opening limit of 14-5 put him in 44th place, Hackney caught the second-heaviest bag of Day 2 — 24-7 — and rose to third place. Adding 22-13 on Saturday, he’ll start Championship Sunday in the third-place position.
“I fished totally different today from yesterday — I had to fish a lot slower,” Hackney said. “I power fished yesterday and today I finesse fished. Yesterday, I caught them winding, today I was grinding.
“Same area, but totally different. They wouldn’t chase. I don’t know why; it was perfect weather. They never got aggressive like they did yesterday.”
Hackney caught his fish on a Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Bug in green pumpkin. He said he’s eager to take one more shot at Seminole.
“I look forward to going out there again,” he said. “It’s been fun the last couple of days. I really struggled the first day of the tournament; one got off. Other than that, I fished really clean the last couple of days.”
Kyoya Fujita of Minamitsuru, Yamanashi, Japan, earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with an 8-6 largemouth. That fish also leads the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament, which is good for a $2,000 bonus.
Cifuentes is currently in the lead for the VMC Monster Bag award with his Day 2 catch of 26-1.
Rivet leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 207 points. Australian Carl Jocumsen s in second with 193, followed by Cifuentes with 190, Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., with 184, and Brandon Card of Salisbury, N.C., with 184.
Cifuentes leads the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 190 points.
The Top 10 remaining anglers will take off Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET from the Earle May Boat Basin Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3:30 p.m.
FS1 will broadcast live with the leaders beginning at 8 a.m. with continuing coverage on Bassmaster.com.
2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole 2/23-2/26
Lake Seminole, Bainbridge GA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 15 66-11 104
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 26-01 Day 3: 5 20-13
2. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 15 62-10 103
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-11 Day 3: 5 25-11
3. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 15 61-09 102
Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 24-07 Day 3: 5 22-13
4. Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi 15 56-07 101 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 23-06
5. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 15 53-00 100
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 19-04
6. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 15 52-14 99
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 5 18-09
7. Derek Hudnall Zachary, LA 15 52-13 98
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 19-04
8. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 52-06 97
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 19-10 Day 3: 5 17-11
9. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 15 51-13 96
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 18-00
10. Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 15 51-09 95
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 23-09 Day 3: 5 08-10
11. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 15 51-06 94 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 11-09 Day 3: 5 18-07
12. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 15 51-04 93 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 18-06 Day 3: 5 14-02
13. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 15 50-10 92 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 12-04
14. John Cox DeBary, FL 15 50-10 91 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 17-09 Day 3: 5 14-10
15. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 15 49-15 90 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 15-09 Day 3: 5 16-01
16. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 15 49-07 89 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 15-08 Day 3: 5 15-07
17. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15 48-12 88 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 19-00 Day 3: 5 15-00
18. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 15 48-08 87 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 14-00 Day 3: 5 20-04
19. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 15 48-08 86 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 16-04
20. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 15 48-04 85 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 14-07 Day 3: 5 18-08
21. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 15 48-03 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 15-08 Day 3: 5 11-15
22. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 15 48-03 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 13-01 Day 3: 5 14-12
23. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 15 48-03 82 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 17-05 Day 3: 5 12-14
24. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 15 47-13 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 5 16-06 Day 3: 5 17-14
25. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 15 46-12 80 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 14-15
26. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 15 46-07 79 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-13 Day 2: 5 10-05 Day 3: 5 14-05
27. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 15 46-03 78 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 16-15 Day 3: 5 17-00
28. Kenta Kimura Osaka JAPAN 15 46-02 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 15-14 Day 3: 5 13-14
29. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 15 46-02 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 15-01
30. David Fritts Lexington, NC 15 46-00 75 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 20-14 Day 3: 5 16-12
31. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 15 45-07 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 14-02 Day 3: 5 13-07
32. Taku Ito Chiba, JAPAN 15 45-07 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 15-03 Day 3: 5 13-04
33. Darold Gleason Many, LA 15 45-04 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 13-04 Day 3: 5 16-06
34. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 15 45-00 71 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 12-02
35. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 15 44-14 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 10-00
36. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 15 44-13 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 10-04 Day 3: 5 13-14
37. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 15 44-02 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-02 Day 2: 5 16-11 Day 3: 5 11-05
38. Cody Huff Ava, MO 15 44-02 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 16-09 Day 3: 5 14-11
39. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 15 44-01 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-12 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 12-00
40. Joshua Stracner Vandiver, AL 15 44-00 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 5 15-09
41. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 15 43-09 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 15-04 Day 3: 5 12-06
42. Cole Sands Calhoun, TN 15 42-12 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 15-10 Day 3: 5 14-01
43. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 15 42-04 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 15-06 Day 3: 5 13-01
44. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 15 41-12 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 09-14
45. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 15 38-10 60 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 13-12 Day 3: 5 09-11
46. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 15 38-04 59 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 5 13-05 Day 3: 5 10-02
47. Wes Logan Springville, AL 15 38-01 58 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-12 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 08-08
48. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 15 37-04 57 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 16-12 Day 3: 5 07-04
49. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 13 35-12 56 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-05 Day 3: 3 06-14
50. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 12 34-02 55 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 16-09 Day 3: 2 04-05
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Arey Shelby, NC 08-01 $1,000.00
2 Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 06-05 $1,000.00
3 Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi JAPAN08-06 $1,000.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 102 515 1433-10
2 96 500 1453-03
3 48 245 733-02
----------------------------------
246 1260 3619-15
Joey Cifuentes III wrangles Day 2 lead at Bassmaster Elite on Lake Seminole
Joey Cifuentes III of Clinton, Ark., is leading after Day 2 of the 2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole with a two-day total of 45 pounds, 14 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 24, 2023
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — Joey Cifuentes III played a dicey game and ended up on the right side of the risk/reward calculation.
The rookie from Clinton, Ark., brought in the event’s heaviest bag so far Friday with five bass that weighed 26 pounds, 1 ounce. That combined with his Day 1 limit of 19-13 gave Cifuentes the lead in the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole with a total weight of 45-14.
New Jersey superstar Mike Iaconelli is second, trailing by just 2-15.
“It was really slow out there and I apologize to everyone who was watching Bassmaster LIVE. It took me a while to get it,” Cifuentes said. “I worked my butt off out there and it worked out.”
Fishing in Spring Creek, Cifuentes spent the majority of his day targeting standing timber in 20 to 22 feet. A classic prespawn staging scenario, this habitat provides fish the right mix of heat-retaining cover, ambush feeding opportunities and protective structure. The latter presents the biggest challenge.
“Getting the fish to bite hasn’t been that hard; it’s just getting the fish out,” Cifuentes said. “That’s what’s so stressful, because they’re sitting in groups of like two or three big trees together, so they’re hard to get out. But if I get lucky and they go the right way, I can steer them.”
Bassmaster LIVE saw Cifuentes lose an estimated 4-pounder when the bass ran into unyielding cover. Despite his best dislodging efforts, which included sticking his rod into the water, Cifuentes was unable to free the ensnared fish before it shook the hook.
Compounding the challenge of fishing such unforgiving habitat, Cifuentes found his best way to tempt bites was a drop shot on spinning gear. Typically a light-line finesse technique, Cifuentes made strategic adjustments that improved his ability to manage the timber.
“I’m using a bigger leader and line on my spinning rod, so I can really pull on them,” Cifuentes said. “I’m using a 7-foot medium rod with 15-pound Berkley x5 Braid and a 12-pound Berkley 100% fluorocarbon leader.”
Cifuentes said his drop shot is comprised of a 1/4-ounce weight and a 6-inch hand-poured worm in the morning dawn color. To minimize snags, he Texas rigged the worm.
“I rig the worm weedless because you’re reeling around timber and if you had an open hook you’d be getting hung all the time,” he said. “I’m using a small 1/0 hook and I think that’s key because I don’t think the fish can see the hook as much.”
Iaconelli, who won the 2002 Georgia Bassmaster Tour event on Lake Seminole, added 23-9 Friday to his Day 1 weight of 19-6 and sits in second with 42-15.
“This place has a special memory for me and maybe there's a little bit of good mojo there. I’m trying to keep that going,” Iaconelli said. “I have one really special area and that scares me a little bit, but if that special area keeps producing, I’ll have a good shot to make (Championship Sunday).”
Both days, Iaconelli has fished a small bay in the Flint River. He’s spending most of his time targeting what he calls the last staging point before bass move onto a spawning flat.
On Day 1, Iaconelli caught all of his fish on reaction baits. Today, half of the bass he caught bit a reaction bait and half bit a soft-plastic bait.
“Ninety percent of my weight has come from this area and it’s unlike the way I like to fish,” Iaconelli said. “I’m high-strung; I don’t like to sit still. I’m Power-Poling down and sitting.
“It’s tough for me to fish like that, but it’s a special spot. Fish are swimming past me by the minute. It’s the kind of place that’s feast or famine, so if they stop funneling through that area, I’m happy I made the (Semifinal Saturday) cut.”
Another longtime B.A.S.S. star, Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., is in third place with 38-12. After placing 44th on Day 1 with 14-5, Hackney added Friday’s second-heaviest bag, 24-7.
Hackney said he’s fishing a mix of reaction and slower baits. As he explained, the key to his second-round improvement was calmer weather.
“Yesterday, it was hard for me to be efficient in that wind,” Hackney said. “This morning it was warmer and it was slick and I could be more efficient.”
Hackney said he’s fishing a couple of scenarios, one of which is drop-off related. Water movement, he said, is playing a role in his strategy.
“There’s a lot of fish that are up, but there’s also a lot of fish that haven’t gotten there yet,” Hackney said. “It’s a weird deal; we’ve had such warm weather, but there’s so much water running through the system that it’s keeping it colder. The water temperature’s not warming up with these 80-degree days.”
Jason Christie of Dry Creek, Okla., earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with his 6-5. Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C., still leads the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament with the 8-1 he caught on Day 1.
Cifuentes is currently in the lead for the VMC Monster Bag award for his Friday catch.
Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La., leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 203 points. Cifuentes is second with 190, followed by Kyle Welcher of Opelika, Ala., with 183, Australian Carl Jocumsen with 183 and Brandon Card of Salisbury, N.C., with 179.
Cifuentes leads the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 190 points.
The Top 50 remaining anglers will take off at 7:30 a.m. ET Saturday from the Earle May Boat Basin Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3:30 p.m., with only the Top 10 advancing to Championship Sunday for a chance at the $100,000 first-place prize.
FS1 will broadcast live with the leaders beginning at 8 a.m. with continuing coverage on Bassmaster.com.
2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole 2/23-2/26
Lake Seminole, Bainbridge GA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 10 45-14 104
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 26-01
2. Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 10 42-15 103
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 23-09
3. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 10 38-12 102
Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 24-07
4. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 10 38-06 101
Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 5 19-02
5. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 10 37-02 100
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 18-06
6. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 10 36-15 99
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-11
7. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 10 36-04 98
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 15-08
8. John Cox DeBary, FL 10 36-00 97
Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 17-09
9. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 10 35-05 96 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 17-05
10. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 10 34-14 95
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 22-00
11. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 10 34-11 94
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 19-10
12. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 10 34-05 93
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 17-14
13. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 10 34-00 92 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 15-08
14. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 10 33-14 91
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 15-09
15. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 10 33-13 90
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 21-14
16. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 10 33-12 89
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 19-00
17. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 10 33-12 88
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 18-09
18. Derek Hudnall Zachary, LA 10 33-09 87
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 18-09
19. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 10 33-07 86
Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 13-01
20. Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi 10 33-01 85
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 16-05
21. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 10 32-15 84
Day 1: 5 21-06 Day 2: 5 11-09
22. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 10 32-14 83
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 19-15
23. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 10 32-13 82
Day 1: 5 16-02 Day 2: 5 16-11
24. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 10 32-04 81
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 15-13
25. Kenta Kimura Osaka JAPAN 10 32-04 80
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 15-14
26. Taku Ito Chiba, JAPAN 10 32-03 79
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 15-03
27. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 10 32-02 78
Day 1: 5 21-13 Day 2: 5 10-05
28. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 10 32-01 77
Day 1: 5 15-12 Day 2: 5 16-05
29. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 10 32-00 76
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 14-02
30. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 10 31-14 75
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 16-07
31. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 10 31-13 74
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 16-07
32. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 10 31-03 73
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 15-04
33. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 10 31-01 72
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 16-05
34. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 10 30-15 71
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 10-04
35. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 10 30-00 70
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 16-12
36. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 10 29-15 69
Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 5 16-06
37. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 10 29-13 68
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 16-09
38. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 10 29-12 67
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 14-07
39. Wes Logan Springville, AL 10 29-09 66
Day 1: 5 13-12 Day 2: 5 15-13
40. Cody Huff Ava, MO 10 29-07 65
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 16-09
41. David Fritts Lexington, NC 10 29-04 64
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 20-14
42. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 10 29-03 63
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 16-15
43. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 10 29-03 62
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 15-06
44. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 10 28-15 61
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 13-12
45. Darold Gleason Many, LA 10 28-14 60
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 13-04
46. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 10 28-14 59
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-05
47. Cole Sands Calhoun, TN 10 28-11 58
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 15-10
48. Joshua Stracner Vandiver, AL 10 28-07 57
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 14-12
49. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 10 28-04 56
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 14-00
50. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 10 28-02 55
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 5 13-05
51. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 10 28-02 54 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 13-09
52. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 10 28-01 53 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-12 Day 2: 5 14-05
53. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 10 28-00 52 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 15-13
54. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 10 27-15 51 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 11-02
55. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, OOntario CANADA 10 27-10 50 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 5 14-01
56. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 10 27-09 49 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 15-08
57. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 10 27-05 48 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 16-02
58. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 10 27-04 47 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 14-05
59. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 10 26-14 46 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 11-07
60. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 10 26-13 45 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 15-10
61. John Soukup Sapulpa, OK 10 26-11 44 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 12-10
62. Larry Nixon Bee Branch, AR 10 26-10 43 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 15-02
63. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 10 26-09 42 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-03 Day 2: 5 13-06
64. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 10 26-07 41 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 14-09
65. Seth Feider New Market, MN 10 26-05 40 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 09-00
66. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 10 26-04 39 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 14-03
67. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 10 26-00 38 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 5 17-12
68. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 10 25-11 37 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 14-08
69. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 10 25-09 36 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-00 Day 2: 5 12-09
70. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 10 25-03 35 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 10-04 Day 2: 5 14-15
71. Josh Douglas Isle, MN 10 25-00 34 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 5 14-06
72. Jay Przekurat Stevens Point, WI 10 24-15 33 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 10-15
73. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 10 24-12 32 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 08-05
74. Bradley Hallman Edmond, OK 10 24-12 31 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 09-12
75. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 10 24-12 30 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 10-11
76. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 10 24-12 29 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 13-05
77. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 10 24-07 28 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 10-12
78. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 10 24-06 27
Day 1: 5 09-03 Day 2: 5 15-03
79. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 10 24-06 26
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 09-10
80. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 10 24-02 25
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 13-00
81. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 9 23-15 24
Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 4 10-08
82. Chad Pipkens DeWitt, MI 10 23-14 23
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 11-15
83. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 10 23-12 22
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 09-10
84. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 10 22-11 21
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 11-10
85. David Williams Newton, NC 10 22-08 20
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 09-00
86. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 10 22-02 19
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 09-13
87. Masayuki Matsushita Tokoname-Shi JAPAN 10 21-08 18
Day 1: 5 07-10 Day 2: 5 13-14
88. Skylar Hamilton Jefferson, TN 10 21-06 17
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 11-01
89. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 10 20-07 16
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 5 12-08
90. Mike Huff London, KY 10 20-06 15
Day 1: 5 09-13 Day 2: 5 10-09
91. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 10 20-04 14
Day 1: 5 07-04 Day 2: 5 13-00
92. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 10 19-07 13
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 5 10-06
93. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 10 19-05 12
Day 1: 5 11-10 Day 2: 5 07-11
94. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 8 19-05 11
Day 1: 5 08-14 Day 2: 3 10-07
95. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 10 18-10 10
Day 1: 5 09-02 Day 2: 5 09-08
96. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 10 18-06 9
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 07-07
97. Keith Poche Cecil, AL 7 18-03 8
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 2 05-14
98. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 8 18-03 7
Day 1: 5 11-12 Day 2: 3 06-07
99. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 10 18-03 6
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 07-10
100. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 7 17-05 5
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 2 02-11
101. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 7 17-03 4
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 2 03-09
102. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 7 16-00 3
Day 1: 2 02-10 Day 2: 5 13-06
103. Bryan New Saluda, SC 7 14-06 2
Day 1: 3 04-14 Day 2: 4 09-08
104. Frank Talley Temple, TX 5 11-00 1
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Matt Arey Shelby, NC 08-01 $1,000.00
2 Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 06-05 $1,000.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 102 515 1433-10
2 96 500 1453-03
----------------------------------
198 1015 2886-13
Uncle Don may have re-shaped Iaconelli’s season
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
After a dismal three-day practice period on Lake Seminole, Mike Iaconelli left the dock Thursday morning feeling pretty clueless with just two spots to run to that may or may not yield a bite.
But 90-minutes into Day 1, he had 19-pounds in the livewell, and by the time weigh-in concluded even the local frog population seemed to want a ride in his boat.
“When you practice for three days from daylight to dark and have only two spots that might be worthwhile to start the tournament, that’s hard!” says Iaconelli.
“So, the fact one of those spots gave up nearly 20-pounds is proof that as much as we try to control everything, the best thing we can do is fish with an open mind and let things fall into place,” he reflects.
Allowing things to fall into place is a terribly difficult struggle for the Team Toyota pro, who admits he’s naturally prone to want to write the script, but a recent conversation 10 days ago with his good buddy and fatherly figure, Uncle Don, delivered a powerful revelation.
“Uncle Don is pretty spiritual, and after a tough practice day on Okeechobee a few days ago we were talking on the phone and he told me “We’re not in control.” It was his way of telling me to take my hands off the steering wheel and just go fishing. It was pretty powerful,” says a grateful Iaconelli.
Iaconelli left Okeechobee with a Top 50 finish, but more importantly a re-configured mental approach to the sport he dearly loves.
“It’s no secret I had a really bad season last year. I was trying to force winning. Trying to control everything. Trying to win every Elite. And it backfired terribly. If I can open myself up. Fish the moment. This could be a really special season,” says Iaconelli.
His magical location Thursday on Seminole was about a 15-acre spawning bay, and 80% of his catch came from one exact spot on a combination of swim jigs and ChatterBaits. But his biggest concern going into Friday is a much later take-off position, that allows for other competitors to potentially get to the special spot before he does.
“Nobody really came in there today. I feel like I should be okay. I’m stoked to go back out there Friday. Day 1 meant more to me mentally than most will ever know. This could be a really special season,” says Iaconelli.
Nobody would agree more than Uncle Don.
University of Montevallo Upsets on Championship Day to Win 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2023) – The University of Montevallo duo of Peyton Harris and Dalton Head, both of Montevallo, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit Thursday totaling 27 pounds, 11 ounces to win the 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship at Lake Toho Presented by Lowrance. With two Tackle Warehouse School of the Year titles under their belt (2021 and 2022), the University of Montevallo team came from behind to edge out the leaders from Bryan College on the third and final day to put more hardware and another national championship title on the shelf. The win earns the team a $43,500 prize package, including $10,000 and a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard, as well as automatic entry into the 2023 Toyota Series Championship to compete as pros for a shot to win up to $235,000.
After finishing Day 1 in sixth place and Day 2 in third, the Falcon duo’s three-day total of 15 bass, weighing 66-15 gave them the win by a 1-pound, 8-ounce margin over runners up Andrew Ready and Vincent Maffei from Webber International University, whose three-day total of 15 bass weighed 65-7.
Both winning anglers are sophomore marketing majors at UM, and said they knew after the first day of practice that they had stumbled upon something special.
“It’s been a magical week – nearly 67 pounds in three days – and that weigh-in ticket is definitely going on the mantle,” said Head. “We typically struggle here in Florida, but we stumbled on something on the first day of practice that was really exciting. We just didn’t know whether it would hold up through the event.
“We made a long run to find our key area this week,” Head continued. “We knew there were bass in prespawn and postspawn, so we started looking for places where we could find both of them – where there were spawners coming in and post-spawners going out.”
The duo said the key to their week was managing the fish they found. They set 20 pounds per day as their goal, and left them biting after 20 pounds on Day 1. With the weather-shortened Day 2, they only brought in 18-9, but still ended the day in third place.
“On the first day of competition, we quit fishing around 11:30 a.m. to conserve our fish,” said Head. “On the second day with the fog delay, we only had about 2 hours to fish after locking down, so we ran straight back to that spot and caught 18-9 but knew that we’d saved a lot of fish for the final day.
“Today we swung for the fence and caught everything in that area that we could,” added Harris. “We knew we would win it or lose it right there, and if we fell short, we fell short. But thankfully, we didn’t.”
The team attributes the stability of the area to having access to fish in all three stages of the spawn.
“The area we found was basically a ‘fish highway’,” Harris laughed. “There were fish in all three stages – prespawn fish coming in, fish spawning on the grassy flat, and postspawners leaving – so we had fish coming and going in that area the entire time.”
The pair said the spot was about a half-mile long, and maybe 100 yards wide – a big grass flat with lily pads, hay grass and little patches of scattered reeds.
“We fished most of the same areas of the flat the first two days, but today we had to move up a little,” said Harris. “In the last 20 minutes or so we moved up to more shallow water and caught the 9-pound kicker fish that sealed the deal for us.”
The team was flipping a Texas-rigged 3/0 flipping hook with a custom-colored Yamamoto Senkoand an Okeechobee Craw-colored Strike King Ocho with a 3/16-ounce weight.
“We did a lot of flipping,” said Head. “We had to stay 50 feet back from where we were fishing and just fished one little clump of pads for 10 to 15 minutes before moving on. But, when you’re fishing around 20 to 30 boats, that’s what you’ve got to do. The fish are there, and they aren’t going anywhere, but they know when boats are there. So we just had to hang back and slow down to catch them.
“It means so much to me to win a tournament like this because I’ve worked my whole life up to this point, just for this moment,” Head continued, choking up on stage. “Some of my buddies came out and supported us today on the water and watched us catch some big fish and just kept us hyped up all day. I couldn’t ask for a better fishing team.”
The duo gave much credit to their stellar University of Montevallo fishing club, amid cheers as the team crowded around the stage in excitement.
“These guys have taught me so much,” said Head. “I come from a small town in Moody, Alabama and these guys are some of my best friends and have made me ten times better as an angler.
“Competing against our own teammates is usually the hardest competition we have all year, so to be able to stand up here and hoist these trophies, with all of our teammates here cheering us on, just means the absolute world to us,” Harris added. “We both fished in high school and chose to go to University of Montevallo to join their fishing team because they are the best.
“If you want to be the best, you’ve got to compete against the best and if you want to get to the next level, you’ve got to put yourself in the position to do so. The University of Montevallo has been that position for us,” Harris finished.
The top 10 teams on Lake Toho finished:
1st: University of Montevallo – Peyton Harris and Dalton Head, both of Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 66-15, $43,500 prize package
2nd: Webber International University – Andrew Ready of Auburndale, Fla., and Vincent Maffei of Lake Wales, Fla., 15 bass, 65-7, $5,000
3rd: LSU – Beau Landry of Brusly, La., and Peyton Matherne of Walker, La., 15 bass, 61-6, $4,000
4th: Drury University – Cole Breeden of Lebanon, Mo., and Hunter Baird of Salina, Kan., 15 bass, 59-15, $3,000
5th: East Texas Baptist University – Brett Jolley of Kingwood, Texas and Cade Nettles of Stonewall, La., 15 bass, 58-8, $2,000
6th: Bryan College – Conner DiMauro of Longwood, Fla., and Justin Botts of Bluff City, Tenn., 14 bass, 56-12, $1,000
7th: Kentucky Christian University – Lafe and Matt Messer, both of Warfield, Ky., 15 bass, 52-1, $1,000
8th: Bryan College – Elijah Kirk of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Andrew Fisher of Calhoun, Ga., 15 bass, 49-6, $1,000
9th: Adrian College – Matthew Davis of Morenci, Mich., and Sam Shoemaker of Martinsville, Ind., 15 bass, 47-3, $1,000
10th: University of Montevallo – Brandon Berry and Hunter Bright, both of Helena, Ala., 15 bass, 42-3, $1,000
For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 50 bass weighing 195 pounds, 4 ounces caught by the final 10 teams Thursday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits.
The 14th annual Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship was a three-day event – hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission – featuring the top 195 college bass fishing teams from across the nation competing in an internationally televised, no-entry fee tournament for a $33,500 prize package plus $10,000, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
In addition to the boat package, both members of the winning University of Montevallo team and the runners-up from Webber International University now advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. In addition, the winning University of Montevallo team’s highest finishing team member at the Toyota Series Championship will advance to REDCREST 2024 to compete against the world’s best pros for the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
Both members of the third-place Louisiana State University team from the College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The Top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the Top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Rookie Will Davis Jr. adapts to take lead at Bassmaster Elite on Lake Seminole
Will Davis Jr. of Sylacauga, Ala., is leading after Day 1 of the 2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole with 21 pounds, 13 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 23, 2023
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — Will Davis Jr. didn’t get what he wanted, but he made the most of what he got and sacked up a Day 1 limit of 21 pounds, 13 ounces to take the lead in the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole.
Coming off a 14th-place finish in his first Elite event — last week’s SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee — the pro from Sylacauga, Ala., heads into Day 2 with a 7-ounce lead over Australian pro Carl Jocumsen.
“I’m a bigtime bed fisherman, but it just didn’t pan out well this week,” Davis said of his preferred game plan. “I went to my strength, which is power fishing in the river.”
Davis, the 2022 TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation champion, said he knew the lake’s lower end was receiving a lot of pressure. Electing to fish the mouth of the Flint River proved to be a prudent call.
“I started really close working a crankbait, but I was catching only small fish, so I knew I needed to make a move,” Davis said. “I picked up a spinnerbait and fished current breaks and caught two of my biggest ones.
“The current breaks were little indentions in the bank. They had to be close to a little feeder pocket; it had to be where they’re staging.”
Davis caught his bass on a shad-colored FISHCO crankbait and the Xwire spinnerbait, both made by Davis Bait Company, which is owned by his father, Will Davis Sr. The spinnerbait had a peacock-color skirt, which comprised blue glimmer, chartreuse and pink strands and tandem willow-leaf Colorado blades.
“When you’re fishing a current break, you have to start below it and come up to it,” Davis said of his presentation strategy. “Some guys will start on the spot, but by the time you get positioned, you have to get on the trolling motor to get back up there. So, you cover a lot of time doing that.
“I would make two specific casts on each current break — one on each corner. I would throw five or six times and leave.”
Covering an area of about 5 miles, Davis said he hit several spots. One of those spots produced a 6- and a 5-pounder.
“They bit really good from about 9 to 10 (a.m.) and then from 1 to 3 (p.m.),” Davis said. “My biggest fish today was a 6-pounder that bit during that early period.”
Davis credits his lifetime of fishing the Coosa River lakes for helping him develop the diversity that allowed him to adjust and thrive.
“I’m used to fishing current — and mean spotted bass — but we do get big largemouth too,” Davis said. “But they’re on the move, so I might have to change up tomorrow.
“That’s the good thing about growing up where I did; we have clear lakes, current lakes and diverse habitat, so it has definitely helped me know when to change.”
Hailing from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, Jocumsen is in second place with 21-6. Set to make his first appearance in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota March 24-26 on the Tennessee River, he said he’s capitalizing on what he believes is well-earned momentum.
“It was a phenomenal day and I had some amazing bites,” said Jocumsen, who finished sixth last week at Lake Okeechobee. “You get on a bit of a roll and you start making good decisions. Life’s good right now because I spent a lot of years not having any of that and grinding and wondering what I was doing.”
Jocumsen said he caught most of his bass on a similar swim jig technique to what he used on Okeechobee, but he made one significant change that seems to be triggering the fish. He also caught a keeper by flipping a Texas-rigged X Zone Lures Adrenaline Craw.
“The biggest fish, a 6-pounder, hit harder than I’ve ever had any bass hit — I didn’t even think it was a bass,” Jocumsen said. “I just have this thing going right now that they do not like. It’s not conventional and when they get aggressive, they do not like it around them.”
Jonathan Kelley of Old Forge, Pa., is in third place with 20-12. Noting that he had a tough practice, Kelley said he wasn’t sure he’d be able to catch anything today, so he was delighted with his productivity.
“It was such a tough practice, I had nothing to lose, so I didn’t get confused by one 3- or 4-pound bite,” Kelley said. “I just kept a clear mind and went to an area I went to yesterday around 3 o’clock, just to have somewhere to start.
“I had five for 5 pounds right away, then I kept hopping around and caught a 3-pounder and then a 4-pounder. I looked at my marshal and was like ‘This could happen.’ I just went back to areas where I had caught fish in practice and caught a big one here and a big one there.”
Kelley anchored his bag with a 5-9, which he caught on a jerkbait after spotting the fish on forward-facing sonar. Kelley dedicated his day to family friend Tommy Doria, who recently passed.
“I really felt like I had someone else with me in the boat today; there was an angel looking over me,” Kelley said. “It was a special day. I honestly could do no wrong and everywhere I went there was fish.”
Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C., earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with his 8-1 largemouth.
Jocumsen leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 202 points. Davis is in second with 195, followed by Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La., with 193, Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., with 186 and Kyle Welcher of Opelika, Ala., with 185.
Davis also leads the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 195 points.
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. ET at the Earle May Boat Basin Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3:30 p.m. After Friday’sweigh-in, only the Top 50 remaining anglers will advance to Semifinal Saturday. Bassmaster LIVE coverage begins at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster.com, Tubi and the FOX Sports platforms.
2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole 2/23-2/26
Lake Seminole, Bainbridge GA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 5 21-13 104
Day 1: 5 21-13
2. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 5 21-06 103
Day 1: 5 21-06
3. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 5 20-12 102
Day 1: 5 20-12
4. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 5 20-11 101
Day 1: 5 20-11
5. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 5 20-06 100
Day 1: 5 20-06
6. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 5 19-13 99
Day 1: 5 19-13
7. Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 5 19-06 98
Day 1: 5 19-06
8. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 5 19-04 97
Day 1: 5 19-04
9. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 5 18-12 96
Day 1: 5 18-12
10. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 5 18-08 95
Day 1: 5 18-08
11. John Cox DeBary, FL 5 18-07 94
Day 1: 5 18-07
12. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 5 18-05 93
Day 1: 5 18-05
13. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 5 18-00 92
Day 1: 5 18-00
14. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 5 17-14 91
Day 1: 5 17-14
15. Seth Feider New Market, MN 5 17-05 90
Day 1: 5 17-05
16. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 5 17-04 89
Day 1: 5 17-04
17. Taku Ito Chiba, JAPAN 5 17-00 88
Day 1: 5 17-00
18. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 5 16-13 87
Day 1: 5 16-13
19. Kyoya Fujita Minamitsuru, Yamanashi 5 16-12 86
Day 1: 5 16-12
20. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 5 16-07 85
Day 1: 5 16-07
20. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 5 16-07 85
Day 1: 5 16-07
20. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 5 16-07 85
Day 1: 5 16-07
23. Kenta Kimura Osaka JAPAN 5 16-06 82
Day 1: 5 16-06
24. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 5 16-02 81
Day 1: 5 16-02
25. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 5 15-15 80
Day 1: 5 15-15
26. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 5 15-12 79
Day 1: 5 15-12
27. Darold Gleason Many, LA 5 15-10 78
Day 1: 5 15-10
28. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 5 15-07 77
Day 1: 5 15-07
28. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 5 15-07 77
Day 1: 5 15-07
30. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 5 15-06 75
Day 1: 5 15-06
31. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 5 15-05 74
Day 1: 5 15-05
32. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 5 15-03 73
Day 1: 5 15-03
32. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 5 15-03 73
Day 1: 5 15-03
34. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 5 15-01 71
Day 1: 5 15-01
35. Bradley Hallman Edmond, OK 5 15-00 70
Day 1: 5 15-00
35. Derek Hudnall Zachary, LA 5 15-00 70
Day 1: 5 15-00
37. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 5 14-13 68
Day 1: 5 14-13
38. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 5 14-12 67
Day 1: 5 14-12
38. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 5 14-12 67
Day 1: 5 14-12
38. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 5 14-12 67
Day 1: 5 14-12
41. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 5 14-10 64
Day 1: 5 14-10
42. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 5 14-09 63
Day 1: 5 14-09
42. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 14-09 63
Day 1: 5 14-09
44. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 5 14-05 61
Day 1: 5 14-05
45. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 5 14-04 60
Day 1: 5 14-04
46. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 5 14-02 59
Day 1: 5 14-02
47. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 5 14-01 58
Day 1: 5 14-01
47. John Soukup Sapulpa, OK 5 14-01 58
Day 1: 5 14-01
49. Jay Przekurat Stevens Point, WI 5 14-00 56
Day 1: 5 14-00
50. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 5 13-13 55
Day 1: 5 13-13
51. Wes Logan Springville, AL 5 13-12 54
Day 1: 5 13-12
51. KJ Queen Conover, NC 5 13-12 54
Day 1: 5 13-12
53. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 5 13-11 52
Day 1: 5 13-11
53. Joshua Stracner Vandiver, AL 5 13-11 52
Day 1: 5 13-11
55. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 5 13-10 50
Day 1: 5 13-10
56. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, Ontario CANADA 5 13-09 49
Day 1: 5 13-09
56. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 5 13-09 49
Day 1: 5 13-09
58. David Williams Newton, NC 5 13-08 47
Day 1: 5 13-08
59. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 5 13-07 46
Day 1: 5 13-07
60. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 5 13-04 45
Day 1: 5 13-04
60. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 5 13-04 45
Day 1: 5 13-04
62. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 5 13-03 43
Day 1: 5 13-03
63. Cole Sands Calhoun, TN 5 13-01 42
Day 1: 5 13-01
64. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 5 13-00 41
Day 1: 5 13-00
65. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 5 12-15 40
Day 1: 5 12-15
65. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 5 12-15 40
Day 1: 5 12-15
67. Cody Huff Ava, MO 5 12-14 38
Day 1: 5 12-14
67. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 5 12-14 38
Day 1: 5 12-14
69. Keith Poche Cecil, AL 5 12-05 36
Day 1: 5 12-05
69. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 5 12-05 36
Day 1: 5 12-05
71. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 5 12-04 34
Day 1: 5 12-04
72. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 5 12-03 33
Day 1: 5 12-03
73. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 5 12-01 32
Day 1: 5 12-01
73. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 5 12-01 32
Day 1: 5 12-01
75. Chad Pipkens DeWitt, MI 5 11-15 30
Day 1: 5 11-15
75. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 5 11-15 30
Day 1: 5 11-15
77. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 5 11-14 28
Day 1: 5 11-14
78. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 11-12 27
Day 1: 5 11-12
79. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 5 11-10 26
Day 1: 5 11-10
80. Larry Nixon Bee Branch, AR 5 11-08 25
Day 1: 5 11-08
81. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 5 11-07 24
Day 1: 5 11-07
82. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 5 11-03 23
Day 1: 5 11-03
82. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 5 11-03 23
Day 1: 5 11-03
82. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 5 11-03 23
Day 1: 5 11-03
85. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 5 11-02 20
Day 1: 5 11-02
86. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 5 11-01 19
Day 1: 5 11-01
87. Frank Talley Temple, TX 5 11-00 18
Day 1: 5 11-00
88. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 5 10-15 17
Day 1: 5 10-15
89. Josh Douglas Isle, MN 5 10-10 16
Day 1: 5 10-10
90. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 5 10-09 15
Day 1: 5 10-09
91. Skylar Hamilton Jefferson, TN 5 10-05 14
Day 1: 5 10-05
92. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 5 10-04 13
Day 1: 5 10-04
93. Mike Huff London, KY 5 09-13 12
Day 1: 5 09-13
94. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 5 09-03 11
Day 1: 5 09-03
95. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 5 09-02 10
Day 1: 5 09-02
96. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 5 09-01 9
Day 1: 5 09-01
97. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 5 08-14 8
Day 1: 5 08-14
98. David Fritts Lexington, NC 5 08-06 7
Day 1: 5 08-06
99. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 5 08-04 6
Day 1: 5 08-04
100. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 5 07-15 5
Day 1: 5 07-15
101. Masayuki Matsushita Tokoname-Shi, JAPAN 5 07-10 4
Day 1: 5 07-10
102. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 5 07-04 3
Day 1: 5 07-04
103. Bryan New Saluda, SC 3 04-14 2
Day 1: 3 04-14
104. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 2 02-10 1
Day 1: 2 02-10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 102 515 1433-10
----------------------------------
102 515 1433-10
Charlotte and Lake Norman Ready for Major League Fishing’s REDCREST 2023 Presented by Shore Lunch
Bass Pro Tour Championship Set to Showcase Top 40 Anglers Competing on Lake Norman for $300,000 Top Prize, General Tire Outdoor Sports Expo to Take Place at Charlotte’s The Park Expo and Conference Center
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb. 23, 2023) – Major League Fishing’s (MLF) REDCREST 2023 Presented by Shore Lunch, the Bass Pro Tour championship, will visit Charlotte, North Carolina, and Lake Norman in two weeks, March 8-12, to crown professional bass fishing’s newest world champion.
The five-day tournament, shot for television broadcast on Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel, will showcase the top 40 Bass Pro Tour anglers from the 2022 season competing for the prestigious REDCREST Championship and the top prize of $300,000.
“Lake Norman is absolutely thriving – it’s one of the best spotted bass lakes in the country,” said General Tire pro Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, South Carolina, who will be making his fourth career REDCREST appearance. “The lake is full of fish, and this time of the year the fishing is very good. It’s going to be a very fun tournament.
“I think you’re going to see guys catching them a lot of different ways,” Montgomery continued. “The big wildcard in this one is going to be the forward-facing sonar – I think it’s going to be a big factor in this event. But guys are going to catch them with typical prespawn techniques – shallow cranking, jerkbaiting, and the old, traditional standby on Lake Norman – fishing docks.”
While most fans and casual boaters would prefer a warm, slick calm, sunny day on the water during the event, Montgomery hopes that the wind blows throughout the event.
“The lake is so condition-oriented, it makes it really hard to predict how much guys are going to catch,” Montgomery said. “Lately in some local tournaments we’re seeing 23-pound limits of spotted bass being weighed in. I think if we get the right conditions and the wind blows, they’ll bite better and it’s going to take at least a 15-plus-pound a day average to win. But if it’s slick calm and sunny, it might only take 12 to 13 pounds a day to win. But I think we’ll blow that out of the water.”
Fellow pro Casey Ashley of Donalds, South Carolina, echoed Montgomery’s sentiments.
“I think it’s going to take 15 to 16 pounds a day average to win this one,” said Ashley, who is making his third career REDCREST appearance. “Lake Norman is fishing really well, and I think the docks are going to be big player.
“I’m so happy to be fishing in this event,” Ashley went on to say. “This is a pretty tough crew on Tour that we fish against, so just making it here is a feat in itself. I’m excited, and I really want to win.”
The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin at 6:15 a.m., on Days 1-4, and 7:15 a.m. on Day 5, at Blythe Landing Park, located at 15901 N.C. 73 HY, in Huntersville, North Carolina. Anglers will depart at 7 a.m. on Days 1-4, and 8 a.m. on Day 5, and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. on Days 1-4 and 5 p.m. on Day 5. Fans are welcome to attend all launch events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
In conjunction with the event, the FREE, family-friendly General Tire Outdoor Sports Expo Presented by Shore Lunch will also take place throughout the weekend, March 10-12 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at The Park Expo and Conference Center, located at 800 Briar Creek Road, in Charlotte. Fishing and outdoor enthusiasts will have the opportunity to visit numerous booths and vendors, showcasing the latest and greatest in fishing, boating and the outdoors. The biggest names in the outdoor industry will be on hand, including the professional anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour and fishing legends like Jimmy Houston, Roland Martin and Hank Parker.
Children are welcome to visit and play in the Bass Pro Shops Kids Zone, plus meet Skye & Marshall from PAW Patrol. Throughout the day there will be giveaways and prizes, including signed MLF angler jerseys, rods and reels, gift cards, and more. On Friday evening one lucky fan will win a Toro 42-inch TimeCutter Zero Turn Mower, on Saturday night one lucky attendee will win a Tracker Off Road 300 ATV, and on Sunday one lucky attendee will walk away with a brand new 2023 Toyota Tundra SR5 Crew Max. Fans must be present to win the Grand Prize drawings. For more information on the General Tire Outdoor Sports Expo Presented by Shore Lunch, visit REDCRESTExpo.com.
REDCREST 2023 Presented by Shore Lunch at Lake Norman will feature pros competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, with each angler’s five (5) heaviest bass per day tallied as their day’s weight. Anglers strive to catch their heaviest five fish each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the live scoring SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
All 40 Anglers will compete on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event and will score their five heaviest bass each day. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total (10 bass) cumulative weight. Weights are zeroed, and the top 20 anglers compete on Day 3 (Friday). The field is trimmed to 15 anglers on Day 4 (Saturday), then the final 10 anglers compete on Day 5 (Sunday). The winner is determined by the heaviest three-day total (15 bass) cumulative weight with the winner earning the top prize of $300,000 and the REDCREST 2023 trophy.
The 2022 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country. The top 40 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2023 Presented by Shore Lunch.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first four days of competition, and from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Championship Sunday. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of REDCREST 2023 Presented by Shore Lunch will be showcased across two, two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 1 and July 8 on Discovery Channel. Starting in July 2023, MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery Channel, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Bassmaster Opens pros may hit Alabama’s Lake Eufaula at perfect time
The St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series will start the 2024 season March 2-4 on Alabama's Lake Eufaula.
Photo by B.A.S.S.
February 23, 2023
EUFAULA, Ala. — When you’re the mayor of Eufaula, it makes sense that you have a firm understanding of your city’s top attraction — the 45,000-acre reservoir with which it shares a name.
But as the owner of a major lure manufacturer, which happens to be headquartered in Eufaula, Jack Tibbs takes his knowledge a step further. Lake Eufaula literally is his business, both in and out of City Hall.
That makes him a great choice to predict how the fishery will stack up when the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Eufaula is held March 2-4. Daily takeoffs will be held at 6:30 a.m. CT from Lakepoint State Park with weigh-ins back at the park at 2:30 p.m.
“We have a good many fish right now and conditions could set up really well for the tournament,” Tibbs said a few days prior to the Open, the first of nine on the 2023 schedule.
“If it’s warm and the water is up — and if we have some off-color water — it’ll probably be a slugfest.”
It’s not odd that a civic and industry leader such as Tibbs, a three-term mayor who owns the Strikezone Lure Co., would talk up his town. But he has reason to be excited for Eufaula’s potential when 225 world-class anglers descend upon the reservoir with big goals in mind.
Win the tournament and you get a berth in the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota if you're fishing every event in the three-tournament division. Plus, for the 175 anglers competing in the brand-new Opens Elite Qualifiers Division, there are nine spots in next year’s Bassmaster Elite Series up for grabs.
Lake Eufaula is the first challenge for the pros working toward those goals.
Tibbs said offshore brushpiles figure to be the most consistent places to bust big bass during the Open. But if fish are staging for the spawn — and they likely will be if the weather is warm leading up to the tournament — shallow-water bass will be there for the taking, too.
“The water temperature has been in the low 50s, around 52 to 54,” Tibbs said. “The magic temperature here is 56 to 58. There’s not a lot of cold predicted, so we’ll get there. The water could be in the low 60s, which is just a perfect temperature. And in the areas that don’t muddy up as bad, like the south end of the lake, there could be some spawners if it’s bright.”
Tibbs said anglers have caught their best bass swimming jigs in shallow water in recent days, a sign he said, “that things are about to happen.”
“The willow grass is dead right now, but the stubble is there,” he said. “If you know where it is, you can swim that jig or a ChatterBait over the top of that, or you can go with a spinnerbait in that off-colored water. The fish relate to those dead weeds.
“That, and we have an overabundance of shad the past four years out here,” he added. “So, the bass have been full and beautiful. I’m sure they’ll catch some pretty stringers here. It’s going to be about as perfect a time to be here as you can get.”
Watch to watch for at Seminole, other than big gators.
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
Darold Gleason and Gerald Swindle often camp near one another with their wives on the Bassmaster Elite Series tour, and together they’re quite a comedy act. The two graciously took time to share what fans can expect this week at the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake Seminole in Southwest Georgia.
Q: Seminole is home to lots of large alligators. How many have you seen so far that were bigger than you?
Gleason: At least 20, and two of those were twice my size. I’m from Louisiana, I respect those giant lizards and keep a safe distance.
Swindle: I saw at least two that were bigger than me, and they sound like a train when they try to slip off the shoreline into the water.
Q: The weather is exceptionally warm. Highs around 85 in the afternoon, warm and pleasant while we sleep with overnight temps in the 60s. So, what percentage of all the bass weighed-in this week do you think will be early spring spawners?
Gleason: 60%
Swindle: 70% will be caught around beds, and the other 30% will be caught using forward facing sonar.
Q: What do you think the two most popular lures will be this week?
Gleason: ChatterBait JackHammer, and a soft stick bait.
Swindle: ChatterBait and a wacky worm.
Q: When Brett Hite won here in mid-March nine years ago, it took an average of 15-pounds a day to get a Top 10. How much weight do you need to average this week to score a Top 10?
Gleason: 18-pounds a day
Swindle: 17-pounds a day
Q: If hypothetically, B.A.S.S. changed the rules, and the AOY points title was based on teams comprised of three anglers, what two other anglers would you choose to pair up with for the rest of this new season?
Gleason: Swindle because he’s so versatile. Plus, he’s seasoned like that old pork rind you find between your boat seats. And also, Palaniuk. How do you not choose BP?
Swindle: I’ll go with Kyle Welcher because of his dry humor and the way he pushes me to think a little different about how to catch fish. And also, Carl Jocumsen for his awesome attitude and work ethic. He’s a fighter.
Bryan College Leads Top 10 into Championship Day at 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2023) – After a three-hour fog delay to begin the day, 195 teams of college anglers set off across Lake Toho with limited time to find big bass and make big moves on the leaderboard to secure a spot in the Top 10 and the opportunity to compete for the National Championship. The Bryan College duo of Conner DiMauro of Longwood, Florida and Justin Botts of Bluff City, Tennessee, narrowly held their lead Wednesday after Day 2 of the 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship at Lake Toho Presented by Lowrance.
The Lions started the day with a 3-pound, 8-ounce lead, but it tightened up as the team faced the weather-shortened fishing and brought only four bass to the scale weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces.
Their two-day total of 40 pounds, 12 ounces gives them a mere 1-pound, 1-ounce lead over the second-place team from Drury University – Cole Breeden of Lebanon, Missouri and Hunter Baird of Salina, Kansas – who brought a limit to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces, to bring their two-day total to 39-11.
While the Bryan College duo locked down to Lake Kissimmee on Day One, they had a decision to make as their fears of getting caught in the lock and losing valuable pounds were compounded by the shortened day.
“We were sitting in the fog delay for about 2 hours, with no clearing in sight, and we just looked at each other and said, ‘You don’t win championships fishing scared’, so once the skies cleared, we ran to the lock,” said DiMauro. “It didn’t pay off for us today, but we were able to scrap something together.
“We caught three of our bass in one of our areas on Lake Kissimmee, but they were little – a lot smaller than they were yesterday – so we were sitting on three fish for about 5 pounds toward the end of the day,” DiMauro continued. “We locked back up and ran on Lake Toho and caught a 7-pounder with about 20 minutes left. It was a miracle.”
DiMauro said they found about 10 clumps of grass right in the middle of Lake Toho, with fish and bait around them.
“I would have loved to have had about 30 more minutes today to fish out there, but it is what it is,” DiMauro said. “We were a little intimidated by the lock after guys got caught in it yesterday and missed their check-in time, so we came back a little early today. That ended up working in our favor because we had about 45 minutes left to fish, and we caught that kicker fish.”
Although a large portion of their two-day catch has come out of Lake Toho, the duo said they still plan to lock down to Lake Kissimmee on Championship Thursday.
“On Toho we really only have one area, so if they don’t respond to our bait tomorrow, then we’re in trouble,” said Botts. “Yesterday we caught the Kissimmee fish on a jerkbait, and today they wouldn’t even react to it. Those offshore fish are too fickle, especially with this wind. The clumps we are talking about aren’t very big, so it’s really difficult to hold on to those spots and fish them in 15 mile-per-hour winds.”
While the pair are staying mum about the specific baits they’re using, they did say the 7-pounder and a 4-pounder from yesterday were caught on a swim jig in the grass and their team philosophy is to keep one guy winding a moving bait in the water, while the other follows it up with a slower presentation – flipping a Yamamoto Senko .
“We are absolutely going to lock back up to Lake Toho later in the day tomorrow, with some time left to fish,” said DiMauro. “We caught two of those big fish on the same clumps of grass, so we will definitely hit them again tomorrow afternoon. We know the potential is there, but also know we can’t just sit on a clump of grass all day.”
Botts said it takes about an hour to run and lock down to Lake Kissimmee, but timing of the lock is the wild card.
“We won’t have to worry about it as much tomorrow because there will be way less boats on the water and all of us should be able to get in the first lock,” said Botts. “We can also push the time a little more, knowing there won’t be nearly as many boats trying to lock back up in the afternoon.”
“We only brought in four fish, but we had five bites within 2 hours, so if we’re going to win, it will be right there,” DiMauro added. “When it’s your time, it’s your time and you can’t do anything wrong to mess it up. I just hope we kept ourselves in it enough and can’t wait to get a full day out there tomorrow.”
The full field of 195 teams competed on Tuesday and Wednesday, with only the top 10 – based on two-day cumulative weight – now advancing to Championship Thursday. The National Champions will be crowned Thursday based on the cumulative three-day weight total.
The top 10 teams that now advance to Championship Thursday on Lake Toho are:
1st: Bryan College – Conner DiMauro of Longwood, Fla., and Justin Botts of Bluff City, Tenn., nine bass, 40-12
2nd: Drury University – Cole Breeden of Lebanon, Mo., and Hunter Baird of Salina, Kan., 10 bass, 39-11
3rd: University of Montevallo – Peyton Harris and Dalton Head, both of Montevallo, Ala., 10 bass, 39-4
4th: Webber International University – Andrew Ready of Auburndale, Fla., and Vincent Maffei of Lake Wales, Fla., 10 bass, 38-1
5th: Kentucky Christian University – Lafe and Matt Messer, both of Warfield, Ky., 10 bass, 37-9
6th: Adrian College – Matthew Davis of Morenci, Mich., and Sam Shoemaker of Martinsville, Ind., 10 bass, 37-9
7th: University of Montevallo – Brandon Berry and Hunter Bright, both of Helena, Ala., 10 bass, 33-2
8th: LSU – Beau Landry of Brusly, La., and Peyton Matherne of Walker, La., 10 bass, 32-15
9th: Bryan College – Elijah Kirk of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Andrew Fisher of Calhoun, Ga., 10 bass, 32-14
10th: East Texas Baptist University – Brett Jolley of Kingwood, Texas and Cade Nettles of Stonewall, La., 10 bass, 32-11
For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 843 bass weighing 1,916 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 170 teams Wednesday. The catch included 115 five-bass limits.
The final 10 teams will launch Thursday from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee at 7 a.m. ET. Thursday’s championship weigh-in will be held at the marina starting at 3 p.m. and will be livestreamed. Fans are welcome to attend the event or tune in to the weigh-in and follow the online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .
The 14th annual College Fishing National Championship is a three-day event – hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission – featuring the top 195 college bass fishing teams from across the nation competing in an internationally televised, no-entry fee tournament for a $33,500 prize package, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
In addition to the boat package, both members of the winning team and the runners-up at the 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. In addition, the winning team’s highest finishing team member at the Toyota Series Championship will advance to REDCREST 2024 to compete against the world’s best pros for the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
Both members of the third-place team at the College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The Top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the Top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Alabama's Lay Lake hosts Bassmaster High School tournament this weekend
The Strike King Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors will compete on Lay Lake Feb. 25, 2023.
Photo by Chase Sansom/B.A.S.S.
February 22, 2023
Alabama's Lay Lake hosts Bassmaster High School tournament this weekend
SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. — This Saturday, Feb. 25, 246 talented high school and junior teams from a dozen states will converge on historic Lay Lakefor the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors and Junior Series tournament.
Doing battle alongside Birmingham-area fishing powerhouse schools like Briarwood Christian School — which won three consecutive national championships from 2018-2020 — are teams from as far away as South Dakota. Teams will take off from Beeswax Creek Park in Columbiana at 6:30 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in starting at 2:30 p.m. The Junior Series weigh-in, for competitors ranging from second to eighth grade, starts at 1:30 p.m. Full coverage will be available on Bassmaster.com.
Each team is accompanied by an adult boat captain.
“We are so excited to welcome the Bassmaster High School series back to Shelby County in 2023,” said Kendall Williams, manager of tourism and events for Shelby County. “Lay Lake offers some of the best bass fishing in the country, and hosting events like this reminds us how fortunate we are to have this resource in our backyard. It is rewarding to see the community of support that has grown for fishing tournaments. Our local restaurants, stores and other businesses are ready to welcome student anglers and their families! We look forward to having new families discover Shelby and all we have to offer.”
The Coosa River reservoir, located just south of Birmingham, has hosted several Bassmaster Classics and in 2023 will also welcome 104 of the world's best anglers May 11-14 for the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lay Lake and the Strike King Bassmaster College Series Wild Card presented by Bass Pro Shops June 9-10.
Since B.A.S.S. started the High School Series events in 2013, there has been an astounding 724% increase in the number of clubs and schools competing.
Wendlandt Wins an Extra $2,500 from Yamaha
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
Clark Wendlandt has been a pro angler for 30 years, so when he noticed intense fishing pressure among fellow Elite Series competitors in massive Lake Okeechobee’s northern waters, he opted to make a long run south to have productive waters largely to himself.
The veteran’s move allowed the 2020 Bassmaster® Angler of the Year to land 83-pounds of largemouth in four days, and a second-place finish that paid him $35,000, plus $2,500 additional dollars because he took time to register for Yamaha’s Power Pay contingency program.
“I needed every minute I could get each day to catch my limit, and never once did I doubt my Yamaha 250-horsepower V6 V MAX SHO® would get me there. Yamaha is all about reliability. It was a 35-mile run and I made it in 38 minutes,” says Wendlandt.
He caught the vast majority of his weight in Okeechobee’s South Bay by reeling a junebug colored Strike King Cut-R worm on a 5/0 Owner hook with a 3/16-ounce bullet weight on 20-pound Sunline.
You don’t have to be a Bassmaster® Elite Series pro to cash-in on Yamaha’s Power Pay. There are dozens of amateur and semi-pro tournament trails sanctioned by the program. But you do have to make sure you are registered to be eligible.
It’s free to sign-up and anglers don’t have to place first in their tournament to cash in on the Power Pay money. To learn more, please visit https://yamahapowerpay.com/.
Return of the "Pow!"
Fresh from his victory on the Kissimmee Chain, MLF Bass Pro Tour Stop 1 winner Chris Lane shares how this event played out and what it means to him.
Bryan College Grabs Early Lead at 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2023) – The Bryan College duo of Conner DiMauro of Longwood, Florida and Justin Botts of Bluff City, Tennessee, grabbed the early lead Tuesday after Day 1 of the 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship at Lake Toho Presented by Lowrance . The Lions team brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 27 pounds even, giving them a 3-pound, 8-ounce lead over the second-place University of Montevallo team of Brandon Berry and Hunter Bright, both of Helena, Alabama.
DiMauro graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in business and is currently a graduate student at Bryan College, working on his MBA and Botts is a senior marketing major.
As was the case with most of the field, DiMauro said the pair made quite the run during Day 1 of competition, locking down to Lake Kissimmee.
“We were boat number 152 at takeoff this morning, and when we got to the lock, we were number 138 in line to lock down,” said DiMauro. “We stopped and fished for an hour in Lake Toho while waiting to lock, caught 3 or 4 fish, and still waited back at the lock for almost an hour before getting through.”
DiMauro said they got to their spot on Lake Kissimmee about 10 a.m. and were able to fish there until around 1:30 p.m. before heading back to the lock – a total of only 3½ fishing hours.
“We caught a good bag on Lake Kissimmee, but once we got back to Toho, we just started idling and looking around,” said DiMauro. “We found a little bit of grass and were able to upgrade and cull one more fish before we came to check in.”
The duo said they spent most of their day targeting isolated grass clumps on their electronics.
“We caught two bass between 7 and 8 pounds within a couple hundred yards of each other,” said DiMauro. “We caught one of them flipping and caught the other one on a 6-inch soft plastic swimbait, just winding it through the pads.
“We got on a pattern by the end of the day today and started running it in some isolated groups of lily pads,” DiMauro continued. “Thankfully, we were able to dial it in and keep our baits in the best areas to get quality bites.”
Botts said they plan to lock down again on day 2, go straight to their main spot on Lake Kissimmee, and stay there as long as they can before heading back.
“One of the boats not far behind us got caught at the lock and was 7 minutes late to check-in,” said Botts. “We know locking is a risk, but it’s a risk we are willing to take to get to some of our good areas.”
This event marks the third College Fishing National Championship qualification for 22-year-old Botts and the fifth for 23-year-old DiMauro.
“We are going to keep an open mind going into tomorrow, just like we did today,” DiMauro said. “We only really hit one area today on Kissimmee, and we have three or four spots that we’ve gotten some good bites in so we’ll see how the day plays out. We’ve got a lot of water to cover, but we’re just going to fish slow.
“The good bites happen fast,” DiMauro continued. “You get in a little area and it’s just one after the other, but then you might go for an hour without a bite. So, you just got to keep a good mindset about it and take your time.”
The 14th annual College Fishing National Championship is a three-day event – hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission – featuring the top 198 college bass fishing teams from across the nation competing in an internationally televised, no-entry fee tournament for a $33,500 prize package, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
In addition to the boat package, both members of the winning team and the runners-up at the 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. In addition, the winning team’s highest finishing team member at the Toyota Series Championship will advance to REDCREST 2024 to compete against the world’s best pros for the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
Both members of the third-place team at the College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
The full field of 198 teams compete on Tuesday and Wednesday, with only the top 10 – based on two-day cumulative weight – advancing to Championship Thursday. The National Champions will be crowned Thursday based on the cumulative three-day weight total.
The top 10 teams after Day One on Lake Toho are:
1st: Bryan College – Conner DiMauro of Longwood, Fla., and Justin Botts of Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 27-0
2nd: University of Montevallo – Brandon Berry and Hunter Bright, both of Helena, Ala., five bass, 23-8
3rd: Adrian College – Matthew Davis of Morenci, Mich., and Sam Shoemaker of Martinsville, Ind., five bass, 23-4
4th: Drury University – Cole Breeden of Lebanon, Mo., and Hunter Baird of Salina, Kan., five bass, 22-4
5th: Bryan College – Elijah Kirk of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Andrew Fisher of Calhoun, Ga., five bass, 21-8
6th: University of Montevallo – Peyton Harris and Dalton Head, both of Montevallo, Ala., five bass, 20-11
7th: University of Montevallo – Ryan Thomas and Will Thomas, both of Madison, Ga., five bass, 19-7
8th: Florida Gateway College – Seth Slanker and Jackson Swisher, both of Lake City, Fla., five bass, 19-6
9th: Carson-Newman University – Hayden Gaddis of Seymour, Tenn., and Ben Cully of Rockwall, Texas, five bass, 18-12
10th: Dallas Baptist University – Mark Harris of Lindale, Texas and Jacob Witkowski of Dallas, Texas, five bass, 18-7
For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 843 bass weighing 1,919 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 188 teams Tuesday. The catch included 146 five-bass limits.
Anglers will take off from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Dr. in Kissimmee at 7 a.m. ETeach day of competition. Weigh-ins will be held at the marina starting at 3 p.m. and will be livestreamed daily. Fans are welcome to attend the event or tune in to the weigh-in and follow the online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .
Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The Top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the Top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
New B.A.S.S. Nation format creates more opportunities for grass-roots anglers
February 21, 2023
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Officials have unveiled a new format for the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series beginning with the 2024 season. Under the new format, individual, grass-roots anglers — even those who are not affiliated with a local club — will have more opportunities to qualify for the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship and a shot at a berth in the iconic Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota.
Beginning in 2024, both individual B.A.S.S. Nation anglers and club members from each state will be able to enter national qualifier events, with the Top 20 finishers advancing to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship. Additionally, club anglers will be able to qualify directly from their state tournaments to the championship. The Top 3 finishers at the championship earn a berth into the Bassmaster Classic.
“Our goal is to give the everyday angler more chances to make it to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, whether they get in via a state-run event or a national qualifier,” said GL Compton, tournament director for the B.A.S.S. Nation. “We know that for many anglers — especially when you’re working or in college — joining a local club isn’t practical, so opening our regional qualifying events to unaffiliated individuals is a way to accommodate those competitors. But, if you’re a club angler, now you’ll have two paths to qualify for the Nation Championship. It really is an all-around win for grass-roots anglers.”
Currently, to qualify for the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, an angler must first qualify for a 20-member state team via state-level tournaments before competing in a B.A.S.S. Nation regional championship, where only the top boater and nonboater from each state move on to the championship.
The B.A.S.S. Nation Championship tournament will feature qualifiers from the states and the four national qualifier tournaments, as well as international anglers. Not only will the Top 3 anglers from the overall standings realize a dream of competing in the Bassmaster Classic, but the Nation Champion will earn the title of “Nation’s Best,” which includes the use of a fully-rigged tournament boat for a year, an invitation to join the Bassmaster Elite Series and a cash prize. The second- and third-place finishers and nonboater champion will each earn paid entry fees for all divisions of the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens with the opportunity to qualify for the Elites.
Griffin Heffington Wins MLF Toyota Series at Lake Guntersville
Despite a tumultuous practice, rife with electronic issues and only a few bites, followed by the cancellation on Day 1, Heffington said he went into the first day of competition optimistic about his chances in the event.
“Because my practice was so bad, I really only had one spot, but I figured I could still do pretty good with this one area,” said Heffington. “My co-angler and I planned to fish shallow grass, but just didn’t really see anything we liked and weren’t catching many fish up shallow.
“As we idled under the bridges during practice, we noticed that was really the only place we were seeing baitfish. I decided to drop the trolling motor and fish under the Spring Creek bridge on the last day of practice and was shocked,” continued Heffington. “There were easily more than a hundred 4 to 5-pounders swimming around under that bridge chasing bait. I made two casts and caught a five-pounder.”
While he doesn’t typically rely on his electronics much, Heffington said his Garmin LiveScopemade a big difference in this event.
“There were a lot of guys that pulled up to fish there as well, but they mostly stayed closer to the bridge,” said Heffington. “I trolled away from the bridge, about the length of a football field, to go further into the creek. It took forever to troll that far, but there was a huge ball of bait there, so thick that my graph said we were in 8 feet of water, although we were really at a depth of 30 feet.
“The key area was right outside that ball of bait,” Heffington continued. “That’s where the fish had set up and were chasing other smaller bait balls outside of that big group. Using LiveScope, we were able to find that point where the bait ball broke up and throw to the fish outside that area.”
Heffington said his key bait was an umbrella rig with green-bean colored True Bass Hollow Body Swimbaits on it.
“The green tint on that swimbait looked really good in the water,” Heffington said. “I’d caught the 5-pounder in practice on it and that’s just really what they seemed to be biting.”
On Friday, Heffington caught seven bass total, bringing a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 27-9 – the biggest bag of the event.
“I caught a 7-12 close to the ramp toward the end of the first day, but I still only thought I had 24 pounds,” Heffington said. “And since I caught that big one shallow, I figured they were really biting for guys up shallow, and we’d see a 30-pound bag. So, I was super surprised when I had over 27 pounds and didn’t get knocked out of the lead.”
Following his weigh-in after the first day of competition, Heffington said he got a call from a friend and fellow angler, who was dead on the water and didn’t think he would be able to make it back for his check-in time. Heffington drove over to help jump his boat and get him back to weigh-in, a decision that almost cost him on Championship Saturday.
“On the morning of the final day, I went to turn on my trolling motor and it was dead,” Heffington said. “Turns out jumping the other boat fried my battery. We reset it and it worked, but soon after we took off, it went dead again.”
Fortunately, Heffinton was able to swap batteries with one of the MLF camera boats and get back on his trolling motor to continue the tournament.
“Going into Day 2, I figured if I could get 23 pounds, I could probably shut the door and make it pretty tough to get beat,” Heffington said. “I ended the day with 24-12 and a victory.
“It’s still hard to wrap my head around,” Heffington continued. “I was able to look back and really think about the fact that we only had two days of competition on the fabled Lake Guntersville, and to win with a nearly 10-pound margin – it’s just mind-blowing to me.
“I feel like I was really blessed in this event and despite all the issues we had, things just fell into place. I’m looking forward to the next event at Smith Lake,” Heffington finished.
The top 10 pros on Lake Guntersville finished:
2nd: Corey Bradley, McDonald, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-14, $27,500
3rd: Gabe Jelley, Mulkeytown, Ill., 10 bass, 42-12, $18,000
4th: Aaron Stephens, Hanceville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-15, $16,000
5th: Terry Fisher, Decatur, Ala., 10 bass, 41-14, $15,000
6th: Josh Bragg, Fayetteville, Ga., 10 bass, 41-13, $12,500
7th: Vernon Lowe, Oneida, Tenn., 10 bass, 39-11, $10,000
8th: Jake Lee, Powell, Tenn., eight bass, 39-10, $8,500
9th: Isaac Warta, Mount Juliet, Tenn., 10 bass, 37-14, $7,500
10th: Travis Alcock, Burlington, Wis., 10 bass, 36-7, $5,500
Pro Chris Ferguson of Wittensville, Kentucky won the $500 Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division Friday with a bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces. On Saturday, pro Donavan Carson of Bluff City, Tennessee, earned the $500 Berkley Big Bass prize after bringing an 8-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale.
Bragg 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.
Alan Hults of Gautier, Mississippi won the Strike King Co-angler Division Saturday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 36 pounds, 2 ounces. Hults 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 Guntersville finished:
2nd: Kyle Gelles, Pingree, Idaho, eight bass, 32-2, $8,150
3rd: Andy Miles, White House, Tenn., eight bass, 29-12, $6,500
4th: Sam Maxwell, Vincennes, Ind., 10 bass, 28-7, $5,150
5th: Dakota Bishop, Brodhead, Ky., nine bass, 27-15, $4,500
6th: Andrew Kilgore, Whitewell, Tenn., six bass, 27-2, $3,750
7th: Michael Miller, Greenville, S.C., seven bass, 26-11, $3,250
8th: Jon Fatheree, Grantsburg, Ill., seven bass, 26-10, $2,500
9th: Mark Lyons, Marion, Ind., six bass, 25-10, $1,800
10th: Joseph Koch, Kewaskum, Wis., seven bass, 25-4, $1,600
With one regular-season event in the Toyota Series Central Division now complete, pro Griffin Heffington of Murfreesboro, Tennessee leads the Central Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 260 points, while Alan Hults of Gautier, Mississippi leads the Strike King Co-angler Division AOY race with 260 points.
The Toyota Series at Lake Gunterville, hosted by the Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce, was the first of three regular-season events for the Toyota Series Central Division. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will be the Toyota Series at the California Delta Presented by Psycho Tuna, March 15-17, in Bethel Island, California. For a complete schedule of events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The 2023 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 V. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2023 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 2-4 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, and is hosted by ExploreBranson.com.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Toyota Series include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Gill, Grundéns, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and 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.
Early Season Froggin'
https://youtu.be/DBWZgBs3Ow0
Vance goes into details about how frogs become an important part of the plan for early Florida fishing
Hughes & Franklin win TXTT season opener on Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Clarks Hill Lake Set to Host MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 2
Full Field of 150 Professional Anglers to Compete in Invitational Tournament for Top Prize of up to $115,000 and Qualification into REDCREST 2024
APPLING, Ga. (Feb. 20, 2023) – The second Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Invitational event of the season is set to take place in Appling, Georgia, next week, Feb. 28- March 2, with the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 2 at Clarks Hill Lake. The MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals feature a roster of 150 anglers, competing at each event for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2024 – the Bass Pro Tour championship – for the chance to win up to $300,000.
Hosted by the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Thomson-McDuffie County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the tournament marks the second of six Tackle Warehouse Invitational events in 2023, offering competitors a total season purse of more than $3.9 million. The field is also competing for valuable points to win the coveted Invitational Angler of the Year (AOY) title. The top eight pros in the Tackle Warehouse Invitational AOY standings at the end of the season will receive an invitation to compete on the Bass Pro Tour.
Clarks Hill Lake has played host to numerous MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) events over the years, but this event marks the first time the fishery has hosted a professional-level MLF event. While the professional history on Clarks Hill is limited, the BFL stats are pretty telling – it took more than 20 pounds to win two of the last five events, and the biggest winning weight over the years came back in 1997, when Majors Hamby walloped 24-14 at the end of April.
“We are excited to be welcoming some of the best anglers in the world to Wildwood Park as part of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational,” said John Luton, Director of Community Services for the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Wildwood Park and Clarks Hill Lake are consistently voted the top fishing and camping sites in Columbia County, and we are happy to be able to show them off on a national level.”
One thing is for sure – this event is scheduled at a prime time for big weight. February and March have produced consistent weights on Clarks Hill over the years. So, while the potential to catch a really big bag is there during the spawn, we’re likely to see really good fishing for the Invitational.
“The lake is really big – it’s pretty much a home lake for me. I grew up fishing club tournaments there, and it’s so big there’s a whole half of the lake I know nothing about,” said Belton, South Carolina, pro Brian Latimer. “The whole Georgia arm, I’ve fished about twice.
“The lake is very diverse, it used to have grass in it, it’s not there anymore,” Latimer said. “Everything is going to play in this tournament. It has the potential to be a forward-facing sonar tournament because the fish get in the ditches. There’s a strong offshore bite there, so the potential of it being a LiveScope tournament is extremely high. Also, depending on the weather, it could be snowing, or it could be 70 and the fish moving up to spawn.
“There’s always the potential to catch them shallow, because there are so many water clarities,” Latimer continued. “You’re going to have extremely clear water, you can go in the creeks and it’ll be muddy, you can get in between in a nice pretty strain. There’s timber, there’s docks, it’s just got a lot of different options. Everybody is going to spread out and probably have something that’ll fit what they like.”
Latimer said to look for a winning weight around 60 pounds and that he expects a strong prespawn tournament.
“They move up a little quicker on Clarks Hill than they do on other lakes,” Latimer went on to say. “It’s a little flatter, so it warms up quicker. You get that initial push pretty fast. I can’t imagine it not being a good tournament.”
Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. ET, Tuesday through Thursday, from Wildwood Park, located at 6212 Holloway Road in Appling. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the live on-the-water action all three days of competition online on MLF NOW! beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
In MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Tuesday and Wednesday in a traditional five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight will advance to the final round on Championship Thursday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 2 at Clarks Hill Lake will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2024.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 at Clarks Hill Lake will also feature a two-hour television broadcast that will premiere on the CBS Sports Network on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals on the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Rock An Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig
|
Northland Fishing Tackle’s new Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig works wonders for fishing swimbaits through weeds, brush, and over open water |
|
BEMIDJI, Minn. (February 20, 2023) – Designed for serious bass anglers working paddletails, flukes, and other swimbait variations, Northland’s new Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig is perfect for rippin’ through salad and wood, as well as over open water—shallow to deep and everywhere in between. Featuring a 60-degree line tie to leverage the bait through cover, the Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig almost magically slips through vegetation, brush, and other woody cover. It’s also a great option for stalking pods of largemouths, smallmouths, or spotted bass feeding on pelagic baitfish over expansive open-water areas, around humps, and along deeper grass-lines. |
|
|
Especially aimed at tempting visually-feeding bass in clear water, the Northland design team sought to create a jighead that was beyond ultra-realistic. Each size and weight in the Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig family features a baitfish-mimicking head complete with 3D eyes, gill rakers, and multi-hued, forage-matching color patterns. “We started with the iconic, super-selling Northland Mimic Minnow jighead and made it super heavy duty. The result—after countless prototypes—is the current Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig, which features a super-strong and ultra-sharp Gamakatsu hook to ensure solid hooksets when targeting trophy bass,” said Northland Fishing Tackle Marketing Director (and serious bass angler), Mike Anselmo. |
|
|
Anselmo continues: “But it all starts with the new jig’s 60-degree line-tie eyelet, which allows the jig to slide through everything from coontail to cabbage and wood—precisely the places you find big bass. It also keeps the bait horizontal when worked through open water.” Aware of the deficiencies of other swimbait jigheads, Northland architects instituted wire-form and molded-lead bait keepers to provide balance, superior action, and ease when rigging the gamut of TPE and PVC soft-plastic swimbaits available to bass anglers today. Northland marketing manager, Charlie Peterson, adds: “While a lot of bass guys will use an adhesive like Loctite Gel to keep their plastics pinned to jig heads, you don’t really need to do that with this jig—although you can if you want. Even without adhesive, your bigger flukes, paddletails, and other swimbaits tend to stay up on the shank of the hook thanks to the dual keeper design.” |
|
|
SEXY SHAD |
|
|
PERCH |
|
|
PURPLE SHAD |
|
|
WALLEYE |
|
|
GREEN PUMPKIN |
|
|
WHITE |
|
|
SMELT |
|
While aimed at bass anglers, the new Northland Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig has also caught on with the ever-growing crowd of walleye anglers casting to fish. “Rip Jigging is a surefire way to draw a lot of reaction strikes from walleyes,” says Peterson. “During testing, we crushed a lot of ‘eyes ripping this jig through cabbage. Same goes for walleyes feeding in open water, shallow to deep. River walleye anglers, too, are also starting to use them with success. And with sizes up to ¾-ounce with a beefy 5/0 Gamakatsu hook, they also translate to pike and even lake trout fishing.” Northland Fishing Tackle’s Elite Series Mimic Swim Jig is available in four sizes: ¼-ounce, 3/0 hook; 3/8-ounce, 4/0 hook; ½-ounce, 5/0 hook; and ¾-ounce, 5/0 hook. Colors include Black, Walleye, Perch, Bluegill, Sexy Shad, Smelt, Purple Shad, and Green Pumpkin. Packaged two per card with an MSRP of $6.49. |
|
Nalley Makes Splash in Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Lanier
Spencer Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Feb. 20, 2023) – Boater Justin Nalley of Hampton, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Lanier. The tournament was the first event of the 2023 season for the BFL Bulldog Division. Nalley earned $5,970 for his victory.
Nalley’s win came in his first BFL event fished as a boater after learning the tournament ropes in prior seasons as a co-angler.
“I can’t even really fathom this,” said Nalley. “It hasn’t really set in yet. I had fished as a co-angler for four years and had some early success and just stuck with it. Then last year, for my 30thbirthday, my wife surprised me with a bass boat she had bought from my father-in-law. So I took the leap and registered as a boater.”
Nalley said he practiced on Lanier before the tournament but only managed to catch three fish Thursday and two Friday.
“On tournament day I knew from past experience that the tournament would be won on the south end of the lake where the big spotted bass live,” Nalley said. “So, I started offshore fishing chunk rock and caught two fish early.
“Then I started running new stuff,” Nalley went on to say. “I caught a big spotted bass, a 5-7, which is my personal best for a spotted bass, then ran into a creek and caught my personal best largemouth on Lanier.”
Nalley relocated, caught some short fish, then managed to catch his fifth keeper - a largemouth. Nalley said his baits of choice during the day were a Berkley Powerbait The General Worm, a Rapala DT8 crankbait around chunk rock for spotted bass and an Advantage Bait Company Jawbreaker jig in the backs of creeks.
“The bites weren’t plentiful; they were really spread out, Nalley said. “But when I caught that last keeper I thought maybe I had a shot at winning,” Nalley said. “I was lowballing my weight and thought I had maybe 17 or 18 pounds.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Justin Nalley, Hampton, Ga., five bass, 22-8, $5,970
2nd: Alex Prince, Blue Ridge, Ga., five bass, 21-2, $2,582
3rd: Paul Marks, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 21-0, $2,222 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th: Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 20-14, $1,505
5th: Randy Dover, Buford, Ga., five bass, 20-1, $1,033
6th: Rene Leon, Flowery Branch, Ga., five bass, 19-3, $947
7th: Brad Stalnaker, Eatonton, Ga., five bass, 18-15, $861
8th: Richie Brown, Dahlonega, Ga, five bass, 18-11, $775
9th: Matt Green, Cartersville, Ga., five bass, 18-8, $646
9th: Reid Daniel, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 18-8, $646
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Nalley’s biggest largemouth that weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces, also earned him the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $805.
Lance Spencer of Donalsonville, Georgia, won the Strike King co-angler division and a total of $2,582 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 17 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Lance Spencer, Donalsonville, Ga., five bass, 17-11, $2,582
2nd: Jake Staley, Atlanta, Ga., five bass, 16-13, $1,291
3rd: Colton Sowash, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 15-13, $863
4th: Grayson Brewster, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 15-4, $603
5th: Charles Ellington, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 14-1, $494
5th: Max Heaton, Hartwell, Ga., five bass, 14-1, $494
7th: Eric Lovvorn, Archer, Fla., four bass, 14-0, $430
8th: Guy Jordan, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 13-12, $387
9th: Justin Farmer, Woodstock, Ga., four bass, 13-7, $344
10th: Austin Zigler, Clarkesville, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $301
Randy Reece of Woodstock, Georgia, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $402, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
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. 19-21 BFL Regional tournament on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury 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 outboard.
The 2023 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. The 2023 All-American event will take place May 31-June 2, on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. The event is hosted by Visit Oconee SC.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, General Tire, Grundéns, Gill, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X 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.
Louisiana's Tyler Rivet claims first Bassmaster Elite Series victory at Lake Okeechobee
Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La., has won the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with a four-day total of 86 pounds, 15 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 19, 2023
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Tyler Rivet called his shot on Day 1.
The fifth-year Elite Series pro from Raceland, La., said Thursday he had the location and game plan to win the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee — and on Sunday, his claim came to fruition as he finished with a four-day total of 86 pounds, 15 ounces to earn his first career blue trophy.
After placing third on Day 1 with 24-5, Rivet gained one spot with a second-round limit of 29-2 on Friday. A slower Saturday yielded only 14-11 and Rivet dropped back to third. But he turned in a Championship Sunday bag that went 18-13 to seal the deal and collect the $100,000 top prize.
“This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid,” Rivet said. “I remember every day at the (Lake Cataouatche) Tank Ponds during the 2011 Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans, hearing boats coming through the fog and seeing all the big names and thinking ‘One day, I want to do that.’”
Rivet spent this week in the Kissimmee River, about two miles upstream from the lake. With the exception of a few local boats, he had the river all to himself.
“Nobody else was doing what I was doing and that’s the key to winning an Elite tournament — finding that one little thing off the wall,” Rivet said. “That’s how it’s won (most) of the time.
“I thought this one would be won out in the lake on one of the community holes. But when I found my spot in the river, I thought, ‘This could be something.’ But I didn’t know until that first day and I was like ‘We could win.’”
The story of how Rivet landed in this area enhanced his victory experience.
“I just went sac-a-lait (French for crappie) fishing before the tournament,” Rivet said. “I’m the cook in my travel family, so I went up the river and caught some sac-a-lait. Then I looked to the left on Garmin LiveScope and said ‘That looks like a bass.’
“I threw over there with a jerkbait and caught a 6-pounder. I went down about 20 yards, saw another one, caught it on the first cast — 4-pounder. I just kept going down the river and they were staging everywhere.”
In the river, Rivet targeted hard-bottom spots off the bank. These classic prespawn staging areas attracted groups of bass that seemed to periodically come and go throughout each day.
“The main spot was a dead-end canal with a little dam at the back of it, and I guess the fish were going in there to spawn, or they were sitting on a little hard point that was coming off of it,” Rivet said. “They would come in waves. You’d see them on Garmin LiveScope.
“You’d have to hit them perfectly. You’d have to throw in front of them and not behind them. If you come from behind, it would spook them away, so you had to have that perfect angle.”
Rivet said he caught 80% of his bass on a Berkley Stunna jerkbait. He also caught a few of his weight fish by punching hyacinth mats and Kissimmee grass with a black/blue and junebug Xcite Baits Sucka Punch. A Carolina-rigged Xcite Baits Hawgalicious produced a couple more keepers.
Rivet dedicated his victory to his grandmother who passed in January.
“She was watching me from up there every day,” Rivet said with a trembling voice. “Every fish that I caught this week that was over 4, I said, ‘Thank you Mammaw.’”
Elite Series veteran Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, placed second with 83 pounds. Committing all four days to the South Bay region, Wendlandt turned in daily bags of 18-9, 25-5, 23-4 and 15-14.
“I just felt most confident in that area,” Wendlandt said. “I practiced at the north end, too, but I just felt like my better bites would be down south.
“I honestly didn’t get any big bites in practice, but I caught some big fish in the tournament.”
Wendlandt caught the majority of his bass on a junebug Strike King Cut-R Worm with a 3/16-ounce weight. He also caught a couple of key fish on a Strike King Thunder Cricket with a Strike King Blade Minnow trailer.
“I was fishing dead reeds that were below the surface,” Wendlandt said. “In between the clumps were open spots, so I’d fish my worm over those reeds and let it fall down into those lower spots.”
Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., placed third with 81-9. After placing sixth in the first round with 22-9, Cobb added 32-15, 14-4 and 11-13.
With days 1 and 2 bringing warm, partly sunny conditions, Cobb found his bass in shallow cover mostly cooperative. The cold front on Day 3 rattled his area, but he hoped the final day’s calm warming conditions would deliver a revival that never materialized.
“Day 1, most everything I caught was spawning fish,” Cobb said. “On Day 2, most of my big ones were prespawn, so that made me excited. On Day 3, the weather wasn’t right and they weren’t ready. Today, I fully expected them to be spawning. I expected it to get hot any hour, but it just never did.”
After catching his bass on a black and blue 3/8-ounce ChatterBait with a Zoom Super Fluke and flipping a Texas-rigged Zoom Fluke Stick, Cobb’s tough final day saw him switch to a Yo-Zuri prop bait. The color was bluegill and Cobb accented the belly with a black marker.
Rookie Logan Latuso of Gonzales, La., earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day Sunday with his 6-14 largemouth. Cobb won the Day 2 award, as well as the overall $2,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the tournament title, with an 8-12.
Cobb's Day 2 catch of 32-15 won the $2,000 VMC Monster Bag honors.
Rivet also took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program while Cobb earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Wendlandt also earned an additional $2,500 as the highest-placing entrant and Australian pro Carl Jocumsen claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
Pennsylvania’s Jonathan Kelley won the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency award for the most accurate weight reporting.
Since this was the first event of the Elite Series season, Rivet claimed the lead in the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 104 points. Wendlandt is in second with 103, followed by Cobb with 102, Latuso with 101 and Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., with 100.
Latuso also leads the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings
POW! Chris Lane Lands 5-Pounder in Final Minute to Overtake Davis and Earn First Career Bass Pro Tour Victory at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
Power-Pole Pro Catches Five-Bass Limit Weighing 26-1 to Win by 9-Ounce Margin over Hall of Famer Mark Davis, Earn First Tour-Level Win Since 2015 and $100,000 Top Prize
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2023) – If there were any questions that the Bass Pro Tour scoring change to a five-fish limit would be less exciting than the every-fish-counts format, Power-Pole pro Chris Lane of Guntersville, Alabama, showed the world the answer, Saturday. In the most dramatic finish in Major League Fishing (MLF) history, Lane boated a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass with just 40 seconds remaining in the event to overtake B&W Trailer Hitches pro Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Arkansas, and win the season-opening Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns. Lane’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 49 pounds, 3 ounces, earned him the win by a 9-ounce margin over Davis, who had led the entire day, and earned him the top payout of $100,000.
“Holy smokes, I can’t believe it,” an emotional Lane said in his post-game interview. “I don’t know what to say. This is unbelievable. What an ending. To do it here, where I grew up… man. This is where I cut my teeth, where I learned how to fish. Right over there is Brahma Island. Where I fished with my brothers. My dad. My grandpa. My gosh, I don’t know how we did it. This has been one amazing, amazing event.”
Lane’s improbable rally from starting the day 12-8 behind Davis became a reality late in the day. With an hour and 15 minutes left in the third and final period he boated a 4-pound, 5-ouncer, then added a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass to move within 14 ounces of Davis in the final hour. Lane needed to catch a 4-pound, 12-ounce bass to gain enough weight to catch Davis, and with one minute remaining he hooked up.
“With five minutes left I made the decision to come back to this spot, where I had caught a 6-8 earlier in the day,” Lane said. “I was super quiet, eased up and Power-Poled down, then threw that black and blue Bass Pro Shops Stick O out there.
“I knew it could be done with just one swing of the rod,” Lane continued. “I kept telling myself that – ‘one swing of the rod, just one swing.’ When she bit and I swung that rod, I saw it jump and I didn’t think it was big enough. I thought I needed a 7- or 8-pounder. When my official kept telling me congratulations, I didn’t believe him at first.”
The Championship Round appearance was Lane’s first career Championship Round on the Bass Pro Tour.
“Knowing the score, and knowing what you have to catch – it makes you fish so intensely until the very end,” Lane said. “If you watched the process of this event, the wind has done a full circle – from north, to east, to south, to west. Every day was different. It was a lot of new water, and I really just tried to go with the conditions. Knowing the lake like I do down there in Kissimmee, I was able to just pull up to a stop and if they’re not biting there then I’m off to something else.
“I still just can’t believe how this all played out,” Lane went on to say. “It has been an absolutely epic week. This is one of, if not the most memorable tournament that I think I will ever have.”
The top 10 pros from the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns finished:
1st: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 49-3, $100,000
2nd: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 10 bass, 48-10, $45,000
3rd: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 45-13, $38,000
4th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 43-15, $32,000
5th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-6, $30,000
6th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 36-10, $26,000
7th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 36-0, $23,000
8th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 10 bass, 32-8, $21,000
9th: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 28-9, $19,000
10th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., seven bass, 23-10, $16,000
Full results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 98 scorable bass weighing 265 pounds, 6 ounces caught by the final 10 pros Saturday.
Brent Ehrler earned Saturday’s Championship Round $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award with a 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth that bit a bladed swimjig in Period 3. Tokyo, Japan, pro Takahiro Omori earned the $3,000 Berkley Big Bass award for the overall largest bass of the event with his 9-pound, 8-ounce largemouth that he weighed on Day 4 of competition.
After his win, Saturday, Chris Lane also now becomes the default leader in the 2023 Bass Pro Tour Bally Bet Angler of the Year (AOY) race. Lane earned 80 points for his victory, while runner-up Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Arkansas, earned 79 points for his second-place finish. Bally Bet will award $100,000 to the 2023 Bally Bet Angler of the Year winner.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns featured anglers competing with a 1-pound, 4-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, 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, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns will air as two, two-hour episodes starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 15on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on a fishery to be announced.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Kennedy will carry slim lead into final round of Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee
Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., is leading after Day 3 of the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with a three-day total of 70 pounds, 2 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 18, 2023
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Frog fishing is generally considered one of bass fishing’s least consistent techniques, but Steve Kennedy employed it Saturday to land a whopping five-bass limit that weighed 23 pounds, 1 ounce. With a three-day total of 70-2, the Alabama pro now sits atop the leaderboard heading into the final round of the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee.
Kennedy heads into Championship Sunday with a 6-ounce advantage over Day 2 leader Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C.
On a day when his bag was anchored by an 8-4 largemouth, Kennedy caught most of his fish on a black SPRO Bronzeye popping frog. He’s working his reaction bait over shallow dollar pads and, while he’s experiencing the inconsistency common to the frogging technique, Kennedy said he’s having a blast.
“Today, I had two big fish; the rest of my fish were 3-pounders,” he said. “The last two days, I’ve had three big fish (each day). That big one today makes up a little difference.
“It’s a pretty incredible bite and if I can catch all of my bites, it would be awesome. But it is some of the most fun. You throw that thing out there, twitch it a couple of times and it goes ka-bloom! It’s an impressive bite, for sure.”
Despite turning in a similar weight to what he caught the first two days, Kennedy said he experienced a slower day — likely because of the dim, colder conditions that starkly contrasted the warmth and partly cloudy skies on days 1 and 2. A shift from southerly winds the first two days to a northeast wind also seemed to rattle the fish.
On Day 2, Kennedy said he thought the north wind might help his cause by blowing more clear water out of the grass-filtering marsh above his area at the lake’s upper end. While he did not see any improvement, the 8-4 was his best catch of the tournament.
“I caught a bigger fish than I’ve caught any day, but I wouldn’t say it was better,” Kennedy said. “It took me until 11:30 to get a limit. I missed a couple of small ones.
“I didn’t feel like we had a wave of fish move in, but it’s truly incredible how many big fish are in this area. We had 31 boats there yesterday. We probably had a few less today, but everybody catches them.
“I’m covering so much more water than anyone in there. It just gets hard when other boats are going over the spots.”
In addition to his frog fish, Kennedy weighed one keeper on a Texas-rigged 8-inch lizard.
“I was trying to get a big bite,” he said. “They’re bedding in those holes. You can see them on Lowrance ActiveTarget (forward-facing sonar).”
Looking ahead to Championship Sunday, Kennedy said he’s hoping the returning warmth and calmer southeast wind will ignite the bite and improve his opportunities. After two days of full field competition and Saturday’s Top 50, the final round’s 10-boat field will relieve some of the pressure the key areas have endured.
“I’m getting nervous; I had eight big bites the first day, six yesterday and four today,” he said. “It’s going downhill, but we’re going to lose some guys. The sun’s coming out and that’s going to change things, so I just have to figure out where the little sweet spot is and milk it for all it’s worth.”
After placing sixth in the first round with 22-9, Cobb added a Day 2 limit of 32-15. Day 3 saw him weigh 14-4 to bring his total to 69-12.
On Day 2, Cobb said he capitalized on a wave of fish moving into his area southwest of the Kissimmee River. Saturday’s weather seemed to hold back any new arrivals.
“I don’t think my area has a ton of fish until a wave comes in,” Cobb said. “With no sun and cloudy conditions, it wasn’t a moving day for Florida fish.
“There are a few too many boats in my area to just catch resident fish. With no new ones coming in, I ran out of fish.”
Cobb caught his bass on a black and blue 3/8-ounce ChatterBait with a Zoom Super Fluke.
Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La., is in third with 68-2. His daily weights have been 24-5, 29-2 and 14-11.
Rivet has parked in the Kissimmee River for three days and caught most of his fish on a prototype jerkbait from Xcite Baits, along with the Sucka Punch creature bait he designed for Xcite. On Saturday, the jerkbait did all the work.
“I really thought the wind and the clouds would get them going today,” Rivet said. “I caught a 3-8 right off the bat and I was like ‘They’re here; this is it. We’re going to catch them.’
“They did the same thing as yesterday, but they never had that frenzy they had the first two days. They just never fired up. I was watching them on Garmin LiveScope. They would chase and chase, but they just wouldn’t commit. I probably had 25 pounds chase the bait, but they were just inches away.”
Cody Huff of Ava, Mo., earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with his 8-6. Cobb still holds the overall lead in that category with his 8-12 from Day 2.
Cobb's Day 2 catch of 32-15 also leads the race for VMC Monster Bag honors.
The Top 10 remaining anglers will take off at 7:30 a.m. from C. Scott Driver Park with a chance to win the $100,000 first-place prize. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3:45 p.m. FS1 will broadcast live with the leaders beginning at 8 a.m. with continuing coverage on Bassmaster.com.
2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee 2/16-2/19
Lake Okeechobee, Okeechobee FL.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 15 70-02 104
Day 1: 5 23-08 Day 2: 5 23-09 Day 3: 5 23-01
2. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 15 69-12 103 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-09 Day 2: 5 32-15 Day 3: 5 14-04
3. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 15 68-02 102
Day 1: 5 24-05 Day 2: 5 29-02 Day 3: 5 14-11
4. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 15 67-02 101
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 25-05 Day 3: 5 23-04
5. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 15 63-03 100
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 21-03 Day 3: 5 24-15
6. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 15 61-10 99
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 27-12 Day 3: 5 18-11
7. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 15 61-01 98
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 24-13 Day 3: 5 23-06
8. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 15 57-14 97
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 23-04 Day 3: 5 18-09
9. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 15 57-01 96
Day 1: 5 22-12 Day 2: 5 22-14 Day 3: 5 11-07
10. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 15 56-06 95
Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 5 13-13 Day 3: 5 21-09
11. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 15 55-01 94 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 24-09 Day 3: 5 13-01
12. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 15 54-08 93 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-03 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 15-12
13. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 15 53-15 92 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 20-06 Day 3: 5 15-01
14. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 15 53-09 91 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-07 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 5 16-01
15. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 15 52-00 90 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 22-13 Day 3: 5 07-14
16. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 15 51-12 89 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 19-10 Day 3: 5 10-15
17. Jay Przekurat Stevens Point, WI 15 51-11 88 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 5 15-15
18. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 15 51-03 87 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 17-10 Day 3: 5 16-13
19. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 15 50-13 86 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 15-03 Day 3: 5 20-04
20. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 15 50-06 85 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 18-14 Day 3: 5 16-03
21. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 15 49-09 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 18-02 Day 3: 5 17-03
22. Skylar Hamilton Jefferson, TN 15 49-05 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 23-06 Day 3: 5 09-05
23. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 15 49-01 82 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 09-11
24. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 15 47-12 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 08-10
25. Cody Huff Ava, MO 15 47-10 80 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 5 15-15
26. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 15 47-01 79 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 14-03
27. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 15 46-10 78 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-15 Day 2: 5 17-06 Day 3: 5 12-05
28. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 15 46-09 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 24-03 Day 3: 5 07-00
29. Bradley Hallman Edmond, OK 15 46-09 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 15-15 Day 3: 5 16-04
30. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 15 46-06 75 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 25-11 Day 2: 5 12-04 Day 3: 5 08-07
31. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 46-05 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 10-01
32. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 15 46-02 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 16-05
33. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 15 46-00 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-06 Day 2: 5 17-08 Day 3: 5 16-02
34. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 13 45-13 71 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 28-11 Day 2: 5 10-12 Day 3: 3 06-06
35. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 15 45-12 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 5 12-09 Day 3: 5 15-06
36. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 45-05 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 21-10 Day 3: 5 09-04
37. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 13 45-03 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-00 Day 2: 5 26-13 Day 3: 3 05-06
38. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, Ontario CANADA 15 45-03 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 17-04 Day 3: 5 10-08
39. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 15 44-14 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 15-03 Day 3: 5 14-11
40. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 12 44-09 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 29-01 Day 3: 2 03-15
41. Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 15 43-12 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 10-02 Day 3: 5 14-00
42. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 15 43-12 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 10-10
43. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15 43-10 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 13-10 Day 3: 5 12-10
44. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 15 43-08 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 10-10
45. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 15 43-05 60 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 15-00 Day 3: 5 09-09
46. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 15 42-15 59 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 20-11 Day 3: 5 06-15
47. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 15 41-05 58 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 12-13 Day 3: 5 11-06
48. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 12 38-09 57 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 2 03-02
49. John Cox DeBary, FL 15 37-07 56 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-05 Day 2: 5 12-12 Day 3: 5 07-06
50. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 15 36-14 55 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-03 Day 2: 5 16-14 Day 3: 5 05-13
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 08-10 $1,000.00
2 Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 08-12 $1,000.00
3 Cody Huff Ava, MO 08-06 $1,000.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 99 506 1495-09
2 103 515 1625-11
3 46 240 660-12
----------------------------------
248 1261 3782-00
Cobb capitalizes on spawning waves for Bassmaster Elite lead on Okeechobee
Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., is leading after Day 2 of the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with a two-day total of 55 pounds, 8 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 17, 2023
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Patience and persistence paid big dividends for Brandon Cobb, whose huge Day 2 limit of 32 pounds, 15 ounces boosted him to a two-day total of 55-8, which leads the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee.
Starting the second round in sixth place with 22-9, the Elite veteran from Greenwood, S.C., turned in the event’s heaviest bag and heads into Semifinal Saturday with a margin of 2-1 over Tyler Rivet.
Cobb, who won two Elites in 2019 — on Lake Hartwell and at Lake Fork — broke the 30-pound mark twice during the latter (37-15 and 31-11). Reaching this elusive threshold, he said, requires measured aggression.
“You can’t be like ‘I’m going to catch 20 pounds today.’ You don’t know because it’s based on big bites,” Cobb said. “There’s a lot of fish in certain areas and there’s a lot of boats in the areas where there’s a lot of fish.
“You just go fish and try to catch everything you can. It’s just a matter of whether you’re catching bucks (male bass) or females. I wish I could say there’s a real strategy, but it’s mostly just keeping yourself in the right area and hoping you run into some females.”
Cobb’s prime area comprised a small patch of dollar pads with scattered reeds and hydrilla on the lake’s north end. Staying close to takeoff helped him maximize his time, but he believes the timing of spawning movements was the key to his success.
“There were a few boats around me and everyone seemed to be catching them except me, but I was taking my time and fishing really slow like you do down here. I hit one group in one little patch of grass and caught a big one every cast,” Cobb said. “It was literally a one-cast spot. I don’t know if there’s anything (unique) there; I just think it’s a funnel.
“Yesterday, I think I was catching spawning fish. I was catching one here and there. I’d flip and catch a buck, then catch a female. Today, it seemed like I hit a wave of new fish in the funnel as they were coming in.”
One of the area’s key features, Cobb said, was abundant food.
“There were a lot of shiners or shad in the area,” he said. “They came up schooling a few times and I saw bass blow up on the bait. One of the bigger ones I caught, I saw it blow up and I threw at it and caught it.”
Anchoring his bag with an 8-12 that now leads the Phoenix Boats Big Bass standings, Cobb said he started on the specific spot that produced his late-morning flurry but caught nothing. While fishing nearby cover, he saw other boats catch fish as they passed through.
“I went back to it and they were there,” Cobb said. “After that, I just sat there. Even though I didn’t expect to catch any more, people just saw me catch 30 pounds, so I felt like I needed to guard it.”
Cobb caught his fish by flipping a Zoom Fluke Stick and casting a Z-Man ChatterBait with various trailers, including a Zoom Super Fluke. He’ll keep those same baits handy for Day 3 and look for another group of fish to arrive.
“I don’t know how many are left,” Cobb said. “I sat around the spot most of the day, playing defense and hoping they’d show back up. It’s Florida and they’re coming every day, so I hope a few new ones show up.”
Hailing from Raceland, La., Rivet has spent the past two days in the Kissimmee River, which feeds into Lake Okeechobee’s northwest corner. After placing third on Day 1 with 24-5, he added 29-2 and gained one spot with a total of 53-7.
“That was the biggest bag I’ve ever caught in my life and to know I left them biting is crazy,” Rivet said. “I wanted to hit 30, but I said ‘I need to be smart about this.’
“I had to block a few people off of my spot, but they’re there and they’re willing to bite. I think I can do this.”
Rivet caught most of his fish on a prototype jerkbait from Xcite Baits and the Sucka Punch creature bait he designed for Xcite. Most of what he’s targeting are classic prespawn areas.
“It’s hard spots on the bottom and they’re just waiting to spawn,” Rivet said. “It just comes in waves. They’re just coming in and out of that main spot. I have two other spots like that.
“I could literally go down the whole river and do this. It’s all about sitting there and being patient because there’s a ton of fish there and it’s just getting one to bite.”
Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., added 23-9 to the 23-8 he caught on Day 1 and improved from fourth to third with 47-1. Fishing the lake’s upper end, he spent most of his day working a black popping frog over dollar pads.
“I’m having fun,” he said. “It’s an incredible way to get bit, but I’m struggling with execution. I’m about 50/50, but I’m getting some big bites and hopefully, they show up again tomorrow.”
Kennedy also threw a 7-inch Senko in hopes of tempting a big bite, but the frog produced all of his weight. He’s concerned that his area’s opportunity may be dwindling, but he’s hoping tomorrow’s forecast for north winds will help his cause by blowing more clean water out from the shallow, filtering vegetation.
“I’m fishing fast and aggressive and covering a bunch of water,” Kennedy said. “It seems to be drying up. I had eight big bites yesterday and landed two of them. Today, I only had six good bites.”
The Top 50 remaining anglers will take off for Semifinal Saturday at 7:30 a.m. from C. Scott Driver Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3:30 p.m., with only the Top 10 advancing to Championship Sunday with a chance to win the $100,000 first-place prize. FS1 will broadcast live with the leaders beginning at 8 a.m. with continuing coverage on Bassmaster.com.
Cobb earned the $1,000 daily bonus for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with his 8-12. Florida pro Bernie Schultz took that honor on Day 1 with an 8-10. Cobb's massive catch of 32-15 also leads the race for VMC Monster Bag honors.
Correction: The Day 1 report incorrectly stated that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has applied herbicide treatments to eliminate hydrilla and eelgrass from Lake Okeechobee. According to FWC Lake Okeechobee biologist Matt Stevens, the agency has not treated for hydrilla since 2015 and does not use herbicides to eliminate eelgrass.
Bass Fishing Hall of Famer Mark Davis Puts on a Clinic with 34-Pound Limit to Pace Knockout Round at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
Arkansas Pro Brings 10-Pound Lead into Final Day on Championship Saturday, Morgan Catches 6-3 as Time Expires to Bounce Wheeler
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2023) – Already with a Hall of Fame career that has seen countless memorable moments on the water, 59-year-old B&W Trailer Hitches pro Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Arkansas, showed he still has a few more tricks left up his sleeve. Davis caught 13 scorable bass Friday, with his best five weighing 34 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the Knockout Round and advance to the final day of competition at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain Presented by Grundéns.
Davis’ total of 34-10 will give him a 10-pound cushion over second-place angler General Tire pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, who weighed in five scorable bass totaling 24-10. Power-Pole pro Chris Lane of Guntersville, Alabama, sits in third place with five bass weighing 23-2, while Addison, Alabama’s Jesse Wiggins weighed in five bass totaling 21-8 to finish the day in fourth. Pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, added to the Toro Cut Line drama, Friday, as the Tennessee pro caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce largemouth as time expired to vault from 13th place into fifth, and bounce out the reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler.
The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition resumes Saturday morning with the Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total will win the top prize of $100,000.
“Today was a heck of a day for me,” said Davis. “It wasn’t my biggest limit I’ve ever caught – I caught around 42 pounds on this fishery once, I think back in 2001 – but I’m very pleased to have caught 34 (pounds) today. You can never really be comfortable competing in Florida, but 10 pounds is a very nice lead.”
Davis spent the day targeting grass patches and lily pads on a spawning flat in Lake Kissimmee with a Texas-rigged blue craw with red flake-colored Strike King Ocho, with a 3/16-ounce Strike King tungsten weight.
“It was all new water for me today,” Davis said. “This morning on the ride down, I just felt like I needed to go and look at some new water. I pulled into an area that I hadn’t fished – I might have fished it at some point in my career, but it was new this week. I pulled up there and caught one almost 4 (pounds), then a 6-12, and I still didn’t quite have it figured out. But as the day went on I kind of got dialed into the bite, and once I got dialed in, it was game on.”
Another impressive stat that showcases just how special Davis’ day was Friday – although his best five went for 34-10, his next best five scorable fish would have given him a limit for 23 pounds even and he would be in third place.
“I figure I’m going to have to catch at least 15 to 16 pounds tomorrow to have any chance at winning,” Davis went on to say. “One of the reasons I worked so hard today to catch as much as I could was because the weather is going to change. We’re going to have a stout north wind, and there is supposed to be a cold front coming in overnight. It could really turn the fish off, for everybody, so I felt like I needed to amass as much weight as I could, today.”
The top 10 pros from Friday’s Knockout Round that now advance to Saturday’s Championship Round on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are:
1st: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 34-10
2nd: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 24-10
3rd: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 23-2
4th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 21-8
5th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 20-15
6th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., five bass, 20-15
7th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., five bass, 20-5
8th: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 19-4
9th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 18-14
10th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., five bass, 18-11
Finishing in 11th through 40th place are:
11th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 18-9, $10,000
12th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-4, $10,000
13th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 17-15, $10,000
14th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 17-7, $10,000
15th: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 16-10, $10,000
16th: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., five bass, 16-8, $10,000
17th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., five bass, 16-0, $10,000
18th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, five bass, 15-15, $10,000
19th: Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., five bass, 15-13, $10,000
20th: Josh Butler, Hayden, Ala., five bass, 15-7, $10,000
21st: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, five bass, 14-14, $10,000
22nd: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 14-2, $10,000
23rd: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, four bass, 13-14, $10,000
24th: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., five bass, 13-14, $10,000
25th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 13-13, $10,000
26th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 13-6, $10,000
27th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $10,000
28th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 12-12, $10,000
29th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 11-12, $10,000
30th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., five bass, 11-0, $10,000
31st: Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 10-13, $10,000
32nd: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., five bass, 9-11, $10,000
33rd: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., five bass, 9-10, $10,000
34th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, five bass, 9-6, $10,000
35th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., four bass, 7-7, $10,000
36th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., two bass, 7-5, $10,000
37th: Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, three bass, 6-9, $10,000
38th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., three bass, 5-7, $10,000
39th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., two bass, 5-4, $10,000
40th: Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., three bass, 5-4, $10,000
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 359 scorable bass weighing 933 pounds even caught by the 40 pros Friday.
Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to pro Jesse Wiggins of Addison, Alabama, who caught an 8-pound largemouth in Period 3 on a medium-diving crankbait to earn the payout. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, 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, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. After the two-day qualifying round, the top 20 anglers from each group advanced to Friday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers competed to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In the Championship Round on Saturday, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total will win the top prize of $100,000.
The final 10 anglers will launch Saturday 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 Marina, 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 MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Championship Saturday, Feb. 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to come in to celebrate the top 10 and crown the Stage 1 Champion at the Trophy Presentation. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, and take selfies.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 4-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on a fishery to be announced.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down all of the extended action live from the final day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. MLF NOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and free via the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns will air as two, two-hour episodes starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 15on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Rebounding Seminole could deliver Bassmaster Elite Series fireworks
Bassmaster Elite Series champion Drew Cook, who grew up fishing Lake Seminole, will be among the field when the Bassmaster Elite Series heads to Bainbridge for the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole Feb. 23-26.
Photo by Kyle Jessie/B.A.S.S.
February 17, 2023
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — Santee Cooper Lakes will forever hold a special place in Drew Cook’s heart; however, he’s expecting similar opportunities from the waters of his youth during the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole.
Competition days will be Feb. 23-26 with daily takeoffs from Earle May Boat Basin Park at 7:30 a.m. ET and weigh-ins each day back at the park at 3:30 p.m.
Cook notched his first Elite Series win last year on the Santee Cooper Lakes, an event that saw the South Carolina fishery give up two century belts (awarded for a four-day total of 100 pounds or more) — one for his win and another to second-place Caleb Kuphall. Having grown up fishing Seminole, Cook knows well this lake’s fireworks potential.
“It really would not surprise me at all if it took over 100 pounds to win,” Cook said. “Last year, the weights were really good all year. It took pretty much 30 pounds to win most of the team tournaments.
“The thing about Seminole is there’s not a lot of big bass — the 7- to 9-pounders — but there are so many 5- and 6-pounders that it truly is a phenomenal lake.”
Primarily located in Georgia, but also touching Alabama and Florida, the 37,500-acre Lake Seminole comprises the union of the Chattahoochee River on the west side with the Flint River on the east and Spring Creek in the middle. The smaller area known as “Fish Pond Drain” tucks between the Hooch and Spring Creek.
Below the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam, which impounds the lake, Seminole’s water runs south to the Gulf of Mexico via the Apalachicola River. Despite its coastal connection, the dam prevents Seminole from experiencing any tidal influence.
Describing the habitat, Cook said the agricultural fields near the Flint keep that water dingy and receptive for moving baits, while Spring Creek’s extreme clarity could require a finesse touch with drop shots, Damiki rigs and the like. Cook said the Hooch usually has more of a chalky, greenish tint. All have hydrilla, milfoil and fishable emergents, while the Chattahoochee sports a lot of bank grass, spatterdock and reeds.
Cook said Seminole is rebounding well from a few down years, partly caused by heavy fishing pressure. With most major tournaments running out of the Flint River Arm, a lot of bass have been relocated. That’s no reflection of lake quality or fishing opportunity, but as Cook notes, it takes a while for released fish to redistribute to some of Seminole’s historically productive areas.
The most impactful event in recent years was 2018’s Hurricane Michael — the first Category 5 hurricane to make U.S. landfall since Andrew (1992) — which passed directly over Lake Seminole. Much of the lake’s standing timber was destroyed and submerged vegetation suffered severe damage.
“The Army Corps of Engineers dropped the lake because the storm was coming and that left a lot of grass exposed,” Cook said. “The wind and waves ripped a lot of grass out of the lake, but honestly, that was a good thing, because we had seen several warm winters and the grass hadn’t been dying back.
“So, that hurricane impact actually helped the lake a lot. It ripped up a lot of hydrilla and now there’s more milfoil in the lake than there was before the hurricane. There’s more milfoil now than I’ve ever seen.”
As Cook noted, the hurricane also cleared the way for new pad fields and pushed away silt to leave more of the clean hard bottom spawning bass prefer. On the downside, Seminole still has a lot of wood and storm debris clogging backwaters, so shallow-water navigation demands caution.
While he’s not ruling out the sight-fishing tactics that delivered his Santee Cooper win — a tactic Seminole is universally known for — Cook believes prespawn action will take center stage.
“You’re going to have to catch prespawn fish, whether it’s all prespawn or a mix to win,” he said. “You’re just so much more apt to catch one of those big 7- to 8-pounders in prespawn than bed fishing.”
Cook expects Seminole will see plenty of shallow-water flipping with various soft plastics like the Quarantine Craw he designed for Big Bite Baits. Anglers will also catch fish by punching heavier cover like hyacinth mats, while the usual mix of reaction baits will tempt those prespawners.
“You can pick your poison: A Northern guy can drop shot in Spring Creek, a Jason Christie can throw a spinnerbait in the Flint and an Alabama guy like Wes Logan can swim a jig in the Hooch,” Cook said. “The Flint is least sight-fishing friendly unless you get into some of the backwaters.”
Precisely how the event unfolds will depend on the weather. Partly sunny and warm is definitely possible, but this time of year, stable practice conditions could quickly yield to a postfrontal shutdown. While Cook said the Seminole bass are a heartier lot than the pure Florida-strain fish, largemouth in general do not like such changes.
“We’re in that very vulnerable time where it could be 30 degrees with a high of 50, or it could be 65 degrees with a high of 75 or 80,” Cook said. “That’s going to be the key factor on whether it’s going to take 23 to 25 pounds a day to win, or (if) it’s going to take 17 pounds a day to win.”
Notwithstanding unpredictable spring weather, Cook said he’s encouraged by what he calls ideal late-winter weather. Essentially, recent conditions have lined up well to spur the prespawn movement and prepare the bass for spawning activity; some of which could occur during the tournament.
“We’ve had exactly what I wanted,” Cook said. “I wanted a cold winter, and we had 19 days below freezing in this region. But we had 10 consecutive days of really cold weather in the teens to the 20s.
“That did good things to kill back some of the grass to position fish. Now we just need some sunshine and some help from Mother Nature.”
Cook believes the entire lake will be in play, but experience has shown him Seminole’s concentrated potential.
“A guy could definitely park in one area and win; it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the way it’s won,” Cook said. “A guy could sit there and catch them for four days on one cast.
“The key will be noticing one of those areas. You really don’t know if you’re catching the tail end of something or the beginning. You have to just fish and see how they bite.”
Even though giant bass may be less common than what’s expected from the Elite season-opener on Lake Okeechobee the week prior, Cook said Seminole’s impressive population of quality fish will keep a lot of anglers in contention. In fact, he said the century belt requirement of 25-pound daily averages is no stretch.
Assessing the five-bass limit, Cook said Seminole definitely has the numbers.
“I have literally seen it where you can Power-Pole down and catch 100 5-pounders because they’re all swimming to you,” he said.
The full field of 104 pros will fish the first two days, with only the Top 50 advancing to Semifinal Saturday. After Saturday’s weigh-in, the Top 10 remaining pros will advance to Championship Sunday with a chance to claim the $100,000 first-place prize.
New for 2023, fans can enjoy predictions, conditions and live hits from the lake as part of the LIVE Preview show streaming on Bassmaster.comWednesday, Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. ET. Bassmaster LIVE kicks off tournament coverage Thursday and Friday mornings at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster.com, Tubi and the FOX Sports platforms while FS1 will broadcast live with the tournament leaders on Saturday and Sunday.
Wacky Worm Bassin’ Done Better
|
Northland Fishing Tackle’s new Weedless Wacky Jig brings bass anglers a deadly, weedless solution to fishing wacky worms for bass |
|
BEMIDJI, Minn. (February 17, 2023) – Since introduced stateside, there’s been little that competes by way of versatility on bass waters everywhere. Its beauty is the pure simplicity of the rig, which at the onset of the wacky revolution seemed counter-intuitive after years of Texas- and Carolina-rigging. Rig a worm in the middle, right through the molded-in egg sac? Absolutely. While nearly murderous when rigged with an octopus, specially-designed wacky hook, or even a circle hook, anglers learned early on that slipping in a weight did the rig wonders. In fact, we probably all know anglers who carry a small box of nails in different sizes and weights to give the slow-sinking wacky worm a faster rate-of-fall. Soon to follow DIY weighting came molded nail sinkers, pencil weights, Neko weights, ring weights, and half-moon designs, which all fit into (or around) soft-plastic worms effectively. Some weigh down one tail tip of a horizontally-presented worm, while others keep the weight in the middle for a more lateral fall. |
|
|
BLACK |
|
|
GREEN PUMPKIN |
|
Along these lines, Northland is proud of their new Weedless Wacky Jig with its sleek, built-in weighted jig-head to get your bait to where the fish are fast. And read: no weight tweaking necessary. Especially with buoyant plastics, this is a godsend. Covering all depths and conditions, the new Northland Weedless Wacky Jig comes in 1/16-, 1/8-, and a middle-ground 3/16-ounce option, all featuring a #2 sticky-sharp, premium Gamakatsu hook. But that’s just the start. We’ve all run into situations chasing grass-buried bass where a standard-hooked wacky rig clogs with veggies cast-after-cast… To solve this common dilemma, Northland designed the Elite Series Weedless Wacky Jig, complete with two easily-bendable (but almost unbreakable) titanium wire weed guards for penetrating the fish-filled bush. And when it comes to keeping bass pinned, Northland’s Weedless Wacky Jig design features a wide hook gap and straight eye shank to ensure you can winch bruisers out of the salad and into the boat for a quick photo and release. |
|
|
In terms of colors, most experienced bass sticks rely on two worm jig-head colors to do serious damage—and that’s what Northland offers: Black and Green Pumpkin. The new Weedless Wacky Jigs come two per card with an MSRP of $4.99. Northland Tackle Marketing Manager, Charlie Peterson, explains: “First, the Weedless Wacky Jig comes in all the weights bass anglers need to cover a lot of weed-choked depths, shallow to deep. And the dual titanium weed-guard bends nicely and slithers through the salad, no matter what kind of vegetation you’re fishing. Its design is part finesse, part power. From the dead, shallow vegetation of early-season through weeds just emerging—and deeper in the cabbage as the season progresses, it’s an absolute fish-catcher. Depending on where bass are cruising, it’ll will work along the inside or outside weedline.” Looking for a way to get more bites on the vegetation-filled bass lakes, rivers, and reservoirs you fish? Give the new Northland Weedless Wacky Jig a shot with your favorite wacky worms. Here’s another tip: The Weedless Wacky Jig is also catching on with bassheads fishing wacky worms around brush and timber. Not only does it slither through grass, but it also deflects off of woody cover, too… Yep, it’s probably time to return those six-penny nails to the garage. |
|
Lester’s Hawg Head
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
If you watched Bassmaster Live Thursday, you heard Team Toyota’s Brandon Lester say he just needed one more “hawg head” like the one he had in his livewell.
Lester was richly blessed with a big bite one hour into the brand new 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series season when the toad of an Okeechobee largemouth swam off with his soft stickbait from a small patch of aquatic vegetation known as arrowhead that formed a point on the reed line he was fishing.
“That’s one of the reasons I love fishing in Florida so much. You pick up your lure after a pitch to visible cover and it’s just got that unmistakable one-of-a-kind heavy feeling, and you know it might be a giant!” smiles Lester.
By Okeechobee standards the 6-pound 14-ounce fish fell short of King Kong status, but is still far bigger than most bass anglers will ever catch in their lifetime. And worth noting, Lester is 90% sure the big gal was hovering over a spawning bed when she bit.
Ironically, eight years ago on the St. Johns River, on the very first morning of the 2015 Elite Series season, Lester also started the day with a giant. It was a 9-pound 4 ounce largemouth that was only nine ounces smaller than the biggest bass he’s ever caught in his life.
Doesn’t like that sawing noise
Lester let 40-pound Vicious braided line do most of the heavy workThursday, but he ties a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader to the business end because he doesn’t like the way braided line makes what he describes as a “sawing noise” against the vegetation.
What makes pros different
Ninety percent of all bass anglers would rush right back to where the big one bit to start the next tournament day, but not Lester. He’s pulling a pro move. He says he’ll begin Friday elsewhere and give the fish in that special area a little more time to migrate in as the sun gets warmer in the afternoon.
Can he finally catch a double digit?
Today’s beast was a one any bass angler would treasure catching, but Lester is still after a 10-pounder. The biggest bass of his life was actually a Tennessee giant that bit a jerkbait in a 30-acre lake he grew up fishing. It weighed 9 pounds 13 ounces.
So maybe this week will finally allow him to catch that magical 10-pounder, but if not, “Ol Hawg Head” provided a pretty special start to the 2023 season.
Surprisingly productive day puts Schultz atop Bassmaster Elite on Okeechobee
Bernie Schultz of Gainesville, Fla., is leading after Day 1 of the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with 28 pounds, 11 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
February 16, 2023
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Expectations did not match reality for Bernie Schultz, but the veteran Florida pro was delighted with a surprising day that yielded a five-bass limit of 28 pounds, 11 ounces, which leads Day 1 of the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee.
Hailing from Gainesville, Fla., Schultz anchored his bag with an 8-10 that leads the Phoenix Boats Big Bass standings. He heads into Day 2 with a 3-pound lead over local favorite Scott Martin.
“It was a remarkable day; I didn’t expect to catch that,” Schultz said. “I thought I’d get one — if I was lucky maybe two — big bites, but I got four big bites.”
Schultz caught his bass in two main sections of one general area that he found prior to the off-limits period. With depths of about 3 feet, the area held a mix of vegetation — a key ingredient, given the lake’s present condition.
High water has altered much of the traditional spawning areas, while herbicide treatments have dramatically reduced the hydrilla and eelgrass that once covered vast acreage. The area Schultz fished had a mix of these submerged aquatic plants, along with dollar pads, bulrush and cattails.
“I knew this area was going to be good because the vegetation is very healthy; that’s really a rare thing in this lake these days,” Schultz said. “The lake has shrunk because of habitat loss. Places that were once lush and healthy are barren right now.
“There’s not a lot of filtration in places that were historically really productive this time of year because the fish aren’t using them.”
Schultz caught all of his fish on a 5-inch Yamamoto Senko. He’s using two rigging styles — one for open-water presentations and one for tighter spots amid vegetation.
“I’m fishing slow because I’m in an area where there’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “I got my first big bite pretty early. I had a limit early, but it took a pretty good while to get the second big bite. That was the 8-10.
“I moved areas and caught another 8-pounder and one that was about 6.”
Schultz noted that, while the first half of his day produced more numbers of fish, the latter half yielded the biggest bites.
“I think the afternoons are better once you get that water temperature up,” Schultz said.
Tournament practice saw colder and mostly windy conditions whipping the lake and limiting the opportunity level.
“The first day of practice it was blowing like crazy throughout the day and it was just hard to fish,” Schultz said. “I was getting bit on moving baits but I never had a big bite.
“I had one 4-pounder, and I think that really tipped me off that I’m in a good area.”
Schultz said he will return to his area on Day 2. He’s confident he left plenty of bass there, but he’s unsure of how the overall fishing pressure will affect it.
“I don’t know what’s left (in my area); there were a lot of other boats there so we’ll have to see what happens,” Schultz said. “I’m trying to out-fish guys that are really good.”
Hailing from Clewiston, Fla., Martin admits that home-field advantage is often overstated, but his lifetime of local knowledge served him well by delivering a second-place limit of 25-11. Fishing the lake’s south end, Martin spent his day in a tucked-away area that he had all to himself.
“I prepared for this week, but I didn’t find a whole lot,” Martin said. “A couple of things gave me some clues as to what might happen. I kind of went with my gut this morning and it paid off big time.
“We have, maybe, three more days of fishing out here, so I may have to make adjustments throughout the week.”
Martin caught most of his fish with a prop bait. A slow, methodical presentation proved most effective for provoking fish that were becoming increasingly active with the week’s warming trend.
Martin also caught keepers by flipping shallow vegetation with a Texas-rigged Googan Squad Bandito Bug.
Tyler Rivet of Raceland, La., is in third place with 24-5. Clearly enthusiastic about not only his Day 1 performance but also his upcoming prospects, Rivet credited his success to making good adjustments.
“I was doing what I like to do, flipping an Xcite Baits Sucka Punch and throwing a ChatterBait and a few secret deals that I found would work,” Rivet said. “There’s a ton of fish the way I’m catching them, so I think I can go out there tomorrow and catch them.
“I haven’t had this feeling for a tournament in a while, and I think it can happen for this one. There are a few people in my area, but what they’re throwing and what I’m throwing are different. Hopefully, it can stay that way.”
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. ET at C. Scott Driver Park. The weigh-in will be held at the park at 3:30 p.m. Only the Top 50 anglers will advance to Semifinal Saturday. Bassmaster LIVE coverage begins at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster.com, Tubi and the FOX Sports platforms.
Randy Howell Earns Group B Qualifying Round Win at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
Weights Now Zeroed, Top 20 Anglers from Each Group Combine to Compete in Friday’s Knockout Round
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2023) – Guntersville, Alabama, pro Randy Howell caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 2 ounces, to lead Group B and win Thursday’s Qualifying Round at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain Presented by Grundéns.
Howell held the lead for most of the day, Thursday, before briefly losing it late in the third period to California pro Brent Ehrler. Howell caught a 2-pound, 14-ounce largemouth as time expired to re-claim the lead from Ehrler and earn the Group B win. After starting the day in 20th place, Ehrler weighed in five bass totaling 23 pounds, 1 ounce to vault up the leaderboard and end the Qualifying Round in second place. South Carolina’s Casey Ashley rounds out the top three with 10 bass weighing 34-3.
The remaining 40 anglers – the top 20 from each group – now advance to Friday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round on Saturday. Weights will carry over from the Knockout Round into the Championship Round, which will feature the final 10 anglers competing for the heaviest two-day cumulative total and the top prize of $100,000.
“Thankfully, we had another decent day,” Howell said in his post-game interview. “I had a good start to the morning and caught a limit pretty early and that really took the pressure off. I spent the rest of the day practicing around and covering a lot of water. I didn’t find a lot of new stuff, but I did figure out that the area I’m in has quite a bit of fish in it, so I feel pretty good about tomorrow.”
Howell spent the morning targeting fish keying on the shad spawn, rotating through Livingston topwater baits and jerkbaits. He flipped mats later in the day and caught a key fish as time expired – not only to reclaim first place atop the leaderboard, but it also provided him a clue for the Knockout Round.
“Right at the end I caught that one and found another stretch of flipping water that might be good tomorrow,” Howell said. “We got a lot accomplished today and held on for the win, just for the fun of it.
“Tomorrow, we want to be in the top 10 to get to the final day,” Howell went on to say. “It’s been going really good so far, but I want to be here on Saturday fishing for $100,000.
The top 20 pros from Group B that now advance to Friday’s Knockout Round on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are:
1st: Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 36-2
2nd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 35-10
3rd: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 10 bass, 34-3
4th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 34-1
5th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., eight bass, 33-5
6th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 32-15
7th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 10 bass, 32-5
8th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 31-9
9th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-5
10th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., eight bass, 31-2
11th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 30-3
12th: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 10 bass, 29-10
13th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 10 bass, 29-6
14th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 10 bass, 28-15
15th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 10 bass, 28-14
16th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 10 bass, 28-3
17th: Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., 10 bass, 27-11
18th: Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., 10 bass, 27-11
19th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 27-0
20th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 26-4
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 302 scorable bass weighing 726 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the 40 pros Thursday.
Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was awarded to pro Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, who weighed in a 9-pound, 8-ounce largemouth which bit a bladed swimjig in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, 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, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. Now that each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top 20 anglers from each group advance to Friday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In the Championship Round on Saturday, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
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 Marina, 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 MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Championship Saturday, Feb. 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to come in to celebrate the top 10 and crown the Stage 1 Champion at the Trophy Presentation. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, and take selfies.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 4-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on a fishery to be announced.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone 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. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns will air as two, two-hour episodes starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 15on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Toyota hooks 2023 Bassmaster Classic presenting sponsorship
February 16, 2023
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Longtime partners B.A.S.S. and Toyota, which has served as the exclusive Automobile/Truck and Mobility partner of B.A.S.S. for nearly 20 years, announced today that Toyota inked a deal to become the presenting sponsor of the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, sportfishing’s most iconic event. The 2023 edition of the Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota will be held March 24-26 in Knoxville, Tenn.
"The Bassmaster Classic is not only the pinnacle of tournament bass fishing, it's a celebration of the fans, the competitors, the sponsors and the sport itself. The three-day expo brings out thousands of avid fishing fans while anglers compete for fishing's most coveted trophy. It is truly a world-class event year after year," said Steve Appelbaum of Toyota Motor Sales North America. "We are extremely excited and proud to be the presenting sponsor of the 2023 Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville, Tennessee, and to continue celebrating our longstanding partnership with B.A.S.S. Toyota will not only be the presenting sponsor, but will have many of our latest vehicles in the Toyota booth space [at the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo] with exciting games, awesome prizes and the chance to meet your favorite Team Toyota Anglers. We are honored to be such a large part of what will surely be another incredible Classic.”
The 100,000 or more fans attending the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo can look forward to Toyota’s family-friendly activities, vehicle displays and the ultra-popular Toyota Ride & Drive course.
In addition to its strong presenting sponsorship of the Bassmaster Classic, Toyota is a platinum sponsor of the six-circuit Bassmaster Tournament Trail and will continue garnering prime visibility in B.A.S.S. multimedia platforms, magazines and on Bassmaster LIVE, which airs on FOX, FS1, Tubi and the FOX Sports digital platforms.
“Competing in the Bassmaster Classic is the dream of just about anyone who has picked up a rod to fish a tournament,” said Chase Anderson, CEO of B.A.S.S. “While many of our pro anglers already rely on Toyota’s quality to get them through the long Bassmaster season, we also know that many grass-roots anglers are dreaming about the sport’s biggest stage while hauling their boat to the lake with their trusted Toyota.
“We are thankful for Toyota’s longstanding partnership and support and welcome this tremendous opportunity to further associate our two brands at this year’s Classic.”
Iaconelli: Don’t put all your oranges in one basket
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
Great tournament anglers always have a Plan B, but at massive Lake Okeechobee -- “Florida’s Inland Sea” -- you’d better have a Plan C and Plan D too, because a shift in the wind direction can wreck your best spots really fast.
“This is definitely not a place where you can put all your oranges in one basket. Okeechobee is a giant shallow bowl of water that wind affects drastically. Wind creates muddy water, and muddy water is the kiss of death here. So you have to have productive areas for every wind direction,” warns Iaconelli.
Practice afforded a great trial run for Bassmaster Elite Series anglers as winds blew from the west at 20-30 mph on Sunday, then from the northeast on Monday, and then light and easterly on Tuesday.
“I played the wind in practice by launching in a different area of the lake each day based on what direction it was blowing. My goal was to find clean water in every circumstance, so that I’ll be in good shape no matter what the wind does during the tournament,” says Iaconelli.
Wind won’t be the only factor that forces anglers to have numerous key areas located. Fishing pressure is critical here too. Despite the fact you can’t see land from the middle of this 448,000 surface acre monstrosity, hundreds of tournament boats compete here nearly every weekend, and Iaconelli estimates at least 100 guides carry clients out daily in search of the giant bass that made this fishery famous.
“You might play the wind perfectly but show up to your best spot and find 20 other Elite Series guys and 10 fishing guides. So that’s another huge reason to have numerous spots to run to,” emphasizes Iaconelli.
“I’m ready,” says Ike. “I’ve got four key oranges in my basket to start Day 1. They all set up different. So, I feel like I’ll be in good shape no matter what.”
That’s an exciting statement for Iaconelli fans who know a confident “Ike” is a dude capable of doing amazing things no matter how challenging the conditions.
MLF Cancels Day 1 of Toyota Series at Lake Guntersville Due to High Winds
WHAT:
Major League Fishing announced this morning that Day 1 of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake Guntersville has been cancelled. Tournament Director Mark McWha canceled Day 1 of the Central Division season-opener due to strong winds and the threat of severe weather.
All pros and co-anglers will hit the water for two days of action on Friday and Saturday, with winners determined by heaviest two-day cumulative weight.
NOTES:
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. CT on Friday and Saturday from the Goose Pond Colony Marina, located at 417 Ed Hembree Drive in Scottsboro. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Marina and will begin at 2:30 p.m. 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 $40,000, plus an extra $35,000 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 outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of $65,000, plus an extra $35,000 if 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 outboard (valued at $33,500) plus $5,000 cash.
The 2023 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 V. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2023 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 2-4 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, and is hosted by ExploreBranson.com.
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.
Dream to Reality
Winner of the first MLF Invitationals Joshua Weaver breaks down how the event on Lake Okeechobee played out
Jeremy Lawyer Tops Group A Qualifying Round at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2023) – Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Missouri, paced the Group A field weighing in five bass totaling 15 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Qualifying Round, Wednesday, for the group at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain Presented by Grundéns . Lawyer’s two-day total of 35-7 earned him the win by a 1-pound, 13-ounce margin over second place angler Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, who held onto the second place position with a two-day total of 10 scorable bass weighing 33-10.
The top 20 advancing anglers from Group A will now have an off day from competition Thursday, while the 40 anglers competing in Qualifying Group B will complete their two-day Qualifying Round. The top 20 anglers from each group advance to Friday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
“Well, goal number one for this tournament has been accomplished – I’ve made the Knockout Round,” Lawyer said in his postgame interview. “Unfortunately, you don’t really get anything except a pat on the back and some bragging rights, but that’s okay and we’ll take it for now.
“What happened today was very confusing,” Lawyer continued. “Nothing that I thought was going to happen went down, except for my very first starting spot. But, the Knockout Round is a new day and I’m excited that I’ll be there and hope that I can get the right bites.”
Lawyer targeted offshore hydrilla with a vibrating jig and a swimjig for most of the day. He also added a couple of scorable bass on a ribbon-tail worm, but the vibrating jig was the key bait for him, Wednesday.
“I capitalized on some hydrilla and eelgrass mixed out deep,” Lawyer said. “I’d wind around a vibrating jig, then turn around and throw a Zoom Speed Worm around pads and up shallow, trying to catch some spawning fish. It was kind of a 1-2 punch. I didn’t get a lot of bites but what I did get was pretty good quality. Overall, it was a pretty solid day and I’m looking forward to the Knockout Round.
The top 20 pros from Group A that now advance to Friday’s Knockout Round on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are:
1st: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 35-7
2nd: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 10 bass, 33-10
3rd: Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, nine bass, 33-9
4th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 10 bass, 33-4
5th: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., 10 bass, 32-11
6th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 10 bass, 32-7
7th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-0
8th: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 30-15
9th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 10 bass, 30-6
10th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., eight bass, 30-5
11th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 10 bass, 29-13
12th: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-6
13th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., nine bass, 29-5
14th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 28-6
15th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., nine bass, 28-1
16th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., 10 bass, 25-15
17th: Josh Butler, Hayden, Ala., 10 bass, 25-4
18th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., nine bass, 24-14
19th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 10 bass, 24-9
20th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-6
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 270 scorable bass weighing 635 pounds, 9 ounces caught by the 40 pros Wednesday.
Pro Mitch Crane of Columbus, Mississippi, earned Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a stocky largemouth weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught in Period 1 on a swimjig. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, 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, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top 20 anglers from each group advance to Friday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
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 Marina, 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 MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Championship Saturday, Feb. 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to come in to celebrate the top 10 and crown the Stage 1 Champion at the Trophy Presentation. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, and take selfies.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 4-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on a fishery to be announced.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone 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. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns will air as two, two-hour episodes starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 15on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Following MLF Bass Pro Tour Competition, Lake Toho Set to Host 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship
Nearly 400 of the Nation’s Top College Fishing Anglers Compete for the Opportunity to Fish as a Pro in the 2023 Toyota Series Championship and the Chance to Win up to $235,000
Hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, the 15th annual College Fishing National Championship will feature 198 teams of the nation’s best collegiate anglers – a record-breaking number of teams for the MLF College Fishing National Championship, representing 82 colleges across the nation – to compete for a $33,500 prize package, including a new Phoenix 518 pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard, and the chance to advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship to compete for a top prize of up to $235,000.
"Kissimmee has been a host to many Major League Fishing events in the past, but this is the first time to host the College Fishing National Championship,” said Tyler Weyant, Director of Sports Development for the Kissimmee Sports Commission. “Many of the veteran anglers call Lake Toho and the Kissimmee Chain a rite of passage for anglers. We are excited to see how the college anglers perform and wish them the best of luck."
Both members of the winning team and the runners-up at the 2023 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. In addition, the winning team’s highest finishing team member at the Toyota Series Championship will advance to REDCREST 2024 to compete against the world’s best pros for the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
Both members of the third-place team at the College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2023 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
The Florida Gateway College duo of Seth Slanker and Jackson Swisher , both of Lake City, Florida, won the MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Open Presented by YETI on Lake Guntersville last year. The victory earned the team a coveted slot in the 2023 MLF College Fishing National Championship, in their home state.
“I’m really looking forward to the tournament next week and the high temperatures that are forecasted,” said Slanker. “Jackson and I fished on our high school bass team all four years, so we were always fishing high school tournaments at Kissimmee and have a lot of experience down there.
“The fishery changes a lot, but the bass are mid-spawn and this is the best time of year to fish on Kissimmee, so we are hoping to be able to fish up shallow, fish to our strengths and see what we can get in the boat,” Slanker continued.
The duo started the 2023 season with a bang, finishing second at the MLF College Fishing Open on the Harris Chain of Lakes last month in Leesburg, Florida. Slanker said they are excited to get back out on the water and expect to see a lot of big weights – and big fish – in this event.
“I think there will be several 20-pound bags weighed in, especially with the cold front that we’ve had this week and the anticipated warm up next week,” said Slanker. “I believe it will take more than 20 pounds per day to win this event. I think teams will do really well if they can get 25 pounds per day.”
Slanker and Swisher are both in their third year at Florida Gateway College and are enrolled in the Commercial Heating and Air Conditioning Technology program. This is their second time to qualify for the MLF College Fishing National Championship.
“We have about a day and a half to practice, so we’ll just see where the bigger fish are, try to use our time wisely and see if we can figure out something special,” said Slanker. “We really like flipping the Strike King Ocho and the Rage Tail Craw this year, so that’s definitely where we will start and hopefully get some key bites.
“There will also be a bunch of post-spawn fish, so we will definitely throw a (Z-Man) ChatterBaitand a ( Bill Lewis) Rat-L-Trap around some offshore hydrilla as well.”
Anglers will take off from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Dr. in Kissimmee at 7 a.m. ETeach day of competition. Weigh-ins will be held at the marina starting at 3 p.m. and will be livestreamed daily. Fans are welcome to attend the event or tune in to the weigh-in and follow the online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .
Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The Top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the Top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube .
Nominations now open for 2023 class of Bassmaster High School All-Americans
February 15, 2023
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. is seeking nominations for the best and brightest high school bass anglers in the country.
The Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors recognizes the 12 most outstanding high school anglers in the nation. The program is designed to reward young athletes for their performance in tournaments, leadership in their communities and involvement in conservation efforts.
Applications for the team, which is now in its ninth year, will be accepted today through March 31.
To be considered, a student must be nominated by a parent, coach, teacher or other school official. Students currently enrolled in grades 10 through 12 with a current grade point average of 2.5 or higher are eligible.
Judges will select up to two student anglers in each state. These All-State Fishing Team members will become semifinalists in the selection of the 12-member Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors. Criteria include success in high school fishing tournaments and involvement in conservation efforts and other community service activities.
The anglers chosen will compete in a one-day Bassmaster High School All-American Tournament to be held in conjunction with a 2023 Bassmaster Elite tournament, to be announced at a later date. Elite Series anglers will serve as “coaches” for the student anglers in the one-day fishing event. The high school standouts and Elite Series coaches will be honored before the weigh-in crowd.
“I am super-excited to share this platform with the best high school anglers in the country,” said Glenn Cale, B.A.S.S. tournament manager of theCollege, High School and Junior series. “Balancing school and fishing is key and hard work.”
All students who compete in high school fishing events are eligible, regardless if they are affiliated with B.A.S.S. or another fishing organization.
Notices have been sent to youth fishing directors of the B.A.S.S. Nation and other organizations, as well as leaders of state high school fishing programs. Adults can nominate students by filling out an online form at Bassmaster.com/allamerican. Nominations must be submitted before midnight on March 31. Please send all questions to [email protected].
Academy Sports + Outdoors Launches H2OX: A Complete Assortment of Fishing Gear Featuring New Products and Design
- Premier Series – offers value for entry-level anglers of all skill levels
- Ethos Series – mixes elements of elevated features and benefits while still maintaining substantial value
- Evo Series – designed in partnership with professional Elite Series angler, Stetson Blaylock, focuses on elevated products with unique, innovative features
Adrian Avena Grabs Early Group B Lead at B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2023) – Pro Adrian Avena of Vineland, New Jersey, weighed in five scorable largemouth bass totaling 26 pounds, 5 ounces, to grab the early lead for Group B after their Day 1 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain Presented by Grundéns. Pro Randy Howell of Guntersville, Alabama, sits 2 pounds, 7 ounces behind Avena in second place for Group B with five scorable bass totaling 23-14.
The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a top payout of $100,000, and a total purse of more than $805,000. Anglers are also fishing for valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters All-Star event and REDCREST, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
Avena started the day out slow, and was tied for 33rd place after the first period of competition. He went on a tear in Period 2, upgrading by 25 pounds and charging into the lead which he then held for the remainder of the day.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the event,” Avena said. “Now I just have to figure out a way to make it count.”
Avena was done fishing by 1 p.m. Tuesday and spent the rest of the day in practice mode. He’s fishing in an area that he has all to himself and that MLF commentator Marty Stone described as, “pretty far down south.”
“This is probably, low key, one of my most favorite Valentine’s days that I’ve ever had,” said Avena. “I caught 26 pounds – the biggest bag I’ve ever caught in my life. And I caught them in a tournament. That’s freaking awesome.
“A key bait for me today was a 5.75(-inch Berkley Powerbait) Speed Boss, that I caught two of my big ones on,” Avena continued. “It’s a great little swimming worm. I’m going to have to call up Brad from Pure Fishing and ask him to overnight me some more of these, because I’ve got a feeling that I’m going to catch quite a few more on it the rest of this week.”
The 40 anglers in Group B will now have a day off on Wednesday, while the 40 anglers from Group A will wrap up their two-day Qualifying Round. Group B will finish their Qualifying Round on Thursday.
The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are:
1st: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., five bass, 26-5
2nd: Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 23-14
3rd: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 19-2
4th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, five bass, 18-1
5th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 17-5
6th: Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 16-11
7th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, five bass, 16-4
8th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 16-0
9th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 15-15
10th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 15-4
11th: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 15-0
12th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 14-10
13th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 14-10
14th: Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., five bass, 13-15
15th: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 13-12
16th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 13-3
17th: Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 13-1
18th: Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala., five bass, 13-0
19th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 12-11
20th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., five bass, 12-8
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Favorite Fishing pro Matt Becker earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after a 7-pound, 1-ounce largemouth bit his bladed swimjig during Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top 20 anglers from each group advance to Friday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
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 Marina, 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 MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Championship Saturday, Feb. 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to come in to celebrate the top 10 and crown the Stage 1 Champion at the Trophy Presentation. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, and take selfies.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 4-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on a fishery to be announced.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone 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. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns will air as two, two-hour episodes starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 15on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
KVD Announces His Final Season as a Touring Pro
Columbia, S.C. – February 14, 2023 – All good things must come to an end. Kevin VanDam’s last season as a professional touring pro will end after this year’s 2023 Bass Pro Tour season. Arguably the greatest tournament angler ever, has decided this years Bass Pro Tour season will be his last as a tournament angler. “This being my 33rd season as a touring pro, at the age and my place in life and career, I have decided I can be more impactful in the industry I love very much,” Kevin said. “I still have a lot to give back to the sport I am so passionate about.” Kevin is the most decorated tournament angler of all time with records that may never be broken. Seven BASS AOY Titles and an FLW AOY title; 4 Bassmaster Classic wins; 25 total BASS wins and 4 MLF wins. What’s more, KVD has competed in over 320 BASS events and owns 121 top-10 finishes (183 top-20’s). Amazingly, he has scored a top 10 in 35-percent of the BASS events he has ever entered.
Kevin is known as a loyal and committed partner to his sponsors. “I have a long history with the brands as a competitive angler. Brands like Strike King and Quantum have been with me since the beginning and Lew’s, along with Strike King and Quantum, have been invaluable partners that helped get me to where I am. The people at these brands are like family, and I look forward to being a better ambassador in the future and being even more involved,” Kevin proclaimed. Rather Outdoors CEO Ken Eubanks reminisces on the impact Kevin has had throughout the years. “Kevin’s impact on this business has been profound, and among those who contribute to the success of Strike King and Lew’s, he is simply without peer. Yet, when Kevin walks through the shop at Strike King, or sits at the table with the Lew’s team, we don’t see him as a business collaborator, or a pro we sponsor; we see him as family,” shares Eubanks.
Major League Fishing President and CEO Boyd Duckett noted, “Today is both a sad day and a time for celebration in our sport. Kevin VanDam, the greatest professional angler of all time, announced that he is retiring at the end of the season. Kevin has been an integral part of Major League Fishing from our very beginning and has been a pioneer in helping develop this league. There has never been a more unselfish angler when it comes to helping grow the sport of bass fishing, for the anglers or the fans.” Dave Mercer, long time emcee of the Bassmaster Elites Series, said, “Kevin VanDam is without a doubt, the greatest professional angler in history. Not only does his list of accomplishments dominate almost every single category of the record books, he changed & reinvented all aspects of the sport – both on and off the water. One of the most over used quotes in the world today is ‘The GOAT,’ but Kevin VanDam truly is the Greatest of All Time. Thank You Kevin!”
We at Rather Outdoors congratulate Kevin on his retirement from competitive tournaments and look forward to continued collaborations in the future.
Early Season Bladed Jig tips
https://youtu.be/OVvKMsbGbqk
Vance McCollough breaks down bladed jigs for fishing the early parts of the year
Fletcher Shryock Leads After Day 1 of B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 13, 2023) – Favorite Fishing pro Fletcher Shryock’s five largest bass Monday weighed 23 pounds, 6 ounces and earned him the early lead after Day 1 for Group A of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain Presented by Grundéns. Right behind Shryock in second place is Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, who weighed in five scorable largemouth totaling 20-4.
The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, 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, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
Weights remain fairly tight in the remainder of the top five. Pro Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Missouri, ended the day in third place with five bass totaling 19-9, while Osaka, Japan’s Shinichi Fukae, who led the tournament for a good majority of the day, ended the day in fourth with five bass worth 18-15. General Tire pro Mark Rose of Wynne, Arkansas, rounds out the top five with five bass weighing 18-7.
The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition on Tuesday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will resume competition on Wednesday.
Shryock said he felt like he had a solid plan after his practice rounds, but as the wind picked up and rolled through the Kissimmee Chain on Monday, it had all but ruined his strategy.
“It started off this morning just not good,” Shryock said in his post-game interview. “I had to make adjustments today to be able to catch what I caught. The second and the third periods were really where I made my move.”
A midday flurry netted Shryock four of his best five bass. That pushed him right behind Fukae for first place. Then, the final 6-13 to end his day secured him the top spot. While he remains guarded about exactly how and where he’s catching his fish, he did give a little insight.
“I was being me and doing what I always do — flipping grass,” Shryock said simply. “I alternated between two baits. One is a Florida staple and the other is something I’m working on coming out with for Yamamoto. I’m keeping those baits quiet for now because I want to make sure that I don’t give too much away.”
Day 1 of the 2023 season is also the first day of the new five-fish format of the Bass Pro Tour. It took some time to get used to for the anglers on the water today, but all-in-all some positive reviews.
“I love the five-fish format paired with the live-scoring of SCORETRACKER®,” Shryock said. “Knowing that I only have to catch five fish and I know just how big those five have to be to keep pace is a great feeling and something I’ve never had before.”
Fukae echoed Shryock’s sentiments.
“It’s kind of weird compared to the last four years, but I like it,” Fukae said. “I think I’m more comfortable fishing five fish and I think that showed today.”
The top 20 pros in Group A after Day 1 on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are:
1st: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 23-6
2nd: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, five bass, 20-4
3rd: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., five bass, 19-9
4th: Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, five bass, 18-15
5th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., five bass, 18-7
6th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., five bass, 17-10
7th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 17-4
8th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., five bass, 16-11
9th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., five bass, 16-11
10th: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 15-8
11th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 15-1
12th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, five bass, 14-9
13th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 14-8
14th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 14-3
15th: Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, five bass, 13-4
16th: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 13-2
17th: Alton Jones, Sr., Lorena, Texas, five bass, 13-1
18th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 12-4
19th: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 12-1
20th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va, five bass, 11-14
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Fukae caught the biggest fish of the day in Period 1, a nice 8-pound, 11-ounce largemouth bass that bit his lipless crankbait to earn the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top 20 anglers from each group advance to Friday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
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 Marina, 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 MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Championship Saturday, Feb. 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to come in to celebrate the top 10 and crown the Stage 1 Champion at the Trophy Presentation. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, and take selfies.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 4-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, fishing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2024, the Bass Pro Tour championship, held March 13-17, 2024, on a fishery to be announced.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone 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. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Presented by Grundéns will air as two, two-hour episodes starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, July 15on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, Ark Fishing, ATG + Wrangler, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, Daiwa, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, Fox Rent A Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star tron, T-H Marine, TORO, Toyota, U.S. Air Force, Yellowstone Bourbon, Yo-Zuri and Zoom Baits.
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, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
