New Targets Staging Bass To Grab Lead At Bassmaster Southern Open On Cherokee Lake

Bryan New of Saluda, S.C., is leading the 2022 St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake presented by Mossy Oak Fishing with 19 pounds, 3 ounces.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

April 1, 2022

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Using several different techniques, South Carolina pro Bryan New caught a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouth weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces to lead the St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake presented by Mossy Oak Fishing.

The current Bassmaster Elite Series pro holds a slim advantage over second-place pro Shane Lineberger and third-place angler Frank Ramsey.

“It looks like I smashed them, but I didn’t,” New said. “I think I caught seven bass and lost two. It was one of those grinder days. This place had so much pressure this week and it is hard to run one deal. You have to do a little of this and a little of that.

“This place isn’t that big and 225 boats in one week changes things.”

With high winds and severe storms moving through East Tennessee on Thursday, Day 1 of the event was postponed, pushing the start to Friday morning and shortening the tournament to two days. In New’s mind, the delay helped the fishery tremendously.

When action finally began, 141 boaters landed limits Friday.

“I’ll argue with anyone, an off day in every tournament makes the fishing better,” New said. “They smashed them today. If we didn’t have that off day, basically a day and a half off, we would have caught some but it wouldn’t have been like this.”

This is only New’s second trip to Cherokee, but he is using his past experience on the Tennessee River to predict where the bass will be staging. With water levels on the lake dropping the past couple of weeks, New anticipated the bass wouldn’t be spawning yet.

“It is 13, 14 feet low now. I was thinking they should be stacked up on the staging stuff,” he said. “I figured the Damiki deal would still be going on — and it is, but there is only so much of the staging stuff and it is getting pounded. I was fortunate to catch four big ones and one good one.”

Cooler nights prevailed in practice, which didn’t allow the water temperatures to rise much. On tournament day, New noticed temperatures started in the low 50s, but rose throughout the day to about 58 degrees.

“The sun is important,” New said. “Not only does it warm the water up, but it positions the fish better. It makes them easier to catch.”

New has found that the smallmouth and largemouth are mostly in the same areas, but there are differences that will attract a smallmouth to an area more than a largemouth and vice versa. He ended Day 1 with four largemouth and one smallmouth.

The day started quickly for New, who landed his first bass on a Greenfish Tackle Bad Little Dude jig. From there, he landed a 2 1/2 and a 3 1/2 on a Spro Little John MD before landing his biggest bass, a 5-pounder, on a completely different bait. Two key culls late in the day, including one on the Bad Little Dude with minutes to spare before check-in, lifted him up the leaderboard.

Lineberger landed all largemouth on his way to 18-11. The North Carolina angler did not have a keeper at 9 a.m., but he decided to make a change mid-morning — something he likes to do on his home waters of Lake Norman — and the pattern he discovered lasted the rest of the day.

“I picked up a bait I throw at home this time of year and started doing things I do around the house,” Lineberger said. “The first place I fished I caught three and I ran the pattern from there. It held up until I quit running it.

“I caught a couple 2 1/2s that I threw back, and when I did that I quit running it. I may need those bass tomorrow.”

While Lineberger caught several smallmouth in practice, he had not been able to find them consistently. Even with his largemouth program, Lineberger anticipated he might only be able to catch 10 or 12 pounds.

“Sometimes the Good Lord smiles on you,” he said. “I had two that were around 4 1/4. They were all solid fish and that is what you have to have here. You can’t go out there and win on just smallmouth. I think you have to mix it up.

“Tomorrow I may have to do that. There is no holding back tomorrow and I can whack whatever bites.”

With a mixed bag, Ramsey ended Day 1 in third place with 18-5. The Illinois angler started the day by targeting brushpiles and landed two keepers quickly. Although the bite slowed from there, he filled a limit once the sun fully rose.

Most of his damage was done on one bank where he caught 10 keepers and made five or six key culls with both species.

“It was a grind waiting for the sun to come out,” he said. “Once the sun came out, it was all about moving baits, slow rolling and taking your time in prespawn areas and classic staging areas. Steep banks played a key role.”

Alabama pro David Kilgore landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a 5-11 largemouth that helped him land in sixth place.

Mitch Mitchell of Georgia leads the nonboater standings with a three-bass limit weighing 12-3. Mike McKinney is second with 11-6, followed by Herschel Brady with 11-0. Gerald Robbins Jr. holds the Big Bass of the Day on the co-angler side with a 5-1.

The full field of pros and co-anglers will compete on Championship Saturday. Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. ET from the Cherokee TVA Dam Boat Launch and return for weigh-in starting at 3 p.m.

2022 St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake presented by Mossy Oak Fishing 3/31-4/2
Cherokee Lake, Jefferson County TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1

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

1. Bryan New Saluda, SC 5 19-03 200
Day 1: 5 19-03
2. Shane Lineberger Lincolnton, NC 5 18-11 199
Day 1: 5 18-11
3. Frank Ramsey Spring Grove, IL 5 18-05 198
Day 1: 5 18-05
4. Jamie Bruce Kenora Ontario CANADA 5 18-02 197
Day 1: 5 18-02
5. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 5 18-00 196
Day 1: 5 18-00
6. David Kilgore Jasper, AL 5 17-13 195
Day 1: 5 17-13
7. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 5 17-12 194
Day 1: 5 17-12
8. Coop Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 5 17-08 193
Day 1: 5 17-08
9. Jeremy Gordon Rutledge, TN 5 17-03 192
Day 1: 5 17-03
10. Brandon Edel White House, TN 5 17-02 191
Day 1: 5 17-02
11. Joel Willert Prior Lake, MN 5 17-01 190
Day 1: 5 17-01
12. Scott Allgood Fair Play, SC 5 17-00 189
Day 1: 5 17-00
13. David Williams Newton, NC 5 16-14 188
Day 1: 5 16-14
14. Tim Frederick Leesburg, FL 5 16-13 187
Day 1: 5 16-13
15. Tom Frink Southside, AL 5 16-12 186
Day 1: 5 16-12
16. Zack Birge Blanchard, OK 5 16-09 185
Day 1: 5 16-09
17. Denny Fiedler Wabasha, MN 5 16-08 184
Day 1: 5 16-08
18. Ben Ballou Dickson, TN 5 16-06 183
Day 1: 5 16-06
19. Kyle Cortiana Broken Arrow, OK 5 16-05 182
Day 1: 5 16-05
19. Justin Margraves Diana, TX 5 16-05 182
Day 1: 5 16-05
21. Cody Bertrand Dyer, IN 5 16-04 180
Day 1: 5 16-04
22. Kyle Austin Ridgeville, SC 5 16-03 179
Day 1: 5 16-03
22. Jacob Moore Wake Forest, NC 5 16-03 179
Day 1: 5 16-03
24. Shannon Poore Walhalla, SC 5 16-02 177
Day 1: 5 16-02
24. Tommy Williams Shepherdsville, KY 5 16-02 177
Day 1: 5 16-02
26. Jacob Bigelow Cecil, WI 5 16-01 175
Day 1: 5 16-01
27. Zach Goutremout Chaumont, NY 5 15-15 174
Day 1: 5 15-15
28. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 5 15-14 173
Day 1: 5 15-14
29. Jon Canada Helena, AL 5 15-13 172
Day 1: 5 15-13
29. Drew Coker Murrayville, GA 5 15-13 172
Day 1: 5 15-13
29. Caiden Sinclair Wilsonville, AL 5 15-13 172
Day 1: 5 15-13
32. Corey Lindsey Marion, OH 5 15-12 169
Day 1: 5 15-12
32. Mark Pappas Dandridge, TN 5 15-12 169
Day 1: 5 15-12
34. Jason Borofka Lavon, TX 5 15-11 167
Day 1: 5 15-11
34. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 5 15-11 167
Day 1: 5 15-11
36. Chancy Walters West Des Moines, IA 5 15-09 165
Day 1: 5 15-09
37. Ty Ball Rogersville, TN 5 15-08 164
Day 1: 5 15-08
38. John Hunter Jr Shelbyville, KY 5 15-07 163
Day 1: 5 15-07
38. Kayden Tanner Tolar, TX 5 15-07 163
Day 1: 5 15-07
40. Chris Beaudrie Princeton, KY 5 15-06 161
Day 1: 5 15-06
40. Lucas Bradley Flippin, AR 5 15-06 161
Day 1: 5 15-06
42. Derek Lehtonen Woodruff, SC 5 15-05 159
Day 1: 5 15-05
42. Josh Roark Bean Station, TN 5 15-05 159
Day 1: 5 15-05
44. Billy Messer Spartanburg, SC 5 15-04 157
Day 1: 5 15-04
45. Paul Marks Cumming, GA 5 15-03 156
Day 1: 5 15-03
46. Gary Ginter Bellefontaine, OH 5 15-01 155
Day 1: 5 15-01
47. Bryden Mugleston Mount Juliet, TN 5 15-00 154
Day 1: 5 15-00
47. Joey Nania Cropwell, AL 5 15-00 154
Day 1: 5 15-00
49. Matt Coughlin Dandridge, TN 5 14-15 152
Day 1: 5 14-15
49. Jon Jezierski Troy, MI 5 14-15 152
Day 1: 5 14-15
51. Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 5 14-14 150
Day 1: 5 14-14
51. Blake Sylvester Plaquemine, LA 5 14-14 150
Day 1: 5 14-14
53. Bradley Hallman Edmond, OK 5 14-13 148
Day 1: 5 14-13
54. Chris Blanchette Charleston, SC 5 14-10 147
Day 1: 5 14-10
54. Dustin O'shaughnessy Junction City, WI 5 14-10 147
Day 1: 5 14-10
54. Logan Shaddix Cullman, GA 5 14-10 147
Day 1: 5 14-10
57. Tristan McCormick Burns, TN 5 14-09 144
Day 1: 5 14-09
58. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 5 14-08 143
Day 1: 5 14-08
59. Johnny Bigger II Spring Hill, FL 5 14-05 142
Day 1: 5 14-05
59. Matt Pangrac Bixby, OK 5 14-05 142
Day 1: 5 14-05
59. Tucker Smith Shoal Creek, AL 5 14-05 142
Day 1: 5 14-05
62. Darrell Davis Dover, FL 5 14-03 139
Day 1: 5 14-03
62. Harvey Horne Bella Vista, AR 5 14-03 139
Day 1: 5 14-03
62. Andrew Mlotek Indianapolis, IN 5 14-03 139
Day 1: 5 14-03
62. John Soukup Sapulpa, OK 5 14-03 139
Day 1: 5 14-03
62. Frank Talley Temple, TX 5 14-03 139
Day 1: 5 14-03
67. Michael Cooper Mobile, AL 5 14-02 134
Day 1: 5 14-02
68. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 5 14-00 133
Day 1: 5 14-00
68. Darold Gleason Many, LA 5 14-00 133
Day 1: 5 14-00
68. Connor Neal Hoover, AL 5 14-00 133
Day 1: 5 14-00
71. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 5 13-15 130
Day 1: 5 13-15
72. D.J. Ellis Crestview, FL 5 13-14 129
Day 1: 5 13-14
72. Todd Goade White Pine, TN 5 13-14 129
Day 1: 5 13-14
72. Kenta Kimura Osaka JAPAN 5 13-14 129
Day 1: 5 13-14
75. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 5 13-13 126
Day 1: 5 13-13
75. Alex Sherrill Clanton, AL 5 13-13 126
Day 1: 5 13-13
75. Bart Stanisz Wichita Falls , TX 5 13-13 126
Day 1: 5 13-13
78. Cole Drummond Effingham, SC 5 13-12 123
Day 1: 5 13-12
78. Seiji Kato Outsu Shiga JAPAN 5 13-12 123
Day 1: 5 13-12
78. Andrew Upshaw Hemphill, TX 5 13-12 123
Day 1: 5 13-12
81. David Perdue Wirtz, VA 5 13-11 120
Day 1: 5 13-11
82. Quentin Cappo Prairieville, LA 5 13-10 119
Day 1: 5 13-10
83. Mike Huff London, KY 5 13-09 118
Day 1: 5 13-09
83. Chris Keeble Lenoir City, TN 5 13-09 118
Day 1: 5 13-09
85. Andrew Thomasson Dublin, VA 5 13-08 116
Day 1: 5 13-08
86. Adam Neu Sturgeon Bay, WI 5 13-07 115
Day 1: 5 13-07
87. Jake Maddux Birmingham, AL 5 13-06 114
Day 1: 5 13-06
88. Garrett Paquette Canton, MI 5 13-05 113
Day 1: 5 13-05
89. Trevor McKinney Benton, IL 5 13-04 112
Day 1: 5 13-04
89. Chad Smith Minnetonka, MN 5 13-04 112
Day 1: 5 13-04
91. Jim Dillard West Monroe, LA 5 13-03 110
Day 1: 5 13-03
92. Matt Green Cartersville, GA 5 13-01 109
Day 1: 5 13-01
93. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 5 13-00 108
Day 1: 5 13-00
93. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 13-00 108
Day 1: 5 13-00
93. Lucas Murphy West Columbia, MI 5 13-00 108
Day 1: 5 13-00
93. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 5 13-00 108
Day 1: 5 13-00
97. Brad Leuthner Independence, MN 5 12-15 104
Day 1: 5 12-15
97. Brian Post Janesville, WI 5 12-15 104
Day 1: 5 12-15
99. Logan Johnson Jasper, AL 4 12-14 102
Day 1: 4 12-14
100. Cole Sands Calhoun , TN 5 12-13 101
Day 1: 5 12-13
101. Randy Elliott Severn, MD 5 12-11 100
Day 1: 5 12-11
101. Michael Kinard Concord, NC 5 12-11 100
Day 1: 5 12-11
103. Cody Stahl Barnsville, GA 5 12-09 98
Day 1: 5 12-09
103. Dustin Williamson Aiken, SC 5 12-09 98
Day 1: 5 12-09
105. Rick Morris Lake Gaston, VA 5 12-08 96
Day 1: 5 12-08
105. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 5 12-08 96
Day 1: 5 12-08
107. Aaron Digh Denver, NC 5 12-07 94
Day 1: 5 12-07
107. Bailey Fain Lenoir City, TN 5 12-07 94
Day 1: 5 12-07
109. Gary Pilkenton Morristown, TN 5 12-04 92
Day 1: 5 12-04
110. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 5 12-03 91
Day 1: 5 12-03
110. Sean Torgrude Jacksonville, FL 5 12-03 91
Day 1: 5 12-03
112. Jeff Fellows Orlando, FL 5 12-02 89
Day 1: 5 12-02
113. Lonnie Cochran Section, AL 5 12-01 88
Day 1: 5 12-01
113. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 5 12-01 88
Day 1: 5 12-01
113. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 5 12-01 88
Day 1: 5 12-01
116. Scott Ashmore Broken Arrow, OK 5 11-15 85
Day 1: 5 11-15
116. Ben Stone Iva, SC 5 11-15 85
Day 1: 5 11-15
118. Bailey Boutries Springfield, MO 5 11-14 83
Day 1: 5 11-14
119. Julius Mazy Phoenix, AZ 5 11-13 82
Day 1: 5 11-13
120. Zeke Gossett Pell City, AL 4 11-12 81
Day 1: 4 11-12
121. Griffin Heffington Cumming, GA 5 11-11 80
Day 1: 5 11-11
121. Chris Neau Gretna, LA 5 11-11 80
Day 1: 5 11-11
121. Jayme Rampey Liberty, SC 5 11-11 80
Day 1: 5 11-11
124. Michael Hall Annandale, VA 5 11-10 77
Day 1: 5 11-10
124. Ronnie Mccoy Lamar, SC 5 11-10 77
Day 1: 5 11-10
126. Keith Poche Pike Road, AL 5 11-05 75
Day 1: 5 11-05
127. Chris Moody Brooks, GA 5 11-03 74
Day 1: 5 11-03
128. Randy Blaukat Springfield, MO 5 11-02 73
Day 1: 5 11-02
129. Dave Frost Mount Dora, FL 5 11-01 72
Day 1: 5 11-01
129. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 5 11-01 72
Day 1: 5 11-01
131. Kibbee Mccoy Knoxville, TN 5 11-00 70
Day 1: 5 11-00
132. Douglas Reed Bridgeton, NJ 5 10-15 69
Day 1: 5 10-15
133. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 4 10-15 68
Day 1: 4 10-15
134. Danny Ramsey Trinidad, TX 4 10-14 67
Day 1: 4 10-14
134. Troy Roder Brookeland, TX 4 10-14 67
Day 1: 4 10-14
136. Carter McNeil Abbeville, SC 5 10-13 65
Day 1: 5 10-13
137. Hayden Newberry Jonesboro, IL 5 10-12 64
Day 1: 5 10-12
137. Nic Rand Kalamazoo, MI 5 10-12 64
Day 1: 5 10-12
139. Adam Rasmussen Sturgeon Bay, WI 4 10-11 62
Day 1: 4 10-11
140. Steven Mack Queen Creek, AZ 5 10-06 61
Day 1: 5 10-06
141. Hunter Sales Blaine, TN 4 10-06 60
Day 1: 4 10-06
142. Randall Carter Maplesville, AL 4 10-05 59
Day 1: 4 10-05
143. Destin DeMarion Harborcreek, PA 5 10-04 58
Day 1: 5 10-04
144. Brent Crow Hartselle, AL 4 10-02 57
Day 1: 4 10-02
145. Caden Acree Powder Springs, GA 5 09-15 56
Day 1: 5 09-15
146. Andy Hribar Lakeville, MN 5 09-12 55
Day 1: 5 09-12
147. Trey Swindle Cleveland, AL 3 09-12 54
Day 1: 3 09-12
148. Blake Smith Lakeland, FL 5 09-08 53
Day 1: 5 09-08
149. Chance Woodard Paris, TX 4 09-08 52
Day 1: 4 09-08
150. Dave Turner Crystal River, FL 5 09-04 51
Day 1: 5 09-04
151. Garrett Rocamora Lithia, FL 4 09-03 50
Day 1: 4 09-03
152. Spencer Peters Corryton, TN 5 09-02 49
Day 1: 5 09-02
153. Guy Eaker Cherryville, NC 4 09-02 48
Day 1: 4 09-02
154. Brandon Ackerson Afton, OK 3 09-02 47
Day 1: 3 09-02
155. Brady Vernon Birmingham, AL 4 09-01 46
Day 1: 4 09-01
156. Rich Howes Oviedo, FL 3 09-00 45
Day 1: 3 09-00
157. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 3 08-15 44
Day 1: 3 08-15
158. Craig Cavanna Spring Hill, FL 3 08-14 43
Day 1: 3 08-14
159. Travis Loyd Brookeland, TX 4 08-12 42
Day 1: 4 08-12
160. Buddy Cipoletti Naples, FL 3 08-05 41
Day 1: 3 08-05
161. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 4 07-14 40
Day 1: 4 07-14
162. Rob Digh Denver, NC 3 07-14 39
Day 1: 3 07-14
163. Tommy Parker Minnetonka, MN 3 07-13 38
Day 1: 3 07-13
163. Hermilo Salgado-Zavaleta Artemus, KY 3 07-13 38
Day 1: 3 07-13
165. Greg Mansfield Olathe, KS 3 07-10 36
Day 1: 3 07-10
166. Ronald Young New Braunfels, TX 4 07-08 35
Day 1: 4 07-08
167. Bradford Beavers Summerville, SC 3 07-08 34
Day 1: 3 07-08
168. Charlie Hartley Grove City, OH 4 07-04 33
Day 1: 4 07-04
169. T-Roy Broussard Port Arthur, TX 3 07-04 32
Day 1: 3 07-04
170. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 3 06-15 31
Day 1: 3 06-15
171. Sam George Athens, AL 2 06-12 30
Day 1: 2 06-12
172. Jeff Bauler Chapin, SC 3 06-11 29
Day 1: 3 06-11
173. Tim Malone Kodak, TN 3 06-08 28
Day 1: 3 06-08
174. Scott Pellegrin Chippewa Falls, WI 3 06-07 27
Day 1: 3 06-07
175. Chris Kingree Inverness, FL 3 05-15 26
Day 1: 3 05-15
176. Connor Graham Minneapolis, MN 2 05-15 25
Day 1: 2 05-15
177. Billy McDonald Greenwood, IN 2 05-14 24
Day 1: 2 05-14
178. Keith Nemcek St Charles, IL 2 05-11 23
Day 1: 2 05-11
179. Greg Secord Salem, SC 2 05-09 22
Day 1: 2 05-09
180. Eric Talley Corsicana, TX 2 05-06 21
Day 1: 2 05-06
181. Joey Sabbagha Prosperity, SC 2 05-04 20
Day 1: 2 05-04
182. Mason Gunter Newnan, GA 2 05-02 19
Day 1: 2 05-02
182. Kenny Mittelstaedt Minnetonka, MN 2 05-02 19
Day 1: 2 05-02
182. Dustin Wilkey Durant, OK 2 05-02 19
Day 1: 2 05-02
185. Tyler Caton Clanton, AL 2 04-15 16
Day 1: 2 04-15
186. Michael Harter Westminster, SC 2 04-13 15
Day 1: 2 04-13
187. Daniel Smith Blountsville, AL 2 04-10 14
Day 1: 2 04-10
188. Noah Boyett Mountain Home, AR 3 04-09 13
Day 1: 3 04-09
189. Jason Casteel Ocoee, FL 2 04-09 12
Day 1: 2 04-09
189. Kevin Ledoux Choctaw, OK 2 04-09 12
Day 1: 2 04-09
189. Teddie Scalf Corbin, KY 2 04-09 12
Day 1: 2 04-09
192. Allen Brooks Canton, GA 2 04-06 9
Day 1: 2 04-06
193. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 2 04-03 8
Day 1: 2 04-03
194. Wayman Coleman Abbeville, SC 2 04-02 7
Day 1: 2 04-02
195. Teb Jones Yalaha, MS 1 04-02 6
Day 1: 1 04-02
196. Jacob Walker Springville, AL 2 04-01 5
Day 1: 2 04-01
197. Marshall Harrelson Clarksville, GA 1 04-01 4
Day 1: 1 04-01
198. Parker Mott Winter Garden, FL 2 04-00 3
Day 1: 2 04-00
199. Daisuke Kita Ohtsu Shiga JAPAN 2 03-13 2
Day 1: 2 03-13
199. Jenny Nevans Dayton, TN 2 03-13 2
Day 1: 2 03-13
201. Joe McClosky Swanton, MD 1 03-07 0
Day 1: 1 03-07
202. Hugh Cosculluela Spring, TX 1 03-02 0
Day 1: 1 03-02
203. Tanner Sanderson Ackerly, TX 1 03-01 0
Day 1: 1 03-01
204. Christiana Bradley Goldvein, VA 1 02-14 0
Day 1: 1 02-14
205. Jerry Gallogly Jr North Tazewell, VA 1 02-13 0
Day 1: 1 02-13
206. Danny Lavoie Franklin, GA 1 02-12 0
Day 1: 1 02-12
207. Chuck Stratton Chaffee, MO 1 02-11 0
Day 1: 1 02-11
208. John Garrett Union City, TN 1 02-10 0
Day 1: 1 02-10
209. Luke Dunkin Lawrenceburg, TN 1 02-09 0
Day 1: 1 02-09
210. Bob Behrle Hoover, AL 1 01-15 0
Day 1: 1 01-15
210. Zachary Kuehler Seymour, TX 1 01-15 0
Day 1: 1 01-15
212. Jordan McDonald Jackson, GA 1 01-14 0
Day 1: 1 01-14
213. Colby Robertson Summerfield, FL 1 01-13 0
Day 1: 1 01-13
214. Austin Cranford Moore, OK 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Tony Dumitras Winston, GA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Zak Fadden Plymouth, MI 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Derek Freeman Anderson, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Ryan Hoover Lithia, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Jared Miller Norman, OK 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Allan Nail Sand Springs, OK 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Dustin Reneau Mckinney, TX 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Ron Ryals Jr Live Oak, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
214. Nick Ward Newnan, GA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 140 883 2418-09
----------------------------------
140 883 2418-09

2022 St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake presented by Mossy Oak Fishing 3/31-4/2
Cherokee Lake, Jefferson County TN.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 1

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

1. Mitch Mitchell Appling, GA 3 12-03 200
Day 1: 3 12-03
2. Mike Mckinney Benton, IL 3 11-06 199
Day 1: 3 11-06
3. Herschel Brady Morristown, TN 3 11-00 198
Day 1: 3 11-00
4. Darrell Curl Winston Salem, NC 3 10-01 197
Day 1: 3 10-01
5. Jason Moorman Bristol, TN 3 09-14 196
Day 1: 3 09-14
5. Steven Redmond Sevierville, TN 3 09-14 196
Day 1: 3 09-14
7. Timmy Cales Beckley, WV 3 09-13 194
Day 1: 3 09-13
7. Avery Williams Murrells Inlt, SC 3 09-13 194
Day 1: 3 09-13
9. Cory Weaver Ankeny, IA 3 09-10 192
Day 1: 3 09-10
10. Justin Westergreen Dahinda, IL 3 09-08 191
Day 1: 3 09-08
11. Steve Simpson Dobson, NC 3 09-07 190
Day 1: 3 09-07
11. Corey Yaden Grovetown, GA 3 09-07 190
Day 1: 3 09-07
13. Keith Gunsauls Dandridge, TN 3 09-06 188
Day 1: 3 09-06
14. Clifton Overstreet Dothan, AL 3 09-04 187
Day 1: 3 09-04
15. William Gaston Sylacauga, AL 3 09-01 186
Day 1: 3 09-01
15. Jordan LaClair Ogdensburg, NY 3 09-01 186
Day 1: 3 09-01
17. AJ Jones Lutz, FL 3 09-00 184
Day 1: 3 09-00
18. Kiel Guin Knoxville, TN 3 08-15 183
Day 1: 3 08-15
19. Chad Stahl Barnesville, GA 3 08-14 182
Day 1: 3 08-14
20. Erik Brztowski Lemont, IL 3 08-13 181
Day 1: 3 08-13
20. Clayton Payne The Plains, VA 3 08-13 181
Day 1: 3 08-13
20. Chip Stith Piscataway, NJ 3 08-13 181
Day 1: 3 08-13
23. Justin Baldridge Greenup, KY 3 08-12 178
Day 1: 3 08-12
24. Kevin Mallow Kansas, OK 3 08-10 177
Day 1: 3 08-10
25. Chris Buswell Clinton, TN 3 08-09 176
Day 1: 3 08-09
25. Steven Phillips Bowie, TX 3 08-09 176
Day 1: 3 08-09
27. Eric Camarote Rogers, MN 3 08-08 174
Day 1: 3 08-08
28. Mark Aaron Gastonia, NC 3 08-07 173
Day 1: 3 08-07
29. David Waack Cary, NC 3 08-04 172
Day 1: 3 08-04
30. Stephen Davis Blacksburg, VA 3 08-02 171
Day 1: 3 08-02
30. Christian Geisler Santa Barbara, CA 3 08-02 171
Day 1: 3 08-02
30. Ashton Smith Lake Helen, FL 3 08-02 171
Day 1: 3 08-02
30. Johnny Taylor Dandridge, TN 3 08-02 171
Day 1: 3 08-02
34. Tyler Carrick Lexington, NC 3 08-01 167
Day 1: 3 08-01
35. Dennis Lane Rutledge, TN 3 08-00 166
Day 1: 3 08-00
35. Mike Spears Jasper, AL 3 08-00 166
Day 1: 3 08-00
37. Trey Brafford Kings Mtn, NC 3 07-15 164
Day 1: 3 07-15
38. Bobby Williams Salisbury, NC 3 07-13 163
Day 1: 3 07-13
39. Justin Salisbury Binghamton, NY 2 07-12 162
Day 1: 2 07-12
40. Curtis Crooke Washburn, TN 3 07-11 161
Day 1: 3 07-11
41. Russell Jones Simpsonville, SC 3 07-08 160
Day 1: 3 07-08
42. Derek Caldwell Fyffe, AL 3 07-07 159
Day 1: 3 07-07
43. Will Hartsell Vestavia Hills, AL 2 07-06 158
Day 1: 2 07-06
44. Troy Mims Suwanee, GA 3 07-05 157
Day 1: 3 07-05
45. Ryan Shriber Franklin, TN 3 07-04 156
Day 1: 3 07-04
46. Don Bible II Knoxville, TN 3 07-03 155
Day 1: 3 07-03
47. Charles Mabry Phoenix, AZ 2 07-03 154
Day 1: 2 07-03
48. TJ Blakely Kingsport, TN 3 07-01 153
Day 1: 3 07-01
48. Justin Mcgaha Knoxville, TN 3 07-01 153
Day 1: 3 07-01
48. Steve Wever Waynetown, IN 3 07-01 153
Day 1: 3 07-01
51. Jonathan Barnette Jasper, AL 3 07-00 150
Day 1: 3 07-00
51. Hunter Reifschneider Marion, IA 3 07-00 150
Day 1: 3 07-00
51. Daniel Valois Gomez Caracas FL VENEZUELA 3 07-00 150
Day 1: 3 07-00
54. Kevin Humbard Dandridge, TN 3 06-15 147
Day 1: 3 06-15
55. Gerald Robbins Jr. Asheboro, NC 2 06-15 146
Day 1: 2 06-15
56. Michael Schrader North Attleboro, MA 3 06-12 145
Day 1: 3 06-12
56. Jerry Shepard Lebanon, VA 3 06-12 145
Day 1: 3 06-12
58. Jerry Morris Jr Charlotte, NC 3 06-11 143
Day 1: 3 06-11
59. Jimmy Crum Afton, TN 3 06-10 142
Day 1: 3 06-10
60. Sakae Ushio Tonawanda, NY 3 06-09 141
Day 1: 3 06-09
61. Bradley Sterner Manchester, PA 3 06-07 140
Day 1: 3 06-07
62. Jacob Altman Olathe, CO 2 06-07 139
Day 1: 2 06-07
63. Wes Ratcliff Knoxville, TN 3 06-06 138
Day 1: 3 06-06
64. George Headden Oakdale, TN 3 06-05 137
Day 1: 3 06-05
65. Bill Humbard New Market, TN 2 06-05 136
Day 1: 2 06-05
66. Robert Brewer Trafford, AL 3 06-04 135
Day 1: 3 06-04
67. Kent Biggs Morristown, TN 3 06-03 134
Day 1: 3 06-03
68. Skyler Anderson Harlem, GA 3 06-02 133
Day 1: 3 06-02
68. Paul Holden Greenfield, IN 3 06-02 133
Day 1: 3 06-02
70. Levi Allgeier Bardstown, KY 3 06-01 131
Day 1: 3 06-01
70. Ray Hill Lake City, FL 3 06-01 131
Day 1: 3 06-01
72. Dawson Wisner Westminster, MD 2 05-13 129
Day 1: 2 05-13
73. John Barnes Henrico, VA 3 05-12 128
Day 1: 3 05-12
73. Johnnie Garrett Union City, TN 3 05-12 128
Day 1: 3 05-12
75. Bill Bruce Hendersonville, TN 2 05-12 126
Day 1: 2 05-12
75. Scotty Ingle Asheville, NC 2 05-12 126
Day 1: 2 05-12
77. Tyler Morrison Locust Grove, GA 2 05-11 124
Day 1: 2 05-11
78. Greg Mauldin Archdale, NC 2 05-09 123
Day 1: 2 05-09
79. Byong Lee Stedman, NC 2 05-08 122
Day 1: 2 05-08
79. Alex Reece Greenville, SC 2 05-08 122
Day 1: 2 05-08
81. Steve Ouellette Knoxville, TN 3 05-07 120
Day 1: 3 05-07
82. Anthony Boris Kansasville, WI 2 05-07 119
Day 1: 2 05-07
83. Ben Brumley Anderson, SC 2 05-05 118
Day 1: 2 05-05
83. David Timbs Elizabethton, TN 2 05-05 118
Day 1: 2 05-05
85. Jon Brown Tampa, FL 2 05-04 116
Day 1: 2 05-04
86. Owen Stamm Jefferson City, TN 2 05-03 115
Day 1: 2 05-03
87. Keith Gregory Waynesville, OH 2 05-02 114
Day 1: 2 05-02
88. Gary Sanders Jonesborough, TN 2 05-01 113
Day 1: 2 05-01
88. Todd Sosebee Bessemer City, NC 2 05-01 113
Day 1: 2 05-01
88. Tony Vultaggio Santa Barbara, CA 2 05-01 113
Day 1: 2 05-01
91. Mike Anderson Harlem, GA 2 04-15 110
Day 1: 2 04-15
92. Steve Kline Hilltop Lakes, TX 2 04-14 109
Day 1: 2 04-14
93. Wayne Foriest Nashville, TN 2 04-11 108
Day 1: 2 04-11
93. Joshua McGeary Mt. Pleasant, PA 2 04-11 108
Day 1: 2 04-11
95. Brad Cain Greenville, SC 2 04-09 106
Day 1: 2 04-09
96. Shon Pulley Trenton, SC 2 04-08 105
Day 1: 2 04-08
96. Matt Rasnick Elizabethton, TN 2 04-08 105
Day 1: 2 04-08
98. Josh Milner Clyde, NC 2 04-07 103
Day 1: 2 04-07
98. Lance Owen Greer, SC 2 04-07 103
Day 1: 2 04-07
100. Parker Knudsen Minnetonka, MN 2 04-05 101
Day 1: 2 04-05
100. David Watkins Saint Marys, WV 2 04-05 101
Day 1: 2 04-05
102. Jonathon Dewey Fort Gratiot, MI 2 04-04 99
Day 1: 2 04-04
102. Horace Hubbard Albany, GA 2 04-04 99
Day 1: 2 04-04
104. Thomas Abraham Winchester, TN 2 04-02 97
Day 1: 2 04-02
104. Dennis Oxendine Morristown, TN 2 04-02 97
Day 1: 2 04-02
106. Justin Thomas Panama City, FL 2 04-01 95
Day 1: 2 04-01
107. Jimmy Hayes Fayetteville, NC 2 04-00 94
Day 1: 2 04-00
108. Bailey Rothrock Monticello, IN 2 03-15 93
Day 1: 2 03-15
109. Tristan Bramblett Tiger, GA 1 03-14 92
Day 1: 1 03-14
109. Chris Earles Lady Lake, FL 1 03-14 92
Day 1: 1 03-14
111. Austin Cole Rutherfordton, NC 2 03-12 90
Day 1: 2 03-12
112. Corey Owens Gray, KY 1 03-12 89
Day 1: 1 03-12
113. Jason Sturgill Big Stone Gap, VA 2 03-11 88
Day 1: 2 03-11
114. Trent Peace Roebuck, SC 1 03-10 87
Day 1: 1 03-10
115. Harold Addison Columbia, SC 2 03-06 86
Day 1: 2 03-06
116. Charles Bowman II Kernersville, NC 1 03-04 85
Day 1: 1 03-04
117. Matthew Mccarthy Marysville, OH 1 02-14 84
Day 1: 1 02-14
118. Travis Culbreth Alexander City, AL 1 02-13 83
Day 1: 1 02-13
118. James Roten West Jefferson, NC 1 02-13 83
Day 1: 1 02-13
118. Christopher Tinsley Pisgah Forest, NC 1 02-13 83
Day 1: 1 02-13
118. Rodney Vaow Huntersville, NC 1 02-13 83
Day 1: 1 02-13
122. Rick Hamer Charleston, WV 1 02-12 79
Day 1: 1 02-12
122. Justin Yenter Stevens Point, WI 1 02-12 79
Day 1: 1 02-12
124. Stacey Jefferson Conway, SC 1 02-10 77
Day 1: 1 02-10
125. Justin Eger Monticello, IN 1 02-08 76
Day 1: 1 02-08
126. Joseph Barnes Locust Grove, GA 1 02-07 75
Day 1: 1 02-07
126. Brett Bowman Sophia, NC 1 02-07 75
Day 1: 1 02-07
128. Cliff Graham Mills River, NC 1 02-06 73
Day 1: 1 02-06
128. Douglas Landers Greeneville, TN 1 02-06 73
Day 1: 1 02-06
130. Ryan Godsey Chickamauga, GA 1 02-04 71
Day 1: 1 02-04
130. Keith Raney Tullahoma, TN 1 02-04 71
Day 1: 1 02-04
130. Neal Wisinski Stevens Point, WI 1 02-04 71
Day 1: 1 02-04
133. Ryan Chambers Chandler, AZ 1 02-03 68
Day 1: 1 02-03
133. Brian Rothrock Monticello, IN 1 02-03 68
Day 1: 1 02-03
135. Pete Patterson Kingsport, TN 1 02-02 66
Day 1: 1 02-02
135. Cal Teneyck Shakopee, MN 1 02-02 66
Day 1: 1 02-02
137. Frank Williams Jackson, MO 1 02-01 64
Day 1: 1 02-01
138. David Booth Erin, TN 1 01-15 63
Day 1: 1 01-15
139. James Davis Afton, TN 1 01-14 62
Day 1: 1 01-14
140. Anthony Harris Bellview, FL 1 01-13 61
Day 1: 1 01-13
140. Floyd Willis Grayson, KY 1 01-13 61
Day 1: 1 01-13
142. Gregory Mauldin Archdale, NC 1 01-10 59
Day 1: 1 01-10
142. Angela Mayo Maiden, NC 1 01-10 59
Day 1: 1 01-10
144. Matt Molitor Canton, IL 1 01-09 57
Day 1: 1 01-09
145. Blake Bailey Rutledge, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Robert Bean Maryville, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Andy Beloat Montgomery, TX 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. John Coker Knoxville, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. David Compton Mount Bethel, PA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Wallace Coward Beech Island, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. John Cummings Maumelle, AR 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Joshua Gabehart Scott Depot, WV 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Dehn Ganey Bonneau, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Jason George Farragut, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Kevin Gonyea Franklinton, NC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. John Goul Philadelphia, MS 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Gregory Greene Knoxville, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Osvaldo Gutierrez Grand Island, NE 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Curtis Hall Lenore, WV 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Curtis Hall II Lenore, WV 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. John Hatfield Panama City, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Jeremiah Hitt Lutz, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Christopher House Walworth, NY 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Russell Hoyle Newton, NC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Rick Jones Monitcello, IA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Justin Jones Winchester, OH 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Brian Kendzior Bradenton, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Gus Kneidinger Prospect, PA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Todd Lee Jasper, AL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Phillip Little Whitesburg, KY 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Michael Livesay Dandridge, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Kenneth Lodwick Dandridge, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Rod Longnecker Tampa, FL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Alexander Mckenzie Langhorne, PA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Matt Melton Fairlawn, VA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Ronald Miller Gadsden, AL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Bob Morin Seymour, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Rusty Odom Simpsonville, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Drew Osborn Maryville, TN 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Dee Powell Hope Hull, AL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Asa Putnam Tunnel Hill, GA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Bill Richards Whitmore Lak, MI 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Jacob Robinson Temple, GA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Austin Sears Dayton, OH 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Chris Sherrill Clanton, AL 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Brandon Smith Knightdale, NC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Greg Smith Georgetown, KY 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Blake Stephenson Evans, GA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Ike Taylor Westerville, OH 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Ryan Thomas Salyersville, KY 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Mike Toney Blacksburg, VA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Bruce Touchstone Madison Heights, VA 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Dusty Wood Belton, SC 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
145. Ken Yamate Richardson, TX 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 68 323 844-06
----------------------------------
68 323 844-06

by AnglersChannel

One Bite for $100K – Major League Fishing’s General Tire Heavy Hitters Event Set to Launch on Lake Palestine Next Week

by AnglersChannel

East Texas Baptist University Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship

WAGONER, Okla. (March 31, 2022) – The East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) duo of Kaden Proffitt of Pittsburg, Texas and Cason Ragsdale of Winnsboro, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit Thursday totaling 14 pounds, 1 ounce to win the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance at Fort Gibson Lake. Although ETBU has a Tackle Warehouse School of the Year title under its belt, this is the first national title for the university, earning the team a $33,500 prize package, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard and automatic entry into the 2022 Toyota Series Championship to compete as pros for a shot to win up to $235,000.

After leading on both Day One and Day Two by a mere ounce, the Tiger duo’s three-day total of 14 bass, weighing 43-8 gave them the win by a 3-pound, 5-ounce margin – the largest margin they’ve had throughout the entire event. Donavan Carson and Landon Lawson from King University finished second with 13 bass weighing 40-3.

“We both went into this week knowing if we put our heads down and fished hard, we could win this event,” said Proffitt. “We knew logically if we could catch 15 3-pounders, we could win the tournament – and we’ve caught a million 3-pounders in our lives, so how difficult could it be to catch 15 – that was our mindset going into this event.

“We had zero fish at 10:30 a.m. today and we knew realistically we could zero for the day – it’s a fine line that we were walking this week. There are so few fish, and the bites are so few and far between, if you miss one, you’ve changed the entire result of the event. Thankfully it all worked out for us this week.”

“Some of our fish came off spots that we had actually fished in July during another MLF tournament,” said Ragsdale. “We pulled up in that same area and caught our kicker fish there, so we definitely feel blessed.

“We just fished slow. We ran and ran, but every spot we put down, we fished slow and methodical and made sure that every place where a fish could possibly be, we put a bait in.”
Proffitt said they caught their fish between 2 and 6 feet of water throughout the event and their key bait on Championship Thursday was a jig.

“We caught fish on a ChatterBait and on a crankbait, but the jig was what we caught the two big ones on and that was really key for us, just slowing down, especially earlier in the event,” said Proffitt. “There were a lot of people fishing the same areas as us, and we weren’t doing anything ‘special’ as far as where we were fishing, but I think the difference was we were just settling down once we got in an area and just made sure we fished it real slow. We made sure we made every cast we could possibly make, from every angle we could possibly hit it from, then we’d move on. And we hit as many spots as we could doing that.”

When asked about the automatic berth into the 2022 Toyota Series Championship, Proffitt said, “I can’t even process what that means right now. I’ve always wanted to fish for a living, and I can’t imagine a better way to possibly get started.”

“Every meeting we go to, we’ve said, ‘we’re fishing this tournament to get to the National Championship, so we can try to win the National Championship’ so to come here and do it is just amazing,” said Ragsdale. “Kaden and I have looked at each other all throughout this event and said, ‘we’re going to catch what we need to catch to continue moving forward’, and that’s how we’ve fished the entire event. If we had ten minutes left, we were going to catch what we needed in that ten minutes. We didn’t even have a limit yesterday, but we knew going into it that we were going to catch what we needed.

“This National Championship win is insane for our program – it’s going to be awesome.”

The top 10 teams on Fort Gibson Lake finished:

1st:           East Texas Baptist University – Kaden Proffitt, Pittsburg, Texas and Cason Ragsdale, Winnsboro, Texas, 14 bass, 43-8, $33,500 prize package
2nd:          King University – Donavan Carson of Bluff City, Tenn., and Landon Lawson of Jonesborough, Tenn., 13 bass, 40-3, $5,000
3rd:          McKendree University – Bailey Bleser, Burlington, Wis., and Nathan Doty, Decatur, Ill., 14 bass, 39-7, $4,000
4th:           Stephen F. Austin - Austin Anderson, Nacogdoches, Texas and Cal Cameron, Coppell, Texas, 11 bass, 34-6, $3,000
5th:           Kentucky Christian University – Lafe and Matt Messer, both of Warfield, Ky., 11 bass, 33-2, $2,000
6th:           Illinois State University – Justin and Austin Carr, both of Bloomington, Ill., 11 bass, 32-7
7th:           East Texas Baptist University – Cannon Bird of Marshall, Texas, and Jacob Keith, Jefferson, Texas, 13 bass, 32-2
8th:           Drury University – Cole Breeden of Eldridge, Mo., and Cameron Smith of Nixa, Mo., eight bass, 29-1
9th:           Texas A&M – Dawson Cassidy of Gainesville, Texas and Augustus McLarry of Caddo Mills, Texas, 10 bass, 28-15
10th:        Murray State University – Kayden Effinger of Westfield, Ind., and David Wisler of Noblesville, Ind., eight bass, 26-4

For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 26 bass weighing 72 pounds even caught by nine teams Thursday. The catch included 1 five-bass limit.

The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance at Fort Gibson Lake was hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner.

The 13th annual College Fishing National Championship is a three-day event – hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner – featuring the top 176 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 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. Both members of the third-place team will advance to the 2022 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 ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, 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 information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI on MLF’s social media outlets at  Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Santee Cooper Set to Host MLF Toyota Series Southern Division Tournament

SUMMERTON, S.C. (March 31, 2022) –Major League Fishing (MLF) is set to return to Summerton and Clarendon County, South Carolina, for a tournament next week, April 7-9, with the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. at Santee Cooper. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, is the second event of the season for the Toyota Series Southern Division.

The tournament will feature the region’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers casting for a top prize package of up to $75,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 pro boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard motor, in the co-angler division.

“This is going to be a fun event to follow,” said Bass Pro Tour angler Anthony Gagliardi, who resides in Prosperity, South Carolina. “Santee is always a little bit ahead of Lake Murray when it comes to the spawn, but I expect we’ll see fish in all three phases. Whether or not the postspawn fish play– meaning targeting the shad spawn – will likely depend on the weather. But it’s a really good fishery and they’re going to catch a lot of big fish down there next week.”

Gagliardi said that although there are certain areas of the lake that are historically good, he expects the majority of the field to be pretty spread out.

“With the two lakes in play – and each are really big – there is a lot of fishable water for sure,” Gagliardi said. “I think we’ll see guys get back into the backwater ponds and some swampy areas up the river, but some will target the big flats on the lower end. The fish also are known to get out into those stump fields as well. Guys are really going to have a lot of options available to them.”

When asked what baits he would be throwing if he was competing in this event, Gagliardi offered a trio of options that he expects to play a role for competitors.

“I’d definitely have a spinnerbait tied on, that’s really good here this time of year. I’d have a frog or some sort of topwater bait, and I’d have a wacky-rig ready to go – something for bed fishing, because there are definitely going to be some spawners caught in this one.”

Anglers will take off each day at 7 a.m. CT from John C. Lane III Landing, located at 4404 Greenall Road in Summerton, South Carolina. Weigh-ins will also be held at the landing, beginning at 3 p.m. on the first two days of competition – Thursday and Friday – and 4 p.m. on Championship Saturday. 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.

After one event in the Toyota Series Southern Division, Robert Branagh of Malabar, Florida, leads the Pro Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 260 points, while Brent Jones of Okeana, Ohio, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 260 points.

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 2022 Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions and finish in the top 25 – or the top 12 from the Wild Card division – will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 cash. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2022 Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. Championship will be held Nov. 3-5 on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, and is hosted by Marshall County Tourism and Sports.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Outlaw Ordnance, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X and YETI.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF Toyota Series on the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Big Largemouth Expected At The Scales For Bassmaster Elite At Chickamauga Lake

Dayton, Tenn., will host the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake April 7-10, 2022.

Photo by Dalton Tumblin/B.A.S.S.

March 31, 2022

DAYTON, Tenn. — One of Buddy Gross’s biggest sponsors is Fish Lake Chickamauga.

The Chattanooga resident has long considered the world-famous largemouth factory his home waters.

So, when Gross makes a bold statement about the upcoming Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake, the world should perk up and take notice.

“There are going to be some giants brought to the scales,” said Gross, who has two Elite Series victories to his credit. “They’re gonna be big, fat and healthy — and if a few people can find several of those kind of fish, you could see another event like we just had at Santee Cooper, Century Belts included.”

Competition days will be April 7-10, with takeoffs each day at 7 a.m. ET from Dayton Boat Dock and daily weigh-ins at 3 p.m. at Point Park/Dayton Boat Dock. A full field of 94 pros will fish the first two days, with the field being cut to 47 for Semifinal Saturday and to 10 for Championship Sunday as the anglers compete for a $100,000 first-place prize.

Gross said a recent one-day local event was won on Chickamauga with a five-bass limit that weighed more than 37 pounds, including a 12 1/2-pound largemouth kicker.

“Think about that,” he said. “That means they had four other fish that weighed 25 pounds by themselves. That’s the kind of potential this lake has.”

Gross said he expects the water level to be falling on the 36,240-acre Tennessee River fishery — and that could help because it will force fish into smaller and smaller areas each day. That’s the good news.

The bad news is they could be in transition between prespawn and spawning areas — and that could make them harder to find in bunches. He said that could play into the hands of someone who specializes in reading forward-facing electronics.

“Fishing has changed so much the last two years, and the forward-facing sonar gives us the ability to find those roamer fish that are the really big ones,” he said. “That’s what’s going to play. The competitors I’m scared of are the ones who can go out there with a single bait and find those single giants swimming around.”

Gross said jerkbaits — a common choice for forward-facing sonar experts — will likely factor in heavily, along with lipless crankbaits and bladed jigs. More than anything, though, he said flexibility will likely be a part of the winning angler’s game plan.

As a historic producer of giant largemouth, Chickamauga is a destination site for avid bass anglers from across the United States. The lake gets major fishing traffic — and because of that, there are few bass in its waters that haven’t seen traditional presentations over and over again.

“The lake gets pressured a lot, and a lot of these guys who drive 18 hours to Chickamauga to catch a giant, they’re not gonna slow down,” he said. “You can’t fault anyone for that. You just have to get in there and work with everybody.

“Somebody with an open mind will be the one to watch for in our field. Somebody who figures out something a little different that hasn’t gotten beat up is going to be the key.”

While he believes another Century Belt performance — a four-day limit of 100 pounds or more — is possible, Gross believes it will take a little less than that to win.

“Unless somebody really, really finds that magic spot, 100 pounds is going to be tough,” he said. “It can happen; I think a man could catch four days of 30 pounds pretty easy, but it will take the absolute perfect storm. I’m still going to go with mid- to upper 80s for my prediction as a winning weight.”

Heading into the fourth stop on the 2022 Elite Series schedule, Florida pro John Cox leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 285 points. He is followed by Tennessee pro David Mullins (265), Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock (257), Idaho pro Brandon Palaniuk (254) and Georgia pro Drew Cook (248).

During B.A.S.S.’s three most recent trips to Chickamauga, Cox earned two victories — in the 2017 Bassmaster Southern Open and the 2019 Bassmaster Eastern Open. Texas pro Lee Livesay won the other event, a 2020 Elite Series tournament that was moved to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wisconsin pro Jay Przekurat leads the Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race with 232 points, followed by Alabama pro Joseph Webster (183), Pennsylvania pro Jonathan Kelley (167), Japanese pro Masayuki Matsushita (150) and Missouri pro Cody Huff (131).

Full coverage from all four days of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake will be available on Bassmaster.com and the FOX Sports digital platforms. FS1 will also broadcast live with the tournament leaders on Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10 beginning at 8 a.m. ET.

by AnglersChannel

High Winds Force Day 1 Postponement Of Bassmaster Open At Cherokee Lake

March 31, 2022

           

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Forecasts of high winds have forced officials to postpone Day 1 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake presented by Mossy Oak Fishing.

"The safety of our anglers, co-anglers and staff is our primary concern," said Chris Bowes, Vice President of Tournaments. "We have been monitoring the weather closely alongside the local National Weather Service, and the forecast is calling for sustained Southwest winds of 15-25 mph and gusts over 30 mph."

 

The competition will resume Friday morning at 7 a.m. ET and the full field will compete both Friday and Saturday. Anglers will take off from Cherokee TVA Dam Boat Launch and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m.

 

Visit Jefferson County, Tennessee, is hosting the event.

by AnglersChannel

East Texas Baptist University Extends Lead at 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship

WAGONER, Okla. (March 30, 2022) – After another brutal day on the water, the East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) duo of Kaden Proffitt of Pittsburg, Texas and Cason Ragsdale of Winnsboro, Texas, extended their lead Wednesday after Day Two of the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance at Fort Gibson Lake.

The duo grabbed the early lead on Day One by a slim one-ounce margin and narrowly maintained that lead on Day Two, bringing only four bass to the scale weighing 11 pounds, 14 ounces. Their two-day total of 29 pounds, 7 ounces gives them a mere one-ounce lead over the second-place team from Stephen F. Austin – Austin Anderson of Nacogdoches, Texas and Cal Cameron of Coppell, Texas – who brought a limit to the scale weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces, to bring their two-day total to 29 pounds, 6 ounces.

“The conditions definitely changed today,” said Ragsdale. “We started off in the morning expecting the fish to do something different with the rain we got last night. I didn’t know if the lake would come up, but knew there would be water running in, so we decided to run the backs of creeks.

“There weren’t as many fish there as we thought there would be, but we ended up catching a 4 ½-5 pounder in one of them,” continued the senior business administration major. “We tried to duplicate that up the lake, but it just didn’t work out. We ended up catching a few fish out of the same areas as we did on Day One, but overall, it was just a tougher day.”

The duo said once they realized the creeks weren’t going to deliver like they had expected, they ended up fishing transition banks again on Day Two.

“Our baits have been pretty different each day,” said Proffitt. “Day One we mostly caught our fish on a crankbait, but today we caught them on several different baits, just fishing the conditions.”

The Tiger team said they expect the conditions to change once again tomorrow but are optimistic that they can find what it takes to win out on Fort Gibson Lake.

“We’re around quality fish and believe we can go out there and catch another bag tomorrow, if we can just get the right bites,” said Ragsdale. “If we can get another 5-pounder tomorrow, that would go a long way – if we could just get a couple more keepers to go with it. I expect tomorrow to get even more difficult if the sun comes out and the wind dies down like is forecasted, but if it’s difficult for us, that means it will be difficult for everyone, so we’ll see what happens.”

The ETBU bass-fishing team is one of the best in the country – previously earning the 2020 Tackle Warehouse School of the Year title – but has yet to win a national title.

“Winning this event would mean everything,” said Proffitt, who is also a senior business administration major. “It would be our school’s first national championship and our first team win in our collegiate series, so it would be huge for us and for the program.”

The full field of 176 teams competed 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 that now advance to Championship Thursday on Fort Gibson Lake are:

1st:           East Texas Baptist University – Kaden Proffitt, Pittsburg, Texas and Cason Ragsdale, Winnsboro, Texas, nine bass, 29-7
2nd:          Stephen F. Austin - Austin Anderson, Nacogdoches, Texas and Cal Cameron, Coppell, Texas, nine bass, 29-6
3rd:          Kentucky Christian University – Lafe and Matt Messer, both of Warfield, Ky., nine bass, 29-5
4th:           McKendree University – Bailey Bleser, Burlington, Wis., and Nathan Doty, Decatur, Ill., 10 bass, 27-7
5th:           Illinois State University – Justin and Austin Carr, both of Bloomington, Ill., nine bass, 26-6
6th:           Murray State University – Kayden Effinger of Westfield, Ind., and David Wisler of Noblesville, Ind., eight bass, 26-4
7th:           East Texas Baptist University – Cannon Bird of Marshall, Texas, and Jacob Keith, Jefferson, Texas, 10 bass, 25-13
8th:           King University – Donavan Carson of Bluff City, Tenn., and Landon Lawson of Jonesborough, Tenn., nine bass, 25-10
9th:           Drury University – Cole Breeden of Eldridge, Mo., and Cameron Smith of Nixa, Mo., six bass, 24-1
10th:        Texas A&M – Dawson Cassidy of Gainesville, Texas and Augustus McLarry of Caddo Mills, Texas, eight bass, 23-12

For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 285 bass weighing 823 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 115 teams Wednesday. The catch included 13 five-bass limits.

The final 10 teams will launch Championship Thursday from Taylor’s Ferry North, located on Dock Road in Wagoner at 7 a.m. CT each day of competition. Thursday’s championship weigh-in will be held at Taylor’s Ferry North 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 13th annual College Fishing National Championship is a three-day event – hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner – featuring the top 176 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 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. Both members of the third-place team will advance to the 2022 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 ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, 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 information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI on MLF’s social media outlets at  Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

B.A.S.S. Names Top Student Athletes To 2022 Bassmaster High School All-State Fishing Team

2022 HighSchool_AllState_Academy_4C.jpg
March 30, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Fifty-three of the most outstanding high school anglers from across the country have been named to the 2022 Bassmaster High School All-State Fishing Team presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors.

The students were selected for the honor based on their success in bass tournament competition, academic achievement and leadership in conservation and community service.

To be considered for the All-State Fishing Team, a student must have been nominated by a parent, coach, teacher or other school official. Students enrolled in grades 10-12 with a current-year grade point average of 2.5 or higher were eligible.

B.A.S.S. received nearly 400 nominations from across the nation. From these, judges selected 53 student anglers from 34 states to make the All-State Fishing Team. In addition, 40 students received Honorable Mentions recognizing them for their tournament success as well as community service and academic achievement.

“Congratulations to all 53 anglers on being selected to be a part of the 2022 Bassmaster High School All-State Fishing team or Honorable Mention,” said Glenn Cale, B.A.S.S. Nation Tournament Manager — College, High School and Junior. “It’s always impressive to see the accolades of each applicant. Every parent and angler should be very proud of joining the team.”

A second panel of judges will review the nominations of the 53 All-State team members and select the 12 members of the 2022 Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors. As in All-State judging, criteria include success in high school fishing tournaments, involvement in conservation efforts and other community service activities.

The 12 finalists will compete in a one-day Bassmaster High School All-American Bass Tournament presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, which will be held during the 2022 Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork, scheduled to take place May 19-22 in Quitman, Texas.

Elite Series anglers will serve as teammates and “coaches” of the student anglers in the tournament. The high school standouts will be honored on the main stage at the weigh-in.

Below is the list of the 53 All-State anglers and 40 Honorable Mentions, in order by state:

Alabama
Hudson Choquette, Headland
Braxton Hopper, Chelsea
Barclay Butler, Scottsboro (Honorable Mention)
Dixie Morris, Valley (Honorable Mention)
James Quinlivan, Headland (Honorable Mention)
Benjamin Travis, Birmingham (Honorable Mention)

Arizona
Zachary VerBrugge, Lake Havasu City

Arkansas
Austin Rose, Mena
Brady Horton, Clinton (Honorable Mention)
Jackson Smith, Fayetteville (Honorable Mention)

Florida
Bryce DiMauro, Longwood
Tyson Verkaik, Eustis
Drew Bradstreet, Lutz (Honorable Mention)
Nick Claussen, Dover (Honorable Mention)
Evan Newell, Lakeland (Honorable Mention)
Cole Rountree, Clermont (Honorable Mention)

Georgia
Gabriel Clark, Ellerslie
Gage Sellars, Bainbridge
Henry Garrett, Evans (Honorable Mention)
Jacob Hodge, Evans (Honorable Mention)
Cohen Smith, Williamson (Honorable Mention)

Illinois
Szymon Piton, Orland Park
Laindree Richardson, Benton
Andrew Kay, Shorewood (Honorable Mention)
Hunter Petrovic, Minooka (Honorable Mention)

Indiana
Cole Berry, Terre Haute
Dylan May, Brownsburg

Iowa
Kolby Angell, Grand Junction
Tyler Loudon, Creston
Caleb Neu, Johnston (Honorable Mention)
Jackson Toale, Independence (Honorable Mention)

Kansas
Colton Hutchinson, Bonner Springs

Kentucky
Evan Fields, Shelbyville
Jaydon Coggins, Burnside (Honorable Mention)

Louisiana
Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux
Jase White, Haughton
Evan Howe, Keatchie (Honorable Mention)
Wade Roberts, Lake Charles (Honorable Mention)

Maine
Colby Carrier, Skowhegan

Maryland
Grayden Scibilia, Hagerstown

Massachusetts
Nicholas Frumkin, Lincoln

Michigan
Brayden Ruckman, Freeland
Henri Sturm, Fenton

Minnesota
Jacob Panichi, Cook
Matt Boerboom, Inver Grove Heights (Honorable Mention)
Lance Nelson, Rosemount (Honorable Mention)
Noah Wells, Esko (Honorable Mention)

Mississippi
Wes Bailey, Brandon
Parker O’Bryan, Brandon

Missouri
Brock Rogers, Bradleyville

Nebraska
Logan Greeno, Kearney

Nevada
Carter Doren, Las Vegas

New Hampshire
Cole Moulton, Enfield
Cameron Yates, New Durham
Alex Gross, Jefferson (Honorable Mention)

New Jersey
Nicholas DellaPorta, Pequannock

New York
Rein Golubjatnikov, Pittsford
Tyler Mahood, Briarcliff Manor (Honorable Mention)
Christian Misciagna, Syracuse (Honorable Mention)

North Carolina
Harrison McCall, Salisbury
Drake Sturgill, Lincolnton
Hunter Alexander, China Grove (Honorable Mention)
Kaden Buchmann, Mooresville (Honorable Mention)

Ohio
Kyle Johnson, Helena
Braden McNamara, Delaware
Mike Abbott Jr., Plain City (Honorable Mention)

Oklahoma
Zack Cooper, Tahlequah
River Eubanks, Wilson

Pennsylvania
Trenton Carey, York Springs
Luke Rokavec, Mifflinburg
Carson Forrester, Chambersburg (Honorable Mention)
Ty Stroup, Mifflinburg (Honorable Mention)

South Carolina
Hunter Dill, Travelers Rest
Peyton Sorrow, Abbeville
Zachary McCraw, Gaffney (Honorable Mention)

Tennessee
Nathan Reynolds, Nashville
Banks Shaw, Harrison
Wayland Adkisson, Franklin (Honorable Mention)
Riley Faulkner, Jacksboro (Honorable Mention)
Carter Nutt, Nashville (Honorable Mention)
Dylan Nutt, Nashville (Honorable Mention)

Texas
Connor Dunn, Lucas
Jared Mizell, Pearland
Justin James, Orange (Honorable Mention)
Breckett Long, Livingston (Honorable Mention)
Kaden Mueck, Livingston (Honorable Mention)

Vermont
Brendan Vinton, Braintree
Gordon Willey, White River Junction

Virginia
Ryan Lachniet, Gum Spring
Shelby Rigney, Axton
Logan Buttolph, Doswell (Honorable Mention)

Washington
Hayden Nerland, Puyallup

Wisconsin
Reece Keeney, Hortonville

by AnglersChannel

AFTCO And Yamaha Rightwaters™ Partner With B.A.S.S. On Three Clean-Up Challenges

March 30, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Volunteers, community organizations and Bassmaster anglers will come together at three venues to help make a positive impact on Elite Series fisheries thanks to the Lake Clean-Up Challenge sponsored by AFTCO and Yamaha Rightwaters™. The events will be held April 6 in Dayton, Tenn., June 4 in Counce, Tenn., and August 27 in La Crosse, Wis.

Conservation efforts are a cornerstone of the B.A.S.S. tradition, and leading efforts to collect litter can have a sizable impact on the waterways the organization and its fans frequent.

“B.A.S.S. was founded on three things: tournament fishing competition, youth participation and conservation,” B.A.S.S. Conservation Director Gene Gilliland said. “We’re thrilled to partner with AFTCO, Yamaha Rightwaters and the communities we’ll be visiting for Elite events on Chickamauga Lake, Pickwick Lake and the Upper Mississippi River for these Clean-Up Challenges. One of the things that we want to try to do is to improve the resource anytime we have a chance.

“An event like this builds camaraderie between those participating. It builds goodwill with the communities that host our events. Most importantly, it helps us leave the venue better than we found it.”

At each event, participants will receive a gift package from AFTCO and Yamaha Rightwaters. Plus, registered volunteer organizations participating in the Lake Clean-Up Challenges will be eligible for conservation grants from AFTCO and Yamaha Rightwaters. The brands will select the conservations grants — totaling over $25,000 for 2022 — based on their participation in the Lake Clean-Up Challenges and the group’s overall conservation or public service mission.

“Clean water is vitally important to the health of fisheries, and we're excited to partner with Yahama Rightwaters and B.A.S.S in rewarding local groups for participating in the type of collective action needed to keep our waterways clean,” said AFTCO President Casey Shedd. “We hope that these clean-up challenges will also bring further awareness to the need for single-use plastic reduction and more careful waste disposal consideration.”

“Marine conservation is at the heart of the Yamaha Rightwaters mission and every community clean-up effort can make a major difference in our nation’s waterways,” said John O’Keefe, Senior Specialist, Government Relations, Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. “We proudly join forces with B.A.S.S., AFTCO, a great league of pro anglers and community volunteers to help preserve these great fisheries for today’s competitors as well as future generations of anglers.”

The three Lake Clean-Up Challenges are timed so that Bassmaster Elite Series pros are able to join volunteers to protect the fisheries where they compete. This is particularly important to these pros, who recognize the opportunity to make an even bigger impact on the river and our sport by showing how important it is to help these environments thrive.

“At every stop we make, it seems like there is a lack of education about the harm leaving trash behind does to the environment,” said Bassmaster Elite Series pro Carl Jocumsen. “We want to do our part to change it.”

In order to participate, volunteers and groups must preregister by contacting Gene Gilliland, B.A.S.S. Conservation Director, at ggilliland@bassmaster.com.

“Whether they’re part of a junior Bassmaster club, fishing team, church group, Scout troop or a group of civic-minded friends, anyone who wants our waters to be clean and free of trash is welcome to join us lake-side for these events,” said Gilliland.

For full details, visit Bassmaster.com/Conservation-News.

by AnglersChannel

AC Insider Podcast - "Meat & Taters Fishing" with Drew Cook!

This week Chris and David welcome in Santee Elite Series Champ Drew Cook to the show to talk about his big win on Santee and an overview of his careeer on the Elites!

by AnglersChannel

Big Bite Baits Fishathlon Begins!

Compete on your schedule to finish the Big Bite Fishathlon (pronouced fish-ath-lon). If you think you have what it takes to catch a fish on ten different baits, sign up for Fishathlon. Simple to enter - just start catching fish with one of the 10 Big Bite Baits listed below.  You can use any size in the shape, rigged in any way. When you catch a fish with one of these shapes, submit a photo showing the bait and fish to Big Bite Baits on social media or via email. We will record your progress, and once you submit fish catches with all 10 baits you will be sent the exclusive Big Bite Fishathlon hat. You can get started and track your progress at https://bigbitebaits.com/fishathlon.

10 Baits include any size or color of the following shapes:

Kamikaze Swimon, Fighting Frog, Suicide Shad, Kamikaze Craw, Pro Swimmer, Trick Stick,  Cane Thumper,  Battle Bug, Limit Maker and Coontail.

The goal: Catch 10 different fish on the 10 designated Big Bite baits. Any size/color/variation is allowed. Rig the baits any way you like, see http://bigbitebaits.com/rigs for suggestions.  Special discount available to purchase all 10 baits to get started. Already have the baits, then get started today.  Take a photo of each fish with bait visible and submit entries to https://bigbitebaits.com/fishathlon.  Complete all 10 catches, and with verification you will win an exclusive Fishathlon hat free of charge.

Follow the contest and see all the details at www.bigbitebaits.com.

 

 

by AnglersChannel

East Texas Baptist University Grabs Early Lead at 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship

WAGONER, Okla. (March 29, 2022) – The East Texas Baptist University duo of Kaden Proffitt of Pittsburg, Texas and Cason Ragsdale of Winnsboro, Texas, grabbed the early lead Tuesday after Day One of the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance at Fort Gibson Lake. The Tigers team brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces, giving them a mere 1-ounce lead over the second-place Kentucky Christian University team of brothers Lafe and Matt Messer of Warfield, Kentucky.

After a blustery start to the day, competition on Day One was shortened by an hour due to high winds in the forecast; however, that didn’t seem to put much of a damper on the outcome for the young anglers in the top position.

“The numbers on the scales made it seem like we smashed them, but it was pretty tough,” said Ragsdale. “It was a grind, and the wind blew us around a lot. I think the key difference is that we were able to get out of the wind, then just stayed in one area and really pounded it. It took us 20 to 40 minutes sometimes, making the same cast over and over again, just to get a bite. There were some fish here and there that just happened to be the right ones today.”

“We fished a lot of transition banks, where there were fish that wanted to move up but with the water and weather changing, they don’t know really where they want to be,” said Proffitt. “They are kind of staging in areas in front of where they are going to be spawning.”

The pair started the morning on the south end of the lake, where they caught two fish, before spending the rest of the day down in Long Bay. As for experience on the fishery, Ragsdale said he’d only fished on Fort Gibson Lake once before, in the summertime, under completely different conditions.

“When I was younger, I spent a little time fishing on Lake Texoma, and this lake feels a lot like that, so I’ve used a few things that I learned there,” continued Ragsdale. “Mostly though, we are just fishing things that make sense, areas where fish can sit and be comfortable, whether the water is going up or down, and the water isn’t going to run off of them – steeper banks, things like that.”

The senior business administration majors said they only caught five keepers today, landing the last one only 35 minutes before they had to check in, but they were thankful those five had the numbers to keep them on the top of the leaderboard.

When asked their expectations for tomorrow, Ragsdale responded, “I think we can duplicate what we did today, but we could also zero. It’s one of those weeks that if we get the bites, we get them, but it probably won’t be a slugfest.”

“I think most of the fish we are around are good quality fish, so if we are fortunate enough to get five bites again, there’s a good shot that we’ll have another good bag in the 12- to 14-pound range,” said Proffitt.

The 13th annual College Fishing National Championship is a three-day event – hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner – featuring the top 176 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 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. Both members of the third-place team will advance to the 2022 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 176 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 Fort Gibson Lake are:

1st:           East Texas Baptist University – Kaden Proffitt, Pittsburg, Texas and Cason Ragsdale, Winnsboro, Texas, five bass, 17-9
2nd:          Kentucky Christian University – Lafe and Matt Messer, both of Warfield, Ky., five bass, 17-8
3rd:          Missouri Western State University – Gaige Blanton and Kody Mazur, both of Saint Joseph, Mo., four bass, 14-4
4th:           University of Louisiana Monroe – Jacob Andrews and Connor Nimrod, both of Monroe, La., five bass, 14-0
5th:           McKendree University – Kyle Hopping, Lake St. Louis, Mo., and Lane Stephens, Grove, Okla., five bass, 13-15
6th:           McKendree University – Bailey Bleser, Burlington, Wis., and Nathan Doty, Decatur, Ill., five bass, 13-9
7th:           Stephen F. Austin – Austin Anderson, Nacogdoches, Texas and Cal Cameron, Coppell, Texas, four bass, 13-0
8th:           Carson Newman University – Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., and Lee Rose Koza, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 12-15
9th:           Bethel University – Chase Milholen, Lexington, Tenn., and Levi Mullins, Nineveh, Ind., four bass, 12-12
10th:        Stephen F. Austin – River Lee, Nacogdoches, Texas, and Hunter Muncrief, Pineland, Texas, four bass, 12-11
10th:        Dallas Baptist University – Reece Martin, Lindale, Texas, and Jacob Witkowski, Dallas, Texas, four bass, 12-11

For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 298 bass weighing 813 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 131 teams Tuesday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits.

Anglers will take off from Taylor’s Ferry North, located on Dock Road in Wagoner at 7 a.m. CTeach day of competition. Weigh-ins will be held at Taylor’s Ferry North 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 ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, 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 information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI on MLF’s social media outlets at  Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Major League Fishing Set to Premiere General Tire Team Invitational Pilot Saturday on Outdoor Channel

TULSA, Okla. (March 29, 2022) – Major League Fishing (MLF) announced today the premiere date and time for a new concept that is being piloted for next season – the MLF General Tire Team Invitational, which will premiere this Saturday, April 2, from 2 to 4 p.m. ET on Outdoor Channel. The pilot was shot in mid-December on Florida’s Garcia Reservoir.

The General Tire Team Invitational will feature nine MLF Cup anglers, including REDCREST 2022 Champion Bobby Lane, competing as three, three-man teams. The anglers on each team will wear headsets that have them in constant communication with their teammates. This concept allows each team to work together and strategize in real-time on the water, shifting baits, techniques, patterns or areas as needed and creating a new type of excitement and drama.

A preview of the General Tire Team Series pilot that will air Saturday on Outdoor Channel can be found on Major League Fishing’s YouTube page.

“We look forward to watching how this team concept plays out in real-time on Saturday and seeing the response on the episode from our avid MLF Cup event viewership audience,” said Jim Wilburn, President and CEO of Major League Fishing. “We were thrilled that our longtime partnership with General Tire has allowed us to explore a new tournament concept that we believe will excite both our fans and anglers alike.”

The three teams that will compete in Saturday’s General Tire Team Invitational on Outdoor Channel are:

Team Ferguson:
*Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla.
Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla.
Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala.

Team Sqwincher:
Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif.
Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn.
*Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif.

Team Lucas Oil:
Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C.
*Mark Rose of Wynne, Ark.
Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.

*denotes Team Captain

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram, and YouTube .

by AnglersChannel

Bass Pro Shops Grows Partnership With Bassmaster Tournament Trail

March 29, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Longtime B.A.S.S. partner Bass Pro Shops will expand its sponsorship of the Bassmaster Tournament Trail for 2022, officials announced today. As part of a new multiyear agreement, Bass Pro Shops has stepped up to be a premier sponsor for the B.A.S.S. Tournament Trail, including the Bassmaster Elite Series and the iconic Bassmaster Classic, has taken over title sponsorship of the Bassmaster Team Championship and will continue as presenting sponsor of the Bassmaster College Series.

“For decades, B.A.S.S. and Bass Pro Shops have shared a vision to get more people on the water and fishing, and we deeply appreciate their continued partnership as they elevate their sponsorship of the Bassmaster Tournament Trails to the premier level,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson. “Their sponsorship and support for both college anglers and for team trail and grass-roots anglers from across the country are invaluable.”

B.A.S.S. will participate in the World’s Fishing Fair March 30-April 3, 2022 at the Bass Pro Shops National Headquarters in Springfield, Mo. The event is set to feature a host of deals, an all-star lineup of country music stars, fishing pros, NASCAR legends, outdoor personalities and national conservation leaders, and 50% of proceeds will be given back to conservation.

“As a young angler, fishing in the first national B.A.S.S. tournament on Table Rock Lake served as my inspiration for starting Bass Pro Shops,” said Johnny Morris, noted conservationist and founder of Bass Pro Shops. “Now, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bass Pro Shops this year, our expanded partnership brings it full circle. We’re excited to work alongside our friends at B.A.S.S. to further elevate the sport of fishing, connect folks to nature and invest in conservation.”

Bass Pro Shops is renowned for their prolific support of grass-roots anglers, and the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship offers a path to the Bassmaster Classic for one amateur competitor. Founded in 2014, the Team Championship starts with the same simple concept as most team events around the country. Two friends fish for two days out of the same boat for bass that will go in the same livewell. The team with the heaviest total weight wins the national team championship. The six anglers from the Top 3 teams are sent back onto the lake for a two-day solo competition, which pits partners against partners as well as anglers from the other teams. The winning individual earns a berth in the Classic.

The Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops is off to a record-breaking start through two events. Brothers Lafe and Matt Messer of Kentucky Christian University won the Bassmaster College Series at Harris Chain of Lakes with a two-day total of 61 pounds, 13 ounces. The Messers’ Day 2 weight of 36-7 broke the College Series single-day record. Their winning weight also broke the Series’ two-day catch record.

College Series events have been an incredible tool for encouraging youth fishing participation across the country, and they’re beginning to have a pronounced effect on the highest levels of professional bass fishing. Since B.A.S.S. started the circuit in 2013, there has been a 97% growth in the number of participating schools and clubs at the college level.

Under the agreement, Bass Pro Shops joins sister brands Nitro and Ranger as a premier sponsor of the Bassmaster Tournament Trail and the Bassmaster Classic through 2024. Triton, another sister brand, has partnered with B.A.S.S. as a supporting sponsor.

As a Series and Tournament Trail sponsor, Bass Pro Shops will be featured in B.A.S.S.’s industry-leading publications Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times magazines as well as on social media. During Bassmaster LIVE, which airs on Bassmaster.com and the FOX Sports platforms — as well as across the magazines and social media — fans can watch for “Top Lures presented by Bass Pro Shops.” This special segment will focus on what baits the pros are using and what will work best for upcoming events.

by AnglersChannel

Legendary Costa frames go PRO with new performance features

Stay out on the water longer and fish harder with Costa’s new Tuna Alley PRO and Reefton PRO

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 29, 2022) –  Costa Sunglasses, manufacturer of the first color-enhancing all-polarized glass sunglass lens, brings next-level performance to two more of its legacy frames for spring 2022. The enhanced Reefton PRO and Tuna Alley PRO feature new performance upgrades that keep your frames locked in place and vision clear so you can focus on the fish.

For nearly 40 years, Costa has provided anglers with the best sunglasses on the market for long days on the water. In 2021, the brand debuted its PRO Series with the award-winning Blackfin PRO and Fantail PRO. Today, the collection grows to a family of four with the Reefton PRO and Tuna Alley PRO. These best-selling frames now feature an updated style and a new level of “PROformance.” Six added features help anglers better manage sweat, reduce fogging and keep frames locked in place, even when the water gets rough.

  • Eyewire drains help keep sweat and water from pooling inside the frame

  • Sweat management channels move sweat and water away from your eyes

  • Improved Hydrolite™ grip on the nose and earpiece keep frames locked in place, especially when wet

  • Fully-adjustable and ventilated nose pads offer a customizable fit and reduce fogging

  • Metal keeper slots help keep your frames from going overboard

  • Hooding and side shields maximize coverage to help keep light from leaking in

The new frames have Costa’s polarized, color-enhancing 580® Glass lens technology for next-level clarity. The scratch-resistant lens cuts haze and blur and enhances key colors for superior clarity and definition. Like all Costa injected frames, the PRO Series is built using the brand's lightweight Bio-Resin. Bio-Resin reduces the carbon footprint of each new frame and maintains the durability standards required for long days on the water. Updated styling for the Reefton PRO includes a larger lens size for increased field of view while the Tuna Alley's famed vent design has been modernized and complemented by Hydrolite grip for a more secure fit.

“The Tuna Alley PRO and Reefton PRO are the second wave of frames hitting the PRO Series,” said John Acosta, Vice President of Marketing at Costa. “After the success of the Blackfin PRO and Fantail PRO we are looking forward to adding two more of our best-selling legacy frames to the collection. The new and improved features help keep anglers at the top of their game - something we’ve been striving for since the very beginning.”

“It is always an honor to work with a company like Costa. There’s a reason why they are leaders in the outdoor market: non-stop innovation, “ says Costa pro, Jako Lucas. “The original Reefton frame seemed pretty much perfect to me, but Costa took them to a whole other level with the Reefton PRO through their relentless pursuit for perfection. They’re comfortable,  adjustable, vented, handle a beat down, easy on the eyes – and as always, they keep me focused on spotting fish.”

For more information about the Reefton PRO and Tuna Alley PRO, and Costa’s full collection of best-selling sunglasses, visit Costadelmar.com.

About Costa Sunglasses

As the first manufacturer of color-enhancing all-polarized glass sunglass lenses, Costa combines superior lens technology with unparalleled fit and durability. Costa has made the highest quality, best-performing sunglasses and prescription sunglasses (Rx) for outdoor enthusiasts since 1983, and now its product portfolio includes optical frames. Costa’s growing cult-brand status ties directly to its purpose to provide high-quality products with a focus on sustainability and conservation as the company works hard to protect the waters it calls home. From the use of sustainable and water-friendly materials to its Kick Plastic initiative, IndiFly Foundation, and meaningful partnerships with mission-aligned organizations, Costa encourages people to help protect the Earth’s natural resources in any way they can. Find out more on Costa’s website and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter at @CostaSunglasses.

by AnglersChannel

Big Bass Tour - Berkley Lake Breakdown - Eufaula

Eufaula Promises to be a Shallow Water Big Fish Battle

By Pete Robbins

Last year the Big Bass Tour made its inaugural visit to world-famous Lake Eufaula in southern Alabama and the lake did not disappoint. During an early March weekend, contestants weighed in four bass over 7 pounds, including a 7.85 pound bruiser, but that doesn’t tell the full tale of the tape. The real story is that it rarely took less than a “heavy five” to win an hourly prize. This storied venue has tons of rock-solid 4- to 6-pound largemouth bass, and they range up into the double digits if you hit it right.

This year’s field should truly hit it right, said top local stick Matt Baty. With the tournament almost exactly a month later this time around – April 1st through 3rd – contestants shouldn’t expect an “April Fools,” but rather an opportunity to show off their shallow water expertise.

“April is just about always a really good month,” Baty said. “That’s when most of the spawn happens. We’ve had some recent rain, so the elevation is high, and at this time of year that almost always means your best bet is to be looking at the bank in less than 2 feet of water.”

The whole lake has the potential to produce a giants, but Baty would focus from “Sandy Branch south on the Georgia side.” He’d likely concentrate on cypress trees and the backs of pockets, looking for places where the biggest fish stage before the spawn and then rush up to do their business. An angler who wants to cover ground could do so with a spinnerbait or a vibrating jig, but he’d prefer to slow down. “I’d almost certainly throw a Berkley MaxScent The General, with a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce weight. It would probably be either junebug or black and blue, and I’d pitch it behind the trees.”

With many trees to choose from, how would he know which ones to hit?

“Any of them can be good,” he said cagily, “But I tend to like the ones with grass in front of them. They get behind the grass and I kind of believe not as many people take the time to go back there.”

In addition to the spinnerbait and vibrating jig, he’d likely add a Berkley Fusion Swim Jig to his arsenal, once again black and blue, with a matching trailer – either a Chigger Craw or the newer Rocket Craw.

For anglers who want to chase a different bite, Baty reminds them that not all of the fish spawn at the same time. Even if the lion’s share have moved shallow, there will likely still be a handful of big prespawn sows holding in offshore brushpiles. He’d fish for the with a 1 ounce spinnerbait, or by slowly dragging a 10-inch Berkley Power Wormbehind a ½ ounce weight through the available cover. It might not be a numbers game, but those extra ounces the big girls are carrying could make a huge difference in a tournament that promises to be as tightly contested as this one.

 

by AnglersChannel

“Big Fish” Bobby Lane Wins REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa Sunglasses on Grand Lake

Lakeland, Florida Pro Boats 2-Pounder in Final Minutes to Win REDCREST and Earn $300,000 Top Prize

TULSA, Okla. (March 27, 2022) – In the most exciting and dramatic finish in Major League Fishing (MLF) history, Lakeland, Florida pro “Big Fish” Bobby Lane caught a 2-pound bass with just four minutes left in competition to win REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses, the Bass Pro Tour championship, on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees and earn the $300,000 top prize.

With just over four minutes left in competition Sunday the reigning Bally Bet Angler of the Year (AOY), Academy Sports + Outdoors pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, looked to be cruising to his first career MLF REDCREST Championship victory. Wheeler had weighed eight scorable bass totaling 28 pounds, 4 ounces and was atop the leaderboard as the time ticked down.

That’s when things got exciting.

REDCREST 2022 on Grand Lake featured anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable.

With almost exactly four minutes left, Lane hooked into a bass throwing a Berkley Frittside 5 crankbait and boat flipped the Grand Lake largemouth into the boat. Lane’s official quickly got the bass on the scale, and Lane gasped when he saw that the scale read 1-pound, 15-ounces.

“No way, no way. We’ve got to re-weigh her,” Lane said.

Bass Pro Tour rules state that an angler is allowed to ask for a re-weigh of any fish they catch, up to a maximum of two times.

The official got the bass back on to the scale and once again, it read – 1-pound, 15-ounces.

Lane grunted and shook his head. This was it. His final opportunity to re-weigh his fish. His entire tournament, and so much more, was coming down to this moment. Only 2 minutes and 38 seconds now remained. He nodded at his official and placed the bass back onto the scale.

This time, the numbers “2.0” flashed on the scale screen – the bass was scorable – and Lane and the packed house at the SageNet Center at Expo Square in Tulsa exploded.

“Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Unbelievable. I’ve been at this a long time, and I have never been hungrier for something good to happen. Madeline, I love you. Kids… your dad is the REDCREST Champion!” roared an elated Lane shortly after time expired and his win was confirmed.

During the week, Lane quietly had success during each day of competition. He finished Day 1 of the event with a sixth-place standing after catching eight bass for 26-12, then added another four weighing 9-9 the next day to advance to the Knockout Round inside the top 20. In the Knockout Round, Lane tallied 27-13 on nine fish to make it to Championship Sunday.

He relied on a Berkley Frittside 5 in the HD brown color all week, focusing on the last rock structure in the backs of pockets as bass moved their way towards spawning grounds. That’s what got him to the final day, but pitching a jig is what won it for him.

“The fish made a transition late this afternoon and got super shallow,” he said. “I knew that and made every single one count and started flipping a green pumpkin jig with a matching Berkley PowerBait Meaty Chunk in the smaller size and added some chartreuse dye to the tips of the trailer.”

Lane caught two bass early on the crankbait, and just after noon he caught his first bass on a jig and went to work with it from there. Included in his catch was the Berkley Big Bass of the day, a 6-3 that he landed in dramatic fashion over and through several dock cables.

“I had a 3-11 and 6-3 within three minutes,” Lane said. “The big one had me between cables and there was no physical way to get it, and I had to hand line it in. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

After having some time to reflect on his win during the ride to the REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo Presented by Costa in Tulsa, Lane was emotional when meeting up with his family and brother and fellow pro Chris Lane and said that it felt like someone had lifted a weight off of his shoulders.

“I’m not getting any younger, I promise,” he said. “But today I felt like a 10-year-old winging my bait around and to finally come through to win – it’s just unbelievable. Everything went perfect today.”

The top 10 pros at REDCREST 2022 on Grand Lake finished:

1st:          Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 29-14, $300,000
2nd:         Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., eight bass, 28-11, $50,000
3rd:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., eight bass, 28-4, $40,000
4th:         Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 25-14, $28,000
5th:         Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., six bass, 24-2, $25,000
6th:         Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., eight bass, 21-9, $20,000
7th:         Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., four bass, 16-13, $18,000
8th:         Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., six bass, 16-12, $16,000
9th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., six bass, 15-5, $14,500
10th:       Michael Neal, Dayton Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $12,500

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

Overall on Sunday there were 71 scorable bass weighing 219 pounds, 9 ounces caught by the final 10 pros. Throughout the entire five-day event, the 41 Bass Pro Tour competitors caught a total of 390 bass weighing 1,181 pounds, 9 ounces.

Lane also earned Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with his 6-3 largemouth that he caught in Period 3. Wheeler earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Bonus for weighing in the heaviest bass of the event – a 6-pound, 10-ounce largemouth that he caught on the very first day of competition.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees featured anglers competing with a 2-pound 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.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 2 and July 9 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 17 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa was hosted by Tulsa Regional Tourism and showcased the top 41 professional bass-fishing anglers from the 2021 Bass Pro Tour competing for a total purse of $730,000.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.

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.

 

by AnglersChannel

Bally Bet Awards $50K to Former MLF Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year Winners Edwin Evers, Jordan Lee and Jacob Wheeler

TULSA, Okla. (March 27, 2022) – Major League Fishing (MLF) and its Angler of the Year (AOY) sponsor Bally Bet announced Friday at REDCREST 2022 that former MLF Bass Pro Tour AOY award winners Edwin Evers (2019), Jordan Lee (2020), and Jacob Wheeler (2021) all will receive a check for $50,000 as an award for their prestigious AOY victories in previous seasons of the Bass Pro Tour.

Online sportsbook operator Bally Bet became the title sponsor of the coveted Bass Pro Tour AOY award in late December. After learning that the AOY Award had lacked a title sponsor for its first three seasons, Bally Bet agreed to allocate portions of its presenting sponsorship fees to reward each of the former AOY winners with a $50,000 prize.

“We are proud of our sponsorship with Major League Fishing and are thrilled to reward these former Bass Pro Tour AOY winners with these well-deserved $50,000 prizes,” said Adi Dhandhania, Chief Operating Officer of North America for Bally’s Interactive, the online sportsbook operator’s parent company. “The Bass Pro Tour is a showcase of the best anglers on the planet, and we are proud to associate our brand with the award that many consider to be one of the most difficult prizes in the sport to win. Congratulations to all of the former Bally Bet AOY champions, and we look forward to watching who will take home the $100,000 top prize for the AOY in 2022.”

“Bally Bet is already proving to be an amazing partner and we thank them for their contributions to our former Bally Bet AOY winners,” said Jim Wilburn. “This relationship is already proving to be mutually beneficial, and we look forward to building on these successes in the years to come.”

The 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 for valuable points in the Bally Bet AOY race. The top angler at the end of the 2022 season will receive a $100,000 payout from the online sportsbook.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Jordan Lee Cruises in Knockout Round at REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa Sunglasses on Grand Lake

Final 10 Anglers now Set for Sunday’s Final-Day Shootout for $300,000 Top Prize

TULSA, Okla. (March 26, 2022) – Berkley pro Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama, caught 11 scorable bass weighing 33 pounds, 2 ounces to win the Knockout Round (Group B) on Day 4 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses, the Bass Pro Tour championship, on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.

Joining Lee in Sunday’s Championship Round of competition in the top five are pros Michael Neal of Dayton, Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, and Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee. The five-day event, hosted by Tulsa Regional Tourism, features anglers competing for a total purse of $730,000, including a top cash prize of $300,000 to the winner.

“I’m feeling really good about the day and was super happy to have a good morning bite,” Lee said. “I was able to catch them in the same places as the other day, doing the same thing.”

Lee has been catching fish with various jerkbaits while watching his forward-facing sonar but did find a shallower bite late in the day.

“I used five or six different jerkbaits and my Lowrance ActiveTarget was key,” he said. “I don’t have unlimited spots, but everywhere I thought I could catch them today, I did. I eased up shallow later in the day and caught some on a jig and that was more fun than anything, but I don’t think I’ll be able to catch enough doing that to win.”

Tennessee pro Michael Neal ended the day with 12 for 31-9 but likely could have caught much more. After feeling that he had caught enough to safely advance, he left his main area and searched for more water.

“I laid off those fish about 30 minutes into the second period,” Neal said. “The winning fish are there and the only questions are if they will stay and if they cooperate tomorrow. I’ll be around the fish to win; I just don’t know what I’ll have to catch since I don’t know if everyone else let off their fish.”

Reigning REDCREST Champion Dustin Connell was the third angler with over 30 pounds on the day, with 10 for 31-5. He did it in the way he loves to fish, with a jerkbait and Lowrance ActiveTarget.

“It was a good day, and I caught them my favorite way,” Connell said. “I got a little pattern going but feel like I’m going to have to run new water if I have a chance to win. I have some places, but I don’t think it’s enough to beat these guys with what I have now.”

Connell is going all-in on the jerkbait tomorrow.

“I may crank a little in the morning, but I’ll have four jerkbait rods on the deck for the rest of the day,” he said.

The top five pros from Group B that made the cut and will advance to Championship Sunday on Grand Lake are:

1st:          Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 11 bass, 33-2
2nd:         Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 12 bass, 31-9
3rd:         Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 31-5
4th:         Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., nine bass, 27-13
5th:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., seven bass, 26-11

The five pros eliminated from competition Saturday are:

6th:         Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., eight bass, 21-8, $10,000
7th:         Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., two bass, 5-13, $10,000
8th:         Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., two bass, 4-9, $10,000
9th:         Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., one bass, 4-2, $10,000
10th:       Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., zero bass, 0-0, $10,000

Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 44 scorable bass weighing 186 pounds, 2 ounces caught by nine pros Saturday.

At REDCREST 2022, the full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. The field was cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers were split into two groups for the Knockout Round – 10 (Group A) competed on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 (Group B) will compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight now advance to the Championship Sunday, where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight Sunday will be crowned the REDCREST 2022 champion and earn the top prize of $300,000.

Wheeler weighed a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass in Period 3 to earn Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award and earn the $1,000 prize. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will take place Sunday at 6:45 a.m. at the Wolf Creek Park and Boating Facility, located at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove, Oklahoma. The final 10 anglers will depart at 7:30 a.m. from the park and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. 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.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees features anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 2021 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 41 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 2 and July 9 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 17 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Late Entry From Erskine College Claims Victory In Bassmaster College Series Event On Norman

Avery Hammock and Garrett Smith of South Carolina's Erskine College have won the 2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Norman presented by Bass Pro Shops with a two-day total of 31 pounds.

Photo by Kyle Jessie/B.A.S.S.

March 26, 2022

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Avery Hammock and Garrett Smith felt a gamut of emotions this week in winning the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Norman presented by Bass Pro Shops.

They were hopeful because they came here with no guarantee of even competing in the derby. Then they were grateful when they made it from the waitlist into the tournament. They were excited when they jumped into fourth place on Day 1, and they were nervous when their Day 2 weight dropped.

In the end, however, the duo from Erskine College was ecstatic. Hammock and Smith weighed an even 31 pounds in the two-day event and won a cash prize of $2,601 to split evenly. Their victory also earned them a berth in the Bassmaster College Series National Championship to be held later this year.

The sophomores from Erskine College, which is located in Due West, S.C., caught a five-bass limit of 17-15 Friday but were a full 4 1/2 pounds behind Day 1 leaders Luke Glasgow and James Ikerd of Mississippi State. The leaders caught only three keepers on Day 2, however, while Hammock and Smith weighed another limit, this one for a steady 13-1.

That was just enough to hold off the competition. Joshua DeKoning and Dalton Mollenkopf of Adrian College in Michigan finished second with 10 bass for 30-9 and Glasgow and Ikerd placed third with eight bass for 30-7.

It was a thrilling win for the Erskine anglers — Hammock, 20, from Flowery Branch, Ga., and Smith, three days shy of his 20th birthday. He hails from Mt. Holly, N.C., only 15 minutes from the site of this week’s tournament.

“I had a test on Thursday and couldn’t get here before then,” Hammock said. “But (Smith) was here to register if we could.”

“They were packing up the sponsor tables when I walked in,” Smith said. “(Erskine) had the last three teams to get into the tournament.”

Strong start: Hammock and Smith were the second-to-last boat to take off on Day 1, but they made the most of their time Friday on this 32,000-acre reservoir of the Catawba River. Most of the big bites came using 5-inch Senko wacky rigs (green pumpkin) and a Megabass Magdraft (white) swimbait. After boating a 6-pounder cruising that morning, they punctuated their bag with a late 5-pounder.

All five of their Day 1 bass were largemouth. They fished in the backs of canals and inside pockets to shield themselves from steady winds.

“We had to be really slow and methodical,” Smith said.

Finished business: The duo had some ground to make up on Saturday and they did so early.

“We had a limit a lot quicker this morning, but we struggled to find the size,” Hammock said. “We just kept running our pockets with that wacky rig. I was in the back of the boat living or dying with a swimbait. A 4-pounder or so was our biggest today. We had our eye on a 6- or 7-pounder today, but we never could get her to eat.”

Hammock and Smith weighed three spotted bass and two largemouth Saturday, and doubted their chances of climbing into the pole position.

Feel the heat: Glasgow and Ikerd seemed likeliest to topple Hammock and Smith from the hot seats after catching 22-7 on Day 1, including a tournament-best 7-5 largemouth. But the Bulldogs team added only 8 pounds to their total and finished third.

Then and only then, could Hammock and Smith breathe a sigh of relief.

“That 22-pound bag they caught yesterday is insane,” Smith said. “I don’t know if a bag like that has been caught here in the last four or five years. That says a lot about how good the anglers in the tournament are.”

Second place: DeKoning and Mollenkopf caught 17-1 Friday, good enough for sixth place. They jumped to a podium finish with a 13-8-limit Saturday.

“We were throwing around a 5-inch (Megabass) Spark Shad, but they wouldn’t start eating it until about 2 o’clock,” DeKoning said. “Once the sun got on the docks on Day 1, we were getting bites. Today, it was more between docks.”

“They were more scattered today, but the sun was key,” Mollenkopf said. “We were putting shad-colored baits in their face. They couldn’t resist that.”

Third place: Glasgow and Ikerd were disappointed they only managed three bass on Day 2 but pleased to collect a check and grab a spot in the national tournament later this year.

“We decided to run some new water only having two fish earlier today,” Glasgow said. “The first cast, I caught a 2 1/4-pound spot. We thought we had the place to win it. But from that point on, we probably had 15 to 20 bites ...We were getting short strikes. But yesterday, the same bait got us two 5-pounders and that 7-pounder.”

Those fish were caught on a shad-colored Megabass Magdraft, as well.

Final thoughts: The Top 12 teams split a total cash purse of $8,967 and the leading 10% of the 211 total teams earned entry into the national title tournament.

The tournament on Lake Norman was the second of four two-day events in the Bassmaster College Series this year. A College Series Wild Card event also will precede the championship.

2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Norman presented by Bass Pro Shops 3/25-3/26
Lake Norman, Cornelius NC.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

Angler Club/School Pts

1. Avery Hammock - Garrett Smith Erskine College 250
Day 1: 5 17-15 Day 2: 5 13-01 Total: 10 31-00
2. Joshua DeKoning - Dalton Mollenkopf Adrian College 249
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 13-08 Total: 10 30-09
3. Luke Glasgow - James Ikerd Mississippi State University 248
Day 1: 5 22-07 Day 2: 3 08-00 Total: 8 30-07
4. Connor Jacob - Sam Smith Auburn University 247
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 11-14 Total: 10 29-15
5. Robert Gee - Chad Sentell University of Tennessee 246
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 10-05 Total: 10 29-08
6. Conner Dimauro - Justin Botts Bryan College 245
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 17-14 Total: 10 28-15
7. Chance Schwartz - James Willoughby University of Montevallo 244
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 13-07 Total: 10 28-15
8. Jeremy Dellinger - Adam Seagle Erskine College 243
Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 10-03 Total: 10 27-15
9. Tyler Lubbat - Hayden O'barr University of Alabama 242
Day 1: 5 13-00 Day 2: 5 14-07 Total: 10 27-07
10. Peyton Harris - Dalton Head Montevallo 241
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 10-04 Total: 10 26-07
11. Sam Hanggi - Sam Hoesley Auburn University 240
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 13-06 Total: 10 26-05
12. Matthew Benson - Nathanael Wright Emmanuel College 239
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 13-05 Total: 10 25-08
13. Louis Monetti - Michael Fugaro UNC Charlotte 238
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 12-05 Total: 10 25-03
14. Gunner Whitaker - Mitch Johnson Kentucky Christian University 237
Day 1: 5 13-15 Day 2: 5 10-13 Total: 10 24-12
15. Jake Monti - Samuel Dunson UNC Charlotte 236
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 14-08 Total: 10 24-11
16. Matthew Davis - Bryce Kostman Adrian College 235
Day 1: 5 12-11 Day 2: 4 11-10 Total: 9 24-05
17. Lane Bailey - Justin Eggers Catawba Valley Community College 234
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 13-01 Total: 10 24-04
18. Dustin Bauer - Wyatt Pearman Campbellsville University 233
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 12-03 Total: 10 24-03
19. Brody Robison - Jack Alexander University of Montevallo 232
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 08-04 Total: 10 23-09
20. Grayson Morris - Jacob Pfundt University of Montevallo 231
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 11-01 Total: 10 23-09
21. Andrew Rickman - Michael Postlewait Dallas Baptist University 230
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 5 12-10 Total: 10 23-04
22. Rob Lindsey - Mason Cizek Bryan College 229
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 3 07-09 Total: 8 23-03
23. Chase Carey - Dylan Akins Emmanuel College 228
Day 1: 5 12-06 Day 2: 5 10-09 Total: 10 22-15
24. Chase Sansom - Tyler Drown Marshall University 227
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 13-00 Total: 10 22-14
25. Cody Griffith - Drew Jennings Auburn University 226
Day 1: 5 14-14 Day 2: 5 07-15 Total: 10 22-13
26. Ben Brockwell - Justice Gayhart Kentucky Christian University 225
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 13-04 Total: 10 22-10
27. Jacob Butts - Mark Kershaw Erskine College 224
Day 1: 5 13-15 Day 2: 5 08-09 Total: 10 22-08
28. Mitchell Gunn - Kyle Kunst Grand Valley State University 223
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 10-08 Total: 10 22-05
29. Ben Rand - Mason Grossbauer Davenport University 222
Day 1: 5 12-12 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 22-03
30. Zach Mcnary - Trenton Penninga Grand Valley State University 221
Day 1: 5 11-10 Day 2: 5 10-05 Total: 10 21-15
31. Nick Pemberton - Brennan Berglund University of Montevallo 220
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 3 07-03 Total: 8 21-14
32. Robert Cruvellier - Carson Maddux Auburn University 219
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 5 10-08 Total: 10 21-13
33. Brooks Anderson - Parker Guy Emmanuel College 218
Day 1: 5 12-06 Day 2: 5 09-02 Total: 10 21-08
34. Will Carnes - Tavin Hodgens campbellsville university 217
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 21-08
35. Cole Hopson - Nicholas Robinson Georgia College 216
Day 1: 5 11-12 Day 2: 5 09-12 Total: 10 21-08
36. Beau Browning - Jake Peck Drury University 215
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 11-02 Total: 10 21-04
37. Tyler Cory - Scott Sledge University of Montevallo 214
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 4 08-02 Total: 9 21-03
38. Hunter Keller - Carson Eckard Catawba Valley Community College 213
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 11-09 Total: 10 21-03
39. Reece Martin - Mark Harris Dallas Baptist University 212
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 08-08 Total: 10 21-01
40. Aaron Shumaker - Hunter Enlow Lander University 211
Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 08-05 Total: 10 20-15
41. Sam Harvey - Jordan Brewer Auburn University 210
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 5 11-12 Total: 10 20-11
42. Drake Hemby - Carter Koza Carson-Newman University 209
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 4 05-09 Total: 9 20-06
43. Seth Jenkins - TJ McKenzie Emmanuel College 208
Day 1: 5 09-14 Day 2: 5 10-06 Total: 10 20-04
44. Austin Woody - Bryce Fowler East Carolina University 207
Day 1: 5 10-04 Day 2: 5 10-00 Total: 10 20-04
45. Logan Parks - Tucker Smith Auburn University 206
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 11-00 Total: 10 19-13
46. Brycen Hendriks - Gavin Ange UNC Charlotte 205
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 06-12 Total: 10 19-11
47. Tyler Altizer - Dylan Thomson King University 204
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 09-09 Total: 10 19-11
48. Ryan Thomas - Solomon Glenn University of Montevallo 203
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 2 06-08 Total: 7 19-09
49. Jacob Welch - Lee Lambrecht Drury University 202
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 11-01 Total: 10 19-08
50. Lafe Messer - Matt Messer Kentucky Christian University 201
Day 1: 5 09-08 Day 2: 5 09-14 Total: 10 19-06
51. Hagan Marlin - Tanner English University of Montevallo 200
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 09-09 Total: 10 19-05
52. Anderson Jones - Lander University 199
Day 1: 5 07-03 Day 2: 5 12-01 Total: 10 19-04
53. Brock Williams - Brandon Johnson Ohio State University 198
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 07-10 Total: 10 19-01
54. Brady Duncan - Stevie Mills Carson-Newman University 197
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 5 11-02 Total: 10 19-01
55. Lawson Blake - Caden Fuller Marshall University 196
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 5 09-06 Total: 10 19-01
56. Brandon Martin - Emmanuel College 195
Day 1: 4 06-14 Day 2: 5 12-02 Total: 9 19-00
57. Britt Myers - Tyler Anderson Lander University 194
Day 1: 5 06-12 Day 2: 5 12-02 Total: 10 18-14
58. Nolan Yeager - Riley Aebi Stephen F. Austin State Universi 193
Day 1: 5 10-11 Day 2: 5 08-03 Total: 10 18-14
59. Mark Burnham - Adam Green Greenville University 192
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 10-10 Total: 10 18-13
60. Carson Palmer - Cole Rankin Carson-Newman University 191
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 5 09-11 Total: 10 18-11
61. Max Pierlott - Mike Pierlott UNC Charlotte 190
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 06-02 Total: 10 18-10
62. Joey Williams - Evan Thomas Liberty University 189
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 5 09-10 Total: 10 18-09
63. Hunter MCClaskey - King University 188
Day 1: 5 09-02 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 18-09
64. Drew Gill - Jonah Potts Wabash Valley College 187
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 06-13 Total: 10 18-08
65. Colby Kerr - Jonathan Fitch Kentucky Christian University 186
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 3 03-14 Total: 8 18-07
66. Weston Hollar - Jordan Pennington University of Montevallo 185
Day 1: 4 08-00 Day 2: 5 10-06 Total: 9 18-06
67. Jacob Witkowski - Hunter Jenkins Dallas Baptist Univesity 184
Day 1: 5 10-13 Day 2: 4 07-05 Total: 9 18-02
68. Drew Traffanstedt - Dakendrick Patterson University of Montevallo 183
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 4 06-13 Total: 9 18-00
69. Cole Thompson - John Heacock University of North Alabama 182
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 09-13 Total: 10 18-00
70. Nate Lesch - Tennessee Tech University 181
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 3 06-14 Total: 8 17-15
71. Seth Elkins - Dale Hansard Jacksonville State University 180
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 5 09-15 Total: 10 17-14
72. Storm Cline - Ely Dennison Carson-Newman University 179
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 4 08-09 Total: 9 17-13
73. JD Clarke - Hunter Muncrief Stephen F Austin State Universit 178
Day 1: 5 07-12 Day 2: 5 09-13 Total: 10 17-09
74. Joseph Bissing - Jackson Paden University of Tennessee 177
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 07-13 Total: 10 17-09
75. Alex Richmond - Riley Bowen Grand Valley State University 176
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 06-15 Total: 10 17-08
76. Grant Dohle - Wyatt Montle Missouri State University 175
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 09-05 Total: 10 17-08
77. Lucas Smith - Dalton Mize Jacksonville State University 174
Day 1: 3 06-08 Day 2: 5 10-12 Total: 8 17-04
78. Nate Triplett - Cy Lambert University of North Alabama 173
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 07-02 Total: 10 17-04
79. Brian Linder - Nathan Thompson Minnesota State - Mankato 172
Day 1: 4 07-03 Day 2: 5 09-15 Total: 9 17-02
80. Jackson Stephens - Maxwell Trotter Mckendree University 171
Day 1: 5 09-05 Day 2: 4 07-13 Total: 9 17-02
81. Walker Brown - Chandler Brewer University of North Alabama 170
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 08-03 Total: 10 17-00
82. Alec Berens - Joseph Bruener Mckendree University 169
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 4 08-10 Total: 9 17-00
83. Lukas Mckinney - Sam Moll Murray State University 168
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 06-06 Total: 10 16-15
84. Nathan Burdett - Andrew Davis Troy University 167
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 4 09-06 Total: 9 16-15
85. Chase Mundhenke - Blake Milligan Auburn University 166
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 07-05 Total: 10 16-14
86. Easton Fothergill - Nick Dumke University of Montevallo 165
Day 1: 5 07-02 Day 2: 5 09-11 Total: 10 16-13
87. John Ortman - Emmanuel 164
Day 1: 5 08-06 Day 2: 5 08-07 Total: 10 16-13
88. Wesley Smith - Grant Harris Catawba Valley Community College 163
Day 1: 4 06-09 Day 2: 4 10-03 Total: 8 16-12
89. Connor Hicks - Austin Wadzinski University of Tennessee 162
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 5 08-12 Total: 10 16-11
90. Bryant Marsh - Tyler Hill Blue Mountain College 161
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 3 07-15 Total: 8 16-11
91. Blair Cox - Zach Adamec Missouri State University 160
Day 1: 4 05-08 Day 2: 5 11-02 Total: 9 16-10
92. Blake Bullock - Blue Mountain College 159
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 5 07-09 Total: 10 16-06
93. Caden Sweeten - Samuel Heichel Bemidji State University 158
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 5 07-14 Total: 10 16-06
94. Hunter Bailey - JR Young Jr Jacksonville State University 157
Day 1: 4 07-03 Day 2: 5 09-02 Total: 9 16-05
95. Logan Bozeman - Andrew Fryer Southern Union State Community C 156
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 5 06-15 Total: 10 16-03
96. Stone Payne - Hayden Baxter University of Tennessee- Knoxvil 155
Day 1: 5 09-03 Day 2: 4 07-00 Total: 9 16-03
97. Matthew Zdrazil - Easton Lindus Emmanuel College 154
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 3 05-11 Total: 8 16-02
98. Ryan Park - Samuel Niemeyer Murray State University 153
Day 1: 4 07-02 Day 2: 5 09-00 Total: 9 16-02
99. Dalton Coleman - Joe Bob Burchett Kentucky Christian University 152
Day 1: 3 09-02 Day 2: 3 06-11 Total: 6 15-13
100. Parker Lambert - Koby Horn Lander university 151
Day 1: 5 08-01 Day 2: 5 07-10 Total: 10 15-11
101. Whit Edmonds - Julia Levister Lander University 150
Day 1: 5 08-03 Day 2: 5 07-07 Total: 10 15-10
102. Brodie Curvin - Connor Handley wallace state 149
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 5 08-01 Total: 10 15-10
103. Blake Stringer - Colby Joseph Campbellsville University 148
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 3 05-07 Total: 8 15-07
104. Conner Crosby - James Cobbs Auburn University 147
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 2 04-14 Total: 7 15-06
105. Isaac Irvin - Mason Gross wabash valley college 146
Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 5 09-10 Total: 8 15-04
106. Steve Kinard - Jimmy Mitchum Lander University 145
Day 1: 5 07-13 Day 2: 5 07-02 Total: 10 14-15
107. Adam Troyer - Andrew Yazdi Indiana University 144
Day 1: 5 07-06 Day 2: 5 07-09 Total: 10 14-15
108. Andrew Thompson - Jacob Swanson Montevallo 143
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 14-13
109. Cj Jobe - James Stillwell Western Carolina University 142
Day 1: 4 07-12 Day 2: 5 07-01 Total: 9 14-13
110. Landon Howe - Makalie King Georgia Southern University 141
Day 1: 5 14-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 14-08
111. Bo Thomas - Mason Vernia Western Michigan University 140
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 5 06-15 Total: 10 14-08
112. Nathan Smith - Cabe Mackey Catawba Valley Community College 139
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 2 03-04 Total: 7 14-07
113. Calvin Landsberg - Jack Palaia University of Alabama 138
Day 1: 3 04-14 Day 2: 4 09-09 Total: 7 14-07
114. Jacob Highley - Autumn Belcher Kentucky Christian University 137
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 3 03-05 Total: 8 14-06
115. Bailey Mckinney - Levi Smith Marshall University 136
Day 1: 5 07-05 Day 2: 5 07-01 Total: 10 14-06
116. Cole Holloway - Taylor Mcmullen Emmanuel College 135
Day 1: 5 07-11 Day 2: 5 06-10 Total: 10 14-05
117. Austin Sloan - Mason Cary Illinois State University 134
Day 1: 5 08-12 Day 2: 3 05-08 Total: 8 14-04
118. Riley Lawson - Chris Baker Kentucky Christian University 133
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 1 01-13 Total: 6 13-14
119. Emily Freeman - Cole Hadlock Murray State University 132
Day 1: 2 02-15 Day 2: 5 10-15 Total: 7 13-14
120. Spencer Black - Caleb Lonca Catawba Valley Community College 131
Day 1: 2 04-13 Day 2: 2 09-01 Total: 4 13-14
121. Brock Blazier - Matthew Wilson Southern union state community c 130
Day 1: 4 06-08 Day 2: 3 07-06 Total: 7 13-14
122. Bailey Rene - John Phipps Indiana University Southeast 129
Day 1: 5 08-13 Day 2: 4 05-00 Total: 9 13-13
123. Sam Schmitz - Braden Lewis University of North Alabama 128
Day 1: 5 07-10 Day 2: 4 05-15 Total: 9 13-09
124. Ryan Boggs - Hayden Fuhr Lander 127
Day 1: 5 07-03 Day 2: 5 06-06 Total: 10 13-09
125. Brock Lederman - Kyle Schwibinger University of Wisconsin- Stevens 126
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 3 04-15 Total: 8 13-08
126. Evan Rice - Sawyer Mccullough Troy University 125
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 3 04-00 Total: 8 13-07
127. Morgan Miracle - Jake Thornbury Campbellsville University 124
Day 1: 5 09-00 Day 2: 3 04-07 Total: 8 13-07
128. Will Lutes - Jacob Middleton Ohio State University 123
Day 1: 4 04-11 Day 2: 5 08-11 Total: 9 13-06
129. Anthony Ethridge - Trey Carr III Murray State University 122
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 2 03-06 Total: 7 13-01
130. Andrew Ready - Vince Maffei Webber International University 121
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 3 03-13 Total: 8 12-12
131. Haydan Quesenberry - Ryan Diskin Auburn University 120
Day 1: 3 04-11 Day 2: 4 08-01 Total: 7 12-12
132. Braedon Metzgar - Hayden Schneider Texas AM University 119
Day 1: 5 08-14 Day 2: 3 03-11 Total: 8 12-09
133. Cameron Dials - Jonathan Fraley Kentucky Christian University 118
Day 1: 3 05-15 Day 2: 5 06-10 Total: 8 12-09
134. Hagen Robinson - Grayson Perkins Western Carolina University 117
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 2 04-00 Total: 7 12-08
135. Weston Bison - Austin Gregory Lander University 116
Day 1: 4 06-13 Day 2: 2 05-11 Total: 6 12-08
136. Kyle Knoll - Luke Morgan Southern Union State Community C 115
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 3 04-06 Total: 8 12-05
137. Cole Taylor - Hunter Temples Lander 114
Day 1: 4 08-03 Day 2: 2 04-00 Total: 6 12-03
138. Austin Goins - Bryan college 113
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 2 02-10 Total: 7 12-00
139. Brock Bila - Dylan Chambers Drury University 112
Day 1: 4 08-14 Day 2: 2 02-15 Total: 6 11-13
140. Elliot Torode - Logan Plueger University of Montevallo 111
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 2 03-05 Total: 7 11-10
141. Adrian Urso - Corbin Templon Murray State University 110
Day 1: 5 07-05 Day 2: 3 04-05 Total: 8 11-10
142. Turner Hart - Summer Dees Bryan College 109
Day 1: 4 08-07 Day 2: 2 03-00 Total: 6 11-07
143. Kaden Liles - Hunter Lepping University of North Alabama 108
Day 1: 4 07-03 Day 2: 3 04-03 Total: 7 11-06
144. Eion Patterson - Nathan King UNC Charlotte 107
Day 1: 2 03-11 Day 2: 5 07-08 Total: 7 11-03
145. Gavin Clevenger - Chase Hastings Carson-Newman University 106
Day 1: 1 02-09 Day 2: 5 08-08 Total: 6 11-01
146. Connor Cartmell - Andrew Vereen Coastal Carolina University 105
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 1 02-01 Total: 6 10-08
147. Austin Marley - Noah Simmons Georgia Southern University 104
Day 1: 1 01-08 Day 2: 4 08-13 Total: 5 10-05
148. John Garrett Pearson - Rudy Pearson IV Georgia College 103
Day 1: 3 04-12 Day 2: 3 05-08 Total: 6 10-04
149. Christopher Kistler - Malcolm Patton Calhoun Community College 102
Day 1: 3 02-09 Day 2: 5 07-10 Total: 8 10-03
150. Ben Tschoerner - Chance Thompson Stephen F Austin State Universit 101
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 2 02-07 Total: 7 10-00
151. Josh Rouse - Avery Doughty Carson-Newman University 100
Day 1: 2 06-04 Day 2: 2 03-06 Total: 4 09-10
152. Caleb Jacob - Illinois State University 99
Day 1: 4 06-04 Day 2: 2 03-02 Total: 6 09-06
153. Brantley Anders - Will Rooker Kentucky Christian University 98
Day 1: 3 05-08 Day 2: 3 03-13 Total: 6 09-05
154. Bryar Chambers - Clent Blackwood Wallace State Community College 97
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 1 00-15 Total: 6 09-03
155. Logan Pumphrey - Andrew Hadley Indiana South East 96
Day 1: 5 09-02 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 09-02
156. Jack York - Jacob Miller stephen f austin state universit 95
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 09-01
157. Tanner Maness - Chandler Ellis Lander University 94
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-15
158. Nick Staub - Lake Norsworthy Blue Mountain College 93
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 4 07-10 Total: 5 08-14
159. Ethan Vue - Colton Kentopp University of North Carolina at 92
Day 1: 1 01-13 Day 2: 4 06-15 Total: 5 08-12
160. Lucas Oliver - Nathan Dellinger Catawba Valley Community College 91
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 08-07 Total: 5 08-07
161. Garrett Warren - Hayden Marbut Auburn University 90
Day 1: 2 03-08 Day 2: 2 04-14 Total: 4 08-06
162. Austin Smith - Jacob Lambert Carson-Newman University 89
Day 1: 2 03-15 Day 2: 3 04-07 Total: 5 08-06
163. Victor Alford - Dylan Johnson bryan college 88
Day 1: 2 03-06 Day 2: 2 04-14 Total: 4 08-04
164. Caleb Bridges - Jacob Davidson bryan college 87
Day 1: 4 07-00 Day 2: 1 01-01 Total: 5 08-01
165. Andrew Mega - Brennan Kenison UNC CHARLOTTE 86
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-00
166. Garrett Thompson - Ethan Perry West Virginia University 85
Day 1: 4 07-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 07-15
167. Owen Januszewski - Nick Owens Adrian College 84
Day 1: 3 03-13 Day 2: 3 04-02 Total: 6 07-15
168. Conner Johnson - Jake Thomas Georgetown college 83
Day 1: 5 07-11 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 07-11
169. Caleb Sheldon - Chase Beale Lander University 82
Day 1: 4 06-06 Day 2: 1 01-04 Total: 5 07-10
170. Matthew Pufahl - Alex Ripplinger Bemidji State University 81
Day 1: 3 04-08 Day 2: 2 03-01 Total: 5 07-09
171. Shane Nelson - Aaron Jagdfeld Adrian College 80
Day 1: 5 07-07 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 07-07
172. John Pope - Walker Leslie UNC Charlotte 79
Day 1: 2 00-02 Day 2: 5 07-02 Total: 7 07-04
173. Chris Drum - Kaleb Davis Lenoir Rhyne University 78
Day 1: 5 07-02 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 07-02
174. Thomas Mingle - Nathan Couch Univerity of Tennessee 77
Day 1: 3 04-11 Day 2: 2 02-07 Total: 5 07-02
175. John Sells - Cooper Hesling Georgia Southern University 76
Day 1: 5 07-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 07-01
176. Braden Cox - Joel Berelsman Ohio State 75
Day 1: 4 07-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 07-00
177. Kyle Dillon - Kolby Kindley Western Carolina University 74
Day 1: 5 06-14 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 06-14
178. Zach Cruze - Daniel Schroeder Murray state 73
Day 1: 4 06-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 06-12
178. Tyler Finley - Lane Lassiter University of North Alabama 73
Day 1: 4 06-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 06-12
180. Evan Barker - Lane Pohlman Campbellsville University 71
Day 1: 4 05-02 Day 2: 1 01-08 Total: 5 06-10
181. Kyle Kreger - Elliott Pritchett Southern Illinois University Car 70
Day 1: 2 03-13 Day 2: 2 02-07 Total: 4 06-04
182. James Romig - Colton Morris Florida Gateway College 69
Day 1: 3 03-09 Day 2: 2 02-03 Total: 5 05-12
183. Jordan Turner - Davian Smith University of Montevallo 68
Day 1: 2 02-11 Day 2: 2 03-01 Total: 4 05-12
184. Camdon Lewis - TJ Edwards Jr Blue Mountain College 67
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 4 05-11 Total: 4 05-11
185. Riley Underwood - Chandler Olivier University of Montevallo 66
Day 1: 3 04-04 Day 2: 1 01-07 Total: 4 05-11
186. Hunter Waldrop - Reese Melven University of South Carolina 65
Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 05-10
187. Isaac Carlson - Blaine Mattingly Campbellsville University 64
Day 1: 1 01-03 Day 2: 3 04-01 Total: 4 05-04
188. Garrett Huddleston - Riley Voltz Auburn University 63
Day 1: 3 04-10 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 04-10
189. Thomas Mcelwaney - Colby Mason Georgia Southern University 62
Day 1: 2 04-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 04-08
190. Austin Curry - Milton Johnston III Lenoir Rhyne University 61
Day 1: 1 01-06 Day 2: 3 02-15 Total: 4 04-05
191. Landon Brown - Maycee Lyons Morehead State University 60
Day 1: 2 03-05 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 03-05
192. Andrew Pittman - East Carolina University 59
Day 1: 1 02-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 02-15
193. Ben Hutchins - Clay Burch North Carolina State University 58
Day 1: 2 02-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 02-12
194. Cameron Lake - Hunter Luke University of Alabama 57
Day 1: 1 01-03 Day 2: 1 01-09 Total: 2 02-12
195. Dawson Burton - Trent Keltner Kentucky Christian University 56
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 02-10 Total: 1 02-10
196. Lane Bradley - Holden Kauble Wabash Valley College 55
Day 1: 1 01-06 Day 2: 1 01-03 Total: 2 02-09
197. Blayner Leeman - Noah Hurford Kentucky Christian University 54
Day 1: 2 02-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 02-08
198. Nicholas Owens - Jeff Thomas Ohio State University 53
Day 1: 1 02-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 02-01
199. Chris Brooks - David Bartlett Greenville University 52
Day 1: 1 01-14 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-14
200. Harrison Heins - Luke Fraley Tennessee Tech University 51
Day 1: 1 01-05 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-05
201. Daniel Cosby - Kendale Utter Coastal Carolina University 50
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-04
201. Clay Henderson - Zachary Ward Drury University 50
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-04
203. Logan Anderson - Tyler Little North Carolina State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Jacob Conyers - Spencer Pergrem Morehead State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Parker Domschke - Harper Burkeen McKendree University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Patrick Henry - Jared Minor Ohio State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Noah Jones - Chance Konrad Coastal Carolina University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Jake Kimbrough - Chandler Pruett Blue Mountain College 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Jacob Silver - Ben Bales Western Carolina University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Cameron Smith - Jacob Blackburn Ohio State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
203. Elijah Walker - Jess Taylor AUBURN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 132 842 1700-00
2 98 698 1334-15
----------------------------------
230 1540 3034-15

by AnglersChannel

Luke Clausen Wins Knockout Round at REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa Sunglasses on Grand Lake

Spokane, Washington Pro Leads the Charge as Montgomery, Evers, Thrift and Birge also Advance to Championship Sunday, 10 Anglers Set for Saturday

TULSA, Okla. (March 25, 2022) – Bass Pro Tour angler Luke Clausen of Spokane, Washington, weighed nine scorable bass totaling 24 pounds even to win the Knockout Round (Group A) on Day 3 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses , the Bass Pro Tour championship, on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. The five-day event, hosted by Tulsa Regional Tourism, features anglers competing for a total purse of $730,000, including a top cash prize of $300,000 to the winner.

Also advancing along with Clausen to Sunday’s Championship Round of competition are pros Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, South Carolina, Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, and Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma.

“I went out there today not knowing if I might zero or I might catch them all day long,” said Clausen. “Right now this lake is changing so much – these fronts come through, the water is coming up, it’s changing colors everywhere across the lake. The key is figuring out how to catch them, right now, by the minute.

“The first period was rough for me,” Clausen continued. “It came together when I started running a little bit of wind. When I started fishing that wind, I was able to get those bites and the second period was crucial with that little breeze. I knew I needed to make hay when I could, and I really leaned on them in the second period.”

Hometown favorite Edwin Evers of Talala, who led the first day of competition, was disappointed with his performance but still happy to be advancing to the Championship Round.

“Man, I didn’t drink that much coffee today but I felt like I was jerking my jerkbait away from every fish out there,” the Oklahoma pro said. “I needed to slow down, and I just didn’t get it done today. But we’re moving on to the Championship Round, so it was enough. It just wasn’t like I was hoping it would be.

“Today with the water coming up, it threw me off a little bit,” Evers continued. “I’ve been really nervous about the water rising – I need the fish to stay where they’re at and I don’t need them to swim up to the bank. Hopefully tonight they start pulling a little bit of water and we can get it down a bit.

“I want to win this one really, really, really bad and bring this REDCREST trophy home to Oklahoma.”

Fellow Okie Zack Birge of Blanchard also made the cut but was definitely feeling the pressure of SCORETRACKER® as time ticked down.

“It was a stressful day to say the least – I’m still shaking from the last 20 minutes,” said Birge. “Every time my official would make a noise I’d turn around and be like ‘just don’t give me an update, please…’ But it was enough and I’m really happy to move on to the Championship Round.

“The key for me today was just trying to move around and stay with the cleaner water,” Birge said. “If I got in the dirty water, I didn’t get many bites. But I’m throwing something I’m confident in and keeping it in places that I’m confident in getting bit. Hopefully we’ve saved our best day for the last day.”

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. The field was cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers were split into two groups for the Knockout Round – 10 (Group A) competed on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 (Group B) will compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the Championship Round, the fifth and final day of competition (Sunday) where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2022 champion and earn the top prize of $300,000.

The top five pros from Group A that made the cut and will advance to Championship Sunday on Grand Lake are:

1st:          Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., nine bass, 24-0
2nd:         Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., seven bass, 20-6
3rd:         Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., six bass, 15-11
4th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 12-13
5th:         Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., five bass, 12-9

The five pros eliminated from competition Friday are:

6th:         Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., four bass, 11-0, $10,000
7th:         Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, three bass, 10-0, $10,000
8th:         Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., two bass, 9-4, $10,000
9th:         Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., two bass, 4-15, $10,000
10th:       James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., one bass, 2-12, $10,000

Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 44 scorable bass weighing 123 pounds, 6 ounces caught by the 10 pros Friday.

Shryock earned Friday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 6-pound, 7-ounce largemouth in Period 1 to win the $1,000 prize. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group B Knockout Round on Saturday are:
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala.
Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.
Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala.
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark.

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin each day at 6:45 a.m. at the Wolf Creek Park and Boating Facility, located at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove, Oklahoma. Anglers will depart daily at 7:30 a.m. from the park and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. 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.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 2021 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 41 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 2 and July 9 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 17 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Mississippi State Duo Takes Lead In Bassmaster College Series Event On Lake Norman

Luke Glasgow and James Ikerd of Mississippi State University are leading after Day 1 of the 2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Norman presented by Bass Pro Shops with 22 pounds, 7 ounces.
Photo by Kyle Jessie/B.A.S.S.
March 25, 2022

Mississippi State Duo Takes Lead In Bassmaster College Series Event On Lake Norman

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Luke Glasgow was in disbelief. There was no way he and Mississippi State University angling partner James Ikerd just weighed a 22 pound, 7 ounce limit to storm to the Day 1 lead of the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Norman presented by Bass Pro Shops.

And there certainly was no way Glasgow had a personal-best bass in the livewell.

But the duo did, in fact, bring five hefty bass to the scales at Blythe Landing Friday afternoon, including a 7-5 largemouth that was the heaviest of the day and the heaviest ever caught by the 21-year-old engineering major.

“(Ikerd) said ‘That’s an 8- to 10-pounder,’” Glasgow recalled of the mid-afternoon catch. “I thought maybe it was 5 pounds or so. I was shaking so badly, like I’ve never done before in a fishing tournament. No matter what happens here, this place will always be special to me because of that fish.”

The heavy bag was no certainty at lunchtime when the Bulldogs team had four bass in the boat for about 8 pounds. They kept with their junk fishing strategy, though, covering as much water as they could and throwing a variety of lures.

“We had to keep plugging,” Ikerd said. “It finally paid off.”

The team’s fortunes changed when they hooked a pair of 5-pounders shortly after noon. Those upgrades provided the boost of positive energy the duo needed, and they set the tone for Glasgow’s giant later in the day.

His previous best was a 6-9 first caught on Pickwick Lake, a weight he’s matched twice since. And of course, he smashed the PB on Friday.

“We didn’t catch a single keeper yesterday in practice,” said Glasgow, who hails from Guin, Ala. “So, I never imagined we’d have this today. I know I’m talking, but I really am speechless.”

In all, 211 tandems from around the U.S. are competing on this 32,000-acre impoundment of the Catawba River. They’ll all fish again on Saturday, with nearly $9,000 in cash prizes to be awarded. The winning tandem will collect $2,601, or $1300.50 each.

Robert Gee and Chad Sentell of the University of Tennessee are in second place with a 19-3 limit, and Connor Jacob and Sam Smith of Auburn University are third with an 18-1 total. Erskine College of South Carolina holds the fourth and fifth spots – Avery Hammock and Garrett Smith with 17-15 and Jeremy Dellinger and Adam Seagle with 17-12.

The second and final day of the college derby will begin at 7:10 a.m. ET at Blythe Landing. The final weigh-in will take place beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Coverage can be found at Bassmaster.com.

2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Norman presented by Bass Pro Shops 3/25-3/26
Lake Norman, Cornelius NC.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1

Angler Club/School Pts

1. Luke Glasgow - James Ikerd Mississippi State University 250
Day 1: 5 22-07 Total: 5 22-07
2. Robert Gee - Chad Sentell University of Tennessee 249
Day 1: 5 19-03 Total: 5 19-03
3. Connor Jacob - Sam Smith Auburn University 248
Day 1: 5 18-01 Total: 5 18-01
4. Avery Hammock - Garrett Smith Erskine College 247
Day 1: 5 17-15 Total: 5 17-15
5. Jeremy Dellinger - Adam Seagle Erskine College 246
Day 1: 5 17-12 Total: 5 17-12
6. Joshua DeKoning - Dalton Mollenkopf Adrian College 245
Day 1: 5 17-01 Total: 5 17-01
7. Peyton Harris - Dalton Head Montevallo 244
Day 1: 5 16-03 Total: 5 16-03
8. Rob Lindsey - Mason Cizek Bryan College 243
Day 1: 5 15-10 Total: 5 15-10
9. Chance Schwartz - James Willoughby University of Montevallo 242
Day 1: 5 15-08 Total: 5 15-08
10. Brody Robison - Jack Alexander University of Montevallo 241
Day 1: 5 15-05 Total: 5 15-05
11. Cody Griffith - Drew Jennings Auburn University 240
Day 1: 5 14-14 Total: 5 14-14
12. Drake Hemby - Carter Koza Carson-Newman University 239
Day 1: 5 14-13 Total: 5 14-13
12. Andrew Thompson - Jacob Swanson Montevallo 239
Day 1: 5 14-13 Total: 5 14-13
14. Nick Pemberton - Brennan Berglund University of Montevallo 237
Day 1: 5 14-11 Total: 5 14-11
15. Colby Kerr - Jonathan Fitch Kentucky Christian University 236
Day 1: 5 14-09 Total: 5 14-09
16. Landon Howe - Makalie King Georgia Southern University 235
Day 1: 5 14-08 Total: 5 14-08
17. Jacob Butts - Mark Kershaw Erskine College 234
Day 1: 5 13-15 Total: 5 13-15
17. Gunner Whitaker - Mitch Johnson Kentucky Christian University 234
Day 1: 5 13-15 Total: 5 13-15
19. Tyler Cory - Scott Sledge University of Montevallo 232
Day 1: 5 13-01 Total: 5 13-01
19. Ryan Thomas - Solomon Glenn University of Montevallo 232
Day 1: 5 13-01 Total: 5 13-01
21. Tyler Lubbat - Hayden O'barr University of Alabama 230
Day 1: 5 13-00 Total: 5 13-00
22. Sam Hanggi - Sam Hoesley Auburn University 229
Day 1: 5 12-15 Total: 5 12-15
22. Brycen Hendriks - Gavin Ange UNC Charlotte 229
Day 1: 5 12-15 Total: 5 12-15
24. Louis Monetti - Michael Fugaro UNC Charlotte 227
Day 1: 5 12-14 Total: 5 12-14
25. Ben Rand - Mason Grossbauer Davenport University 226
Day 1: 5 12-12 Total: 5 12-12
26. Matthew Davis - Bryce Kostman Adrian College 225
Day 1: 5 12-11 Total: 5 12-11
27. Aaron Shumaker - Hunter Enlow Lander University 224
Day 1: 5 12-10 Total: 5 12-10
28. Reece Martin - Mark Harris Dallas Baptist University 223
Day 1: 5 12-09 Total: 5 12-09
29. Grayson Morris - Jacob Pfundt University of Montevallo 222
Day 1: 5 12-08 Total: 5 12-08
29. Max Pierlott - Mike Pierlott UNC Charlotte 222
Day 1: 5 12-08 Total: 5 12-08
31. Brooks Anderson - Parker Guy Emmanuel College 220
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
31. Chase Carey - Dylan Akins Emmanuel College 220
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
33. Matthew Benson - Nathanael Wright Emmanuel College 218
Day 1: 5 12-03 Total: 5 12-03
34. Will Carnes - Tavin Hodgens campbellsville university 217
Day 1: 5 12-01 Total: 5 12-01
34. Riley Lawson - Chris Baker Kentucky Christian University 217
Day 1: 5 12-01 Total: 5 12-01
36. Dustin Bauer - Wyatt Pearman Campbellsville University 215
Day 1: 5 12-00 Total: 5 12-00
37. Mitchell Gunn - Kyle Kunst Grand Valley State University 214
Day 1: 5 11-13 Total: 5 11-13
38. Cole Hopson - Nicholas Robinson Georgia College 213
Day 1: 5 11-12 Total: 5 11-12
39. Drew Gill - Jonah Potts Wabash Valley College 212
Day 1: 5 11-11 Total: 5 11-11
40. Zach Mcnary - Trenton Penninga Grand Valley State University 211
Day 1: 5 11-10 Total: 5 11-10
41. Brock Williams - Brandon Johnson Ohio State University 210
Day 1: 5 11-07 Total: 5 11-07
42. Robert Cruvellier - Carson Maddux Auburn University 209
Day 1: 5 11-05 Total: 5 11-05
43. Lane Bailey - Justin Eggers Catawba Valley Community College 208
Day 1: 5 11-03 Total: 5 11-03
43. Nathan Smith - Cabe Mackey Catawba Valley Community College 208
Day 1: 5 11-03 Total: 5 11-03
43. Drew Traffanstedt - Dakendrick Patterson University of Montevallo 208
Day 1: 5 11-03 Total: 5 11-03
46. Jacob Highley - Autumn Belcher Kentucky Christian University 205
Day 1: 5 11-01 Total: 5 11-01
46. Nate Lesch - Tennessee Tech University 205
Day 1: 5 11-01 Total: 5 11-01
48. Conner Dimauro - Justin Botts Bryan College 203
Day 1: 5 11-01 Total: 5 11-01
49. Jacob Witkowski - Hunter Jenkins Dallas Baptist Univesity 202
Day 1: 5 10-13 Total: 5 10-13
50. Nolan Yeager - Riley Aebi Stephen F. Austin State Universi 201
Day 1: 5 10-11 Total: 5 10-11
51. Andrew Rickman - Michael Postlewait Dallas Baptist University 200
Day 1: 5 10-10 Total: 5 10-10
52. Lukas Mckinney - Sam Moll Murray State University 199
Day 1: 5 10-09 Total: 5 10-09
52. Alex Richmond - Riley Bowen Grand Valley State University 199
Day 1: 5 10-09 Total: 5 10-09
54. Conner Crosby - James Cobbs Auburn University 197
Day 1: 5 10-08 Total: 5 10-08
55. Matthew Zdrazil - Easton Lindus Emmanuel College 196
Day 1: 5 10-07 Total: 5 10-07
56. Austin Woody - Bryce Fowler East Carolina University 195
Day 1: 5 10-04 Total: 5 10-04
57. Jake Monti - Samuel Dunson UNC Charlotte 194
Day 1: 5 10-03 Total: 5 10-03
58. Tyler Altizer - Dylan Thomson King University 193
Day 1: 5 10-02 Total: 5 10-02
58. Beau Browning - Jake Peck Drury University 193
Day 1: 5 10-02 Total: 5 10-02
58. Nate Triplett - Cy Lambert University of North Alabama 193
Day 1: 5 10-02 Total: 5 10-02
61. Blake Stringer - Colby Joseph Campbellsville University 190
Day 1: 5 10-00 Total: 5 10-00
62. Seth Jenkins - TJ McKenzie Emmanuel College 189
Day 1: 5 09-14 Total: 5 09-14
62. Chase Sansom - Tyler Drown Marshall University 189
Day 1: 5 09-14 Total: 5 09-14
64. Joseph Bissing - Jackson Paden University of Tennessee 187
Day 1: 5 09-12 Total: 5 09-12
64. Hagan Marlin - Tanner English University of Montevallo 187
Day 1: 5 09-12 Total: 5 09-12
66. Lawson Blake - Caden Fuller Marshall University 185
Day 1: 5 09-11 Total: 5 09-11
66. Anthony Ethridge - Trey Carr III Murray State University 185
Day 1: 5 09-11 Total: 5 09-11
68. Hunter Keller - Carson Eckard Catawba Valley Community College 183
Day 1: 5 09-10 Total: 5 09-10
69. Chase Mundhenke - Blake Milligan Auburn University 182
Day 1: 5 09-09 Total: 5 09-09
70. Lafe Messer - Matt Messer Kentucky Christian University 181
Day 1: 5 09-08 Total: 5 09-08
71. Evan Rice - Sawyer Mccullough Troy University 180
Day 1: 5 09-07 Total: 5 09-07
72. Ben Brockwell - Justice Gayhart Kentucky Christian University 179
Day 1: 5 09-06 Total: 5 09-06
72. Austin Goins - Bryan college 179
Day 1: 5 09-06 Total: 5 09-06
74. Jackson Stephens - Maxwell Trotter Mckendree University 177
Day 1: 5 09-05 Total: 5 09-05
75. Logan Bozeman - Andrew Fryer Southern Union State Community C 176
Day 1: 5 09-04 Total: 5 09-04
75. Storm Cline - Ely Dennison Carson-Newman University 176
Day 1: 5 09-04 Total: 5 09-04
77. Stone Payne - Hayden Baxter University of Tennessee- Knoxvil 174
Day 1: 5 09-03 Total: 5 09-03
78. Hunter MCClaskey - King University 173
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
78. Logan Pumphrey - Andrew Hadley Indiana South East 173
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
80. Dalton Coleman - Joe Bob Burchett Kentucky Christian University 171
Day 1: 3 09-02 Total: 3 09-02
81. Jack York - Jacob Miller stephen f austin state universit 170
Day 1: 5 09-01 Total: 5 09-01
82. Morgan Miracle - Jake Thornbury Campbellsville University 169
Day 1: 5 09-00 Total: 5 09-00
82. Carson Palmer - Cole Rankin Carson-Newman University 169
Day 1: 5 09-00 Total: 5 09-00
84. Sam Harvey - Jordan Brewer Auburn University 167
Day 1: 5 08-15 Total: 5 08-15
84. Tanner Maness - Chandler Ellis Lander University 167
Day 1: 5 08-15 Total: 5 08-15
84. Andrew Ready - Vince Maffei Webber International University 167
Day 1: 5 08-15 Total: 5 08-15
84. Joey Williams - Evan Thomas Liberty University 167
Day 1: 5 08-15 Total: 5 08-15
88. Braedon Metzgar - Hayden Schneider Texas AM University 163
Day 1: 5 08-14 Total: 5 08-14
89. Brock Bila - Dylan Chambers Drury University 162
Day 1: 4 08-14 Total: 4 08-14
90. Walker Brown - Chandler Brewer University of North Alabama 161
Day 1: 5 08-13 Total: 5 08-13
90. Blake Bullock - Blue Mountain College 161
Day 1: 5 08-13 Total: 5 08-13
90. Logan Parks - Tucker Smith Auburn University 161
Day 1: 5 08-13 Total: 5 08-13
90. Bailey Rene - John Phipps Indiana University Southeast 161
Day 1: 5 08-13 Total: 5 08-13
94. Bryant Marsh - Tyler Hill Blue Mountain College 157
Day 1: 5 08-12 Total: 5 08-12
94. Austin Sloan - Mason Cary Illinois State University 157
Day 1: 5 08-12 Total: 5 08-12
96. Brock Lederman - Kyle Schwibinger University of Wisconsin- Stevens 155
Day 1: 5 08-09 Total: 5 08-09
97. Hagen Robinson - Grayson Perkins Western Carolina University 154
Day 1: 5 08-08 Total: 5 08-08
97. Caden Sweeten - Samuel Heichel Bemidji State University 154
Day 1: 5 08-08 Total: 5 08-08
99. Connor Cartmell - Andrew Vereen Coastal Carolina University 152
Day 1: 5 08-07 Total: 5 08-07
99. Jacob Welch - Lee Lambrecht Drury University 152
Day 1: 5 08-07 Total: 5 08-07
101. Turner Hart - Summer Dees Bryan College 150
Day 1: 4 08-07 Total: 4 08-07
102. Alec Berens - Joseph Bruener Mckendree University 149
Day 1: 5 08-06 Total: 5 08-06
102. John Ortman - Emmanuel 149
Day 1: 5 08-06 Total: 5 08-06
104. Elliot Torode - Logan Plueger University of Montevallo 147
Day 1: 5 08-05 Total: 5 08-05
105. Bryar Chambers - Clent Blackwood Wallace State Community College 146
Day 1: 5 08-04 Total: 5 08-04
106. Mark Burnham - Adam Green Greenville University 145
Day 1: 5 08-03 Total: 5 08-03
106. Grant Dohle - Wyatt Montle Missouri State University 145
Day 1: 5 08-03 Total: 5 08-03
106. Whit Edmonds - Julia Levister Lander University 145
Day 1: 5 08-03 Total: 5 08-03
106. Cole Thompson - John Heacock University of North Alabama 145
Day 1: 5 08-03 Total: 5 08-03
110. Cole Taylor - Hunter Temples Lander 141
Day 1: 4 08-03 Total: 4 08-03
111. Parker Lambert - Koby Horn Lander university 140
Day 1: 5 08-01 Total: 5 08-01
112. Andrew Mega - Brennan Kenison UNC CHARLOTTE 139
Day 1: 5 08-00 Total: 5 08-00
113. Weston Hollar - Jordan Pennington University of Montevallo 138
Day 1: 4 08-00 Total: 4 08-00
114. Brady Duncan - Stevie Mills Carson-Newman University 137
Day 1: 5 07-15 Total: 5 07-15
114. Seth Elkins - Dale Hansard Jacksonville State University 137
Day 1: 5 07-15 Total: 5 07-15
114. Connor Hicks - Austin Wadzinski University of Tennessee 137
Day 1: 5 07-15 Total: 5 07-15
114. Kyle Knoll - Luke Morgan Southern Union State Community C 137
Day 1: 5 07-15 Total: 5 07-15
118. Garrett Thompson - Ethan Perry West Virginia University 133
Day 1: 4 07-15 Total: 4 07-15
119. Steve Kinard - Jimmy Mitchum Lander University 132
Day 1: 5 07-13 Total: 5 07-13
120. JD Clarke - Hunter Muncrief Stephen F Austin State Universit 131
Day 1: 5 07-12 Total: 5 07-12
121. Cj Jobe - James Stillwell Western Carolina University 130
Day 1: 4 07-12 Total: 4 07-12
122. Cole Holloway - Taylor Mcmullen Emmanuel College 129
Day 1: 5 07-11 Total: 5 07-11
122. Conner Johnson - Jake Thomas Georgetown college 129
Day 1: 5 07-11 Total: 5 07-11
124. Sam Schmitz - Braden Lewis University of North Alabama 127
Day 1: 5 07-10 Total: 5 07-10
125. Nathan Burdett - Andrew Davis Troy University 126
Day 1: 5 07-09 Total: 5 07-09
125. Brodie Curvin - Connor Handley wallace state 126
Day 1: 5 07-09 Total: 5 07-09
125. Bo Thomas - Mason Vernia Western Michigan University 126
Day 1: 5 07-09 Total: 5 07-09
125. Ben Tschoerner - Chance Thompson Stephen F Austin State Universit 126
Day 1: 5 07-09 Total: 5 07-09
129. Shane Nelson - Aaron Jagdfeld Adrian College 122
Day 1: 5 07-07 Total: 5 07-07
130. Adam Troyer - Andrew Yazdi Indiana University 121
Day 1: 5 07-06 Total: 5 07-06
131. Bailey Mckinney - Levi Smith Marshall University 120
Day 1: 5 07-05 Total: 5 07-05
131. Adrian Urso - Corbin Templon Murray State University 120
Day 1: 5 07-05 Total: 5 07-05
133. Ryan Boggs - Hayden Fuhr Lander 118
Day 1: 5 07-03 Total: 5 07-03
133. Anderson Jones - Lander University 118
Day 1: 5 07-03 Total: 5 07-03
135. Hunter Bailey - JR Young Jr Jacksonville State University 116
Day 1: 4 07-03 Total: 4 07-03
135. Kaden Liles - Hunter Lepping University of North Alabama 116
Day 1: 4 07-03 Total: 4 07-03
135. Brian Linder - Nathan Thompson Minnesota State - Mankato 116
Day 1: 4 07-03 Total: 4 07-03
138. Chris Drum - Kaleb Davis Lenoir Rhyne University 113
Day 1: 5 07-02 Total: 5 07-02
138. Easton Fothergill - Nick Dumke University of Montevallo 113
Day 1: 5 07-02 Total: 5 07-02
140. Ryan Park - Samuel Niemeyer Murray State University 111
Day 1: 4 07-02 Total: 4 07-02
141. John Sells - Cooper Hesling Georgia Southern University 110
Day 1: 5 07-01 Total: 5 07-01
142. Caleb Bridges - Jacob Davidson bryan college 109
Day 1: 4 07-00 Total: 4 07-00
142. Braden Cox - Joel Berelsman Ohio State 109
Day 1: 4 07-00 Total: 4 07-00
144. Kyle Dillon - Kolby Kindley Western Carolina University 107
Day 1: 5 06-14 Total: 5 06-14
145. Brandon Martin - Emmanuel College 106
Day 1: 4 06-14 Total: 4 06-14
146. Weston Bison - Austin Gregory Lander University 105
Day 1: 4 06-13 Total: 4 06-13
147. Britt Myers - Tyler Anderson Lander University 104
Day 1: 5 06-12 Total: 5 06-12
148. Zach Cruze - Daniel Schroeder Murray state 103
Day 1: 4 06-12 Total: 4 06-12
148. Tyler Finley - Lane Lassiter University of North Alabama 103
Day 1: 4 06-12 Total: 4 06-12
150. Wesley Smith - Grant Harris Catawba Valley Community College 101
Day 1: 4 06-09 Total: 4 06-09
151. Brock Blazier - Matthew Wilson Southern union state community c 100
Day 1: 4 06-08 Total: 4 06-08
152. Lucas Smith - Dalton Mize Jacksonville State University 99
Day 1: 3 06-08 Total: 3 06-08
153. Caleb Sheldon - Chase Beale Lander University 98
Day 1: 4 06-06 Total: 4 06-06
154. Caleb Jacob - Illinois State University 97
Day 1: 4 06-04 Total: 4 06-04
155. Josh Rouse - Avery Doughty Carson-Newman University 96
Day 1: 2 06-04 Total: 2 06-04
156. Cameron Dials - Jonathan Fraley Kentucky Christian University 95
Day 1: 3 05-15 Total: 3 05-15
157. Isaac Irvin - Mason Gross wabash valley college 94
Day 1: 3 05-10 Total: 3 05-10
157. Hunter Waldrop - Reese Melven University of South Carolina 94
Day 1: 3 05-10 Total: 3 05-10
159. Blair Cox - Zach Adamec Missouri State University 92
Day 1: 4 05-08 Total: 4 05-08
160. Brantley Anders - Will Rooker Kentucky Christian University 91
Day 1: 3 05-08 Total: 3 05-08
161. Evan Barker - Lane Pohlman Campbellsville University 90
Day 1: 4 05-02 Total: 4 05-02
162. Calvin Landsberg - Jack Palaia University of Alabama 89
Day 1: 3 04-14 Total: 3 04-14
163. Spencer Black - Caleb Lonca Catawba Valley Community College 88
Day 1: 2 04-13 Total: 2 04-13
164. John Garrett Pearson - Rudy Pearson IV Georgia College 87
Day 1: 3 04-12 Total: 3 04-12
165. Will Lutes - Jacob Middleton Ohio State University 86
Day 1: 4 04-11 Total: 4 04-11
166. Thomas Mingle - Nathan Couch Univerity of Tennessee 85
Day 1: 3 04-11 Total: 3 04-11
166. Haydan Quesenberry - Ryan Diskin Auburn University 85
Day 1: 3 04-11 Total: 3 04-11
168. Garrett Huddleston - Riley Voltz Auburn University 83
Day 1: 3 04-10 Total: 3 04-10
169. Matthew Pufahl - Alex Ripplinger Bemidji State University 82
Day 1: 3 04-08 Total: 3 04-08
170. Thomas Mcelwaney - Colby Mason Georgia Southern University 81
Day 1: 2 04-08 Total: 2 04-08
171. Riley Underwood - Chandler Olivier University of Montevallo 80
Day 1: 3 04-04 Total: 3 04-04
172. Austin Smith - Jacob Lambert Carson-Newman University 79
Day 1: 2 03-15 Total: 2 03-15
173. Owen Januszewski - Nick Owens Adrian College 78
Day 1: 3 03-13 Total: 3 03-13
174. Kyle Kreger - Elliott Pritchett Southern Illinois University Car 77
Day 1: 2 03-13 Total: 2 03-13
175. Eion Patterson - Nathan King UNC Charlotte 76
Day 1: 2 03-11 Total: 2 03-11
176. James Romig - Colton Morris Florida Gateway College 75
Day 1: 3 03-09 Total: 3 03-09
177. Garrett Warren - Hayden Marbut Auburn University 74
Day 1: 2 03-08 Total: 2 03-08
178. Victor Alford - Dylan Johnson bryan college 73
Day 1: 2 03-06 Total: 2 03-06
179. Landon Brown - Maycee Lyons Morehead State University 72
Day 1: 2 03-05 Total: 2 03-05
180. Emily Freeman - Cole Hadlock Murray State University 71
Day 1: 2 02-15 Total: 2 02-15
181. Andrew Pittman - East Carolina University 70
Day 1: 1 02-15 Total: 1 02-15
182. Ben Hutchins - Clay Burch North Carolina State University 69
Day 1: 2 02-12 Total: 2 02-12
183. Jordan Turner - Davian Smith University of Montevallo 68
Day 1: 2 02-11 Total: 2 02-11
184. Christopher Kistler - Malcolm Patton Calhoun Community College 67
Day 1: 3 02-09 Total: 3 02-09
185. Gavin Clevenger - Chase Hastings Carson-Newman University 66
Day 1: 1 02-09 Total: 1 02-09
186. Blayner Leeman - Noah Hurford Kentucky Christian University 65
Day 1: 2 02-08 Total: 2 02-08
187. Nicholas Owens - Jeff Thomas Ohio State University 64
Day 1: 1 02-01 Total: 1 02-01
188. Chris Brooks - David Bartlett Greenville University 63
Day 1: 1 01-14 Total: 1 01-14
189. Ethan Vue - Colton Kentopp University of North Carolina at 62
Day 1: 1 01-13 Total: 1 01-13
190. Austin Marley - Noah Simmons Georgia Southern University 61
Day 1: 1 01-08 Total: 1 01-08
191. Lane Bradley - Holden Kauble Wabash Valley College 60
Day 1: 1 01-06 Total: 1 01-06
191. Austin Curry - Milton Johnston III Lenoir Rhyne University 60
Day 1: 1 01-06 Total: 1 01-06
193. Harrison Heins - Luke Fraley Tennessee Tech University 58
Day 1: 1 01-05 Total: 1 01-05
194. Daniel Cosby - Kendale Utter Coastal Carolina University 57
Day 1: 1 01-04 Total: 1 01-04
194. Clay Henderson - Zachary Ward Drury University 57
Day 1: 1 01-04 Total: 1 01-04
194. Nick Staub - Lake Norsworthy Blue Mountain College 57
Day 1: 1 01-04 Total: 1 01-04
197. Isaac Carlson - Blaine Mattingly Campbellsville University 54
Day 1: 1 01-03 Total: 1 01-03
197. Cameron Lake - Hunter Luke University of Alabama 54
Day 1: 1 01-03 Total: 1 01-03
199. John Pope - Walker Leslie UNC Charlotte 52
Day 1: 2 00-02 Total: 2 00-02
200. Logan Anderson - Tyler Little North Carolina State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Dawson Burton - Trent Keltner Kentucky Christian University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Jacob Conyers - Spencer Pergrem Morehead State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Parker Domschke - Harper Burkeen McKendree University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Patrick Henry - Jared Minor Ohio State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Noah Jones - Chance Konrad Coastal Carolina University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Jake Kimbrough - Chandler Pruett Blue Mountain College 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Camdon Lewis - TJ Edwards Jr Blue Mountain College 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Lucas Oliver - Nathan Dellinger Catawba Valley Community College 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Jacob Silver - Ben Bales Western Carolina University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Cameron Smith - Jacob Blackburn Ohio State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
200. Elijah Walker - Jess Taylor AUBURN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 132 842 1700-00
----------------------------------
132 842 1700-00

by AnglersChannel

REDCREST Rewards - Costa Compete + Conserve

Courtesy of Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

GROVE, Okla. – There wasn’t an abundant amount of sunshine on Grand Lake throughout the first two days of REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa, but today the sun crested the east horizon without a cloud in the sky and this weekend calls for better, more springlike weather. Even the sun has been largely absent, sunglasses haven’t been far from the 41 competing anglers’ minds this week both literally and figuratively thanks to the Costa Compete + Conserve contingency program.

Compete + Conserve rewards the highest finishing angler wearing Costa shades in any supported tournament with a cash bonus (or prize package). The payout for REDCREST is an incredible $7,500 to the angler who finishes the highest on Sunday along with an additional $1,000 being donated to one of five conservation partners of the anglers’ choosing.

The conservation component of this one-of-a-kind contingency program is included for every single sanctioned tournament whether it’s the Bass Pro Tour, a team tournament trail, or high school and college fishing. Bass Pro Tour standout Ott DeFoetook home the REDCREST rewards in 2021 and is a huge proponent of what Compete + Conserve stands for.

“It’s great to see an industry leader like Costa put together a program like Compete + Conserve,” said DeFoe. “Not only do anglers get paid to wear the best sunglasses on the water, but you support groups looking after our rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in the process. That’s what makes this program truly special.”

To make things even better, Costa recently added over 200+ grassroots events to Compete + Conserve, so there are more opportunities to take part than ever. The program is 100% free to register for, you just need to own a pair of Costas and compete in an eligible tournament.

For more information on the program, a full list of supported tournaments, or to get yourself registered before you hit the water this weekend click this link - https://www.costacompeteandconserve.com/ or shoot costa@dynamicsponsorships.com an email.

by AnglersChannel

KVD at REDCREST: Gracious and giving in defeat

Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

Thursday afternoon brought an end to Kevin VanDam’s 2022 MLF REDCREST competition because the Grand Lake he loves, and has twice claimed victory on, just didn’t seem to love him back this week.

“I’m pretty perplexed and super disappointed to be honest,” said VanDam, while stowing his tackle at the Wolf Creek boat ramp in preparation for the 90-mile drive back to Tulsa. “Everything that seemed like it should work, based on my experience here, just never really materialized. It’s definitely frustrating,” he added.

But even amid the frustration and perplexion of defeat, VanDam was kind and gracious to fans and media gathered near his boat in the parking lot, as he smiled for cell phone photos, autographed hats, and provided thoughtful insight during interviews. Plus, he has big plans to generously give back to the Northeast Oklahoma community this weekend.

Q: What surprised you most about the way Grand Lake fished this week?

KVD: Not only how fast the water rose after the rain hit Monday, but also that the water didn’t get muddy in the mid-lake region I was fishing. In my mind, it actually got cleaner as it rose. So instead of the bass pushing shallower to the shoreline, like I thought they would, they just never did.

Q: Show us the two lures you used most during Wednesday and Thursday’s competition.

KVD: You bet. Grand Lake has a ton of shad. So as long as I was seeing balls of shad on my Humminbird MEGA Live screen, then I felt like I was around feeding bass. So, I threw a Strike King Series 3 crankbait on 12-pound fluorocarbon in sexy shad, and a Strike King 300 series jerkbait, also in sexy shad.

Q: What was the primary pattern you tried to execute on Grand this week?

KVD: I was targeting secondary points in the creeks of the mid-lake region, and also the creek channel swings inside pockets.

Q: The whole week featured cold air, rain, and a ton of cloud cover, but I noticed you still wear sunglasses. Why is that?

KVD: Because even on really cloudy days the Sunrise Silver Mirror lenses in my Costas allow for more light transmission, which really lightens things up on dark cloudy days, which allows me to see little changes in water clarity and shallow water targets better.

Q: What are some of the details of the generous plans Sherry and you have planned for the Northeastern Oklahoma community this weekend?

KVD: Yep, we have a really fun fan appreciation prize giveaway in the Nitro Boats booth at the REDCREST Expo inside Tulsa’s SageNet Center all three days of the show. We’re calling it the “Blast Off. Cast Off.” They’ll be $15,000 worth of gift cards and merchandise fans can sign up to win, but you have to be present to win.

Plus, I’m really excited about the grant money we are giving away through the Kevin VanDam Foundation to fund three different projects that will ultimately fund habitat restoration and the stocking of F-1 strain largemouth bass in Grand Lake.

 

by AnglersChannel

Michael Neal Tops Qualifying Round of Major League Fishing’s REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa Sunglasses on Grand Lake

Oklahoma Pros Edwin Evers (2nd), Zack Birge (3rd) and James Elam (19th) all Advance in Top 20 – 10 Fish Friday, 10 Fish Saturday, Top Five from Each Group Compete on Championship Sunday

TULSA, Okla. (March 24, 2022) – Bass Pro Tour angler Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee, weighed in a two-day total of 20 bass weighing 57 pounds, 7 ounces to win the Qualifying Round of the Major League Fishing (MLF) REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses, the Bass Pro Tour championship, on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. Neal narrowly edged out two Oklahoma favorites – Talala’s Edwin Evers, who weighed in 17 bass for 55-8 to end the round in second place, and Blanchard’s Zack Birge, who boated 15 scorable bass for 47-8, good for third.

The field is now cut to 20, and weights are zeroed as competition moves into the Knockout Round. A field of 10 anglers (Group A) will compete on Friday and the remaining 10 anglers (Group B) will compete Saturday. The top five anglers from each day advance to the fifth and final day of competition, Championship Sunday. The five-day event, hosted by Tulsa Regional Tourism, features anglers competing for a total purse of $730,000, including a top cash prize of $300,000 to the winner.

“Well, the top of the leaderboard is a good place to be,” said Neal, who is competing in his third career REDCREST championship and finished second in the event last year. “I would have rather finished in second or third, because that would mean I would be fishing tomorrow. But I’m going to enjoy my day off tomorrow and get ready to get back out there on Saturday.

“Today was totally unexpected – I totally changed from yesterday,” the Tennessee pro continued. “Yesterday was all about cranking. Today was all about finding the suspended fish that were out chasing bait. I found one little area that had a lot of fish on it. I caught them on a Damiki rig, using a 3/8-ounce Big Bite (Baits) Swimmer head with a ¾-inch Big Bite (Baits) Jerk Minnow.”

Although Neal spent his day chasing the suspended fish chasing bait, it was mainly because he wanted to conserve his other areas for the Knockout and Championship Rounds.

“I was worried about those fish. I wasn’t sure I could go down there and catch one. They were there, and they’ve been there since practice started (last Sunday). So, I feel like one extra day won’t hurt them too bad and hopefully they’re still there Saturday and Sunday for the Championship Round.”

The top 20 pros that made the Qualifying Round cut and will advance in competition on Grand Lake are:

1st:          Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 20 bass, 57-7
2nd:         Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 17 bass, 55-8
3rd:         Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 15 bass, 47-8
4th:         Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 14 bass, 43-14
5th:         Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 12 bass, 40-6
6th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 14 bass, 39-13
7th:         Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 12 bass, 38-2
8th:         Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 12 bass, 36-5
9th:         Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 36-0
10th:       Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 11 bass, 35-11
11th:       Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-1
12th:       Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 11 bass, 33-12
13th:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-11
14th:       Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-10
15th:       Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 11 bass, 32-3
16th:       Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., eight bass, 29-3
17th:       Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 10 bass, 28-12
18th:       Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 10 bass, 28-8
19th:       James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 10 bass, 28-4
20th:       Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., nine bass, 27-12

Finishing in 21st through 41st are:

21st:       Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 10 bass, 27-7, $5,000
22nd:      Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, nine bass, 27-6, $5,000
23rd:      Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., seven bass, 25-5, $5,000
24th:       Brent Chapman, Lenexa, Kan., nine bass, 25-1, $5,000
25th:       Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., nine bass, 24-2, $5,000
26th:       Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., eight bass, 22-14, $5,000
27th:       Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., seven bass, 21-15, $5,000
28th:       David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., eight bass, 20-7, $5,000
29th:       Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, seven bass, 20-2, $5,000
30th:       Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, six bass, 20-1, $5,000
31st:       Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., seven bass, 19-10, $5,000
32nd:      Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., seven bass, 19-1, $5,000
33rd:      Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., seven bass, 18-13, $5,000
34th:       Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., six bass, 16-12, $5,000
35th:       Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., six bass, 16-4, $5,000
36th:       Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., five bass, 15-9, $5,000
37th:       Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 15-8, $5,000
38th:       Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., three bass, 12-9, $5,000
39th:       Shin Fukae, Osaka, Japan, four bass, 11-12, $5,000
40th:       John Cox, DeBary, Fla., three bass, 11-12, $5,000
41st:       Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., four bass, 9-13, $5,000

Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 162 scorable bass weighing 489 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 37 pros Thursday.

Favorite Fishing pro Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, won Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 5-pound, 12-ounce largemouth during Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

All 41 Anglers competed on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is now cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 in Group A compete on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 in Group B compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the fifth and final day of competition (Sunday), where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2022 champion.

The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group A Knockout Round on Friday are:
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.
Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash.
Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala.
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn.
Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky.
Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C.
James Elam, Tulsa, Okla.

The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group B Knockout Round on Saturday are:
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala.
Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.
Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala.
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark.

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin each day at 6:45 a.m. at the Wolf Creek Park and Boating Facility, located at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove, Oklahoma. Anglers will depart daily at 7:30 a.m. from the park and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. 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.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 2021 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 41 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 2 and July 9 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 17 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, BallyBet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.

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.

 

by AnglersChannel

Bass Will Have Spawning On Their Minds During Bassmaster Southern Open At Cherokee

Tennessee's Cherokee Lake will host the St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Mossy Oak Fishing March 31-April 2, 2022.

Photo by Shane Durrance/B.A.S.S.

March 24, 2022

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — With spring water temperatures rising faster than usual, Bassmaster Elite Series pro David Mullins believes there will be plenty of bass caught during the 2022 St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake presented by Mossy Oak Fishing.

But finding a few quality bites will be the key to catching the winning bag.

“Everybody is going to have 10 to 13 pounds,” the East Tennessee native said. “A 4-pounder goes a long way on this lake. It is almost like fishing a New York smallmouth fishery. The weights are so tight. There are so many 2 to 2 3/4-pound fish that everyone can catch. It is just a matter of separating yourself with a big one or two.”

Competition days will be March 31-April 2. Anglers will take off from Cherokee TVA Dam Boat Launch each day at 7 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The Top 10 boaters after Day 2 will advance to the championship round while the co-angler champion will be crowned at the conclusion of the Day 2 weigh-in. Full coverage can be found on Bassmaster.com.

The Holston River impoundment stretches 59 miles through the hills of East Tennessee and covers around 30,000 acres. Made up of mostly rock structures, Cherokee features all three species of bass, with largemouth and smallmouth making the most impact on tournament results.

“The only thing Cherokee has is rock and mud. There is nothing else,” Mullins said. “Usually one side of the lake will be flat and the other side has a bluff. There’s not a tremendous amount of cover you have to go through. No grass or standing timber and very little brush.”

Cherokee Lake has hosted several Bassmaster events, including an Elite Series event in 2017, a College Series event in 2018 and most recently a Bassmaster Open in 2020.

During 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the event until the end of October and current Elite Series angler Matt Robertson claimed the trophy with 40-12. The bass caught during that fall event were largely found in deeper water, some as deep as 30 and 40 feet.

That will likely not be the case this time around, as warm weather will be coaxing the bass to the shallows to spawn, according to Mullins.

“This historically will be a prespawn bite. But as warm as I’ve seen it already, the water temperature is in the mid- to upper 50s, there is a high chance it will be all spawn when (anglers) get there. The bass will be really close to where they want to spawn, whether that is in pockets or just off the channel in the flats. There may even be some postspawn.”

With very little cover in the lake, Mullins said the bass will spawn on different types of rock structure, whether that is bigger rocks, pea gravel or slate banks. He added that smallmouth and largemouth can be found close to the same areas and don’t have much separation in their spawns.

“The largemouth tend to be in the pockets and creeks, whereas smallmouth tend to be close to the main channel. But with it being this time of the year, they will be in the same areas,” Mullins said.

With gizzard and threadfin shad being the main forage in the lake, Mullins said he expects topwaters, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and other moving baits to play a big factor for prespawn bass while shaky heads and drop shots have been historically productive for spawners.

With the water rising pretty much every day during the spring months, anglers will likely not be able to see the bass on their beds.

Mullins expects it will take around 16 pounds a day to take home the trophy.

With one Southern Open completed at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Tennessee native Brandon Lester leads both the Bassmaster Opens Angler of the Year race and Southern Opens standings with 200 points, followed by Joey Cifuentes III (199) and Tom Frink (198).

by AnglersChannel

Edwin Evers Leads Day 1 of Major League Fishing’s REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa Sunglasses

Oklahoma Superstar Catches 13 Bass Weighing 39 Pounds, 11 ounces to Pace Field on Day 1, Full field of 41 Anglers to Compete Again Thursday

TULSA, Okla. (March 23, 2022) – A field of the top 41 pro anglers from the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour descended on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees Wednesday morning for Day 1 of MLF’s REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses, the Bass Pro Tour championship. The five-day event, hosted by Tulsa Regional Tourism , features anglers competing for a total purse of $730,000, including a top cash prize of $300,000 to the winner.

After the final fish had been tallied on the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard, local bass-fishing superstar Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, sits atop the leaderboard with 13 bass totaling 39 pounds, 11 ounces.  Right behind Evers in second and third place are the two anglers many consider to be the hottest on the planet at the moment – Dayton, Tennessee’s Michael Neal, who boated 12 bass totaling 35-10 – and Academy Sports + Outdoors pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, who caught nine bass for 29-14.

Competition will continue Thursday, as the 41 anglers will again catch as much weight as possible before the field is cut to the top 20 after competition concludes tomorrow.

“I’m really happy with how the day turned out,” said Evers, who won the inaugural REDCREST championship in 2019 and is seeking to become the first angler to ever win two. “I focused on jerkbaiting in 6 to 15 feet of water. I didn’t lose any fish today, and my plan all seemed to come together.”

Evers said that he threw one jerkbait on two different setups. He used a Berkley Stunna 112, one with 10-pound-test fluorocarbon line, and one with 12-pound-test fluorocarbon line. He threw them on a Johnny Morris 6-foot, 8-inch medium-action rod with a high speed 8:3:1 gear ratio reel.

“The big key for me today was watching the bait on my (Lowrance) ActiveTarget to know what depth I needed to keep my jerkbait in when I got near the structure,” Evers said. “And they’re still biting the jerkbait, which I like. I was kind of afraid they were getting off of that bite.

“I feel like if I can catch just a couple of more fish tomorrow, I should be safe and moving into the Knockout Round,” Evers went on to say. “I’ve got a couple of areas that I found in practice that I didn’t touch today, so we’ll find out how good those spots are. I feel really good about this event so far and I am looking forward to getting back out here.”

The standings after Day 1 on Grand Lake are:

1st:          Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 13 bass, 39-11
2nd:         Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 12 bass, 35-10
3rd:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., nine bass, 29-14
4th:         Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., nine bass, 27-12
5th:         Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., nine bass, 27-2
6th:         Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., eight bass, 26-12
7th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., nine bass, 24-14
8th:         Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, six bass, 21-3
9th:         Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., six bass, 20-15
10th:       Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., seven bass, 20-4
11th:       Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., seven bass, 19-9
12th:       David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., seven bass, 18-6
13th:       Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 17-12
14th:       Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., six bass, 16-6
15th:       Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 16-6
16th:       Brent Chapman, Lenexa, Kan., five bass, 16-0
17th:       Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 15-8
18th:       Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., four bass, 14-15
19th:       Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, four bass, 14-6
20th:       Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 14-5
21st:       Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 13-13
22nd:      Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., five bass, 12-10
23rd:      James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., four bass, 12-10
24th:       Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., four bass, 12-10
25th:       Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., three bass, 12-9
26th:       Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, four bass, 12-8
27th:       Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., four bass, 12-6
28th:       Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 11-12
29th:       John Cox, DeBary, Fla., three bass, 11-12
30th:       Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., four bass, 11-3
31st:       Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., five bass, 10-9
32nd:      Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., three bass, 10-9
33rd:      Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., three bass, 10-2
34th:       Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., three bass, 9-0
35th:       Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, three bass, 8-13
36th:       Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., three bass, 8-12
37th:       Shin Fukae, Osaka, Japan, three bass, 8-0
38th:       Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., three bass, 7-13
39th:       Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., three bass, 7-10
40th:       Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., two bass, 5-3
41st:       Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., two bass, 4-10

A complete list of results can be found each day at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 213 scorable bass weighing 652 pounds, 8 ounces caught by the 41 pros Monday.

Wheeler caught a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass in Period 2, throwing a jerkbait near boat docks to earn the day’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. 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.

All 41 Anglers compete on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 compete on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the fifth and final day of competition (Sunday), where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2022 champion.

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin each day at 6:45 a.m. at the Wolf Creek Park and Boating Facility, located at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove, Oklahoma. Anglers will depart daily at 7:30 a.m. from the park and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. 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.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 2021 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 41 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 2 and July 9 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 17 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, BallyBet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Jordan Lee Ready for a Marathon

Courtesy of Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

GROVE, Okla. – Jordan Lee looked about as calm as he could be this morning just a few minutes before blast-off for the 2022 REDCREST presented by Costa on Grand Lake in northeast Oklahoma. As he pulled a few of his signature series Jordan Lee Baitcast combos out of his rod locker, you could tell the 31-year-old bass fishing phenom was taking it all in and remaining focused.

“Today and tomorrow (Thursday) are all about staying above that cut line and surviving,” Lee said. “I’m just trying to make the first cut to fish on Friday with a smaller field. That’s when it all starts to go down. This tournament will be a marathon, not a sprint.”

The full field of 41-anglers will be on the water during the first two days of competition this week. When Lines Out signals on Thursday afternoon, the bottom 21-pros will be headed to the Expo in Tulsa and the remaining 20-anglers will be split into two groups of ten to fish Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Lee said his practice didn’t go extremely well, but it also didn’t go poorly. With just two days of practice to break down the 41,000+ acre behemoth that is Grand Lake, J. Lee wasn’t stressing the things that were out of his control.

“I got a few bites each afternoon (of practice) and feel like I know what type of rock I’m looking for,” Lee explained. “I’m just hoping I can get a few bites early to calm me down a little bit and get the momentum building. The mornings have been tough for me during practice so getting off to a decent start would be great. Either way I’m going to cover water and just keep fishing… that’s all you can do.”

The baits Lee lined out on the front deck of his boat would make any old-school angler smile. Big black and blue jigs threaded with meaty Berkley chunk trailers, a few different crankbaits like the Frittside, and a couple of big-bladed spinnerbaits. Lee has proven countless times throughout his career he can catch fish with any technique or technology, but he’s not afraid to admit he favors the old-school.

With air temperatures in the mid 30s, spitting rain, and a howling northwest wind Lee knew this first day of competition played into his power fishing prowess. To combat the cold Lee started the morning bundled up in about every layer of Carhartt gear he brought to Oklahoma.

He’s a big fan of the Base Force layers Carhartt offers and said they are key to staying warm and focused in frigid conditions. Lee’s second secret to staying warm came in the form of family medicine via his wife and 5-month year old son.

“With that wind blowing in my face I was struggling to shake the cold from my brain this morning until I saw Kristen and Baker walking down the dock… that’ll warm you up,” Lee said with a big smile.

Lee hasn’t lit up the Scoretracker like he’d like to today, but he’s caught enough to hang around the cut-line and is keeping pace for the marathon he’s been preparing for.

by AnglersChannel

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by AnglersChannel

KVD at REDCREST: Mental focus, hand warmers, and a lotta gloves

Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships

 

Even after 32 years of competitive bass angling, Kevin VanDam admits he spent a large portion of Tuesday night tossing and turning in a downtown Tulsa hotel room as his mind raced with thoughts of how to attack Day 1 of REDCREST on Grand Lake amid 38-degree air temps, spitting rain, and a ripping north wind.

 

“I said that Monday’s final day of practice featured weather for the ducks. Well today might be better suited for geese,” grinned the always classy pro from Kalamazoo.

 

But don’t think for a minute Northeastern Oklahoma’s raw weather had him defeated before the first cast.

 

Razor sharp mental focus

 

“Conditions like this make the mental part of this sport super important. You have to accept the weather conditions for what they are, do what you gotta do to stay warm, and believe with razor focus that the next cast is going to produce a bite,” says VanDam.

 

It’s about a 90-minute drive from his hotel in Tulsa to the boat ramp on Grand, and VanDam says he never even turned on the radio in his 2022 Toyota Tundra. Instead, choosing to spend the 95-mile commute thinking about wind direction, lure selection, and focusing on shorelines that should produce bites on a raw Wednesday morning.

 

Gotta have a lotta gloves

 

A huge part of VanDam’s success in staying warm is packing plenty of thin gloves in his Nitro. He’s got six pair in the boat with him Wednesday. When one pair gets wet, he takes them off, and trades for dry ones.

 

He also keeps a long-lasting air activated Hot Hands Mossy Oak camo hand warmer fired-up in the pocket of his jacket to grab hold of throughout the day.

 

What KVD says fans should watch for on Day 1 –

 

“Pay attention to the guys who get on a decent roll in the first couple hours of the day. In the MLF format, especially in these weather conditions, getting off to a good start will be pretty critical. But I’ll also say, the fishing should get better as the air temps warm up a little throughout the day,” says the Team Toyota angler.

 

As of 9:30 a.m. Grand Lake time, two hours into REDCREST competition, VanDam’s intense mental focus, handwarmers, and dry gloves had him sitting solidly inside the Top 10.

by AnglersChannel

The One that Got Away.....

This week Chris & the boys welcome in Santee Elite Series Runner-up Caleb Kuphall to the show to talk about his Centruy Club achievement and find out what happened on day two of that derbs.... Check it out!

by AnglersChannel

Oxbow Bassin'

With a background in fisheries biology, guiding and tournament angling, Terry Bates is eminently qualified to show us around Lake Washington, a Delta region oxbow lake just a cannon shot from the Mississippi River and about 20 minutes south of Greenville, MS.

 

by AnglersChannel

Ashley Talks Weather, Weights, and Whereabouts for REDCREST

Courtesy of Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

GROVE, Okla. – Practice has concluded on Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees for the REDCREST presented by Costa and the 41-competing anglers have Tuesday “off” outside of a few championship festivities. A “day off” just a few hours before the start of biggest tournament of the year is actually filled with final tackle prep, countless interviews and media obligations.
Walking through the boat yard today, the excitement and nervous energy is palpable.

Casey Ashley is no stranger to championship events and has a knack for staying even-keeled regardless of the anticipation around him. Ashley offered a few of his main takeaways from practice and themes of this tournament.

Whereabouts

When Ashley launched his boat for the first day of practice Sunday morning, finding where not to fish was number one on his priority list.

“Grand is a lake where you can run a pattern once you get a few bites and get some confidence,” Ashley explained. “But it’s also a fishery that has different sections, and those sections seem to fire at different times. It’s not exactly easy to get a bite out there right now and you can spend a lot of time fishing dead water if you’re not careful. That’s something I’ve learned the hard way here. So, finding where not to spend time is key.”

It's springtime and fish are on the move; Ashley knows the fine details of his game plan are subject to change and need to evolve throughout the tournament week. But he believes the best areas of the lake should stay somewhat consistent.

Weights

The second factor Ashley wanted to try and get a handle on during practice is what weight range he should be targeting per-day. Scoreable bass are two pounds and bigger this week on Grand Lake and having an idea of how much weight is needed to do well each day is imperative.

“Knowing what weight to be shooting for during practice is definitely one of the most challenging things about our format,” Ashley said. “In an event like this, with the full field fishing the first two days, we don’t necessarily know what to expect. I didn’t know if I needed to be practicing for 40-pounds of scoreable bass per day, or 25-pounds of fish.

“While it may make my job a little harder during practice, it makes the tournament more exciting for the fans, because you’ll be seeing the best anglers in the world figure it out as they go along. Especially those first two days of competition.”

Weather

In any early spring or late winter tournament, weather is always a huge part of the story. This week will be no different in northeast Oklahoma, which is made clear when you study the 10-day forecast.

Competition starts tomorrow with forecasted temps in the 30s, heavy winds, thick cloud cover and some rain mixed in. But look ahead to the weekend and we’re expecting much warmer weather with abundant sunshine.

“We’re going to start off wearing Sunrise Silver lenses and winter Simms gear, but by the weekend we might be in t-shirts and need Blue Mirror lenses to block out the sun,” said the longtime Costa Sunglasses pro. “Drastic swings in the weather are par for the course with an early spring derby, though. We just gotta roll with it.

“I’ve been watching the weather in Oklahoma for the last few weeks, and I expected spring to have sprung out here to be honest. When I saw water temps were still as cold as they are (upper forties) I was surprised. I was hoping for warmer water temps, but the lake is still full of fish and we still gotta catch ‘em.”

While Ashley may have preferred warmer water and more stable spring weather, he has proven he can perform at a high level even when the air temperatures are low and frigid. Famously at his 2015 Classic win on Lake Hartwell when boats were literally freezing to their trailers, and most recently at Lake Fork for Stage Two of the Bass Pro Tour when he power-fished a spinnerbait and a jig amidst freezing temps and sleet en route to a 4th place finish.

Don’t let Ashley’s calm and cool demeanor fool you, the South Carolina native has ice in his veins and is always one to watch when he can fish his strengths. Grand Lake could absolutely be set up for a shallow water, power-fishing showdown this week; which is right in Ashley’s wheelhouse.

by AnglersChannel

MLF Toyota Series Event Set for Dale Hollow Lake

BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (March 22, 2022) – Byrdstown and Pickett County are set to welcome back Major League Fishing (MLF) for an event next week, March 31-April 2, with the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. at Dale Hollow Lake. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Byrdstown-Pickett County Chamber of Commerce, is the second event of the season for the Toyota Series Central Division.

The tournament will feature the region’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers casting for a top prize package of up to $75,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 pro boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard motor, in the co-angler division.

“This tournament could be the absolute perfect storm,” said Toyota Series pro Ryan Davidson of Branchland, West Virginia, who finished in fifth place at last weekend’s Phoenix Bass Fishing League event on Dale Hollow. “Between the weather, the time of year, and the water conditions, this is setting up to be a phenomenal event.

“The lake is still about four feet below summer pool,” Davidson continued. “This past weekend the water temperature was anywhere from the high 40s to 52, 53 degrees. And we’re going to have a warming trend with temperatures in the 70s, so I imagine we’ll see a big push of staging fish that are getting ready to spawn.”

Davidson said that he predicts moving baits – Alabama rigs, jerkbaits, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and ChatterBaits to all play a role for tournament competitors. He said that the low water levels might make things a bit difficult for the anglers that like to pitch and flip, but that a little bit of rain could quickly change that.

“The weather is going to be a factor in this one, no doubt,” Davidson said. “A little bit of rain could put some color in the lake, and if that happens I think we’ll see the fish relating more to structure.

“I think we’ll see a handful of limits weighing more than 20 pounds, but with the number of anglers on the water I think that will be tough to duplicate for multiple days,” Davidson went on to say. “If a guy can average 17 to 18 pounds a day, weigh in 54, 55 or 56 pounds over three days, they’ll be right there at the end.”

Anglers will take off daily at 6:30 a.m. CT from the Sunset Marina & Resort, located at 2040 Sunset Dock Road in Monroe, Tennessee. Weigh-ins will also be held at the resort 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.

After one event in the Toyota Series Central Division, Kent Ware of Guntersville, Alabama leads Pro Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 260 points, while Charlie Crouch of Waterloo, Alabama, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 260 points.

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 2022 Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions and finish in the top 25 – or the top 12 from the Wild Card division – will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 cash. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2022 Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. Championship will be held Nov. 3-5 on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, and is hosted by Marshall County Tourism and Sports.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Outlaw Ordnance, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X and YETI.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF Toyota Series on the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Mike Mccullers and Slade Mccullers Inch Out Second Place With 14.57 for the Win

By Jason Duran

Alexander City, Ala  March 20 – Second stop of the Alabama Bass Trail South Division was Lake Martin. Launch and weigh in for the 225 Teams was held at Wind Creek State Park where teams competed for a $10,000 first place cash prize and payouts for the rest of the field though 40th place. The team of Mike Mccullers and Slade Mccullers took the win in a close one with 14.57 pounds.

 

Mother Nature finally cooperated on tournament day. The ABT seems to be known for having difficult conditions on tournament day. The last few events were no different with the weather changing drastically on tournament day including frozen conditions. However, this event had beautiful Chamber of Commerce weather. Saturday was full of sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s. Friday’s final day of practice brought major thunderstorms through the area affecting the fishing for some teams causing their patterns to change and sending them searching for new waters to catch fish.

 

Mike and Slade both live on Lake Martin and have spent many years learning how to fish the conditions. They relied heavily on experience to narrow down the pattern. Their plan after practice was to “spend the day sight fishing. We located an area in practice holding a few pre-spawn fish including one female around 4-pounds. When we arrived on that spot, we noticed the female was not there but spent some time looking for her. She never showed up, so we caught the buck bass off the bed and continued fishing the area using a Wacky Rigged Senko on 15lb Fluorocarbon line and a Zoom watermelon Speed Craw on a ¼ oz ball jig head and 12lb test line.” They decided to abandon the area and look for similar areas and “ran all over the lake looking for more of the same style pattern.” The other areas did not produce the quality of fish they were looking for. “We know it typically takes mixed bag of largemouth paired with a couple spotted bass over 2-pounds to win here, so that was what we went looking for. The spotted bass we were catching were all under 2-pounds, so we decided to go back to our original area for the rest of the day.” They ended up weighing in a limit of all largemouth. Throughout the day they caught 20 fish, and only 5 of those were spotted bass. Their limit weighed 14.57 giving them a $10,000 payday from this event.

Josh Chapple and Paul Davis took second place with 14.53. They spent Thursday practicing in separate boats. Paul got some better bites in one area of the lake, so they decided to go there on tournament day. Reacting to the close second-place finish and missing first place by only .04, “we have fished here a little bit, and it usually bites us pretty hard. We really want to win one, but it was good to do well here. We ran down the lake and stayed down there all day and felt it was our only shot at winning. We didn’t really catch them until around lunch time (11-3). We fished clean and didn’t lose any fish that would have made a difference. During the day we caught 20-25 fish throwing top water frogs, a pop-r and flipping boat docks using a brown Davis Bait jig. The plan was to keep it really simple, and that was what we did.”  This points race is going to be a race till the end of the year.  Each event teams have to catch them to stay at the top. With this finish and an 8th place finish at the first event on Logan Martin, Josh and Paul are now in 2nd place in AOY events with three events remaining. They took home $5,000 plus a Wedowee Marine $1,000 bonus.

Rob Lee and Steve Winslett finish third with 14.36 and continue to be one of the most consistent teams in the ABT.  In practice they located some sight fish, but the weather change on Friday affected their plan. They only caught one off bed. “We knew the fish were still in the area, so we had to blind cast to them. The wind coming out of the west made sight fishing difficult, but we stayed in the areas we saw them on bed on Wednesday and Thursday. After a front like this and blue bird skies it makes it tough to find bedding fish because they typically pull off the bed and move out a little.  The fish we found were in 3-feet or less of water and the water temp was 58°-64°. When we finally found them and started catching them, we stayed in the area the rest of the day. Fish were caught on a Big Bites green pumpkin tube and stick bait. “We really want AOY, but it takes a lot of work. We have two really good second place finishes at the Alabama River, which is a very unpredictable lake and changes so much. We need to put our work in to prepare for Eufaula to close out the season.” They took home 3rd place and $4,000.

 

The AOY race is starting to take shape for Rob and Steve. With this week’s 3rd place finish and a 1st place win at Logan Martin, they are now at the top of the leader board. They currently have a 6-point lead over second place Josh and Paul, but it’s not over yet. The next event is on the Alabama River at Cooter’s Pond April 9th.

 

The Top 10 places are below for a complete list of standings 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.

 

by AnglersChannel

Late-Day Cull Lifts Cook To Wire-To-Wire Win At Bassmaster Elite On Santee Cooper Lakes

Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., has won the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes with a four-day total of 105 pounds, 5 ounces.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

March 21, 2022

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Before the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes began, Drew Cook had never led a single round of an Elite Series event.

Apparently, he was just saving up for the best event of his career.

The Cairo, Ga., pro grabbed the lead on Day 1 of the tournament with an astounding catch of 31-13 and then never relinquished the first-place spot, as bags of 24-12, 24-3 and 24-9 pushed him to a four-day total of 105-5. He earned one of the blue trophies that every pro covets, a $100,000 paycheck and a Century Belt for catching more than 100 pounds.

Cook and second-place pro Caleb Kuphall (103-1) became the 33rd and 34th different anglers to reach Century Club status — and Lakes Marion and Moultrie have now produced eight Century Belts, the second-most in Elite Series history, with only Falcon Lake in Texas producing more (15).

“I completely forgot about the Century Belt. That’s cool,” Cook said. “It was a perfect storm this week. I had a blast. I did really well keeping my composure. There were a couple of times this week the wheels could have fallen off. I acted like I had been there before and it all worked out.”

Cook spent his entire week doing what he loves best, sight fishing for spawning largemouth using a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog.

“That is what is so awesome about it,” he said. “All my friends joked with me and said I was going to win my first tournament either at a place like the Sabine or with a spinning rod smallmouth fishing.

“To be able to win my first one wire-to-wire with my favorite rod doing my absolute favorite things, it is a blessing.”

Spending his time in the Potato Creek region of Lake Marion, Cook caught the majority of his weight in lily pad fields that were located next to deep water.

In practice, the female bass he found had not locked onto beds. But come tournament time, they settled close to the only male he found on bed.

“The area was very special. I didn’t know it was that special,” he said. “Because it had deep water that went all the way to the back of it, it reloaded every day. It really did surprise me. I didn’t know that was going to happen. Having 6 feet of water up against the bank in the back is the reason those fish kept coming in there.”

Cook used two different-sized Fighting Frogs, a 4-inch and a 5-inch. The smaller bait was paired with a 1/4-ounce weight and a 4/0 Gamakatsu G-Finesse Heavy Cover hook, while the bigger frog was rigged with a 3/8-ounce weight and a 5/0 Gamakatsu G-Power hook.

With 22-pound Sunline Shooter spooled on his reels, Cook used a pair of rods — a Dobyns 754 Xstasy and a Dobyns 744 Champion Extreme. He said the rods were just the right length for keeping bass pinned when they jumped and fought.

When he thought a bass was ready to commit to his tilapia magic-colored Fighting Frog, Cook put slack in his line and repeatedly tapped the butt end of his rod to make the bait’s appendages move in the bed without moving the lure out of the strike zone.

He added that the silver fleck in that particular color creates a reflection that catches the eye of a bass and irritates it.

“The bait isn’t moving toward me,” he said. “The bait is staying where it is.”

Entering the day with over a 4-pound lead, Cook started Championship Monday by catching a 5-pounder he had left the previous day in the first hour. But he was still slow to fill his limit, not doing so until around 1 p.m.

“Not having those fast starts the past two days probably saved me today,” he said. “When it got to be about 1 o’clock, there was a little concern, but I wasn’t too worried.”

Although he had a limit, Cook still did not have his biggest bass until just before 2:30 p.m., a 7-14 that won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day award and an extra $1,000.

“I don’t even remember what happened,” Cook said about landing the big bass. “I think I kissed (cameraman) Jake (Latendresse). It was in slow motion whenever I set the hook until I got it in my hand.

“I knew that was going to be the one that gave me a shot. It was a big sigh of relief and a big weight off my shoulders.”

With a Day 1 bag weighing 29-10 and a 31-4 limit on Day 3, Kuphall reached the 100-pound mark by catching 29-3 on Championship Monday to lift him into second place. The feat was most impressive, considering the Mukwonago, Wis., pro only caught four bass that weighed 13-0 on Day 2.

“It feels great just to be able to adjust,” he said. “Where I caught them on the third day, I didn’t really fish on the first and second day. To adjust and catch them on something totally different and have that kind of weight, I’m really happy with that.”

Catching mostly prespawn bass with a couple of spawners and postspawners mixed in, Kuphall targeted deeper cypress trees in Lake Marion.

“Those deeper trees right on the edge on a dropoff into deeper water were the ones I was keying on,” he said. “There was nothing about the tree itself. There was no real pattern there, just where they were situated (in relation) to deep water.”

Brandon Palaniuk of Rathdrum, Idaho, finished third with a four-day total of 98-0, falling just shy of the century mark. The 2020 Santee Cooper Lakes Elite Series champion mixed things up in the Potato Creek region, fishing offshore bass with a Rapala OG Slim crankbait, jerkbaits, jigs and an X Zone Lures Blitz Worm before searching for big bedding bass with an X Zone Lures Adrenaline Craw.

“I knew I was going to need four or five big ones if I wanted to make a run at this thing,” Palaniuk said. “I caught a 6 3/4- and a 4-pounder (on my starting spot) and then it died off quickly and I couldn’t get any more big bites there. I felt like I was making good adjustments. I just couldn’t catch enough.”

Pat Schlapper of Wisconsin earned the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament award with the 9-10 largemouth he caught on Day 2, winning $2,000.

Oklahoma pro Luke Palmer, who finished fourth with 95-7, earned the $2,000 VMC Monster Bag Award with his Day 3 catch of 33-5.

South Carolina’s Brandon Cobb took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, while John Cox of Florida earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Cook claimed an additional $4,000 and Palaniuk earned an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

Ed Loughran III won the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency award for the most accurate weight reporting.

Heading into the fourth stop of the season, the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite Series at Chickamauga Lake, Cox leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 285 points. Tennessee pro David Mullins is second with 265, and Arkansan Stetson Blaylock is third with 257.

Wisconsin pro Jay Przekurat leads the Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 232 points. Alabamian Joseph Webster is second with 183 points and Pennsylvania pro Jonathan Kelley is third with 167.

The Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce hosted the event.
2022 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2022 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2022 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Huk Performance Fishing, Marathon, Strike King, Triton Boats, VMC
2022 Bassmaster Conservation Partners: AFTCO, Yamaha Rightwaters

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 515,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by Mossy Oak Fishing, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Abu Garcia Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series powered by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.

-30-

Media Contact: Emily Harley, B.A.S.S. Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, eharley@bassmaster.com

2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes 3/17-3/20
Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4

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

1. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 20 105-05 100 $101,000.00
Day 1: 5 31-13 Day 2: 5 24-12 Day 3: 5 24-03 Day 4: 5 24-09
2. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 19 103-01 99 $35,000.00
Day 1: 5 29-10 Day 2: 4 13-00 Day 3: 5 31-04 Day 4: 5 29-03
3. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 20 98-00 98 $30,000.00
Day 1: 5 26-02 Day 2: 5 22-13 Day 3: 5 27-07 Day 4: 5 21-10
4. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 20 95-07 97 $28,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 26-07 Day 3: 5 33-05 Day 4: 5 19-04
5. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 20 88-09 96 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 24-02 Day 3: 5 22-13 Day 4: 5 21-06
6. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 20 85-06 95 $19,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 22-15 Day 4: 5 20-09
7. John Cox DeBary, FL 20 84-06 94 $19,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 26-13 Day 3: 5 20-03 Day 4: 5 18-03
8. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 20 82-01 93 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 27-14 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 18-09 Day 4: 5 15-07
9. Drew Benton Blakely, GA 19 78-13 92 $16,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 22-01 Day 3: 5 28-13 Day 4: 4 10-12
10. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 19 77-15 91 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 26-04 Day 3: 5 22-01 Day 4: 4 10-14
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 08-15 $1,000.00
2 Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 09-10 $1,000.00
3 Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 09-04 $1,000.00
4 Drew Cook Cairo, GA 07-14 $1,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 09-10 $1,000.00
VMC MONSTER BAG
Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 33-05 $2,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 74 424 1462-06
2 71 420 1557-06
3 38 214 891-10
4 8 48 191-13
----------------------------------
191 1106 4103-03

by AnglersChannel

Sweitzer Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Eufaula

Fielder Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division

EUFAULA, Okla. (March 21, 2022) – Boater Tad Sweitzer of Eufaula, Oklahoma, caught five bass Saturday weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Eufaula Lake. The tournament was the season-opener for the Bass Fishing League Okie Division. Sweitzer earned $4,905 for his victory.

“I had an awesome co-angler, and I told him we were going to make a run, put the trolling motor down to save fuel and put our heads down and fish,” Sweitzer said. “I told him you can’t win with the big motor and running.”

Sweitzer said he started in 30 feet of water fishing an Alabama-rig to target bait balls and caught two 5-pounders in the first 30 minutes, but then the bass started to shy away from their offerings.

“That’s when the day got long,” Sweitzer said. “I didn’t have another fish until 1:30. Then I pulled up on a stretch, got a jerkbait out and caught three more keepers to put in the boat.”

Sweitzer said his five fish that he weighed in were the only fish he caught during the tournament. In addition to the umbrella-rig, Sweitzer said he used a Berkley deep-diving crankbait as well as a 6thSense Jerkbait to target bass on ledges.

“This was the first BFL tournament I’ve ever fished,” Sweitzer said. “I kept telling my wife, ‘I just want one of those trophies someday.’ She said, ‘You can’t do it unless you fish it.’

“This just feels awesome,” Sweitzer added.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        Tad Sweitzer, Eufaula, Okla., five bass, 23-6, $4,905
2nd:       Shawn Mote, Ardmore, Okla., five bass, 21-1, $2,453
3rd:       Chris M. Jones, Bokoshe, Okla., four bass, 18-6, $2,375
4th:        Jeff Kriet, Ardmore, Okla., five bass, 17-8, $1,363
4th:        Ian Leybas, McAlester, Okla., five bass, 17-8, $1,063
6th:        Curt Warren, Rose, Okla., five bass, 17-2, $899
7th:        Jeff Clark, Van Buren, Ark., five bass, 17-1, $818
8th:        Lane Kindle, Stilwell, Okla., five bass, 16-15, $936
9th:        Orlean Smith, McAlester, Okla., five bass, 16-9, $654
10th:     Blake Capps, Muskogee, Okla., five bass, 16-8, $1,272 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jones had a 9-pound largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $740.

Fred Fielder of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,453 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Fred Fielder, Tahlequah, Okla., five bass, 15-13, $2,453
2nd:       Scott Moore, Fort Gibson, Okla., three bass, 15-4, $1,226
3rd:       Jacob Cooper, Leon, Kan., five bass, 13-12, $816
4th:        David Hamilton, Rogers, Ark., four bass, 12-13, $572
5th:        Timothy Cartwright, Sand Springs, Okla., five bass, 12-4, $591
6th:        David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla., five bass, 11-6, $450
7th:        Bryan Schuster, Oklahoma City, Okla., three bass, 11-3, $559
8th:        Leroy Dee Sheperd, Mountain View, Okla., four bass, 10-2, $368
9th:        Brian Brecka, Alma, Wis., three bass, 9-8, $327
10th:     Rick Blosser, Tulsa, Okla., three bass, 9-7, $272
10th:     Bobby Walker, Ponca City, Okla., three bass, 9-7, $272

Andrew Workman of Stilwell, Oklahoma, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $370.

After one event, Tad Sweitzer of Eufaula, Oklahoma, leads the Bass Fishing League Okie Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Fred Fielder, Tahlequah, Oklahoma leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 250 points.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 13-15 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Boaters will compete 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 fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Regional Championships where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The 2022 All-American will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Abbott Earns Victory at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Dale Hollow Lake

Henson Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division

BYRDSTOWN, Tenn. (March 21, 2022) – Boater Tristan Abbott of Somerset, Kentucky, caught five bass Saturday weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Dale Hollow Lake. The tournament, hosted by Star Point Marina and Resort, was the season-opener for the Bass Fishing League Mountain Division. Abbott earned $7,200 for his victory.

“We took off in the morning and made a run down the lake,” Abbott said. “I’d been on some fish and been catching them for the majority of the winter, and was very blessed they had stayed in the same area.

“I had one of the fish I weighed in the first hour or so,” Abbott added. “And it went from there. I was pleased with my day. I fished clean throughout the day and didn’t lose any fish.”

Abbott said he spent the majority of his day trying to boost his bag of 4-pounders by targeting staging fish, mid-lake around chunk rock and channel swings that were holding baitfish. Abbott said his baits of choice were an Alabama-rig and a Berkley Stunna Jerkbait.

“It was a good day of fishing all the way around,” Abbott said. “This win is long overdue. I’ve finished second a couple of times, and I won Angler of the Year last year in the Mountain Division, and I’d like to repeat that.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        Tristan Abbott, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 20-1, $7,200
2nd:       Dalton Smith, Taylorsville, Ky., five bass, 19-13, $3,000
3rd:       Christian Nash, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 19-10, $2,500 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
4th:        Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 18-14, $1,400
5th:        Brad Atkins, West Liberty, Ky., five bass, 18-2, $1,400
6th:        Ryan Davidson, Branchland, W.V., five bass, 17-12, $1,100
7th:        Cori White, Celina, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $1,000
8th:        Clay Peters, Butler, Ky., five bass, 17-2, $900
9th:        Zach Crider, Tunnel Hill, Ga., five bass, 17-0, $800
10th:     David Steadman Jr., Tullahoma, Tenn., five bass, 16-15, $700

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Jonathan Green of East Bernstadt, Kentucky, had a 5-pound, 7-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $1,000.

 

Jason Henson of Rome, Georgia, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $3,300 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Jason Henson, Rome, Ga., five bass, 16-8, $3,300
2nd:       Timothy Jolley, Monroe, Tenn., five bass, 16-5, $1,500
3rd:       Billy Gardner, Livingston, Tenn., five bass, 15-1, $1,000
4th:        Lee Sinclair, Albany, Ky., five bass, 15-0, $700
5th:        Robert Jones, Whitley City, Ky., five bass, 14-8, $600
6th:        Trent Suratt, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 14-7, $550
7th:        Nicole Foor, Greenfork, Ind., five bass, 14-4, $500
8th:        Justin Brandenburg, Richmond, Ky., five bass, 14-3, $450
9th:        Pop Catalin, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 14-1, $400
10th:     Lance Souders, Somerset, Ky., four bass, 13-10, $350

Christopher Logsdon of Brownsville, Kentucky, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $500.

After one event, Tristan Abbott of Somerset, Kentucky leads the Bass Fishing League Mountain Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Jason Henson of Rome, Georgia leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 250 points.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 20-22 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. Boaters will compete 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 fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Regional Championships where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The 2022 All-American will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Millsaps Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Keowee

Goldman Wins Strike King Co-Angler Division

SENECA, S.C. (March 21, 2022) – Boater David Millsaps of Ranger, Georgia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Keowee. The tournament, hosted by Visit Oconee, was the season-opener for the Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division. Millsaps earned $4,830 for his victory.

“I started out and caught four or five spotted bass on a homemade jig,” Millsaps said. “As the day went on, the wind picked up, and I fished rocky points where the wind was blowing bait and just kept upgrading all day.”

Millsaps said he caught 15 to 20 keepers during the course of the day by keeping the boat in 20 feet of water and casting to rocky points and banks and working the jig slowly.

“These events are hard to win,” said Millsaps, who now has four career BFL wins. “A win this early in the season always boosts you for the rest of the season.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:        David Millsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 19-5, $4,830
2nd:       Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., five bass, 18-3, $4,235 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
3rd:       Bo Price, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 17-15, $1,609
4th:        Scott Browning, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 16-4, $1,127
5th:        Shannon Poore, Walhalla, S.C., five bass, 15-7, $925
5th:        Emil Wagner, Marietta, Ga., five bass, 15-7, $925
7th:        Derek Lehtonen, Woodruff, S.C., five bass, 15-4, $805
8th:        Derek Freeman, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 14-12, $724
9th:        Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $644
10th:     Kevin Whitmore, Easley, S.C., five bass, 14-7, $563

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Burroughs had a 7-pound, 15-ounce largemouth that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned the day’s Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $720.

Jason Goldman of Commerce, Georgia, won the Strike King Co-angler Division and $2,415 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers were:

1st:        Jason Goldman, Commerce, Ga., five bass, 13-10, $2,415
2nd:       Alan Poston, Travelers Rest, S.C., five bass, 13-5, $1,207
3rd:       Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., five bass, 11-13, $806
4th:        Jody Hughes, Baldwin, Ga., five bass, 11-9, $523
4th:        Corey Veal, Royston, Ga., five bass, 11-9, $523
6th:        Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $443
7th:        Scott Gardner, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 11-0, $402
8th:        Gerald Glouse, Easley, S.C., five bass, 10-13, $362
9th:        Gavin Ballew, Travelers Rest, S.C., five bass, 10-11, $322
10th:     Jacob Yaden, Evans, Ga., five bass, 10-7, $582

Nicholas Gurkin of Simpsonville, S.C, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $360.

After one event, David Millsaps of Ranger, Georgia, leads the Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Jason Goldman of Commerce, Georgia, leads the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 250 points.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 20-22 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. Boaters will compete 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 fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The 2022 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six Regional Championships where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American. The 2022 All-American will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division will also earn priority entry into the MLF Toyota Series, the pathway to the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Revital Outdoors, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X, YETI and Yo-Zuri.

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.

by AnglersChannel

Andy Montgomery Wins 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Heritage Cup in Knoxville

South Carolina Pro Throws Strike King Thunder Cricket to Catch 16 Pounds, 10 Ounces and Win First MLF Cup Title of Career

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (March 21, 2022) – Blacksburg, South Carolina pro Andy Montgomery has been the model of consistency. In 17 career Major League Fishing Cup events, Montgomery made it to the Championship Round nine times, finishing second and third numerous times, but still searching for that elusive first win. Finally, on Tennessee’s Fort Loudoun Lake, Montgomery got it done.

In an episode that premiered Saturday on the Outdoor Channel and Monday on the MyOutdoorTV app, Montgomery caught nine bass weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Heritage Cup Presented by Magellan Outdoors in Knoxville, Tennessee, and earn the first MLF Cup Championship of his career.

“We put so much into this, and I’ve been close so many times,” an emotional Montgomery said in his post-game interview. “I knew it was going to happen eventually, I just wanted it to happen a couple of years ago.

“I don’t know what it is about Fort Loudoun Lake, but I just jive with it,” the South Carolina pro continued. “I love fishing here, and I knew I was going to have a chance. I hate to get emotional, but I’m so happy that I finally won one.”

Montgomery landed a couple of bass in the first period that had him near the top of the leaderboard, then pulled away in the Period 2 with five bass to take a commanding lead. He caught the majority of his fish fishing docks with a ½-ounce blue craw-colored Strike King Thunder Cricket with a Strike King Rage Bug trailer.

“I used the Rage Bug because I was skipping so much – that bait skips really good – and I was also fishing wood, and it keeps it from hanging up,” Montgomery said. “One of the keys for me this week, though, was my line. I threw Strike King Contra fluorocarbon, and it was critical. I have confidence in that line, and I knew that it was not going to break off.”

The final eight anglers at the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Heritage Cup Presented by Magellan Outdoors in Knoxville, Tennessee finished:

1st: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., nine bass, 16-10
2nd: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., seven bass, 13-8
3rd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., seven bass, 8-12
4th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., six bass, 7-4
5th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., four bass, 7-4
6th: Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., four bass, 6-9
7th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., three bass, 3-12
8th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., zero bass, 0-0

Complete results along with photos from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Montgomery caught the Championship Round Berkley Big Bass – a chunky 3-pound, 4-ounce largemouth that bit a bladed swimjig.

Overall, there were 40 bass weighing 63 pounds, 11 ounces caught by the final eight pros during the Championship Round of competition on the upper reaches of Fort Loudoun Lake.

The 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Heritage Cup Presented by Magellan Outdoors was hosted by the Visit Knoxville Sports Commission and Jefferson County, Tennessee and premiered on the Outdoor Channel as six, two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon debuting on Feb. 12, 2022, and running through March 19, 2022.

The event was shot over six days in October in Knoxville and featured 24 MLF pro anglers visiting the Knoxville area to compete on Douglas Lake and different zones of Fort Loudoun Lake on each day of competition. The locations were unknown to the anglers – they did not learn where they were competing until they arrived to the launch ramp each morning of competition.

All six episodes of the event are now available for viewing on the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) streaming app. The full television schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the MLF Cup events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

VanDam at REDCREST: Baby Carp and a Shotgun Blast

Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships

Note: This is the first installment of a series of short documentaries from Alan McGuckin of Dynamic Sponsorships as he chronicles Kevin VanDam’s week at REDCREST on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.

 

When KVD thinks of Grand Lake – “Cold weather tournaments jump to mind. The coldest event I think I have ever fished was here on Grand Lake in early November of 1991. Ron Shuffield won that one. Boat ramps were frozen, and so were rod guides. It was brutal. And then one year later, again in early November, Jim Morton won the 1992 event on Grand with a buzzbait in a snowstorm. Not to mention Day 1 of the 2013 Classic that Cliff Pace won. It was 23-degrees at take-off,” VanDam clearly recalls.

 

It’s Still Winter – Speaking of cold weather, Sunday’s first official practice day ended with air temps in the 70s, but began in knit beanie caps with temps in the 40s – much like the water surface temps.

 

“Dude, this is kind of shocking! 48-degree water is way colder than I was expecting,” said VanDam to begin the day.

 

“That explains why I saw gulls diving on stunned and dying shad in the middle of coves. And with overnight lows in the 30s the rest of the week, this tournament will fish way more like a late winter event, versus a true pre-spawn springtime derby,” he added.

 

“Baby Carp” the crankbait color – VanDam’s Elite Series win on Grand Lake in June of 2007 was the launch pad for the now iconic color “Sexy Shad” he helped originate.

 

Right now, a brown-orange-red craw color Strike King calls“Baby Carp” has become a true love of his during this time of year. He throws it a ton, so don’t be shocked if Grand is once again the stage for VanDam to make yet another new color famous.

 

 

Shotgun blast – Around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, VanDam was slinging his “Baby Carp” colored Series 3 crankbait around the back of a mid-lake creek, when an otherwise calm and peaceful morning was abruptly interrupted by a tremendously loud shotgun blast.

 

It came from an elderly man standing on the porch of his lakeside home, who was obviously shooting to scare geese off his lawn, and apparently never saw VanDam’s boat.

 

The shot pellets landed in the water, 20 yards from VanDam’s trolling motor. A second later, Kevin hollered to make sure the man knew he was there, and understandably perturbed. The man waved and went back inside his home.

 

A younger man, doing landscape work, checked to make sure Kevin was okay.

 

No harm. Likely an honest mistake. But a little too close for comfort.​

 

54 and still fast – After 30 remarkable years as a tournament angler, VanDam may occasionally slip on reading glasses these days, but at age 54 he still fishes with much the samesuper-fast tempo he became known for in the 1990s.

 

He covers a remarkable amount of water, often with a crankbait, or a jerkbait twitched with a rapid cadence. And at one point, joked that he hoped the jig he had just pitched near a dock didn’t get bit – because that might force him to fish slower.

 

At the end of the day – VanDam spent 12 hours practicing Sunday on Grand Lake. It took him 90 minutes to get the first bite, and he caught five or six scoreable bass after that totaling around 16-pounds.

 

Bites certainly didn’t come easy, and he knows with rain and colder temps coming, Grand will fish more like a stingywinter event.

 

But at the end of the day, two different groups of young fans, who had spotted his Toyota Tundra and empty boat trailer, waited at the boat ramp for him to arrive at the end of a long practice day for a chance to meet him.

 

They hollered “KVD” – and he graciously asked if they’d like to have a photo taken with him. To which they of course said “yes” – and one of the youngsters commented, “Oh my gosh, this is like the best thing ever.”

 

Suddenly Grand’s cold waters and a careless shotgun blastwere almost forgotten, as the goodness of The G.O.A.T.’s life and career were placed in healthy perspective.

 

 

by AnglersChannel

Cook Holds Lead At Bassmaster Elite Series Event On Santee Cooper As Big Bags Roll In

Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., is leading after Day 3 of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Santee Cooper Lakes with a three-day total of 80 pounds, 12 ounces.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

March 20, 2022

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — When the threat of strong winds and storms postponed the third day of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, Drew Cook watched from his rental house as boat after boat entered the area where he has dominated the event.

But despite the local boat traffic and a day off with no idea what happened to his area, Cook sacked a limit weighing 24 pounds, 3 ounces to maintain his lead with a three-day total of 80-12. With previous bags of 31-13 and 24-12, Cook holds more than a 4-pound lead over Idaho's Brandon Palaniuk (76-6) and Oklahoma pro Luke Palmer (76-3).

“I’m staying across the creek from the cove I’ve fished every day, and it was pretty brutal to sit there and watch it happen,” Cook said. “I can’t complain. I still have a 4-pound lead and we are one day away.

“Having that lead is nice, but a 4-pound lead here really isn’t much. I could go catch 20 pounds tomorrow and Luke (Palmer) could catch 24 pounds and there goes my lead. That is one bass here and there is a pile of 4-pounders.”

The Georgia resident continued sight fishing for bedding bass on Day 3, catching eight total fish with his biggest weighing approximately 7 pounds on BassTrakk. Throughout the week, Cook has struggled during the morning hours and one big bass he saw on Friday was gone when he went back Sunday.

While there are new fish, both males and females, Cook was surprised he didn’t see more.

“If you would have said there was going to be a day off, you would think there would be more bass pulling up than there was,” he said. “A lot of that could have been from the local pressure. There were still new ones up there, and I’m sure there will be new ones tomorrow too.”

Cook plans to start Championship Monday in the same area on a big bass he saw Sunday and give the rest of the area a look. But he will likely be fishing new water much of the day.

“I still have some stuff on the other side of the lake I haven’t been to yet,” he said. “I won’t be going to any fish I have marked anymore after my first one in the morning. I marked some males, but they were only 3-pounders, and we are going to need more than 3-pounders.”

With multiple 25-pound-plus bags weighed Sunday, Cook knows he will need to catch a big bag Monday to claim his first Elite Series victory.

“To win one would be a dream come true,” he said. “I have really busted my butt my whole career and been close a couple of times but haven’t had that event where everything goes right.

“I have had opportunities to win tournaments, but it has always been from behind. To finally not dig myself a hole on Day 1 and come out swinging has helped tremendously.”

While a tough morning on Day 2 left him scrambling to find bedding bass, Palaniuk started Day 3 strong and weighed in 27-7, increasing his three-day total to 76-6. He did most of his damage during the first two hours with a crankbait and a jerkbait.

After filling his limit, he made a crucial cull around 12:30 p.m. to fill out his bag.

“I changed it up today,” Palaniuk said. “Hopefully that plays out tomorrow. I could catch 30-plus in 15 or 20 minutes if the right ones would just bite. Or, I could go there and catch nothing.

“I thought I wasn’t going to catch anything and then I caught a 4-pounder. I made a change and caught a 6-pounder and a 5 1/2-pounder on back-to-back casts.”

The higher winds Saturday resulted in a cooler night, which Palaniuk believes helped his bite on Day 3. He is hoping an even cooler night Sunday will keep those bass in place.

“The nastier the better for me because I’m doing something different than most of the guys,” Palaniuk said. “I feel like that will give me the best chance. I hope we have a freeze warning tonight. That would be the best thing for me.”

Palaniuk also fished more than two hours Sunday for a bass that he believes could be bigger than the 8-12 he caught Saturday. But the smaller male bass bit instead, and he was unable to catch the lunker he wanted.

“I promise you I will go check it again tomorrow,” he said. “We are within striking distance. I mean someone is going to win with a 30-pound bag tomorrow.”

Palmer landed the current VMC Monster Bag of the Tournament on Day 3 with 33-5 — the biggest bag of his career and one that launched him into third place with a three-day total of 76-3. He also landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day with a 9-4 largemouth.

With a Falcon Cara Amistad flipping stick in hand and Sunline spooled on his reel, Palmer said he finally got to fish to his strengths.

“It is almost like dreaming,” he said. “We don’t have that type of sack in Oklahoma. To do it with stuff I have used my whole life, it was fun. I have never gotten to do it (on tour) the way I really want to catch them.”

After ending Day 1 in 43rd place, Palmer recovered with 26-7 on Day 2. He tried to make the upper end of Lake Marion work on the first and second days. But with much dirtier water moving through that area, he found a home down lake and pitched a Yum Bad Mamma and Wooly Bug to catch the majority of his bass.

He added that many of the bass he is catching are spawning and while he can’t see them with his eyes, he can see them on his fish finder.

“It was my time today,” he said. “I have one more stretch where I caught a three, broke one off and then went to ‘Scoping trees and didn’t even flip for them because I could see how big they were.

“I thought if I could get to 75 pounds, I would have a chance at a Century Belt. I would love to have a trophy over the belt. Everything today was a big blessing.”

By making the Top 10, John Cox leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 283 points. David Mullins is second with 265 points and Stetson Blaylock is third with 257.

Jay Przekurat leads the Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 232 points. Joseph Webster is second with 183 points and Jonathan Kelley is 167 points.

The Top 10 will launch from John C Land III Sport Fishing Facility starting at 7:30 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 3:30 p.m., with the winner earning a coveted blue trophy and a $100,000 first-place prize. Live coverage can be streamed on Bassmaster.com.

2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes 3/17-3/20
Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3

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

1. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 15 80-12 100
Day 1: 5 31-13 Day 2: 5 24-12 Day 3: 5 24-03
2. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 15 76-06 99
Day 1: 5 26-02 Day 2: 5 22-13 Day 3: 5 27-07
3. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 15 76-03 98 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 26-07 Day 3: 5 33-05
4. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 14 73-14 97
Day 1: 5 29-10 Day 2: 4 13-00 Day 3: 5 31-04
5. Drew Benton Blakely, GA 15 68-01 96
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 22-01 Day 3: 5 28-13
6. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 15 67-03 95
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 24-02 Day 3: 5 22-13
7. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 15 67-01 94 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 26-04 Day 3: 5 22-01
8. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 15 66-10 93
Day 1: 5 27-14 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 18-09
9. John Cox DeBary, FL 15 66-03 92
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 26-13 Day 3: 5 20-03
10. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 15 64-13 91
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 22-15
11. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 15 64-11 90 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 26-13 Day 3: 5 21-01
12. Bryan New Saluda, SC 13 64-03 89 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 3 15-14 Day 3: 5 29-02
13. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 15 63-04 88 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 20-08 Day 3: 5 25-14
14. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 15 62-03 87 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-08 Day 2: 5 22-00 Day 3: 5 20-11
15. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 15 61-04 86 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 22-10 Day 3: 5 24-13
16. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 15 60-12 85 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 18-08 Day 3: 5 22-10
17. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 15 60-07 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 5 21-04 Day 3: 5 18-03
18. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 15 60-01 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 20-10 Day 3: 5 22-05
19. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 15 59-11 82 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-04 Day 2: 5 15-07 Day 3: 5 22-00
20. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 13 58-06 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 3 11-10 Day 2: 5 24-12 Day 3: 5 22-00
21. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 15 58-02 80 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 17-06 Day 3: 5 24-03
22. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 14 57-15 79 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 19-08 Day 3: 4 16-06
23. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 15 57-11 78 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 20-08 Day 3: 5 21-04
24. Jay Przekurat Stevens Point, WI 15 57-02 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 24-08 Day 3: 5 17-02
25. Mike Huff London, KY 15 56-12 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 20-08 Day 3: 5 19-10
26. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 14 56-04 75 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 08-15 Day 2: 5 25-10 Day 3: 5 21-11
27. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 15 55-12 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-10 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 18-05
28. David Williams Newton, NC 15 55-09 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 20-15 Day 3: 5 21-13
29. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 15 55-03 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 21-05 Day 3: 5 15-04
30. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 15 54-14 71 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 18-02 Day 3: 5 19-08
31. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 15 54-05 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-14 Day 2: 5 20-06 Day 3: 5 18-01
32. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 15 54-03 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 24-04 Day 3: 5 14-05
33. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 15 53-05 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 15-08 Day 3: 5 17-15
34. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 15 52-15 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-15 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 19-14
35. Seth Feider New Market, MN 15 52-14 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 16-10
36. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 52-03 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 15-08 Day 3: 5 16-01
37. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 15 51-08 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 16-03 Day 3: 5 18-01
38. Josh Douglas Isle, MN 13 51-05 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 28-02 Day 3: 3 07-11
39. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 13 50-15 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 26-14 Day 2: 5 12-09 Day 3: 3 11-08
40. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 15 49-02 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 16-09 Day 3: 5 13-03
41. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 14 48-07 60 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 13-14 Day 2: 5 21-04 Day 3: 5 13-05
42. Derek Hudnall Denham Springs, LA 14 48-07 59 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 20-11 Day 3: 4 14-05
43. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 11 47-15 58 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 27-02 Day 2: 4 10-14 Day 3: 2 09-15
44. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 14 45-10 57 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 20-09 Day 3: 4 12-00
45. Wes Logan Springville, AL 10 42-02 56 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 12-11 Day 2: 5 23-10 Day 3: 1 05-13
46. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 11 41-02 55 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-00 Day 2: 4 15-15 Day 3: 2 06-03
47. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 11 35-09 54 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 19-08 Day 3: 1 01-06
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 08-15 $1,000.00
2 Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 09-10 $1,000.00
3 Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 09-04 $1,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 74 424 1462-06
2 71 420 1557-06
3 38 214 891-10
----------------------------------
183 1058 3911-06

by AnglersChannel

Despite Disappointment, Largen Wins Bassmaster Kayak Series On Harris Chain

Virginia angler Justin Largen has won the 2022 Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series at Harris Chain powered by TourneyX with a five-fish limit of 93.25 inches.

Photo by Mark Cisneros/B.A.S.S.

March 19, 2022

LEESBURG, Fla. — Plan B delivered in a big way for Justin Largen of Roanoke, Va., who tallied 93.25 inches to win the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series at Harris Chain powered by TourneyX.

Edging Brandon Brylinsky by 4 1/2 inches, Largen entered five bass that measured 22.25, 21.5, 17.75, 16.25 and 15.50 inches and earned $4,000. The top seven finishers earned invitations to the 2023 Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship powered by TourneyX (location TBD).

Launching his 12 1/2-foot Hobie Outback Mirage into Trout Lake — a smaller body on Lake Eustis’ northeast side — Largen split his time between a hydrilla bed in 3 to 5 feet and a residential seawall near a canal. Finding success in his secondary patterns made the win particularly sweet.

“This was very unexpected,” Largen said. “This was my backup plan. I had found big bed fish in practice, but they were all gone the day before the event. I heard a local went in there and (caught most of the bed fish).

“I was really excited when I found these fish, I was really dejected yesterday, but about halfway through today, I was back on Cloud 9 again.”

Largen said he started his day on a patch of hydrilla he located during practice after realizing his bed-fishing plan was gone. He caught his bass on a Strike King Hybrid Hunter crankbait.

“I was ripping it through the grass and they were crushing it,” Largen said.

While the grass yielded quality bites, Largen said a mid-morning adjustment helped seal his victory. As he explained, it was all about expanding his effort and recognizing a feeding scenario.

“There was a seawall a couple hundred yards past the grass and I found fish busting bait along that area,” Largen said. “I was seeing bait flickering and fish boiling, but it was hard to distinguish this from the waves breaking along the seawall. Once I got dialed in on what I was looking for, I started catching fish.”

Largen threw the Hybrid Hunter along the seawall, but he also made two afternoon upgrades with a 6 1/2-inch Missile Baits Quiver worm in junebug. He Texas-rigged the bait on a 2/0 hook with a 1/8-ounce weight.

“I would just pitch it and dead stick it for 10 to 15 seconds and if I didn’t get bit, I’d move on,” Largen said. “I caught my biggest fish and the 17.75 doing this.”

Largen said that, while he recently bought several Hybrid hunters for his Potomac River home waters, he noticed Texas pro Ray Hansleman used this bait to earn a third-place finish at the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at the Harris Chain of Lakes.

“I really hadn’t played around with that bait much until I was down here,” Largen said. “I saw he had done well with it, so I figured I’d see if I could make that thing work around the grass.

“I also knew everybody throws a ChatterBait now, so that would be a little different look with a similar vibration.”

Hailing from Ithaca, N.Y., Brylinsky placed second with 88.75 inches. His top five fish measured 22.5, 18.25, 17, 15.75 and 15.25 inches and earned him $2,500.

Devoting his day to Lake Apopka, Brylinsky worked from a 14-foot Hobie Pro Angler 360 and spent his day around the lake’s dense hydrilla. Dialing in the sweet spot was the key to his success.

“I spent most of my time on a 1/2-mile stretch, but I caught all of my better fish in a 1000-yard area,” Brylinsky said. “This area had a good patch of reeds along the shoreline, with hydrilla out front.”

Brylinsky caught his bass on a 3/4-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a Berkley The Deal trailer and a 1/2-ounce Gambler Heavy Cover swim jig with an XZone Mega Swammer. White colors worked best because the fish were feeding on shad.

“The big thing seemed to be getting the bait hung up in the weed and then pop it free,” Brylinsky said. “They were grabbing it on the pop.”

Todd Patrick of Fairfield Township, Ohio, finished third, also with 88.75 inches. Ties are broken by the single largest fish and Patrick’s best bass measured 22.25. With his other four measuring 19, 16.25, 16.25 and 15 inches, he earned $1,500.

Fishing out of a 14-foot Hobie Pro Angler, Patrick stayed in Little Lake Harris and focused on cypress trees in 3 to 5 feet of water. He found his best success around trees standing behind a significant grass line.

“In practice, I got my better bites on a wacky-rigged 5-inch Strike King KVD Ocho in Okeechobee Craw color on a 1/0 VMC wacky hook,” Patrick said. “The Okeechobee craw was working better than any other color because of the water clarity. When I ran out, my bite slowed down.”

Patrick said his fish bit best in the first couple of hours before the rising sun diminished shadow pockets. His first fish was the 22.25 and he had a limit by 8:24 a.m. A noon cull finished his effort.

Thanking his travel friends, Mike Fink and Eric Siddiqi (winner of the 2022 Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship powered by TourneyX on Richard B. Russell Lake), Patrick said: “I give all the honor and glory to God for my performance.”

James Busch of Carrsville, Va., won the $500 Big Bass award for his 25-inch fish. Busch placed 34th with 72.5 inches.

by AnglersChannel

Severe Weather Forces Day 3 Cancellation Of Bassmaster Elite At Santee Cooper Lakes

March 19, 2022

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Forecasts of high winds and severe weather have forced the cancellation of Day 3 at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Santee Cooper Lakes.

"Safety for our anglers and marshals is our primary concern," said Lisa Talmadge, Tournament Director-Bassmaster Elite Series. "We have been monitoring the weather closely alongside the local National Weather Service. Beginning mid-morning and into the afternoon, the NWS is calling for gusts to 30 mph, lightning and large hail.

"In addition to considering the safety of those on the water, we also want to ensure fans coming to our Outdoors Expo and weigh-in stay safe."

The competition will resume Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. ET when the Top 47 anglers launch onto Santee Cooper Lakes for Championship Sunday.

FS1 will broadcast live with the tournament leaders beginning at 8 a.m. ET. Live coverage can also be streamed on Bassmaster.com and the FOX Sports digital platforms.

by AnglersChannel

Cook Maintains Lead At Bassmaster Elite Series Event On Santee Cooper Lakes

Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., is leading after Day 2 of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Santee Cooper Lakes with a two-day total of 56 pounds, 9 ounces.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

March 18, 2022

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Former Bassmaster Rookie of the Year Drew Cook had never led an Elite Series event until Day 1 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, but Cook took the milestone in stride by catching 24 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 2 to stretch his lead in the event.

After a catch of 31-13 on the first day, which leads the VMC Monster Bag standings as the tournament's heaviest bag, Cook now has a two-day mark of 56-9 that gives him a sizeable lead over Idaho pro Brandon Palaniuk (second, 48-15) and Louisiana pro Greg Hackney (third, 48-1).

“I should have had another really big bag,” said Cook, who resides in Cairo, Ga. “When it is going your way, it is going your way. At 10 o’clock I didn’t have a bass. I stayed on a female for too long and I left, went to another one, caught her. Then I went back to that (first) one and, on the first cast, I caught her.

“It’s been going right and hopefully it will keep going right.”

Despite a slow start, Cook continued to show off his sight-fishing prowess, picking off bedding bass with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog in tilapia magic. His heaviest fish weighed 7-8.

“I never spun out or anything. I kept my head in it, I thought, really well,” Cook said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in this situation. It could have easily gone the other way. I caught one female, then another one and then a big male. Once we got things rolling we kept on.”

Calm sunny conditions prevailed for almost the entire second day, but the forecast for Day 3 calls for wind and potential rain and storms. With weather conditions and the quantity of big females moving onto the beds uncertain, Cook said he isn’t sure he can keep his current pace.

He does, however, know two big bass are still left in his area and hopes he can wrangle them on Semifinal Saturday.

“I did lose one big female this afternoon with 30 minutes to go,” he said. “Hopefully I can get her to bite again tomorrow. There was another one that was a 6-pounder, but I couldn’t get her to bite.

“I’m hoping the weather isn’t as bad as they say it is going to be, because if it is that bad that lake is going to be nasty.”

Palaniuk jumped up the leaderboard on Day 2 by catching 22-13 and increasing his two-day total to 48-15. The five-time Elite Series champion struggled much of the day, but Palaniuk landed an 8-12 largemouth with just 30 minutes to go before check-in time to salvage the day.

“It was a big grind today. What I wanted to do today did not work out this morning and I had to gamble,” Palaniuk said. “Things weren’t clicking so I went and fished all new water and I ended up catching that 8-12. That made a huge difference and really made my entire bag.”

With little success on his primary pattern from Thursday, Palaniuk punted and sight fished during the afternoon hours. Although he loves to sight fish, he said the tactic makes consistency difficult. Nothing is guaranteed and a lot of time is spent looking for new bass.

“All the fish I was catching that were staging all flooded the bank I think,” he said. “I’ll start (Saturday) doing what I did (Thursday) and see. The weather could change things and hold some of those fish back. I could catch a big bag early and if I can do that, it could make the afternoon a lot more fun.”

With 20-3 on Day 2, Hackney maintained his third-place position with 48-1. Unlike Cook and Palaniuk, Hackney got off to a hot start, securing a limit within the first three hours in the same area where he had success on Day 1.

With dirtier water in his area, Hackney picked apart shallow cover for bass he believed were on bed, but that he could not see. He “fished like a snail,” making multiple presentations to the same piece of cover.

“I caught a lot of fish today,” said Hackney, who has six B.A.S.S. wins to his credit. “I fished where I was yesterday and then I expanded on some other stuff. Where I thought I would catch big ones, I didn’t. All the fish I caught today were completely spawned out.”

After catching postspawn bass Friday, Hackney is unsure what his strategy will be moving forward, but the predicted weather conditions tomorrow may play in his favor.

“The fishing here is better when the weather is bad. When fish are spawning, when you are fishing for them and not looking at them, they bite better. They can’t see either,” Hackney said. “I’ll have to get up in the morning and see.

“I want to go down that lake and look. I have some areas where I saw 500 bass, but I didn’t see any 8-pounders.”

Wisconsin native Pat Schlapper claimed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day award with a 9-10 largemouth.

After Day 2, John Cox leads the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 288 points. David Mullins of Tennessee is second with 278 points, followed by Palaniuk with 255.

By jumping into 15th place on Day 2 with 40-0, young Wisconsin pro Jay Pzrekurat continues to dominate the Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race with 241 points. Alabamian Joseph Webster is second with 179 points and Minnesota’s Josh Douglas is third with 161.

The Top 47 will take off from John C. Land III Sport Fishing Facility at 7:30 a.m. ET Saturday and return for weigh-in at 3:30 p.m. The Top 10 after Saturday’s round will compete for the blue trophy and a $100,000 first-place prize on Championship Sunday.

FS1 will broadcast live with the tournament leaders beginning at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. Live coverage can also be streamed on Bassmaster.com and the FOX Sports digital platforms.

2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes 3/17-3/20
Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2

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

1. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 10 56-09 100
Day 1: 5 31-13 Day 2: 5 24-12
2. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 10 48-15 99
Day 1: 5 26-02 Day 2: 5 22-13
3. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 10 48-01 98
Day 1: 5 27-14 Day 2: 5 20-03
4. John Cox DeBary, FL 10 46-00 97
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 26-13
5. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 10 45-00 96 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 26-04
6. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 10 44-06 95
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 24-02
7. Josh Douglas Isle, MN 10 43-10 94
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 28-02
8. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 10 43-10 93
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 26-13
9. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 10 42-14 92
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 26-07
10. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 9 42-10 91
Day 1: 5 29-10 Day 2: 4 13-00
11. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 10 42-04 90
Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 5 21-04
12. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 10 41-14 89
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 22-00
13. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 10 41-09 88
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 19-08
14. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 10 41-08 87
Day 1: 5 19-08 Day 2: 5 22-00
15. Jay Przekurat Stevens Point, WI 10 40-00 86
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 24-08
16. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 10 39-15 85
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 21-05
17. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 10 39-14 84
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 24-04
18. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 10 39-07 83
Day 1: 5 26-14 Day 2: 5 12-09
19. Drew Benton Blakely, GA 10 39-04 82
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 22-01
20. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 10 38-02 81
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 18-08
21. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 9 38-00 80 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 27-02 Day 2: 4 10-14
22. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 10 37-12 79
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 20-10
23. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 10 37-11 78
Day 1: 5 22-04 Day 2: 5 15-07
24. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 10 37-07 77
Day 1: 5 21-10 Day 2: 5 15-13
25. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 10 37-06 76
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 20-08
26. Mike Huff London, KY 10 37-02 75
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 20-08
27. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 10 36-07 74
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 22-10
28. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 10 36-07 73
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 20-08
29. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 8 36-06 72
Day 1: 3 11-10 Day 2: 5 24-12
30. Wes Logan Springville, AL 9 36-05 71
Day 1: 4 12-11 Day 2: 5 23-10
31. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 10 36-04 70
Day 1: 5 15-14 Day 2: 5 20-06
32. Seth Feider New Market, MN 10 36-04 69
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 18-00
33. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 10 36-02 68
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 15-08
34. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 10 35-15 67
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 16-09
35. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 10 35-06 66
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 15-08
36. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 10 35-06 65
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 18-02
37. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 9 35-02 64
Day 1: 4 13-14 Day 2: 5 21-04
38. Bryan New Saluda, SC 8 35-01 63
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 3 15-14
39. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 9 34-15 62
Day 1: 5 19-00 Day 2: 4 15-15
40. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 9 34-09 61
Day 1: 4 08-15 Day 2: 5 25-10
41. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 10 34-03 60
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 19-08
42. Derek Hudnall Denham Springs, LA 10 34-02 59
Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 20-11
43. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 10 33-15 58
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 17-06
44. David Williams Newton, NC 10 33-12 57
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 20-15
45. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 10 33-10 56
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 20-09
46. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 10 33-07 55
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 16-03
47. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 10 33-01 54
Day 1: 5 13-15 Day 2: 5 19-02
48. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 9 32-15 53 $2,500.00
Day 1: 4 13-08 Day 2: 5 19-07
49. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 10 32-14 52 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 15-00
50. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 10 32-07 51 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 5 20-05
51. Kenta Kimura Osaka JAPAN 9 32-04 50 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 4 13-01
52. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 10 32-03 49 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 15-08
53. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 10 31-08 48 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 5 17-14
54. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 10 31-03 47 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 14-10
55. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 10 31-02 46 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-12 Day 2: 5 10-06
56. Darold Gleason Many, LA 10 31-01 45 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 17-01
57. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 10 31-01 44 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 14-01
58. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 10 30-04 43 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 14-12
59. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 10 29-11 42 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 15-00
60. Cody Huff Ava, MO 10 29-08 41 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 17-07
61. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 10 29-05 40 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 14-04
62. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 10 29-00 39 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 16-13
63. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 9 28-13 38 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-08 Day 2: 4 09-05
64. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 7 28-12 37 $2,500.00
Day 1: 4 11-09 Day 2: 3 17-03
65. Jake Whitaker Fairview, NC 10 28-10 36 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 5 15-08
66. Jeff Gustafson Keewatin Ontario CANADA 10 28-06 35 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 12-09
67. Masayuki Matsushita Tokoname-Shi JAPAN 7 28-04 34 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 23-08 Day 2: 2 04-12
68. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 7 28-03 33
Day 1: 4 16-10 Day 2: 3 11-09
69. Jay Yelas Turner, OR 9 28-02 32
Day 1: 4 11-11 Day 2: 5 16-07
70. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 9 28-02 31
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 4 16-00
71. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 10 27-15 30
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 10-05
72. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 10 27-12 29
Day 1: 5 14-03 Day 2: 5 13-09
73. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 10 27-09 28
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 15-01
74. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 10 27-09 27
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 13-07
75. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 10 27-08 26
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 5 13-14
76. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 10 27-07 25
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 12-00
77. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 9 27-07 24
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 4 13-07
78. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 8 27-01 23
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 3 10-10
79. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 9 26-13 22
Day 1: 4 10-12 Day 2: 5 16-01
80. Jesse Tacoronte Kissimmee, FL 9 25-08 21
Day 1: 5 10-04 Day 2: 4 15-04
81. Daisuke Aoki Minamitsurugun Yamanash 7 25-00 20
Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 2 07-03
82. Joshua Stracner Vandiver, AL 10 23-06 19
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 10-02
83. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 8 23-04 18
Day 1: 3 07-07 Day 2: 5 15-13
84. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 8 21-03 17
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 3 07-05
85. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 7 19-10 16
Day 1: 2 04-05 Day 2: 5 15-05
86. David Fritts Lexington, NC 3 19-00 15
Day 1: 1 05-12 Day 2: 2 13-04
87. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 5 17-04 14
Day 1: 1 02-03 Day 2: 4 15-01
88. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 6 16-08 13
Day 1: 1 02-06 Day 2: 5 14-02
89. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 5 15-07 12
Day 1: 4 09-09 Day 2: 1 05-14
90. Frank Talley Temple, TX 4 15-00 11
Day 1: 1 03-15 Day 2: 3 11-01
91. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 5 12-12 10
Day 1: 3 09-00 Day 2: 2 03-12
92. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 3 10-03 9
Day 1: 2 07-02 Day 2: 1 03-01
93. Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 1 04-02 8
Day 1: 1 04-02 Day 2: 0 00-00
94. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 1 03-05 7
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 03-05
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 08-15 $1,000.00
2 Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 09-10 $1,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 74 424 1462-06
2 71 420 1557-06
----------------------------------
145 844 3019-12

by AnglersChannel

Fort Gibson Lake Set to Host 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship

Nation’s Top College Fishing Anglers Compete for the Opportunity to Fish as a Pro in the 2022 Toyota Series Championship and the Chance to Win up to $235,000

WAGONER, Okla. (Mar. 18, 2022) – The best college fishing teams from all across the nation will head to Wagoner, Oklahoma in two weeks, March 29-31, for the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance at Fort Gibson Lake. The 13th annual College Fishing National Championship – hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner – will feature 178 of the nation’s best collegiate anglers, competing 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 2022 Toyota Series Championship to compete as a pro for a top prize of up to $235,000.

“The City of Wagoner and the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce are honored to host the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship,” said Kristen Mallett, Executive Director of the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re excited to have collegiate anglers from across the country coming to Wagoner to compete on Fort Gibson Lake and our businesses and community welcome you with open arms.”

Both members of the winning team and the runners-up at the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. Both members of the third-place team will advance to the 2021 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 Drury University duo of Cole Breeden of Eldridge, Missouri and Cameron Smith of Nixa, Missouri took home the trophy last year at the 2021 College Fishing National Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma – the first national title for Drury. The young anglers will be among the teams competing in this year’s event and are looking forward to one last hurrah in their college fishing partnership, and a chance to defend their title.

“Last year was such an awesome experience,” said Breeden. “Neither of us had ever fished in Oklahoma before, but during the whole tournament it just felt like we were fishing at home.

“Winning that championship was the greatest moment I’ve had in college fishing,” continued Breeden. “That type of opportunity doesn’t come around very often and all our family was there to witness it – I’ve never had a better experience than that.”

Smith graduated in 2021, but the Missouri duo qualified for the upcoming National Championship during the spring of his senior year, which means the two will be paired up one final time to take on Fort Gibson Lake.

“We haven’t had many events so far this year, so I’m hoping the National Championship will be a really good way to kick off the year,” said Breeden, who is set to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

“My College Fishing partner for this year [Hunter Baird of Springfield, Missouri] and I just qualified for the 2023 National Championship, finishing in 11th place at the MLF College Fishing Open on Lake Chickamauga a few weeks ago, so that was a great start to my final college-fishing season.”

Breeden said the championship win in 2021 was a huge motivating factor for him throughout the 2021 season and furthered fueled his passion and fishing aspirations.

“There are a lot of emotions when you have a big win like that and it really is a motivating factor, even moving into this year,” said Breeden. “We’re the defending champs and I’d love to defend our title and bring home another win.”

Abu Garcia College Fishing anglers who qualified for the National Championship will have an on-site tournament meeting and registration, followed by pro angler seminars and more on Sunday, March 27th at the SageNet Center in Tulsa, in conjunction with REDCREST 2022 – the Bass Pro Tour World Championship.

“I’m really excited about the Sunday that we get to spend at the MLF Outdoor Sports Expo with the Bass Pro Tour anglers during REDCREST,” said Breeden. “That will be a cool opportunity and a great way to start off our week – meeting sponsors and putting us in a good place to network and make it more attainable for those of us looking to further our fishing careers.”

Anglers will take off from Taylor’s Ferry North, located on Dock Road in Wagoner at 7 a.m. CTeach day of competition. Weigh-ins will be held at Taylor’s Ferry North 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 ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open advance to the following year’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, 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 information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI on MLF’s social media outlets at  Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Lake Norman Hosts Bassmaster College Series

North Carolina's Lake Norman will host the Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops March 25-26, 2022.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

March 18, 2022

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Talented college fishing teams from across the country will converge on Lake Norman March 25-26, 2022 for the second stop on the Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops circuit.

Located in the western part of the state, the Catawba River reservoir holds both largemouth and spotted bass, and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Shane LeHew of Catawba, N.C., said he expects both species to play.

“The bass usually bed there around the end of March,” LeHew said. “So, there’s a chance they could be arriving at just the right time for a shallow-water event. That could mean bigger weights than usual.”

The normal pool for Lake Norman is close to 100 feet, but LeHew said the lake has been down over the winter, but it’s back to 96.8 feet now.

Shallow-water success, according to LeHew, will be found fishing shallow-running crankbaits and jigs around rocky banks, docks and some boat ramps that are in the water, while some deep-water success could be found around rock and brushpiles in 17 to 45 feet of water with Ned rigs, spoons and finesse jigs.

The larger fish in Lake Norman tend to live shallower, LeHew said, while schools of smaller spotted bass can be caught in deeper water.

The last College Series event held on Lake Norman in 2019 was won by the Jacksonville State University duo of William Nichols and Jamon Phillips, who weighed in 37 pounds, 15 ounces during the three-day event in late February.

The 2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops season will feature four two-day regular-season events with the full field fishing both days of the competition. Teams will launch Friday and Saturday at 7:10 a.m. ET from Blythe Landing in Huntersville, N.C., with weigh-in back at Blythe Landing starting at 3:30 p.m.

Full coverage will be available on Bassmaster.com.

by AnglersChannel

Cook Rides Stellar Day 1 Catch To Early Lead At Bassmaster Elite On Santee Cooper Lakes

Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., is leading after Day 1 of the 2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Santee Cooper Lakes with 31 pounds, 13 ounces.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

March 17, 2022

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Drew Cook has a history of making life difficult for himself with tough Day 1 performances.

But by catching 31 pounds, 13 ounces, Cook shed his streak of bad opening rounds and leads the field of 94 anglers after the first day of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite Series on Santee Cooper Lakes.

The Cairo, Ga., resident holds more than a 2-pound lead over Wisconsin pro Caleb Kuphall, who landed in second with 29-10, and nearly a 4-pound lead over Louisiana pro Greg Hackney.

“I said I was going to act like I was 12 pounds behind from the get-go,” Cook said. “I have never won one of these things and have never really had a good start to an event. Hopefully, with a good start, we can keep it going.”

Cook secured his catch a couple of hours after takeoff at John C. Land III Sport Fishing Facility, all by sight fishing. He found many of the bass he caught on Thursday during practice, but they had not locked onto a bed. There was one male, however, that had locked on during practice and Cook located those females around that male on tournament day.

“I only had two females to start on, and I caught one of them right off the bat and then I caught the next one,” Cook said. “A couple of the ones I had seen swimming around had moved onto bed. We were done at like 11 a.m. I watched every one of them (eat it). It was a lot of fun.”

Right before the beginning of the official practice period, a front moved through the area bringing colder temperatures and rain to Lakes Marion and Moultrie, which have been a few feet lower than normal. But the subfreezing lows for the weekend and the beginning of the week have now been replaced with warmer days and nights.

Storms also blew through on the scheduled off day Wednesday, which allowed the water to rise some in Cook’s area, a key for getting those big females to commit to spawning. But the news wasn’t all good.

“What also happened with the water level coming up is carp are spawning in a lot of the areas now,” Cook said. “So, the water is kind of a chalky color.”

After the quick start, Cook used the rest of the afternoon to look for more bass that had moved up to spawn and found two that might help him Friday.

“I caught one male that I had marked today and I threw him back,” he said. “I found two more 6- or 7-pounders. It was really hard today because I had a 5-8, but I found a 7-pounder. I left both of them and hopefully, they made it through the afternoon.

“We are going to give it a shot. There still should be fish coming.”

Kuphall, meanwhile, had a much different approach to the Santee Cooper Lakes, targeting prespawn bass he could not see. It was a relatively slow day for the Mukwonago, Wis., native, but the ones that did bite were the right size.

“I only caught eight fish today,” he said. “It was really one area. I caught an 8-pounder, a 5 1/4 and a 6-pounder within probably 20 minutes just in one little stretch. I’m not sight fishing, I’m just pitching at cypress trees.

“These were prespawn fish. That 8-pounder I caught was ready.”

Kuphall said the fish he caught Thursday were not there during practice. The water level has stayed mostly stable in his area, and with warmer weather continuing, he hopes the fishing improves.

“I’m hoping more fish pull up throughout the night tonight,” he said. “We are going to have another warm night. I have fish in my areas that are coming to me, I’m just not getting that many bites. My morning bite has been really bad, and as the day progresses it gets better.”

During the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk earlier this month on Lake Hartwell, Hackney’s wife suggested to him they should retire to the host city of Greenville, S.C., but he rejected that idea for one reason.

“If she had said she wanted to come to Santee Cooper and retire, I would be all in,” he said. “I love this place. It is like where I grew up at home. It is the only place we go that is like that. I just enjoy fishing here.”

Hackney certainly made himself feel at home Thursday with 27-14. With water levels expected to rise more and air and water temperatures rising as well, the Gonzales, La., native said it should be the “perfect storm” for giant bags.

“I didn’t know I was going to catch that,” he said. “I had a much better day than I expected. I think things got better today, honestly. I was very fortunate and got the right bites.”

With conditions improving, Hackney hopes he will be able to move around some and capitalize in other areas.

“I’m afraid that it is going to get better in other places,” Hackney said. “Every time I’ve been here, it has been cold in practice and then warmed up and fish just start showing up everywhere.

“I fished where I had the best chance of catching 20 (pounds). I looked a lot and probably saw lots of bass the second day of practice, but never saw one I thought weighed 6 pounds.”

Lake Wylie, S.C., native Todd Auten anchored his 27-2 fourth-place bag with an 8-15 largemouth, earning him Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors.

Heading into Day 2, John Cox of DeBary, Fla., has taken over the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year lead with 271 points while Japan's Masayuki Matsushita is leading the Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race with 210 points.

The full field will take off from John C Land III Sport Fishing Facility at 7:30 a.m. ET Friday and return for weigh-in starting at 3:30 p.m. The field will be cut to the Top 48 after the Day 2 weigh-in, with the Top 10 anglers from Day 3 advancing to compete on Championship Sunday for the first-place prize of $100,000.

Full coverage will be available on Bassmaster.com.

2022 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes 3/17-3/20
Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1

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

1. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 5 31-13 100
Day 1: 5 31-13
2. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 5 29-10 99
Day 1: 5 29-10
3. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 5 27-14 98
Day 1: 5 27-14
4. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 5 27-02 97 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 27-02
5. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 5 26-14 96
Day 1: 5 26-14
6. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 5 26-02 95
Day 1: 5 26-02
7. Masayuki Matsushita Tokoname-Shi JAPAN 5 23-08 94
Day 1: 5 23-08
8. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 5 22-04 93
Day 1: 5 22-04
9. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 5 22-01 92
Day 1: 5 22-01
10. Taku Ito Chiba JAPAN 5 21-10 91
Day 1: 5 21-10
11. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 5 21-00 90
Day 1: 5 21-00
12. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 5 20-12 89
Day 1: 5 20-12
13. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 5 20-10 88
Day 1: 5 20-10
14. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 5 20-04 87
Day 1: 5 20-04
15. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 5 19-14 86
Day 1: 5 19-14
15. Carl Jocumsen Queensland AUSTRALIA 5 19-14 86
Day 1: 5 19-14
17. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 5 19-10 84
Day 1: 5 19-10
18. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 5 19-08 83
Day 1: 5 19-08
18. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 5 19-08 83
Day 1: 5 19-08
20. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 5 19-06 81
Day 1: 5 19-06
21. John Cox DeBary, FL 5 19-03 80
Day 1: 5 19-03
21. Kenta Kimura Osaka JAPAN 5 19-03 80
Day 1: 5 19-03
21. Bryan New Saluda, SC 5 19-03 80
Day 1: 5 19-03
24. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 5 19-00 77
Day 1: 5 19-00
25. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 5 18-12 76
Day 1: 5 18-12
26. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 5 18-10 75
Day 1: 5 18-10
27. Seth Feider New Market, MN 5 18-04 74
Day 1: 5 18-04
28. Gary Clouse Winchester, TN 5 17-14 73
Day 1: 5 17-14
29. Daisuke Aoki Minamitsurugun Yamanash 5 17-13 72
Day 1: 5 17-13
30. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 5 17-10 71
Day 1: 5 17-10
31. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 5 17-04 70
Day 1: 5 17-04
31. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 5 17-04 70
Day 1: 5 17-04
33. Drew Benton Blakely, GA 5 17-03 68
Day 1: 5 17-03
34. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 5 17-02 67
Day 1: 5 17-02
35. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 5 17-00 66
Day 1: 5 17-00
36. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 5 16-14 65
Day 1: 5 16-14
37. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 5 16-13 64
Day 1: 5 16-13
38. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 5 16-11 63
Day 1: 5 16-11
39. Mike Huff London, KY 5 16-10 62
Day 1: 5 16-10
40. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 4 16-10 61
Day 1: 4 16-10
41. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 5 16-09 60
Day 1: 5 16-09
41. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 5 16-09 60
Day 1: 5 16-09
43. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 5 16-07 58
Day 1: 5 16-07
43. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 5 16-07 58
Day 1: 5 16-07
45. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 5 15-15 56
Day 1: 5 15-15
46. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 5 15-14 55
Day 1: 5 15-14
47. Jeff Gustafson Keewatin Ontario CANADA 5 15-13 54
Day 1: 5 15-13
48. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 5 15-10 53
Day 1: 5 15-10
49. Josh Douglas Isle, MN 5 15-08 52
Day 1: 5 15-08
49. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 5 15-08 52
Day 1: 5 15-08
49. Jay Przekurat Stevens Point, WI 5 15-08 52
Day 1: 5 15-08
52. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 5 15-07 49
Day 1: 5 15-07
53. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 15-01 48
Day 1: 5 15-01
54. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 5 14-11 47
Day 1: 5 14-11
54. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 5 14-11 47
Day 1: 5 14-11
56. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 5 14-03 45
Day 1: 5 14-03
57. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 5 14-02 44
Day 1: 5 14-02
58. Darold Gleason Many, LA 5 14-00 43
Day 1: 5 14-00
58. Chad Pipkens DeWitt, MI 5 14-00 43
Day 1: 5 14-00
60. Kyle Welcher Opelika, AL 5 13-15 41
Day 1: 5 13-15
61. Michael Iaconelli Pittsgrove, NJ 5 13-14 40
Day 1: 5 13-14
62. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 4 13-14 39
Day 1: 4 13-14
63. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 5 13-13 38
Day 1: 5 13-13
64. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 5 13-10 37
Day 1: 5 13-10
64. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 5 13-10 37
Day 1: 5 13-10
66. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 4 13-08 35
Day 1: 4 13-08
67. Derek Hudnall Denham Springs, LA 5 13-07 34
Day 1: 5 13-07
68. Joshua Stracner Vandiver, AL 5 13-04 33
Day 1: 5 13-04
69. Jake Whitaker Fairview, NC 5 13-02 32
Day 1: 5 13-02
70. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 5 13-01 31
Day 1: 5 13-01
71. David Williams Newton, NC 5 12-13 30
Day 1: 5 12-13
72. Wes Logan Springville, AL 4 12-11 29
Day 1: 4 12-11
73. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 5 12-08 28
Day 1: 5 12-08
74. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 5 12-03 27
Day 1: 5 12-03
75. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 5 12-02 26
Day 1: 5 12-02
75. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 5 12-02 26
Day 1: 5 12-02
77. Cody Huff Ava, MO 5 12-01 24
Day 1: 5 12-01
78. Jay Yelas Turner, OR 4 11-11 23
Day 1: 4 11-11
79. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 3 11-10 22
Day 1: 3 11-10
80. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 4 11-09 21
Day 1: 4 11-09
81. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 4 10-12 20
Day 1: 4 10-12
82. Jesse Tacoronte Kissimmee, FL 5 10-04 19
Day 1: 5 10-04
83. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 4 09-09 18
Day 1: 4 09-09
84. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 3 09-00 17
Day 1: 3 09-00
85. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 4 08-15 16
Day 1: 4 08-15
86. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 3 07-07 15
Day 1: 3 07-07
87. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 2 07-02 14
Day 1: 2 07-02
88. David Fritts Lexington, NC 1 05-12 13
Day 1: 1 05-12
89. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 2 04-05 12
Day 1: 2 04-05
90. Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 1 04-02 11
Day 1: 1 04-02
91. Frank Talley Temple, TX 1 03-15 10
Day 1: 1 03-15
92. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 1 02-06 9
Day 1: 1 02-06
93. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 1 02-03 8
Day 1: 1 02-03
94. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 08-15 $1,000.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 74 424 1462-06
----------------------------------
74 424 1462-06

by AnglersChannel

AC Insider Podcast "Following His Heart"

This week Chris & The boys welcome in Bass Pro Tour Angler Timmy Horton to discuss his recent retirement announcement at the end of the season and his new found focus and direction.

by AnglersChannel

Rookie Christian Greico Wins MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Bass Boat Technologies Stop 2 on the Harris Chain of Lakes

Greico Boats Final-Day Tally of 18 Pounds, 5 Ounces to Best 157 Anglers and Earn Top Prize of $100,000

LEESBURG, Fla. (March 16, 2022) – The last time Major League Fishing had held an event on the Harris Chain of Lakes – the AAA-level 2021 Toyota Series – 22-year-old Tampa, Florida angler Christian Greico landed “Jim Thomas”, a 9-pound, 12-ounce giant largemouth that had been tagged by the Friends of Lake Apopka and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as part of the Lake Apopka Fish Tag Challenge. Greico was awarded the top prize of $5,000 for catching that bass, and used those winnings as part of his deposit to compete in his rookie season against the pros on the 2022 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Fuel Me.

Wednesday, it all came full circle for the Florida rookie. Greico weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the four-day Bass Boat Technologies Stop 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by Frogg Toggs in Leesburg, Florida. Greico edged the second-place pro Andrew Loberg of Rocklin, California, by 1-pound, 8-ounces, and earned the top payout of $100,000 – or 20 tagged bass.

“I really can’t believe how this week turned out,” Greico said. “Coming back to the ramp with only 18 pounds today – I thought for sure that someone had busted a 20+ pound bag. I was thrilled to just be in the top 10 and standing there on the final day with (MLF emcee) Chris Jones. To get it done today – man, I’ve had a blessed week. All glory to God on this one.”

After targeting offshore shell beds in Lake Harris with a Carolina-rigged Googan Slim Shake and a Googan Dart on the first three days of competition, Greico pivoted on the final day and scrapped his shell bed pattern to run to Lake Apopka and flip a jig for the day.

“I could tell yesterday that the shell bite was deteriorating on me. I decided to start on the pattern first thing this morning, but once I drug through there for 10 to 15 minutes and didn’t get a bite, I knew it probably wasn’t going to happen in Lake Harris. So, I made the decision to run to Apopka and put the flipping stick in my hand. I knew if those fish were biting, it was only a matter of time until I caught a few big ones.

“It took me about five minutes before I got my first bite, and that’s when I knew it could happen,” the 23-year-old pro said.

Greico’s flipping fish came on a Googan Nuke Punch, with a ¾-ounce weight.

Despite the fast start to his career, Greico plans to play it conservative and ensure he remains in the sport for the long haul.

“The money is great, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not out here for the money,” Greico went on to say. “I do this because I love it, and to earn these trophies. This is a huge confidence booster – this is where I’m meant to be. I can have a career as a pro bass fisherman and go toe-to-toe against the best guys. It’s an honor to even be out here competing against them. To win, in just my second event – it blows my mind.

“I’m probably going to bed early tonight, and I’m putting this money in the bank and saving it. It can get pretty expensive chasing around these bass.”

The top 10 pros at the Bass Boat Technologies Stop 2 on the Harris Chain of Lakes finished:

1st:          Christian Greico, Tampa, Fla., five bass, 18-5
2nd:         Andrew Loberg, Rocklin, Calif., five bass, 16-13
3rd:         Shonn Goodwin, Moore, Okla., five bass, 16-0
4th:         Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 15-1
5th:         Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, five bass, 14-14
6th:         Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., five bass, 14-14
7th:         Grae Buck, Green Lane, Pa., five bass, 11-8
8th:         Grant Galloway, Houlka, Miss., five bass, 10-14
9th:         Jeff Reynolds, Calera, Okla., four bass, 10-11
10th:       Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 9-12

For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 49 bass weighing 138 pounds, 12 ounces caught by the final 10 pros Wednesday. Nine of the final 10 pros weighed in a five-bass limit.

The four-day MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Bass Boat Technologies Stop 2 on the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by Frogg Toggs was hosted by Visit Lake County. The event will premiere on the CBS Sports Network on Saturday, July 16 from 7 to 9 a.m. ET.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Sunday and Monday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advanced to Tuesday, then only the top 10 pros based on cumulative weight from the first three days continued competition on Championship Wednesday, where weights were zeroed and the winner was determined by the heaviest weight from the final day of competition.

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Bass Boat Technologies Stop 2 on the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by Frogg Toggs marked the second regular-season event of the year for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Fuel Me. The next event for Pro Circuit anglers will be the Lithium Pros Stop 3 at Pickwick Lake Presented by Covercraft, April 21-24 in Counce, Tennessee.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2022 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE Presented by Mercury, the Pro Circuit Championship, where they will compete for up to $235,000. The 2022 TITLE will be on the St. Lawrence River in Massena, New York on Aug. 16-21, and is hosted by the Town of Massena.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Fuel Me include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, 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 information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Tulsa and Grand Lake Ready for Major League Fishing’s REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa Sunglasses

Bass Pro Tour Championship to Showcase Top 41 Anglers Competing on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees for $300,000 Top Prize, Outdoor Sports Expo to Take Place at Tulsa’s SageNet Center at Expo Square

TULSA, Okla. (March 16, 2022) – Major League Fishing’s (MLF) REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses, the Bass Pro Tour championship, is set to visit Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees next week, March 23-27, to crown professional bass fishing’s newest world champion.

The five-day tournament, shot for television broadcast on CBS, the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel, will showcase the top 41 Bass Pro Tour anglers from the 2021 season competing for the prestigious REDCREST Championship and the top prize of $300,000.

Originally scheduled to be held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees last year, MLF officials shifted REDCREST 2021 to another venue after the cancellation of the REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo that had been scheduled to be held in conjunction with the event. It’s now all systems go for 2022 and the league, the professional anglers, and fishing fans from all over the country are excited for Tulsa-based Major League Fishing’s Homecoming event.

“We are proud to host the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2022 next week,” Tulsa Mayor G. T. Bynum said. “This will be a large, family-friendly event with world-class anglers, and we also get to watch a Tulsa-based company thrive and shine on a national stage.”

“Working hand-in-hand with Major League Fishing on this event is always a joy and this year is no different,” said Ashleigh Bachert, Interim SVP for Tulsa Regional Tourism. “You can definitely feel the local investment from this Tulsa company as their all-in mentality for putting on the absolute best event is dialed to eleven. REDCREST 2022 will be one for the - hooks.”

The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin each day at 6:45 a.m. at the Wolf Creek Park and Boating Facility, located at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove, Oklahoma. Anglers will depart daily at 7:30 a.m. from the park and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. 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.

“We’re hitting it right when the lake is coming out of hibernation – it’s probably the best week of the year that this event could happen,” said Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, who won the inaugural REDCREST event in 2019 on the Mississippi River. “It’s like light-switch week. The weather is looking good, and this event could be off the charts good.

“Guys are going to be able to catch them every way you can possibly imagine,” Evers continued. “I expect that it will mainly be a prespawn, staging-type bite, but I would not at all be shocked if there were fish spawning by the end of next week. The key to doing well is going to be staying fluid and changing with the conditions.”

Evers said that he thinks if an angler could catch 10 to 12 scorable bass per day they will be doing alright.

“The Bass Pro Tour can be so hard to predict, because of the catch-all-you-can format and the zeroing of the weights – it could be anywhere from 45 to 90 pounds on that final day,” Evers said. “But the lake is in really good shape, and guys are going to be spread out.

“I’m most excited about this event happening right here, in the heart of the country,” Evers said. “This community eats, sleeps, and breathes bass fishing. I expect that a lot of people are going to have a lot of fun, and this one is going to be a really special event.”

As part of the event, Major League Fishing is hosting a FREE, family-friendly Outdoor Sports Expo Presented by Costa throughout the weekend, March 25-27 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at the SageNet Center at Expo Square in Tulsa. Fishing and outdoor enthusiasts will have the opportunity to visit more than 130 booths and vendors, showcasing the latest and greatest in fishing, boating, hunting, camping and more. The biggest names in the outdoor industry will be on hand, including all 80 of the professional anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour, fishing legend Jimmy Houston and The Bone Collector’s Michael Waddell. Children are welcome to visit the Bank of Oklahoma Kids Zone to meet Skye & Marshall from PAW Patrol, fish for catfish in the Kids Fishing Pond, show off their artistic skills at the coloring stations, and more. Country music star Blane Howard will perform free concerts at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26, while Clayton Anderson will headline the free concert series with a performance on Sunday, March 27 at 4:30 p.m. Giveaways and prizes include signed MLF angler jerseys, rods and reels, 50” and 60” TVs, gift cards , and more. On Friday and Saturday night, one lucky attendee will play for $100,000 in the Bully Dog Pick ‘Til You Win game, and on Sunday one lucky attendee will walk away with a brand new 2022 Toyota Tundra. For more information on the MLF Outdoor Sports Expo Presented by Costa, visit REDCRESTExpo.com.

REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound 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.

All 41 Anglers will compete on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 compete on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the fifth and final day of competition (Sunday), where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2022 champion.

The 2021 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 41 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the seven events qualified to compete in REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 2 and July 9 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 17 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, BallyBet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.

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.

by AnglersChannel