INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. (Nov. 17, 2024) – Florida’s 10,000-acre manmade Headwaters Lake was the playing field, Sunday, for Match 1 of the Elimination Round at the fourth and final General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops event of the 2024 season. The four two-man teams competing at the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches were greeted by near optimal conditions – light wind, slightly overcast skies, and temperatures in the upper 70s.

The beautiful day set the stage for an extremely competitive matchup – the closest Team Series event so far this season. At one point in the third period, with just under two hours remaining in the competition, less than 1 pound separated first place from last place. But, as time expired at 2:15 p.m. ET, it was Team Knighten Industries who sat alone atop the leaderboard.

The Knighten Industries duo of Brandon Coulter and John Hunter caught 22 scorable bass weighing 44 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the first Elimination Round match and become the first team to advance to the Knockout Round. Also advancing, in second place, was Team Kubota – Bradley Roy and partner Jason Vance – who boated 16 scorables weighing 37 pounds even.

The B&W Trailer Hitches team of Matt Becker and Spencer Shuffield and Team U.S. Air Force – Stephen Browning and Cliff Crochet – were eliminated from the competition.

“Man, that was a fun afternoon,” said Hunter, who caught seven bass for 20-12. “We got into an area in the second period that seemed really promising. We got some bites and then were able to slow down, and then in the third (period) we just expanded on it.”

“We talked about it for the whole first and second periods, and if you ever fish in Florida just remember it,” Coulter said. “You just gotta keep moving. When you find where they are, in Florida, you catch them. But there is a lot of water that you have to cover where the fish are not grouped up. You can go all day and only catch three fish. But when you get in an area that’s got fish moving in, or fish setting up, you can have a third period like we had today.”

The Knighten Industries duo started the final period in third place, but the bite turned on and got better in the third period – for all teams. Coulter boated 10 of his 15 scorable keepers in the third to lift Team Knighten to the top, and all told 36 of the 74 bass caught by the four teams came in the third period.

“Every bass that I caught today came on a little (Berkley) Slobberknocker – the vibrating jig did all the work for me,” Coulter said. “I had confidence that it would work today, and it did. It is a fish-catcher, simple as that. It was a great day, today, and we are excited we get to stick around in Florida for a little while.”

Team Knighten Industries’ dramatic final period was shared with Team Kubota, who also had a high octane finale. With just four minutes remaining in competition, Team U.S. Air Force was in second place and Team Kubota was in third, 2-9 below the elimination line.

Then things got exciting.

“It was like someone turned on a switch. Earlier they had just been swiping at the bait, but all of a sudden they just started eating,” Vance said. “We came down the same path we had been. We figured if we were going to get one at the end, it would be down that stretch. So, we turned around and hit it again, and they just started committing.”

Vance landed a chunky 3-pound, 11-ounce largemouth – their biggest bass of the day – to overtake Team U.S. Air Force and vault Team Kubota into second place and the final qualifying spot.

“No kidding, we should have had another 20 pounds, today,” Vance continued. “I’m grateful that big one bit at the end, though. You can’t script that.”

To add insult to injury for Team U.S. Air Force, Team B&W Trailer Hitches then added two scorable bass of their own in the final two minutes – both by Spencer Shuffield – to overtake Browning and Crochet for the third-place finish and push Team U.S. Air Force down to fourth place.

The top two teams from Elimination Round Match 1 at the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches that now advance to the Knockout Round are:

1st:        Team Knighten Industries, 22 bass, 44-11
Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 23-15
John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., seven bass, 20-12
2nd:       Team Kubota, 16 bass, 37-0
Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., eight bass, 19-7
Jason Vance, Battle Ground, Ind., eight bass, 17-9

Eliminated from competition are:

3rd:       Team B&W Trailer Hitches, 16 bass, 36-8
Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 14-10
Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 11 bass, 21-14
4th:        Team U.S. Air Force, 20 bass, 35-13
Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 12 bass, 23-10
Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., eight bass, 12-3

Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 74 bass weighing 154 pounds even caught by the four teams in Elimination Round Match 1 on Headwaters Lake. Team B&W Trailer Hitches pro Matt Becker caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 4 pounds, 9 ounces.

The Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is hosted by Visit Indian River County and Play Treasure Coast Sports Tourism and takes place over six days in Indian River County, Florida. The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning. Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

The Summit Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Friday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer HItches.

The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes in May 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.

Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X,  Instagram and  YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.