66 Anglers to Compete Next Week for $150,000 Top Prize in Leesburg, Follow the Action Live All Four Days at MajorLeagueFishing.com

LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 4, 2025) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour continues its action-packed 2025 season next week, Feb. 13-16, with Suzuki Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI, in Leesburg, Florida. Hosted by Discover Lake County Florida, the four-day tournament will feature 66 of the world’s top professional anglers competing for a $150,000 top prize, crucial points in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) race and coveted qualification spots for the Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026.

The star-studded field will feature top pros and local favorites, including reigning Fishing Clash AOY Jacob Wheeler, REDCREST 2024 Champion Dustin Connell and defending Harris Chain champion Ott DeFoe, as well as Florida favorites Keith Carson , Bobby Lane and Terry Scroggins , looking to leverage their local knowledge.

The tournament will feature the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament is being filmed for broadcast later this year on Discovery.

“We are thrilled to welcome Major League Fishing’s 2025 Bass Pro Tour to Lake County, Florida,” said Ryan Ritchie, Director of Discover Lake County, Florida. “This event showcases our world-class fisheries and reinforces our reputation as a premier destination for competitive fishing. A huge thank you to our partners at the City of Leesburg and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission for their collaboration in making this event possible.”

“Hosting the Major League Fishing 2025 Bass Pro Tour is an exciting opportunity for Lake County to shine on the national stage,” said Kirby Smith, Lake County Commissioner. “Our lakes, our community and our hospitality make this the perfect setting for anglers and fans alike. We greatly appreciate the support of the City of Leesburg and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission in bringing this prestigious event to our area.”

The last time the Bass Pro Tour visited the Harris Chain of Lakes was in 2021, where Tennessee’s DeFoe claimed victory, capitalizing on the shad spawn early in the day before transitioning to offshore cranking. This year, it seems anglers will face very different conditions, as Florida’s warm weather has accelerated the spawn, creating a dynamic playing field.

Lane, a Lakeland, Florida native, finished second to DeFoe in 2021, and said he is eager for another shot at the title.

“The last time the Bass Pro Tour was here was in May, and the fish were everywhere,” said Lane. “This time, it’ll be different. It’s earlier in the year, but we’re transitioning big time. Florida has gone from a brutal winter – culminated by two weeks in a row of miserably cold weather – to three weeks of brutal heat. It’s basically summertime now, so we’ll see fish in all three stages of the spawn throughout the event and there’s plenty of vegetation in almost every lake now.”

Lane predicts winning weights will range between 30 to 45 pounds on the final day, with anglers needing around 60 to 70 pounds over the first two days to advance to the Knockout Round. He also said he expects a variety of techniques to come into play.

“I think we’ll see guys throwing ChatterBaits, swim worms, flipping sticks, crankbaits, frogs, drop-shot rigs, shaky heads and topwater baits,” said Lane. “I think it’s all going to work. I don’t think one guy is going to be able to light it on fire in one spot. I think he’s going to have to cover a lot of water.”

Lane said a key strategic challenge will be the Harris Chain locking system. Anglers choosing to lock into Apopka or Griffin could lose valuable fishing time, making decisions on location critical.

“There’s a risk in locking,” Lane explained. “If Harris, Eustis or Dora are fishing good in the morning, there’s no way a guy locking in is going to catch up. It’s kind of a puzzle, and we’ve got to figure out how to put the puzzle together.”

Unlike the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage 1 at Lake Conroe event, where forward-facing sonar played a dominant role in the first period, Lane believes its impact on the Harris Chain will be more limited.

“There will definitely be fish caught on forward-facing sonar, but I don’t see it being as big of a factor as it was in Texas,” Lane noted. “This event is going to have a lot more diversity in techniques.”

Anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. ET each day from the Venetian Gardens, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg. Each day’s takeout will be held at the same location, beginning at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

In conjunction with the tournament, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, Bass Pro Tour pros competing in the event will be at Bass Pro Shops Orlando, located at 5156 International Drive in Orlando, from noon to 2 p.m., meeting with fans and signing autographs.

On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 15-16, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Venetian Gardens for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day. The Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand both days to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The Suzuki Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI will feature anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

The full field of anglers will compete in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the pro with the highest two-day total will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers that finish 2nd through 20th will advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

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

Television coverage of the Suzuki Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 13 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering the following Saturday on Sept. 20. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki and Toyota.

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

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 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.