Howell Leads Group A in Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour Inaugural Event

Courtesy of MLF / Joe Shangle
January 29, 2019

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – New competition format, new all-star lineup of players in the game of professional bass fishing. But as the first Shotgun Round of the MLF Bass Pro Tour B & W Trailer Hitches Stage One presented By Power-Pole wound down Tuesday on the Kissimmee Chain, some ages-old truths about Florida largemouth proved themselves.

Truth 1: Florida-strain largemouth love sunshine.

Truth 2: Wind – no matter which direction it’s blowing – changes the way fish bite.

Day 1 weight leader Randy Howell took advantage of both.

On a day that started out flat calm with air temperatures in the lower 40s at takeoff, and got progressively warmer and windier, Howell piled 26 fish for 49 pounds, 12 ounces on SCORETRACKER, thanks mainly to two afternoon flurries.

Howell caught six fish for 11-5 in a 41-minute span (most of it on a 3-inch Bass Pro Shops Speed Shad swimbait and a homemade lipless crankbait), and then added nine fish for 15-9 in the final hour of Period 3 to distance himself from Ish Monroe (40-13), Zack Birge (36-0), Gerald Spohrer (35-4) and Ott DeFoe (35-14)

“The wind changed direction three times this afternoon, so my biggest task was to adjust to how it would move the bait around,” Howell said. “We had these windows where cormorants were really chasing the bait, and I was just trying to stay where the bait was. I’d move ahead of them and let the wind blow me back through them, and that’s when I had those flurries.”

Monroe took a decidedly different approach, catching 11 of his fish punching a Missle Baits Craw Father. The California native, who was a pre-event favorite because of his previous success in big-fish fisheries, caught seven fish 3 pounds or heavier, including a 5-4 and a 4-15.

He’ll head into the Elimination Round on Thursday with a comfortable cushion to advance to the Knockout Round, a fact that Monroe plans to use to his strategic advantage.

“I didn’t do anything really great today – I probably left 15 pounds of fish out there that I didn’t execute on – but my goal in the Elimination Round is to catch 10 pounds and then spend the rest of the day looking for new stuff,” Monroe admitted. “I figure I’m pretty safe with 10 pounds (to add to his 40-13). The guys down around the cut would have to catch 37, 38 pounds to pass me – it’s totally possible here, for sure, but I’d love to get to 10 and then go practice.”

Birge put the big fish of the day on SCORETRACKER midway through Period 2, landing a 6-12 on a small swimbait. The Oklahoma pro added a 5-3 in the final minute of competition to jump into the Top 5. Spohrer, fishing his first MLF-format event, started strong early, putting seven fish on the board in Period 1 and hovering in the Top 5 all day long. DeFoe consistently scored throughout the day, building his weight around a 4-8 and a 4-2.

Notes

The 40 anglers from today’s Group A will compete again on Thursday, Jan. 31, adding their totals from today’s round to their Elimination Round. The Top 20 weights from Elimination will advance to the Knockout Round.

Group B will follow the same format, fishing tomorrow’s Shotgun Round and carrying their weights forward to the second Elimination Round (Friday, Feb. 1).

 

Angler Qualified Total Weight Caught Number of Fish Caught Average Weight Largest Fish
Randy Howell 1st 49 – 12 26 1 – 15 3 – 06
Ish Monroe 2nd 40 – 13 15 2 – 12 5 – 04
Zack Birge 3rd 36 – 09 15 2 – 07 6 – 12
Gerald Spohrer 4th 35 – 04 17 2 – 01 4 – 10
Ott DeFoe 5th 34 – 14 14 2 – 08 4 – 08
Brandon Coulter 6th 32 – 05 17 1 – 14 3 – 08
Randall Tharp 7th 28 – 11 9 3 – 03 6 – 04
Dave Lefebre 8th 26 – 06 15 1 – 12 4 – 10
Mark Davis 9th 24 – 03 15 1 – 10 4 – 14
Jacob Wheeler 10th 23 – 09 11 2 – 02 4 – 02
Mark Daniels 11th 20 – 13 8 2 – 10 4 – 08
Takahiro Omori 12th 19 – 12 8 2 – 08 4 – 04
Greg Vinson 13th 18 – 13 12 1 – 09 3 – 09
Chris Lane 14th 18 – 00 10 1 – 13 3 – 02
Matt Lee 15th 17 – 15 7 2 – 09 4 – 01
Jordan Lee 16th 17 – 05 9 1 – 15 2 – 15
Russ Lane 17th 16 – 01 7 2 – 05 4 – 12
Michael Neal 18th 13 – 14 8 1 – 12 3 – 06
Jared Lintner 19th 13 – 13 8 1 – 12 2 – 11
Stephen Browning 20th 13 – 00 10 1 – 05 3 – 04
Casey Ashley 21th 13 – 00 6 2 – 03 3 – 09
Gary Klein 22th 12 – 14 8 1 – 10 2 – 04
Roy Hawk 23th 12 – 12 5 2 – 09 3 – 07
Edwin Evers 24th 11 – 00 8 1 – 06 2 – 02
Brett Hite 25th 10 – 13 8 1 – 06 1 – 12
Cody Meyer 26th 10 – 03 5 2 – 01 3 – 08
Andy Morgan 27th 9 – 14 8 1 – 04 1 – 07
Tim Horton 28th 9 – 04 6 1 – 09 2 – 08
James Watson 29th 9 – 00 6 1 – 08 3 – 06
Jason Lambert 30th 7 – 00 4 1 – 12 2 – 01
David Walker 31th 6 – 04 3 2 – 01 3 – 07
Fred Roumbanis 32th 5 – 12 4 1 – 07 1 – 15
Tommy Biffle 33th 4 – 03 2 2 – 01 3 – 02
Mike McClelland 34th 4 – 00 3 1 – 05 1 – 09
Keith Poche 35th 3 – 14 3 1 – 05 1 – 10
Kelly Jordon 36th 3 – 13 2 1 – 15 1 – 15
James Elam 37th 3 – 04 3 1 – 01 1 – 02
Shin Fukae 38th 2 – 06 2 1 – 03 1 – 03
Andy Montgomery 39th 1 – 14 1 1 – 14 1 – 14
Justin Lucas 40th 1 – 06 1 1 – 06 1 – 06