Month: May 2020

Jacob Wheeler Wins Toyota Series Tournament at Pickwick Lake

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 30, 2020
No Comments on Jacob Wheeler Wins Toyota Series Tournament at Pickwick Lake

May 30, 2020 by FLW Communications

FLORENCE, Ala. – Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour angler Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, brought five bass to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces to win the three-day Toyota Series at Pickwick Lake event Saturday in Florence, Alabama. Wheeler’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 56-8 earned him the win by a 5-pound, 8-ounce margin over second-place angler Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, and earned Wheeler the top payout of $38,545 in the second tournament of the 2020 Toyota Series Central Division season.

“I truthfully can’t even believe that just happened,” said Wheeler, the reigning MLF World Champion who earned the first Toyota Series win of his career. “I’ve competed at all levels, and it is so tough to win one of these Toyota Series events. A lot of pros compete in them, but they also have the great local fisherman that know their home bodies of water so well. They’re extremely hard to win, so to come out today with the victory – I am tremendously tickled.”

Wheeler said that he had no magic spot on Pickwick Lake, but estimated he fished around 30 different places throughout the week, throwing a variety of baits.

“I tried to find little 3- to 5-fish schools that were a little out of the way off the beaten path, and then when a community hole opened up I’d stop in there and try to catch a few fish. I caught fish from 10 feet to 30 feet, and I was constantly changing my baits based on where I was fishing,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said that his key baits this week were a Rapala DT20 crankbait (Caribbean Shad), a Texas-rigged Googan Baits Mondo Worm and a 6-inch Lunker Log stick bait, and an Accent Ol’ Big Spinnerbait. He also mixed in some other baits, including a scrounger and a swimbait.

“My electronics setup was a huge deal for me this week, as well,” Wheeler went on to say. “Instead of signing with one company, I’m running Lowrance, Garmin and Humminbird units this year and that really helped me tremendously when I was finding those 3 to 5 fish schools.”

The top 10 pros on Pickwick Lake finished:

1st: Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 56-8, $38,545

2nd: Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Ga., 15 bass, 51-0, $14,936

3rd: Michael Bean of Bowling Green, Ky., 15 bass, 49-9, $11,563

4th: Michael Brewer of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 48-13, $9,636

5th: Justin Atkins of Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 48-12, $8,673

6th: Marshall Deakins of Dunlap, Tenn., 15 bass, 47-15, $7,709

7th: Brent Anderson of Kingston Springs, Tenn., 15 bass, 46-4, $6,745

8th: John Murray of Spring City, Tenn., 13 bass, 44-15, $5,782

9th: Jimmy Washam of Covington, Tenn., 13 bass, 39-11, $4,959

10th: Ricky Robinson of Greenback, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-14, $3,854

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Seth Davis of Harrison, Tennessee, took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Washam brought an 8-pound, 9-ounce largemouth bass to the scale Friday – the largest fish weighed by a boater in the event – to earn the day’s Big Bass award of $141.

Josh Lockard of Somerset, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 48 pounds, 7 ounces. For his win, Lockard took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor, worth $33,500.

The top 10 co-anglers on Pickwick Lake finished:

1st: Josh Lockard of Somerset, Ky., 15 bass, 48-7, $33,500

2nd: Phil Williams Jr. of Jamestown, Ky., 13 bass, 36-13, $4,868

3rd: Nathan Woodruff of Iuka, Miss., 14 bass, 33-14, $3,894

4th: Chris Quaintance of Muscle Shoals, Ala., 11 bass, 32-4, $3,502

5th: Clint Pegg of Columbus, Miss., 12 bass, 31-14, $2,921

6th: Andrew Gordon of Columbus, Miss., 12 bass, 29-11, $2,434

7th: Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., 11 bass, 29-1, $1,947

8th: Benton Peoples of Bardstown, Ky., 11 bass, 26-8, $1,704

9th: Bryan Dowdy of Florence, Ala., 11 bass, 25-10, $1,460

10th: Samuel Maxwell of Vincennes, Ind., 10 bass, 23-12, $1,217

Quaintance weighed in the largest bass in the co-angler division on Thursday, bringing a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass to the stage. He earned the days Co-angler Big Bass award of $95.

The Toyota Series at Pickwick Lake was hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism. It was the second of three regular-season tournaments in 2020 for Central Division anglers. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $235,000 cash, including a $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus for qualified anglers. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship will be held Dec. 3-5 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.

MLF BIG-5

FLW Revamps 2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Schedule: Extends Invitation to Major League Fishing Pro Anglers

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 8, 2020
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BENTON, Ky. (May 8, 2020) – FLW, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced today a revised 2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit schedule, which will return June 23-26 on Lake Chickamauga. The regular season will conclude on the Detroit River, Aug. 11-14. The Tackle Warehouse TITLE, the FLW Pro Circuit Championship will remain on the St. Lawrence River, but will now take place Aug. 24-29. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit regular-season schedule has been shortened from seven events to six. After completing three events in the original 2020 schedule, FLW suspended the Pro Circuit on March 22 in an abundance of caution surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Updated Schedule:

June 23-26 Lake Chickamauga Dayton, Tenn.

Hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council

July 29- Aug. 1 Mississippi River La Crosse, Wis.

Hosted by the La Crosse County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Aug. 11-14 Detroit River Trenton, Mich.

Hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission

2020 Tackle Warehouse TITLE, the FLW Pro Circuit Championship:

Aug. 24-29 St. Lawrence River Massena, N.Y.

Hosted by the Town of Massena

By its nature, the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit allows for social distancing as anglers compete in individual boats on thousands of acres of water. Fans are encouraged to watch the tournaments and daily weigh-ins online from their homes through expanded live on-the-water broadcasts rather than attend weigh-ins, in an effort to avoid crowds. FLW will livestream all four days, instead of only the final two days as previously done, and the on-the-water camera crew will also be expanded to help capture more of the action. The events will proceed with marshals unless COVID-19 mitigation guidance in the host community at the time of each event dictates otherwise.

“It’s an understatement to say that these are historic times in professional bass fishing, but that’s exactly what we’re dealing with – a situation our industry has never faced before,” said FLW Executive Vice President and General Manager Kathy Fennel. “We had no choice but to shift some of our previous host commitments to finish out the 2020 season, but we are confident that the revamped schedule will make for a very exciting conclusion to the season. We will return to Lake Hartwell, Cherokee Lake and Lake Dardanelle in the future.

The abbreviated season for both MLF and FLW enabled FLW to extend invitations to Major League Fishing’s (MLF) Pros for the three final events, which will grow the field and create “Super Tournaments.” All current Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will retain their spots on the roster, but the field size will be expanded to include any MLF pros who commit to compete in all three events.

“The major changes to the remainder of our season offered us the opportunity to create what will arguably be the most memorable bass fishing tournaments in history,” Fennel said. “FLW has extended an invitation to all MLF Pros to compete with us.

“As we discussed how FLW should emerge from the quarantine period, we realized that we could work together with MLF to give both organizations’ anglers more opportunities to earn money and represent their sponsors for the remainder of this season. We’re going to give fans an incredible show, with the best anglers in the world fishing for five-bass limits. FLW and MLF will come out of quarantine even stronger.”

As has been the case throughout the 2020 season leading up to the shelter-at-home orders that paused competitive fishing, numerous MLF pros had elected to fish other FLW tournaments. Jacob Wheeler, Jordan Lee, Marty Robinson and Michael Neal have all represented their sponsors at Toyota Series events earlier this year. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit “Super Tournaments” will also offer the chance for fans to tune in and see major stars from MLF compete in the traditional five-bass format against FLW’s top pros. FLW has asked that MLF pros indicate their intent to fish by May 15, 2020.

Assuming a 200-boat field, the total purse in each tournament will expand from $820,000 to $1,279,000, for an increase of $1,377,000 over three events. The first-place prize will increase from $100,000 to $125,000, and FLW will pay out $10,000 through 100th place. Contingency prizes will also remain in effect, meaning qualified FLW PHOENIX BONUS pros fish for a top award of $160,000 in each tournament.

MLF pros who choose to compete in the final three Pro Circuit “Super Tournaments” will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the Angler of the Year (AOY) title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.

Qualification into the Tackle Warehouse TITLE, the FLW Pro Circuit Championship, is also open only to the original Pro Circuit field based on the anglers’ finishing order in the season-long, points standings. The TITLE remains a six-day, MLF-style catch-weigh-immediately-release tournament.

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Major League Fishing Returns June 7 to Kissimmee Chain: 2020 Bass Pro Tour Schedule Cut Short in Wake of COVID-19

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 8, 2020
No Comments on Major League Fishing Returns June 7 to Kissimmee Chain: 2020 Bass Pro Tour Schedule Cut Short in Wake of COVID-19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2020 (Tulsa, Okla.) Major League Fishing (MLF) announced today the return of the 2020 Bass Pro Tour on June 7-12 with Heavy Hitters featuring a $745,000 purse and the full field of 80 Pros. The 2020 Tour will conclude July 10-15 on Lake Champlain after five Stages. For the safety of all involved, fan events and gatherings are cancelled for the remainder of the season. This revised schedule permits MLF to deliver an additional 100+ hours of live-action sports as well as meet television production deadlines to fulfill sponsorship agreements despite the unprecedented season. On March 23^rd following three successful Stages, MLF paused the Bass Pro Tour in an abundance of caution due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“After working with state, local, and Public Health officials, we feel we can return to the water for two final tournaments in 2020,” said Boyd Duckett, MLF Co-Founder and pro angler.  “Fishing is an inherently socially distant sport and while we will miss seeing our fans face-to-face, the Bass Pro Tour can deliver the drama of live-action sports to fans, while participating responsibly in a phased approach to help restart the economy.”

Heavy Hitters presented by Venmo will take place on Lake Tohopekaliga (Toho) and the Kissimmee Chain two weeks later than originally planned, June 7-12. No longer a mid-season qualifier, the event will feature all 80 MLF Pros in a traditional six-day, Bass Pro Tour format while still featuring an untraditional $745,000 purse and full-field payout. Heavy Hitters will serve as Stage Four toward the season-long Bass Pro Tour Points Championship, awarded to the angler with the most points at the conclusion of the season.

In addition to the traditional payout schedule based on finishing order, the biggest bass caught for each Group over the two-day Qualifying Rounds (June 7-10) will pay a $25,000 big bass bonus ($50,000 total). The Knockout Round on day five (June 11), will feature a $50,000 big bass bonus, while the Championship Round (June 12) will feature a $100,000 big bass bonus, on top of the Stage Title $100,000 prize.

In response to the shortened season, MLF revised the payout schedule for Heavy Hitters presented by Venmo to include all 80 anglers: 1^st $100,000; 2^nd $40,000; 3^rd $15,000; 4^th $13,000; 5^th $12,000; 6^th $11,000; 7^th $10,000; 8^th $9,000; 9^th $8,000; 10^th$7,000; 11^th – 20^th $6,000; 21^st – 40^th $5,000; 41^st – 80^th $4,000. Each competitor is guaranteed a $4,000 check.

“As an angler-driven league, we worked with the Pros to identify a schedule that preserves as many opportunities as possible for our guys to compete and receive a paycheck during this unprecedented time,” said Jim Wilburn, MLF President and CEO.  “Our media-centric format and exceptional production team enables us to create significant exposure for our field with over 550 hours of original programming via livestream, Discovery Channel, CBS, CBS Sports, and Sportsman Channel.”

As the economy begins to reopen in Florida, Experience Kissimmee looks forward to welcoming Major League Fishing to their community.

“We are thrilled to welcome back Major League Fishing to Kissimmee for another successful event,” said Kissimmee Sports Executive Director John Poole. “While the destination is following the Florida governor’s plan to reopen in phases, we are grateful to have the opportunity to provide both live and recorded television content for viewers across the country to continue experiencing Kissimmee from home.”

The 2020 Bass Pro Tour will conclude with the Evinrude Stage Five presented by Covercraft July 10–15 on Lake Champlain hosted by Experience Vermont. The abbreviated five-stage Bass Pro Tour encompasses the race to qualify for the 2021 REDCREST Championship and win the overall 2020 points race. After the General Tire Stage Three presented by TrueTimber on Lake Fork, Ott DeFoe leads the field with 227 points, while reigning Champion Edwin Evers sits near the Elimination Line at 29^thplace with 146 points.

“I’m glad that we’re able to return to fishing at this point,” said DeFoe. “Five stages are better than three and the fisheries that we have ahead of us are outstanding fisheries that will make for great contests. Despite being only five stages, this is a very diverse schedule and we will take what we can get in what has turned into an unprecedented season.”

“I’m excited to get back to fishing,” said Evers. “It’s in our blood and for me to have the National Anthem go off and get back in the boat and compete against the best guys in this race for a REDCREST qualifier will be fantastic. Over these last few weeks, this competition has been missing in my life!”

With the remainder of the 2020 season cut short due to the worldwide pandemic, MLF continues to work with 2020 host Bass Pro Tour hosts – Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the City of Ogdensburg – for future events. As announced last month, Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees will serve as the competition waters for REDCREST 2021 hosted by Tulsa Sports Commission, February 23-27, 2021 with the inaugural REDCREST Outdoor Expo February 26-28, 2021.

About the Bass Pro Tour:

The Bass Pro Tour began in 2019 and features 80 of the best professional anglers in the world, including Kevin VanDam, Edwin Evers, Aaron Martens, Mike Iaconelli, Jordan Lee, and Skeet Reese. Each stage includes six days of competition using the Major League Fishing, catch-weigh-and-immediately-release format, where every bass over a variable minimum weight, which is two pounds on Lake Eufaula for Stage One, toward a cumulative weight total for the day.  Variable minimum weights are determined by fishery akin to a golf course handicap. The field of 80 anglers is divided into two groups (Group A and B) of 40 to compete in the Qualifying Round where a two-day cumulative weight total determines the winners. The winners of Groups A and B receive automatic berths to the Championship Round and the anglers finishing in places 2-19 (38 total) advance to the Knockout Round on day five. The top eight from the Knockout Round join the winners in Groups A and B (field of 10) to compete in the Championship Round and a shot at the $100,000 top prize and Stage Title.

Each of Eight Stages of the Bass Pro Tour have the following payout schedule: 1^st $100,000; 2^nd $42,000; 3^rd $30,000; 4^th$24,000; 5^th $18,000; 6^th $16,800; 7^th $15,600; 8^th $14,400; 9^th $13,200; 10^th $12,000; 11^th – 40^th $6,000; Big Bass Daily $1,000; Big Bass Overall $1,000.

In addition to the economic impact on a host community, Major League Fishing showcases the region through their award-winning, live and linear programming. Each Stage of the Bass Pro Tour is broadcast live on the Major League Fishing app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV), and majorleaguefishing.com, totaling more than 325 hours of original programming. Fans can follow the fast-paced nature of the MLF format as it unfolds on the live leaderboard through “SCORETRACKER® updates.” Highlights from each Stage of the 2020 Bass Pro Tour will air on Discovery Network beginning in July 2020 and Sportsman Channel in early 2021.

“MLF offers the strongest broadcast presence in the industry to fans and sponsors,” said Jim Wilburn, President and CEO of Major League Fishing. “And with these lakes planned for this coming Bass Pro Tour, we know 2020 will be our best year yet as we continue to capture a broad audience of both longtime fishing fans and those new to the sport, thanks to our fast-paced, fan-friendly format,”

Japanese Domestic Market

Where to buy JDM or Japanese Domestic Market Tackle

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 7, 2020
No Comments on Where to buy JDM or Japanese Domestic Market Tackle

Where to buy JDM or Japanese Domestic Market Tackle

10 years ago, this just started to become more prevalent and now it’s slightly more common. Some of the bigger names in fishing are carrying more and more JDM tackle. Plus, more professional anglers are coming to the U.S. to fish and bringing their techniques with them.

Almost 20 yrs ago when I got my first pack of JDM soft plastics, it was from eBay and that was it for me. Google didn’t do a great job a translating and it was kind of difficult to find them. Today there are a decent amount of tackle shops from big names to mom and pops tackle shops that carry JDM.

I won’t make this long and I will get right to it. What I am willing to share is where to buy in the U.S. and buying in Japan is a different story.

Tackle Warehouse

FishUSA

Monster Tackle/Outdoor Pro Shop

Cabela’s

Carolina Fishing Tackle

Japan Import Tackle

The Hook Up Tackle

This is not all of the tackle shops in the U.S. that sell JDM it’s just the ones that I personally use.

Where to buy JDM or Japanese Domestic Market Tackle In Japan

I also have an extensive list of tackle shops that I have bought from in Japan with absolutely zero issues. I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours of research and scraping of the internet that I have done, probably hundreds to find all of these. I have 10 online shops in Japan, 1 in Europe, and 1 in Australia; they are all easy to buy from and ship to the U.S. Why am I selling the list? It took time to develop and I’m going to give you something really valuable in my mind. Plus, for $10, I’m going to save you sooooo much time. This is also one way to support the back-end of keeping this website going. If you do purchase the list, it will be a digital download. That $10 will save you so much time!

JDM Digital Download List

$1.00

Add to cart

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Semper Fish!

Joe, The National Angler

Japanese Domestic Market

Japanese Domestic Market or JDM Lures

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 6, 2020
No Comments on Japanese Domestic Market or JDM Lures

I’m going to expand The National Angler to cover more of the Japanese Domestic Market lures and tournaments. There is so much to be learned from Japanese anglers and in some aspects, they are the leading authority when it comes to precision and pressured fishing. Our fisheries will only continue to see more pressure and the techniques coming out of Japan are innovative and groundbreaking. The detail being put into Japanese lures is also something to note, the detail and quality are second-to-none and you absolutely get what you pay for.

Why, well with all the fishing products being produced in China, I think this is one way to move away from that dependence on mass-produced Chinese lures. Helping push other companies to produce domestically and/or put an emphasis on quality only helps us. While I can’t immediately start buying 100% U.S. made fishing gear, I can stop buying less of the mass-produced Chinese lures.

SHOP – THE NATIONAL ANGLER

Let’s take the Lucky Craft Pointer for example and this lure is absolutely replicated closing by many other companies. However, when you look at the details the quality of the lure to include the terminal parts and part are so much better. Let’s face it, those jerk baits are widely popular and they work.

I’ve been intrigued by JDM lures since I bought my first pack of soft plastics off eBay almost 20 years ago. He is the thing, those worms produced and I highly doubt anyone really had the same thing. Price is an issue for a lot of people, but that just weeds out most and leaves these highly sought-after lures to a few still. I’ll be sharing and introducing everyone to more and more that the JDM has to offer so stay tuned.

Enough rambling and now its time to start sharing more JDM!!!

Next article will be where to buy!

Semper Fish!

Joe, The National Angler