Day: May 4, 2021

AUSTIN, Texas (May 4, 2021) – Berkley pro “Big Fish” Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, caught 14 bass Tuesday totaling 28 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Knockout Round and advance to the final day of competition at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Berkley Stage Two at Lake Travis Presented by Mercury event in Austin, Texas. The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition will resume Wednesday morning with the Championship Round. Weights are zeroed, and the angler that catches the most weight will win the top prize of $100,000.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Austin Sports Commission, featured 80 of the top professional anglers from around the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

The top eight pros from Tuesday’s Knockout Round that will compete in Wednesday’s Championship Round on Lake Travis are:

  1^st:        Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 14 bass, 28-1
  2^nd:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., seven bass, 24-11
  3^rd:       Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 11 bass, 24-2
  4^th:       Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., nine bass, 18-11
  5^th:       Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 10 bass, 18-2
  6^th:       Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, eight bass, 17-7
  7^th:       Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., six bass, 17-3
  8^th:       John Cox, DeBary, Fla., nine bass, 16-10

They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round Winners:

  Group A: Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.
  Group B: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.

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

“Man, am I excited to be going to my second straight Championship Round in Texas,” said Lane, who finished in 10^th place at the season-opening Bass Pro Tour event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. “Last year it seemed like I finished in 11^th and 12^th place all year long, but this is a new year and Bobby Lane is heading to his second straight Championship Round.”

Lane said he caught his fish Tuesday fishing the outside of marinas, mainly targeting docks and rocks.

“The key to my success so far this week has been my equipment,” Lane said. “I’m using the new (Abu Garcia) Veritas, 7-foot, medium, and this rod has been absolutely phenomenal. I love it. I’m fishing a wacky-rigged Berkley PowerBait (MaxScent) General worm (green-pumpkin) with a size 1 hook and a nail weight right in the head.

“I’ve got 10-pound braided line and I’m using an 8-pound-test Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon leader,” Lane continued. “I’m using a very long leader – around 14-foot. Fishing here on Lake Travis you’re going to break off, you’re going to get hung on the cables and you’re going to have to re-tie quite often. The longer leader allows me to re-tie more quickly and efficiently.”

Second-place angler Academy pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, was much more optimistic after his day on the water, Tuesday, than he was after only boating two fish in Monday’s Qualifying Round.

“It was a good morning, and a really tough afternoon – just as it has been the last few days – but we got it done and I’m so thankful for those quality bites this morning,” Wheeler said. “If I can get at least 10 keeper bites tomorrow, I think I’ll have a shot at this thing. I’m going to have to generate some big bites, though, so we’ll see what happens. I’m looking forward to going to the Championship Round. This feels good after yesterday’s struggles, so I’m ready to get after it tomorrow.”

Third-place pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, also made the Championship Round in his second-straight event after a ninth-place showing at the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event last month.

“I left a fair amount of water today that I didn’t fish, so I’ve still got some stuff left to fish tomorrow,” Ehrler said. “I got kind of lucky today. I had a couple of key bites that really helped me get to where I’m at right now – over that 20-pound mark. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get those again tomorrow; they were kind of single fish. I found an area that had a few fish that had moved up – I’d already fished it earlier in the week – but a few more had moved up. I don’t think I can go back and catch those fish again. I’m going to have to bob and weave by the minute tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll have a chance at winning this thing.”

Rounding out the top 40 finishers were:

  11^th:     Mike McClelland, Blue Eye, Mo., eight bass, 16-4, $10,000
  12^th:     David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 16-2, $10,000
  13^th:     Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., seven bass, 15-5, $10,000
  14^th:     Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., seven bass, 14-10, $10,000
  15^th:     Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Calif., seven bass, 14-10, $10,000
  16^th:     Alton Jones, Woodway, Texas, three bass, 13-8, $10,000
  17^th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 13-4, $10,000
  18^th:     Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 12-15, $10,000
  19^th:     Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 12-12, $10,000
  20^th:     Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 12-5, $10,000
  21^st:     Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, six bass, 11-15, $10,000
  22^nd:    Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., four bass, 11-10, $10,000
  23^rd:    Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 9-14, $10,000
  24^th:     Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, four bass, 9-6, $10,000
  25^th:     Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 9-1, $10,000
  26^th:     Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 8-14, $10,000
  27^th:     Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., three bass, 8-9, $10,000
  28^th:     David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., four bass, 8-7, $10,000
  29^th:     Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., two bass, 8-5, $10,000
  30^th:     Miles Burghoff, Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., five bass, 8-3, $10,000
  31^st:     Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., four bass, 7-9, $10,000
  32^nd:    Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., three bass, 5-10, $10,000
  33^rd:    Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, three bass, 5-0, $10,000
  34^th:     Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., two bass, 4-14, $10,000
  35^th:     James Watson, Lampe, Mo., two bass, 4-2, $10,000
  36^th:     Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., one bass, 4-2, $10,000
  37^th:     Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., two bass, 4-0, $10,000
  38^th:     Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La, two bass, 3-11, $10,000
  39^th:     Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., two bass, 3-8, $10,000
  40^th:     Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., zero bass, 0-0, $10,000

There were 202 bass weighing 443 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 37 pros Tuesday, which included one 6-pounder and six 5-pounders caught from Lake Travis.

Browning won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award on Tuesday, catching a 6-pound, 3-ounce largemouth in Period 2. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Berkley Stage Two at Lake Travis Presented by Mercury is hosted by the Austin Sports Commission.

The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. After the two-day Qualifying Round, the anglers that finished in 2^nd through 20^th place from both groups advanced to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner from each group advanced directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, the weights were zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers competed to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. Tomorrow, in the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins. Full breakdown of the format can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  

The final 10 anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. CT Wednesday from Mansfield Dam Park, located at 4370 Mansfield Dam Park Road in Austin. The General Tire Takeout will also be held at the park beginning at 3:15 p.m.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros that qualify from the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2022 championship.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action from the final day of competition from 7 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. CT. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Tour Berkley Stage Two at Lake Travis Presented by Mercury will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Sept. 11 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.