Author: jcarrigan

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

BASSMASTER ELITE AT LAKE GUNTERSVILLE SHOULD LIVE UP TO THE LAKE’S REPUTATION

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. —

B.A.S.S. and Lake Guntersville have a long and continuing history dating back to 1976. That year, Rick Clunn won his first of four Bassmaster Classics, and next March, the fishery is on slate to hold the 50th edition of the Classic.

The upcoming Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville will be the 23rd major B.A.S.S. event held on the storied Alabama lake and will unquestionably add another chapter to the history books.

The tournament will be held June 21-24, with daily takeoffs at 6 a.m. CT from Goose Pond Landing, where the daily weigh-ins will begin at 2:15 p.m.

“This tournament is important,” said Elite Series Pro Kelley Jaye, who is hoping to qualify for his first Bassmaster Classic this season. “I knew before Texas Fest, I was sitting in the cut for the Classic, but after a slip there, I have not even looked at the standings.”

The Alabama pro is currently 51st in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with the Lake Guntersville event marking the halfway point of the season. Only about the Top 40 competitors in the final AOY standings end up qualifying for the Classic.

The last time the Elite Series visited Lake Guntersville in April 2015, Jaye finished Day 1 in fifth place, but fell to 36th for the tournament.

“Anytime I am in Alabama, I feel good about my chances,” Jaye said. “It is setting up to be a deep-water tournament, I am sure some (anglers) will catch them shallow, but I would think the tournament will be dominated out deep.”

When the famed Guntersville ledges are in full swing, the home-field advantage may pay off for Jaye and other Alabamians who know offshore haunts off the beaten path.

“The community holes at Lake Guntersville will be pounded by the time we get there,” Jaye said. “The angler that finds the right shellbed (or other structure) that is kind of sneaky will be the one who wins.”

Jaye suspects that the normal “Tennessee River” baits of choice will be likely be key: crankbaits, swimbaits, big worms, spoons and jigs among others. The victor will have to weigh in more than 20 pounds a day, and it will take about 15 pounds a day to make the Top 35 cut after the first two days of competition.

“Whoever finds the right school with 3- to 5-pound fish could easily pull up and catch their limit within 20 minutes,” Jaye said.

With B.A.S.S.’s 23rd visit to the lake, Guntersville becomes the second most visited lake by B.A.S.S., behind Sam Rayburn Reservoir (32).

Jaye attributes B.A.S.S.’s frequent visits to Lake Guntersville to the lake’s quality of forage and cover.

“The water is just so fertile,” Jaye said. “You have eelgrass, hydrilla, shad the size of your hand — this place is not like any other highland reservoir that we visit. That’s what makes it so fun.”

The tournament is hosted by the City of Scottsboro.

Daily takeoffs will begin at 6 a.m. CT from Goose Pond in Scottsboro. Weigh-ins will also be at Goose Pond at 2:15 p.m.

The Bassmaster Outdoors Expo opens at noon on Saturday and Sunday, June 22 and 23, at Goose Pond Colony at Scottsboro, Ala. Live music will be presented prior to the weigh-in on Saturday as part of the Mercury Concert Series.

In conjunction with the tournament, the City of Scottsboro and Goose Pond Colony will host the Miracle Mile Festival June 22 and 23 at Goose Pond Colony Resort. The festival features art & crafts booths, local food vendors, and a kid’s zone with bounce houses.

A free concert on Saturday night at the Goose Pond Colony Amphitheater beginning at 6 p.m. will be performed by The Night Birds, Contagan and Roshambeaux. All events are free to the public.

At every Elite Series event, the Bassmaster Outdoors Expo on Saturday and Sunday offers demo rides on a Nitro, Skeeter or Triton boat, the Berkley/Abu Garcia Experience trailer, kids’ activities and food and beverage vendors. At Guntersville, TVA will present its mobile fish aquarium and B.A.S.S. sponsors will offer prizes and information about their products.

Saturday, June 22, will be Military and First Responder Day, when service members can show their IDs to receive a free Bassmaster hat, as long as supplies last.

Sunday is B.A.S.S. Member Appreciation Day. Members who show their B.A.S.S. member cards to a staff person in the Bassmaster booth get a free Bassmaster hat, as long as supplies last. As always at Bassmaster events, all activities and venues are free.

For more information, visit https://cityofscottsboro.com/index.php/events/miracle-mile, or Bassmaster.com.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

Young Guns Set The Pace In Tight Race For Toyota Bassmaster Angler Of The Year Title

June 10, 2019Young Guns Set The Pace In Tight Race For Toyota Bassmaster Angler Of The Year TitleBIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

Half-way through the season, the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race is shaping up to be one of the closest and most competitive in the 50 years since Bill Dance won B.A.S.S.’s first AOY title in 1970.

With five Bassmaster Elite Series events under their belts and five more to go, young-gun professional anglers led by 24-year-old Patrick Walters have moved to the head of the pack of Elite anglers battling for one of the most coveted trophies in all of bass fishing — and the $100,000 first-place prize that goes with it.

Walters leads with 432 points, which are awarded based on anglers’ finishes in each Elite tournament. That gives him a tiny, 6-point margin over Drew Cook, 25, of Midway, Fla., and Stetson Blaylock, 31, of Benton, Ark., who have 426 points each. Blaylock is a third-year Elite Series pro, but Walters and Cook are rookies who began their careers as college bass fishing standouts and qualified for the Elites through the Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens last year.

“It’s tremendously gratifying to see that our Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops and other college tours are turning out such outstanding young professional anglers,” said Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO. “Patrick and the other college anglers have proved in short order that they are able to compete at the highest level of bass fishing competition.”

Out of 15 college-fishing alumni who are now competing in the Elite Series, five rank among the Top 12 in the AOY rankings. In addition to Walters and Cook, Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., is seventh, Shane LeHew of Catawba, N.C., is eighth, and veteran Elite angler Brandon Card is 11th.

“College fishing didn’t make my career, but it certainly propelled it,” said Walters, who won a college national championship title while fishing for the University of South Carolina bass fishing team. “I learned how to travel and practice and fish different lakes. And I got an education at the same time.”

Walters, whose best finishes this year were fourth at the St. Johns River, Fla., and seventh at Winyah Bay, S.C., is most optimistic about the next stop on the Elite circuit, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville at Scottsboro, Ala. Competition will be Friday through Monday, June 21-24.

“I love Guntersville,” Walters said. “I love all the Tennessee River lakes.”

The South Carolina pro said he is not changing strategies with Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year in mind, and he’s not worried about the very capable Elite anglers just below him in the standings.

“In every tournament, I’m shooting for the win,” he said. “I try not to look in the rear view. I’m in the lead now, which is good, but I have a small margin and will have to catch as many big bass as possible.”

After Guntersville, the 75 Elite anglers head north to Waddington, N.Y., for the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River Aug. 15-18, and then to Union Springs, N.Y., for the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake Aug. 22-25. They’ll gather at Tahlequah, Okla., for the final regular-season event, the Cherokee Casino Tahlequah Bassmaster Elite at Fort Gibson Lake Sept. 19-22. That tournament was originally scheduled for mid-May but had to be postponed because of severe flooding in Oklahoma.

The postseason finale, the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, will be held Saturday-Tuesday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, on Lake St. Clair, near Detroit, Mich. The Top 50 in AOY points will qualify for the championship, where they will compete for $1 million in prize money as well as berths in the 2020 Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

The New York and Michigan tournaments should give pause to Walters and the other front runners because those fisheries are so familiar to some of their closest rivals. Newcomer Cory Johnston of Cavan, Canada, is fourth in the AOY standings, just 10 points behind Walters, and Johnston’s younger brother Chris of Peterborough, Canada, is 43 points down, in 10th with 389 points. With 100 points awarded for first place in each event, those deficits will be relatively easy to make up should the leaders stumble.

Others to watch include Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala., fifth with 412 points and fifth-year pro Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga., sixth with 409. Other veteran Elite anglers in the running include Bill Lowen of Brookville, Ind., ninth with 395; Card of Knoxville, Tenn., 11th with 389; and Seth Feider of New Market, Minn., 12th with 383 points.

“All season, we’ve been emphasizing the tagline, ‘Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.’ to describe the Elite Series,” said Akin. “Maybe we should add the phrase, ‘Big Drama.’ This is going to be an exciting race to the finish.”

Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Standings At Midseason

Angler/Hometown                                      Points

  1. Patrick Walters, Summerville, S.C.             432
  2. Drew Cook, Midway, Fla.                            426
  3. Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark.                   426
  4. Cory Johnston, Cavan, Canada                   422
  5. Scott Canterbury, Odenville, Ala.               412
  6. Micah Frazier, Newnan, Ga.                       409
  7. Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C.                408
  8. Shane LeHew, Catawba, N.C.                     397
  9. Bill Lowen, Brookville, Ind.                         395
  10. Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Canada    389
  11. Brandon Card, Knoxville, Tenn.                389
  12. Seth Feider, New Market, Minn.              383
  13. Cliff Pirch, Payson, Ariz.                            383
  14. Drew Benton, Panama City, Fla.               381
  15. John Crews Jr., Salem, Va.                        381
  16. Luke Palmer, Coalgate, Okla.                    379
  17. Mark Menendez, Paducah, Ky.                 377
  18. Matt Herren, Ashville, Ala.                       375
  19. Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala.                   374
  20. Brandon Lester, Fayetteville, Tenn.          368
  21. Lee Livesay, Longview, Texas                   367
  22. Chris Zaldain, Fort Worth, Texas              364
  23. Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C.                            359
  24. Jamie Hartman, Russellville, Ark.             349
  25. Hank Cherry, Lincolnton, N.C.                  347
  26. Keith Combs, Huntington, Texas              347

(NOTE: Ties are broken based on each angler’s heaviest daily limit during full-field days of competition. For the complete standings for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race click here.)

Categories
MLF BIG-5

URBANA’S SHAW WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON LAKE SHELBYVILLE

Photo courtesy of FLW

Co-Angler Title Goes to Tamaroa’s Swetland

SHELBYVILLE, Ill. (June 10, 2019) – Boater Wayne Shaw of Urbana, Illinois, weighed five bass Saturday totaling 13 pounds, 7 ounces, to win T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division tournament on Lake Shelbyville. Shaw pocketed $4,071 for his day on the water.

“The morning started off slow. My co-angler had four keepers in the boat and I didn’t have any until around 11 [a.m.],” said Shaw, who earned his third career win in BFL competition – second on Lake Shelbyville. “I switched from a jig to a worm, and that’s what caught all five of them.It was like someone turned on a light switch.”

Shaw said he targeted fisheon deeper points on the south end of the lake in 12 to 15 feet of water. He used a 10-inch, Texas rigged plum-colored Berkley PowerBait Power Worm and caught six keepers total.

“I was dragging it slow along the bottom,” said Shaw. “I fished five to seven different spots, hitting anything that had a good drop close to the main-river channel.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Wayne Shaw, Urbana, Ill., five bass, 13-7, $4,071

               2nd:         Clay Reeves, Lane, Ill., five bass, 13-4, $1,735

               3rd:          Travis Wilson, La Harpe, Ill., three bass, 12-9, $1,024

               4th:          Robert Neff, Roodhouse, Ill., four bass, 12-7, $816

               5th:          Michael Black, Toledo, Ill., five bass, 12-6, $738

               5th:          Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 12-6, $838

               7th:          Bobby McMullin, Pevely, Mo., five bass, 12-3, $512

               8th:          Shane Haslett, Beecher City, Ill., five bass, 12-1, $435

               8th:          Ray Arning Jr., Walnut Hill, Ill., five bass, 12-1, $435

               10th:        Luke Budde, St. Louis, Mo., four bass, 12-0, $358

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Greg James of Carterville, Illinois, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $360.

Mike Swetland of Tamaroa, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $1,885 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Mike Swetland, Tamaroa, Ill., five bass, 12-8, $1,885

               2nd:         Andrew Blunier, Roanoke, Ill., five bass, 10-15, $768

               3rd:         Mario Rossi Jr., Granite City, Ill., five bass, 10-6, $563

               4th:          Adam Kunkel, Red Bud, Ill., four bass, 9-3, $358

               5th:          Luke Epplin, Collinsville, Ill., four bass, 9-2, $307

               6th:          Scott Bradley, Greenup, Ill., five bass, 9-0, $381

               7th:          Drew Cress, Highland, Ill., five bass, 8-8, $256

               8th:          James Jarvis, West Frankfort, Ill., three bass, 8-6, $230

               9th:          Jacob Greco, Edwardsville, Ill., four bass, 7-2, $205

               10th:        Floyd Carder, Litchfield, Ill., three bass, 6-10, $179

David Workman of Harrisburg, Illinois, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $180.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 24-26 BFL Regional Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

OXFORD’S CAMPBELL WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON OHIO RIVER AT TANNER’S CREEK

OXFORD’S CAMPBELL WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON OHIO RIVER AT TANNER’S CREEK

Pennsylvania’s Kaplon Claims Co-Angler Title

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (June 10, 2019) – Boater Brody Campbell of Oxford, Ohio, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on the Ohio River at Tanner’s Creek Saturday with five bass weighing 9 pounds, 15 ounces. Campbell netted $6,718 for his victory.

“I was keying in on stumps that were kind of hidden,” said Campbell, who after winning the BFL tournament at Rough River Lake last month now has back-to-back wins in BFL competition. “They were stumps I knew were there when the water was low, but you couldn’t see them in the tournament because the water was high.”

Campbell said he flipped a black and blue flake-colored, Texas-rigged Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Rodent and a ¼-ounce black and blue jig with a black and blue flake Zoom Super Chunk trailer. He said he fished near takeoff in the Tanner’s Creek area and caught six keepers all day.

“I caught a big fish – a 4-pounder – within the first 10 minutes,” said Campbell. “It was slower the rest of the day – I’d pick off a keeper here and there.”

Campbell said he preferred a 7-foot, 6-inch Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Casting Series rod with 20-pound-test Seaguar fluorocarbon line.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 9-15, $4,718 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

               2nd:         Jamie Cunnagin, New Lebanon, Ohio, five bass, 8-11, $1,859

               3rd:          Craig Mills, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-10, $1,052

               3rd:          Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, five bass, 7-10, $1,302

               5th:          Bob Robinson, Lebanon, Ohio, four bass, 7-1, $744

               6th:          Butch Dobransky, North Canton, Ohio, four bass, 6-15, $882

               7th:          Dan Moran, London, Ohio, four bass, 6-11, $720

               8th:          Tilford Head, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-7, $558

               9th:          Pat White, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 6-5, $496

               10th:        Chris Combess, Cleves, Ohio, four bass, 6-2, $434

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Adam Hock of Independence, Kentucky, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $485.

Logan Kaplon of Creekside, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $1,990 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Logan Kaplon, Creekside, Pa., four bass, 6-2, $1,990

               2nd:         Andrew Wright, Greenville, Ohio, three bass, 5-10, $920

               3rd:          Billy French, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 5-4, $992

               4th:          Larry Spivey, Middletown, Ohio, two bass, 5-2, $509

               5th:          William Gross, Cleveland, Ohio, three bass, 5-1, $368

               6th:          Mark Henderson, Martinsville, Ohio, four bass, 4-8, $337

               7th:          Mike Geisler, Oxford, Ohio, four bass, 4-7, $357

               8th:          Chris McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., two bass, 4-3, $356

               9th:          Ryan Rich, Eaton, Ohio, two bass, 3-14, $230

               9th:          Brandon Fraley, Tipp City, Ohio, three bass, 3-14, $230

Spivey caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $80.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

GAINESBORO’S FOX WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON OLD HICKORY LAKE

Photo courtesy of FLW

Baggett and Towry Tie for Co-Angler Title

GALLATIN, Tenn. (June 10, 2019) – Boater Dwight Fox of Gainesboro, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division tournament on Old Hickory Lake Saturday with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce. For his efforts, Fox netted $2,941.

Fox said he worked a mid-lake stretch on the main channel, fishing up to five miles in both directions of the takeoff at Bulls Creek Access.

“Everything came out of the main current,” said Fox, who earned his eighth career win in BFL competition. “Whenever the current hit chunk rock or a log or something in the water, it eddied out. The fish were in the water swirled up behind so they didn’t have to work as hard to fight current as they ambush food.

“I worked against the current with the boat, pitched my bait up into it and let it come around the cover and swirl around where the fish were,” continued Fox. “When it would leave the current and hit the dead water, that’s when the fish would get it..”

Fox said he caught seven keepers fishing a ½-ounce, black and blue-colored Killer jig with a black and blue Zoom Super Chunk trailer. He noted that the water was stained, and that he had more bites after 10 a.m.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., five bass, 18-1, $2,941

               2nd:         Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 17-4, $1,720

               3rd:          Kim Carver, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 16-12, $914

               4th:          John Graves, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $934

               5th:          Jesse Rigsby, Old Hickory, Tenn., five bass, 15-9, $548

               6th:          Gerald Williams, Scottsville, Ky., five bass, 15-7, $502

               7th:          Elliott Lee, Old Hickory, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $457

               8th:          Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-15, $411

               9th:          William Merrick, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 14-14, $365

               10th:        Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-7, $320

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Graves caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $295.

Teddy Baggett of Nashville, Tennessee, and Belinda Towry of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, each caught 11 pounds, 7 ounces, worth of bass Saturday to tie for the win in the Co-angler Division. After contingency awards, Towry took home $1,235, while Baggett pocketed $993.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Teddy Baggett, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 11-7, $993

               1st:          Belinda Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $1,235

               3rd:          Kelly Stone, Westmoreland, Tenn., five bass, 11-3, $440

               4th:          Brian Reed, Cookeville, Tenn., four bass, 10-4, $309

               5th:          Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 9-12, $315

               6th:          Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., four bass, 9-2, $393

               7th:          Grayson Butler, Lebanon, Tenn., three bass, 8-15, $221

               8th:          Ricky England, Sparta, Tenn., three bass, 8-9, $199

               9th:          Bobby Stinson, Scottsville, Ky., five bass, 8-2, $177

               10th:        Charles Bennington, Scottsville, Ky., four bass, 7-3, $146

               10th:        Robert Henze, La Vergne, Tenn., four bass, 7-3, $146

Towry caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned her the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $142.

The tournament was hosted by the Sumner County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

LOUISIANA’S GANEY WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR

Photo courtesy of FLW

Boerne’s Glynn Takes Co-Angler Title

BROOKELAND, Texas (June 10, 2019) – Boater Rylon Ganey of Pineville, Louisiana, won Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces. For his win, Ganey took home $6,362.

Ganey said he primarily flipped hay grass and bushes in two areas to catch his fish. His first area – in Mill Creek – only gave up one keeper. It was his second stop, though, that really jumpstarted his day.

“I ran up to my second area across the lake from Mill Creek around 9 [a.m.], flipped in a bush, and within five flips I caught an 8-pounder,” said Ganey, who notched his first victory in FLW competition. “That set the tone. I knew I had a good chance to place in the top five with a kicker like that.

“Within another hour I filled my limit,” continued Ganey. “I culled three times – all in that second area. I got a lot of big bites there in practice and kept getting fish that I needed there Saturday.”

Ganey said he used Watermelon Red Flake-colored Strike King Rage Tail Denny Brauer Structure Bugs, rigged with either ¾- or 1-ounce weights depending on how thick the cover was. He threw them on a trio of Duckett White Ice Casting rods with 13 Fishing Concept “A” casting reels, spooled with 65-pound-test PowerPro Spectra braided line.

“The rods were strong and really helped me pull those fish out of the bushes – they have a great backbone on them.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Rylon Ganey, Pineville, La., five bass, 20-11, $6,362

               2nd:         Eric Leger, Mamou, La., five bass, 19-6, $2,353

               3rd:          Jarred Williams, Bunkie, La., five bass, 19-4, $1,502

               4th:          Jame Dubroc, Bunkie, La., five bass, 18-14, $1,052

               5th:          Tommy Mackey, Bryan, Texas, five bass, 17-12, $1,151

               6th:          Matthew McArdle, Humble, Texas, five bass, 17-0, $826

               7th:          Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 16-10, $751

               8th:          Ryan Pinkston, Center, Texas, five bass, 16-3, $676

               9th:          Jerry King, Flint, Texas, five bass, 16-2, $601

               10th:        Jim Dillard, West Monroe, La., five bass, 16-0, $526

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Ganey’s big kicker bass ended up weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $655.

Michael Glynn of Boerne, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,353 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Michael Glynn, Boerne, Texas, five bass, 18-9, $2,353

               2nd:         Hannah Gryder, Milam, Texas, five bass, 17-9, $1,127

               3rd:          Pete Lammons, Houston, Texas, five bass, 15-12, $801

               4th:          Zane Leblanc, Reserve, La., five bass, 15-2, $853

               5th:          Ryan Bourque, Slidell, La., five bass, 14-10, $451

               6th:          Logan Slaughter, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 13-15, $413

               7th:          Brian Tolley, Katy, Texas, five bass, 13-5, $526

               8th:          Clark Moore, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 13-2, $338

               9th:          Sammy Strong, Orange, Texas, five bass, 13-0, $281

               9th:          David Beason, Evans, La., five bass, 13-0, $281

Leblanc caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $327.

The tournament was hosted by the Jasper County Development District.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 24-26 BFL Regional Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

LEXINGTON’S WALSER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON HIGH ROCK LAKE, TIES ALL-TIME WINS RECORD

Photo courtesy of FLW

SALISBURY, N.C. (June 10, 2019) – Boater Robert Walser of Lexington, North Carolina, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division tournament on High Rock Lake Saturday with five bass weighing 21 pounds, 13 ounces. With his win – his 13th on the BFL circuit – Walser tied the BFL all-time wins record held by Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio.

“I caught my fish flipping docks with a [Zoom] Z Craw and Z Hogs,” said Walser, who earned $6,141 for his victory – his second BFL win in 2019. “The Garmin Panoptix allowed me to see the brush under the docks – some had it and some didn’t, but it was nice to know where it was when I was flipping. I rotated through three colors, which were darker colors and green-pumpkins. My bait choice depended on the water color and sky conditions.

“I primarily fished mid-lake, which encompassed five of the creeks I fished,” continued Walser. “The water was low enough where you could get under the bridges, which hasn’t happened in a while. That allowed me to spread out a bit more.”

Walser fished an 8-foot Lamiglas 806 flipping stick with a Pflueger Supreme XT Low Profile casting reel, spooled with 20-pound-test Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line. He flipped with a 5/16-ounce Eco Pro tungsten weight with a 3/0-sized Berkley Fusion19 Superline EWG hook.

“I caught at least three to four limits out there, and had my first five in the boat before 9 [a.m.],” said Walser.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Robert Walser, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 21-13, $4,141 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

               2nd:         Dylan Fulk, Mount Pleasant, N.C., five bass, 21-5, $1,517

               2nd:         Michael Stephens, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 21-5, $1,867

               4th:          Wyatt Hammond, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 19-5, $850

               5th:          Mike Winchester, Bryson City, N.C., five bass, 19-1, $728

               6th:          Craig Chambers, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 18-8, $668

               7th:          Junior Allen, Biscoe, N.C., five bass, 18-0, $607

               8th:          Byron Brush, Rockwell, N.C., five bass, 17-7, $546

               9th:          Jody Wright, Ellenboro, N.C., five bass, 17-6, $485

               10th:        Brian File, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 17-3, $425

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Stephen Cannon of Wilkesboro, North Carolina, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $475.

Johnny Guffey of Bessemer City, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,820 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Johnny Guffey, Bessemer City, N.C., five bass, 14-7, $1,820

               2nd:         Ricky McCrary, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 14-1, $910

               3rd:          Tommy Swicegood, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 13-10, $607

               4th:          Tyler Austin, Cornelius, N.C., five bass, 12-13, $425

               5th:          Dale Webber, Kernersville, N.C., four bass, 12-1, $464

               6th:          Grant McPeters, Marion, N.C., five bass, 11-13, $534

               7th:          Mark Murphy, Salisbury, N.C., four bass, 10-15, $288

               7th:          Jonathan Carter, Greenville, S.C., four bass, 10-15, $288

               9th:          John Wiese, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 10-13, $243

               10th:        Khris Williams, Mount Holly, N.C., five bass, 10-7, $212

Greg Deal of China Grove, North Carolina, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds even. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $237.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

DEFOE, VANDAM LEAD FINAL 10 INTO STQGE SEVEN CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

BRANSON, Mo. (June 4, 2019) – Watching the weights on SCORETRACKER® during the Knockout Round for the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Bad Boy Mowers Stage Seven Presented by Covercraft – and trying to predict who would be in the Top 10 when time ran out – was like the local meteorologist trying to predict the next storm around Table Rock Lake.

It was nearly impossible.

Once again, there was a lightning-related weather delay, but it was short-lived, and the anglers only lost a few minutes of fishing time. The scheduled Knockout Round hours were noon – 8 p.m. CT, as they have been throughout each of the first five days of competition this week.

DeFoe On Top

It has become pretty common to see Ott DeFoe leading after a round, and he did so with a catch of 83 pounds, 8 ounces on 51 fish today. He did much of his damage with a crankbait and caught several quality fish, including a 3-13.

Tomorrow’s starting time has been adjusted to a 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. schedule to avoid another delay, and things could change in terms of how the anglers catch their fish.

“I was able to hold off Kevin (VanDam) there at the end and have some good momentum going into tomorrow,” DeFoe said. “I need to hurry and get back to bed since we’re starting in the morning.”

Defoe finished Stage Six in 8th place, and it seems like he has Table Rock dialed in this time of year as only he and Jacob Wheeler are repeat Championship Round qualifiers.

VanDam Starts and Finishes Strong

Kevin VanDam had a solid morning bite going and quickly took the lead before falling back a few spots. He stayed in the Top 10 all day and resumed his place near the top in Period 3 as he tallied a total of 81-14 on 46 fish today.

Wiggins and Meyer Rally

Jesse Wiggins was in 37th place as Period 1 came to a close, but the Alabama pro executed such a strong turnaround that he briefly held the lead at one point in Period 3. His miraculous jump included catching several quality fish in a row with around one hour to go.

Cody Meyer made a similar move. With an hour to go, Meyer was not even in the Top 20. With 30 minutes left, he was in 11th, and he finished the day in 4th with 49 bass for 78 pounds, 7 ounces. In total, he caught 26 bass in the final hour.

“This all happened on one point with a Strike King Sexy Dawg topwater,” Meyer said. “Times like this remind me why I do this for a living, it was so much fun.”

Avena Squeaks In

At 7:52 p.m. Adrian Avena was in 11th place but a 1-15 and then a 1-10 at 7:56 p.m. allowed him to sneak inside the cut.

“I flirted with the cutline all day, but the good thing is once you make it in, anything can happen since the weights zero. It doesn’t matter if you are 1st or 10th today as long as you get in,” said Avena.

Shin Falls Short

The last-minute catch by Avena pushed Shin Fukae into 11th, but he took the news in stride.
“The ‘Jersey Boy’ got me, but I enjoyed fishing today. It was exciting,” he said on MLF NOW!

Daily Winners

Knockout Round daily awards were:
* The Berkley Big Bass of the day was Russ Lane’s 5-4 largemouth
* Dustin Connell won the day’s Berkley Catch Count award with 58 bass
* DeFoe’s 83-08 earned him the Phoenix Boats Daily Leader award

10 In Championship Round Back to Morning Start

The 10 anglers advancing to the Championship Round are DeFoe, VanDam, Wiggins, Meyer, Connell, Scott Suggs, Fred Roumbanis, Wheeler, Brandon Palaniuk and Avena. It begins at 7 a.m. CT and ends at 3 p.m. Live, official scoring is available from lines in to lines out via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app.

Where, How & When to Watch

The MLF NOW! live stream begins with the First Cast show at 6:55 a.m. CT, featuring coverage of Period 1, with Steven “Lurch” Scott and Rob Newell calling the live action. Full coverage continues at 9:30 a.m., when Chad McKee, JT Kenney, Marty Stone, and Natalie Dillon pick up the commentary and analysis until lines out at 3 p.m. The Berkley Postgame show begins at 4:30 p.m.

Knockout Round Final Standings

To see where all 40 anglers finished in the Knockout Round, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “Results,” and then select “Knockout Round.”
Categories
MLF BIG-5

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY GRABS DAY ONE LEAD AT YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON POTOMAC RIVER PRESENTED BY LOWRANCE

June 4, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. – The University of West Virginia duo of Nolan Minor of Charlottesville, West Virginia, and Thomas Raines of Oxon Hill, Maryland, grabbed the early lead Tuesday after Day One of the 2019 YETI FLW College Fishing National Championship on the Potomac River presented by Lowrance. The Mountaineers team brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces, giving them a 9-ounce cushion over the second place team of Jarrett Martin and Nickolas Marsh from Michigan’s Adrian College.

“We fished north of takeoff, mainly fishing around the bridge area and just looking for docks, grass – anything that looked good,” said Raines, a senior majoring in landscape architecture. “We hit about seven different areas and it was all new water, nothing we practiced.”

“We caught around 12 keepers,” added Minor, a junior majoring in marketing. “We didn’t have a good practice, so it kind of allowed us to just fish free. If something looked good, we fished it. I wouldn’t call it junk fishing, but it was pretty close to it. We caught several 2½-pound fish today and on one spot we pulled up and caught four between 2½ to 3 pounds in 10 minutes. We hadn’t practiced there, and we left them biting hoping that they might help us later.”

Although the duo was tight-lipped about specific presentations, they did mention that they caught their fish using just two different baits. Their limit was anchored by a big largemouth estimated to weigh between 5 to 6 pounds.

“We feel good about where we are at,” Minor said. “I’d like to figure out that big bite again, because that fish was not doing what the others were.”

“We definitely laid off on some spots, so I’m hoping that we can have another good day tomorrow,” Raines went on to say. “We’re going to fish everything that we fished today and our backup plan is to hit our practice holes if we have to.”

The three-day event features the top college bass fishing teams from across the nation competing in an internationally-televised no-entry fee tournament for the top prize of up to $50,000, including a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and automatic entry into the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of bass fishing, held August 9-11 on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The full field of 148 teams compete on Tuesday and Wednesday, with only the top-10 – based on two-day cumulative weight – advancing to Championship Thursday. The National Champions will be crowned Thursday based on the cumulative three-day weight total.

The top 10 teams after Day One on the Potomac River are:

 1st:  West Virginia University – Nolan Minor, Charlottesville, Va., and Thomas Raines, Oxon Hill, Md., five bass, 18-5
 2nd:  Adrian College – Jarrett Martin, Gallipolis, Ohio, and Nickolas Marsh, Walled Lake, Mich., five bass, 17-12
 3rd:  Bethel University – Tristan McCormick, Burns, Tenn., and Dakota Pierce, Ava,  Mo., five bass, 17-7
 4th:  SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry – Patrick Durand, Cherry Hill, N.J., and Benjamin Schultes, Ontario, N.Y., five bass, 17-2
 5th:  University of Tennessee – Jordan Burdette, Knoxville, Tenn., and Saxton Long, Pulaski, Tenn., five bass, 16-15
 6th:  Sam Houston State University – Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, and Taylor Harp, Porter, Texas, five bass, 16-15
 7th:  Murray State University – Adam Puckett and Blake Albertson, both of Bloomington, Ind., five bass, 16-13
 8th:  University of Montevallo – J.T. Russell, McCalla, Ala., five bass, 16-7
 9th:  Bethel University – Brian Pahl, Eureka, Mo., and John Coble Garrett, Union City, Tenn., five bass, 16-5
 10th:  University of Pittsburgh – Dominic Vitale, Shickshinny, Pa., and Henry Colberg, Pittsburgh, Pa., five bass, 16-0

For a full list of results, visit FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 575 bass weighing 1,472 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 141 college teams Tuesday. The catch included 86 five-bass limits.

The FLW College Fishing National Championship anglers will take off from Smallwood State Park, located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury, at 7 a.m. EDT each morning, June 4 to June 6. All weigh-ins will be held at the State Park, beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Television coverage of both events will premiere in the fall of 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Days Three and Four– Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6, for the College Fishing National Championship. FLW Live features live action from the boats of the tournament’s top anglers each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by FLW Tour pro Miles Burghoff and FLW emcee Chris Jones to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school. The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open advance to the FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

KNOCKOUT ROUND SHAPING UP TO BE A SLUGFEST AT BASS PRO TOUR BAD BOY MOWERS STAGE SEVEN PRESENTED BY COVERCRAFT

BRANSON, Mo. (June 4, 2019) – After four days of competition on Table Rock Lake in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Bad Boy Mowers Stage Seven Presented by Covercraft has reached the make-or-break point for 40 of the anglers in the 80-man field.

Tuesday’s Knockout Round – which will take place from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. CT on Table Rock Lake – includes the Top 20 finishers from two competition groups, many of whom have taken turns breaking records the past two weeks on this impoundment of the White River.

Knockout Weights Back To Zero

The 40 anglers fishing in today’s Knockout Round will start from zero. That means that the astounding two-day weights compiled by anglers like Jacob Wheeler (160 pounds, 1 ounce) and Shin Fukae (143-1) in the Knockout and Elimination rounds are moot: the semi-final day of competition is now an 8-hour scramble for the 10 spots in the Championship Round.

“All any of us can do is go out there and fish our game,” said Wheeler, who set Bass Pro Tour records for both weight and most fish caught in two rounds (108). “I don’t know how many people in the other group have been fishing my best stuff this week, so I don’t know how small it’s going to fish. This is a giant lake with a ton of fish, but your key areas are still important. I think it’s going to take between 55 and 75 pounds to make the 10 cut.”

Elimination Round 2: the return of KVD

Monday’s second Elimination Round saw a familiar face at the top of the 40-man Group B standings: Kevin VanDam. The Table Rock veteran scaled 69-14 to go with the 54-0 he caught in the Shotgun Round for a two-day total of 123-14. Scott Suggs was right on VanDam’s heels with 122-6, followed by Brandon Palaniuk (117-13) and Todd Faircloth (115-9).

This is VanDam’s second Knockout Round of the season.

“I see these threads on social media asking ‘What’s wrong with KVD, what’s wrong with KVD?’ I can tell you right now, everybody is fixing to see what’s right with KVD,” said MLF NOW! live stream analyst JT Kenney. “Kevin knows this lake about as well as anybody alive, and it’s setting up really well for him.”

Elimination Round 1: Wheeler dominated
One look at the results of the first Elimination Round of the event (held Sunday, June 2) will tell you all you need to know about how prolific Table Rock’s bass fishery is: Not only did Wheeler and Fukae combine for nearly 200 fish and over 300 pounds of spotted and largemouth bass, but 12 of the anglers who advanced to the semi-final cleared the 100-pound mark.

Wheeler was untouchable, though. The Tennessee pro took the lead from Fukae in the third period of their Shotgun Round, and then proceeded to surpass the previous two-day weight record by more than 25 pounds (Cliff Pace’s 134-13 in Stage Six). Wheeler is on track to also beat the event total-weight record set by Aaron Martens in his victory in that same event (Martens scaled 283-4).

Looking ahead to final two days

Weights will be zeroed for the 40-angler Knockout Round, making the Knockout a one-day scramble. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Wednesday, June 5.

How, When and Where to Watch Today

Competition begins at 12 p.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER® on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The
MLF NOW! live stream begins at 11:55 a.m. CT with coverage of Period 1, with Steven “Lurch” Scott and Rob Newell calling the live action. Full coverage continues at 2:30 p.m., when Chad McKee, JT Kenney, Marty Stone, and Natalie Dillon pick up the commentary and analysis until lines out at 8 p.m.
There will be no Berkley Postgame Show until Wednesday’s Championship Round.

Knockout’s 40 Anglers

To see the list of all 40 anglers fishing in the Knockout Round and to follow their standings throughout the day, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “SCORETRACKER.” All results throughout the week can also be found on the website by clicking “Results.”