Author: jcarrigan

MICHIGAN’S NELSON MOVES INTO LEAD AT FLW TOUR AT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 4, 2019
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May 4, 2019 by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

DAYTON, Tenn. – FLW Tour rookie Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, caught four big largemouth late in the day Saturday to anchor his 25-pound, 15-ounce limit and jump to the top of the leaderboard after Day Three of the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude in Dayton, Tennessee. Nelson’s five-bass limit was one of just four brought to the scale Saturday that weighed in excess of 20 pounds, telling when you consider that the lake had pumped out 19, 20+ pound limits in the first two days of competition.

Nelson (15 bass, 65-0) will now bring a 14-ounce lead over second-place angler Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt of Port St. Lucie, Florida, (15 bass, 64-2) – who led the tournament after Day Two – into Championship Sunday. Also in striking distance in third place, is Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, (15 bass, 62-9), local favorite Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, (15 bass, 62-2) and Polaris pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, (15 bass, 60-4).

“I feel honored to be here,” said Nelson, who, although a Tour rookie, has three career tournament wins in Costa FLW Series competition. “I had no idea that I had 25 pounds. I had a real slow day and just stuck with it and stuck with it and it started snowballing real quick at the end of the day.

“I’d been running around like Buddy (Gross), burning gas,” Nelson continued. “I was way down the lake and (FLW cameraman) Jody (White) showed up around 1:30 or 2. I caught a big one and was going to leave, then I caught another big one. So I’m getting ready to leave, then I catch another big one. Then I left and came back up the lake and I caught another big one up here. It was truly a blessing.”

Nelson’s four late-in-the-day largemouth came from similar water, but his last kicker came on a different bait. Nelson declined to mention any specifics, but did say that he was catching fish on “a couple of different baits.”

“I’m excited, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself,” Nelson said. “Yesterday I dropped the ball and only had 14 pounds. I just don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I may go out and catch 12 pounds, or I could catch 35. I’m just going to keep an open mind and work hard all day. I’ll be looking for a big bag tomorrow.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition Sunday on Lake Chickamauga are:

1st: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 65-0
2nd: Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 15 bass, 64-2
3rd: Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 62-9
4th: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 15 bass, 62-2
5th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 60-4
6th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 58-2
7th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 57-0
8th: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 15 bass, 55-5
9th: Strike King pro Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 55-3
10th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 15 bass, 54-2

Finishing in 11th through 30th are:

11th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 15 bass, 52-8, $12,000
12th: Bass Pro Shops pro James Niggemeyer, Van, Texas, 15 bass, 52-0, $12,000
13th: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-15, $12,000
14th: Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 15 bass, 50-10, $12,000
15th: Chris Whitson, Louisville, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-5, $12,000
16th: T-H Marine pro Luke Dunkin, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 15 bass, 49-8, $11,500
17th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 49-4, $11,500
18th: Glenn Chappelear, Acworth, Ga., 15 bass, 49-2, $11,500
19th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 12 bass, 48-7, $11,500
20th: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, 15 bass, 47-12, $11,500
21st: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 15 bass, 47-8, $10,500
22nd: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, 15 bass, 47-5, $10,500
23rd: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 15 bass, 47-5, $10,500
24th: Sam George, Athens, Ala., 15 bass, 47-1, $10,500
25th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 15 bass, 46-1, $10,500
26th: David Gaston, Sylacauga, Ala., 15 bass, 44-0, $10,500
27th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 15 bass, 42-15, $10,500
28th: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 14 bass, 42-11, $10,500
29th: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 13 bass, 39-11, $10,500
30th: Clark Reehm, Elm Grove, La., 13 bass, 36-3, $10,500

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

Overall there were 145 bass weighing 462 pounds, 2 ounces, caught by pros Saturday. Of the final 30 pros, 27 of them were able to bring a five-bass limit to the scale.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to fish on Saturday. Now, only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

The final 10 anglers will take off at 7 a.m. ET Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock, beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Dayton Boat Dock from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude will premiere in 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, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by FLW Tour veteran Peter Thliveros to break down the extended action 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.

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

WIGGINS DOMINATES WHILE CHRISTIE SURGES 25 PLACES UP SCORETRACKER®, ADVANCES TO KNOCKOUT ROUND AT PHOENIX BOATS STAGE FIVE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

CULLMAN, Ala. (May 3, 2019) – As you take a look down the list of Major League Fishing® (MLF) anglers who finished above the Elimination Line Friday at the Bass Pro Tour Phoenix Boats Stage 5 Presented by Mercury, you notice the obvious numbers: Jesse Wiggins at No. 1 with nearly 100 pounds on his home-water Smith Lake; Todd Faircloth, Tim Horton and James Watson easily in the Top 20 with over 80 pounds apiece; six more anglers with more than 65 pounds over two days of competition. But the name among today’s Group B anglers at No. 12 – Jason Christie – is notable for a much less obvious number: 36 pounds, 3 ounces. That’s how much more weight the Oklahoma pro put on SCORETRACKER® on Friday than he did during his Shotgun Round on Wednesday, an improvement that catapulted Christie from 37th place to 12th and qualified him for his first Knockout Round since Stage Two. And he did virtually all of it in two periods. After weighing only one fish in Period 1 while fishing shallow, Christie switched up to a deeper offshore point in Ryan Creek and settled into a groove in Period 2 with a shaky head, connecting with 27 fish over the final five hours of competition time. The Mercury pro finished the day with 51-0 and a two-day total of 65-13. “It felt good to finally catch a few,” Christie said. “I stayed shallow the first day, but since we’ve been here, it’s gotten so warm, the fish have moved out. Today I fished an area where I knew there were a lot of fish because I’ve seen them chasing bait, but instead of fishing in 3 feet of water I started fishing in 20.”

The Elimination Line Battle He’s been known as “The Squirrel” for years, but it seems just as appropriate to call Jeff Kriet “Cardiac Kriet” after his latest flirtation with the Elimination Line. Kriet, who entered the day in 11th place with a seemingly comfortable 8-pound cushion between himself and the 20th spot, found himself gradually falling down the Top 20 throughout the afternoon. By the final 30 minutes of the round, Kriet was scrapping with Bradley Roy, John Murray, Anthony Gagliardi and Mark Daniels, Jr., for the 20th and final spot in the Knockout Round.

The Oklahoma pro caught four fish for 5-8 in the third period to finish the Elimination Round with 54-8 – just enough to finish 4 ounces ahead of Daniels to lock up the final spot in the Knockout Round.

“Lesson learned: you can’t miss a step against these sharks or they’ll tear you apart,” Kriet said of the rest of the field. “I can’t believe I put myself in that position again: that’s three times in a row that I’ve been down in that 20th-place battle, and it’s making me older by the minute.”

One Day at a Time Now on Smith With weights starting back at zero for Saturday’s Knockout Round of 40 anglers, the Top 20 each from Group A and Group B, the game of cat-and-mouse among anglers practicing and running new water in the Elimination Round now becomes a one-day scramble that will likely be influenced by a storm system that is due to arrive late Friday night and continue throughout the day on Saturday.

“You definitely play this game different than we used to, and I think we’re all still trying to figure that out,” admitted Brent Chapman, who caught 28 fish for 42-8, finishing eighth in Group B. “It’s going to take a lot of weight to advance to Sunday’s final round, without a doubt. I’m just guessing it’ll take 45 to 50 pounds to make it to the Championship Round, especially with the weather we have coming. The fish should bite really, really well.”

Elimination Round 2 By the Numbers The bite was spread evenly throughout the day on Friday: 227 fish hit SCORETRACKER™ in Period 1, 240 in Period 2 and 217 in Period 3.

How, When & Where to Watch Knockout Round Competition among the final 40 anglers begins Saturday at 6:30 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 9 a.m. CT, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at approximately 4 p.m. dailyT

MLF BIG-5

FLORIDA’S GREENBLATT TAKE LEAD ON DAY TWO OF FLW TOUR AT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 3, 2019
No Comments on FLORIDA’S GREENBLATT TAKE LEAD ON DAY TWO OF FLW TOUR AT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE

May 3, 2019 by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

DAYTON, Tenn. – Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt of Port St. Lucie, Florida, brought a five-bass limit of largemouth to the Dayton Boat Dock scale Friday weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces, to vault into the lead after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude in Dayton, Tennessee. Greenblatt’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 43 pounds, 2 ounces gives him a slim 8-ounce advantage heading into Day Three of the four-day competition that features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.

Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, who led after Day One, fell to second place, just 8 ounces behind Greenblatt with 42-10. Former FLW Cup champion and three-time Angler of the Year Polaris pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, is just 15 ounces behind Greenblatt in third place with 42-3. The field is now cut to 30 for Saturday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to championship Sunday.

“I pretty much did the same exact thing that I did Thursday – same spot, same bait, same everything,” said Greenblatt, a six-year FLW Tour veteran with one career FLW Cup appearance. “I thought I had milked it for everything it was worth yesterday, but it replenished overnight. Hopefully there is two more days of bass in there, but I really don’t know what it has left.”

Greenblatt described his key area as a slope, in 8 to 12 feet of water.

“I don’t know why the fish are setting up there. There really is nothing there,” Greenblatt said. “Thursday I caught the heck out of them, all day long. Today it slowed down a lot – I think because of the pressure and we had a little different conditions. I’m catching fish on three different baits, and there seems to be a lot of bait in the area so hopefully it keeps them where they are.”

Greenblatt declined to name his main two baits, but did divulge that a Yamamoto Senko has also been a key piece of his arsenal this week.

“There is definitely a shallow Senko bite that is developing,” he said. “Wacky-rigged seems to be best, but I’ve got them rigged up four different ways. I’m dyeing the tail a little bit, giving them a little more to see.

“Hopefully tomorrow my area is not all blown out,” Greenblatt went on to say. “I’m going to get everything I can there and see what happens. If it’s not happening by noon I’m going to drop back, punt, and go to the dock pattern.”

The top 30 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Chickamauga are:

1st: Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 10 bass, 43-2
2nd: Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 42-10
3rd: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 42-3
4th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 39-1
5th: Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Mich., 10 bass, 39-1
6th: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 10 bass, 38-15
7th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 38-14
8th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 38-10
9th: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 10 bass, 38-6
10th: Clark Reehm, Elm Grove, La., 10 bass, 36-3
11th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 10 bass, 35-15
12th: Bass Pro Shops pro James Niggemeyer, Van, Texas, 10 bass, 35-9
13th: Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 10 bass, 35-6
14th: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 10 bass, 35-1
15th: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, 10 bass, 35-1
16th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-13
17th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 34-11
18th: T-H Marine pro Sam George, Athens, Ala., 10 bass, 34-11
19th: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-4
20th: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 10 bass, 34-1
21st: Glenn Chappelear, Acworth, Ga., 10 bass, 33-11
22nd: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-4
23rd: Chris Whitson, Louisville, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-12
24th: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 32-11
25th: David Gaston, Sylacauga, Ala., 10 bass, 32-9
26th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 32-8
27th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 32-6
28th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-4
29th: T-H Marine pro Luke Dunkin, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-3
30th: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 32-1

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Ingram won the Big Bass Award and the $500 prize on the pro side Friday with a largemouth weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

Overall there were 765 bass weighing 2,171 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 162 pros Friday. The catch included 138 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. ET Saturday and Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock, beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Dayton Boat Dock from 2 to 6 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the Dayton Boat Dock on Saturday, May 4, from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1st and 2nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by FLW Tour veteran Peter Thliveros 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.

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

SWINDLE, PALANIUK WITHSTAND FINAL-HOUR DRAMA TO ADVANCE IN PHOENIX BOATS STAGE FIVE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 2, 2019
No Comments on SWINDLE, PALANIUK WITHSTAND FINAL-HOUR DRAMA TO ADVANCE IN PHOENIX BOATS STAGE FIVE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

CULLMAN, Ala. (May 2, 2019) – To date, there have been nine Elimination Rounds contested in the 2019 Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour, all nine of them filled with drama around the Elimination Line. Judging by the sight of Gerald Swindle flopped in exhaustion on the front deck of his Triton as the final seconds ticked off the clock on Thursday, Elimination Round 1 of the Bass Pro Tour Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury may have been the most dramatic yet. Swindle entered the final minute of competition on Smith Lake in 24th place, 1 pound, 4 ounces out of 20th place, and on the outside looking in for a spot in the Knockout Round. But on his last cast – after switching rods with under 60 seconds remaining because the line on the rod he was fishing was frayed – Swindle connected with a 1-12 that vaulted him past Brandon Palaniuk, Scott Suggs, Terry Scroggins and Bobby Lane into 19th place with 49-2, 8 ounces in front of Brandon Palaniuk. “You can’t fish on gut instincts if you’re playing defense, and I’ve been playing defense all year,” Swindle said. “I’m happy to make it (to the Knockout Round), but man, I’m tired of playing defense. I’m looking forward to leading one of these things so I can play some offense. But I’ll tell you one thing I know: I’m going to sleep really well tonight.”

Palaniuk Advances Via Tiebreaker Palaniuk’s entry into the Knockout Round was equally dramatic. After weighing only one scorable spotted bass in Period 1, the Idaho pro jabbed his way through a 12-fish day, connecting on a 2-3 largemouth with 17 minutes left in the round. Palaniuk then held on for dear life as both Chris and Bobby Lane chipped away at him before Swindle eventually leap-frogged him. Palaniuk and Scott Suggs finished the round with the same two-day weight (48-10), but Palaniuk earned the 20th spot on a tiebreaker: Palaniuk weighed 28 fish over two rounds to Suggs’ 27. “Unexpected,” Palaniuk said of his day. “The first day I caught a bunch of my fish in the morning, but I only caught one bass at the very end of the first period today. It was an intense day coming down to the wire. So intense that it’s a good thing my official was on top of his game or I wouldn’t have made it – the third-to-last fish I caught, the fish was bouncing around the scale wouldn’t lock. “It showed as 1-9 but wouldn’t settle, so he told me ‘Hold on, wait, remove your hands’ and then let the scale settle and lock. It came up as 1-10, and that was the difference-maker. I made it in because that official was careful about doing his job.”

Top 5 From Shotgun Looked for New Fish There was no drama at the top of SCORETRACKER®, where Phoenix Boats Daily Leader Jacob Wheeler (87-6), Wesley Strader (81-3), Ott DeFoe (76-9), Josh Bertrand (72-11) and Andy Morgan (70-13) cruised through productive days where they caught plenty of fish while also exploring new spots on Smith Lake for the Knockout Round. “I spent a lot of time looking for other fish today,” Morgan admitted. “Fish are in post-spawn right now, so they’re hungry, but they’re on the move. It’s all about the bait right now – all about the shad and where they are – so you have to keep up with that.”

Today’s Round By The Numbers Elimination Round 1 anglers caught 966-4 on 599 fish; Period 2 was the most productive with 336 fish.

Elimination Round 2 on Friday With the first half of the Knockout Round now set, the 40 anglers from Group B get their next shot at Smith Lake Friday for the second Elimination Round of Stage Five. The grouping around the Elimination Line is slightly looser in Group B than it was in Group A – five anglers are within a single scorable bass of the 20th spot versus eight in Group A – but the projected Elimination Line weight of 52 to 53 pounds on Friday is significantly higher than Thursday’s.

Knockout Round on Saturday The Top 20 anglers from each of the two Elimination groups will advance to a 40-angler Knockout Round on Saturday – weights will be zeroed, making the Knockout a one-day scramble. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Sunday, May 5.

When, Where & How to Watch Competition begins daily at 6:30 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! Live Stream starts at 9 a.m. CT, with live, on-the-water coverage and analysis provided by Chad McKee, JT Kenney, Marty Stone and Natalie Dillon until lines out at 2:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show – hosted by Steven “Lurch” Scott – will start at 4 p.m. daily.

ELIMINATION ROUND 1 FINAL RESULTS

Angler	Total Weight	Day 1	Day 2	Total # Fish	Day 1	Day 2	Largest Fish
1st	Jacob Wheeler	87 – 06	61 – 15	25 – 07	51	38	13	5 – 02
2nd	Wesley Strader	81 – 03	43 – 01	38 – 02	45	21	24	2 – 07
3rd	Ott DeFoe	76 – 09	42 – 12	33 – 13	44	24	20	4 – 02
4th	Josh Bertrand	72 – 11	38 – 13	33 – 14	46	25	21	3 – 01
5th	Andy Morgan	70 – 13	46 – 12	24 – 01	46	29	17	2 – 14
6th	Edwin Evers	67 – 09	41 – 11	25 – 14	43	26	17	2 – 06
7th	Boyd Duckett	64 – 01	28 – 07	35 – 10	37	17	20	4 – 06
8th	Matt Lee	62 – 09	30 – 07	32 – 02	38	20	18	4 – 03
9th	Stephen Browning	59 – 03	36 – 11	22 – 08	41	25	16	2 – 06
10th	Luke Clausen	56 – 07	32 – 05	24 – 02	40	23	17	2 – 06
11th	Cody Meyer	55 – 02	27 – 01	28 – 01	29	14	15	2 – 15
12th	Mark Davis	53 – 07	26 – 11	26 – 12	36	19	17	4 – 04
13th	Dustin Connell	53 – 05	25 – 01	28 – 04	33	16	17	2 – 11
14th	Jordan Lee	52 – 10	28 – 13	23 – 13	35	18	17	2 – 02
15th	Marty Robinson	52 – 07	19 – 08	32 – 15	37	16	21	5 – 03
16th	Alton Jones	51 – 10	25 – 05	26 – 05	36	17	19	2 – 05
17th	Shaw Grigsby	50 – 03	26 – 08	23 – 11	28	15	13	3 – 08
18th	Brent Ehrler	50 – 02	24 – 06	25 – 12	30	15	15	3 – 00
19th	Gerald Swindle	49 – 02	25 – 11	23 – 07	29	15	14	2 – 10
20th	Brandon Palaniuk	48 – 10	27 – 10	21 – 00	28	16	12	2 – 03
21st	Scott Suggs	48 – 10	14 – 07	34 – 03	27	9	18	2 – 13
22nd	Terry Scroggins	48 – 08	12 – 15	35 – 09	27	8	19	3 – 11
23rd	Bobby Lane	48 – 04	25 – 15	22 – 05	29	15	14	2 – 14
24th	Chris Lane	47 – 13	16 – 11	31 – 02	25	10	15	3 – 07
25th	Cliff Crochet	46 – 04	24 – 06	21 – 14	27	12	15	2 – 06
26th	James Elam	44 – 06	20 – 13	23 – 09	27	12	15	2 – 12
27th	Kevin VanDam	43 – 12	21 – 04	22 – 08	30	14	16	2 – 06
28th	Gerald Spohrer	42 – 11	24 – 13	17 – 14	28	18	10	4 – 05
29th	Keith Poche	41 – 15	23 – 13	18 – 02	30	17	13	2 – 08
30th	Tommy Biffle	40 – 15	20 – 06	20 – 09	23	12	11	3 – 07
31st	Greg Hackney	38 – 01	22 – 13	15 – 04	27	16	11	1 – 14
32nd	Justin Atkins	37 – 04	20 – 00	17 – 04	25	13	12	2 – 04
33rd	Kelly Jordon	35 – 09	11 – 05	24 – 04	23	8	15	3 – 00
34th	Alton Jones Jr.	33 – 10	14 – 10	19 – 00	22	9	13	2 – 07
35th	Takahiro Omori	32 – 08	16 – 00	16 – 08	23	11	12	2 – 05
36th	Brandon Coulter	30 – 01	9 – 00	21 – 01	18	5	13	3 – 00
37th	David Walker	29 – 04	19 – 01	10 – 03	22	13	9	1 – 12
38th	Jason Lambert	29 – 04	14 – 14	14 – 06	17	8	9	2 – 12
39th	Mike McClelland	27 – 04	11 – 11	15 – 09	19	8	11	2 – 10
40th	Jonathon VanDam	19 – 08	11 – 09	7 – 15	12	8	4	2 – 06

MLF BIG-5

COX GRABS LEAD AT DAY ONE OF FLW TOUR AT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 2, 2019
No Comments on COX GRABS LEAD AT DAY ONE OF FLW TOUR AT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE

DAYTON, Tenn. (May 2, 2019) – A field of 165 of the best bass-fishing professionals in the world began their four-day competition for a top award of $125,000 at theFLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by EvinrudeThursday in Dayton, Tennessee.

Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit of Lake Chickamauga largemouth totaling 24 pounds, 11 ounces to take the early lead after Day One. Cox holds a slim 5-ounce lead over Tour rookie Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, who caught five bass weighing 24-6, good for second place.

“This place is just awesome,” said Cox, a six-time FLW Cup qualifier. “I started out on a real big fish that I had marked in practice – she’s at least a 10 (pounder) – but I couldn’t catch her. I got frustrated and bailed and went and caught a few decent males that I had marked, then came back to her. I caught the male with her, which was a 4-pounder, so I kept it at the time. Then she left.

“I came back an hour later, and she was with another one,” Cox continued. “I accidently caught that male, and she left again. I came back at the end of the day and she was with another male. So I told her to just finish up and that I’d come back tomorrow.”

Cox said he caught six keepers– all sight fishing – but marked 10 more while looking for beds this afternoon. He said he caught his bass using a selection of Berkley PowerBait MaxScent plastics.

“It was not easy today,” Cox said. “The water is coming up and a lot of the banks are getting really stirred up. The visibility is gone on almost every spot that I stopped at. I was guessing as to where they were.

“I’m going to go out tomorrow and try to catch five more decent males and hope I can get lucky and catch a 9- or 10-pounder,” Cox went on to say. “I will stop in and see if the big female I have marked is ready, then after that I really don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”

The top 10 pros after day one on Lake Chickamauga are:

1^st: Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., five bass, 24-11
2^nd: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., five bass, 24-6
3^rd: Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., five bass, 23-5
4^th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 23-2
5^th: Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., five bass, 23-0
5^th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., five bass, 23-0
7^th: Randy Allen, Gilliam, La., five bass, 22-14
8^th: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 22-7
9^th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 22-2
10^th: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., five bass, 21-0

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

McCaghren earned Thursday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a 9-pound, 13-ounce largemouth to the scale – the largest fish of the day.

Overall there were 766 bass weighing 2,190 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 164 pros Thursday. The catch included 134 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. ET Thursday through Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock, but will begin at 4 p.m.

Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the Dayton Boat Dock on Saturday, May 4, from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1^st and 2^nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

WIGGINS BLISTERS SHOTGUN ROUND IN RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE AT PHOENIX BOATS STAGE FIVE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 1, 2019
No Comments on WIGGINS BLISTERS SHOTGUN ROUND IN RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE AT PHOENIX BOATS STAGE FIVE PRESENTED BY MERCURY

CULLMAN, Ala. (May 1, 2019) – From the moment it was announced that the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour would be making a stop at Lewis Smith Lake in northern Alabama, Jesse Wiggins was tabbed as a favorite. After his performance in the second Shotgun Round of the Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury, it’s hard not to tab the Alabama pro as THE favorite. Wiggins – who grew up in Cullman and has been fishing Smith Lake since “Before I can even remember” – obliterated the Bass Pro Tour’s single-round catch record with 49 fish, tallying 72 pounds, 4 ounces and finishing the day with a 16-4 cushion over second-place angler Todd Faircloth (56-0). “A good day on Smith Lake this time of year is 30, maybe 35 fish, so today was a heckuva day,” Wiggins admitted. “I basically fished two spots all day long, they just happened to be schooled up in both of those spots.”

Wiggins Hit High Gear in Period 2 At the rate that Wiggins caught fish in Period 2, it’s hard to imagine him wanting to stray outside his two Shotgun Round spots at all. Following a 12-fish first period, the St. Croix pro put 21 fish on SCORETRACKER™ in the second period for 32-9, almost all of it on a 3/16-ounce shaky head with a green pumpkin candy Jackall 5.8 Flick Shake Worm. “Jesse Wiggins did this on a lake in post-spawn that was supposed to be tough,” marveled MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone. “This performance today isn’t just about him being good on Smith Lake, it’s about Jesse Wiggins just being flat good. You put a really good fisherman on a lake he understands really well and this is what you get.” But despite a prolific day and a virtually fail-safe cushion above the Elimination Line, Wiggins plans to move out of his spots and spend the day (Elimination Round 2) deciphering how far out of the backs of their spawning pockets Smith Lake’s post-spawn fish have gotten. “These fish move a lot this time of year,” Wiggins said. “Once they’re done spawning, they head back out onto those points, and it can be a little hard to find them in good numbers. I definitely plan on spending a good amount of my time figuring out how far those fish have moved.”

Elimination Round 1: “Nothing is Certain” The 40 anglers from Group A return to Smith Lake Thursday for the first Elimination Round of Stage Five, bringing their weights from the first Shotgun Round with them. Based on the results of the first two days of competition, the projected range for the Elimination Line is 48 to 50 pounds – there are eight anglers in Group A whose doubled Shotgun Round weights would place them within a single scorable bass of the Elimination Line. “Because all these scorable bass are so close in weight and these guys are catching so many of them, this could be the wildest Elimination Round we’ve ever had,” said Stone. “You go more than 10 minutes without catching fish here and you drop two to five places quickly. When you’re dealing with shad-spawn fish, they’re very ‘here and now’ and these guys in Group A have to relocate their fish. Nothing is safe and nothing is certain.”

Shotgun Round 2 By the NumbersGroup B totaled 997 fish: 304 in Period 1, 464 in Period 2 and 229 in Period 3.

Looking Ahead The Top 20 anglers from each of the two Elimination Round groups will advance to the Knockout Round on Saturday, where weights will be zeroed. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Sunday.

How, Where & When to Watch Competition begins daily at 6:30 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 9 a.m. CT, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 2:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 4 p.m. daily.

The Day’s Results

Angler	Total Weight	Total # Fish	Largest Fish
1st	Jesse Wiggins	72 – 04	49	3 – 06
2nd	Todd Faircloth	54 – 12	33	3 – 06
3rd	Shin Fukae	53 – 13	33	2 – 15
4th	James Watson	50 – 01	25	4 – 04
5th	Dean Rojas	44 – 02	25	4 – 05
6th	Justin Lucas	41 – 11	28	2 – 08
7th	Zack Birge	40 – 14	25	2 – 07
8th	Dave Lefebre	36 – 05	26	2 – 08
9th	Jeff Sprague	35 – 03	26	2 – 01
10th	Fred Roumbanis	35 – 00	25	2 – 07
11th	Jeff Kriet	34 – 07	27	1 – 14
12th	Casey Ashley	34 – 04	22	2 – 08
13th	Timmy Horton	34 – 01	21	2 – 11
14th	Bradley Roy	31 – 05	20	2 – 06
15th	John Murray	30 – 12	23	2 – 05
16th	Skeet Reese	30 – 12	20	3 – 02
17th	Aaron Martens	29 – 07	20	3 – 03
18th	Mike Iaconelli	28 – 14	22	2 – 02
19th	Brent Chapman	27 – 12	19	2 – 10
20th	Mark Rose	26 – 09	18	2 – 14
21st	Anthony Gagliardi	25 – 09	18	2 – 04
22nd	Michael Neal	25 – 08	16	2 – 14
23rd	Roy Hawk	24 – 00	15	3 – 05
24th	Adrian Avena	23 – 09	16	2 – 01
25th	Mark Daniels, Jr.	22 – 08	14	2 – 09
26th	Britt Myers	22 – 05	14	3 – 12
27th	Greg Vinson	21 – 01	15	1 – 15
28th	Randy Howell	20 – 12	16	1 – 11
29th	Jared Lintner	20 – 02	14	1 – 15
30th	Jacob Powroznik	19 – 09	12	2 – 10
31st	Brett Hite	19 – 04	13	2 – 08
32nd	Randall Tharp	18 – 01	12	2 – 05
33rd	Fletcher Shryock	15 – 15	10	2 – 08
34th	Andy Montgomery	15 – 09	13	2 – 08
35th	Gary Klein	15 – 09	12	2 – 01
36th	Cliff Pace	15 – 08	12	1 – 13
37th	Jason Christie	14 – 13	12	1 – 10
38th	Ish Monroe	13 – 06	10	1 – 15
39th	Russ Lane	13 – 05	8	3 – 00
40th	Paul Elias	12 – 01	8	2 – 06

The National Angler

2019’s ULTIMATE FISHING TOOL-CATCH COMMANDER

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date May 1, 2019
No Comments on 2019’s ULTIMATE FISHING TOOL-CATCH COMMANDER

It’s not too often when a company and its owners come together and really impress me with their dedication and vision to produce a new product. Let’s face it, it’s getting really hard to come up with a new idea or improve an already existing product. This is a product that is well built and thought out and sure to be a sought-out product by anglers of all types. I recently found this product while attending the 2019 Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville TN

CATCH COMMANDER

The Catch Commander personal culling scale is just that product. You now have all the information that you need in the palm of your hands to make a quick decision on what fish to cull during a tournament. Time is critical to any angler and this scale takes so much of the guesswork out of culling that critical 5 fish limit. This scale also has a rugged build that’s waterproof. Several handle options available to anglers, making it versatile for those fishing from a boat, kayak, or shore to quickly weigh their catch and capture a great photo with their prized catch.

Finally, a truly waterproof fishing scale!

KEY FEATURES

The first set of features that caught my eye when I saw this unit was the large display and handle options. We all want to be able to catch a trophy fish and capture the weight in the same picture and show off the weight to our family, friends, and family. The Catch Commander has a great removable handle for some of those really big fish as well. The no puncture fish grip will safely hold a fish for a quick measure and release. Again, it’s durable and waterproof, I’m still looking for another scale that can match this.

CULLING OPTIONS

The Catch Commander keeps a real-time tally of your fish weights, including the lightest fish.

I watched first hand at the classic, the culling feature. It was 100% seamless in weighing a fish, and when it was time to cull a fish that you have caught, the process was seamless. This scale allows an angler to pre-set the “CULL” number for the event and display the weight of each fish in the live well (Up to 10 fish Cull Limit with 5 fish weights always displayed) Keeping a real-time tally of your fish weights, including the lightest fish that needs culling. The important part is making sure you use the appropriately marked cull tag. You can also adjust the cull number for the tournament from 1-10. This is really beneficial for those fishing in the southern U.S. when tournaments sometimes move to a 3 fish limit during the hot summer months.

THE CATCH COMMANDER’S BIGGEST FEATURE!!!

Ok, when I saw this feature of the scale I was immediately impressed and quickly thought of a ton of new ways to use the Catch Commander scale. Major League Fishing has obviously dominated the professional fishing news this year with its new format. The Catch Commander supports functions that can support MLF style fishing events and personal competitions. You can change the mode of the scale from cull (1-10 fish) mode to my favorite mode Aggregate Mode. This mode will keep a running total of fish eight and the number of fish caught (up to 99), which is perfect for events or anglers that promote live-release of fish, just like Major League Fishing.

The Aggregate Mode will add a new dimension for professional and weekend anglers alike!

Make sure you head over to the Catch Commander website and check it out for yourself, you won’t be disappointed at all. Click the link below the image below to head to their website so you can CATCH|CULL|WIN!

You can also check out @catchcommander on social media, click the links below for more information

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

WHEELER MAINTAINS MOMENTUM WITH DOMINANT PERFORMANCE IN SHOTGUN ROUND AT STAGE FIVE

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date April 30, 2019
No Comments on WHEELER MAINTAINS MOMENTUM WITH DOMINANT PERFORMANCE IN SHOTGUN ROUND AT STAGE FIVE

CULLMAN, Ala. (April 30, 2019) – If you ever wondered if momentum is a thing in professional bass fishing, look no further than the five names at the top of SCORETRACKER™ after the first Shotgun Round of the Bass Pro Tour Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury: Jacob Wheeler, Andy Morgan, Wesley Strader, Ott DeFoe and Edwin Evers. Led by Wheeler’s record-breaking 38-fish, 61-pound, 15-ounce performance, that quintet of Major League Fishing® (MLF) pros racked up 138 scorable bass for just over 236 pounds to leave Smith Lake with comfortable cushions to carry into their Elimination Round competition on Thursday. It was a continuation of recent success for all five anglers: Evers has four top-10 finishes in four events this season and leads the Bass Pro Tour points race; DeFoe is just a month removed from a Bassmaster Classic win; Strader has seven Top 20s in his last season-and-a-half; Morgan is shooting for back-to-back wins; and Wheeler has two Top 5s in his last four events. “Momentum makes you a little fearless, for lack of a better term,” said Morgan, who entered the week fresh off a win two weeks ago at Stage Four on Lake Chickamauga. “You’re just kinda ‘with it’ from the get-go, whether you’re getting bites from the get-go or not. Everybody is at their best when they’re relaxed, and that’s what everybody is after in this sport: to be relaxed, and to just keep it rolling.”

Wheeler Was Dominant on Day 1 No matter how you measure Wheeler’s performance, “rolling” is an accurate description. On a fishery that showed signs of being in a slight post-spawn lull before the event started, Wheeler figured out the right patterns and the right locations early in the day, piling up 36 of his 38 fish in the first two periods and overtaking Morgan, who had rang up 18 fish and a big lead in Period 1. “That morning bite is definitely a key opportunity to catch a majority of your fish,” Wheeler admitted. “Your goal is to try to catch as much as you possibly can in the Shotgun Round so you’re not under the pressure to have to catch them in the Elimination Round. You see this day in and day out in this format: a good Shotgun Round puts guys in position to try to go dial in new patterns – or just stay on top of what’s going on – in the Elimination Round, so they can make it to the Knockout Round, and then make the Top 10 cut.” Wheeler’s assessment of the morning bite is accurate: 238 fish were recorded on SCORETRACKER in the first period; that total dropped to 203 and 195 in Periods 1 and 2.

Group B Up Next The 40 anglers in Group B compete Wednesday in Shotgun Round 2. Based on Day 1 results, the Elimination Line will hover around 25 pounds, but and if weather forecasts are correct, Group B’s round could be even more of a smashfest than Day 1. “Day 2 is supposed to be a little overcast and maybe blowing a little bit, so I think we’ll have a little bit better conditions for fish to bite,” said Group B competitor Jeff Sprague.

Looking Ahead The field will carry their Shotgun Round weights into the two Elimination Rounds on Thursday and Friday for the Elimination Rounds. The Top 20 anglers from each group will advance to the Knockout Round on Saturday. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Sunday.

How, Where, When to Watch Competition begins daily at 6:30 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 9 a.m. CT, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 2:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 4 p.m. daily.

The Day’s Results

Angler	Total Weight	Total # Fish	Largest Fish
1st	Jacob Wheeler	61 – 15	38	3 – 04
2nd	Andy Morgan	46 – 12	29	3 – 05
3rd	Wesley Strader	43 – 01	21	4 – 10
4th	Ott DeFoe	42 – 12	24	3 – 14
5th	Edwin Evers	41 – 11	26	3 – 00
6th	Josh Bertrand	38 – 13	25	2 – 12
7th	Stephen Browning	36 – 11	25	3 – 02
8th	Luke Clausen	32 – 05	23	2 – 01
9th	Matt Lee	30 – 07	20	2 – 09
10th	Jordan Lee	28 – 13	18	3 – 03
11th	Boyd Duckett	28 – 07	17	3 – 03
12th	Brandon Palaniuk	27 – 10	16	2 – 11
13th	Cody Meyer	27 – 01	14	3 – 07
14th	Mark Davis	26 – 11	19	2 – 03
15th	Shaw Grigsby	26 – 08	15	3 – 00
16th	Bobby Lane	25 – 15	15	4 – 12
17th	Gerald Swindle	25 – 11	15	3 – 00
18th	Alton Jones	25 – 05	17	2 – 02
19th	Dustin Connell	25 – 01	16	2 – 15
20th	Gerald Spohrer	24 – 13	18	2 – 04
21st	Brent Ehrler	24 – 06	15	4 – 06
22nd	Cliff Crochet	24 – 06	12	2 – 12
23rd	Keith Poche	23 – 13	17	2 – 05
24th	Greg Hackney	22 – 13	16	3 – 04
25th	Kevin VanDam	21 – 04	14	2 – 02
26th	James Elam	20 – 13	12	3 – 04
27th	Tommy Biffle	20 – 06	12	2 – 15
28th	Justin Atkins	20 – 00	13	4 – 03
29th	Marty Robinson	19 – 08	16	1 – 12
30th	David Walker	19 – 01	13	3 – 08
31st	Chris Lane	16 – 11	10	3 – 15
32nd	Takahiro Omori	16 – 00	11	2 – 07
33rd	Jason Lambert	14 – 14	8	3 – 02
34th	Alton Jones Jr.	14 – 10	9	2 – 11
35th	Scott Suggs	14 – 07	9	2 – 06
36th	Terry Scroggins	12 – 15	8	2 – 06
37th	Mike McClelland	11 – 11	8	2 – 06
38th	Jonathon VanDam	11 – 09	8	2 – 02
39th	Kelly Jordon	11 – 05	8	1 – 14
40th	Brandon Coulter	9 – 00	5	2 – 12

Crappie USA

CRAPPIE USA PRO DIVISION VICTORY AT GRAND LAKE/ST. MARYS GOES TO KOESTERS AND HENGSTLER //YEAKLE AND DUNCAN TAKE AMATEUR DIVISION

Louisville, KY – April 28, 2019 – Crappie anglers from several states traveled to Grand Lake/St. Marys, St. Marys, OH to participate in a Crappie USA (CUSA) Super Event. The April 26 and 27 event is presented by Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s. Local and traveling anglers fished for cash, prizes, and an opportunity to compete at the 2019 CUSA Classic which will feature a guaranteed payout of $125,000 in cash and prizes.

A total of 53 boats fished the St. Marys event—14 in the Pro Division and 39 in the Amateur Division. A total of $12,950 was distributed to the winners.

Crappie anglers were greeted with a flooded weigh-in site and closed roads around the area. Nevertheless, the schedule Kids Rodeo on Saturday was blessed with a letup in the rain and the kids actually caught a few fish and had a great time.

The Friday highs were around 48 degrees with rain all day and winds at 25 to 40 mph.

The city started closing all roads around weigh-in by noon and anglers had to find a way to get to the new weigh-in site under a picnic shelter in a different area of the park.

Flooded streets and roads continued into Saturday but the rain let up for the morning with temps in low 40’s. The rain returned around 1:30 pm and continued through the weigh-in.

“Overall it was the worst water and weather pattern we faced in 34 years of running events,” said CUSA Operations Manager Darrell Van Vactor. “I am glad to know all our anglers are safe and sound and the crew is home.”

Day one in the Pro Division ended with Jason Koesters and Jake Hengstler in the lead with 6.64 pounds. Mark N. Puthoff and Mike Shroyer led in the Amateur Division with 4.72 pounds. The stage was set for day two.

Pro Division Results

When all the weights were tallied in the Pro Division Koesters and Hengstler had held on to their day-one lead to take top honors. Koesters from New Bremen, OH and Hengstler from Botkins, OH teamed up to bring a two-day total of 10.68 pounds to the scales.

Their rainy encounter earned them $3,000 for first place, 250 for the Gamma Line Bonus, $300 for the Driftmaster Rod Holder Bonus, and $280 for second place Big Fish.

The team fished the south end of the lake using 2.5-inch stinger jigs in silver/black and silver chartreuse. In a tough bite, they caught 8 crappies on Friday and 5 on Saturday.

Kerry August and Mike Deiters claimed the runner up spot with 10.05 pounds. The Ohio team earned $2,000 for the placement and added the $250 Ranger Cup Bonus.

Their fishing covered several creeks on the south end of the lake. They targeted docks in shallow water. They were shooting chartreuse/pearl jigs and minnows. August and Deiters caught a total of 25 fish for the weekend.

Third place went to Zack and Mike Fishbaugh from St Henry, OH. They weighed 9.4 pounds to earn a check for $1,000.

Team Fishbaugh fished the south end of the lake in 6 feet of water. They were targeting channels and creeks with clearer water. The result was catching the females that were holding in deeper water. They used minnows to catch about 30 fish for the weekend.

Robert Denen from Youngstown, OH and Anthony Domitrovuch from Dubois, PA took the fourth spot with 8.66 pounds. They earned a check for $200.

The team found a brushpile on the south end of the lake in 8 feet of water. They noted that the water was fairly clear.

“We sat on that brushpile for both days,” reported Denen. “We fished live bait to catch about 24 fish for the weekend.”

The Big Fish winners were local anglers Jeremiah Moyar and Jack Ray. The St Marys, OH team, who also placed eighth in the Pro Division, weighed a 1.26-pound crappie to earn a check for $740.

Amateur Division Results

Marvin Yeakle and Jeff Duncan made a move from 8^th place on day one to take the win in the Amateur Division on Saturday. The Marion, IN team brought 8.64 pounds to the scales in some of the worst weather in CUSA history. They earned a check for $1,600.

Yeakle and Duncan fished the east side of the lake in 4 to 5 foot of water. They found a beaver hut to target with live bait. They caught about 25 fish for the two days of tournament fishing.

Second place went to Ryan Wendel from Maineville and Randy D Wendel from Celina, OH. They brought 8.31 pounds to the scales to earn a check for $1,000.

Team Wendel fished the south side of the lake in shallow water. They were making casts just off the bank with darker color jigs. They mainly use purple to catch about 13 crappies for the two-day event.

Dominic Dugic from Warren, OH, and Jeffrey Lee from Newton Falls, OH took the third spot with 7.31 pounds and earned a check for $500.

Dugic and Lee fished the south end until it got muddy due to all the rain. Those conditions convinced them to move to the north end. They were spider rigging minnows

in shallow water to catch 15 fish for the weekend.

Fourth place went to Carl McAdams from Fredonia, PA and Monte Martin from W. Lafayette, IN. They weighed 5.59 pounds to earn $400. They added the Ranger Cup Bonus for another $125.

McAdams and Martin fished the south end of the lake in the 12 Mile Island area. They trolled in 8 feet of water. They were pulling live bait and white Jenko jigs to catch about 15 fish during the two-day Super Event.

Rounding out the top five was Dustin Fast from Fort Loramie, OH and Phil Stone from Sidney, OH. They teamed up to bring 4.84 pounds to the scales and earn a check for $300.

Fast and Stone fished the south end of the lake in 8 feet of water. They spider rigged minnows to catch 13 fish for the weekend.

Epilogue

Darrell Van Vactor, CUSA Operations Manager, extended a special thanks NK Telco and Brushpile Fishing with Russ Bailey for all their help hosting the event and covering it with a live feed. He also thanked Mayor Hazel for presenting the Mayors trophy to Mayson Lietchfield for winning the Kids Fishing Rodeo.

“Our anglers faced the toughest conditions I have seen in years,” said Van Vactor. “They fished with high winds, constant rain, muddy water, and severe flooding. They are the toughest of the tough!”

The CUSA Classic Championship will be held October 23 – 26, 2019 on Old Hickory Lake, Gallatin, TN. It features a guaranteed payout of $125,000 in cash and prizes.

National Sponsors

National Sponsors of Crappie USA are: Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Mustad Hooks, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Talon, Lake Master Maps, Gamma, B’n’M Poles, Driftmaster Rod Holders, Ego Nets, Xtreme Bait Systems, Cumberland Crappie Double Seats, Brushpile Crappie, Charlie Brewer Slider, Crappie Now Magazine, Church Tackle Co., Jenko Fishing, Big Bite Baits, Lake Cumberland CVB, Crappie Magnet, AWD Baits, EFX Graphics, Fin n’ Frames, Crown Trophy, and JR Madd Breading.

For more information on the Classic and other CUSA events visit the website at www.crappieusa.com and Crappie USA Tournament Trail Facebook Page. The CUSA office is available by phone at 502-384-5924.

Minnow Blog

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING CONSIDERS BANK FISHING TO GROW GRASSROOTS EVENTS AFTER KEITH POCHE’S RECENT LUCK ; )

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date April 28, 2019
No Comments on MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING CONSIDERS BANK FISHING TO GROW GRASSROOTS EVENTS AFTER KEITH POCHE’S RECENT LUCK ; )

At Major League Fishing Stage 4 on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton TN, MLF Pro scored a record catch from a less than an ideal location; a boat dock. MLF being the newest professional fishing tournament is probably looking for ways to grow its grassroots programs to build the next generation of MLF angler.

The bank may just be that place to take professional fishing to the next level. Having a new bank fishing series aimed at bringing in the next generation of anglers inspired by Keith Poche himself. Keith found his luck was much better fishing from the dock forgoing his expensive boat.

The Minnow Blog also has received word that Major League Fishing may move to bank fishing for the 2020 season altogether. Insider knowledge from a professional angler who has recently made it big due to his 100 sponsors from National Pro Staff stated he was offered a spot on this team. He also mentioned that anglers would now be required to submit pictures of catches with backgrounds blurred out to not spot burn any locations.

Wouldn’t that be some shit if they actually did this!!! ; ‘ )

The Minnow Blog