Author: jcarrigan

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MLF BIG-5

BEAVERS WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT ON SANTEE COOPER LAKES PRESENTED BY POWER-POLE

April 27, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

SUMMERTON, S.C. – Pro Bradford Beavers of Summerville, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the weather-shortened Costa FLW Series on Santee Cooper Lakes presented by Power-Pole. The tournament was shortened from three days to two after competition was canceled Friday due to high winds. Bradford’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 54 pounds, 9 ounces, was enough to earn him the victory at the Southeastern Division finale and $86,700, including a new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

“To win on my home lake is quite an accomplishment,” said Beavers, who won the Costa FLW Series Championship on Kentucky Lake in 2017. “I know how good the anglers are here, and it’s a little redemption for the 2014 [FLW Series] event here. I started that final day in second place, but zeroed and ended up finishing ninth. That’s been on my mind for years, so this is great.”

Beavers said he started out fishing on Lake Moultrie each day, targeting shallow cypress trees.

“I started at the best cypress trees I knew of, where the bass were either spawning or coming off the bank,” said Beavers. “I had four areas of trees that I fished there.”

Beavers said that he headed to Lake Marion around 1 p.m. each day, running pretty much ran the same pattern in two general areas, but with one small adjustment.

“I fished even shallower trees on Lake Marion because I felt more [bass] were truly spawning on the upper lake versus Lake Moultrie, so I’d hit trees more in the pocket rather than out in the open,” said Beavers.

The South Carolina pro said he caught seven keepers Thursday and added another nine today. He weighed nearly every fish from a wacky- or Texas-rigged, 5-inch green-pumpkin Yamamoto Senko. One keeper each day came on an Eye Strike Texas Eye jighead with a 3.3-inch shad-colored Keitech swimbait.

“The Eye Strike is like a wobble head with an eye protruding from it. I’d throw it the first 30 minutes because I felt there was a shad spawn going on.”

The top 10 pros on Santee Cooper Lakes finished:

 1st: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 54-9, $86,700

 2nd: Lex Costas, Daniel Island, S.C., 10 bass, 50-1, $15,600

 3rd: Mike Watson, Sumter, S.C., 10 bass, 48-6, $12,300

 4th: Joey Sabbagha, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 46-2, $10,000

 5th: Kyle Welcher, Cleveland, Tenn., 10 bass, 44-0, $10,500

 6th: Todd Smith, Bonneau, S.C., 10 bass, 43-12, $8,000

 7th: William Fletcher, Dallas, Ga., 10 bass, 42-4, $7,000

 8th: Brent Riley, Cross, S.C., 10 bass, 40-13, $6,000

 9th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 40-7, $5,000

 10th: Mark Hutson, Moncks Corner, S.C., 10 bass, 40-3, $4,000

A complete list of results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.

Watson weighed a 9-pound bass Saturday – the heaviest of the tournament in the Pro Division and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $300.

Rodney Tapp of North Augusta, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division with a two-day total catch of 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 10 ounces. For his win, Tapp took home a prize package including a Ranger Z175 with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Santee Cooper Lakes finished: 

 1st: Rodney Tapp, North Augusta, S.C., 10 bass, 32-10, $27,300

 2nd: Daniel Taylor, Elizabethton, Tenn., seven bass, 21-8, $5,000

 3rd: Oakley Connor, Travelers Rest, S.C., four bass, 20-8, $4,000

 4th: Bart Beasley, Mount Pleasant, S.C., seven bass, 19-13, $3,550

 5th: Adam Haithcock, Butner, N.C., six bass, 19-1, $3,000

 6th: Kevin Gordon, Aiken, S.C., eight bass, 18-10, $2,500

 7th: Thomas Clark, Wildwood, Fla., seven bass, 18-9, $2,000

 8th: Spencer Sato, Warner Robins, Ga., six bass, 18-8, $1,750

 9th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., six bass, 18-7, $1,750

 10th: Mitch Avant, Pawleys Island, S.C., six bass, 18-7, $1,250

Jamie Booth of Erin, Tennessee, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Booth earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200 for his catch.

The Costa FLW Series on Santee Cooper Lakes presented by Power-Pole was hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce. It was the third and final Southeastern Division tournament of the 2019 regular season. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will be the Costa FLW Series at Table Rock Lake presented by Power-Pole, held May 9-11 in Branson, Missouri. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the International division. Each U.S. division consists of three regular-season tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to compete in the season-ending Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky.

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MLF BIG-5

FLW AND KBF ANNOUNCE INITIAL SPONSORS FOR KAYAK FISHING EVENTS

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April 26, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

MINNEAPOLIS – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, and Kayak Bass Fishing, LLC, (KBF) the nation’s foremost organization supporting kayak bass anglers, announced today the first group of companies named as sponsors of the two kayak bass fishing tournaments scheduled in 2019.

Dee Zee, a staple brand in the truck accessory market since 1977, has signed on as title sponsor of the events. YakAttack, an industry leader specializing in kayak fishing gear and kayak rigging has been named as the presenting sponsor. Bass Pro Shops, FishUSA, Jackson Kayak, Bonafide Kayak, B&W Hitches, Dakota Lithium Batteries and Polaris have all signed on as associate sponsors with the organizations, ensuring that the brands will be showcased at all FLW/KBF Kayak events and through exclusive digital content and on-site activations. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

“Dee Zee is excited to explore new marketing opportunities with FLW and KBF. These established brands have proven their ability to empower their athletes through their business models and showcase their sport,” said Scott Moyer, Director of Marketing for Dee Zee. “We are thrilled to have the chance to engage their audience and display how closely our products align with their lifestyles.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to be part of the FLW/KBF Open and the FLW/KBF Cup,” said Luther Cifers, President of YakAttack. “Kayak fishing is something that every angler should experience, and this partnership will help us introduce it to more anglers than ever before.”

Per terms of the agreements, all brands will receive prominent exposure at the FLW/KBF tournaments and expos, FLW Bass Fishing magazine, FLW and KBF social media channels and websites. They also will receive the opportunity to provide contingency program rewards for winning or highest-placing anglers with cash and/or prizes for anglers complying with their program guidelines. Bonafide Kayak and Jackson Kayak have already implemented their contingency programs, offering an extra $5,000 to anglers who win the event fishing out of a Bonafide- or Jackson-brand kayak.

“We’re excited that these nationally-recognized brands are joining KBF and FLW to take kayak fishing competitions to the next level,” said Chad Hoover, president of the KBF. “These events will be a big success and create excitement that gets anglers fired up, whether they have been fishing for several decades or just getting started.”

The first event, the Dee Zee FLW/KBF Open at Nickajack Lake presented by YakAttack, will be hosted by Fish Dayton and Fish Lake Chickamauga next week, May 4-5, 2019. Entry fee for the event is $200 per kayak, with a $5,000 payout guaranteed for first place – $10,000 if contingency guidelines are met. The top 100 anglers will qualify to compete in the second event, the Dee Zee FLW/KBF Cup in Hot Springs, Arkansas presented by YakAttack. Of these 100 qualifiers, the top 20 receive free entry. All other qualifiers pay a $500 entry fee. The Dee Zee FLW/KBF Cup will be held Aug. 8-10, 2019, on a lake to be announced in conjunction with the Aug 9-11 FLW Cup on Lake Hamilton.

Anglers can register for the FLW/KBF Open at KayakBassFishing.com/FLW.

KBF was formed in 2009 to offer kayak anglers the opportunity to compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes at premier fisheries around the country. Currently in its seventh season for live events, KBF offers more than 25 professional-level bass-fishing tournaments to kayak anglers. For complete KBF details, schedules and updated information, visit KayakBassFishing.com.

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BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

2019 TOYOTA BASSMASTER TEXAS FEST COULD BE TOURNAMENT OF THE CENTURY BELT

April 17, 2019 EMORY, Texas — Photo courtesy of BASS

Everyone recognizes the shiny blue trophies that are presented to each of the nine winners of regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series events.

Likewise, all fans of professional bass fishing instantly know the hulking trophy that is awarded every year to the Bassmaster Classic champion.

But there’s one piece of B.A.S.S. hardware that isn’t seen nearly as often.

Known as the Century Belt, it’s only awarded to anglers who catch more than 100 pounds of bass during a four-day Elite Series event — and it could be making a rare appearance soon.

The third annual Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is scheduled for May 2-6 on Lake Fork near Emory, Texas. That means some of the best bass anglers in the world will converge on a lake with a reputation for producing giant bass at just the right time on the calendar.

“To sit and think about the possibilities is really exciting,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “We’ve never had a major B.A.S.S. event on Lake Fork. Now, we’ll be visiting in the spring — at the perfect time for giant bass to be caught.”

To put the possibilities into perspective, consider this:

In 2014, the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) — the predecessor to Texas Fest that included the top anglers from B.A.S.S. and the FLW Tour — was held on Lake Fork. Current Bassmaster Elite Series pro Keith Combs took first place with a gigantic winning weight of 110 pounds.

That was a three-day event that recorded the weights of only 15 fish.

Anglers will spend four days on the water at Texas Fest and record the weights of their 20 biggest fish. All fish will be weighed in the boat. Anglers will be allowed to bring one bass over the slot limit to the weigh-in; all others will be immediately released. 

“To get to 100 pounds in four days is a major accomplishment, and to do it in three is unheard of,” said Combs. “It’s nothing about the angler — it wasn’t about me when I did it there. It’s just a testament to the quality of fishing at Lake Fork.”

In the 10 years TTBC was held and the two years since its transition to Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest, the event has generated millions of dollars for TPWD’s youth fishing and urban outreach programs.

“We’re excited to head back to Lake Fork and be the official sponsor of the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest,” said Brent Hillyer, Gulf States Toyota’s senior vice president of marketing and vehicle supply. “There’s no better way to continue to benefit Texas Parks and Wildlife Department than by holding this competition at one of Texas’ most admired reservoirs.”

The Elite Series was formed in 2006, and Century Belts have only been awarded at nine events (out of more than 100 total). No angler has earned one of the belts since the 2013 Elite Series event on Falcon Lake when Combs (111-5), Rick Clunn (105-6) and John Crews (103-13) all topped the 100-pound mark.

Many believe Century Belts could be claimed again at Texas Fest because Lake Fork — a 27,000-acre impoundment on the Sabine River — has been intensely managed for giant bass since it was impounded in 1980.

Through 2018, Texas Parks and Wildlife has stocked nearly 14 million Florida-strain largemouth — and the bass have flourished in habitat that includes vast areas of standing timber, hydrilla, milfoil and duckweed.

To help the fish reach exceptional sizes, TPWD implemented a slot limit that protects all bass that measure between 16 and 24 inches. Anglers can keep up to five bass per day, but only one of them can be over 24 inches.

Those management efforts have created a fishery that has produced 30 of the 50 largest bass ever caught in Texas, including the current state record of 18.18 pounds, which was in 1992 by Barry St. Clair.

The slot limit won’t be a problem for the 75-angler Elite Series field since all bass will be immediately released — and the springtime conditions at Fork could lead to great things. The catch/weigh/release format made its debut at the first Toyota Texas Bass Classic, which was held on Lake Fork in 2007.

“Our Department is very proud of the fact that we helped create and rollout the nation’s first catch/weigh/immediate release tournament,” said Dave Terre, chief of Fisheries Management and Research for TPWD. “For the past 12 years, we’ve used them to showcase some of Texas’ best bass fisheries, including Lake Fork. The unique format emphasizes fish care, supports catch and release and honors our fisheries management goals. At Lake Fork, our goals are to produce big bass. We’re now delighted to have the opportunity to showcase this great fishery for the first time in a Bassmasters Elite Series event. We think four-day catch records could be broken.”

During that 2014 TTBC when Combs won with 110 pounds, he had one five-bass limit that weighed 42 pounds. That’s a little more than 3 pounds shy of the all-time B.A.S.S. record for largest single-day, five-bass limit.

The full field of Elite Series anglers will fish Thursday and Friday, May 2-3. Anglers will then take a break from competition on Saturday, May 4, for a special Fan Appreciation Day with festivities, including Bassmaster University seminars, the Bassmaster Outdoors Expo and the annual Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team Tournament. A highlight of the Expo will be the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Outdoor Adventure experience, including a catfish tank, wildlife viewing tent, fly casting and tying center, Texas State Fish Art exhibit, Toyota Sharelunker Trailer and many others.

2018 Champion

The Top 35 Elite Series pros will resume competition on Sunday, May 5, and the Top 10 will compete on Championship Monday, May 6.

The tournament will feature a total payout of $1 million, with $100,000 going to the champion. A Toyota Tundra pickup truck will be awarded to the angler who weighs in the heaviest bass of the week.

“The Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce and our partners the Wood County Industrial Commission, Emory Tourism and Quitman EDC are excited to be hosting such an elite tournament such as the Bassmaster Elite Series,” said Michael Rogge, president of the Lake Fork Area COC. “This the first time in Lake Fork’s history to hold such a tournament. This event will show that major tournament organizations, such as Bassmaster, can hold events on a lake with restrictive size limits. Catch-and-release tournaments are becoming more popular, and this tournament will show the world that it can be done and exciting at the same time.”

The event will be covered in real time on Bassmaster LIVE, which streams on Bassmaster.com and the ESPN app, and it will be featured in a special episode of The Bassmasters television program to be aired later on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic.

In addition to the Lake Fork Chamber, the Wood County Industrial Commission, the Sabine River Authority, Quitman Economic Development Commission and Emory, TX Tourism are hosting the Texas Fest event.

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MLF BIG-5

FLW TOUR SET TO VISIT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA FOR SIXTH EVENT OF SEASON

April 22, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

DAYTON, Tenn. – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament fishing organization, is set to continue the 2019 FLW Tour season – the 24th season of the competitive Tour – next week, May 2-5, with the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude. Hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council, the tournament will feature 168 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals competing for a top award of up to $125,000 and valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup – the world championship of bass fishing.

The FLW Tour has visited Lake Chickamauga four times prior in FLW’s 24-year history. When the Tour visited the East Tennessee fishery in 2015, some of the biggest names in the sport ended up competing on Championship Sunday, including former Forrest Wood Cup champion David Dudley and legendary angler Larry Nixon. Pro Michael Wooley, then of Collierville, Tennessee, won the event, weighing 20 bass totaling 92 pounds, 4 ounces, focusing on a shell bar in Dallas Bay with a shaky-head rig and a football-head jig.

The 2019 event will mark the 216th tournament in FLW Tour history. The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000.

“This tournament is going to be one of the most fun events that we have all year,” said FLW Tour rookie Miles Burghoff of Hixson, Tennessee, who is currently leading both the Angler of the Year (AOY) and Rookie of the Year (ROY) point races with just two events remaining in the season. “Dayton, Tennessee is the most bass-friendly town that I have ever been to and the best bass-fishing community that I have ever seen. It’s going to be great fishing and great crowds all week.”

Burghoff predicted that the majority of the bass would be spawn or post-spawn, and he expects that competitors will be able to fish however they would like to.

“We’re going to have guys that fish the ledges and do great, and we’ll have guys that avoid the ledges and fish shallow that will do great,” Burghoff said. “I think the key will be having multiple options. I don’t think you can win off of one spot very easily. It’s possible, but there are no secrets on Chickamauga – especially offshore. In order to win, you’re going to have to stay fluid and have a few back up plans ready to go.”

Burghoff predicted that standard Tennessee River-tackle would be in play – big spoons, jigs and swimbaits are all expected to play a role for tournament competitors. Burghoff also predicted that many of the FLW Tour pros would likely be seen throwing topwater baits for the first time this season.

“We’re hitting the lake perfectly and there will be plenty of fish well into their summertime patterns,” he said. “I think it’ll take at least a 15-pound-a-day average to make the top-30 cut to fish the weekend. I think it’ll take a four-day total of 87 to 88 pounds to win. It could be a little high, but it’s Lake Chickamauga and we’re going to crush them.”

Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. ET Thursday through Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins, May 2-3, will be held at the park beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, May 4-5, will also be held at the park, but will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Prior to 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.

As part of the FLW Tour’s community outreach initiative, FLW Tour anglers will visit shoppers and staff at We Care, a second-hand store benefitting the Safe Haven Light Family Transitional Shelter, located at 420 Market Street in Dayton on Wednesday, May 1 from 3-4:30 p.m. to interact with guests, snap photos and sign autographs, give away goodie bags and share fishing stories.

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 on Days Three and Four of the event, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by Todd Hollowell 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.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 168 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round on 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.

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.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

BREAKING NEWS-HISTORIC 2020 BASSMASTER CLASSIC JUST ANNOUNCED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Photo courtesy of BASS

The 50th Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods will come home to its Alabama roots in 2020. The world championship bass tournament will be held in Birmingham, Ala., with fishing competition taking place on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Ala., B.A.S.S. announced today.

The iconic fishing tournament will be held March 6-8, with daily weigh-ins and the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo taking place in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) in downtown Birmingham, B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin said during a press conference Monday afternoon at the BJCC.

“It’s fitting that the golden anniversary Classic be held in Alabama, where B.A.S.S. was founded more than 50 years ago,” Akin said. “Our plans are to make this the most spectacular celebration of bass fishing in history.

“Throughout the current Bassmaster Elite Series tournament season, we are celebrating ‘The Year of the Fan’ — our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the millions of bass fishing fans who make this sport so great. The celebration will culminate at the Classic here in Birmingham.”

The Classic was first held at Lake Mead, Nevada, in October 1971. The tournament was the brainchild of B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott, who wanted a way to determine an ultimate champion at the end of every tournament season. It has since been held in Alabama 12 times, eight of those in Birmingham.

“We are so proud to once again host the 2020 Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin. “We look forward to the great competition the Classic attracts and the dedicated fans who will gather in Birmingham for this incredible event. While in the region, we invite everyone to experience the inspirational history, legendary food and world class entertainment which make us the Magic City.”

“We are thrilled that the Bassmaster Classic will be returning to the Birmingham region once again,” said John Oros, president and CEO of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This event is the pinnacle of professional bass fishing and it attracts the greatest anglers in the world. The tournament reinforces the fact that the Birmingham area is a great professional and amateur sports destination. We expect that the economic impact of the event will equal or exceed the $32 million spent in hotels, restaurants, attractions and retailers this past year in Knoxville, Tenn.”

Twice previously — in 1976 and 2014 — fishing has taken place on Lake Guntersville, which has become synonymous with bass fishing greatness over the past half-century.

“We are excited that Lake Guntersville has been chosen to be the fishery for this anniversary Classic,” said Katy Norton, president of Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The interest the Classic generates has positive impact for months, even years following the tournament, and we expect Lake Guntersville will be at the top of the list for anglers and B.A.S.S. fans to visit following next spring’s competition. We look forward to the tournament and to continuing our partnership with B.A.S.S.”

The inaugural event in Nevada, which was won by Arkansas angler Bobby Murray, featured a 24-angler field and a winner-take-all format with a $10,000 prize. None of the anglers knew the location ahead of time, and they all fished with identical boats and motors.

Much has changed since then — especially the payout, which is now a whopping $1 million for a 53-angler field with $300,000 going to the winner. The winner also adds his name to the most prestigious list in bass fishing.

“The Classic is literally a life-changing event for the angler who wins,” said B.A.S.S. Director Chase Anderson. “It exemplifies what Bassmaster competition stands for: ‘Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.’ It honors the angler who can catch the biggest bass of the week, and weigh them on the biggest stage in bass fishing, and fulfill the biggest dream any angler can have. No title in professional fishing holds the same clout as ‘Classic champion.’”

It’s hard to imagine a more fitting spot for the 50th renewal of the event than Lake Guntersville, which has hosted 22 major B.A.S.S. events.

The 68,000-acre Tennessee River fishery, which is a popular destination for bass fishing enthusiasts from across the country, will also play host to a regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series tournament June 21-24. That 23rd major B.A.S.S. event will make Guntersville the second-most visited lake in B.A.S.S. history, behind only Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas.

Weigh-ins and the Classic Expo will be held 75 miles away at the BJCC — and recent history says they’ll be plenty busy.

The 2018 Classic attracted 143,323 fans to all activities, including the Get Hooked on Fishing activity center, morning takeoffs, weigh-ins and the Expo. That was an all-time record until this year’s event on the Tennessee River in Knoxville drew 153,809.

The Classic will be covered live and streamed on Bassmaster.com, ESPN3 and the ESPN App, and five hours of original programming will be aired on ESPN2 and the Pursuit Channel following the event. In addition, the Classic annually draws more than 250 credentialed media. The 2019 Classic was covered by journalists from 28 states as well as Japan, China, Australia, Italy, Germany and Canada.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

LOCAL PRO CLAIMS HOMETOWN WIN ON LAKE CHICKAMAUGA AT BASS PRO TOUR ECONO LODGE STAGE FOUR PRESENTED BY WINN GRIPS

DAYTON, Tenn. (April 14, 2019) – From the moment he announced his intention to compete on the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour, Tennessee pro Andy Morgan was tabbed by his fellow competitors as an angler to watch. Based on both his exceptional 23-year career and his catch-every-fish-that-swims fishing style, Morgan came into the season as a near-universal pick by his contemporaries to take home one of the eight regular-season Bass Pro Tour trophies.  It turns out that Morgan’s first Bass Pro Tour trophy didn’t have far to travel: 7.1 miles from Lake Chickamauga to the trophy room in his home in Dayton.   Fishing a lake that he grew up on – and finishing the day in a pocket that he and his dad have won “a number of April tournaments in over the years” – Morgan weighed in 34 Lake Chickamauga largemouth for 80-0 pounds to run away with the Championship Round of the Econo Lodge Stage Four presented by Winn Grips.  “I wanted to win one more tournament on Chickamauga,” Morgan admitted. “I can’t explain how hard it is to win an event at this level, and I can’t explain just how bad I wanted to win right here in front of my family and friends – I wanted it bad. It means the world to me to be able to come out here on this lake where I won my first tournament when I was 15, fish against this bunch of guys, and get that trophy. I’m awful proud of it.”  Jared Lintner finished second with 60-7, Todd Faircloth was third with 59-5, Jacob Powroznik was fourth with 54-4 and Mike Iaconelli completed the Top 5 with 54-2.     

Morgan Committed to One Spot Early  Morgan fished Championship Sunday as one would expect a seasoned veteran to work his home fishery, committing his entire championship round to a long backwater north of Dayton that locals refer to as “The Branch”. Morgan woke up on Championship Sunday, looked at the weather forecast calling for heavy morning rain and afternoon winds, and knew immediately that he had an outstanding chance for a big day in two sloughs inside “The Branch”.   “As soon as I saw the weather, I knew that I wasn’t going to leave that area all day,” Morgan confirmed. “I was going to fish it all day long and figure it out, because I thought it had the best population of fish to work on. I knew it could all go down right in those two sloughs, and that I needed to just stay put and be patient.”  Morgan’s patience paid off. The Favorite Fishing pro worked his way around two areas he refers to as “Back Slough” and “Bus Slough” with a jig and Zoom Super Salt Plus Z Craw, a lipless crankbait and a vibrating jig, picking up 11 fish apiece in the first and second periods to claim and hold a 7-1 lead heading into the final period.    Jared Lintner, who spent a good part of his day sight fishing, had crept to within 2 pounds of Morgan midway through Period 2 and had located one spawner that he identified as “a double-digit fish.” But while Lintner added 11 fish to his SCORETRACKER™ total through the final 2 ½ hours of competition, eight of those were under 2 pounds; Morgan, meanwhile, connected with his two biggest fish of the day – a 5-7 and a 6-9 – and a 4-4 to gradually open up his lead.  “I had no other competitors in my area and the weather kept the local traffic out, so I had the whole place to myself,” Morgan said. “I’ve had some pretty special days on Chickamauga – I won my first Angler of the Year title on this lake – but today was the one day in my whole career where the deck was stacked for me to win.”  

 Morgan finished the week with 224-8, a record for weight caught in a Bass Pro Tour event. He and Lintner’s 106 fish caught is also a record.   

Lintner Made a Run at It  Lintner made things interesting through the first two periods, catching solid numbers of 1- to 3-pound males in an area in Soddy Creek that had been fished heavily throughout the week. The Aftco pro made a serious run at Morgan’s lead in the second period with a series of 3-pounders, but ultimately couldn’t convince a couple of big females to bite.  “I didn’t know if that area would replenish, or if the ones that were in there would bite again, but the winning fish were in that area,” Lintner said. “I saw a couple of fresh big ones that I thought were going to go, but they just weren’t ready to bite.” 

Bass Pro Tour Stage Four By the Numbers  

Total Weight                     7,415 pounds, 9 ounces     

Total Fish                         3,829 fish

5-plus pounds                  74 fish

6-plus pounds                  36 fish  

7-plus pounds                  17 fish    

Records Broken  

Total Event Weight            7,415 pounds, 9 ounces    

Total Event Fish Caught    3,829

Most Overall Weight          224 pounds, 8 (Andy Morgan)

Most Fish Caught              106 (Jared Lintner & Andy Morgan)

Two-Day Weight                105 pounds, 6 ounces (Zack Birge) 

Next Up on the Bass Pro Tour  The 80-man MLF Bass Pro Tour field will have a two-week break before returning to competition for Stage Five on Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama, April 30 to May 5.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

THIS OKLAHOMA ANGLER LEADS WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS FLW TOUR ON CHEROKEE LAKE PRESENTED BY LOWRANCE

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (April 14, 2019) – Pro Andrew Upshaw of Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the FLW Tour at the Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance after catching five bass Sunday weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces. Upshaw’s four-day cumulative total of 20 bass weighing 67 pounds, 10 ounces, was enough to edge second-place pro Grae Buck of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, by 1 pound, 2 ounces, at the event that featured 164 of the world’s top bass anglers. For his win – the first of his FLW Tour career – Upshaw earned $100,000.

“This week was phenomenal – there’s no other way to describe it,” a visibly emotional Upshaw said on the FLW Tour weigh-in stage Sunday afternoon. “Through practice, I knew I was on something special, but I didn’t know just how special.”

Upshaw’s week on the water primarily involved targeting spawning bass. Early on, he said he lured bites with a drop-shot rig, using a green-pumpkin-colored Strike King KVD Drop-Shot Half Shell with a 1/8-ounce weight, but ended up switching after breaking it off 30 minutes into day one of competition. He proceeded to pick up a 4-inch, wacky-rigged Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Ocho of the same color and went to work putting together consistent limits around mid-lake islands. He said he preferred 10-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid line with a 6-pound InvisX fluorocarbon leader.

“These fish stay around these islands all year long – they don’t leave,” said Upshaw. “I caught some on banks, but all my big ones came on islands. I wanted to be around the deepest water and the steepest banks. It had to have boulders out in front, and more importantly, the bank had to have somewhat of a turn in it. It didn’t have to have a cove, but just a turn – those smallmouth were spawning in them. There was just enough [curve] to get them out of the current where they could spawn.

“I took the Ocho and pitched it behind those boulders because that’s where they were spawning,” continued Upshaw. “Everybody was casting out in front and in the cracks, but they were actually behind the boulders the entire time. Anybody throwing a weighted bait, whether it was a Ned rig or a shaky-head, wasn’t able to effectively fish it because it was dropping so fast. By pitching that very, very light-weight Ocho around, I was able to get the fish that no one else was fishing for.”

On Championship Sunday, Upshaw slipped and surrendered the lead for a significant period of time, but after a last-minute stop at a secondary area he’d been saving – two points a quarter-mile from takeoff – the Oklahoma pro made two culls that would end up putting him over the top.

“Off to the side of one of the points there was a rock pile – it had isolated boulders and only big ones were moving up on it,” said Upshaw. “I caught a 3½-pounder and one that weighed about 2½ pounds to cull out two small fish.”

Upshaw caught his final two fish using a 3.25-inch, Ghost Shad-colored Strike King Rage Swimmer on a ¼-ounce jighead.

The top 10 pros on Cherokee Lake finished:

               1st:          Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 20 bass, 67-10, $100,000

               2nd:         Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., 20 bass, 66-8, $30,200

               3rd:          Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 20 bass, 65-12, $25,100

               4th:          Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 20 bass, 65-11, $20,000

               5th:          Andy Young, Isle, Minn., 20 bass, 64-0, $19,000

               6th:          Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 20 bass, 63-1, $18,000

               7th:          Tim Cales, Sandstone, W. Va., 20 bass, 62-8, $17,000

               8th:          Derrick Snavely, Piney Flats, Tenn., 20 bass, 61-9, $16,000

               9th:          Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 20 bass, 61-4, $15,000

               10th:        Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 20 bass, 60-12, $14,000

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Overall, there were 50 bass weighing 146 pounds, 14 ounces, caught by pros Sunday. All of the final 10 pros were able to bring five-bass limits to the scale.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance will premiere in 2019. The exact air-date will be announced soon. 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 total purse for the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the Economic Development Alliance, Jefferson County. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude, in Dayton, Tennessee, May 2-5. The tournament will be hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 164 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

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.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

THIS ANGLER HOLDS ON TO WIN BASSMASTER ELITE SERIES AT WINYAH BAY

April 14, 2019 Photo courtesy of BASS
GEORGETOWN, S.C. —

Stetson Blaylock came to the Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay with one goal in mind: don’t finish last. He accomplished that goal — and then some.

The third-year Elite Series pro from Arkansas tallied a four-day total of 50 pounds, 15 ounces and earned a victory that was unexpected, to say the least. He capped the win with a Championship Sunday limit of five bass that weighed 9-3.

“I came here with the intentions of ‘Don’t ruin your season; don’t come here and finish dead last,’” said Blaylock, who earned $100,000 for the victory. “When I found my area, I knew it had fish, so I thought I’d get out of here with a Top 35 and roll on to the next one. I didn’t know it had winning potential at all.

“I look back at every bass I lost this week and think ‘Gosh, I should’ve caught that one.’ Today, I had one good one that jumped off that would have been another 2 pounds. When that kind of stuff happens, you’re not supposed to win, but when it’s your time, you can’t do anything wrong.”

Time management was essential throughout the week. While many of his competitors ran 100-plus miles to fish various areas of the Cooper River, Blaylock earned his first blue trophy by staying in a pond off the Waccamaw River, about 18 minutes from takeoff at Georgetown’s Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex.

Lined with overhanging trees, the area held deeper water and sprouted a few tributary canals. Here, Blaylock placed 11th on Day 1 with 11-6, rose to sixth the next day with 12-7 and surged into the Day 3 lead by sacking up a limit of 17-15, the tournament’s heaviest bag.

Today, Blaylock faced a tougher bite, but his 9-3 was enough to hold off a dramatic charge by second-place angler Scott Canterbury, who finished just 9 ounces behind Blaylock.

“I’ve never been here before, so I went to where I knew there were some fish,” Blaylock said. “That gave me the entire day to fish.”

Coming off a second-place finish in last week’s Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell, Blaylock not only carried over the positive momentum, he also stuck with the same selection of lures. His primary bait was a 5-inch green pumpkin YUM Dinger stickworm with a 1/32-ounce nail weight and a Gamakatsu G-Finesse Dropshot Hook tucked under an O-ring.

Blaylock used this rig for skipping under tree limbs, a technique that accounted for most of his bites. He also caught a keeper on a P-70 Pop-R — and when he found bed fish, he pitched a white YUM Christie Craw on a 3/0 hook and a 7/16-ounce weight.

“Going out this morning with the chance to win, all day it seemed like I had given it away,” Blaylock said. “I figured I’d finish sixth or seventh with the way I lost so many and fished so poorly today. But it all comes down to those key fish you get in the box.

“Winning an event like this is everything to a fisherman. The money’s nice, but the trophy is what it’s all about.”

In second place, Canterbury’s ambitious venture was pure Bassmaster LIVE gold, as a long run up the Cooper yielded a limit of 16-2 — the day’s heaviest catch — and gave him a total weight of 50-6. Motoring well past where other competitors fished, the Alabama angler, who started the day in eighth place, made a key bait change that produced 10 pounds in two bites — a 6- and a 4-pounder — within 30 minutes.

“I went up there yesterday and I was only going to fish about an hour just to get away from everybody, because I struggled so bad the second day,” Canterbury said. “When I got up there yesterday I caught a 2-pounder and then a 5-pounder 10-minutes later, so I ended up staying in that area.

“Today, I went up there and threw the same Dirty Jigs swim jig I threw yesterday and couldn’t get them to bite it. I hadn’t thrown a buzzbait all week. But today, with muddy water and overcast weather, it just felt like a buzzbait day. I caught every one of my fish on that bait.”

Earlier in the day, Canterbury took advantage of the morning’s high water to fish around spawning areas. When the outgoing tide started draining the areas, he moved outside to the main creek channel and caught his fish on points of vegetation out of the main current.

“It’s all about making those adjustments and today, I made some good ones,” he said.

In third place, Canadian Cory Johnston also fished the Cooper River, but he focused on the expansive flats that once served as rice fields. In practice, he had marked several key areas with hydrilla clumps and isolated hard-bottom spots.

Targeting these spawning sites was his plan, but the day’s conditions were not favorable.

“The water was clear, but with cloudy skies, I couldn’t see the beds and the clear spots and that hurt me,” Johnston said. “I could get my bait in the area, but I wasn’t able to specifically throw it on a bed, so I had to blind cast.”

Johnston added a limit of 9-1 and finished with 49-5. He caught his fish on a wacky-rigged green pumpkin stickbait and a homemade swim jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer.

Rounding out the Top 5 were Jason Williamson with 46-3 and John Crews with 46-2.

Williamson won the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award with a 6-10 largemouth.

Williamson and Crews were also the two highest finishing anglers eligible for Toyota Bonus Bucks. Williamson finished fourth and added $3,000 to his purse, while Crews finished fifth earning a $2,000 bonus.

South Carolina rookie Patrick Walters claimed the lead in both the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and the DICK`S Sporting Goods Rookie of Year race, after four events, earning $1,000 for AOY and $500 for ROY.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

STETSON BLAYLOCK’S BIG DAY DELIVERS LEAD IN BASSMASTER ELITE AT WINYAH BAYS

GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Photo courtesy of BASS

Committing his day to a deeper pocket off the Waccamaw River, Arkansas angler Stetson Blaylock caught the largest five-bass limit of the week, weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces, and took over the lead at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay with a three-day total of 41-12.

Blaylock said his selected area provided bass with a comfortable habitat beyond the spawn. He admitted he started the day concerned that he was running out of fish, but his persistence was rewarded with a day of steady productivity.

“I really thought that it was drying up, and I was almost to the point of thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to end up catching five 12-inchers and wherever it happens, it happens,’” Blaylock said. “I caught that first big one — a 4-pounder at 9:50 — and that let me know that things were happening there that I wasn’t aware of.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that (the pocket) is so deep out in the middle, those fish have an opportunity to keep moving up and keep moving up. I don’t think you can fish it out.”

Blaylock caught his fish by flipping a Texas-rigged YUM Christie Craw and skipping a wacky-rigged YUM Dinger. He added a nail weight to the latter for a strategic presentation.

“I think that’s the difference between me and a lot of the guys; everyone’s probably throwing weightless wacky rigs, but it seems that putting that nail weight in it gets it down faster and maybe triggers a strike or two that a slow fall won’t,” he said.

Tides proved critical in two aspects of Blaylock’s success. First, the morning’s falling tide facilitated his skipping presentations by creating an increasingly wider gap between the water’s surface and overhanging limbs. Toward the end of his day, rising water ushered bedding female bass back into a catchable position.

Blaylock’s biggest bass, a 5-pounder, had dropped nearly out of sight when he spotted the bed during low water. Returning when there was more water over the spot allowed him to tempt his day-maker.

While most of the field again made the long run south from the takeoff spot to the Cooper River, Blaylock said he refused to let thoughts of what others might be doing distract him or diminish his confidence.

“These fisheries can hurt you and burn you so bad that I try not to worry about what’s going on and try to concentrate on the next bite,” he said “That first big one I caught surprised me. I had already thoroughly fished that area the first two days, and she was just sitting up there fresh and ready to go. That means there are more fish in there than I’d thought.”

Noting that fellow angler Koby Kreiger had also fished the same area, Blaylock said he’s comfortable returning to the spot for the final round.

“I don’t know if it will be easy to catch five big ones again, but the opportunity is there,” he said. “I’m past worrying about it. I’m just going to go in there and fish like I’m the only guy in there and hope I can get five more good bites.”

In second place, Canadian Cory Johnston ran to the Cooper River and found the day’s second largest bag, a limit of 17-6 that gave him a total weight of 40-4. Noting that he threw reaction baits and soft plastics, Johnston said he quickly dialed into what the bass were doing, and he was happy to discover that more bass are moving into the areas each day.

“Today, I feel that a lot more big fish have moved in. I probably caught 25 fish today,” he said. “We had a good tide today and not a lot of wind, so it was a ‘true’ tide, and that really helped. It’s a big area but there are three specific spots within the area. They’re hard-bottom spots, and there are a lot of fish on them.”

In third place, Alabama’s Clent Davis also had his biggest day of the week. His Day 3 limit of 16-6 gave him a total weight of 38-6. Fishing in the Waccamaw River, Davis fished reeds and trees on high tide and switched to arrowhead pads during low tide.

“I fished a Nichols Saber swim jig in the shad spawn color with a white Mister Twister Buzz Bug trailer all day,” Davis said. “I just have a lot of confidence in that bait. The last time we were here, I caught a pretty good bag on it. I’ve caught 15 keepers on it every day.”

Rounding out the Top 5 are Koby Kreiger with 36-10 and John Crews with 36-5.

Crews caught a 6-7 today to anchor his catch, but Jason Williamson of Wagener, S.C., leads the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award with a 6-10 he caught in the first round of competition.

Takeoff on Championship Sunday will be at 7 a.m. ET out of Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex, and the final weigh-in is scheduled at the same location beginning at 3:15 p.m.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

UNBELIEVABLE 100 POUNDS, HEAVY HITTERS ADVANCE TO KNOCKOUT ROUND ON CHICKAMAUGA

DAYTON, Tenn. (April 12, 2019) – At the end of four rounds of competition in the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Econo Lodge Stage Four Presented by Winn Grips, we’re all done asking “Just how good is Lake Chickamauga?” The answer is best expressed in numbers: 105-6; 11 over 80; 748; 1,400. Zack Birge ended Elimination Round 2 on Friday with 105 pounds, 6 ounces of combined weight from his two rounds, a new Bass Pro Tour record. Eleven anglers competing today in Group B had two-day totals over 80 pounds. And the 40-man field put 748 bass on SCORETRACKER™ for 1,400 pounds.

Birge Blisters the Elimination Record Birge became the first competitor in Bass Pro Tour history to break the 100-pound mark in Elimination Round competition, connecting with 28 Tennessee River largemouth for 54-2 on the day, building his two-day Shotgun/Elimination total to a record 105-6. The Oklahoma pro maintained a steady pace with a vibrating jig with a Googan Baits Krackin Craw trailer from the moment lines went in, weighing nine fish in Period 1, six in Period 2, and then adding 13 fish for 22-2 in the final period. “Once I got to where I thought 100 pounds was attainable, I really wanted to break that 100-pound mark,” Birge admitted. “I’m excited to go right back out and fish again, I feel like I can go catch a bunch of them. I haven’t even gone to a dozen places I found in practice that set up the same way as what I fished today.”  

Top 11 All Over 80 Pounds  Local pro Andy Morgan was matter-of-fact about his 31-pound performance in the Shotgun Round, which brought him into competition on Friday in 21st place (“Middle-of-the-road at best,” Morgan said). But Morgan was one of the anglers who got busy early on Chickamauga, putting 18 fish on SCORETRACKER™ for 47-14 in the first two periods and finishing with 56-13 to bring his two-day total to 88-5. Davis, Powroznik and Roumbanis did even better. Davis piled up 64-15 on the day, Powroznik added 60-14 on 32 fish, and Roumbanis boosted his two-day total with 58-11. Those three were part of an 11-angler group that finished the Elimination Round with 80-plus pounds. “This is by far the best day I’ve had on the Bass Pro Tour,” Roumbanis said. “I’m starting to get the confidence of running around and fishing the entire day instead of period to period. That has helped me to fish more free and not get locked in on one certain deal. I probably had 15 rods on my deck today and moved through a bunch of them with confidence.”    


MLF Pro Fred Roumbanis finished the Group B Elimination Round in the No. 2 spot with 94-12; his 58-11 weight  
today was anchored by this 5-12 largemouth.

Weights Back to Zero for Knockout Round  One thing that we’ve learned this week on Lake Chickamauga is that any standard that was set in the previous three stages of the 2019 Bass Pro Tour season is moot. It took 49 pounds to win the Knockout Rounds at both Kissimmee (Florida) and Raleigh (North Carolina), and 38 pounds for Boyd Duckett to claim the top knockout spot on Lake Conroe (Texas). So far, there have been 15 single-day weights of 49 pounds or better recorded on SCORETRACKER this week on Chickamauga, and the two-day Shotgun/Elimination weight record has been broken two days in a row. “I keep waiting for the weights to fall off at some point, but we just keep catching them better and better,” said Fletcher Shryock, who racked up 86-7 in two rounds. “We’re catching the numbers, but what this fishery hasn’t showcased yet is the big ones. We’re catching this much weight and we’re still not seeing the 8s, 9s and 10s. I guess that’s the quote of the day: Lake Chickamauga is fishing really good, but could be ever better. And that’s insane.” 

When, Where & How to Watch   Competition begins Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! Live Stream starts at 10 a.m. ET, with live, on-the-water coverage and analysis provided by Chad McKee, JT Kenney, Marty Stone and Natalie Dillon until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show – hosted by Steven “Lurch” Scott – will start at 5 p.m. daily.