Author: jcarrigan

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!! – LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN, ANNOUNCED AS SITE FOR INAUGURAL REDCREAST CHAMPIONSHIP

Major League Fishing’s® Bass Pro Tour has been rocking the professional bass fishing world since its January debut, and the league announced today that the season-ending championship for the tour will be titled “Redcrest”.

La Crosse, Wisconsin, will serve as host to the first Redcrest event, which will be held August 19-25, 2019.

Major League Fishing announces Redcrest, Bass Pro Tour’s season-ending championship scheduled for La Crosse, Wis., August 2019.

The competition will take place in the bass-rich waters of the Upper Mississippi River and feature the top 30 anglers who have accumulated the most qualifying points over the course of the 2019 Bass Pro Tour’s eight-event season.

“Explore La Crosse is ecstatic to host the inaugural MLF Bass Pro Tour Championship, the Redcrest,” said A.J. Frels, Executive Director for Explore La Crosse. “The scenic Upper Mississippi is one of the best river bass fisheries in the country for largemouth and smallmouth. Expect huge numbers of fish, possibly even some MLF record-breaking numbers, to be caught.”

Along with the competition days, Redcrest will also feature a community expo with Bass Pro Tour sponsors, Friday to Sunday, August 23-25.  All activities, including interaction with the pros, are free and open to the public.

“We are excited about the upcoming event in La Crosse,” said MLF Executive Vice President and General Manager, Don Rucks. “This will be our first big event where we will push fan engagement to the highest point. I encourage you to keep an eye out for what’s coming.”

Rucks also provided origin of the Redcrest name, explaining that the prominent red MLF logo itself is symbolic – a crest – representing MLF’s family-like atmosphere among the league’s anglers, sponsors, fans and host communities. 

MLF Pro Edwin Evers leads in Bass Pro Tour points after three events. The MLF Redcrest championship event will feature the 30 anglers who have accumulated the most qualifying points over the course of the 2019 Bass Pro Tour’s eight-event season.

“A crest is also the highest point of a mountain, therefore Redcrest is our pinnacle of achievement – the peak of proficiency. Every MLF angler wants to be the best of the best, and all want the right to prove it by first earning an entry into Redcrest, and then winning the event,” Rucks added.

The La Crosse County venue knows about family, too, as the area has something for everyone who puts Redcrest on their family calendars for a summer visit.

“We have world-class fine dining, incredible arts, outdoor recreation in hiking, biking, and paddling, a variety of attractions and so much more for the entire family to enjoy. Join us for Redcrest so we can show you an unforgettable experience,” said Frels.

“La Crosse may be on the western border of Wisconsin, but it is in the heart of an outdoorsman’s paradise,” said Michael Mulone, Senior Director of Events and Partnerships for MLF. “The region is packed with adventure opportunities and it will be our pleasure to highlight this beautiful destination to a national audience.”  

It was late last year when Major League Fishing first announced plans of expansion that included the 2019 Bass Pro Tour. The first competition was held in late January, and the series will hit the mid-season mark next week when the Bass Pro Tour Stage Four takes place in Dayton, Tennessee at Lake Chickamauga, April 9-14.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

SOUTH CAROLINA PRO BRANDON COBB STAYS OUT FRONT AT BASSMASTER ELITE AT LAKE HARTWELL

April 5, 2019 – Photo courtesy of BASS

South Carolina Pro Brandon Cobb Stays Out Front At Bassmaster Elite At Lake HartwellANDERSON, S.C. —

Brandon Cobb has been driving about an hour every morning this week to the takeoff site for the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell.

It’s a little farther than he’d normally want to drive for an Elite Series event, but he says it’s been worth it to get the full benefit of his home-field advantage.

The Greenwood, S.C., pro, who has been sleeping in his own bed and eating home-cooked meals with his wife, Amy, while other anglers in the field stay at hotels and campgrounds, caught five bass today that weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces and maintained the lead for the second straight day.

Cobb’s two-day total of 37-1 puts him just ahead of second-place Georgia pro Micah Frazier (35-12) and Florida angler Drew Cook, who caught a tournament-best limit of 20-6 in today’s second round and rose from 25th place to third with a two-day mark of 34-10.

“Yesterday, I ran around a little bit more and fished some different areas, and I didn’t catch as many as I expected,” said Cobb, who took the opening-round lead Thursday with 19-9. “So, I (mostly) stayed in one area today.”

Heavy rains fell on Lake Hartwell during the first few hours of fishing today, and it seemed to change the way the bass bit for the former Clemson University bass angler. Cobb relied heavily on boat docks for his first-round catch, but only caught small fish off of docks today.

Fortunately for him, one of the final bass he caught today was a 5-7 spawning largemouth that made the difference between maintaining the lead and starting Saturday’s semifinal round playing catchup.

“I caught that fish off of the bed,” Cobb said. “It only took about four casts, so I was pretty fortunate. That was the last fish I culled with.”

As for sleeping in his own bed — and fishing a lake he grew up on while others in the 74-angler field have traveled from far-away locales like Oregon, Texas, and Australia — Cobb said it’s a rare treat.

“It’s so nice,” he said. “I go home, and my wife will either have dinner ready or we grill something. It’s been nice staying at home. You sleep better, too.

“Now, I just need to keep finding that big bite every day.”

Frazier has stayed on Cobb’s heels by using bits and pieces of several patterns each day. Today, he benefited heavily from a pocket he discovered while competing in the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Lake Hartwell.

“I didn’t practice there, and I didn’t fish it yesterday either,” said Frazier, a three-time Classic qualifier. “Today, I ran back in there and caught a big one on a boat dock. Then on the other side of the pocket, I caught one that was about 3 1/2 pounds.

“I’ll definitely make a pass through there tomorrow.”

Beyond that, with greatly increased boat traffic expected Saturday, Frazier said he isn’t certain what he’ll do.

“I’ve caught them doing a few different things this week,” he said. “But there’s just not enough of that stuff left, and I’m going to have to go somewhere else.

“That’s a risk, but I really have to do it because I’ve caught all there is around where I’ve been fishing.”

Cook turned in the only 20-pound limit of the event so far by targeting shallow-spawning bass. He caught every fish he weighed in by sight fishing.

“In practice, I thought I could have 17 to 19 pounds one day of this tournament,” Cook said. “I thought it would happen yesterday and then things would fall off today.

“But today, with the rain and the clouds and everything, a lot of people stayed off the banks and weren’t trolling over the tops of the fish — and that helped tremendously.”

A warm evening and a more favorable forecast for Saturday and Sunday has Cook feeling optimistic for the rest of the event.

“I was able to find about 10 more fish this afternoon that I left for tomorrow,” Cook said. “I know there will be a lot more boat traffic, but hopefully everything will pan out.”

Illinois pro Chris Groh took the lead for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award with a largemouth that weighed 5-13.

The Top 35 pros will resume fishing Saturday with takeoff scheduled for 7 a.m. ET from Green Pond Landing and Event Center in Anderson and weigh-in back at the same site at 3:15 p.m. After Saturday’s round, only the Top 10 will advance to Championship Sunday with a shot at the $100,000 first-place prize.

On Saturday and Sunday, a special Elite Expo will be held at Green Pond Landing with demo rides of a Nitro, Skeeter and Triton boats, prizes from Toyota and Academy Sports + Outdoors, fun activities at the Berkley/Abu Garcia Experience trailer and activities offered by other Elite Series sponsors.

On Saturday from 1-3 p.m., fans can get autographs and take photos with Elite Series pros at Angler Alley. The pros will also be holding Elite Angler Clinics from 1-3 p.m., giving tips on all things bass fishing.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

2019 TOYOTA BASSMASTER AOY CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE HELD ON THIS CLASSIC BODY OF WATER.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Photo courtesy of BASS

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail has visited Lake St. Clair six times since the early 1990s, including twice for high-stakes Elite Series events.

But the stakes have never been higher than they’ll be when the trail returns to the massive 275,000-acre fishery in late September.

B.A.S.S. officials announced today that Lake St. Clair will serve as the host venue for the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Sept. 26-29. The tournament, which carries a whopping $1 million total purse, will decide the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year winner, the 2019 DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year and the bulk of the lineup for the 2020 Bassmaster Classic.

“B.A.S.S. has had some great events at Lake St. Clair, and the people there have always been enthusiastic and supportive fans,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “This has already been one of the most exciting years we’ve ever had on the Bassmaster Elite Series, and I can’t think of a better place for it to end than on a great smallmouth fishery like St. Clair.”

The hosts for the event will be the County of Macomb and the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Takeoffs and weigh-ins will be held at Lake St. Clair Metropark — and they’ll once again feature the party atmosphere that fans have come to expect from the Elite Series’ season-ending celebration.

Anglers will compete Thursday and Friday, Sept. 26-27, and then have an off-day built around interaction with fishing fans on Saturday, and conclude the championship on Sunday. Saturday’s activities will include an Outdoors Expo with merchandise, food and drink vendors and sponsor activations and promotions. Elite anglers will provide seminars revealing their best bass fishing techniques, and they’ll be available to sign autographs, mingle with fans and talk fishing.

“Between now and the 2020 Bassmaster Classic, B.A.S.S. is celebrating the ‘Year of the Fan,’” Akin said. “We’ll be doing special things to show appreciation for our fans throughout that time, and we’ll certainly be doing plenty during the AOY Championship.

“Obviously, the tournament and the crowning of a new AOY champion will be the main attraction at Lake St. Clair. But there will also be a festival with music, barbecue and fun things for everyone who attends.”

Anglers will be allowed to fish Lake St. Clair and all rivers, creeks and canals connected to the lake. Anglers will not be allowed to travel south of the Ambassador Bridge Highway 3 in the Detroit River or north of the I-94 bridges in the St. Clair and Black rivers, according to B.A.S.S. Tournament Director Trip Weldon.

The AOY standings change throughout the season, with anglers earning points each time they fish a regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series event. Only the Top 50 from the 75-angler Elite Series field will qualify for the AOY Championship, where they’ll have a chance to win the 50th AOY title ever awarded by B.A.S.S. and the $100,000 paycheck that goes with it.

The history of the award dates back to 1970 when the first AOY trophy was won by bass fishing superstar Bill Dance. Since then, legends of the sport like Jimmy Houston, Hank Parker, Davy Hite, Rick Clunn and Roland Martin have all earned the title. Martin won the crown an amazing nine times.

Canadian pro Chris Johnston grabbed the early lead in this year’s AOY standings after finishing second in the Elite Series opener on the St. Johns River in Florida and 10th in the event that followed at Georgia’s Lake Lanier. With a points total of 190, Johnston is followed in the standings by Scott Canterbury of Alabama (182), Lee Livesay of Texas (181) and Patrick Walters of South Carolina (176).

Walters said the AOY title is something every bass fisherman dreams about.

“This is my first season on the Elite Series — and from the moment I knew I was going to be fishing here, my goal was to win AOY,” Walters said. “That’s it. It doesn’t get any better than that in bass fishing. If I win Angler of the Year, the Rookie of the Year title will take care of itself.”

In addition to deciding the various season championship races and 39 berths for the Classic, the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship will award $25,000 and an Elite Series trophy to the angler who has the heaviest total weight for the three-day competition.

“The Bassmaster Elite Series is a year-long race to determine the best bass angler on tour,” Akin said. “Fans can witness the culmination of all that at the AOY Championship.”

B.A.S.S. also announced the dates of its first-ever “makeup tournament,” which will only take place if one of the nine regular-season Elite events has to be canceled this year. In the event that might happen, anglers, staff, sponsors and others have been asked to set aside the weekend prior to AOY — Sept. 19-22 — to make up any canceled tournament.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

Cobb’s Hometown Advantage Lands Him In The Lead At Bassmaster Elite At Lake Hartwell

ANDERSON, S.C. — Photo courtesy of BASS

When Brandon Cobb realized the bass might be spawning for this week’s Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell, he grimaced just a little bit.

Cobb is a South Carolina native who grew up fishing Hartwell, and he knows things about the lake that others don’t. He was afraid the spring spawn would bring the bass into clear view for the entire field, neutralizing his home-field advantage.

Turns out, they are spawning.

But so far, his advantage seems to be intact.

Cobb brought five bass to the scales today that weighed 19 pounds, 9 ounces and took the Day 1 lead at the third Elite Series event of the season. He has a 2-pound advantage over North Carolina pro Hank Cherry and Georgia pro Micah Frazier, who each caught 17-9.

“There are a lot of fish on bed out here right now,” Cobb said. “But I know what this lake looks like when there’s an all-out spawn going on, and it’s just not happening.

“There have been some fish caught on beds, and there will be some more caught off the beds. But judging from today and from what I saw in practice, the spawn is not in full swing.”

Cobb said he caught a couple of bass on spawning nests himself today, but he also caught prespawn and postspawn fish.

His experience on the lake played a big role in his first-round success — just as he’d hoped it would.

“I didn’t really have a specific pattern today,” said Cobb, a former member of the Clemson University bass fishing team who holds a degree in wildlife and fisheries biology. “I basically just ran a lot of stuff where I’ve caught them in the past. Since practice was so bad, I just fished a lot of stuff I was familiar with.”

Just as Cobb wouldn’t offer specific details about how he caught his bass, Cherry was vague about how he ended up in second place. The seventh-year Elite Series pro weighed in four solid largemouth and one impressive shoal bass that weighed just over 3 pounds.

“I sight fished a little bit,” Cherry said. “I threw a wacky worm around a little bit. Then I did some damage later on in the day, doing what I do best.”

He wouldn’t elaborate on his final point, but he was obviously pleased with his results.

“That shoal bass was one of the biggest ones I’ve ever caught,” Cherry said. “I caught three of those today. It was just a good day all the way around.”

After what he described as “terrible practice,” Frazier said he tried some new areas today and found what he believed to be prespawn bass. He used the popular term “junk fishing” to describe the conglomeration of tactics he used.

“I caught some sight fishing, some on topwater and one or two on a dock,” Frazier said. “It was just ‘Junk Fishing 101,’ but that’s what you do here sometimes because there are a lot of ways to catch them on this lake.”

The tournament could take an interesting turn during Friday’s second round with a strong band of storms expected to hit the Lake Hartwell area around sunrise. Winds and heavy rains could make it nearly impossible for anglers to fish for the few bass that are spawning in shallow water.

A steadily falling lake level could take the spawning element even further out of the equation.

“The weather is not going to let us do any sight fishing tomorrow, and I kind of threw that out the window today already,” said North Carolina pro Matt Arey, who placed fourth with 16-15. “We’ll just change it up tomorrow. I was slow and methodical today, and I’ll probably pick up a few more moving baits tomorrow.”

Mississippi pro Brock Mosley took the early lead for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award with a largemouth that weighed 5-9.

The tournament will resume Friday with takeoff at 7 a.m. ET from Green Pond Landing and Event Center and weigh-in back at the same site at 3:15 p.m. Only the Top 35 anglers will advance after Friday’s round.

Categories
Minnow Blog

Fishing Hurt Feelings Report

Welcome to the Minnow Blog. I find it fitting that the first official post helps those who get there feeling hurt on social media, get help! Let’s face it, fisherman are one tough crowd. You won’t find very many people who can’t catch fish, but sure as shit, they will bash someone on Facebook.

Here it is the Fishing Hurt Feeling Report, please feel free to share and help other overcome their sensitivities. In reality, lets just hope they don’t melt and completely freak out.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Powroznik Rallies for Win in Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 31, 2019) – When it all comes down to it, the Major League Fishing® (MLF) format has always been about identifying fishing conditions on the fly, and making the right adjustments as those conditions change.
MLF pro Jacob Powroznik learned enough from the first fish he saw on Championship Sunday to tell him all he needed to know. That fish, which rolled on a floating worm in the first pocket that the Virginia pro fished on Shearon Harris Reservoir, clued Powroznik in that the lake’s largemouth were in extremely shallow water and spawning.
Powroznik didn’t catch that fish, but it caused him to pick up a wacky-rigged 5-inch V&M Chopstick and start fishing for spawners. It was the right decision: Powroznik connected with 20 fish for 63 pounds, 4 ounces to earn a shiny new red-and-silver trophy and the $100,000 first-place check at the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude.
“I saw that fish swim over on that floating worm, and I knew right then fish were spawning,” Powroznik said. “They were really shallow, and I picked that wacky-worm up right then and didn’t take it out of my hand the rest of the day.” 

From sight fishing to casting
Powroznik, one of the most skilled sight-fishermen in the field, dedicated some time early in the day to bedding fish, but then pulled off the beds and started casting to shallow water when mid-day clouds spoiled the visibility. That, too, proved to be a key decision.
“I love sight fishing, but the farther you stay off of them, the better,” Powroznik confirmed. “Those fish were in a foot of water, so they wanted something real subtle. It’s probably a good thing that it got cloudy and I couldn’t see those fish anymore, or I might’ve spent the day trying to get fish to bite sight-fishing to them. It turned out that it was better to cast to points that were a little further out toward the mouths of those pockets instead.”

MLF pro Jacob Powroznik wacky-wormed his way to the MLF Stage Three win on North Carolina’s Shearon Harris Reservoir with a total catch for the day of 20 scorable bass weighing a cumulative 63 pounds, 4 ounces.

It was far from a runaway for Powroznik
Jacob Wheeler, who finished second with 59-10, piled up 44-3 through two periods, most of it on a frog. Wheeler finished out Period 2 with an 8-5 that pushed the Tennessee pro to a seemingly comfortable lead of 9-11 heading into the final period.
Wheeler’s frog bite slowed down over the final two hours, though. Powroznik, meanwhile, worked his way through a 32-pound final period to chip away at Wheeler, eventually catching two 4-pounders and a 6-4 in the final hour to take a lead that he never relinquished.
“Obviously, to come up a little short, it always stings a little bit,” Wheeler said. “The conditions got right for a topwater and I got dialed in on that and took the lead. I knew at Shearon Harris you had to keep catching them, because you know there’s really good fish to be caught. Ultimately, I could sit here and complain, but there are plenty of other guys who would like to be in the position that I was.”

Rounding out the Top 10
Takahiro Omori finished third with 52-11, followed by Edwin Evers (43-13) and Mark Daniels, Jr. (30-13) to round out the Top 5. Ott DeFoe finished sixth with 26-1, followed by Jeff Sprague (25-14), Alton Jones (21-8), Jared Lintner (13-8) and Russ Lane (11-13).

Moving on to Stage Four
The 80-angler Bass Pro Tour field will have a short rest week before returning to competition April 9-14 at Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee, at the Econo Lodge Stage Four Dayton presented by Winn Grips. 

Quotable
Takahiro Omori (3rd/52-11) – “Well, the most likely thing was in the afternoon I was in the right area. In the morning, I wasted a lot of time, out in the mud. Once you get in the right area and get hooked up with the right bait, you know you’re going to have fun. It’s springtime, so it’s good.”
Edwin Evers (4th/43-13) – “I’m just on a little roll, man. I’m really excited about Major League Fishing, and it’s kind of reinvigorated my career. I’m ate up with it right now. I’m enjoying it again and it’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed it. I’m just having a lot of fun, making good decisions, and having fun catching them. It’s humbling to be able to have three Top 10s like that, I don’t know what to say about it. I’m just going to be thankful for three great tournaments, which I am.”

Categories
MLF BIG-5

LAWYER WINS FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

GROVE, Okla. (March 31, 2019) – Photo courtesy of FLW Fishing

The FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury Marine promised a dramatic finish Sunday as all of the final top-10 anglers competing were within striking distance of first place and the title of Grand Lake Champion. When the scales settled, it was bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Missouri, who had caught enough weight to earn the first FLW Tour victory of his career.

Lawyer’s final-day catch of five bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces gave him a four-day total of 62-12 and the win via tiebreaker – the Day Three standings – over international angler Michael Matthee of Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa, who also weighed in a four-day total of 62-12, but started the day fourth place. Lawyer started the day in place and earned the win and the first place prize of $125,000.

“I can’t even express what this means,” said Lawyer, the 2016 Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Champion who is fishing his third season on the FLW Tour. “I dreamt for years of making the All-American, then I finally made it there and won it. That was a huge milestone for my family – my bank account, my fishing career, everything. Now, to get a win at the Tour level, it’s unbelievable. And to do it here with my friends following me on a lake that I’ve got a lot of history with and love for, gosh, it couldn’t be any better.”

Lawyer said that he caught all 20 of the fish that he weighed in this week on spinnerbaits, his key one being a ¾-ounce Freedom Lures Swing head spinnerbait thrown on a 7-foot, 6-inch Lew’s Magnum Heavy Cover rod and Lew’s Pro Magnesium reel spooled with 20-pound Sunline fluorocarbon. He credited his knowledge of the lake as being the key to his victory.

“I fished four different areas of the lake. I might have retreaded some of the same water, but I started somewhere completely new every day,” Lawyer said. “I fished everything from Honey Creek to the Dam. It was so random. My five fish that I caught today came on five different things. One came off of a little pipe this morning. My big one came off of a laydown. One came off of a little secondary point that didn’t have anything there. Another came off of a big old tree that was almost completely out of the water way in the back of a creek. And it’s been that way all week.”

Like most of the FLW Tour field, Lawyer said the fishing was a grind. He caught seven keepers on each of the first two days of competition, six keepers on Saturday and just five keepers on Sunday. Despite the tough conditions, Lawyer declared that Grand Lake was still in great shape.

“If we were here just two weeks later, it’d be stupid what we catch,” Lawyer said. “The lake is in great shape, but the weather is just what held us all back this week. That probably worked in my favor.

“Getting the win from the tiebreaker just goes to show how tight the competition is on the FLW Tour,” Lawyer went on to say. “Everyone out here can catch them, and it really shows the power of catching five every day. I caught a tiny little line-burner today that I was embarrassed to bring to weigh-in, but boy, am I glad that I brought him along.”

The top 10 pros on Grand Lake finished:                                                                                                            

              1st:          Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 20 bass, 62-12, $127,500

              2nd:         Michael Matthee, Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa, 18 bass, 62-12, $30,200

              3rd:         Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., 18 bass, 61-3, $25,500

              4th:         Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 17 bass, 59-9, $20,100

              5th:         Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 19 bass, 58-4, $19,000

              6th:         Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 18 bass, 58-1, $18,000

              7th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 16 bass, 56-7, $17,000

              8th:         Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 12 bass, 46-12, $16,000

              9th:         Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 14 bass, 43-5, $15,000

              10th:       Sheldon Collings, Grove, Okla., 15 bass, 39-9, $14,000

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

Overall there were 31 bass weighing 102 pounds, 8 ounces caught by pros Sunday. Five of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury 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 total purse for the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury was more than $860,000. The tournament was hosted by the City of Grove and the Cherokee Casino Grove. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance, in Jefferson City Tennessee, April 11-14. The tournament will be hosted by the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County.

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. 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
MLF BIG-5

FLW TOUR HEADS TO CHEROKEE LAKE FOR FIFTH EVENT OF SEASON

March 28, 2019  by FLW Communications Photo courtesy of FLW Fishing

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament fishing organization,  is heading to Jefferson City to take on Cherokee Lake, April 11-14, for the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance. Hosted by the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, the tournament will feature four days of bass-fishing action from 165 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.

Although Cherokee Lake has hosted multiple T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) events over the years, this event will mark the first time the FLW Tour has ever visited the fishery. The total purse for the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance – the 215th event in FLW Tour history – is more than $860,000.

“Everybody knows you can go up the river to catch largemouth on Cherokee Lake. It’s got a decent population of largemouth, but I don’t think it can withstand the fishing pressure of a tournament of our size over four days,” said pro Jason Abram of Piney Flats, Tennessee, a 10-year FLW Tour veteran. “I think it’s going to take a mixed bag – largemouth and smallmouth – to win.

“The smallmouth population in Cherokee Lake is pretty strong still,” Abram continued. “It’s very possible that they could be bedding, although the TVA started dropping the water last week and that could hold them off. In my opinion, the majority of the anglers in the top 50 will likely be fishing for smallmouth.”

With both species of bass in play, it will be a crucial decision for tournament competitors. Abram said that smallmouth would likely be heavily targeted in staging areas – points and chunk rock – before moving in to spawn on pea-gravel banks. Abram expects the largemouth to also play a big role for anglers and predicted that the majority would be caught up the Holston River.

“These guys are used to running around flipping bushes and docks, but in East Tennessee, when the water is low, we don’t have that, Abram said. “We’re going to have to decipher what kind of rock and what depth of rock they are on.

“Someone is going to figure out how to catch a largemouth first thing, and then catch some smallmouth to fill out a limit. Or, they’re going to catch a limit of smallmouth and then go flipping or shallow-cranking for largemouth and catch that 4- or 5-pounder that puts them where they need to be,” Abram went on to say. “We’re just going to have to figure them out when we get there.”

The Tennessee pro estimated that a four-day cumulative weight of 58 pounds should be enough to earn the victory on Championship Sunday.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EST each day from the TVA Dam Boat Launch, located at 2805 N. Highway 92, in Jefferson City. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins, April 11-12, will be held near the launch beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, April 13-14, will also be held near the launch, but will begin at 4 p.m.

Prior to weigh-in each day, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the TVA Dam Boat Launch from 2 to 6 p.m. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, as well as 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 TVA Dam Boat Launch on Saturday, April 13, 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 most fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

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 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 veteran FLW Tour pro 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 165 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
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

KNOCKOUT ROUND FIELD SET AS GROUP B’S TOP 20 ADVANCE AT MLF BASS PRO TOUR STAGE THREE

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 28, 2019) – When you take a quick look down the standings of Elimination Round 2 of the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude, three names should stand out: Brandon Palaniuk, Russ Lane and Jeff Sprague. While only one of the three finished in the Top 5 – Palaniuk was fourth, Lane was sixth, Sprague was 10th – the numbers to pay the closest attention to are their SCORETRACKER™ catches for the day on Falls Lake: Palaniuk piled up 42 pounds, 5 ounces on 16 fish, Lane weighed in 36-15 and Sprague finished with 33-7. Strong numbers, to be sure, but especially notable because those three anglers started the morning in the bottom 10 in the standings after their Shotgun Round and executed the kind of dramatic turnarounds that would lead a betting soul to believe that they’ve figured something special out on Falls.


Brandon Palaniuk’s 6-1 helped him to 42-5 in Elimination Round competition on Falls Lake.

“I learned that I’m way better on Falls Lake than I am on Jordan Lake,” Palaniuk joked. “The amount of cover in Jordan is crazy – Falls really doesn’t have that much cover, so you’ve really got to search hard to find it in certain spots. That’s what I felt like I stumbled onto today, and it worked out well. I just hope it holds up – I’m glad that we’re going back to Falls tomorrow and not going back to Jordan, because I never got to the right area in Jordan. I feel like if it holds out, I feel like I have Falls dialed in way better than I did Jordan.” 

Squeaking above the Elimination Line The competition around the Elimination Line came down to a battle of less than 2 pounds among Jeff Kriet, Dave Lefebre and Marty Robinson. Kriet scraped together 12-10 to finish the day with 33-10, and then hung on to the final spot as Robinson climbed to within 1-7. “I was 48 years old when I started the day, and now I’m 72,” Kriet joked, referring to the stress of the final hour of competition.

What about Jordon, Walker, etc.? Saturday’s X-factor is the group of anglers in both Groups A and B whose Shotgun Round weights offered them the luxury of spending most of their Elimination days practicing and becoming more familiar with the nooks and crannies of Falls. David Walker, for example, weighed in only four fish for 9 pounds on the day; Casey Ashley weighed just one fish … but it was a 7-6 hawg. “There’s no part of this lake I haven’t seen now, so I do have a good feel for it,” Walker admitted. “Some of the guys have been laying off (their fish) for sure, but I still feel like I’m searching for a good answer to it. It can be so maddening to figure that out, and honest to God, one cast can clue you in to what you should be doing. It can be just that simple. But I feel like I’m still going to be scrambling a little bit.”   

The last shot at Falls Weights will be zeroed for Saturday’s Knockout Round at Falls, so it’s a fresh start for all who have advanced. Many of the anglers fishing the previous two days of Elimination Round competition expressed some anxiety about leaving behind the big-fish bonanza that occurred on Jordan Lake in the Shotgun Rounds. And who could blame them: Kelly Jordon racked up a Bass Pro Tour-record weight of 82-4 during Day 1 of Shotgun Round action on Jordan Lake, and several anglers experienced near-record days on that fishery.   But after a full day on Falls, most of the remaining 40 anglers have now settled into areas and patterns that they’re more comfortable with in the one-day “shootout” format of the Knockout Round.   “I got to Falls and was actually impressed with how warm the water had gotten,” Sprague said. “I really thought these fish would be progressing a little further, similar to what they were doing at Jordan, so after the first period I decided to make a change. I figured I’m either going to go home with the four fish I have on the SCORETRACKER or fish and go catch them. We ran up to an area where I had practiced, I’d only had one bite in practice but it was right, just the fish hadn’t set-up there yet, and today they were there. The warm weather has allowed them to funnel in and hopefully tonight, more of them will funnel in there and we’ll thrash them tomorrow.” 

The Day’s Results   To see all results from today’s Elimination Round, who is competing in the Knockout Round and to keep up with cumulative results throughout the week, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “Results.”  

How, When & Where to Watch Knockout Round Competition among the final 40 anglers 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 continuing until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at approximately 5 p.m. daily.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

DAY 1 GRAND SLAM – FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE

March 28, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW Fishing

GROVE, Okla. – Pro Kyle Weisenburger of Ottawa, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 12 ounces to take the lead on the opening day of the FLW Tour at the Grand Lake presented by Mercury Marine. Pros Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas (20-2), and Miles Burghoff of Hixson, Tennessee (19-12), are the closest anglers to Weisenburger in second and third place as the four-day tournament, which features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals casting for a top award of up to $125,000, heads into Day Two.

The weather in northeastern Oklahoma, although overcast, was nice Thursday, although many tournament anglers experienced a Grand Lake that was much more finicky than normal – likely due to fluctuating water levels. The bass are scattered and it’s left many competitors scratching their heads as they try to figure out the puzzle. Weisenburger found his the majority of his big limit in a single pocket, although he was also able to run around his creek arm and replicate his pattern on a couple other spots.

“I had a couple of good little stretches and caught 12 or 13 fish today, which is quadruple anything that I had done in practice,” said Weisenburger, who is fishing in his third season as a pro on the FLW Tour. “I think it was more area-oriented – when I got the stuff I was looking for, I got a couple of bites.

“I caught fish on two different baits,” Weisenburger continued. “I had three rods on my deck, but threw primarily just two baits and when I got in the right area they would really eat one of them. The conditions let me know which one I was going to throw. I checked the forecast and I believe it will be similar tomorrow, which is good because it really set up right for me today.

Weisenburger declined to divulge the specifics on his lures and pattern at this point of the tournament, but did hint that the water he was fishing was a bit dirtier than most.

“I caught one or two more keepers there that didn’t help me, so I decided I was going to ease off of them,” Weisenburger said. “I ended up leaving my primary area and I figured out a little bit of a pattern.

“It was a good day, but it’s only Day One,” Weisenburger went on to say. “I’m going to start in my primary area tomorrow and see where it takes me. Hopefully they’re still there and I will get to fish into the weekend.”

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

 1st: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, five bass, 24-12

 2nd: Costa pro Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 20-2

 3rd: Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 19-12

 4th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., five bass, 19-9

 5th: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., five bass, 19-0

 6th: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 18-9

 7th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 17-7

 8th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, five bass, 17-0

 9th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 16-12

 10th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., five bass, 16-5

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Burghoff earned Thursday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing an 8-pound largemouth to the scale – the largest fish of the day.

Overall there were 428 bass weighing 1,207 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 143 pros Thursday. The catch included 37 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 Grand Lake presented by Mercury is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the City of Grove and the Cherokee Casino Grove.

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.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST Friday through Sunday from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16th St., in Grove. 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 park, but will begin at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Wolf Creek Park 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 park on Saturday, March 30 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.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury 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. New for 2019, host Travis Moran will be joined by Oklahoma Costa FLW Series pro Matt Pangrac 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.