Author: jcarrigan

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Knockout Round is Set as 20 More Anglers Advance   out of Elimination on Lake Conroe

MLF pro Edwin Evers piled 28 pounds, 12 ounces on SCORETRACKER in Elimination Round 2 to advance to the Knockout Round (Photo by Josh Gassmann.)

CONROE, Texas (Feb. 15, 2019) – Elimination Round 2 at the Major League Fishing®
(MLF) Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two Conroe presented by Favorite Fishing ended with some familiar names on top of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard: Jordan Lee, Edwin Evers and Andy Montgomery.

Lee and Montgomery entered the day 1-2, and Evers made a move early in the day to put himself well inside the Elimination Line. But while the three enjoyed relatively stress-free days with totals of 47 pounds, 10 ounces, 39-15 and 39-9, respectively, roughly a dozen anglers fighting for their competitive lives around the Elimination Line had exactly the opposite experience.

Among the latter group were Brett Hite, Randall Tharp, Zack Birge and Justin Lucas.

Hite landed a 2-4 on his last cast of the day to leap from 21st to 19th and into his first MLF Knockout Round.
“I’m going to take a breather on that one,” Hite said as he flopped on his front deck immediately after the “lines out” call from his official. Hite covered his face with his hat and took a minute to catch his breath, and then went into celebration mode when it was confirmed that he was indeed in the Knockout Round.
“That was probably the most stressful last couple of hours of fishing in my life,” Hite said once he was upright again. “I kept my head down the whole time, and I knew I’d get a bite sooner or later. I cast up under a boat dock, cranked three times and that fish just KOd it.
Tharp, who started the morning in fifth place, tapped a 4-1 just 20 minutes into the morning, and then didn’t add another fish to SCORETRACKER until there was 40 minutes left in the final period. That second bite, though, was the right one: a 4-4 that cemented Tharp at 17th.
“It was extremely tough today,” Tharp admitted. “I caught that 4-pounder first thing in the morning, and thought ‘Man, what a great start, let’s build on this’. But as far as I’m concerned, I’m in first place now with the weights zeroing. I know I’m catching the right ones, and I’m having fun fishing the way I love to fish.”
Birge started the day in 20th place, and spent the majority of the first two periods ping-ponging between 17th and 20th, battling Justin Lucas, Stephen Browning, Gary Klein, Mike McClelland and James Elam to stay above the Elimination Line. Birge put together a four-fish flurry over the first 20 minutes of the final period to add 12-8 to his total. Birge finished the day in seventh place.
“I fished that area first thing in the morning, and then left it for four or five hours,” Birge said. “I went back there hoping that some fish had moved in, and they had.”
Lucas jumped into the Top 20 with 13-9 in the first period, but then slowed down in the second period, and finally stalled over the last half of the day. The Alabama pro didn’t put a scorable fish on the scale over the final 3 ½ hours of competition and fell to the dreaded 21st spot with 26-11 (7 ounces behind Gary Klein, who earned the final spot in the Knockout Round).
“I was catching them good the first two periods, never caught a keeper in the third period, and have no idea why,” Lucas admitted. “It feels terrible. I hope everybody finishes 21st at some point. They need to know what that feels like. It’s not fun.”
Knockout Round need-to-know
Weights zero out tomorrow for the Knockout Round, which pits the Top 20 anglers from both A and B groups in a one-day battle for the Top 10 weights of the day. Those 10 anglers will compete in the Championship Round on Sunday.
How/where to watch

Official live scoring updates are available via SCORETRACKER from the start of competition at 7:30 a.m. CT. The MLF NOW! live stream begins at 10 a.m. CT, with on-the-water coverage following the action until the end of competition at 3:30 p.m. The MLF Berkley Postgame Show begins at 5 p.m.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Knockout Round is Set as 20 More Anglers Advance   out of Elimination on Lake Conroe

MLF pro Edwin Evers piled 28 pounds, 12 ounces on SCORETRACKER in Elimination Round 2 to advance to the Knockout Round (Photo by Josh Gassmann.)

CONROE, Texas (Feb. 15, 2019) – Elimination Round 2 at the Major League Fishing®
(MLF) Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two Conroe presented by Favorite Fishing ended with some familiar names on top of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard: Jordan Lee, Edwin Evers and Andy Montgomery.

Lee and Montgomery entered the day 1-2, and Evers made a move early in the day to put himself well inside the Elimination Line. But while the three enjoyed relatively stress-free days with totals of 47 pounds, 10 ounces, 39-15 and 39-9, respectively, roughly a dozen anglers fighting for their competitive lives around the Elimination Line had exactly the opposite experience.

Among the latter group were Brett Hite, Randall Tharp, Zack Birge and Justin Lucas.

Hite landed a 2-4 on his last cast of the day to leap from 21st to 19th and into his first MLF Knockout Round.
“I’m going to take a breather on that one,” Hite said as he flopped on his front deck immediately after the “lines out” call from his official. Hite covered his face with his hat and took a minute to catch his breath, and then went into celebration mode when it was confirmed that he was indeed in the Knockout Round.
“That was probably the most stressful last couple of hours of fishing in my life,” Hite said once he was upright again. “I kept my head down the whole time, and I knew I’d get a bite sooner or later. I cast up under a boat dock, cranked three times and that fish just KOd it.
Tharp, who started the morning in fifth place, tapped a 4-1 just 20 minutes into the morning, and then didn’t add another fish to SCORETRACKER until there was 40 minutes left in the final period. That second bite, though, was the right one: a 4-4 that cemented Tharp at 17th.
“It was extremely tough today,” Tharp admitted. “I caught that 4-pounder first thing in the morning, and thought ‘Man, what a great start, let’s build on this’. But as far as I’m concerned, I’m in first place now with the weights zeroing. I know I’m catching the right ones, and I’m having fun fishing the way I love to fish.”
Birge started the day in 20th place, and spent the majority of the first two periods ping-ponging between 17th and 20th, battling Justin Lucas, Stephen Browning, Gary Klein, Mike McClelland and James Elam to stay above the Elimination Line. Birge put together a four-fish flurry over the first 20 minutes of the final period to add 12-8 to his total. Birge finished the day in seventh place.
“I fished that area first thing in the morning, and then left it for four or five hours,” Birge said. “I went back there hoping that some fish had moved in, and they had.”
Lucas jumped into the Top 20 with 13-9 in the first period, but then slowed down in the second period, and finally stalled over the last half of the day. The Alabama pro didn’t put a scorable fish on the scale over the final 3 ½ hours of competition and fell to the dreaded 21st spot with 26-11 (7 ounces behind Gary Klein, who earned the final spot in the Knockout Round).
“I was catching them good the first two periods, never caught a keeper in the third period, and have no idea why,” Lucas admitted. “It feels terrible. I hope everybody finishes 21st at some point. They need to know what that feels like. It’s not fun.”
Knockout Round need-to-know
Weights zero out tomorrow for the Knockout Round, which pits the Top 20 anglers from both A and B groups in a one-day battle for the Top 10 weights of the day. Those 10 anglers will compete in the Championship Round on Sunday.
How/where to watch

Official live scoring updates are available via SCORETRACKER from the start of competition at 7:30 a.m. CT. The MLF NOW! live stream begins at 10 a.m. CT, with on-the-water coverage following the action until the end of competition at 3:30 p.m. The MLF Berkley Postgame Show begins at 5 p.m.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

Mullins Remains Consistent, Grabs Lead At Toyota Bassmaster Elite At Lake Lanier

February 15, 2019 – Photo courtesy of BASS
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. —

With each day that passes, Tennessee angler David Mullins sounds more and more confident about his current situation.

He’s learning Lake Lanier’s spotted bass, and it shows in the standings.

After catching 17 pounds, 12 ounces during Thursday’s opening round, Mullins topped that mark Friday with 19-6 and now leads the Toyota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Lanier with a two-day total of 37-2.

While some anglers have struggled to stay on top of the fishery’s nomadic spotted bass, Mullins has remained consistent — and he still believes he can do better.

“For a while today, I felt like I was ledge fishing,” said Mullins, who had numerous stretches Friday when he caught bass one after another for several minutes. “This is the first day that I’ve caught multiple fish off a spot.

“It seemed like they grouped up better today.”

Blueback herring are one of the main forage species on Lake Lanier — and as they move around the lake in large schools, the predatory spotted bass move with them. That means an angler can often catch bass on a spot one day and find they’ve disappeared the next.

But evidence emerged late Friday that Mullins may have developed a more distinct and reliable pattern than many of the other 74 anglers in the field. Around 2 p.m., he caught a 4-pound bass in the same place he caught a 4-pounder the previous day.

He was confident enough what he was doing that he only used one bait all day long.

“I’ve got a rotation now,” he said. “I think I’ve got a clue of what’s going on. The one bait that I’m using is something I have confidence in.

“It’s the one I’m gonna ride or die with.”

Mullins is one of many anglers who have compared Lanier’s hefty spotted bass to smallmouth bass. He’s accustomed to chasing smallmouth on Tennessee fisheries like Cherokee Lake, while Connecticut’s Paul Mueller has spent his life catching them on northern fisheries — sometimes even through the ice.

After landing 16-11 Thursday, Mueller added 18-4 Friday and moved into second place with 34-15. He said the key right now is keeping an open mind.

“I had a game plan for what I was going to do today — similar to what I did yesterday — and that didn’t work out,” Mueller said. He reverted to techniques and patterns that had paid off for him in practice sessions earlier in the week, “and it started happening.

“These fish are different. You’ll catch them one day, and they’ll just change. You can’t be set on what you’re going to do, or you’ll be disappointed.”

Mueller said his Garmin Panoptix (sonar) with Livescope allowed him to see how the bass are reacting to the baits he’s using. With Livescope, he said, he can “see” the fish in real time and even gauge their “mood.”

“I think these bass get a lot of pressure,” Mueller said. “So when I say the Livescope allows me to tell their ‘mood,’ I’m being 100 percent serious.

“These fish are boat-shy. It’s an incredible advantage to see how they react to certain baits, whether they come up to the bait or whether they spook.”

Texas angler Keith Combs — one of the most noted power-fishing largemouth specialists in the sport — is in third place with 33-5. He caught 16-15 Friday and came in lamenting what might have been after losing a spotted bass he estimated was in the 5- to 6-pound range.

“It was like a 20-second fight,” Combs said. “I can see it in my head because it was swimming so slow at the top of the water, just whipped. It was a fish that never in a million years should have come off, but it did.

“That probably burned me for 2 1/2 pounds today. It was like losing a 10-pound largemouth.”

Chris Zaldain of Fort Worth, Texas is tied with Combs for third with 33-5.

Indiana angler Bill Lowen kept his lead in the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week with the 6-14 largemouth he caught Thursday. Friday’s biggest fish was a 5-6 spotted bass caught by Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock.

The Top 35 remaining anglers will fish again Saturday, with takeoff scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET from Laurel Park. The weigh-in, which was held at Laurel Park the previous two days, will move Saturday and Sunday to Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, Ga., at 4 p.m.

After Saturday’s round, only the Top 10 anglers will advance to Championship Sunday with a chance to compete for the $100,000 first-place prize.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Strader Finishes on top of Elimination Round 1 at Conroe

Photo courtesy of Garret Dixon

CONROE, Texas (Feb. 14, 2019) – With the first Elimination Round of the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two presented by Favorite Fishing officially in the books, Wesley Strader can take a quick breath of relief and rest up for Saturday’s Knockout Round.

Even more importantly, he can let his best water rest, too.
After adding 23 pounds to to his Shotgun Round total of 33-0 – bringing his two-day total to 56-0 – Strader heads into the semi-final round on top of the 40-man Group A, exactly 1 pound ahead of Bobby Lane (55-0). But Strader is quick to acknowledge that the competition has now become as much a game of strategy as of picking apart the water at Lake Conroe.

The East Tennessee pro summed it up best right after he put his last fish of Period 2 – a 4-4 – on SCORETRACKER®: “I don’t care who passes me, I’m out of here,” Strader said as he Power-Poled up and backed his way out of the narrow creek he had been fishing to go scout new water.
Strader would eventually add another three fish to his total in Period 3 to claim the top spot in the group, but used the entire period as a scouting exercise, hoping to find “the juice” for Saturday, when the weights zero.
“I looked around more than I fished today,” Strader admitted. “I have a real specific (condition) I’m looking for – when I see it, I catch one about 75 percent of the time. But this thing I’m looking for is really hard to find, and I have to cover a lot of water on the trolling motor to find it. I feel like I can go behind guys and catch them, though, because I have areal specific bait that they really like. Hopefully I can make that work again on Saturday.”
The majority of the Top 10 – most of whom were in good shape on SCORETRACKER when competition began, anyway – followed Strader’s lead.
Brent Ehrler, Adrian Avena, Jason Christie and Bradley Roy all spent a good portion of their Elimination Round sniffing around Conroe in search of conditions and spots that they could exploit in the Knockout and Championship Rounds.
Surviving the Elimination Line
The handful of anglers battling for survival around the Elimination Line, though, had no such flexibility. Skeet Reese powered his way into the semi-final with a 25-pound day to finish 17th while Kevin VanDam clawed his way to 7-1 to stay just inside the Top 20 at 18th.
Greg Hackney and Dean Rojas claimed the final two spots in the Knockout Round, pushing Mike Iaconelli, Aaron Martens and Gerald Swindle out of the competition.
Elimination Round 2 set to be a brawl
The 40 anglers from Group B now get their second shot at Conroe for Elimination Round 2. This group – led by Jordan Lee, Andy Montgomery, David Walker, Jared Lintner and Randall Tharp – will see much milder weather conditions than Group A, with daytime highs hitting the 80-degree mark.
That means that bigger fish will likely be moving in. And with a tight grouping around the 20th spot – anglers 14 through 25 are separated by roughly 5 pounds – this race will likely see plenty of movement in the middle of the 40-man field.
“There are so many great anglers stacked up close together – with (the MLF) format and the ability to catch as many fish as you can, it’s going to be a battle,” said Randy Howell (18th with 11-4).
Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

Canadian Pro Gustafson Feels At Home In Georgia, Takes Lead At Bassmaster Elite

February 14, 2019 – Photo courtesy of BASS
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. —

Jeff Gustafson said coming into this week that Lake Lanier on the historic Chattahoochee River was probably his favorite fishery in the lower 48 United States.

Thursday didn’t do a thing to change his mind.

The 36-year-old first-year Elite Series pro from Keewatin, Canada, caught five bass that weighed 19 pounds, 2 ounces and took the lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Lanier. He said the lake reminds him of home — even though he is more than 2,000 miles away, fishing for green spotted bass instead of brown smallmouth.

“Obviously, today was a lot more fun for me than last week when I had two fish to start out my Elite Series career in Florida,” Gustafson said. “I’m not catching a lot of fish, but I got some good ones today.”

Gustafson learned to love Lake Lanier last year when he finished seventh here in an FLW Tour event. He said that prior knowledge told him what was swimming in the lake — but not how to catch them this week.

“It’s completely different this year,” he said. “I didn’t catch fish off any of the places that I did last year.

“But I like fishing for spots. These things act a lot like the smallmouths do up at Lake of the Woods, where I live.”

Gustafson’s two biggest fish — both spotted bass in the 4-pound range — were the first two he put in his livewell. His finesse tactics included a jerkbait, a swimbait and other lures he said were “really no secret.”

His biggest obstacle of the day was the light line he’s using to target fish in the clear water. He said he broke off two bass in brushpiles that could have helped him eclipse the 20-pound mark.

Gustafson’s bag topped a day that was dominated by healthy spotted bass that looked like they had all swallowed footballs. David Mullins of Mount Carmel, Tenn., was second with 17-12, followed by Virginia pro Rick Morris with 17-6 and Californian Chris Zaldain with 16-15.

Like Gustafson, Mullins said his experience with smallmouth — albeit on Tennessee’s Cherokee Lake — played a role in his Day 1 success.

“This lake fishes a lot like home, where you have a window in the morning for about an hour and half to two hours and then it kicks back up in the evening,” Mullins said. “It’s the same way at home — and if you have wind, it seems like they’ll bite all day long.

“The wind just didn’t blow much today.”

Mullins wasn’t the only angler who said the flat, calm conditions made the fishing tougher Thursday. Likewise, he wasn’t the only one excited about Friday’s forecast that calls for clouds, increased winds and rain showers beginning around 1 p.m.

“If it stays cloudy with a low ceiling all day, I feel like I’m going to catch them,” Mullins said. “When I don’t catch them is when it gets sunny and slick.”

Morris, a noted shallow-water expert, said he leaned on his background from Upstate New York to find the Lake Lanier spots.

“I grew up with a spinning rod in my hand,” Morris said. “When I first went pro in the Opens, I had all spinning rods on the deck — didn’t even know how to throw a baitcaster. I have spinning-rod skills, and I had to apply them today.”

Though he said he’d rather be fishing fast, he used a slow finesse game Thursday around deep structure.

“I caught probably a dozen fish,” Morris said, “so I feel pretty confident that I can go out and probably catch 13 to 14 pounds tomorrow.”

One of the few big largemouth brought in Thursday belonged to Indiana pro Bill Lowen. It weighed 6-14 and claimed the lead in the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week.

Patrick Walters, who took the lead in the DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year race last week with a fourth-place finish on the St. Johns River, had another stellar day Thursday. The 24- year-old South Carolina pro caught five bass that weighed 16-12 and finished tied for fifth place with Ray Hanselman Jr.

“I came into the season thinking (Toyota Bassmaster) Angler of the Year,” Walters said. “If you think like that — and fish like that — Rookie of the Year will take care of itself.” As the leader in the DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year race, Walters collected $500. He’ll get another $500 if he retains the lead after this week’s Elite event, and $10,000 if he earns the crown at season’s end.

Other bonus awards winners from the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River last week were Rick Clunn, who won $1,000 for being the Toyota AOY leader and John Crews Jr., who collected the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for his 11-2 largemouth.

The tournament resumes Friday, with takeoff scheduled for 6:45 a.m. from Laurel Park in Hall County and weigh-in back at the park at 3:10 p.m. Only the Top 35 anglers will advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.

Takeoffs Saturday and Sunday will also be at 6:45 a.m. from Laurel Park, but the weigh-ins will shift to Coolray Field on Buford Dr. in Lawrenceville, Ga., at 4 p.m.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

Lee Claims Shotgun Round Heavy Weight with 32-2 on Lake Conroe

CONROE, Texas (Feb. 13, 2019) – We’re starting to run out of superlatives to describe the competitive success of Jordan Lee. (Photo by Phoenix Moore

Just two weeks after claiming the inaugural Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour trophy at the Kissimmee Chain in Florida and two years removed from a Bassmaster Classic win on Lake Conroe, Lee arrived at this impoundment of the San Jacinto River with both momentum and history on his side.

Whether he relied on the former or the latter – or just simply fished the conditions in front of him – Lee finished the second Shotgun Round of the MLF Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two presented by Favorite Fishing with the heaviest weight of the day: 32 pounds, 3 ounces on 12 fish.

Lee wound a vibrating jig around the lower end of Conroe for most of the competition day, connecting with a consistent string of 2- and 3-pounders through the first period and then adding 14-12 to SCORETRACKER® in Period 3 to overtake Andy Montgomery for the Phoenix Boats Daily Leader Award for the day.

“I’m still trying to ride the vibrating-jig wave from (the Kissimmee Chain),” Lee joked. “I’m addicted to it now. I threw a little Berkley squarebill and a spinnerbait too, but it was I was just feeling it with the vibrating jig today.”

Lee finished the day with a 4-5 and a 3-3, which leads him to believe that bigger fish might be moving in as waters warm.

“I feel like there’s better quality moving in,” Lee confirmed. “I’m encouraged by that. I’ll just keep doing what I did today and hope the bigger fish keep coming carries on for the rest of the week.”

Montgomery lands a monster

Montgomery, who finished with eight fish for 25-11, staked his claim to the lead as the final seconds ticked down on Period 1.

Montgomery hooked a giant fish as his boat official started the 10-count to the end of the round, and pulled the fish over the gunwale just as his official called “time’s up” for the period. It was deemed a legal catch: 9-6, easily the biggest fish caught in the two Shotgun Rounds and the Berkley Big Bass of the Day.

“It didn’t pull back that hard – it just loaded up and shook its head a couple of times,” Montgomery said. “I thought it was a 5-pounder when I saw him. It was pretty nerve-wracking though. I could hear my boat official counting, I could hear Matt Lee’s official counting because he was close to me and they were on different counts. I just did every darn thing I could to get my hands on that fish.”

Packed tight around the Elimination Line

The battle for Top 20 and a spot in Elimination Round 2 will be extra tight on Friday: less than 5 pounds separates Randy Howell in 18th (11-4) and James Elam in 30th (6-6).

Elimination Rounds begin Thursday

The 40 anglers from Group A are back on Lake Conroe Thursday morning for the first Elimination Round. Brent Ehrler, Wesley Strader, Jason Christie, Bradley Roy and Adrian Avena heads into the day at the top of the group. Places 14 through 25 – roughly the range of anglers flirting with the Elimination Line at 20th – are separated by roughly 5 pounds.

How/where to watch

Official live scoring updates are available via SCORETRACKER from the start of competition at 7:30 a.m. CT. The MLF NOW! live stream begins at 10 a.m. CT, with on-the-water coverage following the action until the end of competition at 3:30 p.m. The MLF Berkley Postgame Show begins at 5 p.m.

Categories
Reviews The National Angler

Winter Fishing Gloves – Simms Guide Windbloc Half Finger Mitt

Winter Fishing Gloves – Simms Guide Windbloc Half Finger Mitt

Fishing in the winter and especially active fishing is not fun when your fingers are frozen. You can feel your line, can’t tie a lure on, and its just miserable. What is worse is constantly having to take gloves on and off that are wet. Most winter gloves for fishing don’t really help.

What sold me on these gloves was the waterproof and wind blocking features. Most importantly it was the addition of the hand warmer pocket that really sold me. I will admit they don’t keep your finger tips hot, but it makes fishing bearable in the fridged temps that face us in the winter.

Check out the link to purchase these great gloves for winter fishing.

https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Simms-Guide-Windbloc-Half-Finger-Mitt-p/simms-gd-wb-half.htm&Click=72463

The Simms Guide Windbloc Half-Finger Mitt keeps your hands warm while providing much needed finger dexterity with this half finger style glove. The glove itself is 100% windproof thanks to Simms Windbloc material. A heat pocket found in the wrist area allows the insertion of a heat pack to apply heat directly to the area where your maximum blood flow to your hands. Simms is always on the forefront of providing gear for the dedicated angler and these gloves are no different.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8CgVDQyCks[/embedyt]

Features:

  • 100% windproof with 4-way stretch
  • Anti-pill
  • Heat-pack pocket sits on the wrist for optimal warmth
  • Pre-curved fit for increased dexterity
  • Zone insulation for warmth
  • Sueded overlays in key grip areas for extra durability
  • Fabric Tech: Polartec Windbloc
Categories
MLF BIG-5

GEORGIA’S GROSS WINS FLW TOUR AT LAKE TOHO PRESENTED BY RANGER BOATS

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2019) – Pro Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, brought a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 12 ounces, to the scale Sunday towin the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by RangerBoats. Gross’ four-day total of 20 bass weighing 85-12 earned him the victory by a 4-pound, 10-ounce margin over second-place pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, and the $100,000 first-place prize.

“I’m ecstatic. It has been an awesome, awesome journey. To beat the competition that we have – it’s unbelievable,” said Gross, who earned his second career FLW Tour victory. “I came into this event just wanting to cash a check. When I made the top 30, I just wanted stay in the top 10. All I wanted to do was finish strong.

“I got the majority of my weight early today – I’m guessing I had 18 or 19 pounds by 9 (a.m.) and after that it was a grind,” continued Gross. “I worked a long time between bites, but I upgraded two more times – maybe three – at my spot. I can’t believe this place that I caught these fish at held up – I really believe the Lord just blessed me.”

The spot Gross is referring to was on the main span of Lake Toho, just north of the lock at the lake’s southern end. It was his most productive area throughout the event, producing 19 of his 20 fish. He described it as a “pocket” in the grass line that was 30 feet wide and 50 feet in, but that didn’t break through to the other side.

“It was special because it had two ditches with clumps in the middle, and the fish were sitting in the clumps,” said Gross. “There were 20-foot gaps between each clump, and they’d set up in them [the clumps]. The first day I caught them, it was in the ditch, but after that, everything was on the clumps.”

Though Gross described the area as having two ditches, he said the “ditches” weren’t any deeper than the surrounding area. They were just open lanes with no grass. The entire spot was about 7 feet deep.

Gross primarily used a 5- or 6-inch, natural-light-colored Scottsboro Tackle Co. Swimbait on an 8/0-sized Owner Beast Flashy Swimmer and a ½-ounce white custom swimjig with a 4-inch Scottsboro Tackle swimbait trailer of the same color. The same swimjig with a black-and-blue skirt and a green-pumpkin Zoom Z-Craw trailer also came into play. For line, he used 50-pound-test braid on a Daiwa Tatula SV reel. He fished the swimbait on a 7-foot, 3-inch Fitzgerald Rods All Purpose Series extra-heavy rod, but switched to a heavy-action rod of the same length and series for the swim jig.

The top 10 pros on Lake Toho finished:

1st: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 20 bass, 85-12, $102,700

2nd: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 20 bass, 81-2, $30,600

3rd: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 20 bass, 78-7, $25,000

4th: Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, 20 bass, 76-14, $20,000

5th: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 20 bass, 72-8, $19,000

6th: Wade Strelic, Alpine, Calif., 20 bass, 71-4, $18,000

7th: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., 20 bass, 66-0, $17,000

8th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 20 bass, 65-10, $16,000

9th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 19 bass, 64-7, $15,000

10th: Nitro pro Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., 20 bass, 64-3, $14,000

Full results for the entire field can be found atFLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 49 bass weighing 157 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Sunday. Of the final 10 pros, nine caught five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats was more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament was hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa, in Bainbridge, Georgia, March 7-10. The tournament will be hosted by the Bainbridge Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 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.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

Clunn Repeats His Magic Winning Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite At St. Johns River

PALATKA, Fla — After becoming the oldest angler ever to win a Bassmaster Elite Series event in 2016 on the St. Johns River, Rick Clunn provided what has become one of the most famous quotes in professional bass fishing history when he said, “Never accept that all of your best moments are in your past.”

On Sunday, he walked it like he talks it.

Clunn, who turned 72 in July, broke his own record for agelessness, winning the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River with a four-day total of 98 pounds, 14 ounces. His amazing week was punctuated on Championship Sunday with a tournament-best limit of five bass that weighed 34-14.

It was the 16th career victory for Clunn, whose $100,000 first-place paycheck put him over $2.5 million in career earnings with B.A.S.S.

“I think this just reinforces what I said after I won here in 2016,” Clunn said. “A long time ago, I stopped paying attention to timelines. The terrible twos, the ugly teens, the midlife crisis, retirement time — I don’t pay any attention to any of that.

“If you listen to everybody else, you’ll get premature notions about who you really are.”

This week, there was no doubt about it. He was “Rick Clunn: Legend.”

The Ava, Mo., angler started modestly with a limit of 17-5 on Day 1. But he inched his way up the standings with 23-11 on Day 2 and then caught 23-0 on Day 3 to make Sunday’s Top 10 cut in eighth place with a three-day total of 64-0.

He joked after Saturday’s semifinal weigh-in that he might need a 10-pounder and a 12-pounder on Sunday to have any chance of winning. While he didn’t quite make those marks, he came close by weighing in two fish over 9 pounds, including a 9-14 that ranked as the biggest bass of the day.

His three key baits all week were a big lipless crankbait from Luck-E-Strike called a Hail Mary, a 3/4-ounce Luck-E-Strike Trickster Spinnerbait with a shellcracker-colored skirt and a Texas-rigged gatortail worm.

“I thought the bream pattern was important for the spinnerbait this week,” Clunn said. “The bass are bedding here, and I know how much the bass really don’t like the bream around their beds.”

The spinnerbait bite improved steadily throughout the week, thanks to a cold front that brought wind and cloud cover to the region. After catching bass on the deeper ends of boat docks in practice, Clunn said the fish had moved so shallow they were under the walkways of the docks by the weekend — and that made for a perfect spinnerbait situation.

In the event that he missed a strike on the spinnerbait, he would follow up quickly with the worm. That was the key to landing his biggest bass Sunday.

“That’s what won it for me today,” he said. “Early in the day, they were eating that spinnerbait really well. I caught a 6 1/2 on it and another one about 4. But then in the middle of the day, I missed three fish on it — and I could tell the third one was a really nice fish.

“I went back with the worm, and it was the 9-14.”

Even with all that he’s accomplished, Clunn admitted the two giant bass on Sunday got his blood pumping.

“I swung every fish into the boat today except those two 9s,” he said. “When you have to sit there and think about all of the possibilities and it takes forever to get them in the boat…it gets your heart moving.”

The two anglers closest in the standings to Clunn were first-year Canadian pro Chris Johnston with 95-2 and veteran Kentucky pro Mark Menendez with 95-1. Johnston said it was an honor to share the stage with Clunn.

“To lose to somebody that you watched fishing for the past 20 years — just to be on the same stage with him — it’s a privilege,” Johnston said. “If I was gonna see anyone else win, I would want it would be Rick. He earned it. He deserves it. He put his time in.

“I can’t complain about second place at my first event.”

Clunn said the question of when he’ll finally give up fishing is “a dirty question.” He’s looking forward to next week’s Toyota Bassmaster Elite at Lake Lanier in Georgia and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“A lot of stuff off the water is old to me,” Clunn said. “But when I go on the water, it’s brand new, just like it was when I started. I love it just as much as I ever have.

“It’s an incredible thing to go out every single day and know that you’ve gotta figure them out. This amazing study of natural rhythms and how all things are connected — I can’t see myself ever getting tired of that.”

During a tournament when giant fish were weighed in all four days, the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week was caught during Thursday’s opening round. The honor went to Virginia pro John Crews for the 11-2 largemouth he caught on Day 1.

Rookie pro and former college fishing champion Patrick Walters of South Carolina was fourth with 91-14, and Crews was fifth with 89-11.

The Elite anglers hit the St. Johns River fishery at its peak. The 75 anglers caught 158 five-bass limits and weighed in 893 bass totaling 2,927 pounds, 8 ounces of bass. With an average weight of 3 1/4 pounds and the largest weigh-in crowds in the history of St. Johns Bassmaster tournaments, the event more than lived up to the theme of the 2019 Elite Series: “Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.”

Categories
MLF BIG-5

CHICKAMAUGA’S GROSS OUT FRONT AT FLW TOUR AT LAKE TOHO PRESENTED BY RANGER BOATS

February 9, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – After an exciting day of movement atop the leaderboard, FLW Tour pro Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, took the lead Saturday after the final bass had been weighed at the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces. Gross’ three-day cumulative catch of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds even paces the final 10 pros as they head into Championship Sunday at the competition that features the world’s finest bass anglers casting for a top award of up to $125,000.

Right behind Gross (15 bass, 62-0) is hard-charging local angler Darrell Davis of Dover, Florida. Davis started the day in 13th place but moved into second after weighing a huge 25-pound, 12-ounce limit this afternoon – the largest of the day – bringing his three-day total to 15 bass weighing 60-15. Josh Douglas of Isle, Minnesota, (15 bass, 60-3) rounds out the top three, and was the only other pro to top the 60-pound mark after three days.

“I’ve got a good little spot – I think I’ve weighed in 14 of my 15 fish from it – but I’m really pushing it to its limits,” said Gross, who is seeking his second career FLW Tour win. “I keep looking for another spot, and I might have found one this afternoon. I caught one that culled – almost a 4-pounder – at the very last place I stopped on the way to weigh-in.”

Gross’ main area is an offshore stretch of hydrilla on Lake Toho. He said he’s been able to put a limit in the boat by 10 a.m. each day on the first two days of competition, but today it took until noon.

“The spot has both pre and postspawn bass. When the prespawners show up, they’re feeding, and when they feed I can see it and I can catch them – that’s my little flurry,” said Gross. “Tomorrow I’m going to catch what I can catch there and then start looking. I had some giant fish, but I still haven’t gotten a kicker. I haven’t had anything over 5½ [pounds] in three days and there’s a lot of stretches where I’ve caught some 7s, 8s and 9s in practice, so I’m going to have to move around a little more.”

Gross said he’s mostly relied on a swimbait and a pair of swimjigs, citing a natural light-colored Scottsboro Tackle swimbait, black and blue-colored swimjig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Z-Craw trailer and a white swimjig with the Scottsboro swimbait as a trailer. He’s also utilized a Nichols spinnerbait this week.

“The swimjig probably caught more weight than the swimbait today, but every other day it’s been the swimbait. I’m using a little underspin-type blade on the hook – an Owner Flashy Swimmer. It’s got a little extra flash and I think that’s what’s triggering the fish.”

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

 1st: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 15 bass, 62-0 

 2nd: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 15 bass, 60-15 

 3rd: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 15 bass, 60-3 

 4th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 57-8

 5th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 15 bass, 57-7 

 6th: Wade Strelic, Alpine, Calif., 15 bass, 57-3 

 7th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 54-12 

 8th: Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, 15 bass, 54-3 

 9th: Nitro pro Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., 15 bass, 53-1 

 10th: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., 15 bass, 51-6

Finishing 11th through 30th are:

 11th: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 15 bass, 50-5, $12,000

 12th: Nitro pro Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 15 bass, 49-12, $12,000

 13th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 15 bass, 48-14, $12,000

 14th: J. Todd Tucker, Moultrie, Ga., 15 bass, 47-11, $12,000

 15th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., 15 bass, 47-10, $12,000

 16th: Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 47-10, $11,500

 17th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., 14 bass, 46-15, $11,500

 18th: Nitro pro David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 15 bass, 46-15, $11,500

 19th: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 15 bass, 45-9, $11,500

 20th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 15 bass, 45-9, $11,500

 21st: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 44-5, $10,500

 22nd: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 15 bass, 43-14, $11,000

 23rd: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 43-3, $10,500

 24th: Austin Wilson, Citrus Heights, Calif., 15 bass, 43-1, $10,500

 25th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 15 bass, 42-9, $10,500

 26th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 42-1, $10,500

 27th: Brandon McMillan, Clewiston, Fla., 14 bass, 41-9, $10,500

 28th: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., 15 bass, 41-0, $10,500

 29th: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 15 bass, 40-6, $10,500

 30th: Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 13 bass, 39-12, $10,500

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

Overall there were 146 bass weighing 401 pounds, 8 ounces caught by the 30 pros Saturday. The catch included 27 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 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. Now, only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats is more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament is hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission.

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 for the final day of competition at 7 a.m. EST Sunday from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive, in Kissimmee. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will also be held at the marina, beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-in Sunday FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Big Toho Marina 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, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 Sunday, 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 Peter Thliveros to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.