Category: Major League Fishing – Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

DAYTON, Tenn. (April 9, 2019) – The small town of Dayton, Tenn., has put a stamp on the game of tournament bass fishing with its hashtag “#BassTownUSA”.   As competition came to a close in Major League Fishing® (MLF) Shotgun Round 1 of the Bass Pro Tour Econo Lodge Stage Four Presented by Winn Grips – and Top 5 anglers Dave Lefebre, Aaron Martens, Jordan Lee, Brandon Palaniuk and Bark Rose breathed a sigh of relief – it became clear that that hashtag is not hype. Emerging from a flurry of afternoon lead changes, 705 scorable bass caught, and several anglers jockeying up and down inside the SCORETRACKER™ Top 10, Lefebre racked up 34 fish for 59 pounds, 14 ounces to claim the top spot in Group A competition on Lake Chickamauga. “My average weight would have been a lot higher if I could get them in the boat,” Lefebre admitted. “I’m doing something that’s a little bit different than what the others are doing in the area that I’m in and it’s generating some big bites. I lost 4-5 of them, one was a 6 pounder and I tried to swing it. The opportunity to get a good sack is there.” Martens finished second on the day with 57-3, Lee was third with 55-8, Palaniuk was fourth with 54-12 and Rose rounded out the Top 5 with 53-8.  

Lefebre Pours it on Late Martens entered the final period in the lead, thanks to a steady bite on a vibrating jig. That bite tailed off noticeably in Period 3: while Martens caught some quality fish (two 4s and a 3), he managed only four scorable bass in the final 2 ½ hours of competition. Lefebre, meanwhile, poured it on, putting 16 of his 34 scorable fish on SCORETRACKER in Period 3 and leapfrogging Lee, Rose and Martens with 23-15 in the period. “My option A was blown out and I couldn’t go there, so it was all plan B today,” Lefebre said. “I kind of panicked this morning when I saw my water I wanted to fish (was blown out), and just made a real quick decision to keep running when others were already fishing.”

Another Heavyweight Shotgun Round  The overall catch weight for the Group A field of 40 anglers was astounding: 1,396 pounds of bass. Six anglers recorded 50 pounds or more – one more than the first Shotgun Round slugfest at Stage Three Raleigh – and 14 caught 42-plus pounds.

“There seem to be more fish coming into my areas, and I hope that continues into the rest of the week,” said Palaniuk, who added just over 13 pounds in the final 30 minutes of competition. “I came into this ready to play numbers. I had fished the same area most of the first two periods, and then decided to make a run in the last 30 minutes – I was fortunate to catch an almost-5 ½ and got a lot of 1- and 2-pound bites. For me, the big key was making an area change in the final period.” 

Group B Up Next on Chickamauga  The 40 anglers in Group B will take their shots at Chickamauga on Wednesday in Shotgun Round 2. With weather and water stabilizing after Monday’s deluge – and the number of spawning females on beds increasing by the hour – Group B is set up for a potential influx of the kind of behemoths that Chickamauga is known for. “There were some good fish caught today – some 6s and 7s – but those ol‘ big ones are just about to show up,” said Dayton native Andy Morgan, who fishes tomorrow in Group B. “It’s getting warmer, and these fish are looking to spawn. We haven’t seen the 10s yet, but we will by the end of the week.”

Looking Ahead to the Week The entire field will carry their Shotgun Round weights into Elimination Rounds on Thursday and Friday. The Top 20 anglers from each of those Elimination groups will advance to a 40-angler Knockout Round on Saturday – weights will be zeroed, making the Knockout a one-day scramble. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Sunday, April 14. 

How, When, Where to Watch  Competition begins daily 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. 

Final Standings – Shotgun Round 1     For Group A Shotgun Round standings and to keep up with cumulative results throughout the week, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “Results.”

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.

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. 

“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.

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.”

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.”

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.

“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.

The first elimination round has just completed on Falls Lake and what a day it was. Temps this morning were hardly above the freezing mark and water temps in the mid-’50s. The expected high was mid-60’s and that should have proven for big bags of fish for the Group A anglers. They had impressive catches on the first shotgun round. However, this area of North Carolina showed it still had big fish to catch, just not the numbers today.

The big fish of the day belongs to Justin Atkins who slayed an 8-pound 12-ounce donkey to comfortably put him in at 11^th place where he stayed. Two other big fish tipped scales over 8 pounds and they belong to Edwin Evers and Mark Daniels Jr. It was the number of fish that was the most notable. Only two anglers caught over 10 fish and most anglers stayed just underneath that total. You would have expected the most excitement to be at the top of this groups leaderboard. However, the top few stayed steady today while Kelly Jordan maintained his impressive lead and had to do little to maintain his dominance from his monstrous Day 1 bag.

The real story is with the group of anglers at the cut line and that was an absolute battle. It was a seesaw battle nearly all day between a decent group of anglers. Anglers would remain confindently above the cut, just to get knocked down by another great fish. Most of the day several ounce to a several pounds kept the cut line extremely fluid.

So here is how Group A fared on elimination day.

Day 2 of the Major League Fishing Stage 3 in Raleigh NC on Lake Jordan has once again proved fruitful for anglers fishing in Group B. Those anglers were faced with an overnight cold front that didn’t seem to affect the big fish bite what so ever. It may have affected the overall bags that anglers brought in today. Because the biggest bag would have come in at 6^th place the day before with Group A. Maybe it was the glooming morning that proved so beneficial the day before. As the sun rose today the bite seemed to slow with the exception of the big fish bite.

Day 2 was dominated by big fish, over 20 fish breaking the 5lb mark. It was Ish Monroe who is known for big bags of fish came out blazing this morning with multiple big fish. He highlighted his morning with back to back big bass weighing in at 5lbs and 7lbs within minutes. However, that big fish belongs to David Walker who hauled in a pig that tipped the scales at 8 pounds 6 ounces. One other fished topped 8 pounds while 4 more came in over 7 pounds.

The big bag belonged to David Walker who just barely passed over Ott Defoe, Casey Ashley, Brett Hite, Ish Monroe, and Takahiro Omori. Big changes are in store as all the angler will make the move to Falls Lake. It was originally discussed that the fish found on Falls Lake would not be as big and even talk that mentioned anglers would struggle to catch fish on this lake. However, these top spring power anglers are sure to prove that wrong and a great showing is in store for the next phase of the landmark event in North Carolina. Check back for more info!

Here is the Day 1 Wrap Up Courtesy of Major League Fishing

By Major League Fishing – March 27, 2019

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 26, 2019) – It took virtually no time for the chunky northern-strain largemouth of North Carolina to reveal themselves on Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour’s Day 1 of the Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude: Jason Christie boated a 7-pound, 12-ouncer just 4 minutes into competition on Jordan Lake, the first fish of the day. 

Christie’s opening shot was just the beginning: By the end of Shotgun Round 1, 11 7-pounders and 48 fish over 5 pounds made it onto SCORETRACKER™, an astoundingly impressive showing for an unknown fishery that most of the field of 80 had never even seen before practice. 

But even more impressive was the fish-catching clinic put on by Kelly Jordon.

Fishing his way around a shallow creek arm of this impoundment of the Cape Fear River system north of Raleigh, the Texas pro piled up 82-4 on 26 fish, not only winning the round by over 18 pounds, but also establishing a new single-day MLF Bass Pro Tour weight total.

“It was just an awesome, awesome day,” Jordon said. “This area had gotten a ton of rain, and then the water dropped so much, I thought ‘Maybe this isn’t going to happen’, but guess what? The fish are still here. There’s no telling how much I could’ve caught if it had stayed warm. But what a fishery.”

Jordon did the majority of his damage with an Evergreen Jack Hammer bladed jig with a Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad trailer, and he did it consistently for the first five hours of competition, pinging SCORETRACKER with four to five scorable largemouth per hour until he hit a brief lull late in the afternoon. 

He found some good ones, too, highlighting his day with seven 5-plus-pounders, including a 5-2 and 5-6 in the final five minutes of competition. 

“Anytime you catch 82 pounds in a day of fishing is an awesome day, and I didn’t want to quit fishing,” Jordon admitted. “It was sad, I wanted to keep fishing because they were starting to fire off again. It was one of those days to remember.”

The rest of the field, while lagging a sizeable distance behind Jordon for most of the day, had some notable success as well.

Todd Faircloth chipped away at Jordon’s lead all afternoon, finishing the round with 63-10 and connecting with the biggest fish of the day, a 9-4 giant that inhaled a jig early in the third period. Faircloth stacked up over 35 pounds of largemouth in the final period to trim Jordon’s lead to 10 pounds before K.J. caught his final two 5-pounders.

“We had that front pulling through, the lake dropped a little bit from yesterday and I started out fishing on the points, fishing out a little bit, and caught a couple small fish and at the end of the first period,” Faircloth said. “I decided to just change areas and change techniques, and boy did it pay off in big ways.”

Jacob Wheeler and Mark Daniels, Jr. combined for 102-7, Wheeler with 54-5 and Daniels with 52-1. In one 2 ½-hour stretch in the third period, Daniels caught five fish for 27-13. Nine of Wheeler’s 14 fish were 4 pounds or better. 

Edwin Evers continued his season of consistency, catching 19 fish for 50-6 and fifth place. That marks Evers’ fourth consecutive round finishing in the Top 5.

Surprised … or Not?

The field’s big-fish success didn’t come as a surprise to MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone, who touted the big-fish potential of the Raleigh-area lakes, and was instrumental in bringing the Bass Pro Tour to North Carolina. As Stone repeatedly reported in the weeks leading up to the event, Jordan Lake was set up for a record-breaking performance, despite the fluctuating water levels.  

“I think the size of the fish caught these guys off guard a little bit,” Stone said.

The number of fish caught was definitely a surprise to much of the field, too. Thanks to plummeting water levels and dirty water, many of the pros struggled mightily in practice, and most expressed some doubt that they would catch many fish on Jordan. But as he stowed his rods at the end of the day, Wheeler summed it up best: “What can you say? This place is legit!. I mean, wow, it’s got ’em.”

Group B Up Next

The second half of the field gets its first crack at Jordan Lake on Wednesday when Group B competition begins. Conditions could be slightly more challenging in the morning, as nighttime lows will dip to near freezing, but a forecast of afternoon sunshine translates into a possible strong afternoon bite.  

Looking Ahead to the Week

The field will carry their Shotgun Round weights to Falls Lake on Thursday and Friday for the Elimination Rounds. The Top 20 anglers from each Elimination group will advance to the Knockout Round on Saturday (also on Falls).

The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Shearon Harris Reservoir, a 4,100-acre power plant lake that’s known for its population of 6-plus-pound largemouth.

How, When, Where to Watch

Competition begins daily at 7:30 a.m. EDT, 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. EDT, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 5 p.m. daily.   

Quotable

Kelly Jordon (1st/82-4) – “The water was dropping out in my area, and I thought the fish were leaving. I think a lot of them did. I was scared to death: It rained last night, and I thought it was just going to blow (that area) out, which it didn’t. It did get kind of muddy in there, and probably dropped 6 to 8 inches. Coming out, I had to jump over a beaver dam. I had to put my engine up on it and power over it, and I’ve never had to do that before. Boyd (Duckett) showed me how to do that, because he does it all the time. I figured I would just gun it and try it, and that’s what I did.”

Jacob Wheeler (3rd/54-5) – “All I can say is ‘Wow!’ It’s a phenomenal fishery. It seemed like every bite was 3 to 5 pounds or 5 to 6 pounds. Overall, the number of quality fish that live in that lake is just astounding. You would’ve thought with that cold night, it would get a little tougher, and it didn’t seem that way. This morning I didn’t know if it was going to be that hot and heavy first thing, but I figured when the sun popped out, it would probably be pretty decent. It was pretty consistent all day.”

Edwin Evers (5th/50-6) – “I got some bites early, and that’s just what I needed to get my confidence going. I was just running with it and expanding on it, and man I’m just happy. The last day of practice I kind of figured this deal out, and I’m just happy to have it. I don’t know if I can get a bite on (Falls Lake).”

The Day’s Results 

To see all results from Shotgun Round Group A anglers, and to keep up with cumulative results throughout the week, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “Results.” 

About Major League Fishing   

Founded in 2011, Major League Fishing (MLF) brings the high-intensity sport of competitive bass fishing into America’s living rooms on Outdoor Channel, Discovery, CBS, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). New for 2019, the Bass Pro Tour consists of eight events and a championship streamed live on www.MajorLeagueFishing.com and MOTV. MLF uses the entertaining and conservation-friendly catch, weigh and immediate-release format where every scorable bass counts and the winner is the angler with the highest cumulative weight. For more information on the league and anglers, visit www.majorleaguefishing.com and follow MLF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. For more in-depth coverage, see Game & Fish magazine, the official publication of MLF.

The timing couldn’t have been more key for the planning of Stage 3 on the MLF Bass Pro Tour in Raleigh NC. Lake Jordan has proven to be very monumental for the first group of anglers. The water temps are stretching into the upper 50’s and pushing some giants into the shallow showing record-setting catches. Lure choice has also been a hot topic on this stop of this tournament as well. This is sure to be an exciting tournament solely based upon how day 1 has gone on. 

Let’s talk about big fish and the plethora that has been caught on Day 1. So far at least 16 bass have been caught that have tipped the scales over 6 pounds. The is absolutely astonishing considering just a few weeks ago hardly any fish over 5 pounds were caught at the Classic. So far today’s big fish belongs to Todd Faircloth and his whopping 9 pounds 4-ounce behemoth that surged him into second place. The big news is the current first place angler, Kelly Jordan who had raked in 26 fish for 82 pounds, that right 82 pounds!!! Kelly’s largest fish tipped the scales at just over 6 pounds. Kelly Jordan has now set a new Major League Fishing record originally set by MLF Pro Marty Robinson on Kissimmee Lake. This is absolutely a monumental day in MLF history.

Lure choice has also been highlighted at this tournament and set up by a recent article on MLF from Marty Stone on the trio of lures that will be key to winning this stage in Raleigh. Marty’s call was for the jig, square bill, and spinner bait to be key on this fishery. His ideas have been nothing but true and some of the biggest fish have been caught on the jig. This tournament has also shown the importance of the spinnerbait and how it is still relevant in professional fishing today. A majority of anglers have actively used this tried and true method of catching big bags of hungry spring bass.

Based upon the way day one is playing out, the second group tomorrow should be just as big if the weather continues to hold out and lake levels don’t dramatically influence this hot spring bite. Check back for the latest news on MLF!

Stage Three’s New Waters

The three lakes that the Bass Pro Tour field will compete on in Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh Presented by Evinrude – Falls Lake, Jordan Lake and Shearon Harris Reservoir – will be “new waters” for the majority of the 80-angler field. None of these lakes have previously hosted a “tour-level” event, and only a small handful of the field has any experience on the lakes. Geographic proximity likely won’t play into any advantage (or disadvantage) – while there are five Bass Pro Tour anglers from the Carolinas, all five hail from South Carolina.

Carolina in my Mind

Five of the 80 anglers competing on the MLF Bass Pro Tour hail from South Carolina. The Carolinians you’ll see competing in Raleigh include:

Casey Ashley (Donalds) – Winner of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic and 10 additional tour-level victories.

Anthony Gagliardi (Prosperity) – One of only a handful of anglers who have won both FLW Tour Angler of the Year (2006) and a Forrest Wood Cup (2014)

Andy Montgomery (Blacksburg) – Twice a tour-level winner and owner of 34 Top 10s in his professional career.

Britt Myers (Lake Wylie) – A two-time tour-level winner, Myers also has 15 Top 10s to his credit.

Marty Robinson (Lyman) – Owner of 22 career Top 10s, Robinson has over $700,000 in career winnings.

Falls, Jordan Set for Shotgun, Elimination, Knockout

Because of the unique flexibility of the MLF Bass Pro Tour to compete on smaller local waters, the first five days of competition will split time between Falls and Jordan lakes. That includes the two Shotgun and Elimination Rounds, and the Knockout Round.

Championship Lake Shearon Harris: “Small but Mighty”

At 4,100 surface acres, Shearon Harris Reservoir – the site of the 10-angler Championship Round – is by far the smallest of the three lakes that the field will compete on. But as MLF NOW! live stream analyst Marty Stone (a North Carolina native) points out, “Shearon Harris is small but mighty. Shearon Harris is small, but it’s so good. It’s a really special lake.”

How Mighty? THIS Mighty

Big fish are the hallmark of all three fisheries, but Shearon Harris in particular has produced some eye-popping results in the recent past: the same co-ed team competing in two tournaments in early March of 2017 weighed in five-fish limits of 41.93 and 46.89 pounds.

From the Local Pro’s Perspective

Stone, who competed as a pro for 15 years prior to his MLF broadcasting duties, hails from Fayetteville, North Carolina, and has fished all three lakes multiple times. Here’s what he has to say about…

Jordan and Falls Lakes: Most of the bass will run from 2 ¼ to 6 pounds, and we should see several 7- to 8-pounders. I stopped for a couple of days at Falls (recently) and I caught 25 pounds for my best 5 fish. These are pure Northern-strain largemouth, and they grow big here. We’re coming to them at the prime time for quality fish. Don’t be surprised to see a double-digit bass caught out of one of them.”

Shearon Harris Reservoir: If the bass are up shallow in the primrose (on Shearon Harris), look out. Those fish can be big. And I mean BIG. Get your braid out, and you’d better have your feet on the deck … they might pull you in. Shearon Harris has better numbers of fish than Falls and Jordan lakes, and it has huge fish, too. I’ve broken the mid-30s with my five largest weighable fish on this lake.”

Daily Wrap-up

After each day of competition, the Bass Pro Tour Postgame Show presented by Berkley will be held at the Bass Pro Tour set, located at Bass Pro Shops (801 Bass Pro Ln., Cary, NC 27513) Tuesday, March 26, through Sunday, March 31. The Postgame show begins at approximately 5 p.m. EDT each day. Admission to the Postgame Show is free of charge. 

Up-To-The-Minute Results

Unable to make it to Raleigh for Stage Three? Do as 1.2 million others that were not able to make it to Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two presented by Favorite Fishing in Conroe, Texas, did and log on to the all-new MajorLeagueFishing.com. Click “Watch MLF NOW!” to watch more than seven hours of live competition including a daily Postgame Show that begins at 5 p.m. EDT.

Catch the Action

MLF NOW!’s live streaming broadcast of the Bass Pro Tour will feature 10 cameras/cameramen shooting on board competitor’s boats throughout all six rounds of each event. Each day’s on-the-water live stream will run five to five-and-a-half hours in a network gameday- like broadcast. Tune in by logging on to MajorLeagueFishing.com or by downloading the Major League Fishing app on your smart device.

How We Got Here

Major League Fishing invited 80 of the world’s best anglers to compete in the inaugural season of the Bass Pro Tour. The roster is comprised of Bassmaster Classic champions, FLW Forrest Wood Cup winners, Anglers of the Year and top tour performers from throughout the world of competitive bass fishing.

How it Works

The format for Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour events will be similar to the General Tire World Championship events that aired on CBS in 2017 and 2018. The 80 anglers will be separated into two groups, 40 anglers in each. Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27 are Shotgun Rounds 1 and 2, where 40 anglers (Group A and Group B) compete to catch the highest cumulative two-day weight each day. Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29 are Elimination Rounds 1 and 2 where 40 anglers (Group A and Group B) compete to catch the highest two-day cumulative weight. Anglers’ Shotgun Round weight is combined with the weight they catch in the Elimination Round. The top 20 anglers from each group advance to the Knockout Round. Saturday, March 30 is the Knockout Round where 40 anglers (top 20 from each Elimination Round) compete. All anglers will begin the Knockout Round with zero weight. The Top-10 finishers advance to the Championship Round on Sunday, March 31 when they will compete to catch the highest weight. All anglers will begin the Championship Round with zero weight. A camera in every boat will livestream the action from Championship Sunday on MajorLeagueFishing.com.Military Appreciation Day

Phoenix boats will provide a Daily Leader award, paying $500 to the angler leading days 1-4 of each Stage.

Berkley Big Bass of the Day

The angler that catches the largest bass of the day will be awarded the Berkley Big Bass of the Day. The angler with the largest bass caught throughout the competition will win $1,000.

Semper Fish! 
Joe, The National Angler

By Major League Fishing – March 18, 2019

TULSA, Okla. (March 18, 2019) – Major League Fishing® (MLF) announced today that Oklahoma’s signature bass destination, Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees, will host Stage Seven of the 2019 MLF Bass Pro Tour from May 31 through June 5.

Simply called Grand Lake by most, the 72-square-mile reservoir sprawls across much of Oklahoma’s northeastern corner. It is the state’s third-largest body of water in size, but offers the greatest diversity in depth and structure.

“We are so excited to have the MLF Bass Pro Tour coming to Grove and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees,” said Donnie Crain, President of the Grove Area Chamber of Commerce. “Our lake has rightfully earned a reputation with professionals and amateurs alike as one of America’s top bass fishing lakes.
“Hosting an MLF Bass Pro Tour competition solidifies that reputation even more because of the event’s prestige and pro lineup. We look forward to hosting MLF’s great anglers and invite everyone to come join us in Grove to meet them and see for yourself why Grand Lake is so wonderful to visit and fish.”
High-profile, big bass events are no stranger to the 79-year-old lake, especially in more recent years since the City of Grove, the Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife Conservation and the Grand River Dam Authority have teamed up to complete millions of dollars in improvements to the Wolf Creek Park and Boat Ramp area near downtown Grove.

Retired Major League Fishing boat official, Oklahoma’s John Bond, shows off the kind of quality Grand Lake bass the MLF pros likely will see during their visit to his home lake at the end of May.

“Few places can rival the venue, enthusiasm and expertise afforded by Grand Lake, the Wolf Creek facility and the folks of Grove,” said Michael Mulone, MLF Senior Director, Events & Partnership. “There’s no doubt the red carpet will be rolled out for this event and that the fishing here will make for a genuine shootout among the country’s very best anglers.
“Of course, we also like the fact that Grand is in MLF’s own backyard, and that means our fans will have a chance to meet a lot of MLF staff from our Tulsa headquarters. Don’t miss this one!”
Among the Bass Pro Tour’s 80-man field are six Oklahoma pros: Tommy Biffle (Wagoner), Zack Birge (Blanchard), Jason Christie (Park Hill), James Elam (Tulsa), Edwin Evers (Talala) and Jeff Kriet (Ardmore).

About Grove Area Chamber of Commerce
The Grove Area Chamber of Commerce is the principal business-driven leadership organization responsible for fostering the economic growth and development of Grove and Grand Lake, Oklahoma to ensure that business and industry may operate profitably and enhance the earning opportunities and quality of life for residents. To learn more, visit GroveOK.org or find the Grove Area Chamber of Commerce on Facebook.