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

TULSA, Okla. (March 31, 2021) – Major League Fishing (MLF), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced today a rule change to Bass Pro Tour Rule No. 7 regarding Tackle and Equipment, which addresses the usage of Berkley PowerBait MaxScent baits on the MLF Bass Pro Tour. Effective immediately, anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour are prohibited from using any Berkley PowerBait MaxScent product, both in practice and competition.

“MLF has studied the use of the Berkley PowerBait MaxScent since its launch in 2018, and we’ve made the decision to no longer permit its usage on the Bass Pro Tour,” Aaron Beshears, MLF Bass Pro Tour Director said. “The ban applies only to Berkley PowerBait MaxScent baits. At this time, original Berkley PowerBait and Berkley Gulp! baits are not included in this restriction.

“The bait has simply evolved to a point that it provides an unfair competitive advantage to Bass Pro Tour anglers that cannot use the product – whether through limited availability or competing sponsorship restrictions,” Beshears continued. “That said, Berkley PowerBait MaxScent baits will still be permitted in our MLF BIG5 tournament circuits. This decision is consistent with the wishes of the majority of our Bass Pro Tour anglers.”

Berkley remains a sponsor of MLF and the Bass Pro Tour, and MLF is currently in discussions with the company and its stakeholders regarding this decision.

For further clarification on the elimination of Berkley PowerBait MaxScent from Bass Pro Tour competition, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

“We are proud to be an angler-driven league and to continue to support our anglers and their livelihood with this decision,” said Boyd Duckett, MLF co-founder and President of the Professional Bass Tour Anglers’ Association (PBTAA). “The Alabama Rig was banned in 2013 for similar reasons and we believe this is the next crucial step to creating a level playing field and ensuring no one angler or group of anglers has an unfair advantage over the rest of the field.

“Since 2012, we have prided ourselves on listening to our anglers, providing them with excellent tournaments on premium fisheries and a game that can be played and won by any competitor. We believe the game must continue to evolve as well in order to preserve the integrity of the sport.”

The Berkley PowerBait MaxScent products which are now prohibited from usage on the Bass Pro Tour are:

• PowerBait MaxScent Creature Hawg
• PowerBait MaxScent Critter Hawg
• PowerBait MaxScent D-Worm
• PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm
• PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Jerk Shad
• PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Minnow
• PowerBait MaxScent Hit Worm
• PowerBait MaxScent Hit Worm Magnum
• PowerBait MaxScent Kingtail
• PowerBait MaxScent Lizard
• PowerBait MaxScent Lunch Worm
• PowerBait MaxScent Meaty Chunk
• PowerBait MaxScent Power Chunk
• PowerBait MaxScent The General

The 2021 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros that qualify from the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2022 championship. The next event for Bass Pro Tour anglers will be the 2021 General Tire Heavy Hitters Event, held April 9-14 at Falls Lake, Jordan Lake & Shearon Harris Reservoir in Raleigh, North Carolina.

APRIL FOOLS COURTESY OF MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING!!!

JASPER, Texas (March 26, 2021) –In one of the craziest endings to a tournament in Major League Fishing (MLF) history, pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, caught two key fish late in the day to overtake Spokane, Washington’s Luke Clausen and win the Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole with a final day total of 13 bass weighing 30 pounds, 2 ounces

The ending was crazy because of the area that DeFoe had been fishing in – a secluded spot way up the Angelina River on the north end of Sam Rayburn. Cellular coverage was extremely spotty, so when Defoe boated a back-to-back 2-12 and a 2-13 with about 20 minutes left in the event to overtake Clausen, it didn’t register on the SCORETRACKER leaderboard until very near the end of competition. His first bass – the 2-12 – tied him with Clausen, and the 2-13 earned him the victory by that margin.

“I just love fishing this time of year,” said DeFoe, who earned his second career Bass Pro Tour victory – both in Texas. “The end of the day was a bit of disaster due to the area that I was in… the service was bad, but the fishing was really good.”

DeFoe said that he found his area on the first day of practice and committed to fishing it for the entire event.

“The very first day of practice I spent up there and got a fair number of bites, and I liked what I saw,” DeFoe said. “I spent the second day of practice down the lake and saw how much boat traffic there was, and there wasn’t much traffic up on the north end, so that is where I committed to. I ended up fishing there every single day.

“I had one really key little spot that there were so many bass in, and really just going through a rotation of baits is what worked for me this week,” DeFoe continued. “My key baits were a squarebill crankbait; I caught some fish on a Rapala DT4, another homemade squarebill crankbait that will eventually be in the OG line from Rapala, a Bass Pro Magnum Fin-Eke Worm ended up being a big player for me, and a Bass Pro Wacky Stik worm was also a big deal.

“I give all of the thanks to God – he gets all of the credit for everything,” DeFoe went on to say. “I just love this time of year – the Easter season is upon us and I am so excited for next week. This week has been incredible, though, and I just can’t believe it. All I can say is God Bless Texas!”

Clausen lost an estimated 5- or 6-pounder in Period 1 that ended up being the difference maker for him.

“I’ll be thinking about the one that I lost for a long time,” Clausen said. “I knew today when it happened, that fish, if I didn’t win it was going to hurt me pretty dang bad. And it did.

“I really don’t know that I could have done anything different today, other than land that fish,” Clausen continued. “I didn’t have a lot figured out, and I knew it was going to be one of those kind of deals where I knew it was just going to be about me going fishing. I could catch them on a ChatterBait and on a stickbait, and other than that it was just grinding it out. I did what I thought I needed to do at the right times and got some of the right bites, but obviously it was not enough.”

The top 10 pros at the Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

  1st:        Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 13 bass, 30-2, $100,000
  2nd:       Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., nine bass, 27-5, $45,000
  3rd:       Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., nine bass, 26-8, $38,000
  4th:        Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., nine bass, 20-3, $32,000
  5th:        Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., six bass, 20-0, $30,000
  6th:        Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., six bass, 19-1, $26,000
  7th:        Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., five bass, 14-1, $23,000
  8th:        Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, three bass, 8-3, $21,000
  9th:        Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., two bass, 4-14, $19,000
  10th:     Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., one bass, 4-2, $16,000

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

There were 63 bass weighing 174 pounds, 7 ounces caught by the final 10 pros Friday.

Clausen won Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 5-pound, 3-ounce largemouth that bit his wacky-rigged worm just 20 minutes into Period 3. Connell won the $3,000 Berkley Big Bass award for the largest bass of the event with his 9-pound, 5-ounce bass that he weighed in on Day 1 of competition.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 28 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Presented by Power-Pole was hosted by the Jasper County Development District and the Jasper/Lake Sam Rayburn Chamber of Commerce.

The 2021 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros that qualify from the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2022 championship. The next event for Bass Pro Tour anglers will be the 2021 General Tire Heavy Hitters Event, held April 9-14 at Falls Lake, Jordan Lake & Shearon Harris Reservoir in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com. and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

JASPER, Texas (March 24, 2021) – Pro Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales, Louisiana, boated eight scorable bass Wednesday weighing 23 pounds, 14 ounces to win the two-day Qualifying Group B round at the Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole . Spohrer’s two-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds even earned him the victory by a 2-pound, 1-ounce margin and advances him directly into Friday’s final-day Championship Round of competition. The six-day tournament is being filmed for television broadcast on the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel later this year and live-streamed online.

Pro Randall Tharp of Port Saint Joe, Florida, caught a two-day total of 16 bass weighing 47-15 to end the round in second place, and Japanese pro Shinichi Fukae finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 15 bass weighing 43-13.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from Group A and 19 from Group B – will now compete Thursday in the Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the top eight to advance to Championship Friday. Friday’s Championship Round will feature Group A winner Ott DeFoe, Group B winner Spohrer, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“This is my first round that I’ve won with Major League Fishing, and it’s overwhelming the joy that I have right now,” Spohrer said. “Duking it out with my buddy, Randall Tharp, right at the end was exciting, and to get to do it right here, on Sam Rayburn, is a big deal to me.”

Spohrer credited his equipment as being the key to his success – the same 7-foot Quantum Smoke heavy-action casting rod paired with a Quantum Smoke 8:1 reel and spooled with 50-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braided line (stealth gray) has caught every one of his fish this week.

“I’ve been a one-trick pony the last two days,” Spohrer said. “If you’ve been watching the live stream, you probably saw how deep I was getting my swimjig into the wood and dragging those fish out of there. It’s all worked out for me and I can’t tell you how happy I am.

“Now I get a day off and I’m going to get ready for the Championship Round,” Spohrer went on to say. “There will only be 10 of us, so I start the year automatically with a top-10 finish and now I’ve got a real legitimate chance to compete for that red trophy. I can’t wait.”

Despite his second-place finish, Tharp was very happy to see his good friend win and advance directly to the Championship Round.

“That’s why I’ve always loved tournament fishing – when it comes down to the last second, the last cast, and having the opportunity like I did,” Tharp said. “My hat’s off to Gerald. I hope I made him sweat a little bit, because I sure had a good time this afternoon. I had my opportunities.”

Tharp said that he relied on just two rods Wednesday, and likely would only use two in the Knockout Round as well.

“Basically, I’m just flipping bushes and trees, and anything in front of me,” the Florida pro said. “I threw a Zoom Z-Hog with a 5/16-ounce weight and a straight shank flipping hook. Later in the day I picked up a little frog and that baby was awful good to me today. The average bite on the frog was way better than the flipping bite. I’m probably going to keep those two rods in my hand all day tomorrow and go to work and hopefully make the Championship Round.”

An emotional Jeff Kriet of Ardmore, Oklahoma, was the last man in, finishing the day in 20^th place.

“Thank God, man. It has been such a stressful day,” Kriet said. “I needed this. I’ve been sucking, and I haven’t been catching them. Last year, in the first two tournaments of the year, I finished like dead last. I only made a couple of cuts last year. I need a good year, badly. This gives me confidence and that’s important, because I’d lost all confidence. I was literally thinking I might have to hang this stuff up. I know it’s not like I won the tournament today, but making the cut really means a lot to me. It’s not easy to do. And it’s some positive momentum. I’m tickled that I get to come back out here, tomorrow.”

Kriet credited two baits – a wacky-rigged Big Bite Baits Trick Stick and a Big Bite Baits Methiolate Floating Worm – for his success in the Qualifying Round.

The top 20 pros from Qualifying Group B that now advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:

1st:        Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 15 bass, 50-0 (ADVANCES DIRECTLY TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND)
2nd:       Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla., 16 bass, 47-15
3rd:       Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, 15 bass, 43-13
4th:        Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 15 bass, 42-0
5th:        Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 12 bass, 41-9
6th:        Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 37-8
7th:        Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 11 bass, 36-12
8th:        Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 15 bass, 34-8
9th:        Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., nine bass, 32-3
10th:     Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., 11 bass, 32-2
11th:     Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 12 bass, 31-0
12th:     Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 10 bass, 30-9
13th:     Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 11 bass, 30-5
14th:     Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 12 bass, 29-6
15th:     Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 12 bass, 29-1
16th:     Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 11 bass, 28-5
17th:     Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala., 11 bass, 27-2
18th:     Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., nine bass, 26-0
19th:     Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., 10 bass, 24-11
20th:     Jeff Kriet, Ardmore, Okla., 11 bass, 23-6

Full results for the field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall Wednesday, there were 194 bass weighing 543 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 39 pros, which included two 7-pounders, three 6-pounders and three 5-pounders caught from Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Lucas won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award on Wednesday, catching a 7-pound, 14-ounce largemouth which bit a swimbait in Period 2. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Presented by Power-Pole is hosted by the Jasper County Development District and the Jasper/Lake Sam Rayburn Chamber of Commerce.

The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Sunday and Tuesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Monday and Wednesday. With both groups two-day Qualifying Round complete, the anglers that finished in 2^nd through 20^th place from both groups now advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round, while the winner from each group advances directly to Friday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins. Full breakdown of the format can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  

Attendance is limited to competing anglers, essential staff and media covering the event only. Fans are encouraged to follow the event online through the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com

The 2021 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros that qualify from the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2022 championship.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com. and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 28 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

ASPER, Texas (March 23, 2021) – Pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, caught 14 bass Tuesday totaling 34 pounds, 4 ounces to vault to the top of the leaderboard and win the two-day Qualifying Group A round at the Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole . DeFoe’s two-day total of 25 bass weighing 59 pounds, 11 ounces earned him the win by a 9½-pound margin and now advances him directly into the Championship Round of competition, set for Friday. The six-day tournament is being live-streamed online and filmed for television broadcast on the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel later this year.

Alabama’s Dustin Connell, the reigning REDCREST Champion, caught a two-day total of 16 bass weighing 50-3 to finish the round in second place, while day one leader Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas, boated a two-day total of 13 bass weighing 41-10 to end the round in third place.

The top 20 anglers from Group A will now enjoy an off day, while the 40 anglers in Qualifying Group B will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition on Wednesday. The Knockout Round, featuring 38 anglers competing to finish in the top eight, will take place on Thursday. Friday’s Championship Round will feature DeFoe, Wednesday’s Group B winner, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“It’s such a huge relief to win and not have to come back out here to compete in the Knockout Round,” DeFoe said. “And now, I don’t have to beat my fish up again and the way I’ve been fishing that is a huge, huge plus. I can let those fish rest and don’t have to try to catch them two days in a row. I only have to come back out when it really matters, so I’m very excited about that.”

DeFoe got off to a fast start, catching eight scorable bass in Period 1, but his day slowed immensely in the final two periods with just two scorable bass in Period 2 and a three-fish flurry right around 3:30 p.m. in the final period. He said that he caught his fish on five different moving baits.

“What worked for me on Sunday morning worked again for me this morning, and that got me off to a really solid start,” DeFoe said. “The midday deal was a lot harder for me today. I spent a lot of the final period looking and I finally hit a place that was good and caught the three scorable fish really quick in the final period. I might have figured a little something out, and that could be a difference maker for me in the end.”

DeFoe plans to return to the same areas during Friday’s Championship Round and said he hopes it will have enough to earn him his second Texas victory on the Bass Pro Tour in two seasons.

“I’m all in on where I’m at,” DeFoe went on to say. “I’m incredibly excited to get back out there – equally as excited as I was last year for the final day on Lake Athens.”

Other than DeFoe’s 34-pound day, Spring City, Tennessee’s Wesley Strader had the second-highest weight on the day, catching six bass totaling 28 pounds, 15 ounces – including a 8-9 and a 6-1. Strader’s two-day total of 10 bass for 39-5 landed him in fifth place.

“We had a really fun day today,” the Tennessee pro said. “Hopefully things keep improving and we can expand a little bit on what we had going this morning. I’m looking forward to spending tomorrow regrouping and getting retied and everything ready to go for the Knockout Round.”

Although DeFoe’s 9½-pound margin of victory didn’t really lend much dramatics at the top of the leaderboard, the race to finish above the Toro Cut Line inside the top 20 proved very intense. Pro Brett Hite of Phoenix, Arizona, boated a 3-pound, 3-ouncer, with less than 10 minutes remaining in Period 3 to move into the Cut Line and knock out Texan Alton Jones, who finished in 21st place.

“Wow, that was intense. That, right there, is what Major League Fishing is all about – fish hard right to the end and never give up,” Hite said. “I had a rough day, and I worked my butt off. I had a real tough morning, but made the decision to make a long run at the end of the second period into the third period and it ended up being the right call. That’s one of the biggest things out here – you have to go with your gut and trust that you are making the right decision. Today, it paid off, and I’m really looking forward to getting back out here on Thursday.”

The top 20 pros from Qualifying Group A that now advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:

  1st:        Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 25 bass, 59-11 (ADVANCES DIRECTLY TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND)
  2nd:       Dustin Connell. Clanton, Ala., 16 bass, 50-3
  3rd:       Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 13 bass, 41-10
  4th:        Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 39-5
  5th:        Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 12 bass, 34-2
  6th:        Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 31-12
  7th:        Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 13 bass, 30-15
  8th:        Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., nine bass, 30-9
  9th:        Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., nine bass, 30-7
  10th:     Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., 10 bass, 30-1
  11th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 12 bass, 29-4
  12th:     Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., six bass, 28-0
  13th:     Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 11 bass, 27-9
  14th:     Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., 10 bass, 26-10
  15th:     Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., nine bass, 26-2
  16th:     Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 25-15
  17th:     Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., six bass, 25-10
  18th:     Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn., eight bass, 25-1
  19th:     Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., eight bass, 23-0
  20th:     Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., eight bass, 22-0

Full results for the field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 149 bass weighing 434 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 38 pros Tuesday, which included two 8-pounders, two 7-pounders, two 6-pounders and six 5-pounders caught from Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Pace won Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in an 8-pound, 11-ounce largemouth which bit a jerkbait in Period 1. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Presented by Power-Pole is hosted by the Jasper County Development District and the Jasper/Lake Sam Rayburn Chamber of Commerce.

The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Sunday and Tuesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Monday and Wednesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in 2^nd through 20^th place from both groups advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round, while the the winner of each group advances directly to Friday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins. Full breakdown of the format can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  

JASPER, Texas (March 21, 2021) – Fishing in his first career Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour event, Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit angler Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas, wasted no time in making an immediate impact. Shuffield boated nine scorable bass Sunday totaling 29 pounds, 12 ounces to jump out to the early lead in the Group A Qualifying Round at the Toro Stage 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole . The six-day competition, which awards a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner, is being live-streamed online and filmed for television broadcast on the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel later this year.

Just 1-ounce behind Shuffield in second place on the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard is a red-hot Dustin Connell, of Clanton, Alabama, the reigning REDCREST champion who caught 10 bass totaling 29-11. Bass fishing superstar Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, sits in third place, just 2 pounds back of Shuffield with 10 bass weighing 27-12.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now enjoy a day off Monday, while the 40 anglers in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A resumes competition on Tuesday.

“I’m really excited about it,” Shuffield said when asked about leading after day one in his first Bass Pro Tour event. “I got on a little something today that I didn’t know was happening, but it’s a way that I really like to catch them. Everything that I’m catching is postspawn, and the way things are looking I think they’re just going to continue coming to me, more and more.”

Shuffield said that he caught all of his fish on two different baits Sunday – a Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep and a drop-shot rig.

“In practice I was catching 50 to 70 fish a day, but today I probably caught around 30,” Shuffield said. “I caught a lot of 1-12 to 1-15 (pound) fish, today. But, all in all, I’m satisfied. Of course, I’d like to have a 5-, 6- or 7-pound cushion over second – one ounce isn’t even really leading – but I’ll take it for my first day.”

Like Shuffield, most of the anglers near the top of the leaderboard were also throwing a jerkbait at certain points of the day, including Connell and VanDam.

“I caught a lot of fish on a jerkbait, today,” Connell said. “These fish are kind of staging up right now. It got pretty slow for me later in the day, so I was kind of bouncing around and practicing in the third period. I found a little zone that I like, so I’ve just been trying to expand on that a little bit.”

VanDam spent a lot of the day looking for schools of bass that were grouped up but didn’t have any luck, and spent the day picking off stragglers.

“I wasn’t really sure how it was going to happen, today, but it ended up being a solid day,” VanDam said. “I caught some good fish in practice, but I couldn’t find the big concentrations of them, and that’s the way it was today. One here, one there. I caught a few good ones and just mixed it up to keep myself in the hunt all day long.”

VanDam credited a Pro Blue-colored Strike King KVD jerkbait as being his key bait for most of the day, but he did also boat a few scorable bass with a gold-colored jerkbait as well.

“I’m just going to grind it out and fish the migration routes where these fish are coming into these big spawning basins – fishing points and ditches.”

The top 20 pros in Group A after Day 1 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:
1^st:          Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., nine bass, 29-12
2^nd:         Dustin Connell. Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 29-11
3^rd:         Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 10 bass, 27-12
4^th:         Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 11 bass, 25-7
5^th:         Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., five bass, 23-9
6^th:         Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn., six bass, 20-10
7^th:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 18-3
8^th:         Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 17-1
9^th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., seven bass, 17-1
10^th:       Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., six bass, 16-8
11^th:       Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C., four bass, 14-5
12^th:       Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., six bass, 14-2
13^th:       Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., five bass, 13-13
14^th:       Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 13-9
15^th:       Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., five bass, 13-6
16^th:       Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., four bass, 12-15
17^th:       Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., five bass, 12-11
18^th:       David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., five bass, 12-4
19^th:       Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., four bass, 12-0
20^th:       Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., four bass, 10-6

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 155 bass weighing 439 pounds caught by 36 pros on Sunday, which included one 9-pounder, one 8-pounder, one 7-pounder and four 6-pounders caught from Sam Rayburn.

Connell won Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 9-pound, 5-ounce largemouth on the jerkbait during Period 2. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

DAY 2 Arkansas Veteran Jumps out to Early Lead after Day 1 for Qualifying Group B with 10 Bass in First Period Flurry

JASPER, Texas (March 22, 2021) – For Major League Fishing (MLF) fans following the MLF Now!® live stream, it looked like pro Mark Davis was having a very tough day on the water. Mid-way through the second period, the Mount Ida, Arkansas, veteran had yet to weigh a single fish and he remained at the bottom of the leaderboard without a scorable bass. Then, all of a sudden, Davis returned to an area that had cellular service and the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard lit up.

In actuality, Davis had a fantastic morning, boating 10 bass in the first period and jumping out to a big lead on day 1 of Qualifying Group B at the Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole. It just happened to be in an area that did not have cellular coverage, and therefore his SCORETRACKER updates were unable to send. When all was said and done, Davis caught a total of 12 bass weighing 28 pounds, 2 ounces, Monday to gain the early lead after Group B’s day 1, midway through their two-day Qualifying Round.

Pro Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales, Louisiana, sits comfortably in second place, just two pounds back of Davis with seven bass totaling 26-2. Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, finished the day in third place with seven bass for 22-2, six pounds behind the leader. The six-day event awards a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner and is being live-streamed online and filmed for television broadcast on the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel later this year.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now enjoy an off day on Tuesday, while the 40 anglers in Qualifying Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Group B will resume competition on Wednesday.

“I caught my fish this morning on a Strike King Red Eye Shad,” Davis said. “I had found this area in practice and I knew that the fish were there. I went in there this morning and started fishing shallow and there wasn’t much going on, then I saw a couple of them come up and bust, way out off of the bank.

“The trick was that I had to cast it out and let the bait sink, then kind of pump it,” Davis said. “It took a cadence with that lure to get them to bite. They wouldn’t just bite it on my cast and retrieve. You had to pump it, you had to work it out and kind of feel it around in the grass.”

Davis said that he threw the Red Eye Shad on a Lew’s KVD Composite Cranking rod paired with a Lew’s Hyper Mag reel, spooled with 15-pound test line.

“The fish were really biting it good – just swallowing it,” Davis said. “But, when it was over, it was done. I mean, it was done. I went to a Carolina rig and was able to catch a few more, but they were small. The shad were there and when the fish were ready to feed, they’ll feed. They’ll probably feed again later this afternoon.”

Spohrer did not have as fast of a start to the morning as Davis did, but his bite managed to be a bit more consistent throughout the entire day.

“The way my morning started, it wasn’t looking good,” the Louisiana pro said. “I had an area that I thought I was going to be my best spot where I’d get the most bites, and I didn’t get anything. I just kept my head down and kept fishing, swimming a jig all day and covering water. I figured out a little deal around the cypress trees, and it proved to be a good method for me.

“The fish are moving around, but I think I have a good feel for what they are doing and it should keep getting better and better for me. Hopefully I can get back out here on Wednesday and try to win the round to advance to Championship Friday,” Spohrer went on to say.

“It ended up being a brutal day for me,” said third-place angler Ehrler. “It started off really well – I felt like I was getting in a groove – then I went the entire second period without catching anything. Then with just an hour left in the third period I finally caught one more 3-pounder. So really, after the first period, I sucked pretty much all day. I’ve got some decisions to make here before Wednesday because I’m just really not comfortable. Hopefully I can change some things up and advance.”

The top 20 pros from Qualifying Group B after Day 1 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:
1^st:          Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 12 bass, 28-2
2^nd:         Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., seven bass, 26-2
3^rd:         Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., seven bass, 22-2
4^th:         Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., seven bass, 21-4
5^th:         Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., seven bass, 19-2
6^th:         Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., six bass, 18-10
7^th:         Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., six bass, 17-11
8^th:         Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., five bass, 17-1
9^th:         Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., seven bass, 16-10
10^th:       Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla., six bass, 16-3
11^th:       Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 15-8
12^th:       Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, six bass, 15-5
13^th:       Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., three bass, 13-15
14^th:       Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, five bass, 13-8
15^th:       David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 12-11
16^th:       Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., four bass, 12-3
17^th:       Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 11-10
18^th:       Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., four bass, 11-9
19^th:       Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 11-8
20^th:       Jeff Kriet, Ardmore, Okla., five bass, 10-13

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 167 bass weighing 457 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 39 pros on Monday, which included two 7-pounders and six 5-pounders caught from Sam Rayburn.

Scroggins won Monday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 7-pound, 9-ounce largemouth which bit on a bladed swimjig right at the end of Period 3. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole is hosted by the Jasper County Development District and the Jasper/Lake Sam Rayburn Chamber of Commerce.

The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Sunday and Tuesday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Monday and Wednesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in 2^nd through 20^th place from both groups advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round, while the the winner of each group advances directly to Friday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins. Full breakdown of the format can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  

EUFAULA, Ala. (Feb. 23, 2021) – Pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, weighed in 15 bass totaling 50 pounds, 4 ounces over the first two days of competition to win the two-day Qualifying Round at REDCREST 2021, the Bass Pro Tour championship at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. The five-day competition features a field of 40 of the best anglers in the world from the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour competing for a top cash prize of $300,000.

The field is now cut to 20, and weights are zeroed as competition moves into the Knockout Round. A field of 10 anglers (Group A) will compete on Wednesday and the remaining 10 anglers (Group B) will compete Thursday. The top five anglers from each day advance to the fifth and final day of competition, Championship Friday.

Lake Eufaula was a bit tougher for anglers on Tuesday, however quite a few anglers, including Thrift, spent most of the day practicing and searching for new areas to fish during the upcoming Knockout Round.

“I didn’t catch a lot of fish today – only two scorable bass – but it was a fun day because I eliminated a lot of water,” Thrift said. “That’s pretty much all we got accomplished today, but that’s just a part of it. Sometimes that’s almost as good as finding the winning hole, because now I’ve got a great idea of what not to do when I get back out there, and that’s definitely a plus.

“It feels great to be leading in my very first REDCREST, but I’ve still got some work left to do,” Thrift said. “You can’t win if you don’t make it to the Championship Round. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what we can do.”

Reigning REDCREST champion, Oklahoma’s Edwin Evers, had a great day Tuesday, catching eight bass weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest weight of the day – to vault from 25^th place to inside the Toro Top 20 Cut and end the day in 8^th place.

“I caught the largest weight of the day, and I know that doesn’t mean a lot to some of the guys that laid off their fish, but it gives me a lot of confidence going into the Knockout Round,” Evers said. “The majority of my fish today came on a Berkley PowerBait Power Hog. I’m learning more and putting more pieces of the puzzle together each day and I can’t wait to get back out there and compete in the Knockout Round.”

The top 20 pros that made the cut and will advance in competition at Lake Eufaula are:1^st:           Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 50-4
2^nd:          Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., 12 bass, 39-7
3^rd:          Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 36-3
4^th:           Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-8
5^th:           Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, 10 bass, 33-2
6^th:           Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., 11 bass, 31-1
7^th:           Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., nine bass, 31-1
8^th:           Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., 11 bass, 30-0
9^th:           Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 29-7
10^th:        Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., nine bass, 28-12
11^th:        David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., eight bass, 28-7
12^th:        Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 27-4
13^th:        Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., eight bass, 27-0
14^th:        Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., seven bass, 26-8
15^th:        Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., eight bass, 26-4
16^th:        Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan., nine bass, 26-3
17^th:        Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala., six bass, 23-5
18^th:        Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark., nine bass, 23-3
19^th:        Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., seven bass, 22-15
20^th:        Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 20-10
Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 105 bass weighing 101 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 35 pros on Tuesday, which included eight 5-pounders and eight 4-pounders caught.

Fletcher Shryock of Guntersville, Alabama, won Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 5-pound, 14-ounce largemouth during Period 1. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $7,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group A Knockout Round on Wednesday are:

Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla.
Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark.
Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala.
Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark.
David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va.
Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C.
Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn.
Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark.
Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn.
Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.
The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group B Knockout Round on Thursday are:Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan.
Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn.
Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla.
Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C.
Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas
Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala.
Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn.
Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan
Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla.
Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.
REDCREST 2021 Presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage, the Bass Pro Tour championship at Lake Eufaula, is hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.

All 40 Anglers competed on Day 1 (Monday) and 2 (Tuesday) of the event. Now, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 compete on Day 3 (Wednesday) and 10 compete on Day 4 (Thursday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the fifth and final day of competition (Friday), where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2021 champion.

Attendance is limited to competing anglers, essential staff and media covering the event only. Fans are encouraged to follow the event online through the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com

The 2020 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing in a COVID-shortened five regular-season tournaments around the country. The top 40 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the five events qualified to compete in Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com. and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage, the Bass Pro Tour championship, will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 3 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF Inside the REDCREST will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 18 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

LEESBURG, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2021) – Eric Panzironi of Longwood, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 24 pounds, 12 ounces to win the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine at Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. Panzironi earned $6,000 for his victory. 

“I stayed on Harris all day, which was a short run for me but it worked out nicely,” said Panzironi. “I caught all my fish on a black-colored Zoom Magnum Trick Worm in 10 to 12 feet of mostly dirty water.

“The real key to the victory was the Garmin LiveScope. I caught every single one of my fish directly beneath my boat and I could see them all. I dropped down to them and they’d eat it – it was amazing.”

Panzaroni said he was excited to walk away with a win at the first tournament of the year for the Gator division.

“It’s awesome – I love it,” he said. “To start off 2021 with a win at my first event – I definitely have no regrets.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

            1^st:       Eric Panzironi of  Longwood, Fla., five bass, 24-12, $6,000

            2^nd:      Peter Thliveros of Saint Augustine, Fla., five bass, 22-7, $3,000

            3^rd:       Joshua Parry of Saint Johns, Fla., five bass, 20-11, $3,000

            4^th:       Jonathan Semento of Okahumpka, Fla., five bass, 19-8, $1,900 (includes $500 Phoenix Bonus)

            5^th:       Tyler Sheppard of Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 19-7, $1,200

            6^th:       Grady Johnson of Saint Cloud, Fla., five bass, 18-7, $1,100

            7^th:       Bill Troyer of Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 17-11, $1,000

            8^th:       Robert Crosnoe of Inverness, Fla., five bass, 17-10, $900

            9^th:       Grady Maynard of Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $800

            10^th:     McCoy (Simon) Borja of Fruitland Park, Fla., five bass, 16-9, $700

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Parry also caught the largest bass in the Boater Division, a 10-pound, 2-ounce largemouth, which was good for the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000.

Semento took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF BIG5 Contingency Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

            1^st:       Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Fla., five bass, 22-3, $3,000

            2^nd:      Shaun Ireland of Lake Worth, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $1,500

            3^rd:       Aymon Wilcox of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five bass, 17-3, $1,000

            4^th:       Justin Brown of Frostproof, Fla., five bass, 16-6, $900

            5^th:       Bradley Phillips of Alachua, Fla., five bass, 15-11, $600

            6^th:       Justin Bun of Lake Alfred, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $550

            7^th:       Joshua Dunn of Mulberry, Fla., five bass, 14-7, $500

            8^th:       Jason Cooper of Shelbyville, Tenn., five bass, 14-0, $450

            9^th:       Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo., five bass, 13-12, $400

            10^th:     Jake Stines of Plant City, Fla., five bass, 12-8, $350

Luke Cocke of Valdosta, Georgia caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Harris Chain of Lakes was hosted by Visit Lake County, FL.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Gator Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 21-23 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida, hosted by the Putnam County Tourist Development Council. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury s outboard.

The 2021 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 4, 2021) – Derek Mundy of Broaddus, Texas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing a staggering 40 pounds, 10 ounces to win the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine season opener at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Brookeland, Texas. Mundy earned $7,000 for his victory. 

Mundy said he found his fish in practice but didn’t realize just how good his spot was going to be.

“You can’t look on the graph and see 40 pounds, but I knew I could have a good bag if they bit,” Mundy said. “It’s not guaranteed you’re going to roll up to your first spot and catch 30, much less 40.

“I caught the first four on a big crankbait and they busted up a bit,” Mundy said. “Then I pulled out a jig and caught the last one. I caught those five, all on the first stop, in about 20 minutes.”

Fishing a Strike King 8XD and a ¾-ounce V&M The Flatline Pacemaker Football Jig, Mundy said he did all of his damage in about 17 feet of water, in the mid-lake region.

After catching five giants, including a 11-pound, 10-ounce largemouth, Mundy said he felt he could relax.

“I took it easy and went to some Plan B stuff to try to get my co-angler on fish, but it never worked out – the wind got up pretty bad in the afternoon,” he admitted.

Weighing his fish as soon as he was allowed, Mundy said he was content to wait for the weigh-in to conclude before collecting his check.

“It’s the biggest bag I’ve ever caught,” said Mundy, who makes his living working on oil pipelines. “It felt good. I didn’t realize they were that big until I was checking on them to make sure they were doing alright in the livewell, but even then, I didn’t realize I had 40 pounds.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
 1^st:  Derek Mundy of Broaddus, Texas, five bass, 40-10, $7,0002^nd:  Cameron Mattison of Bossier City, La., five bass, 28-6, $3,000
3^rd:  Tommy Loving of Cypress, Texas, five bass, 22-14, $2,000
4^th:  Wyatt Frankens of Corrigan, Texas, five bass, 17-11, $1,400
5^th:  Jimmy Hickman of Shreveport, La., five bass, 17-8, $1,200
6^th:  Cannon Bird of Marshall, Texas, five bass, 16–6, $1,100
7^th:  Chris McCall of Woodville, Texas, five bass, 15-15, $1,000
8^th:  Richard Ballard of Sulphur, La., five bass, 15-12, $1,400
9^th:  Dicky Newberry of Houston, Texas, five bass, 15-0, $800
10^th:  Bobby Vice of Orange, Texas, five bass, 14-11, $665
10^th:  Travis Franks of Lake Charles, La., five bass, 14–11, $665
 Mundy’s 11-pound, 10-ounce largemouth was also good for the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $1,000.

Ballard took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF BIG5 Contingency Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF BIG5 Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Michael Petras of Biloxi, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division and $3,000 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds even.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:
1^st:  Michael Petras of Biloxi, Miss., five bass, 16-0, $3,000
2^nd:  Shane Stoddard of Hot Springs, Ark., four bass, 15-4, $2,000
3^rd:  Michael Horne of Dodson, La., five bass, 14-10, $1,000
4^th:  Carson Dillinger of Bloomburg, Texas, five bass, 12-70
5^th:   Tracy Hawkins of Corsicana, Texas, three bass, 11-15, $600
6^th:   Julio Garza of Houston, Texas, five bass, 11-5, $550
7^th:   Steve Lee of Benton, Ark., five bass, 11-2, $500
8^th:   Daniel Bryant of LaFayette, La., five bass, 10-10, $450
9^th:  Ryker Holmes of Arlington, Texas, five bass, 10-7, $400
10^th:  John Webb of Fort Smith, Ark., four bass, 10-4, $332
10^th:  Greg Boik of College Station, Texas, five bass, 10-4, $332
Stoddard caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 9 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $500.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper County Development District.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Cowboy Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 21-23 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Ouachita in Mount Ida, Arkansas hosted by Visit Hot Springs. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury s outboard.

The 2021 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.

The 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held June 3-5 at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee and hosted by the Jefferson County Department of Tourism. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the Toyota Series, the pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (Nov. 16, 2020) – The 29-year-old Alabama superstar did it again. Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama, caught 37 bass totaling 69 pounds, 4 ounces, to narrowly edge out South Carolina’s Casey Ashley and win the 2020 General Tire World Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and the top prize of $100,000.

It was a nail-biting finale that came down to the wire in the final day Championship Round that aired Saturday on Discovery. Lee caught his last fish – a 2-pound, 2-ounce largemouth – with just 14 minutes to spare in the final period, overtaking Ashley, who had put together a frantic 17 bass third-period rally to move to the top of the leaderboard. Lee’s last fish came on a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General worm.

“Oh man, what a feeling,” said Lee, who was the 2020 Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year, winner of the inaugural Heavy Hitters tournament in February, and now the 2020 General Tire World Champion. “Casey was just killing it right there at the end. It seemed like every time I caught one, he would catch two. It was gut-wrenching. I was listening to him bumping up the SCORETRACKER® and he just kept coming and I couldn’t do anything about it. I just had to keep my head down and focus on every single bite. That last fish turned out to be the difference maker. We fished all day long and I won by less than a pound. Unreal.”

Lee started out his day on Spider Lake targeting largemouth with a vibrating jig and a swimjig, before mixing in a frog and eventually the Berkley The General worm (black and black-and-blue) as the day progressed. He keyed on the shallow reeds and lily pads on the 1,392-acre lake.

“It was mostly a fun day of flipping and frogging, and that is what I love to do,” Lee said. “I mixed up a couple of different baits to start with, but the swim jig really got me started. It clued me in that the fish were around the reeds and the pads, and then I started catching some good ones.”

Lee led after Period 1 of competition and had a near 20-pound lead into Period 2 before his bite slowed in Period 3. Meanwhile, Ashley’s pattern caught fire. Ashley took the lead with 40 minutes remaining in the event, and the two anglers battled back and forth before Lee’s last-minute heroics clinched the victory.

“We were so close, I pretty much knew that whoever caught the last scorable bass was going to win,” said Lee. “As the clock ticked down, I kept expecting my boat official to tell me that Casey had caught one at the very end to take it, but luckily for me that didn’t happen.

“To win this event is just the best feeling in the world,” Lee went on to say. “MLF puts us out in the middle of nowhere – down dirt roads, places we’ve never fished before. I love that part of this game. It’s a level playing field, and to come away with a win against this bunch of guys – they’re the best in the world. This has been a special, special week. Nothing comes easy in this sport and I don’t take it for granted. I’ve had a great year. I’m fishing with confidence and I hope I can keep the good vibes going next season.”

The final six anglers at the 2020 General Tire World Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops in Grand Rapids, Minnesota finished:

                1^st:          Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala., 37 bass, 69-4
                2^nd:         Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., 35 bass, 68-5
                3^rd:         Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., 28 bass, 48-2
                4^th:         Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, 29 bass, 46-10
                5^th:         Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va., 20 bass, 43-6
                6^th:         Cody Meyer of Star, Idaho, 10 bass, 21-10

Complete results and photos from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Meyer caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a 5-pound, 2-ounce largemouth at the end of Period One that came on an unnamed finesse worm.

Overall, there were 159 bass weighing 297 pounds, 5 ounces caught by the final six pros during the Championship Round of competition on Spider Lake.

The 2020 General Tire World Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by Visit Grand Rapids and premiered on the Discovery Channel as six, two-hour original episodes debuting on Oct. 10, 2020, and running through Nov. 14, 2020. The event, shot over six days in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, showcased 16 MLF pro anglers culminating the 2020 Cup season and competing for the top prize of $100,000.