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Tuesday, December 16, 2025
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Haughton Fishing Team Wins MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing Presented by Tackle Warehouse Open on Lake Seminole

Brian Carter
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Haughton Fishing Team Wins MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing Presented by Tackle Warehouse Open on Lake Seminole

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Feb. 17, 2025) – The MLF High School Fishing team of Carsen Adcock and Colton Arnold, representing the Haughton Fishing Team, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces to win the MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing Presented by Tackle Warehouse Open at Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia.

A field of 36 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which was hosted by Visit Bainbridge. In MLF High School Fishing competition, the top 10 percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.

The top three teams that advance to the 2025 High School Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Haughton Fishing Team, Haughton, La. – Carsen Adcock and Colton Arnold, five bass, 18-3            
2nd: Lancaster Academy – Fisher Lancaster and Jesse Lancaster, five bass, 14-11        
3rd: Bainbridge Bass Cats, Bainbridge, Ga. – Caleb Logue and Hayden Reynolds, four bass, 14-7           

Rounding out the top 10 teams were:

4th:        Westfield High School, Perry, Ga. – Brant Beckham and Daniel Sapp, five bass, 14-3    
5th:        Bainbridge Bass Cats, Bainbridge, Ga. – Mason Bright and Drake Walls, five bass, 13-8
6th:        Wayne County High School, Jesup, Ga. – Tucker Chalfant and Tripp Harvey, five bass, 12-15   
7th:        Thomas County Central High School, Thomasville, Ga. – Nathan Henson and Gareth Joslin, five bass, 12-11               
8th:        Highland Park High School, Dallas, Texas – Carson Falk and Dylan Sorrells, five bass, 12-7
9th:        Southwest Georgia Academy, Damascus, Ga. – Nate Akers and Noah Fetner, five bass, 12-0     
10th:     Rehobeth High School, Rehobeth, Ala. – Jacob Johnson and Karson Peterman, five bass, 11-6                 

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

MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing presented by Tackle Warehouse tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and are open to any MLF and TBF Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10 percent of teams at each Open event, along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships, advance to the High School Fishing National Championship. Tournaments held on or before March 29, 2025, advance teams to the 2025 National Championship. Tournaments held after March 29, 2025, advance teams to the 2026 National Championship.

The 2025 Abu Garcia High School Fishing National Championship & World Finals events will take place June 25-27, at Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. The High School Fishing National Champions each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice and advance to the 2025 MLF Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Abu Garcia High School Fishing Presented by Tackle Warehouse include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Humminbird,  Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota , WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular High School Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.





Livingston Lures Adds Scott Canterbury to Pro Staff 2019 Bassmaster Angler of the Year to Promote Brand, Help with Product Development

Brian Carter
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Livingston Lures Adds Scott Canterbury to Pro Staff 2019 Bassmaster Angler of the Year to Promote Brand, Help with Product Development

Livingston Lures Adds Scott Canterbury to Pro Staff
2019 Bassmaster Angler of the Year to Promote Brand, Help with Product Development

SAN ANTONIO, Tex. – February 14, 2025 –– Livingston Lures, the San Antonio, Tex. based manufacturer of premium fishing lures featuring their patented EBS (Electronic Baitfish Sounds) Technology introduce the addition of 2019 Bassmaster Angler of the Year Scott Canterbury to their world class Pro Fishing Team.

Canterbury, from Odenville, Ala., who has competed on the FLW Tour and Bassmaster Elite Series since 2008. In his career, Canterbury competed in 257 professional events, claimed two FLW wins, the 2019 Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, 54 top 10 finishes, qualified for 10 trips to the Forrest Wood Cup and four Bassmaster Classics.  He has claimed $1,984,937 in paychecks in his career.

The veteran pro is a shallow water, power fisherman who honed his craft on the famed Coosa River and the legendary fisheries of North Alabama before hitting the tours.  He joins the Livingston Lures team because he has used the lineup throughout his career to put bass in his livewell that equates to being able to feed his family.

Having trust in a product lie is key to the Alabama pro.  “I have had some success in my career with several of the Livingston Lures products before deciding to join with them officially,” said Canterbury.  “I have caught a lot of fish on the Howeller Series of crankbaits, the Walking Boss is a great topwater bait and the Flat Master and Walk ‘n Pop have all been a part of my arsenal for a while.”

He said that he is proud to be joining the Livingston Lures family.  “I am beyond excited to be a part of such a great team,” he said. “The EBS technology is proven to be a great fish catcher and the crew at Livingston is continuously working with their pros to bring out new, fish catching baits; I am thrilled to be a part of this family and be a part of this process.”

Erick Arnoldson, Livingston Lures’ Vice President of Operations knows adding Canterbury is a definitive addition to his team. We are thrilled to welcome Scott Canterbury to the Livingston Lures family,” said Arnoldson. “His exceptional skill, experience, and passion for fishing perfectly align with our mission to push the boundaries of innovation and performance.”

Arnoldson said he trusts Canterbury to contribute to the brand. “As a Livingston Lures Pro Staff member, he will play a key role in product development, serve as a brand ambassador at tournaments and industry events, and contribute to educational content designed to help anglers elevate their skills,” Arnoldson continued. “His insights and expertise will be invaluable as we continue developing cutting-edge solutions for anglers worldwide.”

Canterbury joins a Pro Staff that includes 2014 Bassmaster Classic Champion Randy Howell, five-time Bassmaster Champion Jacob Powroznik, Six-time Major League Fishing winner and the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup Champion Anthony Gagliardi and Bassmaster Opens pro Laker Howell.

About Livingston Lures: Livingston Lures has built a reputation among top freshwater and saltwater anglers for innovation and premium quality baits that flat­ out catch fish. These hard plastic lures are designed to call the fish and meet the highest standards for swimming action with quality construction. Every Livingston Lures’ bait features EBS™, Electronic Baitfish Sound Technology™. For more information visit www.LivingstonLures.com or visit a retailer near you.





LSU-Shreveport Wins MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Tournament on Lake Seminole Presented by Suzuki Marine

Brian Carter
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LSU-Shreveport Wins MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Tournament on Lake Seminole Presented by Suzuki Marine

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Feb. 17, 2025) – The Louisiana State University (LSU)-Shreveport duo of Miles Smith of Houma, Louisiana, and Levi Thibodaux of Thibodaux, Louisiana, won the MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Seminole Presented by Suzuki Marine Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces. The victory earned the Pilots’ bass club $2,000 and a qualification into the 2025 MLF College Fishing National Championship.

Both business majors, Thibodaux and Smith are comfortable fishing grass from their time on Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn. So when they came to Lake Seminole – the first time there for each of them – they tried to spend practice running the lake and getting a feel for the grass. Bad weather on two of the days limited their search efforts, but the anglers were able to find a handful of spots in one area where they could stay on the fish amid a cold front.

“We found a few different holes in the grass that had a few fish,” Thibodaux said. “We really didn’t know what to expect because we didn’t practice the last day because of the rain and all. We didn’t expect to do that great, to be honest.

“Basically, what we figured out in practice was there were a lot of fish roaming on the grass flats. We kind of figured out with that cold front coming some of them would get off the flats and get in the holes or edges where it’s a little deeper.”

The grass flats were mostly 2 to 4 feet deep, and Thibodaux and Smith targeted holes that were anywhere from 5 to 10 feet deep, mostly keying on edges and hard-bottom areas. They found five or so areas that fit the bill, ranging in size from an area the size of a couple bass boats to one area that was about 100 yards long. The champs caught their fish throwing a jerkbait and a Strike King Hybrid Hunter crankbait – a lure they have plenty of experience with back home.

Throughout the day, the LSU-Shreveport anglers rotated their best spots, staying close and “burning down” each spot for everything they could catch.

“Since we really couldn’t see a lot of the lake like we wanted to, we just kind of settled into that area where we knew we had fish,” Thibodaux added. “It’s a popular area. There were a lot of boats there, but I don’t know that they were focusing on the same things we were focusing on.”

The top 10 teams finished:

1st: LSU-Shreveport – Miles Smith, Houma, La., and Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., five bass, 24-2, $2,000
2nd: University of North Alabama – Jake Brown, Loretto, Tenn., and Nathan Reynolds, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 22-14, $1,000
3rd: Florida Gateway College – Bryce Balentine, Sorrento, Fla., and Connor Koch, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 22-10, $700
4th: Emanuel University – Colby Elliott, Blairsville, Ga., and Michael Gammons, North Charleston, S.C., five bass, 21-11, $600
5th: University of Montevallo – Connor Bell, Lisbon, N.Y., and Nicholas Dumke, Grand Rapids, Minn., five bass, 21-6, $500
6th: University of Tennessee – Matthew Dettling, El Macero, Calif., and Cody Domingos, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 20-15   
7th: University of Montevallo – Brennan Berglund, Zimmerman, Minn., and Colton White, Moore, Okla., five bass, 20-10   
8th: Florida Gateway College – Will Boyd, Quincy, Fla., five bass, 20-9
9th: Campbellsville University – Noah Dabney, Mannsville, Ky., and Evan Fields, Shelbyville, Ky., five bass, 20-7               
10th: Lander University – Harrison McCall, Salisbury, N.C., and Cameron Yates, New Durham, N.H., five bass, 19-15          

The full list of National Championship qualifiers and complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Seminole was hosted by Visit Bainbridge. The next tournament for MLF College Fishing anglers will be the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Grand Lake, March 7 in Grove, Oklahoma.

The 2025 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI season features college teams from across the country competing in six regular-season open tournaments. The top 15 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2026 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Humminbird,  Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota , WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.






Bobby Lane Rallies to Comeback Win at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented at Harris Chain of Lakes

Brian Carter
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Bobby Lane Rallies to Comeback Win at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented at Harris Chain of Lakes

Lakeland, Florida pro catches 22 bass totaling 62-2 in final day Championship Round to earn top prize of $150,000

LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2025) – Across a decorated 17-year career that includes a REDCREST victory, one of the few accomplishments that had eluded Bobby Lane was a national-tour win in his home state of Florida. He’d come close – in fact, the last time the Bass Pro Tour visited the Harris Chain of Lakes, Lane finished second to Ott DeFoe – but had yet to lift a trophy in his home state.

Midway through the Championship Round at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI at the Harris Chain of Lakes, it looked like Lane would have to keep waiting.

Matt Becker and Mark Davis shot out of the starting blocks, both amassing more than 30 pounds in the first period. Lane, meanwhile, started on the opposite end of Lake Apopka from where he’d caught most of his fish due to the strong south wind and struggled to gain traction. Halfway through Period 2, he’d tallied just 17 pounds, 6 ounces and trailed Davis by more than 20 pounds – and as the wind continued to increase in intensity, presenting baits and generating bites became more difficult by the minute.

But while the action slowed for everyone else, Lane used his Sunshine State savvy to steadily stack weight onto his total. He boated six bass in an hour, which included a 5-8 and a 4-9, to pull within one scorable bass of Davis’ lead at the end of the second period. He took over the top spot on SCORETRACKER® for the first time all tournament 30 minutes into the final frame. Finally, a flurry of five fish totaling 16-10 brought his total to 56-5 and sealed the long-awaited win – and $150,000 prize that comes with it – for the Lakeland native.

Link to Photo Gallery: Anglers get on the juice during Stage 2 Championship Round
Link to Photo Gallery: Stage 2 Championship Round underway on the Harris Chain
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Day 4 Championship Round Competition

“I’ve been close before,” Lane said of winning in Florida. “I finished second here last time to Ott DeFoe, and to finally seal the deal on one in the home state – in a big, national tournament, not just a team event or something like that, but to get a big tournament – means the world to me.”

Prior to the start of practice, much of the dock talk centered on a recent fish kill that occurred on Lake Apopka. That news made Lane, like most of the field, hesitant to venture into the southernmost lake on the Harris Chain, especially since doing so meant a long run from takeoff each morning at Venetian Gardens.

Lane almost didn’t even check Apopka during his two days of practice. It wasn’t until the second day, when he was in nearby Lake Beauclair, that he figured he might as well lock through the Apopka canal and at least check it out.

The first place he stopped, he got six bites without lifting his Power-Poles. His next spot – the area where he ultimately caught most of his fish during competition – produced similar action.

“I make maybe 15, 20 flips, and I have five bites in a row, and two of them were big ones,” Lane said. “And I’m like, oh boy.”

Lane started Day 1 of competition in Lake Harris due to his late boat number, but after that, he was all-in on Apopka, which wound up producing six of the Top 10 finishers. He said the key to finding concentrations of bass was locating hard-bottom areas next to patches of emergent reeds. He thinks bass were staging on the hard bottom before spawning on the reeds.

“When you drop your Power-Poles, it sounds like you’re hitting rocks,” Lane said. “I think with all the grass being eradicated out of that lake, those fish have nowhere else to go but to swim to shore, and I think with the full moon we had during practice, all those fish that wanted to spawn on this moon were moving into that hard spot that I was on.”

While his area was full of fish, Lane said slow presentations were the only way to get them to bite. He locked an Abu Garcia Fantasista X 7-foot, 6-inch, heavy flipping stick in his hands with an Abu Garcia Premier REVO reel spooled with 50-pound-test Durabraid. Using a 5/0 Berkley Fusion19 hook and either a 5/16- or 3/8-ounce Epic Tungsten weight, he flipped a 6-inch Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General to every reed in the area, slowly dragging the worm along the bottom.

Even for Lane, that could be painstaking. He joked that he was “tired of looking at the same 50 or 60-yard stretch of reeds.” But for an angler born and raised in Florida, wielding a flipping stick and slowly picking apart cover made for “a breath of fresh air.”

“Forward-facing sonar has its place, but it did not have its place on the Harris Chain of Lakes this week,” Lane said. “I live and breathe on that flipping stick. It usually gets me close sometimes. I’ve made a lot of money with it. But to actually seal the deal with it in my hands, there’s nothing sweeter.”

Far from the only accomplished flipper to find the bite in Apopka, Sunday’s Championship Round set up for an old-school slugfest. Lane’s first decision of the day almost took him out of the fight.

Seeing the wind buffeting his prime stretch, Lane decided to start the morning on the more protected southern end of the lake. On his third flip, he caught a 5-8, which reinforced his confidence in the area. But over the next 1 hour, 20 minutes, he would only get one more bite, a 2-pounder.

Watching his deficit to Becker and Davis balloon, Lane decided he had no choice but to battle the wind on the north end. The conditions made it almost impossible to present his bait accurately, but skillful boat positioning and patience allowed him to keep stacking up weight when no one else in the field could.

“You really had to get the boat positioned properly when you find the piece of cover you want to fish, drop your Power-Poles, and focus on keeping your bait on the bottom no matter what the wind was doing,” Lane explained. “That was the hardest task today was trying to keep that bait down there where the fish live.”

Lane committed to fighting the wind for the rest of the day, figuring the weather system would eventually blow through the area. With about an hour left before lines out, the gusts finally relented. Right on cue, he caught a 2-pounder, then a 2-6 (which Lane dove onto the front deck of his Phoenix to wrangle after it shook free of his hook). A 5-10, his biggest bass of the day, followed by a 4-8 five minutes later sealed his victory.

“I decided I was going to stay there until the wind shifted directions, which it did, and it just got better and better and better and better,” Lane said. “The minute that wind laid down, it was just perfect. Big one, big one, big one.” 

Lane’s wife, Madeline; his daughter, Lexi; and his son-in-law, Kenny, cheered from shore as they watched him swing those final few fish into the boat. When time expired, he trolled over to them to exchange hugs, the perfect cap to the Florida win he’d been waiting for.

“That’s one thing you dream of is winning a huge tournament in your home state,” Lane said. “I’ve had a lot of close calls. They couldn’t stop me today.”

The top 10 pros at the Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI on the Harris Chain of Lakes finished:

1st:         Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 19 bass, 56-5, $150,000
2nd:        Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 14 bass, 38-13, $45,000
3rd:         Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 15 bass, 36-15, $35,000
4th:         Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 13 bass, 36-7, $30,000
5th:         Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 11 bass, 27-15, $25,000
6th:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., eight bass, 23-9, $23,000
7th:         Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., seven bass, 16-10, $22,000
8th:         James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 10-3, $21,000
9th:         Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 7-6, $20,500
10th:       Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., one bass, 2-2, $20,000

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

Overall there were 97 scorable bass weighing 256 pounds, 5 ounces caught by the final 10 pros on Sunday.

Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, won the Berkley Big Bass Award on Sunday – his third Big Bass Award of the week – with a 7-pound, 1-ounce largemouth that he caught in the third period. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

A new angler has taken the lead in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year competition: pro Jacob Wall of New Hope, Alabama. The third-year Bass Pro Tour pro finished seventh on the Harris Chain after a third-place showing at Stage 1 on Lake Conroe.

Wall leads Jacob Wheeler, who has claimed the AOY crown in three of the past four years, by just one point. The two of them have a bit of cushion over Stage 1 winner Justin Cooper, who sits 10 points back of Wheeler.

The four-day tournament, hosted by Discover Lake County Florida , showcased 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $650,000, including a top payout of $150,000 and valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2026, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

Television coverage of the Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 13 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering the following Saturday on Sept. 20. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook , X, Instagram and  YouTube.





Malabar’s Robert Branagh Goes Wire-to-Wire, Wins MLF Toyota Series at Lake Okeechobee

Brian Carter
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Malabar’s Robert Branagh Goes Wire-to-Wire, Wins MLF Toyota Series at Lake Okeechobee

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2025) – Hopes were high going into the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division event on Lake Okeechobee, and through two days, the lake lived up to the hype. But on Saturday’s Day 3, with a strong southern wind blowing out many key areas, things started to fall apart.

Entering with a comfortable lead after two great days, Robert Branagh almost stumbled as well. But, with the rest of the field struggling, 16 pounds, 13 ounces for a 73-1 total was enough for the win and $44,000.

The victory is Branagh’s second Toyota Series title on Okeechobee, which is not a common feat. Branagh also set the three-day Toyota Series weight record for the fishery, bumping the top weight up to 73-1, a bit more than the previous high-water mark of 72-9 that Jessie Mizell set in 2024.

As the vegetation in Okeechobee has deteriorated in recent years, the frequency of success off the lake has increased. Now, it’s pretty well-known that the various canals and ditches around the edge of the lake can kick out winning weight. Still, old habits die hard, and the bulk of the weight and the bulk of the pressure remains in the lake.

Though Branagh did spend some practice time there, he made the canals his primary focus, and it worked.

“I saw what the wind was going to do for the first two days and then the third day,” said the Florida pro. “That’s why I targeted something out of the ordinary. I knew that the water would stay clean and the wind wouldn’t affect it, and it paid off.

“Now that there’s no grass in the lake to clean the water, I knew the water would get muddy right up to the hard line. And I knew fish were going to spawn. They spawn in the canals just like they spawn in the lake. Just so happens, I found them spawning on rocks. No grass, no nothing; but they were spawning on the rocks.”

Branagh found two key areas where bass were bedding on rock and the hard-bottom areas around it.

“I started in practice,” he explained. “I caught a few on a Senko, and then I picked up the Bruiser Baits Bullet, and I caught a couple of better ones. So, I went to another spot in another canal and did the same thing and caught an 8. So, I knew that was the plan going in.”

Branagh never used his forward-facing sonar. He simply fished very methodically, picking apart his zones foot by foot and using his Power-Poles every inch of the way.

“I’d ease up, I’d say, about 5 feet off the bank,” he said. “The fish were actually out about 3 foot from the from the actual rock piles. I would parallel the rocks, put it on the rocks, and just slow roll it out, ticking the top of the rocks. When you felt it tick the rock, sometimes it was rock, and sometimes it was a fish swimming out with your bait.”

Branagh basically only those needed two areas to win – one was responsible for his weight on Day 1, and his backup spot was the place to be on Day 2 and Day 3.

“I was going to try to save my second spot for today and not burn it up yesterday,” he explained. “But I went in there yesterday and should’ve had over 30 pounds again and lost a double-digit. So, I went in there today and just expanded on it.”

Branagh’s victory was not without flaw – he did lose some key fish. But, it turned out not to matter, and he was thrilled on stage after a grueling Day 3.

“Man, I was sick to my stomach for the last two hours,” he said. “Now, I’m freaking stoked.”

The top 10 pros at the Toyota Series at Lake Okeechobee finished:

1st:        Robert Branagh, Malabar, Fla., 15 bass, 73-1, $44,000
2nd:       Steve Lopez, Oconomowoc, Wis., 15 bass, 65-8, $17,000
3rd:       Parker Knudsen, Minnetonka, Minn., 14 bass, 59-8, $13,750 (includes $1,000 Phoenix Bonus)
4th:        Kyle Glasgow, Guin, Ala., 15 bass, 56-1, $10,750
5th:        Michael Venditto, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 53-14, $9,750
6th:        Hunter Weston, Palm City, Fla., 15 bass, 53-10, $8,375
7th:        Dillon McMillan, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 52-2, $7,300
8th:        Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 51-10, $6,300
9th:        Travis Pitt, Niceville, Fla., 15 bass, 50-1, $5,300
10th:     Michael Catt, Jacksonville, Fla., 15 bass, 49-9, $4,200

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Pro Brian Haseotes of West Newton, Massachusetts, earned Thursday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass Award with a bass weighing 9 pounds, 2 ounces. On Friday, pro David Sheffield of Davie, Florida, brought an 8-pound, 5-ounce largemouth to the scale to earn the $500 award.

Alan Hults of Gautier, Mississippi, won the Strike King Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 45 pounds, 11 ounces. Hults earned the top co-angler prize package worth $34,000, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers at the Toyota Series at Lake Okeechobee finished:

1st:        Alan Hults, Gautier, Miss., 15 bass, 45-11, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd:       Rich Frey, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 41-5, $5,375
3rd:       Ray Ruiz, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 38-13, $4,300
4th:        Brady Lunsmann, Citrus Springs, Fla., 13 bass, 38-5, $3,650
5th:        Roger Phillips, Delta, Ala., 15 bass, 36-11, $3,150
6th:        Garrett Vick, Lake Worth, Fla., 10 bass, 36-8, $2,650
7th:        Jeffery Baffa, Estero, Fla., 14 bass, 36-0, $2,150
8th:        Grant McPeters, Marion, N.C., 11 bass, 35-9, $1,825
9th:        Grayson Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 15 bass, 35-2, $1,530
10th:     Michael Leach, Shenandoah, Texas, 12 bass, 34-10, $1,290

Strike King Co-angler Greg Shaughnessy of Miami, Florida, earned Thursday’s $150 Berkley Big Bass co-angler award with an 8-pound, 15-ounce bass, while Friday’s Day 2 $150 co-angler award went to Shannon Pike of Sarasota, Florida, who weighed in an 8-pound, 9-ounce largemouth bass.

The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Hendry County Tourism Development Council. It was the first of three regular-season tournament for the Toyota Series Southern
Division. The next event for the Toyota Series Southern Division will be March 27-29 on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. For a complete schedule of events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2025 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern and the Southwestern – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the five divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2026. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2025 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 6-8 on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma, and is hosted by the City of Grove Convention & Tourism Bureau.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sports Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.





Dr. Thorton & Jerry Bragg Win CATT East Roanoke River, NC Feb 8, 2025.

Brian Carter
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Dr. Thorton & Jerry Bragg Win CATT East Roanoke River, NC Feb 8, 2025.

We had 24 boats this past Saturday. Thanks for coming out on a cold windy day. Hope to see y’all on March 8th at the Roanoke River!

Tap on the link to view the East Spring schedule!

1st DR Thornton Jerry Bragg 19.12 lbs. $550. They also had big fish 6.73 lbs $240.

2nd Jeff Stoop 18.48 lbs $300. 1st place side pot $367.50.

3rd Larry Thomas Will James 17.45 lbs $200 and 2nd place side pot $157.50.

4th Jason Pittman Jeremy Hodge 16.82 lbs $120.

Don’t forget at the Final with 25 boats 1st Place takes home a minimum of $2,000.00!

TeamBFWeightWinningsPoints
DR Thorton – Jerry Bragg6.7319.12$790.00110
Jeff Stoop5.9218.48$667.00109
Larry Thomas – Will James0.0017.45$357.00108
Jason Pittman – Jeremy Hodge6.1016.82$120.00107
Luke Farley – Josh Farley0.0015.62106
Rip Bass5.2814.54105
Paul King – Brad Stain0.0014.34104
Kevin Jones – Tyler Jones0.0014.19103
Mike Layton JA Williford0.0013.92102
Wayne Harris – Jason Snell0.0013.89101
Luke Edwards – Andrew Grant0.0011.45100
Matt Mainhart – Doug Schlade0.0011.0299
Michael Williams – Kevin Ross0.0010.8098
Mike Henson – Chris Weathersby0.0010.5397
Davis Byrd – Heath Pate5.469.8996
Tracey King – Jackson King0.006.5495
Wayne Stallings – Zeb West0.006.4494
John Brittenhouse – Jason Samson0.006.2493
Donald Luther – Mike Kannan0.004.4692
Aaron Johnson – Seth Johnson0.000.0082
Jody Sykes – Mitch Garner0.000.0082
Heath Britt – Michael Britt0.000.0082
Bobby Clark – Tommy Hughes0.000.0082
Jordan Norris – Clayton Boyette0.000.0082
Total Entry’s$2,160.00
BONUS $$525.00
Total Paid at Ramp$1,935.00
CATT$50.00
East 2025 Spring Final Fund$410.00
2025 CATT Championship Fund$50.00
2025 East Spring Final Fund Total$410.00





Mark Davis Tops Knockout Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at Harris Chain of Lakes

Brian Carter
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Mark Davis Tops Knockout Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at Harris Chain of Lakes

B&W Trailer Hitches pro catches 22 bass weighing 62-2 to pace Knockout Round, final 10 anglers set for Championship Sunday in final-day shootout for top prize of $150,000

LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2025) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI on the Harris Chain of Lakes has largely turned into an old-school Florida flipping fest. And no one on the Bass Pro Tour does old-school quite like Mark Davis .

The 61-year-old Davis led the way through Saturday’s Knockout Round, stacking up 60 pounds, 2 ounces on 22 scorable bass. That put him 8-4 clear of Fletcher Shryock and easily earned him a trip to Sunday’s Championship Round. There, Davis will look to add his first Bass Pro Tour victory to his Hall of Fame resume, which already includes two national-tour Angler of the Year titles and a Bassmaster Classic win.

Davis and the rest of the top nine finishers from the Knockout Round will be joined by Qualifying Round winner Jacob Wheeler in a one-day sprint for the Stage 2 trophy. The angler who amasses the most weight will take home $150,000.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 3 Knockout Round On-the-Water Highlights
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Day 3 Knockout Round Competition

Like many of the top anglers this week, Davis has been fishing slowly, using his years of experience to identify sweet spots among the emergent vegetation that lines the shallows of Lake Apopka and methodically picking them apart with a Yamamoto Senko.

Once he got into the right zone Saturday, he stacked up weight in a hurry. During a stretch that lasted a little more than 2 hours (including the break between Periods 1 and 2), Davis boated 16 scorable bass that weighed a combined 43-6. The flurry shot him to the top of SCORETRACKER® and only ended because he decided he’d done enough to secure a spot in the Championship Round and set off to scout new water.

“It was a lot of fun,” Davis said. “It was the way I love to fish, just casting a Senko and getting a lot of bites. Had a few mishaps there in that first period, but I got it lined out and caught a 5 1/2-pounder there in the second period. I said, ‘Yep, we need to get out of here,’ and I just went kind of looking around after that.” 

Davis is optimistic that he not only left some fish in that zone that he might be able to catch during the Championship Round; he said he has two other productive areas that he never visited Saturday.

That said, Davis is “not counting any chickens” yet. The veteran knows how fickle Florida bass can be, especially given the strong south wind forecast for Sunday. He experienced that firsthand in 2023, when the Bass Pro Tour opened its season on the nearby Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Davis sacked up a gaudy five-fish total of 34-10 during that Knockout Round, but the wind switched, and he was only able to muster 14-0 the following day, opening the door for Chris Lane to pass him and steal the win.

“There’s no telling what’s going to happen,” Davis said. “Everything down here is susceptible to wind and weather. If you get bad wind and weather, you can go from a hero to a zero. You just never know. It’s hard; there’s no protected areas, so depending on direction and how hard the wind is blowing, it could just take you right out of it.”

Regardless of the weather, Davis said he’s committed to Apopka. He and the rest of the anglers fishing there will benefit from the MLF trailering policy, which will be enacted on Sunday to accommodate for the wind. That frees up a minimum of 90 minutes traveling to Apopka and dealing with the lock.

“I really don’t have any other options,” he said. “I’ll have to go down there and try to make something happen no matter what the weather does.” 

Davis would love to get some redemption and leave Florida with a trophy in tow. He knows better than just about anyone that opportunities like this don’t come often. His last national victory came in an FLW Tour event on Fort Loudon and Tellico Lakes in 2007, and he’s realistic about the fact that he doesn’t have too many years left in his career to earn another one.

“It’d mean a bunch,” Davis said. “At my age – I’m 61, been at this now for 40 years – it would be great to lift a trophy one more time.”

Shryock awoke Saturday morning feeling “awful.” Battling a stomach bug that brought with it a fever, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to endure the 8-hour competition day.

A red-hot punching bite was the best medicine he could ask for.

Shryock, long one of the best on tour with a big weight, returned to the hydrilla mats where he’d spent virtually the entire event and found the bass biting. By the midpoint of the day, he had hauled in 16 scorable bass totaling 47-6 – more than enough to advance to his first Championship Round since 2022. So, Shryock used the second half of the day to check some new water and conserve his strength.

“If I had to go hard all day – it’s going to be hell tomorrow, I know that,” Shryock said.

While his chosen technique – wielding a heavy rod and winching bass out of thick grass mats – might not be the most suitable for someone feeling less than 100%, Shryock put a positive spin on it.

“I’m looking at it as a positive, like it might slow me down just a little bit,” he explained. “Because I got to the point today, like, it was hurting to set the hook. I’ve just got body aches and stuff. So, I’m definitely a lot more patient. Maybe that’s the deal.”

Shryock has had to deal with some company in his primary area this week – he said he spent most of Day 2 “playing defense.” But he’s the only angler in the Top 10 who has found the punching pattern, which excites him.

“I really feel good about just fishing my own deal tomorrow, and there’s no excuses,” he said.

Like Davis, though, Shryock knows how temperamental Florida bass can be. Fishing the same technique in largely the same area for the past three days, he’s now experienced two in which the action has been fast and furious and one that saw him “begging for a bite until noon.” He thinks he’ll be around enough fish to earn his first career BPT win, but whether they cooperate remains to be seen.

“When the sun comes up in Florida, you don’t ever know what you’re going to get,” Shryock said. “I know that much. Today was phenomenal. I don’t expect tomorrow to be as easy, just because it never is.

“Can I win? Absolutely. Can I go out tomorrow and finish ninth? Absolutely. I’m going to flip around and find out.”

The top nine pros from the Knockout Round that now advance to Championship Sunday on the Harris Chain of Lakes are:

1st:         Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 22 bass, 60-2
2nd:        Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 17 bass, 51-14
3rd:         Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 21 bass, 50-14
4th:         Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 21 bass, 50-9
5th:         Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 16 bass, 44-8
6th:         Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 14 bass, 41-10
7th:         James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 17 bass, 38-13
8th:         Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 34-13
9th:         Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 16 bass, 32-12
*QR Winner: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.

Eliminated from competition is:

11th:      Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 11 bass, 29-5, $15,900
12th:      Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 13 bass, 27-13, $15,800
13th:      Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 13 bass, 27-0, $15,700
14th:      Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 11 bass, 25-10, $15,600
15th:      Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., nine bass, 23-11, $15,500
16th:      Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 13 bass, 23-0, $15,400
17th:      Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., eight bass, 22-1, $15,300
18th:      Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 18-3, $15,200
19th:      John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., seven bass, 14-4, $15,100
20th:      Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., five bass, 11-10, $15,000

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

Becker won Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award with a 7-pound, 15-ounce largemouth. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round was complete, leader Jacob Wheeler advanced directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th competed in Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights were zeroed, and the top nine finishers now join Wheeler in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

Based on the forecast for stronger winds, MLF will enact the trailering policy for Championship Sunday. The final 10 anglers will arrive at 5:30 a.m. ET to the Venetian Gardens, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg. Anglers will depart the Venetian Gardens at 6:15 a.m. to approved launch ramps located around the fishery. Anglers will return to the Venetian Gardens Sunday evening, following the end of competition at 3:45 p.m.  Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Championship Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on  MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Sunday, Feb. 16, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Venetian Gardens for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel. The Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand both days to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI is hosted by Discover Lake County Florida and features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Television coverage of the Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 13 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering the following Saturday on Sept. 20. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook , X, Instagram and  YouTube.






Iowa’s Miller ‘times it just right’ in weather-shortened Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn

Brian Carter
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Iowa’s Miller ‘times it just right’ in weather-shortened Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn

Iowa’s Chris Miller wins the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by SEVIIN with a total weight of 28 pounds, 10 ounces.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

Feb. 14, 2025

Iowa’s Miller ‘times it just right’ in weather-shortened Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn

JASPER, Texas — Foul weather trimmed the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by SEVIIN from a three-day tournament to a one-day derby. So, before competition even began, the 233 competing anglers knew they’d have to go big if they wanted to go home a winner.

Chris Miller of Spirit Lake, Iowa, found the right bites Friday, weighing a limit of five bass totaling 28 pounds, 10 ounces. That clinched the win for the 37-year-old homebuilder who’d fished in only eight B.A.S.S. events prior to his victory at Rayburn.

Miller collected a hefty $52,086 cash prize with the win, part of a $345,850 cash purse split among the top 45 anglers competing on the 114,500-acre reservoir in east Texas.

“I knew it was just a matter of keeping my head down and running into a few (big bass),” Miller said, noting a 41-pound limit caught in a team tournament on Rayburn earlier this month. “And still, you’re either around them or you’re not. You still have to catch them.”

Stiff winds forced Thursday’s Day 1 competition to be postponed, though B.A.S.S. officials remained hopeful they still could pull off a two-day tournament. Saturday’s forecast of severe thunderstorms and sustained winds of 15-20 mph forced that day to be cancelled, as well, which dialed up the pressure to perform on Friday.

Miller shined in the spotlight. He set up near natural drains and fished for spawning bass in as little as 6 feet of water, as well as transitioning fish that cruised ledges some 15 to 20 feet below the surface.

“They were stationed a little deeper in practice, but I knew they would come to the drains,” he said. “These storms had them messed up, but they came to me. I went from shallow to deep all day … I timed it just right.”

Miller jumped to the top of the BassTrakk board around 10:30 a.m. on Friday after boating a pair of monster bass within a 15-minute span. His biggest fish, a 9-6 bucketmouth bass, came on a Strike King Z-Too jerkbait. It paired perfectly with the 7-pounder he caught in the same area using a white, 7-inch Berkley PowerBait Nessie swimbait. He credited Berkley Forward Braid for helping him put the lures precisely where he wanted them over big bass.

“The key was keeping the bait on top of them, not letting it fall,” Miller said.

Miller primarily fishes Spirit Lake and West Okoboji Lake back home in Iowa. He noted the differences between those smaller fisheries and a mammoth reservoir like Rayburn but said he’s getting increasingly comfortable on other water bodies.

“(The lakes I fish at home) are more deep weedlines, a lot of docks,” he said. “There’s no shad. It’s a whole different animal. But these last couple of years fishing in the Opens, I’ve really started to pick up on how these shad lakes work.

“You cut your teeth and learn a lot fishing these big tournaments … Hopefully I can keep the momentum rolling at Kentucky Lake,” which is the next Division 2 Open, scheduled for March 6-8 in Paris, Tenn.

The Top 50 anglers in both the Division 1 and Division 2 Open standings will qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series. Top anglers following the three EQ tournaments, which are scheduled for September through November, will earn invitations into the vaunted 2026 Bassmaster Elites Series.

Rounding out the Top 5 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir are second, Michigan’s Garrett Paquette, 23-15, $20,834; third, Texas’ Pake South, 23-11, $15,626; fourth, Virginia’s Jack Dice, 23-3, $14,584; and fifth, Texas’ Jaden Parrish, 23-2, $13,542.

Missouri’s Brad Jelinek caught a 9-8 largemouth on Friday and won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award of $750. He finished sixth overall with 22-7 and won $12,501.

2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by SEVIIN 2/14-2/16
Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Jasper  TX.
(Standings Day 1

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Chris Miller           Spirit Lake, IA          5  28-10  200
  Day 1: 5   28-10   
2.  Garrett Paquette       Canton, MI               5  23-15  199
  Day 1: 5   23-15   
3.  Pake South             Winnsboro, TX            5  23-11  198
  Day 1: 5   23-11   
4.  Jack Dice              Lynchburg, VA            5  23-03  197
  Day 1: 5   23-03   
5.  Jaden Parrish          Liberty, TX              5  23-02  196
  Day 1: 5   23-02   
6.  Brad Jelinek           Lincoln, MO              5  22-07  195
  Day 1: 5   22-07   
7.  Brennan Flick          West Monroe, LA          5  22-03  194
  Day 1: 5   22-03   
8.  Tommy Parker           Delano, MN               5  21-11  193
  Day 1: 5   21-11   
9.  Fisher Anaya           Eva, AL                  5  21-06  192
  Day 1: 5   21-06   
10. Yui Aoki               Minamitsurugun JAPAN     5  21-05  191
  Day 1: 5   21-05   
11. Nic Rand               Paw Paw, MI              5  20-12  190
  Day 1: 5   20-12   
11. Joey Teofilo           Richmond Hill Ontario C  5  20-12  190
  Day 1: 5   20-12   
13. Mark Condron           Murfreesboro, TN         5  20-07  188
  Day 1: 5   20-07   
14. Tripp Bowman           Princeton, LA            5  20-03  187
  Day 1: 5   20-03   
15. Tristan McCormick      Bon Aqua, TN             5  20-00  186
  Day 1: 5   20-00   
16. Michael Harlin         Gravois Mills, MO        5  19-08  185
  Day 1: 5   19-08   
17. Wyatt Burkhalter       Coker, AL                5  19-07  184
  Day 1: 5   19-07   
17. Josh Pladies           Belton, MO               5  19-07  184
  Day 1: 5   19-07   
19. Ty Faber               Pagosa Springs, CO       5  19-02  182
  Day 1: 5   19-02   
20. Greg Bohannan          Bentonville, AR          5  18-11  181
  Day 1: 5   18-11   
21. Aaron Jagdfeld         Rochester Hills, MI      5  18-10  180
  Day 1: 5   18-10   
22. Trey Schroeder         Theodosia, MO            5  18-09  179
  Day 1: 5   18-09   
22. Bo Thomas              Edwardsburg, MI          5  18-09  179
  Day 1: 5   18-09   
24. Riley Nielsen          Salt Lake City, UT       5  18-06  177
  Day 1: 5   18-06   
25. Kenta Kimura           Osaka OK JAPAN           5  18-05  176
  Day 1: 5   18-05   
25. Joe Wieberg            Freeburg, MO             5  18-05  176
  Day 1: 5   18-05   
27. Chris Beaudrie         Princeton, KY            5  18-00  174
  Day 1: 5   18-00   
27. Jack York              Emory, TX                5  18-00  174
  Day 1: 5   18-00   
29. Sam Hanggi             Knoxville, TN            5  17-14  172
  Day 1: 5   17-14   
30. Logan Johnson          Jasper, AL               5  17-06  171
  Day 1: 5   17-06   
31. Jacob Bigelow          Cecil, WI                5  17-05  170
  Day 1: 5   17-05   
32. Stephen Browning       Hot Springs, AR          5  17-03  169
  Day 1: 5   17-03   
32. Jacob Policka          Twin Lake, MI            5  17-03  169
  Day 1: 5   17-03   
34. Chris Hellebuyck       White Lake, MI           5  17-02  167
  Day 1: 5   17-02   
34. Laker Howell           Guntersville, AL         5  17-02  167
  Day 1: 5   17-02   
34. Jimmy Washam           Stantonville, TN         5  17-02  167
  Day 1: 5   17-02   
37. Dalton Smith           Taylorsville, KY         5  17-01  164
  Day 1: 5   17-01   
38. Ian Waterer            East Selkirk CANADA      5  17-00  163
  Day 1: 5   17-00   
39. Wyatt Marler           Oldfield, MO             5  16-15  162
  Day 1: 5   16-15   
40. Tyler Campbell         Martin, GA               5  16-13  161
  Day 1: 5   16-13   
41. Tommy Wood             Peregian Springs AUSTRA  5  16-11  160
  Day 1: 5   16-11   
42. Cole Breeden           Lebanon, MO              5  16-09  159
  Day 1: 5   16-09   
43. Cody Bird              Granbury, TX             5  16-08  158
  Day 1: 5   16-08   
43. Christian Nash         Allons, TN               5  16-08  158
  Day 1: 5   16-08   
45. Dillon Falardeau       Hixson, TN               5  16-07  156
  Day 1: 5   16-07   
45. Alec Morrison          Peru, NY                 5  16-07  156
  Day 1: 5   16-07   
47. Randall Tharp          Port St. Joe, FL         5  16-05  154
  Day 1: 5   16-05   
48. Evan Kung              Pickering Ontario CANAD  5  16-04  153
  Day 1: 5   16-04   
49. Colby Dark             West Monroe, LA          5  16-00  152
  Day 1: 5   16-00   
49. Tanner Hadden          Appling, GA              5  16-00  152
  Day 1: 5   16-00   
49. Matthew Kennedy        Littlefork, MN           5  16-00  152
  Day 1: 5   16-00   
49. Bryan Partak           Marseilles, IL           5  16-00  152
  Day 1: 5   16-00   
53. Josh Douglas           Isle, MN                 5  15-15  148
  Day 1: 5   15-15   
54. Christian Ostrander    Turlock, CA              5  15-14  147
  Day 1: 5   15-14   
55. Austin Cranford        Norman, OK               5  15-11  146
  Day 1: 5   15-11   
56. Matt Baker             Glenwood, AR             5  15-08  145
  Day 1: 5   15-08   
56. Billy Gilbert          Hamburg, NY              5  15-08  145
  Day 1: 5   15-08   
58. Kenny Mittelstaedt     Minnetonka, MN           5  15-06  143
  Day 1: 5   15-06   
59. Joey Nania             Cropwell, AL             5  15-04  142
  Day 1: 5   15-04   
60. Tommy Dickerson        Orange, TX               5  14-15  141
  Day 1: 5   14-15   
61. Jordan Knutson         Saint Croix Falls, WI    5  14-14  140
  Day 1: 5   14-14   
61. Isaac Peavyhouse       Monroe, TN               5  14-14  140
  Day 1: 5   14-14   
63. Dillon Harrell         New Caney, TX            5  14-13  138
  Day 1: 5   14-13   
64. Anthony Garcia         Los Angeles, CA          5  14-12  137
  Day 1: 5   14-12   
65. Tai Au                 Glendale, AZ             5  14-11  136
  Day 1: 5   14-11   
65. Jamie Bruce            Kenora Ontario CANADA    5  14-11  136
  Day 1: 5   14-11   
67. Kollin Crawford        Broken Bow, OK           5  14-09  134
  Day 1: 5   14-09   
68. Alex Heintze           Denham Springs, LA       5  14-07  133
  Day 1: 5   14-07   
69. Clint Knight           Russellville, KY         5  14-04  132
  Day 1: 5   14-04   
70. Brooks Anderson        Marietta, GA             5  14-03  131
  Day 1: 5   14-03   
71. Zach Goutremout        Chaumont, NY             5  14-01  130
  Day 1: 5   14-01   
72. Sho Egawa              Osaka JAPAN              5  14-00  129
  Day 1: 5   14-00   
72. Ethan Fields           Breese, IL               5  14-00  129
  Day 1: 5   14-00   
74. Chad Grigsby           Maple Grove, MN          4  14-00  127
  Day 1: 4   14-00   
75. Rylan Hamlin           Jackson, MI              5  13-15  126
  Day 1: 5   13-15   
75. Jace Lindsay           Beckville, TX            5  13-15  126
  Day 1: 5   13-15   
75. Ryan Thompson          Seymour, MO              5  13-15  126
  Day 1: 5   13-15   
78. Brock Bila             Republic, MO             5  13-14  123
  Day 1: 5   13-14   
79. Connor Cunningham      Springfield , MO         5  13-13  122
  Day 1: 5   13-13   
80. Aaron Yavorsky         Palm Harbor, FL          5  13-12  121
  Day 1: 5   13-12   
81. Neal Gilmore           Magnolia, TX             4  13-12  120
  Day 1: 4   13-12   
82. Joseph Titus           Bemidji, MN              5  13-10  119
  Day 1: 5   13-10   
83. Cliff Crochet          Pierre Part, LA          5  13-09  118
  Day 1: 5   13-09   
83. Danny McGarry          Newcastle CANADA         5  13-09  118
  Day 1: 5   13-09   
85. Easton Lindus          Woodville, WI            5  13-08  116
  Day 1: 5   13-08   
85. Jay Nyce               Rogers, AR               5  13-08  116
  Day 1: 5   13-08   
87. Drake Hemby            Tallbot, TN              5  13-06  114
  Day 1: 5   13-06   
88. Cameron Mattison       Benton, LA               5  13-05  113
  Day 1: 5   13-05   
88. Wade Werner II         Portland, TN             5  13-05  113
  Day 1: 5   13-05   
90. Brandon Ackerson       Afton, OK                5  13-04  111
  Day 1: 5   13-04   
91. Nate Caldwell          Fort Collins, CO         5  13-02  110
  Day 1: 5   13-02   
91. Tyler Lubbat           Wheeling, IL             5  13-02  110
  Day 1: 5   13-02   
93. Bailey Bleser          Burlington, WI           5  13-01  108
  Day 1: 5   13-01   
93. Douglas Chapin         Tigerton, WI             5  13-01  108
  Day 1: 5   13-01   
95. Kyle Palmer            Winchester, TN           5  13-00  106
  Day 1: 5   13-00   
96. Blake Milligan         Nashville, TN            5  12-14  105
  Day 1: 5   12-14   
97. Tyler Conde            Chepachet, RI            5  12-13  104
  Day 1: 5   12-13   
97. Bailey Gay             Union, KY                5  12-13  104
  Day 1: 5   12-13   
97. Nathan Thompson        Eagan, MN                5  12-13  104
  Day 1: 5   12-13   
100. Jim Moynagh            Outing, MN               5  12-12  101
  Day 1: 5   12-12   
100. Matt Pangrac           Shawnee, OK              5  12-12  101
  Day 1: 5   12-12   
100. Brock Reinkemeyer      Warsaw, MO               5  12-12  101
  Day 1: 5   12-12   
103. Brian Post             Janesville, WI           5  12-11   98
  Day 1: 5   12-11   
103. Kane Weekley           Davie, FL                5  12-11   98
  Day 1: 5   12-11   
105. James Chandler         Liberty, TX              5  12-10   96
  Day 1: 5   12-10   
106. Josh Butler            Hayden, AL               5  12-07   95
  Day 1: 5   12-07   
106. Trevor McKinney        Noble, IL                5  12-07   95
  Day 1: 5   12-07   
108. Lane Olson             Forest Grove, OR         5  12-06   93
  Day 1: 5   12-06   
109. Danny Ramsey           Trinidad, TX             5  12-05   92
  Day 1: 5   12-05   
109. Clark Reehm            Elm Grove, LA            5  12-05   92
  Day 1: 5   12-05   
109. Keith Tuma             Brainerd, MN             5  12-05   92
  Day 1: 5   12-05   
112. Adam Rasmussen         Sturgeon Bay, WI         5  12-04   89
  Day 1: 5   12-04   
113. Evan Cox-VanVliet      Loveland, CO             5  12-03   88
  Day 1: 5   12-03   
113. Brandon Hightower      Edgerton, KS             5  12-03   88
  Day 1: 5   12-03   
113. Andy Newcomb           Camdenton, MO            5  12-03   88
  Day 1: 5   12-03   
116. Andrew Behnke          Fond Du Lac, WI          5  12-02   85
  Day 1: 5   12-02   
116. Darold Gleason         Leesville, LA            5  12-02   85
  Day 1: 5   12-02   
116. Blake Smith            Lakeland, FL             5  12-02   85
  Day 1: 5   12-02   
119. Kaden Casey            Clarksville, TN          5  12-00   82
  Day 1: 5   12-00   
120. Niko Romero            Coldspring, TX           5  11-15   81
  Day 1: 5   11-15   
120. Jack Tindel III        Orange, TX               5  11-15   81
  Day 1: 5   11-15   
122. Caz Anderson           Hayesville, NC           5  11-14   79
  Day 1: 5   11-14   
123. Brent Shores           Savannah, TN             5  11-13   78
  Day 1: 5   11-13   
123. Jacob Welch            Jefferson City, MO       5  11-13   78
  Day 1: 5   11-13   
125. Josh Wiesner           Fon du Lac, WI           5  11-12   76
  Day 1: 5   11-12   
126. Blaine Bunney          Claremore, OK            5  11-11   75
  Day 1: 5   11-11   
127. Chase Clarke           Virginia Beach, VA       5  11-10   74
  Day 1: 5   11-10   
127. Brad Leuthner          Victoria, MN             5  11-10   74
  Day 1: 5   11-10   
129. John Soukup            Sapulpa, OK              5  11-09   72
  Day 1: 5   11-09   
130. Connor Jacob           Auburn, AL               5  11-08   71
  Day 1: 5   11-08   
130. Matt Robertson         Kuttawa, KY              5  11-08   71
  Day 1: 5   11-08   
132. Ish Monroe             Oakdale, CA              5  11-07   69
  Day 1: 5   11-07   
133. Kevin Ledoux           Choctaw, OK              4  11-06   68
  Day 1: 4   11-06   
134. Evan Barnes            Dardanelle, AR           5  11-05   67
  Day 1: 5   11-05   
134. Buddy Benson           Dahlonega, GA            5  11-05   67
  Day 1: 5   11-05   
136. Kolby Cox              Edmond, OK               5  11-04   65
  Day 1: 5   11-04   
137. Mike McClelland        Blue Eye, MO             5  10-15   64
  Day 1: 5   10-15   
138. Dylan Akins            Flowery Branch, GA       5  10-14   63
  Day 1: 5   10-14   
139. Jacob Lang             Bullard, TX              5  10-13   62
  Day 1: 5   10-13   
139. Julius Mazy            Phoenix, AZ              5  10-13   62
  Day 1: 5   10-13   
141. Billy McDonald         Greenwood, IN            2  10-13   60
  Day 1: 2   10-13   
142. Jason Barber           Gun Barrel City, TX      5  10-11   59
  Day 1: 5   10-11   
143. Miles Burghoff         Dayton, TN               5  10-07   58
  Day 1: 5   10-07   
143. Jonathan Pimentel      Camdenton, MO            5  10-07   58
  Day 1: 5   10-07   
145. Michael Corbishley     Raleigh, NC              5  10-06   56
  Day 1: 5   10-06   
145. Kyle Metzger           Pearl River, LA          5  10-06   56
  Day 1: 5   10-06   
145. Blake Schroeder        Bullard, TX              5  10-06   56
  Day 1: 5   10-06   
148. Matt Wieteha           Port St Lucie, FL        5  10-04   53
  Day 1: 5   10-04   
149. Grae Buck              Green Lane, PA           5  10-03   52
  Day 1: 5   10-03   
149. Brian Neal             Big Lake, MN             5  10-03   52
  Day 1: 5   10-03   
151. Paul Browning          Monahans, TX             5  10-02   50
  Day 1: 5   10-02   
152. Chancy Walters         West Des Moines, IA      5  09-14   49
  Day 1: 5   09-14   
153. Billy Billeaud         Lafayette, LA            5  09-13   48
  Day 1: 5   09-13   
153. Jonathon VanDam        Gobles, MI               5  09-13   48
  Day 1: 5   09-13   
155. Casey Scanlon          Eldon, MO                5  09-12   46
  Day 1: 5   09-12   
155. Matt Stefan            Junction City, WI        5  09-12   46
  Day 1: 5   09-12   
157. Mikey Weems            Hull, TX                 5  09-11   44
  Day 1: 5   09-11   
158. Cole Lamb              Russellville, AR         5  09-10   43
  Day 1: 5   09-10   
159. Chase Carey            Hoschton, GA             4  09-09   42
  Day 1: 4   09-09   
160. Dylan Mayo             Athens, TX               5  09-08   41
  Day 1: 5   09-08   
161. Mike Mayo              Athens, TX               2  09-08   40
  Day 1: 2   09-08   
162. Ron Johnson            Skanee, MI               5  09-07   39
  Day 1: 5   09-07   
163. Derek Sandlin          Mount Ida, AR            5  09-05   38
  Day 1: 5   09-05   
164. Stephanie Hemphill-Pellerin Village Mills, TX        4  09-05   37
  Day 1: 4   09-05   
165. Randy Millender        Teague, TX               5  09-02   36
  Day 1: 5   09-02   
166. Rick Clunn             Ava, MO                  5  08-15   35
  Day 1: 5   08-15   
167. Wyatt Wisian           Ardmore, OK              5  08-12   34
  Day 1: 5   08-12   
168. John Hammersmith       Branson, MO              5  08-09   33
  Day 1: 5   08-09   
169. John Murray            Spring City, TN          5  08-05   32
  Day 1: 5   08-05   
170. Ryan Michl             Newton, IL               4  08-05   31
  Day 1: 4   08-05   
171. Ken Day                Kennewick, WA            3  08-04   30
  Day 1: 3   08-04   
172. Joey Hanna             Corsicana, TX            4  08-03   29
  Day 1: 4   08-03   
173. Trent Palmer           Cumming, GA              5  08-02   28
  Day 1: 5   08-02   
174. Brett Hite             Phoenix, AZ              4  08-01   27
  Day 1: 4   08-01   
174. Evan Poroznik          Nestleton Station Ontar  4  08-01   27
  Day 1: 4   08-01   
176. Aaron Brewer           Clovis, NM               4  07-11   25
  Day 1: 4   07-11   
177. James Niggemeyer       Van, TX                  3  07-10   24
  Day 1: 3   07-10   
178. Chris Groh             Spring Grove, IL         3  07-05   23
  Day 1: 3   07-05   
179. Allan Nail             Sand Springs, OK         4  07-00   22
  Day 1: 4   07-00   
179. Jacob Thompkins        Myrtle Beach, SC         4  07-00   22
  Day 1: 4   07-00   
181. Kirk Stickler          Eden, UT                 3  06-14   20
  Day 1: 3   06-14   
182. Joey Punko             Broomfield, CO           3  06-11   19
  Day 1: 3   06-11   
183. Teb Jones              Yalaha, MS               4  06-10   18
  Day 1: 4   06-10   
184. Shannon Abbott         Louisville, TN           3  06-10   17
  Day 1: 3   06-10   
185. Tim Tyndell            Mineola, TX              4  06-08   16
  Day 1: 4   06-08   
186. Chris Whitson          Louisville, TN           3  06-06   15
  Day 1: 3   06-06   
187. Russ Lane              Prattville, AL           3  06-04   14
  Day 1: 3   06-04   
188. Freddy  Palmer         Estill Springs, TN       4  05-14   13
  Day 1: 4   05-14   
189. Rick Harris Jr         Carlsbad, NM             3  05-14   12
  Day 1: 3   05-14   
189. Timothy Matt           Lake Village, IN         3  05-14   12
  Day 1: 3   05-14   
189. Dave Parsons           Yantis, TX               3  05-14   12
  Day 1: 3   05-14   
192. Robert Davenport       Brooksville, FL          3  05-13    9
  Day 1: 3   05-13   
193. Satoshi Egawa          Fort Lee, NJ             2  05-11    8
  Day 1: 2   05-11   
194. Matt Molitor           Canton, IL               3  05-08    7
  Day 1: 3   05-08   
195. Scott Isaacs           Ladonia, TX              3  05-07    6
  Day 1: 3   05-07   
196. Jeremy Simmons         Argyle, MO               3  05-06    5
  Day 1: 3   05-06   
197. Josh Gauthier          Petawawa CANADA          3  05-05    4
  Day 1: 3   05-05   
198. Lucas Ragusa           Gonzales, LA             2  05-04    3
  Day 1: 2   05-04   
199. David Boelkins         Waukesha, WI             3  05-02    2
  Day 1: 3   05-02   
200. Nick Trim              Galesville, WI           2  04-06    1
  Day 1: 2   04-06   
201. Paul Hodges            Glendale, AZ             2  04-03    0
  Day 1: 2   04-03   
201. Troy O’Rourke          Bentonville, AR          2  04-03    0
  Day 1: 2   04-03   
203. Denny Fiedler          Wabasha, MN              2  04-00    0
  Day 1: 2   04-00   
204. Bj Miller              Adams, NE                2  03-15    0
  Day 1: 2   03-15   
205. Kara Pasma             Golden Valley, MN        1  03-15    0
  Day 1: 1   03-15   
206. Tim Sprouse            Clarksville, TN          2  03-14    0
  Day 1: 2   03-14   
207. Charlie Hartley        Grove City, OH           2  03-12    0
  Day 1: 2   03-12   
208. Tommy Durham           Whitney, TX              1  03-09    0
  Day 1: 1   03-09   
209. Aaron Davis            Glenn Heights, TX        2  03-07    0
  Day 1: 2   03-07   
210. Travis Ledford         Tuttle, OK               1  02-10    0
  Day 1: 1   02-10   
211. Seiji Kato             Los Alamitos CA JAPAN    1  02-05    0
  Day 1: 1   02-05   
211. Johno Roberts          Golden, CO               1  02-05    0
  Day 1: 1   02-05   
213. Doc Wootton            Collierville, TN         1  02-00    0
  Day 1: 1   02-00   
214. Trent Holloway         Groesbeck, TX            1  01-13    0
  Day 1: 1   01-13   
215. Darrell Ivey           Lebanon, MO              1  01-09    0
  Day 1: 1   01-09   
216. Scott Ashmore          Broken Arrow, OK         0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Ryan Bass              Royse city, TX           0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Keith Brashers         Rogers, AR               0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Sammy Burks Jr         Joplin, MO               0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Gary Clouse            Winchester, TN           0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Lance Crawford         Broken Bow, OK           0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Jim Dillard            West Monroe, LA          0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Tony Dumitras          Winston, GA              0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Clay Dyer              Fayetteville, TN         0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Bryan Finch            Belton, TX               0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Dewayne French         Mammoth Spring, AR       0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Jason Lieblong         Conway, AR               0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Richard Lowitzki       Fort Myers, FL           0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Yusuke Miyazaki        Forney, TX               0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Anastasia Patterson    Sumter, SC               0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Rick Pierce            Mountain Home, AR        0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Dustin Reneau          Mckinney, TX             0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Yukihiro Sawamura      Harker Heights, TX       0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
216. Scott Suggs            Alexander, AR            0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1       163       958      2661-01
———————————-
         163       958      2661-01





Wheeler Advances to Championship Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at Harris Chain of Lakes

Brian Carter
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Wheeler Advances to Championship Round at MLF Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 at Harris Chain of Lakes

Tennessee pro draws closer to his ninth Bass Pro Tour win with two-day total of 32 bass weighing 101-9, 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round

LEESBURG, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2025) – When Jacob Wheeler took the water for the second day of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Suzuki Marine Stage 2 Presented by YETI on the Harris Chain of Lakes, his goal wasn’t necessarily to finish atop SCORETRACKER®.

Sure, the winner of the two-day Qualifying Round would earn a direct berth to Sunday’s Championship Round, and Wheeler started the day with a lead of nearly 11 pounds over his nearest pursuer. But he was more concerned with positioning himself to earn his ninth Bass Pro Tour victory than notching his 34th Top 10 (both far and away the highest marks among BPT anglers), and he didn’t want to handicap his chances by catching too many of the fish he’d found during practice.

Turns out, Wheeler achieved both objectives. He added 21 pounds, 6 ounces on six scorable bass, bringing his two-day total to 101-9. That was easily enough to retain his spot atop the leaderboard, 13-14 ahead of Takahiro Omori. As a result, he’ll take Saturday off, while finishers 2 through 20 contest the Knockout Round, then join the top nine from there in the winner-take-all Championship Round.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 2 On-the-Water Highlights
Link to HD Video of Highlights from Day 2 Competition

One of the leaders when it comes to tournament strategy, Wheeler didn’t decide to fish for the Qualifying Round win (rather than using all of Day 2 to scout new water) until he’d made the long run to Lake Apopka Friday morning.

Wheeler, who spent both days of practice as well as Day 1 in the southernmost lake on the Harris Chain, suddenly found himself with more company. As a result, he decided to return to the areas where he’d done most of his damage on Thursday. He figured they’d get fished hard by someone, so it might as well be him.

“Today, there was probably 30-plus local anglers and probably 25 or 30 of our guys that decided to move down (to Apopka), so it fished really small, and things got pressured a ton,” Wheeler explained. “And so, in that instance, you’ve got to start thinking through things and saying, alright, it’s not going to be as easy now as it would have been, because things are getting more pressure than I anticipated. Once I saw the pressure, I’m like, it’s not a guarantee I make the Top 10 (during the Knockout Round).”

Wheeler, who has amassed all his weight flipping a Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug around reed clumps, also chose to ply a stretch that he figures will be unfishable during the Championship Round due to the strong southwest wind forecast for Sunday. The area yielded his biggest bass of the day, a 6-9. Through two days, he’s now boated seven bass of 5 pounds or bigger.

“I knew even if I fished the Championship Round, I would never be able to fish the fish that I caught midway through the second period, so I just caught them,” Wheeler said.

After pushing his lead back above 20 pounds, Wheeler used just about all of Period 3 to check out new water – “eliminating places” for the Championship Round, he said. The benefit of having spent his entire practice in Apopka – which much of the field initially avoided due to reports of a recent fish kill – is that he still has a few areas in his back pocket that he’s yet to visit during competition.

“There’s still areas that I have not visited that I will fish in the Championship Round,” Wheeler said. “There’s probably three different zones that I have not made a cast on.”

In some ways, Wheeler said, sitting out the Knockout Round could be a disadvantage. Those anglers who take the water will have a better idea which zones are getting pressured the hardest and have a better chance of finding fresh groups of spawners that might be more willing to bite. That said, he’s excited about the opportunity to spend a day with his six-year-old daughter, Olivia, and three-year-old son, Hudson, who made the trip to Florida to cheer him on.

Wheeler is confident he can put himself around the winning fish. The key to cementing victory No. 9 will be making the right adjustments to counter the changing weather and mounting fishing pressure – something he’s historically done better than any of his peers.

“I feel like the tournament will be won in Apopka,” Wheeler said. “Now, do I feel like there’s an outside chance that I turn on (forward-facing sonar) in the last period or something like that? There is. I’ll make a decision based on the conditions, and I’ll fish the conditions exclusively. The guy who makes the right decisions and makes adjustments will win this tournament on that final day. It’ll all come down to the adjustments made on that day, and that’s what is going to be fun about it.”

While Wheeler held the top spot on SCORETRACKER® all day, Friday brought plenty of movement around the Elimination Line. Seven anglers who started the day outside the Top 20 moved across the cut and qualified for the Knockout Round: Jacob Wall, Terry Scroggins, Zack Birge, Matt Becker, John Hunter, Edwin Evers and Justin Cooper.

Evers and Hunter made the most dramatic rallies. Both anglers found themselves on the wrong side of the Elimination Line with 30 minutes left in Period 3 but manufactured clutch flurries to make the cut. Hunter boated three scorable bass totaling 6-9 in the final 15 minutes, while Evers caught three for 6-1 in the last 22 minutes.

The top 20 pros that now advance in competition on the Harris Chain of Lakes are:

1st:         Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 32 bass, 101-9
2nd:       Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 32 bass, 87-11
3rd:        Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 27 bass, 84-14
4th:        Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 35 bass, 80-12
5th:        Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 34 bass, 80-9
6th:        Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 34 bass, 80-6
7th:        Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 29 bass, 68-9
8th:        Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 34 bass, 68-3
9th:        Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 27 bass, 68-2
10th:      Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 26 bass, 67-14
11th:      Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 23 bass, 66-0
12th:      Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 24 bass, 64-8
13th:      James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., 29 bass, 63-0
14th:      Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 22 bass, 62-8
15th:      Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 29 bass, 61-15
16th:      Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 28 bass, 61-12
17th:      Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 23 bass, 57-13
18th:      John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 25 bass, 57-9
19th:      Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 20 bass, 56-13
20th:      Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 24 bass, 55-0

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

Wheeler earned the Day 2 Berkley Big Bass Award Friday with a 6-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that he caught in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, Wheeler advances directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. The anglers that finished 2nd through 20th advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the top nine anglers will join Wheeler in Sunday’s Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

Anglers will launch at 7:15 a.m. ET each day from the Venetian Gardens, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg. Each day’s takeout will be held at the same location, beginning at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on  MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 15-16, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the Venetian Gardens for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways, listen to live music and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day. The Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand both days to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The Suzuki Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI is hosted by Discover Lake County Florida and features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 66 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2026 championship.

Television coverage of the Suzuki Stage 2 at the Harris Chain of Lakes Presented by YETI will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 13 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering the following Saturday on Sept. 20. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sports Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine and Toyota.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook , X, Instagram and  YouTube.





SPRO Launches Game-Changing Bite Powder

Brian Carter
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0
SPRO Launches Game-Changing Bite Powder

SPRO Launches Game-Changing Bite Powder

  • By FTR Industry Wire
  • February 14, 2025

SPRO, a trusted leader in premium fishing products, is excited to announce the launch of the powerful fish-attracting Nories Bite Powder, previously used exclusively by renowned professional angler and Bassmaster Elite Series champion Takumi Ito.

Kennesaw, GA – Anglers can now harness this game-changing innovation to elevate their fishing success. 

This advanced Nories Bite Powder is infused with Ebi (shrimp) flavor, a proven attractant for a wide variety of freshwater and saltwater species. Engineered to outperform traditional oil-based scents, the formula offers a superior solution for maximizing lure effectiveness and keeping fish biting longer.

The Nories Bite Powder, developed with Takumi Ito’s secret formula, is now available to all anglers seeking a competitive edge on the water. The innovative powder absorbs into lures, creating a durable shell that retains and releases scent over an extended period, significantly increasing its effectiveness. Unlike oil-based scents, the formula disperses rapidly in the water, attracting fish from a greater distance.

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