MASSENA, N.Y. (Aug. 14, 2024) – After an exciting week on the St. Lawrence River, the Bass Pro Tour has moved out, clearing the way for the next wave of MLF tournament anglers to test their skills on the fishery. The Major League Fishing (MLF) Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats is set to visit Massena, New York, next week, Aug. 22-24, for the Toyota Series at St. Lawrence River Presented by FX Custom Rods.
The three-day tournament is the third and final event of the year for Northern Division anglers and is hosted by the Town of Massena. The event will feature a roster of the region’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers competing for a top prize of up to $100,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor plus $5,000 in the co-angler division.
Local angler Ethan Carr of Massena, New York, won a Phoenix Bass Fishing League event on the St. Lawrence River last month, and said he is looking forward to a great tournament.
“The St. Lawrence River is unlike any other fishery in the world,” said Carr. “I had the opportunity to grow up around that body of water and I really enjoy targeting the biggest fish that live in a fishery. Obviously sometimes that burns you, but there’s no better place than the St. Lawrence to do that.
“The amount of 5- and 6-pound fish on the St. Lawrence River is absolutely outstanding,” Carr continued. “It’s been a really good training ground to be able to really learn what those giant fish like to do and where they like to be.”
Carr said the fishery has had a lot of pressure with the recent Bass Pro Tour competition, but he feels like the river can definitely hold up to it.
“It’s been fishing really good and has been kicking out a lot of really big weights,” Carr said. “Despite the recent pressure, I expect it’ll take 22 to 24 pounds per day to be able to win the tournament.”
Carr said he thinks there will be a lot more shallow fish in play this year than has been normal in the past.
“Even at the Bass Pro Tour event last week, a lot of guys caught a boatload of fish up shallow,” Carr said. “I’ve seen more big fish up shallow this year than ever, but you can’t count out the deep fish. There’s probably going to be a mix of both in the top 10. There are a lot of big fish, it’s just a little harder to find them this time of year.”
Carr said he expects to see classic St. Lawrence River baits in play throughout the event – drop-shot rigs, Ned rigs, tubes and Carolina rigs.
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena. Weigh-ins will also be held at that location and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend and encouraged to follow the event online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
In Toyota Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event, scaling up for every 20 boats over 160 and scaling down for every boat below 160. With a 160-boat field, pros fish for a top prize of up to $75,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of up to $100,000, if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard plus $5,000 cash.
The 2024 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six 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 2025. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2024 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 7-9 on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Madison County Commission, and the Huntsville Sports Commission.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, FX Custom Rods, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Simms, Strike King, Suzuki, 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.
During the hot summer months, many anglers instinctively head to deeper waters in search of cooler temperatures and bass seeking refuge. An effective yet often overlooked strategy is to focus on shallow waters, particularly in creeks and coves. When water currents in the main lake slow down, bass and baitfish tend to scatter, making them harder to catch. Shallow areas in these conditions can become prime feeding grounds for bass, offering anglers a unique chance to target fish that other anglers might miss. By understanding when and why bass move to shallow waters, you can enhance your chances of success during the summer heat. Shallow water bass are often overlooked because of the assumption that they prefer deeper, cooler waters, but many bass remain in the shallows, taking advantage of abundant baitfish and cover. These areas, particularly those with plenty of shade and structure, can hold surprisingly large and active fish. Anglers who adapt to these conditions and learn to master the shallow water strategy can often find less competition from other fishermen on the water, giving them access to fish that are far less pressured and more likely to take a bite. The new FreshBaitz Lizards deliver a realistic profile that excels in both power and finesse techniques. Act fact, we just released new Hot Sauce, MidNight, Ghost and 10w30 Syntheic Lizard designs! The unique forward-facing leg design creates drag that holds it in the strike zone longer or produces wild flapping action with every pull of the rod. Additionally, its slightly ribbed solid body and large head hold your hook in place and provide much better weedless performance making it the ideal bait to use in any condition. Water clarity always plays a super big role in color selection but in any season year-round, you can’t miss when using colors such as Watermelon Red, Black & Blue, or Green Pumpkin. Its flexible tail design ensures added movement, tempting even the most cautious fish. The superior 5.5-inch profile stretches to a whole 7 inches which is perfect for predatory fish including bass year round. Made from long-lasting durable high-grade non-salted plastic for total and maximum attention-grabbing action underwater.
Despite water temperatures soaring into the upper 80s, bass can still be found in shallow waters if the right conditions are present. Two critical factors that keep bass in the shallows are an abundance of shad or other baitfish and sufficient shade. The presence of baitfish provides a reliable food source, while shade offers cooler, more comfortable conditions for bass. These factors create an environment where bass can thrive even in shallow waters, negating the need for them to move to deeper areas. Recognizing and targeting these conditions can lead to consistent catches, even when the shallows seem inhospitable. Shallow waters with some level of water movement, such as a gentle breeze, can help oxygenate the water, making it even more appealing to bass. Areas with aquatic vegetation can also play a vital role by providing both cover and an additional food source, further enticing bass to stay shallow. Understanding these environmental cues allows anglers to identify high-potential fishing spots that others might overlook. By anglers focusing on these ideal conditions, anglers can optimize their efforts and increase their overall chances of landing quality bass.We use our Fresh Scorpion because it closely imitates a crawfish. Our newest 10w30 Synthetic, Slimer Green, and Barbie Pink Scorpion colors work wonders. The Scorpion is a revolutionary new look to soft plastics. Its intricate detailing and texture mimic the nuances of a real crawfish, making it hard for bass to resist. Of course, water clarity always plays a role in color selection but in any season, you can’t miss using colors such as Green Pumpkin Seed, Brown Bark, Magneto. This bait not only appears natural to fish but gives them something to become curious about. The Scorpion paired with a stand-up jig is deadly because the jig actually sits the bait upright in a defensive stance. The subtle color variations across the bait further enhance its appeal, mimicking the natural color shifts found in live prey. Each Fresh Scorpion has a unique and exclusive 3-axis tail design that is engineered like no other soft plastic bait. Our Scorpions are made by anglers from high-grade non-salt plastic to provide superior life-like action-triggering strikes!
Bass in shallow water during the summer often seek out specific types of cover for both protection and ambush opportunities. Boat docks and wood structures are particularly attractive to these fish, as they provide ample shade and concealment. When targeting bass in coves and creeks, it’s essential to focus on cover that is less than 10 feet deep. The most productive spots are often the last pieces of cover before the water becomes too shallow, as bass in these areas are typically there to feed. By concentrating your efforts on these high-percentage spots, you can significantly increase your chances of hooking into quality fish. In addition to docks and wood, look for submerged vegetation or isolated stumps, which can also serve as effective ambush points. Bass often position themselves on the shady side of cover, so make sure to approach these areas with stealth to avoid spooking them. Casting accurately and keeping your lure close to the cover will maximize your chances of enticing a strike. It’s also important to revisit these spots throughout the day, as bass may move in and out of cover. By utilizing the bass’s preference, you can effectively target them.Our Fresh HellaMite is designed to imitate a major aquatic food source, delivering a realistic profile of an insect larva that fish can’t resist. Scented for complete and total attraction underwater along with being made in the USA by real fishermen just like you. Grab our newest Hot Sauce, MidNight, Glow, 10w30 Synthetic, Slimer Green, and Barbie Pink HellaMite colors. Act quickly, these new colors won’t stay in stock for long. We also recently restocked our Ghost, Red Bug, Purple Rain, Brown Bug, Electric Chicken, and Goby Wan colors. The HellaMite’s solid body and hyperactive ribbed tail design produce a life-like quivering action with every twitch of the rod. Additionally, its unique flat underbelly detail enables this bait to be fished as a drop shot, Ned rig, neko rig, and even a small Carolina-rig, making it the ideal bait in any condition year-round. When the water is clear, the fish can see the bait and look like real food, causing strikes. Each cast becomes an opportunity for an exhilarating catch, thanks to the HellaMite’s superior performance and versatility
Water clarity plays a crucial role in determining the success of shallow water bass fishing. In stained or murky water, bass are more likely to remain near the edges of cover, making them easier to target. In contrast, clear water can cause bass to burrow deeper into cover, making them more challenging to reach with your lures. Therefore, when fishing shallow waters, it’s often more productive to focus on areas with off-colored water, particularly in the upper tributary arms of a lake. However, if clear water is present, the key is to identify coves or creeks with a plentiful supply of baitfish, as this can still draw bass to the shallows. In clear water, it may also be necessary to use lighter, more natural-colored lures and make longer casts to avoid spooking the fish. Fishing during low-light conditions, such as early morning or late evening, can help you capitalize on the increased bass activity in clear water. Understanding how water clarity affects bass behavior allows you to adjust your approach and improve your chances of success. By choosing the right areas and tactics based on water clarity, anglers can effectively target bass in a variety of shallow water conditions for a successful day of fishing.Our Fresh Beetle delivers ultimate versatility in a soft plastic bait. Its slim yet wide body design and four claws are engineered to naturally glide and wobble as it moves through the water. This design ensures they remain enticingly active longer than conventional baits. Its unique texture also provides a realistic feel, making bass hold on longer once they bite. Water clarity plays a big role in color selection but year-round you can’t miss when using go-to colors such as Chocolate Mint, Ox Blood, or 10w30 Synthetic beetles. The hyper-active swimming claws are designed thin with long-lasting durable non-salt plastic to make them come alive with the slightest movement. The Fresh Beetle offers an enticing 4-inch profile and is scented for complete and total attraction! You can rig these Beetles as a Jig/ Chatter Trailer, Flippin/ Punching, Texas Rig, Swing Jig, and Carolina Rig. Making the beetle beyond perfect in any weather condition year-round!
Selecting the right lure and mastering the appropriate technique are vital when targeting shallow bass in the summer. A versatile approach involves using a combination of jigs and soft plastics, which can be pitched into shallow cover such as docks or wood structures. After the lure hits the bottom, it’s essential to pay attention to the feel of the line, as bass often strike as the lure descends. If the fish are less aggressive, adjusting your presentation by making the lure jump off the bottom or dragging it through cover can trigger a reaction strike. Understanding these subtle techniques and being adaptable in your approach can make all the difference in catching finicky summer bass. Varying your retrieve speed and experimenting with different lure sizes and colors can help you dial in on what the bass are responding to on any given day. It’s also important to be patient, as fishing shallow cover requires precision and careful observation of how the bass are reacting. Pay close attention to the water conditions, whether it’s switching to a different lure type or altering your casting angles. By anglers fine-tuning their lure selection and techniques, they can significantly increase their success.Using a stick-styled worm is the most tried and true ways to catch fish. We have a variety of 5-inch Worms to choose from but we just added new MidNight, Glow, and Ghost Worms! You can also experience our new wacky rigging kit while it’s ON SALE! The WACKY Pack offers our most popular colors and essential tools for wacky rigging. If you’re fast enough you might be able to grab the limited-release Pumpkin Spice Worm before it’s completely sold out along with some of our newest colors including the Brown Worm, Electic Chicken Worm, and Goby Wan Worm colors. The high-grade non-salt plastic they’re made from provides positive buoyancy and it even floats underwater! We also released new 6-inch Worms including Charmeleon, Rainbow TRT, Bone, Chocolate Mint, and Fire TGR are all available in 5 and 6-inch. We’ve also recently released new 8-count packs of worms available in Watermelon Red, Black & Blue, and Green Pumpkin. We also offer worms that have the unique ability to shift from one color to another. Scented for total attraction underwater.
Weather conditions greatly influence bass behavior, especially in shallow waters. Bright sunshine and a gentle breeze can create ideal fishing conditions by pushing bass into shaded cover while simultaneously moving plankton and baitfish closer to their ambush points. The sunshine encourages bass to seek refuge in shade, making it easier to predict where they’ll be hiding. Meanwhile, the wind can help congregate baitfish around these areas, making them prime targets for bass. By understanding how weather affects the movement of both bass and their prey, you can better position yourself for successful shallow water fishing. On overcast days, bass may spread out and become more active throughout the shallows, requiring a different approach with more widespread casting. Sudden weather changes, such as the onset of a storm, can trigger a feeding frenzy, offering a brief window of heightened bass activity. Monitoring weather patterns and adjusting your tactics accordingly can greatly enhance your ability to locate and catch bass. Being attuned to these environmental factors allows you to make strategic decisions, such as choosing the best times and locations to fish, improving your catch rate.Our newest FreshBaitz Mandingo Trick Worm is the ultimate game-changer for anglers with a passion! Engineered for the angler who knows SIZE does matter, this lure is designed to attract only the BIGGEST bass with a penchant for the larger bait. The Mandingo Trick Worm boasts a solid 7-inch body enhanced with a hyperactive ribbed design, ensuring irresistible mouth-watering action for those trophy bass. Officially available in a vibrant array of 8 colors. Each worm is made from durable, high-grade Non-Salted plastic for lifelike action and unparalleled durability. Perfectly balanced for a variety of rigging options and scented for total and maximum attraction, the Mandingo Trick Worm promises year-round effectiveness in lakes, rivers, and streams. Whether you’re rigging it on a Shakey Head, Drop Shot, Texas Rig, or Carolina Rig, these worms are your ticket to landing the big ones. Proudly made in the USA by real anglers to help elevate your fishing experience and catch more bass year-round!
Targeting shallow water bass during the summer can yield impressive results, with catches ranging from smaller, more abundant fish to larger, trophy-sized bass. By focusing on the right conditions and areas, anglers can consistently find and catch bass that others might overlook. The key to success lies in understanding the behavior of bass during the summer and how they interact with their environment. This approach not only increases your catch rate but also opens up new opportunities for finding quality fish, even when other anglers are struggling. With the right strategy, shallow water fishing can become one of the most productive techniques in your summer bass fishing arsenal. Regularly adjusting your tactics based on factors like weather, water clarity, and the presence of baitfish will further enhance your chances of success. Embracing this method allows you to stay ahead of the competition and make the most of the summer fishing season. Gaining experience and refining your skills in shallow water fishing can lead to more consistent results and a deeper understanding of bass behavior. This approach can turn challenging conditions into rewarding opportunities.We have a wide variety of terminal tackle to choose. For creature baits, we love to use the Stand-Up Jig because it sits your bait up-right in a defensive stance! Mosquito Hooks work for drop-shotting and perfectly accommodates a wide range of soft plastics. The popular All Purpose Hooks are built with an extra-wide gap and are made to accommodate a wide range of soft plastics. The Block Head Jig is perfect for ned rigging the HellaMite with its mushroom-style head that seamlessly matches a wide variety of soft plastics. The Offset Block Head Jig, offers the same mushroom-style head with a unique offset hook, making it a go-to for weedless Ned Rig applications. The Shakey Ultrahead can permanently secure baits by inserting the pin in the center and screwing the twist lock coil spring for perfect rigging every time! The Ultrahead Wacky Jig features precise weight positioning and hook orientation for the ultimate wacky presentations. For fast Texas rigging, we use the Bullet-Type Rig which has an attached weight saving you pressure time when fishing cover. The 4x Jungle Flippin Hook is designed for big fish and the toughest conditions. The Range Roller Jig Head is crafted for precision with its high center axis design, perfect for hover-strolling and mid to bottom strolling with forward facing sonar, ensuring an enticing rolling action.
DECATUR, Ala. (Aug. 13, 2024) – Major League Fishing (MLF), in conjunction with Decatur Morgan County Tourism , announced today that the 2025 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship will take place on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama, April 9-11, 2025.
“The decision to bring the MLF College Fishing National Championship to Decatur underscores our commitment to showcasing our region’s natural resources and fostering partnerships within the sports tourism industry,” said Danielle Gibson, President and CEO of Decatur Morgan County Tourism. “We look forward to a successful event that benefits our local economy and community.“
The 16th annual College Fishing National Championship will mark the second time the three-day tournament has been held on Wheeler Lake and will showcase the nation’s top collegiate bass anglers.
“Major League Fishing is excited to be returning to Wheeler Lake, a legendary bass-fishing destination, for the 2025 College Fishing National Championship,” said Kevin Hunt, MLF Senior Director of Tournament Operations . “The lake’s diverse and challenging waters will provide the perfect stage for the nation’s top collegiate anglers to showcase their talents and passion for the sport. We’re looking forward to an exciting event.”
The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship will showcase the top teams from the 2024 MLF College Fishing season competing for a top prize of $43,500, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat powered by a 115-horsepower outboard and $10,000 in cash. The winning team will also advance to the 2025 Toyota Series Championship to compete as pros for a shot at winning as much as $235,000. The highest finishing team member at the Toyota Series Championship will advance to REDCREST 2026 to compete against the top professional anglers in the sport for a top prize of $300,000.
The second-place team at the 2025 College Fishing National Championship will receive a Phoenix 518 Pro boat powered by a 115-horsepower outboard. The team also advances to the 2025 Toyota Series Championship to compete as pros. The third-place finishers at the 2025 College Fishing National Championship will receive $4,000, and the team advances to the 2025 Toyota Series Championship as co-anglers for a shot at winning a new Phoenix 518 Pro powered by a 115 HP Mercury or Suzuki. Every team in the top 10 at the 2025 College Fishing National Championship will receive at least $1,000.
Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI teams compete in nine regular-season qualifying tournaments across the country to qualify for the championship. The top 12 percent of teams from each qualifying event advance to the following year’s College Fishing National Championship.
The 2025 College Fishing National Championship will air on CBS Sports in the fall of 2025. Weigh-ins from each day of competition will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com along with the final day’s competition at the championship. The complete schedule and rules for the 2025 College Fishing season will be announced this fall.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, 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.
MASSENA, N.Y. (Aug. 13, 2024) – For a brief moment on Thursday afternoon, the machine that is Jacob Wheeler allowed himself to exhale.
During the break between the second and third periods of the final qualifying day at Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Humminbird, Wheeler sat on the front deck of his bass boat. Situated in ninth place in Group B, just a few pounds clear of the elimination line, with rain from Hurricane Debby falling ever harder, Wheeler knew he would be in for a soggy and stressful final two and a half hours on the St. Lawrence River.
But, at that point, he also knew that he’d achieved his biggest goal for the 2024 season: winning the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title on the Bass Pro Tour. So, while tying a few fresh knots, Wheeler reflected on the achievement.
“I would have never guessed in a million years that I would be sitting in this position right now in the sport,” Wheeler told MLFNOW! viewers. “I’m very thankful to be able to live out my dream as a professional angler. This is what I love to do, this is what I feel like God put me on this earth for, and there’s no rain that can damper our mood today.”
Wheeler, who has held the points lead since the second event of the season, will earn $100,000 from Fishing Clash for his triumph. After winning AOY in both 2021 and 2022 before finishing second to Matt Becker a season ago, he made it his mission to reclaim the title, which he regards as the true measure of the best angler on tour.
“Angler of the Year, to me, is so special because it’s a year-long battle,” Wheeler said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a great shallow-water fisherman or a great deep-water fisherman, you have to catch them every single place; you have to understand largemouth, smallmouth, spotted bass, depending on where we go in the year; grass, rock. It’s always changing. I’ve always tried to be a versatile angler, and I think Angler of the Year really sets up for that.”
Wheeler’s third AOY triumph in the past four years illustrated the traits that have made him the most dominant competitor on the Bass Pro Tour: his aforementioned versatility, his decision making, his drive. It also put him in elite historical company, bolstering his fast-growing case to be considered among the greatest tournament anglers of all time.
Learning from last year For most pros, finishing second in an Angler of the Year race would represent a career milestone. But after Wheeler wound up four points shy of Becker in 2023, he admitted it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“To be honest with you, it stung,” he said. “It stung really bad. I was pretty irritated in the offseason, because I knew I messed up. It was on me.”
That mess-up was Wheeler’s 75th-place finish at Lake Murray — by far the worst event of his Bass Pro Tour career. As a result, his focus for the 2024 campaign was to win events, sure, but also to avoid a similar bomb.
Check and check. Wheeler’s season got off to a dream start. He finished fourth at Stage One on Toledo Bend, then followed it up with a victory on Santee Cooper, which gave him an early AOY lead. He poured on a second straight win on Dale Hollow.
Yet Wheeler doesn’t point to either of those victories as the moment that stands out most from his season, but the following event, Stage Four on Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula. After the lake level rose dramatically between practice and the start of competition, Wheeler boated just two scorable bass for 3 pounds, 14 ounces on Day 1, which had him in 30th place in his group. On Day 2, he made an adjustment and fought his way inside the cut line with eight bass for 21-11.
“A lot of times, Angler of the Year is not [about] your best event; it’s your worst event that kills you,” Wheeler said. “I was way down there, and to come back after the adversity of not catching them Day 1, to build up and get a little confidence, there was a lot of things that happened in that event that made me appreciate that I could make it work. Those grinder events are always the toughest ones, too.”
Transitioning from rocky, Midwestern reservoirs to East Coast tidal rivers didn’t slow Wheeler down. He cruised to a fourth-place finish on the Chowan River, then finished 11th at the James River. Through six events, his average finish was an absurd 6.3.
Dustin Connell, who travels with Wheeler and pushed him in this year’s AOY chase, attributed Wheeler’s ability to succeed on all types of fisheries not only to his knack for understanding and finding fish but his strategic acumen. Wheeler has mastered the Bass Pro Tour format, understanding how to catch enough weight early during the qualifying rounds to allow himself to keep up with changes in a fishery, all the while saving enough fish for the Championship Round.
“He’s always one step ahead,” Connell said. “He isn’t just thinking about that one day, he’s trying to formulate a plan how to win. He knows how to play this format very well, and he’s always thinking the end goal is the Championship Round.”
Clutch calls on the St. Lawrence Wheeler arrived at the St. Lawrence with a 19-point lead that, given his track record, felt insurmountable. As long as he made the Knockout Round — something he’d done in 10 straight regular-season events and never failed to accomplish on northern smallmouth waters — Wheeler would clinch the AOY crown.
However, Wheeler’s smallmouth bite didn’t fire as well as he expected on Day 1. So, he swapped his spinning rods for flipping sticks and headed to the shallows to target largemouth. The decision paid off to the tune of 45 pounds during the second half of the day.
When he returned to the water Thursday, Wheeler once again found his smallmouth bite slow. He pivoted to largemouth and caught five bass for more than 16 pounds, which moved him from the wrong side of the cut line into the Top 10. This time, sensing that he needed to stack weight at a higher rate to make the Knockout Round, he returned to offshore smallmouth habitat during the third period and cemented his spot with seven smallmouth for 22-10.
Bass Fishing Hall of Famer Shaw Grigsby pointed to that on-the-water decision making as the aspect of Wheeler’s game that impresses him the most.
“The real key that I see in watching him live on the Bass Pro Tour is how he adjusts on the day,” Grigsby said of Wheeler. “Like, okay, this isn’t happening; let’s go here and do this. I’ve always called it fearlessness.”
Connell said the bold decisiveness fans see from Wheeler during tournaments stems from the work he puts in when nobody is watching. For instance, after Stage Five on the Chowan River, Wheeler drove an extra 12 hours and devoted five days to pre-practice the St. Lawrence. He used that time to familiarize himself with both bass species so that, if one bite wasn’t working, he had a backup plan in place.
“I would consider him a workaholic,” Connell said. “He works, eats, sleeps, breathes bass fishing. He’s always been wired that way, and that’s all he ever thinks about. He’s always working hard, putting in the time. You’ve got to have that devotion and dedication to do that.”
The driving force behind Wheeler’s work ethic? Connell says he’s crazy competitive — no matter if it’s fishing a top-level tournament or playing a board game at the house, he can’t stand not winning. He’s also incapable of sitting still.
“I wouldn’t say he’s ADHD, but I kind of think he is, because he’s just wide open all the time,” Connell said.
Wheeler acknowledged his competitiveness but said the primary source of his motivation is trying to live up to the high expectations he’s established among his fans.
“There’s a lot of fans and people out there that expect me to catch them,” he said. “They almost put you on a pedestal, like, you’re supposed to (win), so if you don’t, you’re not living up to their expectations. … I try to live up to a lot of people’s expectations of who I am.”
An all-time great run Wheeler has been a consistent force since the inception of the Bass Pro Tour in 2019, but across the past four years, he’s hit a new gear. There’s no shortage of stats that illustrate his dominance. In 35 events (not counting Stage Seven), he has six wins and 25 Top 10s. That’s a win rate of 17.1% and a Top-10 percentage of 71.4%. He’s earned more than $1.63 million in BPT competition. He’s been ranked by BassFan.com as the No. 1 angler in the world for five years straight. Of course, he’s won the AOY title three times and finished second the one season he didn’t prevail.
Those numbers are in a class of their own compared to Wheeler’s peers on the Bass Pro Tour. It’s time to start looking at how he stacks up against the greatest pros of all time. Grigsby, who started touring nationally in 1984 and competed on the Bass Pro Tour through 2022, wasn’t afraid to mention Wheeler’s name alongside the consensus greatest ever, Kevin VanDam.
“I see Kevin as of course one of the greatest of all time, and I still have him as the GOAT,” Grigsby said. “But I think as Wheeler goes on, depending on what he does in the next five to 10 years, we’ll see.”
Wheeler is now one of 10 anglers to win at least three Angler of the Year titles on national tours. Roland Martin leads the way with nine such wins. VanDam won eight. David Dudley and Clark Wendlandt each won four. Bill Dance, Mark Davis, Aaron Martens, Andy Morgan, Jay Yelas and Wheeler represent the three-time winners.
While the 34-year-old Wheeler may have a ways to go to match the career accolades of Martin and VanDam, his current tear deserves to be in the conversation for the best four-year run in history. Only three other anglers have won three AOY titles in four years. Martin did it twice in the early days of Bassmaster. Morgan won the FLW Tour points crown in 2013, 2014 and 2016. VanDam won four straight AOYs on the Bassmaster Elite Series from 2008-2011.
As impressive as Morgan’s run was, he didn’t win any events during that span, and his Top-10 rate (41.67%) pales in comparison to Wheeler’s. Martin’s numbers stack up better, but it’s difficult to draw comparisons between that era, when there were very few full-time pros, and the modern landscape. Skeet Reese went on a blistering stretch from 2007-2010 during which he won four events (including the 2009 Bassmaster Classic) and finished in the Top 10 25 times. He also won AOY in 2007 and finished second two other seasons. As eye-popping as those marks are, however, he still falls well short of Wheeler’s current stretch in win percentage (8.16%), Top 10 percentage (51.0%) and number of AOY titles (largely because he had the misfortune of competing against peak VanDam).
Ultimately, the only four-year streak in the past 40 years that surpasses Wheeler’s current run is VanDam’s reign of terror — and even that is debatable. Wheeler has won at a comparable rate (VanDam won 18.2% of his events over that span) and finished in the Top 10 more often (VanDam was at 54.5%). Plus, when considering that two of VanDam’s wins and five Top 10s came in postseason events with 12-boat fields, you could justifiably add Wheeler’s 2022 Summit Cup and 2023 Team Series victories to his tallies. Ultimately, though, VanDam’s two Bassmaster Classic wins and four straight AOY titles make his 2008-11 run tough to surpass.
Wheeler doesn’t spend much time worrying about his place in the pantheon of bass fishing greats. That mindset is one reason he’s won three AOYs — he’s always locked in on the next thing. Before he’d even made it back to Massena on Thursday afternoon, he was less focused on his AOY triumph than what he needs to do to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round.
“I feel like I’m having a crazy run right now, and I recognize that, but I don’t really spend much time thinking about it,” Wheeler explained. “I realize that things are clicking, and things are happening right now that don’t happen every year. So, I’m grateful for it. But I really don’t want to think about it, to be honest with you.
“I can’t even appreciate Angler of the Year right now because I’m still in the middle of a tournament. I’m still wanting to win. That was always the biggest box for me this season, my mindset is still like, alright, accomplished, go to the next deal.”
Once the offseason officially arrives, Wheeler will take some more time to reflect on his season (but probably not much; he’s competing alongside Connell in the General Tire Team Series later this month after all). He also understands that, between the wave of young stars flooding into the sport and an increasing desire to spend more time at home with his two young children, his dominance has an expiration date. Ultimately, his goal is not to match the accomplishments of Martin or VanDam but to be remembered as “the best of my era.”
He’s well on his way.
“Michael Jordan was the best of his era; LeBron James was the best of his,” Wheeler said. “There’s an era in time of like, you were the best player for some duration of time, you were the best fisherman for some duration of time. And so, for me, that’s my focus, because you can’t really compare – in a different era of time, it was completely different. So, obviously, I have the utmost respect and look up to Roland and Kevin and some of the great anglers, but it’s not necessarily a competition with any of them. That’s not necessarily my goal to try to be called the greatest of all time, because you’ll never get that. You can only be the best of your own time.”
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.
We had the 3rd tournament of the Caswell Glass Mayo Trail Saturday. We had 42 boats show up to give us another solid showing for the trail. We want to say THANK YOU to everyone that came out and fished with us Saturday.
After the scales closed Saturday it was the team of Dustin Long & Byron Whitfield that topped the 42 boat field. They had a 3 fish limit weighing 13.11 pounds to take the WIN
That limit was anchored by a 7.13 pound stud to also give them the WIN for Big Fish for the tournament. They took home $1370.00 for the day. That was a GREAT JOB by the 2 most local fisherman in the field for Mayo Lake and 2 Good Ol boys to go with it.
They were followed by the team of Wolfe & Wolfe with a 3 fish limit weighing 13.05 pounds. That bag earned them a total of $1050.00 with 2nd place earnings and the 1st place TWT. As always a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who placed in the money!!!
Once again tournament director Rodney Bowen did a great job with the tournament!!
Our next tournament will be on 8/24/2024
If you want to pre register contact me Kevin Sheppard at 336-264-8416
Virginia’s Ed Loughran III wins the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a four-day total of 80 pounds, 12 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
Aug. 12, 2024
Late-day rally lifts Loughran to victory at Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Entering Championship Monday at the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain, Day 3 leader Ed Loughran III thought he needed another 20-pound bag to win his first blue trophy. So, when he finished with a 16-pound, 14-ounce limit of smallmouth, he was just hoping he would still finish in the Top 5.
It turned out he had the exact weight he needed.
With a four-day total of 80-12, the veteran angler from Richmond, Va., notched his first Elite Series title, edging out Canada’s Chris Johnston by 1 ounce to earn the $100,000 check and a blue trophy.
The 2011 Toledo Bend Elite Series event has been the only other Elite Series event settled by a 1-ounce difference in total weight.
“I had zero thought that I had won. I was hoping to just stay in the Top 5,” Loughran said. “It’s unbelievable. I’ve never won a big tournament. I’ve had Top 5s in big tournaments … but I’m always a little short. I didn’t have any realistic expectation of winning one, but after yesterday I thought I might have a chance.
“The money will come and go, but that trophy will not go anywhere.”
Opening the tournament in 38th with 19-1, Loughran landed bags of largemouth weighing 22-15 and 21-14 to jump into the lead on Semi-Final Sunday. But if he didn’t make a critical move on Day 4, Loughran feels he wouldn’t have won.
Toward the end of the day, Loughran left his primary area and moved uplake to a spot he had not yet fished in the tournament. Just before he reached the spot he was intending to fish, he noticed a group of smallmouth on his forward-facing sonar that were piled up around several rocks.
“I sat there and caught a dozen fish,” Loughran said. “One was a 3-10 and I caught two other 3-pounders. Had that not happened, I would not have won. It is nuts. I hadn’t even fished it yet this week.”
A tidal river aficionado, Loughran started fishing Lake Champlain in 1991 and has grown to love the lake. This week, after missing the last two Elites due to medical issues, he traveled south to an area he had never fished before in an attempt to stay away from competitors fishing for Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year points.
Loughran described his best area as a rock ridge in 5 to 10 feet of water with milfoil beds in the vicinity. Using his Garmin LiveScope, he identified three high spots on the ridge that were holding the majority of the bass. The best part: he had the area all to himself.
“There was a lot going on. You had some creeks coming in and some milfoil beds around. You’ve got several high spots with chunk rock and grass mixed in,” he explained. “It was pretty protected, too. All of that offers really good habitat.
“If there was another angler in there, I wouldn’t have won and I wouldn’t have gotten a check.”
Smallmouth and largemouth inhabited the area, but the smallmouth stayed on one side of the ridge while the largemouth hunkered down on the other side. Loughran landed a mixed bag on Day 1, but on the second and third days he brought all largemouth to the scales, including a 5-12 on Day 3.
To generate most of his bites, Loughran dragged either a ½-ounce green pumpkin Missile Baits Ike’s Mini Flip or a ⅜-ounce homemade jig paired with either a Missile Baits Craw Father or Missile Baits Chunky D. He trimmed down the Chunky D to match the profile he felt the bass were eating.
He pitched those jigs using a 7-foot-6 heavy Shimano Expride rod paired with a Shimano Chronarch MGL 8:1:1 baitcasting reel and 20-pound Berkley fluorocarbon.
“I think these fish are eating on small crayfish,” Loughran said.
He also landed several key bass on a ½-ounce green pumpkin Z-Man Evergreen Chatterbait JackHammer with a Missile Baits Spunk Shad trailer in the goby bite color.
Once Loughran reached his primary area on the final day, the Virginia pro landed three smallmouth on consecutive casts around 8:45 a.m. After a short lull, he picked up a topwater walking bait and filled out his limit with two more smallmouth.
From there, however, the bite slowed down tremendously before Loughran executed his last-minute heroics with a drop shot rigged with a Missile Baits Bomb Shot in goby bite.
“The lake was off today for whatever reason,” he said. “I had one largemouth bite all day. It was terrible. Before, I was catching 20. Smallmouth had come in and taken over.”
Johnston, meanwhile, was just an ounce away from claiming his second career Elite Series trophy with bags of 20-0, 21-14, 19-8 and 19-5, totaling 80-11. There were several bass that came unglued this week that would have carried him past Loughran.
“I’m regretting a couple of the fish I lost the last two days,” the five-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier said. “Any of them would have done it for me. Being that close, it sucks. I’d rather lose by 5 pounds, to be honest. It is what it is. That’s fishing, and I’ll try to catch them next week.”
Most of the week, Johnston targeted smallmouth on deeper breaks in the northern section of Lake Champlain. Using his forward-facing sonar, he would comb large areas searching for quality smallmouth with a 4-inch minnow rigged on either a ⅜-ounce or ½-ounce head.
Johnston’s bass were feeding on perch and would move between 15 and 50 feet of water.
The smallmouth bite did not produce first thing on Day 4, so Johnston decided to fish for largemouth and lost two, one of which he believed would have helped his bag. He returned to his smallmouth waters and wrangled up an 18-pound limit before returning to a stretch of shallow reeds in an attempt to catch a kicker largemouth.
“(The smallmouth deal) wasn’t working. I probably gave it too long in hindsight,” he said. “The last hour I went back largemouth fishing and caught a 4-pounder that was pretty damn close, but not enough. One perch it spit up would have done it for me.”
Tennessee’s Robert Gee finished third with a total of 80-9, his third Top 5 of the season. Targeting smallmouth in the Inland Sea and Malletts Bay, the Knoxville rookie never left the Top 10 with bags of 21-1, 19-15, 19-13 and 19-12.
Ridges dropping from 35 feet to 50 feet with perch or alewives were the key areas for Gee. The bigger bass, Gee said, were eating the perch close to the bottom of the lake. He mid-strolled a 5-inch Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm on a ¼-ounce jighead to catch the majority of his smallies. A Juices Jig crappie/bass hair jig in the Tennessee shad color landed a couple of key bass as well.
Gee experienced his best day of smallmouth fishing on Monday morning. He has no idea how many bass he caught, but he quickly reached the 18-pound mark and was able to make several more key culls. Unfortunately, he could not find a 5-pound bass on the final day that would have lifted him to victory.
“It was probably the best day of smallmouth fishing I’ve ever had, numbers wise,” Gee said.
Canada’s Cory Johnston landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 4, a 5-5 largemouth. New York rookie Kyle Patrick claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament honors with a 6-2 largemouth he caught on Day 1, earning a total of 3,000 in bonuses. Patrick also claimed the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency bonus for accurate weight recording.
Day 1 leader Seth Feider claimed the $2,000 bonus for the CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament with his 23-11 limit of largemouth from the first day.
Alabama’s Will Davis Jr took home an additional $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, while Texas’ Chris Zaldain earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Gee earned an additional $4,000 while South Carolina’s Patrick Walters claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.
2024 Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 8/8-8/12 Lake Champlain, Plattsburg NY. (PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 20 80-12 0 $100,333.00 Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 22-15 Day 3: 5 21-14 Day 4: 5 16-14 2. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 20 80-11 102 $35,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-00 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 19-08 Day 4: 5 19-05 3. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 20 80-09 101 $30,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 19-13 Day 4: 5 19-12 4. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 20 79-03 100 $25,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-13 Day 2: 5 20-13 Day 3: 5 20-02 Day 4: 5 17-07 5. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 20 78-09 99 $21,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 20-01 Day 3: 5 19-15 Day 4: 5 18-13 6. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 20 78-03 98 $19,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-10 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 20-06 Day 4: 5 18-00 7. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 20 77-08 97 $18,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-15 Day 2: 5 20-09 Day 3: 5 18-05 Day 4: 5 17-11 8. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 20 77-03 96 $17,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-04 Day 2: 5 20-11 Day 3: 5 18-07 Day 4: 5 16-13 9. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 20 75-00 95 $16,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 18-12 Day 4: 5 13-12 10. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 20 74-02 94 $15,000.00 Day 1: 5 22-11 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 17-09 Day 4: 5 14-15 ———————————————————————–
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS Day 1 Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 06-02 $1,000.00 2 Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 05-07 $333.33 2 Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 05-07 $333.33 2 Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 05-07 $333.33 3 Matt Herren Ashville, AL 05-15 $1,000.00 4 Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 05-05 $1,000.00
———————————————————————– PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 06-02 $2,000.00 CRUSHCITY MONSTER BAG
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KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Aug. 12, 2024) – The 2024 Major League Fishing (MLF) General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops event that took place in May on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Kissimmee, Florida, is one of six event finalists nominated for the 2024 SportsTravel Award in the category of Best Professional Sports Event.
The SportsTravel Awards honor the best events, venues and hosts in the sports-event industry. Winners of the awards will be announced at TEAMS ’24, September 23–26, in Anaheim.
MLF is asking for fan votes to help earn this honor. This is an opportunity to demonstrate the passion of the fishing and outdoors audiences for the sports world to see. The General Tire Heavy Hitters event is competing against other major professional events including the NFL Draft in Detroit, Michigan, the International Surfing Association World Games, and the X Games.
The star-studded General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by Experience Kissimmee and featured 30 anglers who qualified from MLF’s Bass Pro Tour. This one of kind tournament format set a new MLF record of more than 21 million minutes viewed on MLF platforms, passing the previous record set in 2023. The event, held on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, yielded more than 840,000 video views and 9.8 million social media impressions – a 42% increase over the prior year.
Fans are encouraged to cast their vote through Monday, August 19 by clicking here.
MLF also asks you to share this with your family and friends to help celebrate this exciting event in bass fishing and professional sports.
Nominees for Best Professional Sports Event 2023 MLS/Liga MX Leagues Cup, Various Sites The tournament was staged by both Major League Soccer and Liga MX, the professional soccer league in Mexico. Led by Lionel Messi, Inter Miami won the tournament by defeating Nashville SC at Geodis Park in Nashville. The event featured 77 matches across the U.S. and Canada, attended by more than 1.3 million.
2024 International Surfing Association World Games, San Juan, Puerto Rico The event held in Puerto Rico created an exceptional impact on the global surfing community and the local economy. The event attracted top surfers from over 40 countries, showcasing a high level of athletic performance and sportsmanship.
2024 Major League Fishing General Tire Heavy Hitters, Kissimmee, FL The event set a new MLF record of more than 21 million minutes viewed on MLF platforms, passing the previous record set in 2023. The event yielded more than 840,000 video views and 9.8 million social media impressions, a 42 percent increase over the prior year.
2024 NFL Draft, Detroit, MI The NFL Draft held in downtown Detroit drew an estimated record 775,000 people and generated an estimated $213 million economic impact, including $161 million from visitors coming to Michigan. Hotel occupancy hit a high of 92 percent on the Friday night of the draft with 30 percent traveling more than 100 miles to attend.
2024 Serie del Caribe, Miami, FL The Serie del Caribe baseball tournament was a celebration of Latin American culture, sportsmanship and community spirit. Throughout the 25 games played at loanDepot Park, over 220,000 people enjoyed the best of professional baseball from top Caribbean teams. It also served as a catalyst for promoting cross-cultural understanding and collaboration, highlighting the positive impact of sports in bridging communities.
2024 X Games Ventura, Ventura, CA The X Games Ventura returned to the California coastline featuring the world’s leading skateboard, BMX and moto X athletes and an appearance by Tony Hawk. The city of Ventura partnered on the event that included a variety of community events that served to engage fans and spectators at the event including concerts by Wiz Khalifa and Kaskade.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops premiered on Discovery on Saturday, Aug. 10, with new two-hour episodes from the event premiering each Saturday at 7 a.m. ET through Sept. 14.
Proud sponsors of General Tire Heavy Hitters 2024 Presented by Bass Pro Shops at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Star brite, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and YETI.
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.
Winning against a stacked Michigan Division field is always a challenge. What makes it even more impressive for van Dike is that this is his first BFL season, and the Detroit River tournament was only his third BFL event.
“I got into them through a friend,” van Dike said. “I fished through MLF in college, so I just decided to jump in them this year, and it’s gone pretty well for me so far.
“It feels great (to win). I put in a lot of work, and all the stuff I’ve been through with boats lately and everything, it feels amazing to win.”
Van Dike is off to a hot start overall. He’s made two top-10 finishes already and currently sits fourth in the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year race.
According to van Dike, the biggest key to the win was braving wind and nasty weather to get in a good practice on Lake St. Clair, which is where he spent the tournament. The trials continued during the tournament, when the waves were big enough that van Dike reported taking a few over the transom while he was on the front deck using the trolling motor.
“The weather changed some things,” he added. “The fish weren’t up suspended like they normally have been. I just shortened my drop-shot quite a bit. I found that they would eat it better if it wasn’t way above their head.”
The drop-shot did most of the damage for van Dike. He rigged it with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Minnow. He also weighed one keeper caught on a River Rock Custom Baits Tube.
“I was on the bait pattern,” van Dike said. “I was following the balls of bait wherever I could find them where they stacked up in an area, and the big ones were hanging out right around the bait. I just put my trolling motor on 10 and followed the bait until I could find a ball. And not far from a ball of bait was a big fish.”
In practice, van Dike used his big motor and his electronics to locate areas with higher concentrations of bait. Then he got up on the trolling motor and used forward-facing sonar to find the bait balls.
“They (the bait balls) are about 20 feet long, and they go almost all the way from the surface down to the bottom,” he added. “They look like tornadoes on your LiveScope.”
To help make his lures stand out from the natural bait, van Dike mixed in some brighter colors, including chartreuse with brown back.
“Once you’re around the bait, you’re picking off the fish that are chasing those bait balls. It doesn’t have to be a specific fish (that you target with forward-facing sonar), but if you get your cast into the bait ball, usually those fish will go find that bait that looks different than the rest.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Drake van Dike, Livonia, Mich., five bass, 22-2, $3,505 2nd: Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., five bass, 21-0, $2,053 3rd: Mark Flick, Delton, Mich., five bass, 20-15, $1,169 4th: Wilson Burton, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 20-8, $1,318 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Continency Bonus) 5th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 20-3, $701 6th: Nolan Mandel, Harrison Township, Mich., five bass, 20-2, $643 7th: Michael Sitko, Pinckney, Mich., five bass, 19-1, $584 8th: Aaron Limber, Northwood, Ohio, five bass, 18-14, $496 8th: Noah Stauffer, Gowen, Mich., five bass, 18-14, $496 10th: Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 18-10, $849
Mike Trombly of Belleville, Michigan, caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $440.
Lane Clark of Anderson, South Carolina, won the Strike King co-angler division and $1,753 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 18 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:
1st: Lane Clark, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-10, $1,753 2nd: Steve Ward, Trenton, Mich., five bass, 16-11, $730 2nd: Brian Townley, Wyoming, Mich., five bass, 16-11, $950 4th: Todd Layne, Poca, W.Va., five bass, 16-8, $559 5th: Ryan Crider, Kettering, Ohio, five bass, 16-5, $351 6th: Jason Klingaman, Howe, Ind., five bass, 15-15, $321 7th: Scott Davis, Morenci, Mich., five bass, 15-14, $292 8th: JD Marcum, Catlettsburg, Ky., five bass, 15-5, $363 9th: David Roche, Centerline, Mich., five bass, 14-10, $234 10th: Cullan Parker, Lorain, Ohio, five bass, 14-9, $204
Brian Townley of Wyoming, Michigan, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $220, catching a bass that weighed in at 6 pounds – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After three events, Nolan Mandel of Harrison Township, Michigan, leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 743 points, while Scott Davis of Morenci, Michigan, leads the Fishing Clash Michigan Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 735 points.
The next event for BFL Michigan Division anglers will be held Aug. 24, at the Detroit River in Trenton, Michigan. To register for the event as a boater or a co-angler, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270)-252-1000.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, will qualify for the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional tournament on Pools 13-17 of the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 BFL All-American.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Dayton, Tennessee pro catches 28 bass weighing 88-14 to clinch victory and earn $100,000 top prize
MASSENA, N.Y. (Aug. 11, 2024) – The mighty St. Lawrence River provided a fitting end to the 2024 Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour season at Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Humminbird – a season full of drama and excitement, new winners and superstars adding to their résumés. Ultimately, after a back-and-forth third-period slugfest between pros Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee, and Shelbyville, Kentucky’s John Hunter, Neal sealed the deal with 28 bass for 88 pounds, 14 ounces. His margin of victory over Hunter was 15-3, but the final day was much closer than the final SCORETRACKER® would indicate.
Hunter led for much of the day, trading blows and the lead with Neal before Neal hit another gear. The final hour saw the eventual winner catch six bass for 17-2 to put it away. The win marks Neal’s first since the 2021 season finale on Lake St. Clair and comes after many close calls, including two runner-up finishes this season.
Neal finished the year strong with the win and joined the exclusive list of two-time Bass Pro Tour winners. Both of his victories came on famed northern smallmouth fisheries and both were Stage Seven events.
With 15 regular season Bass Pro Tour Top 10s (second only to three-time Angler of the Year Jacob Wheeler), it’s surprising that this is only Neal’s second win. The Championship Round experience paid off as he sealed the victory, and Neal was as relieved as anyone.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “Today was starting to feel like the Chowan River (at Stage Five), where I got out to a big lead, and it slipped away from me. I’ve had a ton of seconds in my career and felt like I was on that path again. When I won the last event in 2021, I won the first event of the 2022 season on the [Tackle Warehouse] Invitationals, and hopefully I can get on another hot streak like that.”
This win here is special to Neal as he was able to clinch his first major title, the 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Angler of the Year, on these same waters. It also cements him as a certified smallmouth specialist after claiming his previous win on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair.
“I won my first AOY title right here on the same spot,” he said on the MLFNOW! broadcast. “This place will always be special to me. Growing up on Lake Chickamauga, if I caught a smallmouth, it was by accident. I’ve never considered myself a smallmouth fisherman, and I never thought I’d win a smallmouth tournament once, let alone twice.”
Neal spent much of his time in deeper water than many competitors. He stuck with the tried-and-true drop-shot rig with a slight twist while also mixing in a finesse jig.
“I primarily stayed in the 40 to 60 feet depth range keying on rock, but my biggest fish on the last day was in 65 feet of water,” he said. “I don’t think depth mattered a lot, and the current was the main thing, and the fish, especially the bigger ones, were on sharper drops. The fish were either on the up-current side or down current, using the breaks as current drops. Most of my weight this week came from one stretch where the bottom was wavy looking with a bunch of rolling ups and downs.”
Instead of rigging up a standard drop-shot worm, Neal improvised and went with the current trend of soft plastics with protruding silicone skirting material. His version was homemade, with a Big Bite Baits Scentsation Quarantine Craw serving as the plastic.
“I went to Walmart and bought some sewing needles and cut a banded skirt in half,” he said. “I threaded eight stands into each one, so the bait had 16 strands coming out of the bait. They were green pumpkin baits with some green pumpkin purple skirt materials, and they looked just like the gobies the bass were spitting out. I was fishing around guys all week and felt like that got me more bites.”
“That setup was key for me, and I didn’t break off a fish all week,” he said. “I also caught some fish on a 1/2-ounce Beast Coast OW Sniper Jig and used that same rod but modified to be a casting model. I had a guy back home turn that blank into a casting rod by changing the handle and the first couple of guides. It’s the perfect rod for fighting big smallmouth with a lot of line out because you had to let a lot of line out to keep it on the bottom. And when you’d hook one, there’d be 100 feet of line out there, and you can still land them with that rod.”
As much thought as Neal put into his setups for Stage Seven, it begs the question: How did he transform into a smallmouth guru? Neal said a change in thinking and a better understanding of the species are likely the culprits.
“I think it’s all because I knew nothing about them,” he admitted. “I’ve learned that you must have an open mind when smallmouth fishing because they move so much daily. Largemouth are always going to be right on some cover, and smallmouth will always just be around something. That took me a while to figure out. I’m still not sure I like smallmouth fishing, but it seems to suit me.”
Hard to argue. He now has two BPT wins to show for it.
The top 10 pros from the Minn Kota Stage Seven Presented by Humminbird at the St. Lawrence River are:
Overall, there were 170 bass weighing 535 pounds, 9 ounces caught by the 20 pros Sunday, which included one 6-pounder, two 5-pounders, and 25 4-pounders.
Pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, earned Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a smallmouth bass weighing in at 6 pounds even that he caught during Period 3. The $3,000 prize for heaviest bass of the tournament went to Louisiana’s Cliff Crochet, who caught a largemouth weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces on Day 2 of Group A competition.
Harrison, Tennessee, pro Jacob Wheeler, clinched the 2024 Fishing Clash Angler of the Year honors and the $100,000 payout on Friday – Wheeler’s third AOY title in the last four years.
Fishing Clash, an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s played by more than 80 million people worldwide, is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League. You can download Fishing Clash for free in the App Store and on Google Play or log on to www.fishingclash.game for more information.
The Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird featured anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 six-day tournament, hosted by the Town of Massena, showcased 78 of the best professional anglers in the world competing for a purse of more than $805,000, with a top prize of $100,000 going to the winner.
Television coverage of the Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St. Lawrence River Presented by Humminbird will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Nov. 16 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
The 2024 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 78 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 General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship, set for April 3-6, 2025, on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, Rapala, REDCON1, Star brite, Suzuki, Toyota, WIX Filters and U.S. Air Force.
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.
Virginia’s Ed Loughran III takes the Day 3 lead at the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain with a three-day total of 63 pounds, 14 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
Aug. 11, 2024
Largemouth lead Loughran to Day 3 lead at Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Distance makes the heart grow fonder. That was certainly the case for Ed Loughran III, who missed the previous two Bassmaster Elite Series events due to medical issues.
Loughran has returned with a vengeance this week at the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain as the soon-to-be 54-year-old from Richmond, Va., claimed the Day 3 lead with a three-day total measuring 63 pounds, 14 ounces.
After landing a 19-1 mixed bag on Day 1, finishing the day in 38th, Loughran jumped into second with a 22-15 limit of largemouth before landing his 21-14 Day 3 limit of green fish.
“It was very painful to sit there and watch everyone fish at Wheeler and Smith Lake,” he said. “You never know how much you miss something until you aren’t able to be there. I’m happy to be back in good shape and hopefully tomorrow I’ll do the same as I did today.”
Mother Nature continues to throw curveballs at the Elite pros this week. Anglers enjoyed sunny conditions on Day 1 before the remnants of Hurricane Debby brought heavy rain and wind to the area, delaying the start of Day 2 until Saturday morning.
Clouds and south winds moved into the area once again on Sunday, creating challenging fishing conditions. While weights were not as impressive as the previous two days, all 50 anglers landed a limit of bass.
Loughran has been making a run to the southern section of the lake to an area where he hasn’t seen many of his other competitors. There, he is fishing several different sweet spots in 5 to 10 feet of water that are located on a shallow rock ridge with grass on top. He has caught both smallmouth and largemouth each day, but the largemouth have been the heavier species for Loughran this week.
A homemade jig paired with a Missile Baits Craw Father trailer and a ChatterBait have produced most of his bites this week.
“It’s just a northern thing. You can do it on Oneida or any other northern lake. It is just some high spots with grass,” Loughran said. “You don’t know what you are going to catch on any given cast.”
The wind, along with a mudline and an increase in local fishing pressure created less-than-ideal conditions in Loughran’s area on Day 3.
“It started pretty slow. They were not biting my ChatterBait at all,” he said. “It was a total grind. But I know the area I’m fishing, and I know the little sweet spots. I had to share it with some locals which made it a little more difficult to try and figure out where I was going.
“I had all kinds of things going on.”
Despite the slow start, the Virginia pro slowly began adding bass to his livewell. Once a local angler moved away from one of his spots and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, Loughran was able to line up the cast he wanted and caught his biggest bass of the day, a 5-12 largemouth.
“The wind was blowing today in a direction that is difficult for this spot,” he said. “I was rarely in the good, controlled position that I wanted to be. Right before I caught that fish I happened to get into a really good spot. The place I wanted to cast was 45 feet away, and the wind had died down, so I put my poles down and the first cast out to the sweet spot, that bass hit.
“It was a huge cull.”
As the day progressed, Loughran landed two more key bass and expanded on his area. He thinks he will need another 20-pound bag to claim his first blue trophy. Sunny conditions improve his bite, but tomorrow’s forecast calls for more clouds.
“I think they are reloading and hopefully tomorrow there is another 20- or 22-pound bag in there and hopefully I can catch it. If I catch anything less than 20 pounds, someone is going to catch me,” Loughran said. “I really need sun and I’m not going to have it tomorrow. But who knows, the weather will come and go up here.”
Robertson has gone all-in on a largemouth-only pattern that has produced bags of 20-13, 20-13 and 20-2 for a three-day total of 61-12. The Kuttawa, Ky., native has fished around shallow docks with a big Berkley flipping jighead and a hand-tied black rubber skirt. A Chigger Craw is his trailer of choice, but he has caught some using different trailers as well.
“It’s as old school as it gets,” Robertson said. “The trailer doesn’t matter. You get it in there and the first one that sees it will bite it. These fish aren’t used to seeing a jig that big.”
There hasn’t been a particular rhyme or reason as to when Robertson gets a bigger-than-average bite. Some of the smaller bass he’s caught have been in some of the backwater areas, but he also landed a 5-pounder in that same area on Day 3.
“I’m fishing what’s in front of me,” Robertson said. “I had some docks where I got bit and shook a few fish off and I caught those. I keep forgetting about some of them, because toward the end of the day I remembered I got a bite (on a particular dock). I slid that big jig under there and caught a 5-pounder.”
After landing 20-0 and 21-14 the first two days of the tournament, the wind hampered Johnston slightly on Day 3 as the Canadian caught 19-8 on Semifinal Sunday.
“I started the day decently,” he said. “I was looking to get a couple 4-pounders in the first hour and I was just getting some 3s. I grinded away and never got that kicker. The wind blew up and I couldn’t present my bait right. I did lose one or two great big ones. They weren’t biting nearly as well today as they were yesterday.”
Johnston has specifically targeted smallmouth in deep water with a jighead minnow, varying the head size on the bait depending on the depth. He has used his forward-facing sonar to watch the smallmouth move up and down in the water column to feed on perch.
“There aren’t any big groups like last year, but you’ll get in an area, and you’ll go 200 yards and see seven or eight individual fish. But not any big wolf packs,” he explained. “They are gorging on perch. They’ll be 15 feet below the surface and then go down to 50 feet where all the perch are and come back up. It’s kind of different because normally when you catch a fish in 50 feet of water you’ll have to fizz them, but they go up and down so much they are used to it.”
Ashville, Ala., pro Matt Herren earned Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors on Day 3 as he caught a largemouth weighing 5-15 while New York rookie Kyle Patrick holds Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament honors with a 6-2 largemouth he caught on Day 1.
Patrick also claimed the $1,000 BassTrakk Contingency bonus for accurate weight recording.
Day 1 leader Seth Feider holds the CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament with his 23-11 limit of largemouth from Thursday.
The Top 10 anglers will launch from the Plattsburgh City Dock beginning at 7 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The winner will earn the $100,000 first-place prize and a coveted blue trophy. Bassmaster LIVE will be available on Bassmaster.com from 8 a.m. ET until the start of weigh-in at 3 p.m. Weigh-in will begin shortly after and will also be streamed on Bassmaster.com.
2024 Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain 8/8-8/12 Lake Champlain, Plattsburg NY. (PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 15 63-14 0 $333.00 Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 22-15 Day 3: 5 21-14 2. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 15 61-12 102 Day 1: 5 20-13 Day 2: 5 20-13 Day 3: 5 20-02 3. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15 61-06 101 Day 1: 5 20-00 Day 2: 5 21-14 Day 3: 5 19-08 4. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 15 61-04 100 Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 18-12 5. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 15 60-13 99 Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 19-13 6. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 15 60-06 98 Day 1: 5 21-04 Day 2: 5 20-11 Day 3: 5 18-07 7. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 15 60-03 97 Day 1: 5 21-10 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 20-06 8. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 15 59-13 96 Day 1: 5 20-15 Day 2: 5 20-09 Day 3: 5 18-05 9. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 15 59-12 95 Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 20-01 Day 3: 5 19-15 10. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 15 59-03 94 Day 1: 5 22-11 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 17-09 11. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 15 58-15 93 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-08 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 18-00 12. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 15 58-11 92 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 18-07 13. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 15 58-07 91 $10,333.00 Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 5 21-11 Day 3: 5 17-05 14. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 15 58-04 90 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 20-06 Day 3: 5 16-13 15. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 15 58-04 89 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-08 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 17-09 16. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 15 57-15 88 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-13 Day 2: 5 18-12 Day 3: 5 18-06 17. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 15 57-13 87 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 17-12 18. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 15 57-13 86 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 18-07 19. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 15 57-06 85 $11,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 5 16-11 Day 3: 5 19-11 20. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 15 57-05 84 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-09 Day 2: 5 17-15 Day 3: 5 18-13 21. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 15 57-04 83 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 19-06 22. Seth Feider New Market, MN 15 57-03 82 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 23-11 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 5 16-07 23. Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 15 57-03 81 $11,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-11 Day 2: 5 17-08 Day 3: 5 18-00 24. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 15 57-01 80 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 17-03 25. Ben Milliken New Caney, TX 15 56-14 79 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 19-03 26. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 15 56-13 78 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-12 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 19-10 27. John Cox Debary, FL 15 56-12 77 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-07 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 20-00 28. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 15 56-11 76 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 19-11 Day 3: 5 17-05 29. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 15 56-09 75 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 19-12 Day 3: 5 18-06 30. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 15 56-07 74 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-00 Day 2: 5 19-05 Day 3: 5 18-02 31. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 15 56-06 73 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 19-05 Day 3: 5 17-07 32. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 15 56-05 72 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 18-01 Day 3: 5 19-08 33. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 15 56-03 71 $10,333.00 Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 20-05 Day 3: 5 18-12 34. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 15 56-00 70 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 17-05 35. John Garrett Union City, TN 15 55-14 69 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 17-00 Day 3: 5 18-13 36. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 15 55-11 68 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-14 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 16-10 37. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 15 55-11 67 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 17-10 Day 3: 5 18-04 38. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 15 55-11 66 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 17-13 39. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 15 55-10 65 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 17-15 Day 3: 5 18-01 40. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 15 55-10 64 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 18-01 Day 3: 5 18-08 41. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 15 55-02 63 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 18-13 Day 3: 5 17-12 42. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 15 55-01 62 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 14-15 43. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 15 55-00 61 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 18-11 Day 3: 5 17-08 44. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 54-12 60 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 17-01 45. Cody Huff Ava, MO 15 54-11 59 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 18-07 Day 3: 5 16-05 46. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 15 54-10 58 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 19-09 Day 3: 5 17-01 47. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 54-05 0 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-06 Day 2: 5 18-04 Day 3: 5 17-11 48. Cole Sands Calhoun , TN 15 53-14 56 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 16-14 49. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 15 53-11 55 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 16-09 50. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 15 52-11 54 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 5 14-07 ———————————————————————–
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS Day 1 Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 06-02 $1,000.00 2 Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 05-07 $333.33 2 Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 05-07 $333.33 2 Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 05-07 $333.33 3 Matt Herren Ashville, AL 05-15 $1,000.00
