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Wednesday, December 17, 2025
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Oologah’s Roberts Lands His ‘Fish Trophy’ With Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Grand Lake

Brian Carter
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Oologah’s Roberts Lands His ‘Fish Trophy’ With Win at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event at Grand Lake
Boater winner Dillon Roberts of Oohlogah, Oklahoma, and Strike-King co-angler winner Mark Sloan of Harrison, Arkansas.
Arkansas’ Sloan Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

GROVE, Okla. (Feb. 12, 2024) – Boater Dillon Roberts of Oologah, Oklahoma, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine on Grand Lake. Hosted by the City of Grove, the tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Okie Division. Roberts earned $5,607 for his victory.

“I pulled into a mid-lake area that was producing some bigger fish at a little greater depth for me,” said Roberts, who said he grew up on Grand Lake and spends most of his time on the water there now. “I fished 20 to 25 feet deep with an Alabama rig all day. The fish were staging at the mouths of creek arms waiting for the water to warm up so they could move up shallow.”

Roberts said he relied on his Lowrance ActiveTarget to allow him to put his Alabama rig in the strike zone for bass, and the approach paid off with 11 keeper bites during the day.

“I had my final weight at about 1 o’clock,” Roberts said. “This time of year, its still winter fishing, and I thought I would need 24 to 25 pounds to win. I had just culled a 2½-pounder, and when I got to 23 pounds, I knew I had a solid shot.”

Roberts also caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $735.

“I casted to that fish probably 20 to 25 times before I got her to commit,” Roberts said. “It was a cat-and-mouse game, but I finally got her to eat. Then, three casts later, I caught my second-largest fish.

“This win is a dream come true,” Roberts added. “My dad has a fish trophy. I’ve been after a fish trophy since I finished college fishing, and three years later I finally got it.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

                1st:        Dillon Roberts, Oologah, Okla., five bass, 23-3, $5,607
                2nd:       Billy Lemon, Sand Springs, Okla., five bass, 21-1, $2,936 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
                3rd:       Austin Lowrey, Webb City, Mo., five bass, 18-15, $1,623
                4th:        Shawn Mote, Ardmore, Okla., five bass, 18-11, $1,137
                5th:        Stephen Whitesell, Grove, Okla., five bass, 18-19, $974
                6th:        Rodney Copeland, Sallisaw, Okla., five bass, 18-5, $893
                7th:        T.J. Martin, Claremore, Okla., five bass, 18-4, $812
                8th:        Garett Jacobson, Wagoner, Okla., five bass, 16-13, $731
                9th:        David Rice, Galena, Mo., five bass, 16-4, $650
                10th:     Blake Capps, Muskogee, Okla., four bass, 15-2, $568

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.



Mark Sloan of Harrison, Arkansas, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,403 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

                1st:        Mark Sloan, Harrison, Ark., three bass, 11-3, $2,403
                2nd:       Jacob Cooper, Eldorado, Kan., four bass, 11-1, $1,201
                3rd:       Ryan Doel, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 9-12, $1,168
                4th:        Colton Foster, Wagoner, Okla., four bass, 9-3, $561
                5th:        Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., three bass, 9-0, $831
                6th:        James West, Spiro, Okla., five bass, 8-3, $441
                7th:        Melvin Camp, Talihina, Okla., three bass, 7-15, $400
                8th:        Theron Asbery, Republic, Mo., two bass, 7-10, $360
                9th:        Randy Peoples, Prairie Grove, Ark., three bass, 7-3, $320
                10th:     Austin Morris, Broken Arrow, Okla., three bass, 6-13, $280

Ryan Doel of Springfield, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $362, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.

The next event for BFL Okie Division anglers will be held March 16, at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Oklahoma. 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. 17-19 BFL Regional tournament on Wright Patman Lake in Texarkana, Texas. 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, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota 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.



Cal Lane and the Legacy: The Strike King 10XD Bait Story

Brian Carter
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Cal Lane and the Legacy: The Strike King 10XD Bait Story

Photo Taken by Jody White of MLF

As I kick back in my living room, engrossed with the MLF Tackle Warehouse event transpiring on Sam Rayburn Lake, I can’t help but marvel, “Dang, those are some mammoth Bass!”. Enthusiastic young professional anglers like Cal Lane are making quite the splash, as they reel in the biggies, one after another. There’s a secret, though – beneath each monstrous catch, there lies a crucial partner in the triumph – a bait that has stood the test of time – the Strike King Pro-Model Series 10XD. Let’s sink beneath the surface to explore the inception and importance of this legendary lure, and understand why it belongs in every passionate angler’s tackle box.

The tale whisks us back to 2012, the stage being Strike King, renowned for their inventive lures. At its helm was Phil Marks, an architect for countless groundbreaking lures. Daring to dive deeper, Marks brought forth the 10XD, an oversized crankbait with a unique curved bill. Unlike traditional deep-diving crankbaits, the 10XD plunged deeper and surged faster – altering the deep-running crankbait landscape for good.

The turning point for this bait, however, was the FLW Tour Open on Sam Rayburn Lake in that very year. Armed with the 10XD, Marks crowned himself champion, netting a whopping $125,000 grand prize. This feat propelled the 10XD into the limelight, fast becoming an indispensable asset amongst fervent anglers.

Within the Strike King arsenal, the XD series holds a distinguished rank. Tailored to navigate depths unheard of, the 10XD outshines the rest, executing a further cast and a tighter wiggle, principles that have struck a winning chord with anglers globally. To top it, it wields an impressive palette of colors, each hue meticulously crafted to mimic prey and beguile even the most finicky fish.

Reflecting upon the saga of Strike King, one has to credit the inception of the original ‘Strike King’ bass lure to Bill McEwen back in the early ’60s. Charles Spence took the reins later, nurturing the company into a behemoth near the Memphis airport. Pioneering product development strategies and fostering coveted alliances with angling idols like Bill Dance ensured the company’s enduring success.

As we revel in the thrilling spectacle of Cal Lane and his peers hauling in the giants at the MLF Tackle Warehouse event, let’s rejoice in the timeless bait that’s doing its part beneath the waves – the Strike King Pro-Model Series 10XD. With a lineage dating back to Bill McEwen, a track record of tournament victories, and a vibrant selection of colors, the 10XD serves as a potent ally to reel in the big ones. Beef up your tackle box with this revolutionary bait. After all, as they say, you never know – the next cast could be the catch of your life!

ORDER SOME TODAY



MLF Bass Pro Tour Set to Visit Clarendon County, SC for Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

Brian Carter
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MLF Bass Pro Tour Set to Visit Clarendon County, SC for Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. (Feb. 12, 2024) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour is set to visit Clarendon County in South Carolina next week, Feb. 20-25, for the second event of the 2024 season – the Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, will feature a field of 80 professional anglers, including superstars like Ott DeFoe, Jacob Wheeler, REDCREST 2023 Champion  Bryan Thrift and South Carolina pros Casey Ashley of Donalds, Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, Britt Myers of Lake Wylie, Marty Robinson of Lyman, and his son, Bass Pro Tour rookie Marshall Robinson of Landrum. They’ll be competing for a season-long purse of $3.9 million – including a top prize of $100,000 at Santee Cooper – and valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

“As one of the five counties that border the Santee Cooper lakes, Clarendon County has historically done a great job of leaning into the world of bass fishing and providing a place for anglers and organizations to visit and showcase. The Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour is another prime example of that, and it will join a long list of nationally recognized professional fishing trails that have made their way to our area,” said Jesse Surette, Director of Tourism for the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce. “From a tourism perspective, bass fishing is one of the best returns on investment to the host community. Tournaments of this size can bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the community immediately through lodging, dining, fuel and shopping with local retailers.

“Additionally, the long-term impact from national media exposure helps put the Santee Cooper Lakes on the minds of millions across the country,” Surette continued. “We are excited to welcome some of the biggest names in bass fishing to one of the best fisheries in the nation.”

The tournament will feature the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament is being filmed for broadcast later this year on Discovery. Although the fishery has hosted numerous MLF bass tournaments over the years, this event will mark the first time that the MLF’s top level, the Bass Pro Tour, has visited Santee Cooper Lakes.

“This one is going to be a really fun tournament. It’s going to be a grinder, but there are massive bass that live at Santee Cooper and I’m excited,” said pro Anthony Gagliardi, who has more than $2.5 million in career earnings. “There is a lot more grass there, recently, than in years past. I don’t know how or if that will play in the tournament, but it definitely can’t hurt. It’ll still be cold, so we’ll see a lot of prespawn fishing. And it’ll be interesting to see how the event shakes out with forward-facing sonar. I’m sure some guys will use it – if I had a tournament in my backyard someone would be using it and trying to find them in my lawn – but the water clarity is stained, and I don’t think we’ll see guys finding big schools of fish.”

Fellow South Carolina pro Andy Montgomery agrees that the forward-facing sonar is an x-factor in this event.

“I don’t know that LiveScoping is something that the locals do a whole lot of, but it has certainly changed a lot of things in regard to how we approach these lakes,” Montgomery said. “We’ve had a ton of rain, lately, so the lake is flooded and muddy. We’ll definitely be watching the weather, as it will have a big effect on the event – if parts of the lake get blown out, and how much fishable water we have.”

Both anglers agreed that traditionally at this time of the year, prespawn tactics are likely to be the predominant patterns.

“Both lakes are full of cypress trees,” Montgomery said. “I don’t expect we’ll see any spawning fish, yet. But LiveScoping baits and normal prespawn stuff – spinnerbaits, (Strike King) Thunder Crickets – will be strong. We’ll definitely see guys flipping jigs, too.”

“I’ll have a few (Z-Man) ChatterBaits and lipless and shallow-running crankbaits tied on,” Gagliardi added. “I think we’ll see quite a few bass caught out of the trees, and in prespawn staging areas.”

Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the John C. Land III Landing, located at 4404 Greenall Road in Summerton. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 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 .

On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit the John C. Land III landing for the MLF Watch Party. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing each day. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration on Championship Sunday to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes will feature 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 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 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 the REDCREST 2025 championship.

The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers that finish first through 10th from both groups advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Sept. 21 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering the following Saturday on Sept. 28. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

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, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota 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.




Angler Rights Activism

Brian Carter
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Angler Rights Activism
Angler Rights Activism
Those who would nix your right to fish in an instant are active and organized – recreational anglers need to be equally vigilant.  
Forestville, WI (February 12, 2024) – Nearly half of Australia’s fishable waters are now off limits. Some European countries ban catch and release, claiming it hurts the fish. Think it can’t happen here. Think again…The good news is that American angler interests are backed by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the nation’s largest trade association for the recreational sportfishing industry. The bad news is that they can’t completely protect your rights alone…and that’s where you come in.Recently, ASA VP of Government Affairs Mike Leonard spoke at the annual NPAA conference in Fort Myers, Florida on the topic of advocacy, what ASA is doing on your behalf, and what you can do as an individual to protect your fishing interests. 
Leonard’s engaging presentation highlighted three key themes: DO NOT take fishing for granted. DO NOT sit on the sidelines. Stop with the infighting. He went on to talk about knowing the issues in your area, joining fishing organizations that work to protect sportfishing like the NPAA and the ASA, and keeping up with the issues that could affect your ability to access the vast amount of aquatic resources available in this country at asafishing.org.If you care about the future of recreational fishing, you’re not too busy to watch Leonard’s presentation…
For more information on joining the NPAA and exploring the many benefits membership provides, visit www.npaa.net.
JOIN NPAA!



Brett Collins & Daniel Cook Win CATT Lake Wateree, SC Open Feb 10, 2024

Brian Carter
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Brett Collins & Daniel Cook Win CATT Lake Wateree, SC Open Feb 10, 2024

Next Wateree Open is Feb 24th at Molly Creek! New this year we added a few $60 entry opens! To view the schedule tap on Divisions then South Carolina!

Open Tournaments – $100 Entry, $25 Side Pot
Open Tournaments – $60 Entry, $25 Side Pot
Final Tournament – $130 Entry, $50 Side Pot
NO PAY ONLINE FOR THE $60 ENTRYS
Paying 1 BF
Must enter 6 Opens to be eligible to enter the Open Final
Fishing an Open solo will count for your teams Final Qualification
Must fish Wateree Open Final with your partner or a sub your team used
NO NEW SUBS AT FINAL & NO PAIRING UP AT FINAL WITH ANOTHER MEMBER
Safe Daylight – Weigh in Determined at Ramp
$100 Entry Optional $25 side pot at each event!

Plaques awarded to Point Winners & Final Winners
1st Place Points – Receive free entry to all 2025 Wateree Open Events
2nd Points -$500
3rd Points – $350
4th Points – $250
5th Points – $200
6th Points – $150

Brett Collins & Daniel Cook win Wateree with 5 bass weighing 20.60 lbs with a BF at 5.80 lbs!

Jeff Robinson & Cole Jackson took 2nd with a limit weighing 18.32 lbs!

Scott Floyd with a 4.91 lb bass!

TeamBFWeightWinningsPoints
Brett Collins & Daniel Cook5.8020.60$700.00110
Cole Jackson & Jeff Robinson4.1518.32$175.00109
Ray Dowey & Chanon Dowey3.6313.06108
Jonathan Dailey & Dylan Locklear3.5711.60107
Butch Williams & Sonny Beam2.758.67106
Darrell Fenton3.976.95105
Robert Jackson & Curtis Jackson0.006.47104
Paul Wells & Craig Haven3.305.84103
Steven Walker & Paul Galloway0.005.81102
Scott Floyd4.914.91101
Chad Gainey & Mack Kitchens0.000.0091
2024 Wateree Open Points$100.00
2024 Wateree Open Final$125.00



Drew Gill Wins Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Brian Carter
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Drew Gill Wins Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Illinois Pro Catches 26-Pound, 3-Ounce Final Day Limit to Vault to Top of Leaderboard and Earn $80,000 First Place Prize

BROOKELAND, Texas (Feb. 11, 2024) – Drew Gill has been on a heater for a while, and it was only a matter of time before the LiveScope whizz closed out a high-level win. Today, after sacking up 26 pounds, 3 ounces on Championship Sunday, Gill took home the title at Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE on Sam Rayburn Reservoir with a 69-6 total.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 3 Afternoon Highlights
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 3 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Gill topped fellow electronics master Jake Lawrence (second, 67-15), and had enough to overcome local Marshall Hughes’ (third, 67-4) mega-bag on Day 2, which put him more than 6 pounds ahead of the pack initially. For the win, Gill pocketed $80,000, and locked up his 2025 REDCREST qualification early.

Though still a fledgling circuit, Gill is now the youngest to win an Invitationals event, setting the mark to beat at 21 years, 8 months. Historically speaking, when you factor in FLW Tour stats, Gill slots in between Stetson Blaylock’s win at Lake Norman in 2009 (21 years, 7 months) and Jacob Wheeler’s 2012 Forrest Wood Cup title (21 years, 10 months).

The consensus favorite for Fishing Clash Angler of the Year in the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Gill has started the season about as good as you can. Just last week, he finished third in the Bass Pro Tour season opener on Toledo Bend, and, for good measure, the 21-year-old also finished 19th in the Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship with partner Evan Fields back in January.

Nothing is a really a long time coming when you’re 21, but getting over the hump for the W was a big deal for Gill. 

“Any year you can do consistently well and have a lot of Top 10s is a win in itself,” said Gill. “Goal No. 1 every year is always Angler of the Year. Goal No. 1 is not to win an event. However, that is a very close goal No. 2, and to be able to accomplish that in the first event of the Invitationals season after having a third at Toledo last week, I could not be more stoked for how fishing is going right now.”

Love it or hate it, any list of the best anglers with forward-facing sonar has Gill on it, and he rode his signature strength to victory this week. Seeming to always find enough fish for a quality bag (and to trigger enough fish to bite), he stayed ahead of a lot of other anglers trying to do similar things.

A big part of that was recognizing that he needed to leave winter behind and get closer to the bank. Luckily, that might be where his LiveScope skills shine the most – when it comes to shallow ‘Scoping, Gill is near or at the top of the list.
 
“The first day of the tournament, I was trying to replicate what I found in practice,” he explained. “I was catching them at the fronts of main-lake pockets and drains – the very main lake. I noticed they were going down and eating my Damiki (rig) off the bottom, and I didn’t think that was going to work all week.

“Day 2, I was throwing a Damiki and a Neko, and fishing more drains than the fronts of creeks,” Gill added. “Today, I was fishing midway back of just about every pocket I fished. These were short main-lake pockets and not big main creeks; those were unmanageable and there weren’t enough fish for me to fish a major creek. If five fish roll up into an area that’s a mile long, I’m not going to find them. If they roll up into a place that’s 400 yards long, your odds of running into those five big ones is pretty high.”

For his jighead minnow, Gill used a 3/16-ounce head and a 4-inch bait. For his Neko, he used a 6-inch Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrel Worm, a 1/8-ounce weight and a No. 1 Roboworm Rebarb Hook.

On the last two days, when Gill honed his approach, he was fishing specifically for bass that were low in the water column and not too far from classic later-winter and prespawn things.

“I was fishing some transition areas, basically – places that were adjacent to a contour or a drain, and I had to have some sort of cover in conjunction with that that would lead them along an edge,” Gill said. “Something that would lead them swimming one direction or another and keep them on a path that I could predict. I was running edges of grass, edges of rock, edges where sand dropped off a couple feet; places where bass should travel along, and the few good ones I was around, I could run right into them.

“Almost every big one I caught this week ate it off the bottom,” he said. “I was in about 7 to 14 feet of water most of them time, and generally they would be 2 or 3 feet above the bottom. Not suspended, but hovering almost, like a maglev train. They’d follow it down … ‘bonk, zzzzzzzzz.’”

The last few years have seen a lot of young anglers excel on big stages. Some of it is collegiate fishing, some of it is skill with electronics, some of it is networking. A lot of it is time on the water with forward-facing sonar, which may have taught us more about bass behavior than every magazine ever printed. Gill is the perfect storm, a passionate young angler who has learned as much about bass in the last few years as many will learn in a lifetime.

“When you spend as many hours watching fish behave in their natural environment as I have, you’re destined to learn a lot about fish behavior, and you’re going to be really good at reading their movements,” said Gill.  “I’ve spent a lot of time watching fish, not listening to fishermen or the logic built up in bass fishing lore. I’ve just gone out and watched fish behave, around their food, with the cover they relate to, with the contours they use. When you understand that much about fish, they become pretty predictable.”

The top 30 pros at the Tackle Warehouse Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

1st          Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 15 bass, 69-6, $80,000
2nd:       Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., 15 bass, 67-15, $50,000
3rd:       Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 15 bass, 67-4, $20,000
4th:        Cal Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 65-5, $18,000
5th:        Keith Poche, Cecil, Ala., 15 bass, 64-15, $17,000
6th:        Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 15 bass, 62-7, $17,000
7th:        Mark Condron, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 15 bass, 59-3, $15,000
8th:        Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 15 bass, 58-9, $14,000
9th:        Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., 15 bass, 58-0, $13,000
10th:     Ramie Colson, Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 58-0, $12,000
11th:     Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, 15 bass, 57-7, $10,000
12th:     Jordan Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., 15 bass, 54-13, $10,000
13th:     Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, 15 bass, 54-9, $10,000
14th:     Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 54-8, $10,000
15th:     Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, 15 bass, 53-13, $10,000
16th:     Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-12, $10,000
17th:     Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 52-15, $10,000
18th:     Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colo., 15 bass, 52-10, $10,000
19th:     Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., 15 bass, 52-7, $10,000
20th:     Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 15 bass, 51-7, $10,000
21st:      Cole Breeden, Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 51-3, $10,000
22nd:    Terry Fisher, Decatur, Ala., 15 bass, 51-3, $10,000
23rd:     Britt Myers, Jr., Lake Wylie, S.C., 15 bass, 50-4, $10,000
24th:     Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, 15 bass, 50-2, $10,000
25th:     Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 48-7, $10,000
26th:     Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 15 bass, 48-1, $10,000
27th:     Rick Harris, Kingsland, Texas, 15 bass, 47-14, $10,000
28th:     Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 15 bass, 47-9, $10,000
29th:     Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 46-10, $10,000
30th:     Clayton Batts, Butler, Ga., 15 bass, 45-10, $10,000

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

Overall, there were 150 bass weighing 535 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the final 30 pros Sunday. All 30 final day competitors weighed in a five-bass limit.

The three-day tournament, hosted by the Jasper County Development District, featured a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000. The next Tackle Warehouse Invitational event will take place March 1-3 at the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 2 on West Point Lake in LaGrange, Georgia.

In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advanced to the final round on Championship Sunday. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir was be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and now receives an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.

Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 5 on CBS Sports Network.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.



Bassmaster Elite Angler Brandon Card Talks Advantage Bait Spinner Bait

Brian Carter
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Bassmaster Elite Angler Brandon Card Talks Advantage Bait Spinner Bait

The Advantage Spinnerbait is built with the highest quality components and unmatched functionality in the industry. The blades are designed with a special EFT (Extreme Flash Technology), which produces a holographic pattern of light that attracts bass and other game fish from great distances. Built around a durable extra-tough stainless steel Mustang wire, the Advantage Spinnerbait features a hand-painted, realistic head with 3D Eyes, double flared gills, 90-strand silicone hubbed skirt with built-in necktie trailers, ball bearing swivel, and a razor-sharp Mustad Ultra-Point black nickel hook. Offered in 7 fish-catching colors, the Advantage Spinnerbait is built to out-perform, out-last, and out-catch the competition – Making it truly the choice of top tournament anglers.

Advantage Baits



Local Pro Marshall Hughes Catches 38-7 To Seize the Lead at Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Brian Carter
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Local Pro Marshall Hughes Catches 38-7 To Seize the Lead at Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Hemphill, Texas Rookie Catches Fourth Largest Limit on Sam Rayburn in MLF History to Bring 6-Pound, 11-Ounce Lead into Final Day of Competition

BROOKELAND, Texas (Feb. 10, 2024) – Day 2 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was an absolute fireworks show. New York pro Alec Morrison and Tennessee’s Cole Breeden both caught 11-pounders, and nine pros topped 20 pounds. Headlining it all, local rookie Marshall Hughes of Hemphill, Texas, blitzed 38 pounds, 7 ounces to tally up 50-14 and rocket into the lead. Of course, Hughes had an 11-pounder as well (the third of the day) and staked himself a little more than a 6-pound cushion after only scratching up 12-7 on Day 1.

Hughes has a sterling record on Sam Rayburn and should certainly be riding high, but he’s not safe yet. Behind him are some of the best in the game with forward-facing sonar. Hughes might have the edge on local knowledge, but Day 3 of the event could be a shootout for the ages.

The three-day tournament, hosted by the Jasper County Development District, featured a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025. The field is now trimmed to 30, and the winner will be determined tomorrow by heaviest three-day cumulative weight.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 2 Afternoon Highlights
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 2 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Midway through the day, it looked like one of the storylines would be a lack of big bags. Usually, by noon of any Rayburn event, somebody has cracked a bag in the upper 20s or 30s, and they might be headed back to the dock to wait for the scales to open. Then, things started clicking for Hughes.

“I had like 14 pounds at like 11 or something; I was kind of down in the dumps with 14 pounds that late in the day,” said Hughes. “I started running around, running some new stuff. I was trying what I did yesterday, and it wasn’t working. I ran up to a hard spot, a shallower hard spot, and got bit and caught one — it was a 5-pounder, my small one.”

That was the only clue he needed. 

“So, I started running that stuff, and I pulled up on one, and they had just moved up and started feeding,” he said. “It was just balls to the walls. I’ve never seen what I saw today, ever.”

Fishing in 12 to 15 feet with a Bill Lewis Scope-Stik and a 5/8-ounce Buckeye Mop Jig with a Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog, Hughes watched most of the fish bite on forward-facing sonar.

“I rolled in, and they were there feeding,” he said. “It wasn’t like they were schooled up together. It was one there, one here. The ones that were higher up came on the jerkbait. The water is dingy right now; it’s hard for them to see it.”

Fishing 60 or 70 tournaments a year, Hughes is a full-time fisherman who hasn’t gone national – yet. Now, he’s looking to start his rookie year with a win. All he needs to do is have another good day on a lake he calls home.

“This afternoon, I just went out and started plucking around,” he said. “I love to catch ‘em on a ‘trap’ — I feel like that’s my forte — but they ain’t eatin’ a ‘trap’ now, so they’re putting me elsewhere. I need to just go fishing like I did today.”

The top 30 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:

1st:        Marshall Hughes, Hemphill, Texas, 10 bass, 50-14
2nd:       Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., 10 bass, 44-3
3rd:       Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., 10 bass, 43-9
4th:        Cal Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 43-9
5th:        Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 43-3
6th:        Keith Poche, Cecil, Ala., 10 bass, 41-14
7th:        Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, 10 bass, 41-5
8th:        Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., 10 bass, 41-1
9th:        Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., 10 bass, 38-8
10th:     Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 10 bass, 38-6
11th:     Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, 10 bass, 38-6
12th:     Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 10 bass, 37-11
13th:     Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, 10 bass, 37-3
14th:     Cole Breeden, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-12
15th:     Britt Myers, Jr., Lake Wylie, S.C., 10 bass, 36-4
16th:     Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 10 bass, 35-12
17th:     Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 35-8
18th:     Clayton Batts, Butler, Ga., 10 bass, 35-5
19th:     Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-1
20th:     Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, 10 bass, 34-8
21st:      Ramie Colson, Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 34-2
22nd:    Jordan Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 34-1
23rd:     Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 33-15
24th:     Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 10 bass, 33-11
25th:     Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colo., 10 bass, 33-10
26th:     Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 33-7
27th:     Terry Fisher, Decatur, Ala., 10 bass, 32-13
28th:     Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 10 bass, 32-8
29th:     Mark Condron, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-6
30th:     Rick Harris, Kingsland, Texas, 10 bass, 31-10

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

Pro Cole Breeden of Lebanon, Tennessee, earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award Saturday with a largemouth bass that weighed in at 11 pounds, 12 ounces.

Overall, there were 693 bass weighing 1,914 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 146 pros Saturday. The catch included 131 five-bass limits.

Historically speaking, it’s basically impossible to know if this weigh-in featured a record-breaking number of 11-pounders. It likely didn’t overall, but based on our records, it’s the first time in the long history of MLF competition on Sam Rayburn that multiple fish over 11 pounds have hit the scales in the same day, much less three of them. Similarly, Hughes’ bag is a record for the Invitationals circuit and the fourth-biggest ever on Sam Rayburn in MLF competition. It doesn’t quite crack the Top 10 heaviest limits of all-time, though – 10th in that case belongs to Terry Bolton with 38-15 that he caught in 2008 on Falcon Lake. Breeden’s 11-12 Berkley Big Bass tied for the third-biggest ever weighed during MLF competition on Rayburn.

In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight now advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.

The final 30 anglers will launch at 7 a.m. CT each day from the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 Sam Rayburn Parkway in Brookeland. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will also be held at the pavilion and will begin at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live each day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 5 on CBS Sports Network.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.



Missouri’s Brock Reinkemeyer Leads Day 1 at Tackle Warehouse Invitational at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Brian Carter
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Missouri’s Brock Reinkemeyer Leads Day 1 at Tackle Warehouse Invitational at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Second-Year Pro Takes 1-Pound, 1-Ounce Lead into Second Day of Competition Saturday

BROOKELAND, Texas (Feb. 9, 2024) – They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the largemouth bass at Sam Rayburn Reservoir certainly fit the bill, Friday. After a 1½-hour fog delay this morning, the first Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Invitational event of the season kicked off at Sam Rayburn and the fishery showcased why it is widely known as one of the best in the country. A total of 11 pros crossed the 20-pound barrier, and 13 pounds went all the way down to 53rd place.

Pro Brock Reinkemeyer of Warsaw, Missouri, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Friday weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces, to take the early lead on Day 1 of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Reinkemeyer now holds a 1-pound, 1-ounce lead over pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, who caught five bass weighing 23-6 to end the day in second. Invitationals newcomer Brody Campbell of Oxford, Ohio, sits just one ounce behind Hatfield in third with 23-5.

The full field of 150 anglers will conclude the two-day opening round on Saturday, with only the top 30 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advancing to Championship Sunday. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Jasper County Development District, features a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025.

Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 Afternoon Highlights
Link to Video of Fish-Catch Highlights of Day 1 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Long established as one to watch around the Ozarks, Reinkemeyer showed during his rookie season on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals last year that he’s no slouch nationally, as well. Today, he relied on a few areas and a few key bites.

“I caught one big one during practice doing off-the-wall, kind of deep stuff, and it paid off twice today,” said Reinkemeyer. “I just kind of moseyed down a stretch and just plucked two big ones off.

“It was kind of like a little drop,” he said of his area. “I scanned the hell out of this flat, and they weren’t up on top of it. So, I just went down the edges, and I found one edge where there are some shad and got lucky with two big ones.”

Of course, you can’t catch 24 pounds and change without some skill, and it’s not like Reinkemeyer is oblivious out there. While much of the field had no problem catching keepers but struggled at times to find quality bites, Reinkemeyer seems to have a beat on some big ones.

“I’ve got three spots where I’m just kind of milking ‘em,” he said. “Stumps, hard bottom — I’m fishing anywhere from 12 to 24, just kind of zig-zagging on the edges.

“I don’t feel like there are a lot of fish, but if I get a bite, it’s a good one,” he added. “I probably caught like 10 keepers today, but I was also bypassing small ones that are suspended way up. I’ve been catching them all week, and they’re all small. The bigger ones are closer to the bottom.”

One key for Reinkemeyer was staying away from the grass, which Rayburn is loaded with these days.

“I caught one out there right at 7 in practice, and this sucker was like a football,” he recalled. “And I’m like, ‘they ain’t in that grass.’ I fished two days in the grass, and Brad [Jelinek] was catching them in the grass, but nothing big. I couldn’t even catch a keeper in the grass.”

Plenty of other pros caught fish in the grass today, while others targeted hard structure or suspending fish. So, Reinkemeyer isn’t on an island from a pattern perspective. Still, he does seem to be fishing away from the pressure.

“I had them all to myself,” he said. “At my starting spot there was one other guy there; he moseyed around for two seconds and left. I’m all alone while everybody else is fishing in a crowd in the grass. Hopefully it’s the same thing tomorrow.”

The top 20 pros after Day 1 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:

1st:        Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., five bass, 24-7
2nd:       Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., five bass, 23-6
3rd:       Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 23-5
4th:        Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 22-12
5th:        Clayton Batts, Butler, Ga., five bass, 22-1
6th:        Cal Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 21-7
7th:        Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 21-5
8th:        Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 21-3
9th:        Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., five bass, 21-1
10th:     Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., five bass, 20-9
11th:     Terry Fisher, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 20-5
12th:     Ramie Colson, Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 19-11
12th:     Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., five bass, 19-11
14th:     Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., five bass, 18-10
15th:     Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-9
16th:     Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, five bass, 18-8
17th:     Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 18-6
18th:     Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colo., five bass, 17-14
19th:     Brad Jelinek, Lincoln, Mo., five bass, 17-13
20th:     Chris Groh, Spring Grove, Ill., five bass, 17-7

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

Hatfield earned Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award with a largemouth bass that weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

Overall, there were 682 bass weighing 1,787 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 149 pros Friday. The catch included 120 five-bass limits.

In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.

Anglers will launch at 7 a.m. CT each day from the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 Sam Rayburn Parkway in Brookeland. Weigh-ins will also be held at the pavilion and will begin at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live each day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 5 on CBS Sports Network.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.



Key adjustment guides Rasmussen to victory at B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier on Lake Eufaula

Brian Carter
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Key adjustment guides Rasmussen to victory at B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier on Lake Eufaula

Wisconsin’s Adam Rasmussen has won the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier at Lake Eufaula presented by Lowrance with a three-day total of 62 pounds, 5 ounces.

Photo by Tommy Sendek/B.A.S.S.

February 9, 2024

Key adjustment guides Rasmussen to victory at B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier on Lake Eufaula

EUFAULA, Ala. — After some anxious moments in the morning hours, Adam Rasmussen caught a limit weighing 18 pounds, 13 ounces Friday to win the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier at Lake Eufaula presented by Lowrance with a three-day total of 62-5.

Along with the trophy, Rasmussen earned $9,728 and a berth in the 2024 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship.

“Obviously this is what we all strive to do in this sport. We want to win,” he said. “So, you put your head down and work as hard as you can and try to do it every time. There’s a lot of good anglers that fish this and I am humbled to win it on a lake that hasn’t been very nice to me in the past.”

Alabama’s Kenneth Grover II finished second with a three-day total of 51-12 while Brock Belik finished third with 50-15.

Anglers were welcomed to Lake Eufaula by a major rain storm, which dirtied up a lot of the lake at the beginning of the week. Rasmussen made a concerted effort to scan almost the entirety of practice in cleaner water, trying to find as many sweet spots as possible so he didn’t run out of areas to fish in the tournament.

“I looked for as much stuff as I could. I probably laid down 400 icons (on my graph),” said Rasmussen, who notched an Opens victory on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake in 2023. “I always seem to run out of stuff halfway through Day 2. I pretty much had the attitude that I was going to find as much as I possibly could so I didn’t run out. And I didn’t. There’s still more that I didn’t even get to.”

Opening the tournament in second with 19-1, Rasmussen anchored a 24-7 Day 2 bag with a 7-9 largemouth, which was the Big Bass of the Tournament, and took an impressive lead into the final day.

The noted Wisconsin walleye guide turned bass pro caught the majority of his weight the first two days by targeting hard-bottom staging areas outside of spawning pockets. Those bass were located anywhere from 5 to 15 feet of water, and he slowly dragged a 1/2-ounce brown jig paired with a green pumpkin Rapala CrushCity Cleanup Craw to generate bites.

“You had to keep contact with the bottom the whole time and fish it super slow,” he said.

On the final day, Rasmussen started in his primary area, only to find it did not reload with more bass. He caught one keeper from the area, but did not get another bite until he moved to the main lake around 10 a.m. There, he found a school of bass in 15 to 18 feet of water and dragged a 3/4-ounce jig with the Cleanup Craw.

“I stumbled on a school of bass that were up on a shellbar,” Rasmussen said. “I had 17 pounds in six casts. At the end of the day I pulled up on another shellbar and caught a 4-pounder. I felt OK after that.”

After barely sneaking into the Day 3 cut with bags of 12-9 and 13-15, Grover caught the biggest bag of the tournament on the final day — a 25-4 limit that was anchored by a 7-7 largemouth. Most of that bag was caught during the first two hours using a 1/2-ounce football jig with a Yamamoto Double-Tail Grub.

“Last night, I got to thinking about that particular area. It is the perfect wintertime spot. It is a lake ledge, but it has a really sharp drop at the bottom,” Grover said. “I just knew there were some better fish and if I got there first thing in the morning I would have a chance at catching a big bag. The water was cleaning up every day.”

Grover had that area, as well as his starting area on Day 1, to himself. Not only were there bass, but there were plenty of baitfish as well as crappie and other species. Slowing way down was the key to generating strikes.

“It was definitely a much better bite first thing in the morning. I would bring the jig over the ledge break and shake my rod and let the bait just sit there,” he explained. “It seemed like the longer I would do that, one would finally come pick it up. I think they were cruising along the ledge and when one came across my bait, they would go ahead and eat it.”

Belik caught 13-2 on Day 1 before adding bags of 18-2 and 19-11 on the final two days. The Nebraska angler also benefited from finding an offshore school of bass. On the final day, he caught 25 total fish on a “mega-school” located in 17 to 24 feet of water on a creek channel swing ledge leading into a spawning pocket.

A 3/8-ounce Woo Tungsten shaky head with a Zoom Trick Worm was his best producing bait.

“I started there today and it happened pretty quick. By 10 o’clock I had that 19 pounds,” Belik said. “They were loaded up there. It was a ledge with a bunch of standing timber and they were setting up right on the ledge. I could tell where they were setting up on LiveScope. I would cast right to them, let that shaky head sit there and shake the worm until they would eat it.”

Brian Gibler of Clarksville, Tenn., won the nonboater division with a three-day total of 21-8. Mississippi’s David Godwin finished second with 19-13 and Georgia’s Daniel Wilson Jr. finished third with 18-8. Kentucky’s Ron Whittaker claimed the Big Bass of the Tournament among nonboaters with a 6-2 largemouth he caught on Day 1.

The Eufaula-Barbour County Chamber of Commerce hosted this week’s event.

2024 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier at Lake Eufaula presented by Lowrance 2/7-2/9
Lake Eufaula, Eufaula  AL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3

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

1.  Adam Rasmussen         Sturgeon Bay, WI        15  62-05    0   $9,728.00
  Day 1: 5   19-01     Day 2: 5   24-07     Day 3: 5   18-13   
2.  Kenneth Grover II      Decatur, AL             15  51-12    0   $4,725.00
  Day 1: 5   12-09     Day 2: 5   13-15     Day 3: 5   25-04   
3.  Brock Belik            Orchard, NE             15  50-15    0   $3,335.00
  Day 1: 5   13-02     Day 2: 5   18-02     Day 3: 5   19-11   
4.  Jess Beihoffer         Soddy Daisy, TN         15  50-11    0   $2,780.00
  Day 1: 5   17-15     Day 2: 5   15-07     Day 3: 5   17-05   
5.  Shaine Campbell        Brookeland, TX          15  48-02    0   $2,918.00
  Day 1: 5   15-10     Day 2: 5   20-04     Day 3: 5   12-04   
6.  Allan Glasgow          Foley, AL               13  47-07    0   $2,223.00
  Day 1: 5   18-07     Day 2: 3   14-05     Day 3: 5   14-11   
7.  Leslie Brandenburg     Springfield, MO         15  47-02    0   $2,085.00
  Day 1: 5   15-12     Day 2: 5   11-06     Day 3: 5   20-00   
8.  Dave Turner            Citrus Springs, FL      15  46-00    0   $1,946.00
  Day 1: 5   17-13     Day 2: 5   15-01     Day 3: 5   13-02   
9.  Jamie Bruce            Kenora Ontario CANADA   14  45-04    0   $1,530.00
  Day 1: 5   20-00     Day 2: 4   09-15     Day 3: 5   15-05   
10. Sam Hanggi             Knoxville, TN           14  44-11    0   $1,251.00
  Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   15-06     Day 3: 4   14-10   
11. Michael Smith          Laurel Hill, AL         15  44-02    0   $1,112.00
  Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   17-07     Day 3: 5   12-15   
12. Carson Orellana        Mooresville, NC         14  43-12    0     $975.00
  Day 1: 5   15-08     Day 2: 5   14-09     Day 3: 4   13-11   
13. Carson Maddux          Auburn, AL              15  43-02    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   14-01     Day 2: 5   12-11     Day 3: 5   16-06   
14. Danny McGarry          Newcastle CANADA        15  41-10    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   13-01     Day 2: 5   13-10     Day 3: 5   14-15   
15. Wyatt Frankens         Corrigan , TX           15  40-09    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   14-14     Day 2: 5   11-09     Day 3: 5   14-02   
16. Jeffery Lawson         Ellisville, MS          12  36-04    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   15-04     Day 3: 2   05-11   
17. Travis Lugar           North Chesterfield, VA  11  33-14    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   16-03     Day 2: 4   12-00     Day 3: 2   05-11   
18. Colby Robertson        Summerfield, FL         12  32-12    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   16-10     Day 2: 5   09-13     Day 3: 2   06-05   
19. Mike Shears            Powhatan, VA            12  32-10    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   13-14     Day 2: 5   12-14     Day 3: 2   05-14   
20. Trey Nanney III        Rocky Mount, NC         10  32-09    0     $764.00
  Day 1: 5   15-07     Day 2: 4   12-12     Day 3: 1   04-06   
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        43       394      1026-15
 2        33       326       875-09
 3        13        82       271-01
———————————-
          89       802      2173-09
 

2024 Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier at Lake Eufaula presented by Lowrance 2/7-2/9
Lake Eufaula, Eufaula  AL.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 3

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

1.  Brian Gibler           Clarksville, TN          9  21-08    0   $3,500.00
  Day 1: 3   07-13     Day 2: 3   07-07     Day 3: 3   06-04   
2.  David Godwin           Lucedale, MS             7  19-13    0   $2,000.00
  Day 1: 1   02-06     Day 2: 3   09-13     Day 3: 3   07-10   
3.  Daniel Wilson Jr       Blackshear, GA           7  18-08    0   $1,000.00
  Day 1: 3   08-01     Day 2: 3   08-15     Day 3: 1   01-08   
4.  Blake Campbell         Bremen, AL               8  17-10    0     $926.00
  Day 1: 3   05-10     Day 2: 3   05-05     Day 3: 2   06-11   
5.  Richard White          Alexander City, AL       7  17-08    0     $685.00
  Day 1: 2   03-15     Day 2: 3   05-13     Day 3: 2   07-12   
6.  Jonathan Shores        Charles City, VA         9  17-05    0     $575.00
  Day 1: 3   06-01     Day 2: 3   05-07     Day 3: 3   05-13   
7.  Anthony Paschall       Cumberland, VA           7  17-04    0     $514.00
  Day 1: 3   07-08     Day 2: 1   02-04     Day 3: 3   07-08   
8.  Brian Adams            Clayton, NC              6  17-02    0     $480.00
  Day 1: 2   04-08     Day 2: 3   08-13     Day 3: 1   03-13   
9.  Simon Willett          Altamonte Springs, FL    6  16-05    0     $450.00
  Day 1: 2   06-10     Day 2: 1   02-01     Day 3: 3   07-10   
10. Bill Scharton          Hixson, TN               7  15-15    0     $400.00
  Day 1: 2   07-15     Day 2: 2   02-13     Day 3: 3   05-03   
11. Cova Cornett           Ashland , KY             7  15-11    0     $400.00
  Day 1: 2   03-09     Day 2: 3   07-14     Day 3: 2   04-04   
12. John Taylor Jr         Charleston, WV           7  15-05    0     $350.00
  Day 1: 2   03-00     Day 2: 3   08-00     Day 3: 2   04-05   
13. Mathew Lasky           Guyton, GA               5  14-04    0     $300.00
  Day 1: 3   10-11     Day 2: 1   01-14     Day 3: 1   01-11   
14. Larry Carter           Lucedale, MS             5  13-04    0     $300.00
  Day 1: 3   09-00     Day 2: 2   04-04     Day 3: 0   00-00   
15. Blake Rogers           Florence, SC             4  13-03    0     $250.00
  Day 1: 2   08-03     Day 2: 1   02-00     Day 3: 1   03-00   
16. Donny Davis            Waterloo, AL             6  11-14    0     $250.00
  Day 1: 3   06-09     Day 2: 3   05-05     Day 3: 0   00-00   
17. Nicholas Glenn         Hamilton, AL             4  11-00    0     $250.00
  Day 1: 1   02-06     Day 2: 3   08-10     Day 3: 0   00-00   
18. Joseph Sanderson       Channahon, IL            4  10-15    0     $250.00
  Day 1: 1   01-15     Day 2: 3   09-00     Day 3: 0   00-00   
19. James McCarty          Summerville, SC          4  09-06    0     $250.00
  Day 1: 1   03-01     Day 2: 3   06-05     Day 3: 0   00-00   
20. Logan Hendrick         Cherryville, NC          4  08-12    0     $250.00
  Day 1: 1   01-11     Day 2: 3   07-01     Day 3: 0   00-00   
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        11        98       235-09
 2        16        96       228-10
 3         6        30        73-00
———————————-
          33       224       537-03
 



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