“It will be a really good tournament. Everyone will be pretty spread out,” said Trim, who fishes the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN. “We are hitting this thing perfectly. It is going to be a slugfest.”
Tournament days are scheduled for May 8-10, with daily takeoffs scheduled for 7 a.m. CT at Copeland Park. Competitors will return to the park for weigh-ins each day at 3 p.m. The Top 40 competitors after Day 2 will advance to the final day, and the top 10% will qualify for the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Lowrance, scheduled for Nov. 6-8 on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
Pools 7, 8 and 9 of the Upper Mississippi River have been a staple on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail for many years now, but those events have usually happened in the mid- to late summer months. This time, anglers will enjoy spring fever, and the bass will likely be in a prespawn or spawning mode.
“Those first weeks of May can be a really good spawning time if you can hit the moon phase right, which we are going to hit perfectly,” said Trim, who holds multiple BFL titles on the river. “The last day of practice is a new moon. The smallmouth for sure will be pushing up, and there will be certain backwaters where the largemouth will push up.”
Grass is usually a large part of the equation, but Trim said most of the new grass for the year will not be growing up yet.
“Some of the backwaters where there isn’t a lot of current and places like Lake Onalaska will have a lot of grass,” he said. “A lot of the coontail and milfoil will still be around from last year in the bays and backwater areas unless we get extremely high water. But as far as new growth, the eelgrass and things like that, I don’t expect any of that to come into play.”
Trim believes any section of the river could produce the winning bag of bass. In his mind, the smallmouth will be close to their spawning grounds, if not spawning already, when anglers get there.
“I think it will be won fishing beds for spawning smallmouth, but I wouldn’t rule out the prespawn and staging bite either,” Trim said. “There have only been one or two years where I have been able to visually see the fish without some sort of electronics. I’m using Humminbird 360 to find the beds and then Garmin LiveScope to watch the reaction to my bait.”
Anglers will be able to target main-river wing dams, points, points of islands, current breaks and eddies for smallmouth still in the prespawn.
“When you find them, it is a lot of fun. You can catch them every single cast for hours,” Trim said. “They get into these huge schools and gorge themselves before the spawn.”
The largemouth, meanwhile, tend to spawn later than the smallmouth and will be in a prespawn mode and will be found in backwater areas.
“They will be one or two stops away from their spawning areas,” Trim said. “The Black River will probably be a big player for largemouth. There’s not a lot of flow there. No matter how high the water gets, that will have the same flow. They will sit in the current breaks on the backside of the points and island heads close to where they will spawn.
“If it gets warm, as shallow as you can get your boat is where you can catch them.”
Expect Senkos, jerkbaits, swim jigs and Carolina rigs all to play in this event, as well as drop shots and Ned rigs.
Our updated May outlook calls for warmer-than-average conditions across much of the northern tier and Eastern U.S.
South Texas could see temperatures most above average. Areas from Washington state to Florida and Maine also have a chance of seeing above-average temperatures, according to the latest outlook released Wednesday by The Weather Company and Atmospheric G2.
Parts of the West, meanwhile, could see below-average temperatures. Locations from southern Oregon into Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico could see near-average or slightly below-average temperatures.
Virginia pro leads Group B by 3 pounds, 9 ounces after Day 1, Group A to wrap up two-day Qualifying Round Thursday
EUFAULA, Okla. (May 1, 2024) – A Lake Eufaula that had been stingy on Day 1 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour MillerTech Stage Four Presented by REDCON1 proved a bit more fruitful when Group B took to the water Wednesday for its opening day Qualifying Round. Rookie pro Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Virginia, led the charge, stacking 13 scorable bass for 34 pounds, 15 ounces on SCORETRACKER®.
After spring thunderstorms caused the lake level to spike nearly 4 feet between the start of practice and the start of the event, it stabilized overnight, and the fish became more cooperative. Villa was one of three pros to top 30 pounds after no one hit that mark in Group A. He leads Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, by 3-9, with Randy Howell of Guntersville, Alabama, just 5 ounces back of Omori.
The six-day tournament, hosted by Vision Eufaula , showcases 79 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 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.
Villa’s near-35-pound outing didn’t unfold nearly as smoothly as it might seem. The Bass Pro Tour rookie arrived at his starting spot to find current roaring through the area, which made it difficult to fish.
He then made an adjustment and caught the bulk of his weight — nine scorable bass for 25-0 — in about a two-hour span before an equipment issue prevented him from running any new water. He spent the entirety of the third period only using his trolling motor.
“When I got to my first stop, there was a pile of current ripping through there,” Villa said. “Combine that with a little bit of wind, it kind of made it difficult for me. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise, because I knew that something had changed. I completely opened my mind up, because going into that, I thought I had one thing I was looking for, and it was completely not what I was looking for. And so, I was grateful that I was able to make the adjustment.”
Villa didn’t want to divulge too many details about his tactics, but said he used finesse techniques to catch most of his bass. He fished both shallow and offshore, with a few of his fish coming from a shad spawn bite.
The biggest key, he said, was simply finding areas “where there’s some life.” He compared the current state of Eufaula, with swaths of muddy water making portions of the 100,000-plus-acre reservoir unfishable, to Lake Okeechobee in that regard — except this week, those lifeless zones are constantly moving.
“They’re letting water loose now, and so that red mud is moving miles each day,” Villa said. “And when the wind blows with the current, it seems like it just flies out of there. I felt like I was on a tidal river when you got to certain areas.”
Once he made his adjustment, Villa generated bites in bunches. He supplemented his quantity with quality, boating a pair of 4-pounders. With catch numbers still fairly low across the field Wednesday — only 15 of 40 competitors caught at least five scorable bass — it looks like fooling fish of that caliber will be key. Eight of the Top 10 anglers in Group B landed at least one 4-pounder, and Villa caught two.
“It’s huge, because one quality female right now is worth three males,” he said. “And it’s not like we’re catching 30 scorables a day.”
While Villa felt good about making a successful adjustment, he’s concerned he’ll need to do so again when Group B returns to the water on Friday. In his words, “the one constant is change” on Eufaula this week.
Given his cushion of more than 18 pounds over the cut line, his hope is to catch five scorable bass early Friday, then use the rest of the day to explore new areas of the reservoir in preparation for the Knockout Round.
“I hope that I can do my job as a professional angler and put five fish in the boat,” Villa said. “I do feel like if I’m able to put some weight in the boat early, I owe it to myself to try some different stuff.”
The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day from competition Thursday, while the 39 anglers competing in Group A will wrap up their two-day Qualifying Round. Group B will finish their Qualifying Round on Friday.
The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on Lake Eufaula are:
1st: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 13 bass, 34-15 2nd: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 12 bass, 31-6 3rd: Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 31-1 4th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 10 bass, 26-9 5th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 23-3 6th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., eight bass, 19-13 7th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, seven bass, 19-2 8th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., seven bass, 18-11 9th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 16-14 10th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, six bass, 16-4 11th: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., eight bass, 15-0 12th: John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., six bass, 13-11 13th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 13-9 14th: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 12-7 15th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., five bass, 11-3 16th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., four bass, 10-0 17th: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., two bass, 9-3 18th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., four bass, 9-2 19th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., three bass, 8-12 20th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., four bass, 8-7
Bass Pro Shops pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after a 5-pound,9-ounce largemouth bit his wacky rig in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The 39 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.
Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each day from the Peter’s Point-Nichols Point Boat Ramp, located on Dabbs Road in Eufaula. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the boat ramp, 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.
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. CT. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Peter’s Point-Nichols Point for the MLF Watch Party and Kids Fishing Derby. 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. Additional fishing gear will be provided onsite for the fishing derby or kids can bring their own. 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 MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 features 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 features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 79 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.
It’s early, but Stage Four continues to look like it might shake up the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race in a major way. A day after points leader Jacob Wheeler got off to a slow start in Group A, both Jesse Wiggins and Michael Neal — who entered the event in the top five in the season-long standings — find themselves well outside the Top 10 in Group B. The battle to claim the $100,000 prize might look very different once competition concludes on Eufaula.
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.
Television coverage of the MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 Knockout Round will air as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 12 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Oct. 19. 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, 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.
Winning or Stinking It Up: Tournament Fishing Failures by Bruce Callis Jr
For 3 days we are out on the whacking those big bass, prefishing for an upcoming tournament. We have them dialed in and ready to win. We launch for the tournament and then stink up the place! What did we learn?
For some, nothing! But for those looking to get further and be the big stick in the tournament field, sometimes, it’s still nothing. Why is that? Sometimes its because we are determined it wasn’t us, it was the fish. We just weren’t in the right location. But let’s be real about the whole thing. It was us. We killed them in practice and we are determined to make it happen, doing exactly what we were doing. We didn’t take into account the weather, that bass move to follow baitfish or that we caught them on the exact same bait for 3 days in a row. We fished from the memory of what happened in practice and not in the moment of the new day.
So many times it happens and by the time we figure out what has happened, the day is over and we come in with a small bag. I’ve been there and it stinks. I’ve fished the what did not the what does work because we as anglers can be so stubborn!
We become determined to catch them on a certain type of bait or a certain style of fishing. I love to fish certain ways, which isn’t bad. That is my comfort zone. I love to pitch a Missile Baits Chunky D, a D Bomb or even a Baby Destroyer around cover. I also have come to love fishing a Missile Baits Ike’s Mini Flip with a Baby D Bomb or Mini Chunk around everything. And when the bite is off, I look to them for help. But switching gears while on the water is a hard decision.
What makes the difference between those who live in the top 10 every tournament and those who are either winning or at the bottom of the leader board? It is the ability to make those changes on the water in a timely manner. Most of the time its switching up quicker, not being stubborn to do what we want, but change to find what the bass want. Sometimes it can be a simple color change that triggers the bass into biting or changing from a flipping jig to a swimbait jig. Other times, its changing our mental approach.
Our mental approach is the biggest change we can make. Stop thinking they always do this or that, but as Forward Facing Sonar has shown us, the bass may be there, but just don’t react to our lure as presented. We can be around 5 pound bass, but because they aren’t biting our bait, we think they may have moved. In reality, they just don’t want what we are offering.
They won’t hit a bladed jig, but they will smash a 3/8 ounce double willow blade spinnerbait with a blue head and a white skirt. They won’t hit a SPRO Little John, but they crush a Fat John 60. They won’t hit my SPRO McStick hard jerkbait, but they are killing the soft plastic jerkbait. Decisions that are difficult to make, when to switch what we may love to do so we can do what we must do!
But that is one of the things that keeps us from becoming the next KVD or Rick Clunn. Knowing when to follow that little bird that says change. Change the color, the action, the size, or to a totally different bait. Remember to fish in the moment, not in the past. Fish what the fish are telling you. Listen carefully. Remember to have fun out there, that is why we got into bass fishing in the first place!
Next and last 2024 Tidewater Spring Qualifier is May 11th at the Chowan River out of Shoups! You only have to enter 1 Qualifier to be eligible to enter the Final!
To view the Tidewater Points, go to the Tidewater Division page and scroll all the way down!
Well, the weathermen pulled one over on the anglers fishing the fourth tournament of the CATT Tidewater Division on the Perquimans River today. The forecast was for 6-8 mph winds with 12 mph gusts and for the guys that ran out of the Perquimans River this morning I’m sure they would agree with me in saying they got that WRONG! Quite a few teams made or tried to run out of the river this morning in search of a winning bag of bass. Some were successful, some thought twice, and a couple chose not to return at all. The team of Brian Meadows and Michael Evans chose to stay and maximize their fishing time which turned out to be the right decision. The result was a winning limit of river largemouth weighing in at 20.93 lbs earning them a $2300 payday. Andrew George wrapped up a second-place finish fishing solo with 19.70 lbs. Randy Broughman continued his hot streak after winning the Elite 70 last weekend by partnering with Ryan Broughman to weigh in 19.67 lbs which included the big fish of the tournament weighing 7.52 lbs and seal the deal on a third-place finish. The following teams rounded out the money winners.
4th Tim Fallon/Richard Griswold 15.24 lbs
5th Mark Moretz/Ray Cobb 14.73 lbs
6th Al Biagioni/John Larock 14.45 lbs
7th Mike Layton/JA Williford 14.09lbs
8th Brian Cooper/Heath Parker 13.88 lbs
Our next tournament will be on the Chowan river out of Shoups landing on May 11th and is the last chance to qualify for our championship on June 1st.
May is here and the hot weather will settle in next week. The Shad spawn is in full swing and some bass are still spawning also. Night fishing will also be great this month.
Check out Smith Mountain Boat and Tackle Penhook for your boating needs https://www.smboats.com,
Visit Indian Point Marina as Captain Dewayne Lamb has moved locations. Go by and check his new place and there food truck that will be opening soon.
PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE ON CITATION SIZE FISH
Largemouth Bass/Smallmouth Bass The Bass are finishing up there lull of the spawn and should be out by the weekend. Last weekend of April produced some big fish chasing the shad around on the bank and off shore. Look for topwater action early mornings and late evenings around shad spewing areas. During the day target areas with small plastics and jigs as the bluegill heat up to spawn soon. Docks, Points, Rocks, and Stumps will be productive in many depths of water. Check out missile baits lineup of the magic worm for a great bait this time of year. Wolf packs of bass will be roaming the next few weeks following small schools of shad. At night crank baits and topwater will be the bait of choice for about the next month and a half. Listen for surface feeding fish near the bank.
Striped Bass Most of the stripers are cruising shallow areas in small groups looking for shad to feed on. Surface feeding can be seen at times this month also. Night time try casting plugs from Berkley and rapala along with topwaters. Some big fish can be caught in shallow water this month.
Crappie Some crappie are spawning now and can be found in shallow areas with structure. Use live minnows and jigs to target theses fish.
Tournaments Anglers 5-11 FOMNTT 5-18 Big Bass 5-2,3,4,5
ndiana pro weighs in 28 pounds, 1 ounce to lead after Day 1 for Group A – Group B begins competition Wednesday
EUFAULA, Okla. (April 30, 2024) – If anglers thought they knew what to expect when Lake Eufaula made its Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour debut at MillerTech Stage Four Presented by REDCON1 , Mother Nature made sure to rewrite the script.
In the days prior to Group A’s first day of the qualifying round, a series of spring thunderstorms – which included three separate tornado warnings – dumped rain on the Oklahoma impoundment. As a result, the lake level rose nearly 4 feet from the start of practice to the start of competition; the influx flooding a new swath of shallow cover and muddying large stretches of water.
The seismic shift produced a challenging bite for many of the 39 anglers who took to the water Tuesday. But pro Jason Vance of Battle Ground, Indiana , managed to boat 13 scorable bass totaling 28 pounds, 1 ounce. One of three anglers to top 20 pounds amid the changing conditions, the Indiana pro sits atop SCORETRACKER® in Group A, leading second-place angler Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pennsylvania, by 5-10.
The six-day tournament, hosted by Vision Eufaula , showcases 79 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 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.
The 39 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition Wednesday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will resume competition on Thursday.
Aside from losing his cell phone to the waters of Eufaula shortly after lines out, Tuesday unfolded better than Vance expected. The Bass Pro Tour rookie had sought out clean water during the third and final practice day and found a stretch where he got several bites in a row but struggled to hook up with the fish. When competition began, he figured out how to get those bass to commit.
“I got into some cleaner water, and that’s where I started getting bit, and that was on the last day of practice,” Vance said. “Was I expecting to catch (that total)? No, I wasn’t. But I just got bit really good there.”
One of a handful of anglers in the field with tournament experience on Eufaula, Vance first found his area during last year’s Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event on the fishery. He had to fish around some floating debris, but the water clarity generally held up well amid the lake’s rapid rise – not something that could be said for many areas.
“The water color varied where I was at,” the Bob’s Machine Shop pro said. “There were areas that were dirty and some that were cleaner. But it had a lot of sticks and twigs and stuff that had been blown into the area that I was in.”
Vance centered his strategy on finding the largest population of bass, targeting numbers rather than size. The 13 scorable bass he stacked on SCORETRACKER® were three more than the next-highest total. With bites not easy to come by – only 13 of 39 anglers caught at least five scorable fish – that strategy paid off.
“I’ve been trying to adapt from the five-fish limit to as many as you can catch, so I was just going for as many scorable as I could get,” he said. “That was my whole thought process – I just have to catch keepers.”
With more storms in the forecast, the conditions are sure to continue to change. But Vance is optimistic that his program can continue to produce. Not only did his water stay fairly stable, but he was also able to catch fish behind other anglers Tuesday.
Plus, Vance should have the luxury of getting some in-tournament practice time when Group A returns to the water on Thursday. Seeking his first Knockout Round appearance since joining the Bass Pro Tour, Vance hopes to catch about 15 pounds in the morning then use the rest of the day to explore new water.
“I’m going to power fish in the morning, and then once I feel like I’ve got probably at least 15 pounds, I’m going to lay off of them and go looking for some new areas,” he said. “That’s the strategy. Hopefully it works.”
The top 20 pros in Group A after Day 1 on Lake Eufaula are:
1st: Jason Vance, Battle Ground, Ind., 13 bass, 28-1 2nd: Dave Lefebre, Erie, Penn., 10 bass, 22-7 3rd: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., seven bass, 20-8 4th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., nine bass, 18-14 5th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, six bass, 17-10 6th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 14-15 7th: Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 13-10 8th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., six bass, 13-10 9th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 13-5 10th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., five bass, 12-5 11th: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., five bass, 11-5 12th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 10-12 13th: Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., three bass, 10-7 14th: Boyd Duckett, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 9-15 15th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., three bass, 9-7 16th: Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., five bass, 9-3 17th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., three bass, 9-1 18th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., four bass, 8-14 19th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., three bass, 8-11 20th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., three bass, 8-9
Overall, there were 140 scorable bass weighing 348 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 36 pros Thursday, which included one 6-pounder, five 5-pounders, nine 4-pounders and 16 3-pounders.
Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, earned Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award after a 6-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bit his drop-shot rig in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The 30 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.
Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each day from the Peter’s Point-Nichols Point Boat Ramp, located on Dabbs Road in Eufaula. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the boat ramp, 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.
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. CT. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Peter’s Point-Nichols Point for the MLF Watch Party and Kids Fishing Derby. 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. Additional fishing gear will be provided onsite for the fishing derby or kids can bring their own. 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 MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 features 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 features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 79 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 79 anglers taking on Lake Eufaula this week aren’t just battling for a first-place trophy and $100,000 payday. Valuable points in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race are also up for grabs. The winner of the season-long competition will take home an additional $100,000 check.
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.
Television coverage of the MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 Knockout Round will air as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 12 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Oct. 19. 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, 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.
