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Caleb McNeal and Taylor Luna Win 2019 Alabama Bass Trail Lake Jordan

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March 31, 2019

Caleb McNeal and Taylor Luna Win 2019 Alabama Bass Trail Lake Jordan

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March 30, 2019 – Wetumpka, Ala. – While Lake Jordan in Wetumpka, Alabama may be one of the smaller lakes on the Alabama Bass Trail schedule, it certainly seems to produce monster results.

While the bass population of the Coosa River has largely been put off by a variety of conditions; high water, low water and up and down temperatures, that lull seemed to change on Saturday as the past week of stable weather seemed to have a positive effect on Lake Jordan. The evidence showed in the results of the second event of the ABT Southern Division’s 2019 schedule.

While events have been won here with higher weights in the past, the quality of limits brought to the scales were high. None tipped the ABT scales more so than the winners of the event, Caleb McNeal and Taylor Luna, who weighed 22.06 and took home the $10,000 winner’s purse.

The pair said that they benefitted by drawing out as the first boat to take off, giving them the first pick of fishing locations. “When we got the text saying we were boat number one, we felt like this could happen,” they said. “We were able to get upriver and pick our starting spot, and everything worked out from there.”

They said the stopped just short of the am on an offshore structure spot, and filled their limit fairly early with a football jig and a pair of swimbaits. “We caught our limit at 10:00, and culled up to our final weight by 11:30,” they said. “We caught them on 3/4-ounce Football jigs and Big Bite Baits BB Kicker and Basstrix swimbaits on homemade 3/4-ounce jigheads.”

The team seemed very happy with the outcome. “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to have this kind of quality win,” they said. “To beat a field this size, with this level of anglers means a lot to us.”

No stranger to being at the top of the leaderboard, Chris Rutland and Coby Carden finished the day in second place with 20.48 pounds. The pair said that they too ran upriver, and fished both ends of the lake. “We fished dam to dam with a football jig and caught four spotted bass and one largemouth we caught off a bed,” they reported. “We would have liked for the day to end just a little bit better, but, sometimes things just don’t happen that way. We fished clean, and just got beaten; there is nothing else we could have done, that’s just how it goes sometimes.” The pair earned $5,000 for their efforts.”

The team of Eric Morris – and ABT Sponsor from Wedowee Marine – and his partner Ben Williamson finished the day in third place; their second consecutive top 5 Southern Division finish. Together they earned $4,000 for their efforts, and gave themselves a three point lead in the Southern Division Anglers of the Year Race over John Pollard and Dallas Weldon.

The Mountain Dew Big Bass of the tournament went to the 53^rd place team of Michael Cox and Colt Boyette. The 6.54-pound largemouth earned them the $500 bonus for catching the heaviest fish of the tournament.

The Southern Division of the Alabama Bass Trail hits the water next at the Alabama River oat Cooter’s Pond on April 20.

The Top 10 Standings are below, for complete standings, visit: https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/lj-results/

Place	Anglers	Weight	Big Fish	Winnings
1	Caleb McNeal / Taylor Luna	22.06	4.76	$10,000
2	Chris Rutland / Coby Carden	20.48	4.90	$5,000
3	Eric Morris / Ben Williamson	20.13	5.56	$4,000
4	Foster Bradley / Nick Harris	19.46		$3,000
5	Steven Morris / Matt Vanzant	19.04		$2,000
6	Michael Taylor / Steven Johnston	18.91		$1,500
7	John Pollard / Dallas Weldon	18.47		$1,100
8	Mark Succi / Douglas Stephens	18.19		$1,100
9	Danny Lavoie / Sammy Bailey	17.84		$1,100
10	Kevin Phillips / Robert Medas	17.79		$1,100

The sponsors of the 2019 Alabama Bass Trail include; Phoenix Bass Boats, Bill Penney Toyota, Garmin, Academy Sports & Outdoors, America’s First Federal Credit Union, Sweet Home Alabama, Alabama Tourism Department, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, T-H Marine Supplies, Wedowee Marine, Buffalo Rock, Mountain Dew, Jack’s, Fish Neely Henry Lake.com, Alabama Power Company, Lew’s Fishing, AFTCO, YETI, Power Pole, Big Bite Bait Company and E3 Apparel.

Jones Skips His Way to Top of Knockout Round, Top 10 Now on to Shearon Harris

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March 31, 2019

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MLF pro Alton Jones entered Period 3 of the day battling for survival, but then piled up 26-12 in the final 2 ½ hours of
competition to finish the Knockout Round on top with 49-1.

Jones Skips His Way to Top of Knockout Round, Top 10 Now on to Shearon Harris

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 30, 2019) – The numbers produced this week at the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Raleigh Stage Three presented by Evinrude have been nothing short of astounding: Twenty-seven fish 7 pounds or better, 10 over 8 pounds, and a single-day round of over 82 pounds by one angler.

Thousands of pounds of fat northern-strain North Carolina largemouth have been weighed, scored and immediately released back into the waters where caught.

And even though all of those numbers go away and the weights go back to zero for the 10 anglers competing in the Championship Round on Shearon Harris Reservoir on Sunday, it’ll be tough to bet against Alton Jones, Jacob Wheeler and Jacob Powroznik.


	Jones keyed in on bushes that were in less than a foot of water in extremely muddy water. (Click to enlarge/download)

Jones entered Period 3 battling for survival, but then piled up 26-12 in the final 2 ½ hours of competition to

finish the day with 49-1 and race past Wheeler (46-1), Powroznik (39-10), Ott DeFoe (36-3) and Jeff Sprague (28-1). That five will be joined on Shearon Harris by Edwin Evers (27-12), Takahiro Omori (26-6), Jared Lintner (24-2), Mark Daniels, Jr. (23-3) and Russ Lane (22-12) in Sunday’s Championship Round.

“I know the bottom line is that it doesn’t really matter who wins today, it’s about who wins tomorrow, but it’s sure fun for a day to be on top of this group of anglers,” Jones said. “To finish first in a group like this is humbling.”

Jones’ Third Period Comeback

“I stumbled in the first period, only caught one fish, but I learned something from that bite,” Jones explained. “That fish told me what to key on: Bushes that were in less than a foot of water. If I wasn’t grinding up mud with my trolling motor, I wasn’t getting a bite. I was fishing extremely dirty water, which made those fish not to be afraid to be up in the super shallow stuff.”

Jones trimmed the appendages off a Yum Bad Mamma to make it flatter and more skippable, and spent the majority of his day skipping as deep into shallow bushes as he could.

“I had to make a very precise presentation,” he said. “I had to literally drop it right on top of them, but I couldn’t cast it and make a splash. Once I figured out where they were sitting, I knew what to look for, but I had to make the right presentation.”

Wheeler Got Off to a Hot Start

Until Jones’ late-afternoon surge, it looked like Wheeler would run away with the Phoenix Daily Leader award. Wheeler, Evers, Sprague, Jones, Omori and a handful of other competitors ran straight to the same upriver area first in the morning – Evers and Wheeler fishing within casting distance of one another for the majority of the first two periods.

Evers started the morning with a 6-4 in the first three minutes of competition, and Wheeler answered with a 5-2 less than two minutes later. The Indiana pro backed that up with a pair of 3-pounders in the next 30 minutes and eventually piled 32 pounds, 14 ounces on SCORETRACKER before 11 a.m.

“It was a good morning overall: I made some good adjustments, I started quick and it didn’t seem to let up through first period,” said Wheeler, who caught the majority of his fish on a vibrating jig and a Googan Baits Bandito Bug

Powroznik’s Pair of 8s Push him Forward

Before competition started on Saturday, Powroznik predicted that some truly big fish would start to show up thanks to the rising water temperatures and an increase in wind on Falls Lake. The Virginia pro proved his own point with a pair of 8-pounders in the third period flipping a V&M J-Bug (an 8-4 and an 8-10 for Berkley Big Bass of the Day). Those fish – coupled with a 5-0 and a 3-5 – catapulted Powroznik from the mid-teens on SCORETRACKER into the Top 5, and on to a championship lake that he’s somewhat familiar with.

MLF pro Jacob Powroznik caught a pair of 8-pounders in the third period today,

an 8-4 and an 8-10 for Berkley Big Bass of the Day.

“Shearon Harris is a different breed than we’ve seen so far,” said Powroznik, who estimates that he’s fished the lake 12 to 15 times. “We’re going to have some grass to flip, we’ll have some cattails. There’s willow trees and some other stuff that they get on. Shearon Harris is a really good spawning lake. It should be really good.’

On to a New Lake for Championship

Weights will zero as the Championship 10 shift to Shearon Harris Reservoir, a 4,100-acre impoundment of the Cape Fear River drainage that was dammed to provide cooling water for the Shearon Harris power plant (located on the lake’s upper end). While virtually unknown outside the Carolinas and Virginia, Shearon Harris has the potential to produce the biggest weights – or at least, some of the biggest fish – of the young MLF Bass Pro Tour season.

“Shearon Harris, I’ve heard so many crazy things about this place,” Wheeler said. “The conditions are setting up to be unbelievable for what could be just a crazy Sunday of fishing. I have to think that it’s going to be really, really good – I don’t think it’s all just hype.”

Where, When & How to Watch

Championship Round Competition among the final 10 anglers begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 10 a.m. ET, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at approximately 5 p.m. daily.

THRIFT TAKES OVER AT FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

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March 31, 2019

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THRIFT TAKES OVER AT FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

Two-Time AOY Brings 3-Pound Lead Into Championship Sunday

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GROVE, Okla. (March 30, 2019) – The FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury Marine is setting up for a dramatic final day on Sunday – the top 10 is stacked with a two-time FLW Tour Angler of the Year, an FLW Cup champion, a Costa FLW Series Champion, a Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American Champion and a local angling prodigy that are all in striking distance to win the tournament, and the top prize of $125,000.

Tour stalwart Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, who started the day in fifth place, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 3 ounces to take the lead with a three-day total of 52-1.

Pro Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Missouri, (48-14) jumped into second after bringing in a limit weighing 17-9. Billy McCaghren of Mayflower, Arkansas, (46-12), South Africa’s Michael Matthee (44-15) and reigning Costa FLW Series Champion Bradford Beavers of Summerville, South Carolina (44-6) round out the top five. Local angler, 21-year-old Sheldon Collings of Grove (39-9) moved into the top-10 cut Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces.

With just a 3-pound, 3-ounce cushion heading into the final day, tournament-leader Thrift is excited to see how it all shakes on Championship Sunday.

“I love it – this is where I want to be,” said Thrift, who has six career victories in FLW Tour competition – tied for No. 3 all-time. “If you’re ever leading going into the final day and it doesn’t make you excited, it’s time to quit. It’s an awesome feeling and I’m excited to get back out there tomorrow.”

Thrift said that he had seven bites on Saturday, catching, “a couple on a jig and a couple on a crankbait.” He first keeper came around 9:30 a.m., and he said he caught, “one here, one there” every 45 minutes or so.

“It’s tough because I can’t look at something and say ‘that’s where I’m going to get a bite,’ Thrift said. “I’ve got to go into places and fish everything there – docks, rocks, wood, sand, gravel – I have to fish all of it because I have no idea where I’m going to get bit from. I caught two today on a bare bank. I caught one on a dock, one out of a tree and one on a rock.

“The plan for tomorrow is to do the same as I did today,” Thrift went on to say. “I’m going to fish everywhere that I’ve gotten a bite – that’ll take me about an hour. And then I’m going to run all new water. We’ll see what happens.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition Sunday on Grand Lake are:

1^st: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 52-1

2^nd: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 48-14

3^rd: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 15 bass, 46-12

4^th: Michael Matthee, Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa, 13 bass, 44-15

5^th: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 14 bass, 44-6

6^th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 11 bass, 43-4

7^th: Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., 13 bass, 42-7

8^th: Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 12 bass, 42-4

9^th: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 13 bass, 41-10

10^th: Sheldon Collings, Grove, Okla., 15 bass, 39-9

Finishing in 11^th through 30^th are:

11^th: Bailey Boutries, Daphne, Ala., 11 bass, 39-8, $12,000

12^th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., 12 bass, 37-15, $12,000

13^th: Costa pro Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 13 bass, 37-14, $12,000

14^th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., 12 bass, 37-8, $12,000

15^th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., 12 bass, 37-1, $12,000

16^th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, 13 bass, 37-0, $11,500

17^th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 15 bass, 36-13, $11,500

18^th: Joel Willert, Prior Lake, Minn., 12 bass, 36-7, $11,500

19^th: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 15 bass, 35-10, $11,500

20^th: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, nine bass, 35-9, $11,500

21^st: Ron Farrow, Rock Hill, S.C., 11 bass, 35-9, $10,500

22^nd: Yamamoto Baits pro Larry Nixon, Quitman, Ark., 12 bass, 34-5, $10,500

23^rd: Shell Rotella pro Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., 12 bass, 33-12, $10,500

24^th: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 12 bass, 33-9 , $10,500

25^th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 12 bass, 33-8, $10,500

26^th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., 11 bass, 32-4, $10,500

27^th: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 31-8, $10,500

28^th: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, nine bass, 26-10, $10,500

29^th: David Wootton, Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-6, $10,500

30^th: Tyler Stewart, West Monroe, La., eight bass, 26-4, $10,500

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

Overall there were 98 bass weighing 276 pounds, 5 ounces caught by pros Saturday, Of the final 30 pros, 10 of them were able to bring a five-bass limit to the scale.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to fish on Saturday. Now, only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the City of Grove and the Cherokee Casino Grove.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

Anglers will take off for the final day of competition at 7 a.m. CST Sunday from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16^th St., in Grove. Sunday’s Championship weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Wolf Creek Park from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by Oklahoma Costa FLW Series pro Matt Pangrac to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Whitwell High School Claims Bassmaster High School Southern Open Title On Lake Guntersville

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March 31, 2019

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Whitwell High School Claims Bassmaster High School Southern Open Title On Lake Guntersville

Westin Moss and Josh Willis of Tennessee’s Whitewell High School win the 2019 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Southern Open presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors at Lake Guntersville with a total of 20 pounds, 11 ounces.

Photo by Rick Reed/B.A.S.S.

March 30, 2019

Whitwell High School Claims Bassmaster High School Southern Open Title On Lake Guntersville

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GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. — For a while, it looked like a statistical tiebreaker would be necessary to decide the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Southern Open presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors on Lake Guntersville.

But as the weigh-in was winding down, Westin Moss and Josh Willis of Tennessee’s Whitwell High School bypassed the drama with a five-bass limit that weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces.

Moss and Willis earned $3,200 for the Whitwell High School fishing team and a spot in the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School National Championship.

“It was a little bit windy, and at first we didn’t think we were gonna catch anything,” Willis said. “But we pulled off five good ones. We had a lot of fun today.”

Saying it was “a little bit windy” was slightly underplaying the strong gusts that made Lake Guntersville extremely choppy for the duration of the tournament. The lake was white-capping most of the afternoon, but most of the 296-boat field managed to find bass anyway.

Laney Skipper and Taylor Brown of Alabama’s Rehobeth High School took the lead early with 18-7 and sat nervously on the hot seat for more than an hour.

They were finally unseated by Brody Robison and Levi Cox of Alabama’s Sand Rock High School, who weighed in the same total of 18-7. Robison and Cox won the tiebreaker because their biggest bass — a 5-8 largemouth — was bigger than the 4-13 bass that anchored the limit caught by Skipper and Brown.

If the standings had remained the same, Robison and Cox would have taken the title. But Moss and Willis made the tiebreaker unnecessary to determine a champion.

Since the winners live only 90 minutes from Lake Guntersville — and might fish another tournament on the lake soon — they wouldn’t give too many specifics on the lures they were using. They only said they were using Driftwood Swimbaits, which are made in Jasper, Tenn.

“We were just throwing them out and reeling them in around shallow grass, and they would smack it,” Willis said.

Moss said he had located the bass during practice, but he thought he’d need to get to the spot early to beat the boat traffic.

They drew Boat No. 268, a later draw than he had hoped for. But to his surprise, there were only five other boats in the area — and they didn’t stay long.

“I knew there were fish there, but I expected there to be about 30 other boats back in there with us,” Moss said. “It was a whole lot better than I expected.”

Moss and Willis said they caught bass steadily and probably put 11 or 12 fish in the boat throughout the day. They culled two small bass with only an hour left to fish — and that’s when their boat captain, Shane Moss, told them he thought they had a chance to win.

Unfortunately, that made them a little nervous.

“I told them they had a really nice bag and that I thought they had a real shot at it,” he said. “After that, I noticed they started reeling a little too fast and getting a little too excited. I told them just to slow down and keep doing what they had been doing.

“They did a great job. There were times when we went nearly two hours without a bite, but they kept their cool.”

Robison and Cox were credited with second place and received $2,000 for the Sand Rock High School fishing team. Skipper and Brown took third place and earned $1,500 for the Rehobeth High School team.

The new Junior Division, which includes teams from grades second through eighth, drew 49 boats that all weighed in before the high school anglers took the stage.

First place among the juniors was the eighth-grade team of Tristen Boyd and Reagan Hershman from Grundy County in Tennessee. They caught five bass that weighed 12-6 and finished just ahead of the Alabama team of Fisher Anaya and Cody Brooks who finished second with 10-8.

Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Southern Open
presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors
3/30/2019 Lake Guntersville – Guntersville State Park – Guntersville, AL

Place	Name	Total Fish / Weight	Day 1 Fish / Weight
1	Westin Moss – Josh Willis Whitwell High School-TN	5 / 20 – 11	5 / 20 – 11
2	Brody Robison – Levi Cox Sand Rock High School-AL	5 / 18 – 7	5 / 18 – 7
3	Laney Skipper – Taylor Brown Rehobeth Bass Club-AL	5 / 18 – 7	5 / 18 – 7
4	Wes Rollo – William Powell Natchitoches Central High School-LA	5 / 17 – 12	5 / 17 – 12
5	Forrest Lagarde – Bronson May LA-46 FISHING TEAM-LA	5 / 17 – 10	5 / 17 – 10
6	Carson Walker – Jacob Rice Hueytown Student Anglers-AL	5 / 17 – 3	5 / 17 – 3
7	Tanner Scruggs – Storm Cline Anderson County High School-TN	5 / 17 – 1	5 / 17 – 1
8	Isaac Gardner – Billy Sykes Beulah Bass Fishing Team-AL	5 / 16 – 11	5 / 16 – 11
9	Christopher Capdeboscq – Sam Acosta Northlake Christian-LA	5 / 16 – 4	5 / 16 – 4
10	Gavin Gilbert – Blake Stephenson Clarks Hill Youth Fishing Team-GA	5 / 15 – 9	5 / 15 – 9
11	Boomer Winters Witwell High School-TN	4 / 15 – 8	4 / 15 – 8
12	Jacob Davidson – Isaiah Dodson Mt. Juliet Fishing-TN	5 / 14 – 15	5 / 14 – 15
13	Julian Moss – Coby Wright Galatin High School-TN	4 / 14 – 15	4 / 14 – 15
14	Landon Kornegay – Mason Kornegay Sipsey Valley High School-AL	5 / 14 – 14	5 / 14 – 14
15	Logan Turner – Brennen Howard White Plains High School-AL	5 / 14 – 13	5 / 14 – 13
16	John Walley – Justin Duke Satsuma High School-AL	5 / 14 – 8	5 / 14 – 8
17	Tyler Wagnon – Lucas Terry East Limestone-AL	5 / 14 – 6	5 / 14 – 6
18	Bre Arnold – Alex Curington Good Hope High School-AL	4 / 14 – 6	4 / 14 – 6
19	Asher Peters – Gracie Herbold Headland High School-AL	5 / 14 – 4	5 / 14 – 4
20	Tyler Finley – Hunter Jones Mt. Pleasant High School-TN	5 / 14 – 4	5 / 14 – 4
21	Barclay Butler – Connor Mclaughlin Scottsboro High School-AL	5 / 14 – 1	5 / 14 – 1
21	Grace Fralick – Isaac Irvin Galacia High School-IL	5 / 14 – 1	5 / 14 – 1
23	Jones Garner – Spencer Wilhite Auburn High School-AL	5 / 13 – 15	5 / 13 – 15
23	Shaw Sandy – Sam Bennett Athens Anglers-AL	5 / 13 – 15	5 / 13 – 15
25	Daniel Meadows – Aaron Stephens Mortimer Jordan High School Bass Club-AL	5 / 13 – 14	5 / 13 – 14
26	Houston Smith – Jack West Cullman High School-AL	5 / 13 – 12	5 / 13 – 12
27	Cole Rankin – Josh Lee Karns Bass Fishing-TN	5 / 13 – 11	5 / 13 – 11
28	Jonah Gilbert – Kollin Smith Franklin County High School-GA	5 / 13 – 8	5 / 13 – 8
28	Garrett White – Tanner Mcclain Rhea County High School-TN	5 / 13 – 8	5 / 13 – 8
28	Hunter Wilkins – Jackson Elder American Christian Acadamy-AL	5 / 13 – 8	5 / 13 – 8
31	Lawson Graves – Keaton Kinney Cullman High School-AL	3 / 13 – 4	3 / 13 – 4
32	Parker Lambert – Brandon Lawson Palisades High School	5 / 13 – 3	5 / 13 – 3
33	Seth Ridley	4 / 13 – 1	4 / 13 – 1
34	Grayson Morris – Tucker Smith Briarwood Christian School	5 / 12 – 15	5 / 12 – 15
35	Kenneth Dykes – Keegan Sanders Franklin County High School	4 / 12 – 15	4 / 12 – 15
36	Bryar Chambers – Levi Harris Fairview High School	5 / 12 – 14	5 / 12 – 14
37	Garick Robinson – Ethan Hicks Sequoyah High School	5 / 12 – 13	5 / 12 – 13
38	Ryan Scott – Cory Blackburn Tullahoma High School	5 / 12 – 9	5 / 12 – 9
39	Lou Ayers – Zeb Lambert Cullman High School	5 / 12 – 7	5 / 12 – 7
40	Jacob Bigelow – Trace Yeager Shawano Bass Assassins	5 / 12 – 5	5 / 12 – 5
40	Zach Henderson – Nicholas Ward John Curtis High School	5 / 12 – 5	5 / 12 – 5
42	Logan Lolley – Tristan Crawford Hayden High School	5 / 12 – 4	5 / 12 – 4
42	Jacob Tarpley – Keigan Maturin Teurlings Catholic High School	5 / 12 – 4	5 / 12 – 4
44	Blayton Mangram – Josh Morse Handley High School	5 / 12 – 2	5 / 12 – 2
45	Jesse Blackmon – Briley Mattox Good Hope Fishing Team	5 / 12 – 1	5 / 12 – 1
45	Fletcher Phillips – Griffin Phillips Gardendale High School	5 / 12 – 1	5 / 12 – 1
47	Rylan Mayberry – Colton Young Auburn High School	5 / 11 – 15	5 / 11 – 15
47	Nick Staub – Braden Lewis 901 High School	5 / 11 – 15	5 / 11 – 15
49	Nathan Reynolds – Adrian Goleniewski Backwoods Bassin’	5 / 11 – 13	5 / 11 – 13
50	Preston Bates – Cutter Eidson Brewer High School	3 / 11 – 11

ALABAMA ROOKIE BOUTRIES GRABS LEAD AT FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

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March 30, 2019

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ALABAMA ROOKIE BOUTRIES GRABS LEAD AT FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

Rookie Chucks Spinnerbait All Day Long to Vault from 17^th Place into Lead

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GROVE, Okla. (March 29, 2019) – Rookie pro Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Friday weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces, to take the lead after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury Marine. Boutries’ two-day total of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 4 ounces gives him a slim 4-ounce advantage heading into Day Three of the four-day competition that features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.

The 2016 FLW Cup Champion John Cox of DeBary, Florida, sits in second place, just 4 ounces behind Boutries with 35-0. Pro Bradley Hallman of Norman leads the Okie contingent with 31-12, good for ninth place, while Grove’s Sheldon Collings sits in 21^st place with 24-12. Legendary pro Jimmy Houston of Cookson also made the top-30 cut and will start Day Three in 22^nd place with 24-12. The field is now cut to 30 for Saturday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to championship Sunday.

Boutries said he caught 11 keepers throughout the day Friday, doing the majority of his damage with a War Eagle spinnerbait thrown on a 7-2 medium-heavy Profishiency rod, with a 6.5:1 Ardent reel spooled with 17-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon.

“I caught a good one yesterday (Thursday) on the spinnerbait, but the rest of my limit came dragging a Texas-rigged creature bait. Today, all of my fish that I caught came on the spinnerbait,” said Boutries, who is fishing in his fourth career FLW Tour event. “That storm today really helped. When it started raining and got really windy, they really bit. The wind was a huge factor for me.

“I probably hit 10 different spots,” Boutries continued. “I was doing the same thing and it seemed that they like to be in a certain combination of rock.”

Saturday’s weather forecast calls for more rain and a drop in temperatures, but Boutries is confident that his fish will withstand the changing condition.

“I’m not even worried about the money, I just love fishing and I love being out here and competing against the best,” Boutries said. “I’m competing against Scott Martin, David Dudley, Bryan Thrift. And I’m leading the tournament. It’s so exciting.

“I don’t want to say that I’m going to really catch them again tomorrow, but I’m confident that I can go back out and catch five,” Boutries went on to say.

The top 30 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on Grand Lake are:

1^st: Bailey Boutries, Daphne, Ala., 10 bass, 35-4

2^nd: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 35-0

3^rd: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 34-15

4^th: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-14

5^th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 32-14

6^th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., eight bass, 32-11

7^th: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, eight bass, 32-7

8^th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 32-2

9^th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., 10 bass, 31-12

10^th: Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 31-8

11^th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 31-5

12^th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., nine bass, 29-13

13^th: Michael Matthee, Centurion, GP, South Aftrica, eight bass, 29-0

14^th: Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., eight bass, 28-14

15^th: Larry Nixon, Quitman, Ark., 10 bass, 28-11

16^th: Joel Willert, Prior Lake, Minn., eight bass, 27-12

17^th: Costa pro Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, eight bass, 27-6

18^th: Ron Farrow, Rock Hill, S.C., eight bass, 26-15

19^th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., seven bass, 26-10

20^th: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., nine bass, 26-5

21^st: Sheldon Collings, Grove, Okla., 10 bass, 24-12

22^nd: Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., eight bass, 24-12

23^rd: Tyler Stewart, West Monroe, La., seven bass, 24-10

24^th: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, eight bass, 24-8

25^th: David Wootton, Collierville, Tenn., nine bass, 24-6

26^th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 24-4

27^th: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 10 bass, 23-13

28^th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., eight bass, 23-11

29^th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, nine bass, 23-1

30^th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 10 bass, 22-14

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

Andy Young of Isle, Minnesota, earned Friday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a largemouth weighing 7-pounds, 4-ounces to the scale.

Overall there were 422 bass weighing 1,195 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 139 pros Friday. The catch included 31 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the City of Grove and the Cherokee Casino Grove.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST Saturday and Sunday from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16^th St., in Grove. Weigh-ins will be held at the park beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Wolf Creek Park from 2 to 6 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the park on Saturday, March 30 from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1^st and 2^nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by Oklahoma Costa FLW Series pro Matt Pangrac to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Palaniuk, Lane, Sprague Complete Flip-Flops on Falls, Advance to Knockout Round at Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

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March 30, 2019

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Russ Lane’s 7-10 pushed him into the Top 10 of Elimination Round 2 on Falls Lake today. Weights are zeroed for all 40 anglers who advance to the Knockout Round on the same lake tomorrow.

Palaniuk, Lane, Sprague Complete Flip-Flops on Falls, Advance to Knockout Round at

Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

[print_link]

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 28, 2019) – When you take a quick look down the standings of Elimination Round 2 of the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude, three names should stand out: Brandon Palaniuk, Russ Lane and Jeff Sprague.

While only one of the three finished in the Top 5 – Palaniuk was fourth, Lane was sixth, Sprague was 10th – the numbers to pay the closest attention to are their SCORETRACKER™ catches for the day on Falls Lake: Palaniuk piled up 42 pounds, 5 ounces on 16 fish, Lane weighed in 36-15 and Sprague finished with 33-7.

Strong numbers, to be sure, but especially notable because those three anglers started the morning in the bottom 10 in the standings after their Shotgun Round and executed the kind of dramatic turnarounds that would lead a betting soul to believe that they’ve figured something special out on Falls.

Brandon Palaniuk’s 6-1 helped him to 42-5 in Elimination Round competition on Falls Lake.

“I learned that I’m way better on Falls Lake than I am on Jordan Lake,” Palaniuk joked. “The amount of cover in Jordan is crazy – Falls really doesn’t have that much cover, so you’ve really got to search hard to find it in certain spots. That’s what I felt like I stumbled onto today, and it worked out well. I just hope it holds up – I’m glad that we’re going back to Falls tomorrow and not going back to Jordan, because I never got to the right area in Jordan. I feel like if it holds out, I feel like I have Falls dialed in way better than I did Jordan.”

Squeaking above the Elimination Line

The competition around the Elimination Line came down to a battle of less than 2 pounds among Jeff Kriet, Dave Lefebre and Marty Robinson. Kriet scraped together 12-10 to finish the day with 33-10, and then hung on to the final spot as Robinson climbed to within 1-7.

“I was 48 years old when I started the day, and now I’m 72,” Kriet joked, referring to the stress of the final hour of competition.

What about Jordon, Walker, etc.?

Saturday’s X-factor is the group of anglers in both Groups A and B whose Shotgun Round weights offered them the luxury of spending most of their Elimination days practicing and becoming more familiar with the nooks and crannies of Falls. David Walker, for example, weighed in only four fish for 9 pounds on the day; Casey Ashley weighed just one fish … but it was a 7-6 hawg.

“There’s no part of this lake I haven’t seen now, so I do have a good feel for it,” Walker admitted. “Some of the guys have been laying off (their fish) for sure, but I still feel like I’m searching for a good answer to it. It can be so maddening to figure that out, and honest to God, one cast can clue you in to what you should be doing. It can be just that simple. But I feel like I’m still going to be scrambling a little bit.”

The last shot at Falls

Weights will be zeroed for Saturday’s Knockout Round at Falls, so it’s a fresh start for all who have advanced.

Many of the anglers fishing the previous two days of Elimination Round competition expressed some anxiety about leaving behind the big-fish bonanza that occurred on Jordan Lake in the Shotgun Rounds. And who could blame them: Kelly Jordon racked up a Bass Pro Tour-record weight of 82-4 during Day 1 of Shotgun Round action on Jordan Lake, and several anglers experienced near-record days on that fishery.

But after a full day on Falls, most of the remaining 40 anglers have now settled into areas and patterns that they’re more comfortable with in the one-day “shootout” format of the Knockout Round.

“I got to Falls and was actually impressed with how warm the water had gotten,” Sprague said. “I really thought these fish would be progressing a little further, similar to what they were doing at Jordan, so after the first period I decided to make a change. I figured I’m either going to go home with the four fish I have on the SCORETRACKER or fish and go catch them. We ran up to an area where I had practiced, I’d only had one bite in practice but it was right, just the fish hadn’t set-up there yet, and today they were there. The warm weather has allowed them to funnel in and hopefully tonight, more of them will funnel in there and we’ll thrash them tomorrow.”

The Day’s Results

To see all results from today’s Elimination Round, who is competing in the Knockout Round and to keep up with cumulative results throughout the week, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “Results.”

Bass Edge – THE EDGE – 299 Brandon Card

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March 29, 2019

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Bass Edge Radio, presented by Megaware KeelGuard features 2019 BASS Elite Series Angler Brandon Card in this episode of their top-rated podcast. Bass Edge hosts Aaron Martin and Kurt Dove discuss with Brandon the keys to starting off the season well and the seasonal transitions on high-land lakes.

Bassmaster Classic TV Coverage Debuts On ESPN2 Sunday Morning

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March 29, 2019

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Bassmaster Classic TV Coverage Debuts On ESPN2 Sunday Morning

Television coverage of the first competition round in the 2019 Bassmaster Classic at Knoxville, Tenn., airs Sunday morning on ESPN2. The program details how Knoxville angler Ott DeFoe was able to find and catch five big bass weighing a total of 20 pounds and claim the early lead.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

March 29, 2019

Bassmaster Classic TV Coverage Debuts On ESPN2 Sunday Morning

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tens of thousands of fishing fans crowded the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., March 15-17 to watch some of the world’s best bass anglers weigh in their catches from the Tennessee River. They were part of a record-setting total attendance of 153,809 reported for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

Those who couldn’t attend in person — as well as those who want to relive the excitement of one of the best Classics ever — can tune in to the first episode of a three-part series of Bassmaster TV shows devoted to the world championship.

“The Bassmaster Classic: Day 1” will air beginning at 8 a.m. (ET) on ESPN2. The show sets the stage for a dramatic three-day competition as hometown favorite Ott DeFoe weighs in five big bass totaling 20 pounds and takes a commanding lead.

“The challenge in covering an event like the Classic, which has already been watched on Bassmaster LIVE or followed on Bassmaster.com and other media by millions of people, is making it fresh and compelling,” said Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO. “Mike McKinnis and the talented team at JM Outdoors have done that this year. They have produced a series of shows worthy of what everyone is saying was one of the best Bassmaster Classics in the event’s 49-year history.”

“With 24 hours of competition and a half-dozen hours of incredible LIVE weigh-ins, only the best of the best moments will be seen in the five hours of Bassmaster Classic coverage,” said McKinnis, vice president of media content of JM Associates and producer of Bassmaster LIVE and The Bassmasters. “Bassmaster Classic Champion Ott DeFoe will also be in studio to break down how he won the 49th Bassmaster Classic. Diehard bass anglers won’t want to miss that.”

Coverage of Day 2 of the Classic, a two-hour show, will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 7, and the Championship Sunday episode, also two hours, will air at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 14, both on ESPN2. These and other Bassmaster TV episodes will be reaired on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic beginning in the summer, as well as on the Pursuit Channel.

This year marks the 20th consecutive Bassmaster Classic to be aired on ESPN networks.

The Knoxville Classic set numerous attendance records, including 16,300 showing up at the early morning takeoffs at Volunteer Landing, 92,819 visitors to the Classic Outdoors Expo presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, and 18,500 participants in Get Hooked on Fishing presented by Toyota, Shakespeare and Takemefishing.org.

The Bassmasters TV Shows

(All times Eastern. For a full TV schedule, visit Bassmaster.com/television, or check local listings.)

ESPN2	Sun 3/31/2019	8:00 AM	2019 Bassmaster Classic Day 1
ESPN2	Sun 4/7/2019	11:00 AM	2019 Bassmaster Classic Day 2
ESPN2	Sun 4/14/2019	11:00 AM	2019 Bassmaster Classic Championship
ESPN2	Sun 4/21/2019	11:00 AM	Bassmaster Elite Series Winning Ways #1

(Editors note: If you would like to include any of the promotional videos, you can find the links listed below. The password for all videos is BMC19.)

20 Pros Survive Elimination at MLF Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

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March 29, 2019

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20 Pros Survive Elimination at MLF Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

MLF pro-Randall Tharp was one of 20 anglers to advance out of Group A’s Elimination Round today at North Carolina’s

Falls Lake. He will fish in Saturday’s Knockout Round.

20 Pros Survive Elimination at MLF Bass Pro Tour

Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

[print_link]

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 28, 2019) – It has become one of the most interesting (and in some cases, gut-wrenching) focal points of the young Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour season: the battle around the 20th spot in the standings on Elimination Rounds.

That 20th spot – which represents the final qualifier for the Knockout Round – is the definition of “make or break” and has created some of the highest moments of drama in the history of professional bass fishing.

If you’re Jacob Powroznik, you love it today. The Virginia pro weighed in 12 pounds, 13 ounces of Falls Lake largemouth to finish with a two-day total of 32-14: good for 20th in Group A at the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude.

If you’re Michael Neal, not so much: the Tennessee pro put 17-4 on SCORETRACKER™ on the day, but fell 2 ounces short of Powroznik for the coveted final spot with 32-12.

“Well, what can you say: somebody has to be that guy, and today, that’s me,” Neal deadpanned as he waited for the start of the Berkley Postgame Show.

“It was very stressful,” Powroznik admitted. “At about 1 p.m., I was like ‘What am I doing wrong?’ The areas where those fish should be going, they’re just not there yet. The biggest thing is just keeping your head in it. I’m just glad I made it.”

Moving on to Knockout

For the 20 anglers who finished just ahead of Neal in Group A Shotgun and Elimination Round competition, it’s on to Saturday’s Knockout Round, where they’ll be joined by the Top 20 after tomorrow’s second Elimination Round on Falls Lake, consisting of Group B anglers.

Notable performers on the day included:

Andy Montgomery, who landed only four scorable fish on the day, but found a 7-4 and a 6-6 to finish the day in 18th with 34-13. Montgomery boated his 6-6 with 7 minutes left in competition.

Jared Lintner, who weighed in 18-12 to finish 16th with a two-day total of 36-0.

Josh Bertrand, whose 17-4 gave him 38-8, good for 14th.

Staying Put for Two Days

Unlike the previous competition schedule, there’s no lake swap: after fishing one day on Jordan Lake before switching to Falls, the Knockout Round will stay on Falls. Weights will be zeroed, which means that the heavy work done by round leader Kelly Jordon – who stacked 82-4 up on the first day and added 11-0 to his total today – will be erased.

Greg Vinson’s 6-7 was one of the big fish caught during Elimination Round 1 and helped him advance to

Saturday’s Knockout Round. (Click to enlarge/download)

But thanks to their stout performances on Jordan Lake, Jordon and fellow Top 10 finishers Todd Faircloth, Edwin Evers, Wesley Strader, Greg Vinson, Jacob Wheeler, Randall Tharp, Mark Daniels, Andy Morgan and Mike Iaconelli had the flexibility to more thoroughly scout around Falls in preparation for their Saturday Knockout competition.

Changing Conditions on Falls

Group B’s Elimination Round on Friday will see mostly sunny skies and daytime highs in the mid-70s, and will be fishing a lake that’s currently in a positive transition from winter to spring: the water temperature rose 7 degrees during Thursday’s competition.

That’s a fact that has shallow-water flippers like Powroznik anxious to fish again, and soon.

“Friday is going to be absolutely beautiful, Saturday is going to be beautiful, so it’s time: these fish are getting ready to spawn,” Powroznik said.

How, When & Where to Watch

Competition begins daily at 7:30 a.m. ET, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 10 a.m. ET, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 5 p.m. daily.

Quotable

Josh Bertrand (14th/38-8) – “It was one of those days that takes years off your life. It wasn’t horribly stressful until the third period started. I wasn’t having a great day but I was catching enough to just feel okay and fishing got super tough – even tougher than it was – it slicked off, there was no wind and I just realized I was out of stuff to fish. Luckily, I was able to get on to some in the last hour of the day. Being new to Major League Fishing, it was the first time I sat on the bubble and I sat on it all day. It was fun to be on live all day, but it was stressful for sure.”

Jared Lintner (16th/36-0) – “Going into the day I was in 25th, I think I was 4 or 5 pounds off the Elimination Line. I knew I needed to catch a couple big ones to have a shot. In the morning I caught that 6-8 pretty early – I never caught a great big one, but I started getting a lot of bites and was still teetering around the cutline. I moved up to like 14th or 13th or 12th at one point, and then all of a sudden I stopped getting bites and I’m down there at 17th, 19th, 21st, back to 16th.; I’m like ‘Ugh!’ The last period was a lot of stress.”

The Day’s Results

To see all results from today’s Elimination Round, and to keep up with cumulative results throughout the week, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com and click “Results.”

OHIO’S WEISENBURGER LEADS DAY ONE OF FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

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March 29, 2019

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OHIO’S WEISENBURGER LEADS DAY ONE OF FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

Third-Year Pro Smacks 24+ Pound Limit on Finicky Grand Lake

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GROVE, Okla. (March 28, 2019) – Pro Kyle Weisenburger of Ottawa, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 12 ounces to take the lead on the opening day of the FLW Tour at the Grand Lake presented by Mercury Marine. Pros Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas (20-2), and Miles Burghoff of Hixson, Tennessee (19-12), are the closest anglers to Weisenburger in second and third place as the four-day tournament, which features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals casting for a top award of up to $125,000, heads into Day Two.

The weather in northeastern Oklahoma, although overcast, was nice Thursday, although many tournament anglers experienced a Grand Lake that was much more finicky than normal – likely due to fluctuating water levels. The bass are scattered and it’s left many competitors scratching their heads as they try to figure out the puzzle. Weisenburger found his the majority of his big limit in a single pocket, although he was also able to run around his creek arm and replicate his pattern on a couple other spots.

“I had a couple of good little stretches and caught 12 or 13 fish today, which is quadruple anything that I had done in practice,” said Weisenburger, who is fishing in his third season as a pro on the FLW Tour. “I think it was more area-oriented – when I got the stuff I was looking for, I got a couple of bites.

“I caught fish on two different baits,” Weisenburger continued. “I had three rods on my deck, but threw primarily just two baits and when I got in the right area they would really eat one of them. The conditions let me know which one I was going to throw. I checked the forecast and I believe it will be similar tomorrow, which is good because it really set up right for me today.

Weisenburger declined to divulge the specifics on his lures and pattern at this point of the tournament, but did hint that the water he was fishing was a bit dirtier than most.

“I caught one or two more keepers there that didn’t help me, so I decided I was going to ease off of them,” Weisenburger said. “I ended up leaving my primary area and I figured out a little bit of a pattern.

“It was a good day, but it’s only Day One,” Weisenburger went on to say. “I’m going to start in my primary area tomorrow and see where it takes me. Hopefully they’re still there and I will get to fish into the weekend.”

The top 10 pros after day one on Grand Lake are:

1^st: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, five bass, 24-12

2^nd: Costa pro Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 20-2

3^rd: Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 19-12

4^th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., five bass, 19-9

5^th: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., five bass, 19-0

6^th: Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, five bass, 18-9

7^th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 17-7

8^th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, five bass, 17-0

9^th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 16-12

10^th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., five bass, 16-5

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Burghoff earned Thursday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing an 8-pound largemouth to the scale – the largest fish of the day.

Overall there were 428 bass weighing 1,207 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 143 pros Thursday. The catch included 37 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the City of Grove and the Cherokee Casino Grove.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST Friday through Sunday from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16^th St., in Grove. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the park, but will begin at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Wolf Creek Park from 2 to 6 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the park on Saturday, March 30 from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1^st and 2^nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Days Three and Four of the event, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. New for 2019, host Travis Moran will be joined by Oklahoma Costa FLW Series pro Matt Pangrac to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Caleb McNeal and Taylor Luna Win 2019 Alabama Bass Trail Lake Jordan

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THRIFT TAKES OVER AT FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

Whitwell High School Claims Bassmaster High School Southern Open Title On Lake Guntersville

ALABAMA ROOKIE BOUTRIES GRABS LEAD AT FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

Palaniuk, Lane, Sprague Complete Flip-Flops on Falls, Advance to Knockout Round at Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

Bass Edge – THE EDGE – 299 Brandon Card

Bassmaster Classic TV Coverage Debuts On ESPN2 Sunday Morning

20 Pros Survive Elimination at MLF Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude

OHIO’S WEISENBURGER LEADS DAY ONE OF FLW TOUR AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE

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