How To Safely Launch A Boat In 5 Easy Steps – MTB

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February 7, 2019

How To Safely Launch A Boat In 5 Easy Steps

Learning how to launch a boat can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. Seasoned anglers make this process look simple and fast, but only because they have gone through this process many times. With the proper mechanics and internal checklist, you too can launch a boat with ease and make trips to the access a seemingly mindless breeze.

Step 1: Preparation

Make sure your trailer straps and motor support are off and the drain plug is securely in place. Tilt your motor (and jackplate, if you have one) in the upright position to ensure your lower unit does not act like a gravel or sand plow on the way into the water. Make things easier on yourself by mounting your electronics while you are on shore. Nothing ruins a day quicker than dropping a $2000 fishfinder in the drink.

Step 2: Inspection

Inspect the boat access prior to launching your boat to make sure there are no underwater hazards or potholes that may cause trouble with trailer tires or tail lights. Make sure your tow vehicle has enough power and traction to both put the boat in the water as well as pull it out. If the access is too steep or made of only sand or gravel, you may have to find a different launch point or a new lake altogether. As a rule of thumb, gravel launches are not ideal as your vehicle can spit rocks and chip fiberglass and paint.

Additionally, this is hard on your vehicle’s transmission and if you can’t get your boat out of the water you may have an angry lineup on boaters waiting on you.

Step 3: Ask For Help

If you know you aren’t the best backer, use a spotter to help you back into the water. Otherwise ask someone at the boat launch to help you. If you are alone, practice beforehand using your mirrors as much as possible. The best boat launchers never have to turn around to look where they are. Using only your mirrors actually makes the process much quicker and more efficient.

Step 4: Launching The Boat

Back your boat into the water until you or your spotter sees the boat is just barely starting the float up from the trailer. Do not remove the safety chain or front cable until safely in the water. Trim down your outboard until your entire lower unit is submerged. Start your engine while the safety chain and nose hook are still attached to the trailer and make sure your engine is running properly. Once the outboard is idling well, detach the safety chain first then the nose hook of the trailer.

Step 5: Boat Ramp Etiquette

Once your boat is successfully off the trailer, move the boat out of the way of the launching area to allow others to launch their boats while you or your partner park your vehicle. Make sure you park as straight as possible within the parking space so others are able to easily park on either side of you. If you are with someone else, pull the boat to the opposite side of the dock that the ramp is on so others can use the ramp while you wait for your partner to park and jump in your boat.

Rapala Joins Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour in 2019

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February 6, 2019

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Rapala Joins Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour in 2019

MLF pro angler Brandon Palaniuk, showing off a healthy largemouth bass from last week’s MLF Bass Pro Tour opener on Florida’s Lake Toho, is one of several Rapala pros fishing the MLF competitions.

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TULSA, Okla. (Feb. 6, 2019) – Rapala, the world’s largest manufacturer of fishing lures and other fishing related products, will join Major League Fishing (MLF) as an official sponsor of the 2019 Bass Pro Tour.

Founded in Finland in the 1930s by Lauri Rapala, their most popular product is a balsa wood minnow imitation lure called the Original Floater. Rapala’s line of products include some of the most recognizable names in bass fishing.

“Rapala has a lot of fast-growing brands that apply to the ever so changing bass fishing industry, including VMC Hooks, Sufix Line, Storm and Terminator Lures” said Matt Jensen, Director of Marketing for Rapala USA. “We also sponsor many of the greatest anglers in the world who are now a part of this historic inaugural MLF season and the Bass Pro Tour. It is our goal to support all our pros as well as align with the top trends in the fishing industry, and our new and exciting partnership with Major League Fishing certainly does that.”

And like MLF, Rapala is also interested in introducing more anglers to the sport of fishing and especially getting youth involved. The company is running a national video spot that encourages young people to get outdoors and go fishing.

Rapala sells millions of lures each year in 140 different countries, and 242 all-time world-record fish were set on Rapala lures. It is also the only fishing lure manufacturer that mass-produces balsa wood lures. Rapala products include crankbaits, jigging lures, lipless crankbaits, surface poppers, filet knives, fishing rods, reels and various fishing tools.

“We’re excited to welcome Rapala to the Bass Pro Tour,” said Jim Wilburn, President and CEO of Major League Fishing. “Their storied history in the world of bass fishing, the way they have brought revolutionary new products to the market year after year, it makes them a perfect fit for the tour as we grow this great sport into the future. They already support a number of the anglers that compete out here on the Bass Pro Tour, so we’re thrilled that they’ve now come on board as an official sponsor of ours.”

Rapala’s sponsorship includes 30-second commercials and graphic billboards in Bass Pro Tour television programming, and a brand presence among the tour’s in-show and on-site opportunities, and MLF NOW!, the live stream program that will deliver a minimum of five hours of real-time coverage during each competition day.

The Bass Pro Tour, a premier 80-angler, eight-event tour with a championship, has embarked on its inaugural season in 2019 with the goal of dramatically growing visibility and participation for the sport of fishing. The plans will help realize the founding partners’ original vision for MLF to elevate competitive bass fishing and its top-tier pros to a national exposure level and grow a fan base on par with other top major league sports.

The Bass Pro Tour features the same MLF format in which bass are immediately weighed after they are caught then released back into the water. Anglers know where they rank in the standings at all times via real-time leaderboards in their boats.

Each of the eight Bass Pro Tour events will produce roughly 40 hours of live-streamed content that can be followed on MajorLeagueFishing.com. Every Bass Pro Tour stop will also become a two-hour television show to air on Discovery Channel in the fourth quarter of 2019, and then repeat on Sportsman Channel in first and second quarters 2020.

Eddie Smith & Jacob Breakfield win CATT Lake Wylie Feb 2,2019 with 15.64 lbs

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February 6, 2019

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Eddie Smith & Jacob Breakfield win CATT Lake Wylie Feb 2,2019 with 15.64 lbs

Tournament Results Wylie Feb 2, 2019 Smith & Breakfield Bank $1,465.00 with 15.64 lbs!

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The 1st 2019 Lake Wylie CATT Qualifier is a wrap with 34 teams entering! The Lake Wylie CATT Spring Trail is sponsored by Rusty Hooks Bait & Tackle located at 4070 Charlotte Hwy near Buster Boyd Bridge! Remember guy you can pre pay for the next Lake Wylie CATT Qualifier which is March 10 at Rusty Hooks Bait & Tackle!

Check them out on Facebook and go by and fill your needs to chase those Lake Wylie bass!

https://www.facebook.com/RustyHooksTackle/

Eddie Smith & Jacob Breakfield weighed in 5 bass at 15.64 lbs and also brought in the 1st BF at 5.55 lbs taking 1st Place and $1,465.00! They also received a $100 Gift Certificate to Rusty Hooks Bait & Tackle!

2nd went to Josh Goode & Adam Filmore with 5 bass weighing 14.38 lbs!

3rd and 2nd BF went to Josh Queen & Michael Smith! 12.63 lbs!

Maurice Barnett & Robbie Rush claimed 4th with 12.62 lbs!

Alex & Will Dewey 5th with 12.05 lbs!

Chad Atchley & Tyler Bass 5th with 11.01 lbs!

	Big	Total	Total
34 TEAMS	Fish	Weight	Winnings	Points
Eddie Smith/Jacob Breakfield	5.55	15.64	$ 1,465.00	110
Adam Filmore/Josh Goode	3.44	14.38	$400.00	109
Josh Queen/Michael Smith	4.09	12.63	$400.00	108
Maurice Barnett/Robbie Rush	3.64	12.62	$175.00	107
Alex Dewey/Will Dewey	3.24	12.05	$120.00	106
Chad Atchley/Tyler Bess	3.96	11.01	$100.00	105
Brandon Grahm/Alex Palomba	3.20	10.74		104
Glenn Sparrow/Chris Baumgardner	2.81	10.45		103
Shawn Duncan/Timothy Boones	3.04	10.01		102
Jay Adams /Tony C	2.65	9.86		101
Jeff Raby/Brent Davis	3.56	9.69		100
David Winters/Mike Buschue	2.28	9.32		99
Chris Dover/Robert Fowler	2.44	8.43		98
Randy and Daniel Coleman	3.09	6.44		97
David Calbert/Bill Carothers	2.35	5.19		96
Ben Lattimore/Danny Bullmon	2.79	5.08		95
Ron Weisburg/Christian Beaumont	2.83	4.45		93
Michael Yochem/Noah Zahran	2.42	4.27		94
John Campbell/Rob D	2.58	3.89		92
Scot Waldrop/Hunter Waldrop	2.41	2.41		91
Terry Carteret	0.00	2.24		90
Joe Hansil/Jason Humphries	0.00	0.00		89
Todd Farris/ Brent Kukowski	0.00	0.00		89
Donald Black/Chris Cook	0.00	0.00		89
Thomas Ledford/Jason Ledford	0.00	0.00		89
Thomas Richmond	0.00	0.00		89
Kevin Newman/Mike Holland	0.00	0.00		89
Scott Williams/Robbie English	2.71	0.00		89
Travis Robins/Greg Clayton	0.00	0.00		89
Tim Chapman	0.00	0.00		89
Jesse Smith/Patrick Hope	0.00	0.00		89
Scott McGinnis/Caleb Propst	0.00	0.00		89
John George/Jason Quinn	0.00	0.00		89
Jay Adams Jr/Kaylen Massy	0.00	0.00		89
Total Entrys			$2,720.00
BONUS $			$525.00
Total Paid At Ramp			$2,660.00
Wylie 2019 Spring Final Fund			$505.00
2019 CATT Championship Fund			$50.00
2019 Wylie Spring Final Fund Total			$505.00
2019 CATT Championship Fund Total			$2,605.00

No Fish is Safe By Skye Riggleman

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February 6, 2019

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Sitting behind the keyboard at 24, I can, without a doubt, say that bass fishing isn’t the same sport it was the first time I picked up a rod and reel. The fact is, more has changed in the past ten years in bass fishing than maybe all the years prior combined. In a mere decade, technology and electronics suddenly have the tournament angler in a stranglehold, and many wonder if you can still compete without it.

Just jump on YouTube and watch an episode of The Bassmasters from the mid-90s. Most of the outboards did not exceed 175 horsepower, and if you were fancy, maybe you had a 4” LCD Eagle graph that would show you depth and maybe a cartoon fish every now and then. It’s beyond a far cry from today’s arsenal. GPS Mapping, 360 Imaging, Structure Scan, Insight Genesis, Auto Chart Live, and Power Pole were ideas of science-fiction to the first generation of Pros.

When you watch that episode of The Bassmasters, you’ll also notice how different the style of fishing was. Most guys didn’t even try to fish offshore. And if it wasn’t a textbook long tapering point or brush pile, you likely won’t find anyone more than a cast-length from shore. Chances are, there is no mention of looking at electronics, and if someone is offshore they’re treating it like a “secret spot” where magic comes together over the course of the tournament.

Fast forward to today. For a few thousand bucks you can see everything in every direction within 50 yards of your boat. That includes fish, cover and structure as small as dinner plate sized shell bed on the Tennessee River. You don’t have to worry about finding anything anymore, because the same unit includes full-color, high definition topo maps with 1-foot contour lines for every major waterway in North America. And once you pinpoint exactly where you want to be and see the fish on your display, just sit back and turn your spot lock on, or drop your Power Poles. You do that all day, 15 pounds makes a check, 23 pounds wins, there are 89 limits in a 117 boat field and it begins to hit you. It’s 2019, and no fish is safe.

The fact is, with our modern ability to graph huge amounts of water away from the bank, we are time targeting an entire population of bass that once spent at least the summer months virtually unpressured. Today those fish are hitting scales in big numbers, and we are seeing weights in local tournaments higher than ever before. The time it takes to breakdown water is a fraction of what it once was, and the difference between two anglers might be which one has better technology.

I remember preparing for the 2017 FLW College Championship on Lake Wheeler. I had watched every video, read every article, looked at every map, and made every phone call I could before the off limits. In my research I had seen where in tournaments years before Davy Hite had won on an offshore hump, and Kevin VanDam and Jeremy Starks had a shootout on a number of shell beds and ditches on the famous Decatur Flats. I was sure we could finish well if we could break one of these two areas down. The first night in Alabama, I ran into a Lowrance rep at our hotel. He gave me and several other guys the latest Insight Genesis chip for Wheeler. I plugged it into my graph and realized we weren’t gonna have any of that to ourselves and everything we had hoped to find was clearly marked. Practice became a carnival and so did the tournament. Boat after boat hit the same 35 waypoints over and over, and it got so heated that two anglers in contention (I won’t mention names) almost got in a fight the night before day 2.

I learned in that event that competing in a major fishing tournament, for the most part, wasn’t about finding some magical spot nobody else finds, and sitting on it for a few days and collecting checks. Instead, you have to use what’s available to you to capitalize on opportunities and maximize efficiency. In addition, you have to be prepared to share water these days. With so many guys looking at the same maps and graphing the same areas, fishing with someone over your shoulder is something we are all gonna have to learn to deal with; even on our best spots.

As bad as I hate to say it, every cent of investment you can afford to make into electronics and equipment is worth it. You don’t necessarily have to have a brand new 22 foot Ranger with four 16 inch graphs to compete, but it’s a lot easier and a lot less learning curve with it than without it. With what’s available now, tournament bass fishing isn’t about what the fish are doing seasonally, or what they were doing last week, it’s about where they are that day. And any bass from 0-60 feet is in danger of being found.

I point all of this out because I hear a lot of people say, “These guys today don’t have any skill, all that fancy stuff does the work for them. Take all that away, none of them can fish.” I’m here to say nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, today it may be easier to find fish. It may even be easier to catch fish. What it’s not easier to do is outfish other anglers and get a leg up on the competition. Technology if nothing else is a great equalizer as it becomes more and more available and affordable. Many times now, everyone has the same amount of information available; there are no secret spots on many popular bodies of water these days, and it comes down to who fishes best. Sure, no fish is safe in 2019, but none of them are hidden either and that’s nothing short of exciting.

LAND MORE BASS IN THICK GRASS WITH THE NEW VMC® TOKYO RIG

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February 5, 2019

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LAND MORE BASS IN THICK GRASS WITH THE NEW VMC® TOKYO RIG

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Punching through grass mats with heavy tungsten weights is sometimes the best way to get bass to bite and the hardest way to keep them buttoned up. The new VMC^® Tokyo Rig does both jobs better, triggering more bites and bringing more bass into the boat.

VMC’s Tokyo Rig is a premade set-up for punch-shotting, a technique Rapala Pro-staffer Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, who played an instrumental role in developing VMC’s groundbreaking new offering, first learned on the waters of Japan. Punch-shotting is like heavy-duty drop-shotting through thick vegetation. Imagine a drop-shot rig on steroids — with a big hook and indestructible metal leader — and you’ve got the picture of a Tokyo Rig.

The VMC Tokyo Rig features a VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook, barrel-swivel, welded O-ring and rigid wire dropper arm to which anglers can attach a weight or two of their choice.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been flipping or punching, had a killer bite, set the hook and came back with nothing. I missed the fish because I pried its mouth open — that big weight on the rig hurt me on the hookset,” says Iaconelli. “But not on the new VMC Tokyo Rig. It’s one of the hottest, brand-new techniques around.”

The Tokyo Rig can dramatically increase an angler’s hook-up ratio when targeting bass under hydrilla mats or in other thick vegetation. Its key design innovation is a heavy weight positioned below the bait and away from the impact zone. This nuanced feature helps ensure nothing gets between a bass and the hook during the hookset.

“Your weight doesn’t get in the way,” Iaconelli says. “The hook is unimpeded, so there is nothing there to stop that instant hookset.”

The VMC Tokyo Rig also allows favorite soft-plastic baits to impart much more action than with a punch rig or Texas Rig.

“It’s free-flowing, side to side, up and down,” Iaconelli says. “It’s not obstructing the action of the bait.”

Easily customizable, the VMC Tokyo Rig can carry enough weight to punch through a mat of vegetation or just enough weight to get down fast to bass buried in thick grass. To keep weight(s) in place, anglers can simply use narrow-nose pliers to bend back the end of the rig’s rigid, 2 1/2-inch dropper wire. Iaconelli favors two back-to-back VMC Tungsten Worm Weights. They slide in and out of heavy vegetation easily and “tick” when they collide.

“I love to fish this thing as a punch-bait,” Iaconelli says. “That big, heavy weight below the bait is going to act as a ball and chain and it will suck it under that mat. Once it’s under the mat, that bait is free-flowing — something they’ve never seen.”

Iaconelli typically favors flipping a Tokyo Rig and also targeting laydowns, bushes and stumps.

“You can set it in place and shake your rod and that bait will stay off the bottom in one spot, with a tremendous amount of action,” he says.

The VMC Tokyo Rig has increased Iaconelli’s hook-up ratio. He’s confident it will improve the outcome for bass diehards nationwide, too.

“If you want to stay ahead of the curve — if you want a cutting-edge technique — try this punch-shotting technique,” he says. “Grab one of the new VMC Tokyo Rigs and modify it however you want. I guarantee you’re going to present a bait to the fish in a different way and you’re going to catch more bass.”

DICK’S Sporting Goods To Entitle The Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie Of The Year Award

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February 5, 2019

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Feb. 5, 2019

DICK’S Sporting Goods To Entitle The Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie Of The Year Award

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — DICK’S Sporting Goods, the nation’s largest sporting goods retailer, has become the title sponsor of the coveted Bassmaster Rookie of the Year award for 2019.

Only first-time qualifiers for the Bassmaster Elite Series who are new to top-tier competitive bass fishing are eligible to receive the DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year award, which will be presented to the rookie who ranks highest in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race by the end of the season.

DICK’S will award a $500 prize to the points leader in the Rookie of the Year race at the conclusion of each of the nine regular-season Elite Series tournaments, including the season opener — the Bassmaster Elite at the St. Johns River — which gets under way Feb. 7 at Palatka, Fla.

At the end of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship tournament in September, the angler crowned Rookie of the Year will receive $10,000 from DICK’S.

The AOY Championship, to be held at a site to be announced later, also determines the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and 39 of the 53 berths in the 2020 Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

“We’re excited that DICK’S has decided to encourage and reward some of the up-and-coming anglers on the Elite Series by sponsoring Rookie of the Year,” said Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO. “We have one of the strongest fields of rookie anglers ever to qualify for the Elite Series, including 12 standouts in college bass fishing. We expect the ROY race to be intense this year.

“DICK’S has been a presenting sponsor of the Bassmaster Classic, our Classic Expo and many other events and programs over the years, and we appreciate their support for this prestigious award. I know the anglers, along with our fans and members, do, too.”

A total of 18 Elite anglers who qualified through the Bassmaster Opens Series or the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship are deemed rookies. Other newcomers from the Opens have built successful careers with other tournament organizations and now are fulfilling long-held dreams of competing in the Elite Series and, perhaps, qualifying for the ultimate stage in bass fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.

Anglers earn AOY points based on their finishes at each of the 10 stops along the 2019 Elite Series circuit, including the AOY Championship. Points are allocated on the basis of one point per place, in descending order from first place, which is worth 75 points in a full-field event.

Jake Whitaker of Fairview, N.C., the 2018 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year, lists the award as one of the highest honors he’s ever received. An all-conference lineman on his high school’s state championship football team, Whitaker switched to bass fishing when he enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He and his teammate won the 2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Championship in 2014, and he was the 2015 College Classic exhibition tournament champion.

Whitaker said the ROY title has been great for his career and valuable in terms of sponsor support. More than that, however, his quest for the title spurred him to fish to the best of his abilities.

“The rookies who came in last year were really good fishermen. They had proved themselves in the Opens and on other circuits,” he said. “To be ranked the best among those guys was really cool.”

He said the competition for the title this year is just as stiff, adding, “I tell people all the time that there may be some new faces this year, but there’s a lot of guys everyone’s going to know about really soon.”

His rookie year behind him, Whitaker has set his sights even higher. From Rookie of the Year to Angler of the Year? It’s happened before, and Whitaker wants to make it happen again.

The DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year race will be covered in all of B.A.S.S.’s industry-leading media, including Bassmaster LIVE, Bassmaster.com, The Bassmasters TV show, Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times magazines, and its extensive social media network. For more information and to follow the action from the St. Johns River live, visit Bassmaster.com.

The following Elite Series anglers will be competing for the 2019 DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year title:

Quentin Cappo, Prairieville, La.
Gary Clouse, Winchester, Tenn.
Drew Cook*, Midway, Fla.
Rob Digh, Denver, N.C.
Greg DiPalma, Millville, N.J.
Dale Hightower, Mannford, Okla.
Harvey Horne, Bella Vista, Ark.
Derek Hudnall, Baton Route, La.
Mike Huff*, Corbin, Ky.
Lee Livesay, Longview, Texas
Ed Loughran III, Richmond, Va.
Luke Palmer, Coalgate, Okla.
Garrett Paquette*, Canton, Mich.
Randy Pierson, Oakdale, Calif.
Tyler Rivet*, Raceland, La.
Frank Talley, Temple, Texas
Patrick Walters*, Summerville, S.C.
Brad Whatley, Bivins, Texas
(*Former Bassmaster College Series angler)

Project Z: A Day on the Water with Mark Daniels Jr.

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February 5, 2019

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Project Z: A Day on the Water with Mark Daniels Jr.

Ladson, SC (February 5, 2019) – “I’m not exactly an inside the office type of guy,” says a grinning Mark Daniels Jr., between flips of an ElaZtech worm . . .

A Z-Man Fishing TV exclusive, Project Z: ProFileZ takes you on the water with the folks who count on Z-Man Fishing Products daily as tournament anglers, guides, and industry professionals. Take a trip to our ProZ’ home waters to learn their stories and how they’ve ended up where they are today—as well as why they rely on Z-Man baits day after.

In this episode, you’ll hop in the boat with MLF Bass Pro Tour angler Mark Daniels as he breaks down a shallow, prespawn pattern on his home water, Lake Eufaula, Alabama. Tag along as Daniels talks family, fishing and his old West Coast stomping grounds.

How To Fish A Rip Bait (Jerkbait) – MTB

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February 4, 2019

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How To Fish A Rip Bait (Jerkbait)

Some anglers call it a rip bait. Some call it a jerkbait or a stickbait or a minnow bait.

I mainly use a rip bait during the winter for lethargic suspending bass, but I am not ripping the bait as its name implies. Bass during this time want a slow-moving, easy meal so instead of ripping the bait with hard jerks of my rod I twitch my rod a couple of times to make the lure slightly quiver forward and then I pause the retrieve. This presentation imitates a dying baitfish that a bass can engulf easily.

Fishing A Rip Bait For Largemouth

As the water warms in early spring, I employ a more aggressive retrieve with my rip bait. Bass are more active and have moved shallower in the warming waters, so the fish are more willing to bite a faster moving bait then. I attract their attention by selecting rip baits in chrome colors, which generate a lot of flash when I rip the lure. Now I rip the bait with two or three hard jerks of my rod followed by a one- to two-second pause. Strikes usually occur as the lure sits still or when it starts moving again after the pause.

The ripping retrieve has also produced for me when fishing for largemouth bass in the fall either around boat docks or weed beds. I cast the rip bait along the side of a dock or edge of the weeds and constantly rip it with hard jerks of my rod. Hold on tight to your rod when using this retrieve because a bass strikes the lure so hard it can knock the rod out of your hands.

Throwing A Rip Bait For Smallmouth

I have noticed the ripping technique is especially effective on Northern smallmouth bass when the fish are suspended and scattered. While fishing one day with touring pro Dave Lefebre on his home waters of Presque Isle Bay at Lake Erie we caught countless prespawn smallmouth bass on rip baits. The bass were moving into the bay from the lake in search of spawning areas.

We jerked the rip baits in about the same manner as you would set the hook on a Texas-rigged plastic worm bite. The only difference in the jerking movement was that we kept our rods pointed downward while ripping the bait rather than using the overhead hooksetting motion.

Jordan Lee Grabs Inaugural MLF Bass Pro Tour Title with Third-Period Flurry on Garcia Reservoir

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February 4, 2019

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Jordan Lee Grabs Inaugural MLF Bass Pro Tour Title with Third-Period Flurry on Garcia Reservoir

Jordan Lee shows off the 3-plus-pounder that sealed the deal on Lake Garcia.

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Lee finished the day with 55-1 on 26 to Evers’ 44-3 and Lintner’s 33-9 to win B & W Trailer Hitches Stage One presented By Power-Pole.

“(The third period) was an unbelievable period,” Lee said. “I fished my way into that last area and got bite after bite after bite – and caught good ones, too – and just found myself in a spot with clear water and a lot of fish. Fish were moving in to spawn, so there were bigger fish in there. Edwin was coming on strong right there at the end, it feels pretty darn good.”

Evers did his best to overtake Lee. The Oklahoma pro matched Lee fish-for-fish in the final 2 ½ hours of competition – Evers and Lee both caught 16 fish – but couldn’t match Lee’s quality. Only three of Evers’ fish in the period were over 2 pounds, while 11 of Lee’s were between 2-4 and 4-11.

“I had the bites today, I just wasn’t on the right fish,” Evers said. “It was that simple. I thought I’d find a few bigger ones, but I never could get on bigger ones consistently.”

Lintner looked like he might be the man to beat until Lee and Evers put the hammer down in the final period. The Southern California pro put back-to-back fish of 4-1 and 3-15 on SCORETRACKER late in Period 1 flipping a 3-inch hand-poured black/blue/silver-flake craw, and then took the lead just before the end of Period 2 with the Berkley Big Bass of the day, a 5-5.

His flipping bite faltered in the final period, though. Lintner landed six scorable fish in the final 2 ½ hours, all but one of them between 1-3 and 1-7.

The battle for fourth through seventh was the tightest grouping of the day. Anthony Gagliardi finished fourth with 24-5, trailed by Alton Jones, Jr., (23-3), Randy Howell (22-2) and Michael Neal (21-8). Jess Sprague (18-9), Dustin Connell (14-12) and Takahiro Omori (12-11) finished out the Championship Rounds standings.

Up Next: Conroe here we come

Stage Two of the MLF Bass Pro Tour kicks off Feb. 12-17 in Conroe, Texas, where the 80-angler field will compete on Lake Conroe. This 21,000-acre impoundment of the San Jacinto River north of Houston hosted the 2017 Bassmaster Classic (won by Jordan Lee) and the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (MLF angler Dave Lefebre won the 2009 TTBC there), and is one of Texas’ most prolific producers of trophy-sized largemouth.

MLF Bass Pro Tour set for Championship Sunday on Garcia Reservoir

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February 3, 2019

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Dustin Connell’s 9-pounder lead him to a Knockout Round win.

MLF Bass Pro Tour set for Championship Sunday on Garcia Reservoir

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KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 2, 2019) – Major championships are usually played on championship venues. For the first-ever Championship Round of the MLF Bass Pro Tour, that’s exactly what the Top 10 will get Sunday when action shifts away from the Kissimmee Chain and onto Ansin Garcia Reservoir.

The B & W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented By Power-Pole moves an hour southeast of Kissimmee on Sunday to Garcia, a 3,100-acre flooded former farm site located in Blue Cypress Management Area near the town of Fellsmere. It’s a fishery that MLF fans will recognize: Garcia served as competition waters for the Shotgun Rounds of the 2018 General Tire World Championship won by Greg Hackney.

And while Hackney won’t be participating in the Bass Pro Tour’s first Championship Sunday, two of the 10 anglers vying for the championship trophy and $100,000 payday will be: Takahiro Omori, who finished third in the Knockout Round with 40-9, and Edwin Evers, who finished eighth with 31-9.

Whether that previous experience on Garcia gives Omori and Evers an advantage over the rest of the Championship 10 – Dustin Connell, Jeff Sprague, Randy Howell, Alton Jones, Jr., Jordan Lee, Anthony Gagliardi, Jared Lintner and Michael Neal – remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: all 10 anglers fishing on Sunday are hoping that the move further south and closer to the ocean will put them on a fishery that’s farther along in the pre-spawn than the Kissimmee Chain.

According to MLF NOW! analyst JT Kenney, who lives 45 minutes away from Garcia in Palm Bay, there’s a good chance that’ll happen.

“It’s only an hour away, but the climate (at Garcia) is significantly different – the lows at night are maybe 10 degrees warmer than Kissimmee,” Kenney said. “The water temperature at Garcia should be in the mid-60s, and everything should be further along than Toho and Kissimmee. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit it right. If we do, you’ll see some Florida studs: there are some big fish in that lake.”

Brett Hite’s 9-13 from the Knockout Round. (Click to enlarge/download)

Florida’s TrophyCatch program information supports that claim: multiple fish over 8 pounds have been recorded there, and Kenney himself landed a 10 there last fall.

Connell on a roll

If anybody has momentum going into the championship, it’s Connell. Roughly 24 hours after manufacturing a furious afternoon rally to climb into the Knockout Round, the Alabama pro caught fire in the third period again, piling up eight fish for 38-5 in a 42-minute period on a 10-inch plum Googan Baits Mondo Worm to claim the Phoenix Boats Daily Leader award with 49-10.

“Momentum is a real thing in fishing, but it all goes down to confidence,” Connell said. “If you’re fishing with confidence, your decisions are better than when you’re behind the 8 ball. You’re not going to fish the same if you’re down and out, and I got on a pretty good roll today. I feel good about how I’m fishing right now.”

Last-minute bites change Top 10

As was the case the previous two days in the two Elimination Rounds, today’s Knockout Round finished with a head-to-head battle for the final spot in the next round.

As time wound down from the 10-minute mark, Bobby Lane, Mike Iaconelli, Michael Neal and Jared Lintner went fish-for-fish-for-fish. Iaconelli caught a 1-8 with nine minutes left to push Lane out of the Top 10, only to have Neal catch a 2-0 with five minutes left and Lintner hook a 2-10 with 10 seconds left.

Lintner’s fish didn’t register on SCORETRACKER until 2 minutes after the official end of the period, but it was legally hooked and landed before lines out, propelling the Southern California pro to ninth place and eliminating Iaconelli.

“Dude, that’s just the craziest thing I’ve ever seen” Lintner said. “My official told me ‘I’m going to give you a countdown to 10’ and then took a breath to start counting, and I hooked that fish. I surfed that thing in faster than I’ve ever landed a fish in my life.”

When, how to watch

Live, official scoring via SCORETRACKER begins Sunday with lines in at 7:30 a.m. EST. The MLF NOW! live stream begins coverage of Championship Sunday at 10 a.m. continuing through the day until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show starts at 5 p.m.

All of the above can be viewed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app on your smart device.

Postgame, Midway at Big Toho Marina

The MLF Midway and Postgame Show Presented by Berkley will remain at Big Toho Marina in Kissimmee. The Midway is open from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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