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Wheeler Earns Seventh Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour Victory at Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

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February 25, 2024

Wheeler Earns Seventh Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour Victory at Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

Two-Time Fishing Clash Angler of the Year catches 15 bass totaling 47-4 to earn $100,000 top prize and extend BPT career wins record with seventh career victory

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. (Feb. 25, 2024) – During the final period of the final day of Suzuki Stage Two Presented by Fenwick, the Santee Cooper lakes that had churned out chunky bass all week simply shut down. At one point, the 10 pros duking it out during the Championship Round went 45 minutes without boating a scorable bass. They combined to catch just 18 fish, none breaking the 4-pound mark, during the final frame.

The one angler who managed to manufacture consistent action – Rapala pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee. Wheeler accounted for five of those bass, which combined to weigh 14 pounds, 2 ounces. That boosted his final-day total to 47-4, lifting him past Suzuki pro Dean Rojas of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, by 5 pounds for his seventh career Bass Pro Tour victory.

Link to HD Video – Fish-Catch Highlights of Championship Round on Santee Cooper
Link to Photo Gallery of Jacob Wheeler Trophy Presentation
Link to Photo Gallery of Championship Round On-The-Water Highlights on Santee Cooper

Bucking conventional Santee Cooper tactics by fishing offshore with a jighead minnow, Wheeler did what he’s done for the past six years, seemingly willing bites into existence. He started the third period 2-8 back of Rojas but promptly took the lead with a 3-12 largemouth. A little more than an hour later, with everyone else at a standstill, he boated three fish over 2-pounds in about 10 minutes. After Rojas closed within 2-6 in the final 30 minutes, Wheeler ran across Lake Marion to hit one more spot, where he added a 2-10 to all but seal the victory.

“I stuck to my game plan this whole week, and I stayed out offshore and I tried to fish isolated stuff,” Wheeler said. “It really came down to just keeping my head down and keeping my rotation going. I tried to make other tactics work, but those last two periods really came down to throwing that Freeloader, locking it in my hand. I’ve got so much confidence in it; I know it’s going to generate the bites if they are going to bite at all.”

Both Wheeler and Rojas, who pulled away from the rest of the pack Sunday, largely ignored the fishery’s innumerable cypress trees, with Wheeler fishing offshore and Rojas skipping boat docks.

Wheeler said he had 30 to 40 spots that he cycled through during the event, mostly located in the middle and lower sections of Lake Marion. He primarily targeted brushpiles but also found a few productive locations that featured stumps or hard spots on the bottom.

“I didn’t feel like it was the winning pattern,” Wheeler said. “But I basically was able to find enough stuff that I could keep to myself and rotate on myself and really manage that it ended up being that way. And it was a combination of the right bait, the right area, the right stuff.”

While most of the field focused on cypress trees or submerged vegetation, Wheeler wasn’t the only angler in the Championship Round fishing offshore. Justin Lucas stacked up 42-6 on six bass doing virtually the same thing during the Knockout Round.

What separated Wheeler was his ability to generate strikes amid the tough, postfrontal conditions that greeted the field on Sunday.

His final-period flurry will likely be remembered as the winning moment, but surviving the first period might have been more important for Wheeler. The morning brought chilly, windy conditions that made fishing offshore difficult. Seeing that fish were tucked tighter to the bottom, Wheeler pulled out a jig and used it to catch his first bass of the day, a 5-10. Without that fish, his biggest of the day, he would’ve fallen 10 ounces shy of Rojas’ total.

“I just felt like the fish were on the bottom,” he said. “When the wind blows, a lot of times, those fish will suck down to the bottom. Basically, all I was using ActiveTarget for then was just making the right casts.”

As the wind died down and the water warmed, Wheeler turned to the Rapala CrushCity Freeloader, a soft-plastic, pintail minnow of his own design. The Freeloader has become a confidence bait for Wheeler — no surprise considering he’d already won one Bass Pro Tour event, 2023 Stage Four on Lake Guntersville, with it.
He came into the week unsure whether it would be effective in Santee Cooper’s shallow, off-color water. But as the event progressed, he found that bass that would eat a jerkbait earlier in the week could still be enticed by a Freeloader — even Sunday afternoon, when no one else in the field could get bit consistently.

“The water’s starting to clean up a little bit, the fish were definitely really fickle,” he said. “When the water was a little bit dirtier, you could catch ‘em on a spinnerbait, you could catch ‘em on a jerkbait; it was a lot better. And then as the water slowly cleared, it became a deal where I had to change up. And that was the key.”

Wheeler’s latest triumph adds to an already sterling Bass Pro Tour resume. He’s now amassed seven wins and 29 Top-10 finishes in his first 43 BPT events — both easily the most among his peers on tour. He’s already claimed two Fishing Clash Angler of the Year titles and is back in the driver’s seat to add a third.

So, has all that success gotten old yet? Not a chance.

“My little girl, she’s sort of like me, she always likes to win,” Wheeler said with a laugh. “And she told me, ‘Daddy, you don’t let (roommates) DC and Adrian win this week. You’ve got to bring home the trophy.’ So, we’re bringing home the trophy, darling.”

The top 10 pros from the Suzuki Stage Two Presented by Fenwick at Santee Cooper Lakes finished:

1st:        Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 47-4, $100,000
2nd:      Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 17 bass, 42-4, $45,000
3rd:       Jesse Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., nine bass, 29-14, $38,000
4th:        Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., four bass, 19-10, $32,000
5th:        Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 18-12, $30,000
6th:        Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., six bass, 16-8, $26,000
7th:        Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., five bass, 15-5, $23,000
8th:        Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 11-5, $21,000
9th:        James Watson, Lampe, Mo., three bass, 7-13, $19,000
10th:     Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala, one bass, 4-8, $16,000

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 70 bass weighing 213 pounds, 3 ounces caught by the final 10 pros Sunday. The catch included four 5-pounders, one 6-pounder, and one 8-pounder.

Reigning Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tennessee, won Championship Sunday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, with a largemouth totaling 8 pounds even in the first period. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament. Pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, earned the $3,000 Berkley Big Bass award for the overall largest bass of the event with his 9-pound, 11-ounce largemouth that was weighed on Day 4 of competition.

The Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes Presented by Fenwick featured the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers caught as much weight as they could each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament featured anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, showcased 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2025 championship.

Bass Pro Tour anglers also compete throughout the 2024 season for the prestigious Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) award and its $100,000 payday. After two events in the 2024 season, Jacob Wheeler leads the AOY race with 157 points. Jesse Wiggins of Addison, Alabama, moved into second place with 150 points, while defending AOY Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tennessee, sits in third, two points back of Wiggins with 148 points.

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

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota and U.S. Air Force.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

Fujita’s furious comeback leads to Bassmaster Elite Series victory at Toledo Bend

Brian Carter

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February 25, 2024

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Fujita’s furious comeback leads to Bassmaster Elite Series victory at Toledo Bend

Japan’s Kyoya Fujita has won the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend with a four-day total of 100 pounds, 13 ounces.

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

February 25, 2024

Fujita’s furious comeback leads to Bassmaster Elite Series victory at Toledo Bend

MANY, La. — Kyoya Fujita’s ultimate goal for 2024 is to win the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year award.

Winning the first tournament of the season is certainly an impressive way to start that campaign.

With 100 pounds, 13 ounces, Fujita claimed the victory at the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend. Along with the coveted century belt — an exclusive award given only to those who catch at least 100 pounds of bass in a four-day event — the Elite Series sophomore earned the $100,000 top prize and a blue trophy.

“I was surprised,” Fujita said with the assistance of a translator. “I am looking to make every Championship Sunday this season. But winning tournaments are really hard things to do. I have been champion in Japan, but I know how hard it is to do. I’m happy with how it worked out. It’s a very good start.”

Entering the day 6 pounds behind Wisconsin pro Pat Schlapper, Fujita made a furious comeback in the final round by catching 28-13 — a bag almost entirely made up of 6-pounders and a total he wasn’t expecting after struggling the previous day.

“I thought there was a chance for me to win if Pat caught only 16 or 17 pounds and I could catch 22 or 23 pounds,” Fujita said. “If I can locate the bass, I am confident I can catch those bass. In my brain, my tactics, my fishing and my heart, I believe in myself.”

This win only adds reinforces his hard-earned nickname “Prince of Japanese Angling.” This is Fujita’s second Elite Series title in 10 events, with the first coming at Lake Champlain last August. Before coming to America, he won four Angler of the Year titles in Japan as well as six major tournaments.

Most of the week, Fujita stayed in one offshore spot in the mouth of Housen Bay and targeted prespawn bass suspended in deep standing timber. As the fishing pressure from Elite anglers and locals began to build, the bite began to suffer.

When that spot began to fizzle on Day 3, he moved to the creek right above Housen and caught suspended bass in 10 feet of water using his forward-facing sonar in the mouth of that creek. That spot produced multiple 6-pounders the final two days, several of which he believed to be postspawners.

“I practiced there and found some 3-pounders, but nothing special,” he said. “I think because of the wind situation (on Day 4), the bass came up there.”

In both areas, Fujita used a Jackall Drift Fry and a Deps Sakamata Shad and rigged them on either a 1/8-ounce or 3/16-ounce Keitech Super Round Jighead. When he located a bass on Garmin LiveScope, he would cast to it and then lightly shake the bait in front of the bass until it bit.

He rigged both baits on a 6-foot, 5-inch medium-light Daiwa Steez Real Control spinning rod paired with a Daiwa Exist reel which he spooled with 30-pound Daiwa braid main line and 16-pound fluorocarbon leader.

Fujita took the lead on Day 1 by catching 31-3 — a five-bass limit that earned him $2,000 for as the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament. He fell to second after a Day 2 bag of 24-3 and then to third after catching 16-10 on Day 3.

During his Day 3 struggles, however, Fujita caught a late 6-pounder that pointed him in the right direction for Championship Sunday.

Fujita returned to his primary spot to open the final round — and while there weren’t many bass left in the area, he started the morning by landing a 6- and 5-pounder in the first two hours. He caught two more keepers in that area, but he could not manufacture another bite.

“I caught four nice ones at the first main area,” Fujita said. “There weren’t many bass this morning either, but there were less boats. Nobody was fishing around me. So, I was able to see them. When I saw the four big fish, I caught all of them. I didn’t fish for the smaller ones. After I caught those four, I didn’t see anything.”

After mid-morning, Fujita made a move to his secondary spot and landed another 6-pounder to fill his limit. His day only got better from there as he landed several more 6-pounders in the last three hours to seal his victory.

South Carolina pro Patrick Walters caught 29-0, the biggest bag of the final day, to jump into second place with a four-day total of 95-15. He anchored his big Sunday bag with an 8-4 largemouth that claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors.

Walters opened the tournament with 19-11 before bringing 30-5 and 16-5 to the scales on Days 2 and 3. While a good start to his season, he had mixed feelings about the way the final day unfolded.

“It started out slow,” he said. “It took all day long. I caught my biggest one on my last cast. It was one here and one there and it took forever. But I had the bites to crack the biggest bag I’ve ever had in my life. I lost two hammers — two absolute giants — and a 4-pounder. I’m happy with the start, though.”

Using forward-facing sonar, Walters focused on a major creek channel and searched for bass in a wide area. The key was keeping the trolling motor down and covering water until he saw something he liked. A 3/16-ounce Damiki rig with a Fluke-style bait and a Neko-rigged Zoom Magnum Swamp Crawler were his key baits.

“I wouldn’t pick my trolling motor up for 5 miles,” Walters said. “I would follow the creek channel and then move to the flat. I would move to wherever I thought they were going.”

Entering the final day with the lead, Schlapper fell to third with a four-day total of 93-8 after landing just 14-14 on Sunday. The Wisconsin pro had three great days, landing 27-4 on Day 1 before adding 28-5 and 22-7 the next two days.

“I knew I was in trouble when I didn’t catch a couple good ones early,” he said. “It is what it is. I ran out of bass and didn’t adjust.”

Schlapper spent most of his time this week fishing the deep edge of a grass flat in Housen Bay. The majority of the bass he caught this week were roaming between 10 and 30 feet of water. While he combed a large area, Schlapper keyed on one particular sweet spot that produced multiple big bites each of the first three days.

“There was a drain that went in, a little gap they were funneling into,” he said. “The majority of the big ones I caught were within a 100 yards of the mouth of that drain. I think those bass were either in the grass or timber and would come out to that edge and sun themselves. All of the big ones I caught were up high in the water column, like 10 feet down.”

He caught almost every bass this week using a Damiki rig with a Queen Tackle tungsten jighead and a minnow-style bait. Garmin LiveScope was an important contributor as well.

Schlapper said he did not see nearly as many bass as he’d seen the previous three days. The quality bass he did see on his forward-facing sonar did not bite. With a small limit and time running out, he punted and moved to a shallow grass flat and caught several nice bass with a bladed jig to salvage the day.

Fujita took the early lead in the Angler of the Year standings with 103 points, followed by Walters in second with 102. Schlapper is third with 101 points, followed by Tennessee rookie Robert Gee in fourth with 100 and Texas rookie Ben Milliken in fifth with 99.

Gee and Milliken sit atop the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year standings, followed by Alabama’s Wesley Gore in third with 93 points, Trey McKinney of Illinois in fourth with 92 and Maine’s Tyler Williams in fifth with 85.

South Carolina’s Bryan New earned a total of $3,000 for catching the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament, a 9-8 largemouth he landed on Day 1.

Virginia pro Ed Loughran III took home the $1,000 BassTrakk contingency bonus for most accurate weight recording this week.

Fujita earned an extra $4,000 for the Yamaha Power Pay contingency award while Walters earned a $2,500 bonus.

Oklahoma pro Luke Palmer earned $3,000 in Toyota Bonus Bucks, while rookie McKinney earned $2,000 in Bonus Bucks.

The event was hosted by Toledo Bend Lake Country and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

2024 Elite #1 Toledo Bend Reservoir 2/22-2/25
Toledo Bend Reservoir, Many LA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4

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

1. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 20 100-13 103 $103,000.00
Day 1: 5 31-03 Day 2: 5 24-03 Day 3: 5 16-10 Day 4: 5 28-13
2. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 20 95-15 102 $36,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 30-05 Day 3: 5 16-15 Day 4: 5 29-00
3. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 20 93-08 101 $30,000.00
Day 1: 5 27-04 Day 2: 5 28-05 Day 3: 5 22-07 Day 4: 5 15-08
4. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 20 90-05 100 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 29-00 Day 2: 5 22-10 Day 3: 5 17-13 Day 4: 5 20-14
5. Ben Milliken New Caney, TX 20 89-11 99 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-09 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 26-13 Day 4: 5 22-05
6. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 20 86-04 98 $19,000.00
Day 1: 5 25-01 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 22-15 Day 4: 5 18-02
7. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 20 79-14 97 $19,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 26-08 Day 3: 5 18-01 Day 4: 5 16-06
8. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 20 76-14 96 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-01 Day 3: 5 24-09 Day 4: 5 16-00
9. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 20 75-08 95 $16,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-12 Day 2: 5 23-14 Day 3: 5 14-02 Day 4: 5 14-12
10. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 20 73-08 94 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-14 Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 19-10 Day 4: 5 12-03
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan New Leesville, SC 09-08 $1,000.00
2 Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA09-03 $1,000.00
3 Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 07-15 $1,000.00
4 Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 08-04 $1,000.00

———————————————————————–
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Bryan New Leesville, SC 09-08 $2,000.00
CRUSHCITY MONSTER BAG

Kyoya Fujita Lake Forest, CA 31-03 $2,000.00

———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 96 501 1726-01
2 88 484 1602-02
3 48 248 833-06
4 10 50 193-15
———————————-
242 1283 4355-08

Chad Green & Johnny Martin Win Region 4 TBF Open on SML with 29.84lbs

Brian Carter

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February 25, 2024

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Chad Green & Johnny Martin Win Region 4 TBF Open on SML with 29.84lbs

🎣💻🌊Unveiling the Tech Revolution in Professional Bass Fishing: Navigating the Depths 🐟⚡️

Brian Carter

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February 25, 2024

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🎣💻🌊Unveiling the Tech Revolution in Professional Bass Fishing: Navigating the Depths 🐟⚡️

As I sit here, enthralled by the captivating Bassmaster Elite event unfolding on Toledo Bend Lake, something truly remarkable catches my eye – the successful capture of beautiful bass in the deep waters, all thanks to the incredible forward-facing sonar technology. This topic has been buzzing loudly during the off-season, and it is safe to say that it is here to stay, regardless of the opinions voiced by influential figures such as top YouTubers and podcasters. 🌟🗣️

Now, an important question arises: if we are going to spend our time watching the anglers’ backs all day, shouldn’t we also get the opportunity to watch their screens? Admittedly, the Elite series has generously provided glimpses into the anglers’ screens, but should this become a universal offering for the final two days of the event? It is a crucial consideration as these top anglers, who have previously taught us the art of fishing, can now guide us in mastering the use of advanced electronics, which have become almost mandatory for winning a major fishing event. 📺🔍🏆

Welcome to the new world of professional fishing, where the rules of the game have changed significantly. In the past, these skilled anglers were revered for their ability to teach us the intricacies of fishing. However, with the advent of advanced electronics, it has become clear that success in the sport now heavily relies on the skillful use of technology. Investing in these electronic devices comes at a high cost, both financially and strategically. Yet, they have become indispensable tools for any angler who aspires to claim victory on the grandest stages. 💡💰🎣

Let us extend our warm embrace to this new era of professional fishing. No longer can we solely rely on our instincts and a stroke of luck. Instead, we must wholeheartedly embrace the symphony of cutting-edge screens, state-of-the-art sonar technology, and the exhilarating pursuit that defines this underwater chess match. Just as dancers skillfully move to the rhythm of a melodious composition, anglers now harness the power of electronic devices to sway in perfect harmony with the elusive bass. ⛵🌊🎶

Moreover, let us not forget the essential role of chiropractors in this brave new world. The physical toll of extended hours on the water, the strain of intense concentration, and the demands placed on the anglers’ bodies cannot be overlooked. In supporting the well-being of these valiant competitors, the healing hands of chiropractors will play a crucial role. Together, we can ensure that they continue to grace us with their breathtaking performances, free from the burdens that their craft places upon them. 🌿💆‍♂️👐

The enchanting spectacle unfolding on my screen fills me with admiration and excitement. What was once a simple pastime has transformed into a convergence of art, science, and the unyielding human spirit. Therefore, my dear readers, I encourage you to dive headfirst into this world of discovery and innovation. Allow the currents of professional fishing to carry you to unprecedented heights, where the artistry of the angler and the prowess of technology unite in perfect harmony. 🌟🎣🔥

Schlapper increases lead on Day 3 of Bassmaster Elite Series 2024 opener at Toledo Bend

Brian Carter

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February 24, 2024

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Schlapper increases lead on Day 3 of Bassmaster Elite Series 2024 opener at Toledo Bend

Wisconsin’s Pat Schlapper maintains the lead on Day 3 of the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend with a total of 78 pounds.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

February 24, 2024

Schlapper increases lead on Day 3 of Bassmaster Elite Series 2024 opener at Toledo Bend

MANY, La. — Before this week, Pat Schlapper had never led a day of Bassmaster Elite Series competition. The Wisconsin pro has now led two-straight days of the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend and will hold the pole position heading into Championship Sunday with a three-day total of 78 pounds.

Schlapper caught 22 pounds, 7 ounces on Day 3 to add to his 27-4 and 28-5 marks from the first two days. Japanese pro Kyoya Fujita follows in second with 72-0 and Tennessee rookie Robert Gee is third with 69-7.

“I’m very thankful to have the bag I got. I worked hard for it. I’m happy to be in the position to have a chance,” Schlapper said. “It feels really good. I want to win so badly. It is so hard to get into a position to win.

“Last year, I had one opportunity on Seminole and I had a bad first day. So, I’m trying to concentrate and fish to the best of my ability and win. That is all that’s in my mind.”

Throughout the week, Schlapper has targeted bass roaming offshore on a warming Toledo Bend using his Garmin LiveScope, with one particular spot producing the bulk of his weight. He found that spot during his pre-fishing trip last month and then dialed in an exact pattern during practice this week.

The majority of his bass have been caught on one bait in 15 to 30 feet of water.

“Where I am at, a lot of fish are just passing through there,” he said. “So, every day I see new fish. I don’t think I’ve casted at the same fish in three days. They are constantly moving around, or they’re buried in the grass and then come out.”

Each day has gotten tougher for Schlapper. Not only has the amount of local pressure increased in the area, the bass are also in transition as sunny skies and air temperatures over 70 degrees in the afternoons have warmed the waters.

As the tournament has progressed, though, he has put more pressure on his best area.

“I’ve had a sweet spot the whole time, but I didn’t want people to know exactly where it was,” he said. “But today I had to really saturate it. There were so many high school anglers and competitors out there. I had to hang out there today, which paid off because I got two big ones.

“The majority of my big ones have been in that couple-100-yard area.”

By milking that sweet spot, Schlapper was able to generate bites early on Semifinal Saturday. He filled his limit and caught his two biggest bass, including a 6-pounder, before 9 a.m. From there, the bite slowed tremendously as the fishing pressure increased.

“It started out decent,” Schlapper said. “I was able to get a couple good ones pretty early and secure a decent limit to where I knew I was going to make the cut. From there, I picked one up here and there. I got one key cull at the end of the day and lost a really big one.”

With the idea that new bass are moving through every day, Schlapper will be all in on his primary area on the final day. He has other spots where he feels he can catch a bass, but none that have produced as many big bites.

Although he has a sizable lead, the three-time qualifier for the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors feels he needs 25 pounds to secure his first Elite Series victory.

“If that area doesn’t produce, we are going to be hurting,” Schlapper said. “I’m 100% committed and I knew that coming into the tournament. I didn’t want any other thought in my mind. If I’m going to win this tournament, this is what I have to do.”

After leading on Day 1 with 31-3 — the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament to this point — Fujita caught 24-3 on Day 2 before stumbling Saturday with 16-10. Most of the week, the four-time Japanese Angler of the Year has targeted one area of standing timber. He has caught the majority of his bass on a Jackall Drift Fry using after identifying them on Garmin LiveScope.

On Saturday, Fujita returned to his primary spot but did not see the numbers of bass he had witnessed the first two days. The colder morning, along with an increase in fishing pressure around him, contributed to this tough day.

“Changes in lake condition (also). I find many fish in practice. But today, no fish,” he said. “I went to same area, many boat area, in the morning.”

At 10 a.m., Fujita began searching for new bass and slowly worked his way to a limit. His final bass of the day was a 6-pounder, which came from an offshore area he found during his practice period.

“I hit 10 spots today, but no fish,” he said. “In the afternoon, I catch a 6-pounder in a new area. Six-pounder spot, (I will) try tomorrow.”

With a big deficit to overcome, Fujita believes he needs a minimum of 25 pounds to have a shot at his second Elite Series title.

In his first-ever Elite event, Gee qualified for Championship Sunday with bags of 29-0, 22-10 and 17-13. He has bounced back and forth between offshore areas this week, using a Crock-O-Gator Slide Shad.

“It is wild. I never expected to make (the final day),” he said. “I had a gut feeling I might have a good tournament because before I got down here, everything that could go wrong was going wrong. My trailer messed up on the way down here and I had to fix it for four hours on the side of the highway. But it happened for me (on the water) this week. I hope I have one more blessed day.

“Hopefully I can bring in 30 pounds tomorrow. That would be cool.”

Day 3 started well for Gee as he caught a limit in the first 45 minutes. From there, Gee went through his rotation of six or seven areas, but only found bass in two or three of them.

“They are definitely leaving where I am fishing,” he said. “I am going to have to make a change,” he said. “It was a pretty tough day, especially this evening. I didn’t see very many and they were hard to hit.”

With bass leaving his areas, and water temperatures over 60 degrees in places, Gee believes he will have to move shallow at some point Sunday to have a shot at victory. He has an idea of where the bass he was targeting early in the week are going next.

Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a 7-15 largemouth. But South Carolina pro Bryan New still holds the lead in the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament with the 9-8 largemouth he landed on Day 1.

The Top 10 remaining anglers will launch from Cypress Bend Park beginning at 7 a.m. CT Sunday and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The winner will earn a coveted blue trophy and the $100,000 top prize. All anglers are earning points toward the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.

Bassmaster LIVE will be available on FS1 on Sunday from 7-10 a.m. CT before moving to Bassmaster.com for the afternoon session.

Those wanting to attend will be able to enjoy the “B.A.S.S. on the ’Bend” festival on Sunday at Cypress Bend Park before weigh-in. The festival will feature live music and many local vendors.

The event is being hosted by Toledo Bend Lake Country and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

2024 Elite #1 Toledo Bend Reservoir 2/22-2/25
Toledo Bend Reservoir, Many LA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3

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

1. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 15 78-00 103
Day 1: 5 27-04 Day 2: 5 28-05 Day 3: 5 22-07
2. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 15 72-00 102
Day 1: 5 31-03 Day 2: 5 24-03 Day 3: 5 16-10
3. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 15 69-07 101
Day 1: 5 29-00 Day 2: 5 22-10 Day 3: 5 17-13
4. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 15 68-02 100
Day 1: 5 25-01 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 22-15
5. Ben Milliken New Caney, TX 15 67-06 99
Day 1: 5 22-09 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 26-13
6. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 15 66-15 98
Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 30-05 Day 3: 5 16-15
7. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 15 63-08 97 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 26-08 Day 3: 5 18-01
8. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 15 61-05 96
Day 1: 5 21-14 Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 5 19-10
9. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 15 60-14 95
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-01 Day 3: 5 24-09
10. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 15 60-12 94
Day 1: 5 22-12 Day 2: 5 23-14 Day 3: 5 14-02
11. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 15 60-05 93 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-08 Day 2: 5 14-07 Day 3: 5 23-06
12. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 15 60-01 92 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-14 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 19-01
13. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 15 59-04 91 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 18-02 Day 3: 5 21-07
14. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 15 58-09 90 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-05 Day 2: 5 21-08 Day 3: 5 16-12
15. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 15 58-02 89 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 24-00 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 14-11
16. Bryan New Leesville, SC 15 57-10 88 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 18-06 Day 3: 5 17-03
17. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 15 57-07 87 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-06 Day 2: 5 13-05 Day 3: 5 21-12
18. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 15 56-02 86 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 18-08 Day 3: 5 16-09
19. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 15 55-15 85 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 17-07 Day 3: 5 18-04
20. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 15 55-02 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-10 Day 2: 5 20-10 Day 3: 5 12-14
21. Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 15 54-05 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-09 Day 2: 5 17-04 Day 3: 5 15-08
22. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 15 54-03 82 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 21-15 Day 3: 5 13-13
23. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 15 54-03 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-00 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 5 18-02
24. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 15 54-01 80 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 21-01 Day 3: 5 16-13
25. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 15 53-06 79 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 18-07
26. Cody Huff Ava, MO 15 53-04 78 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 23-09 Day 2: 5 11-14 Day 3: 5 17-13
27. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 15 53-02 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 19-01 Day 3: 5 19-01
28. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 15 53-00 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 16-04 Day 3: 5 18-12
29. Derek Hudnall Zachary, LA 14 52-14 75 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 20-06 Day 3: 4 20-03
30. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 15 52-14 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 16-06 Day 3: 5 16-09
31. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 14 52-08 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 4 14-08 Day 3: 5 17-00
32. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 15 52-05 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 20-12 Day 3: 5 15-14
33. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 15 51-12 71 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 23-07 Day 2: 5 10-09 Day 3: 5 17-12
34. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 15 51-05 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 5 21-05 Day 3: 5 16-14
35. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 15 51-01 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-02 Day 2: 5 22-12 Day 3: 5 10-03
36. Timothy Dube Nashua , NH 13 50-04 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 3 10-15 Day 2: 5 21-11 Day 3: 5 17-10
37. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 15 50-03 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 13-09
38. John Soukup Sapulpa, OK 15 49-15 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 23-12 Day 3: 5 11-12
39. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 49-13 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 16-06
40. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 15 49-13 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 13-10
41. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 15 48-12 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-08 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 5 12-08
42. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 15 48-01 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 19-14 Day 3: 5 13-15
43. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 15 47-09 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 17-03 Day 3: 5 13-13
44. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 15 46-15 60 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 21-02 Day 2: 5 13-07 Day 3: 5 12-06
45. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 15 46-14 59 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 16-12 Day 3: 5 13-11
46. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 15 46-11 58 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 19-03 Day 3: 5 11-11
47. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 15 46-05 57 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 21-10 Day 3: 5 12-10
48. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 15 45-10 56 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 13-10 Day 3: 5 12-06
49. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 15 45-01 55 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 15-14 Day 3: 5 11-10
50. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 14 44-09 54 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 18-06 Day 3: 4 11-03
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan New Leesville, SC 09-08 $1,000.00
2 Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA09-03 $1,000.00
3 Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 07-15 $1,000.00

———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 96 501 1726-01
2 88 484 1602-02
3 48 248 833-06
———————————-
232 1233 4161-09

Final 10 Anglers Set for Championship Sunday at Major League Fishing Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

Brian Carter

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February 24, 2024

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Final 10 Anglers Set for Championship Sunday at Major League Fishing Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

Ohio pro Cole Floyd catches 14 bass weighing 46-9 to pace Saturday’s Knockout Round, final 10 anglers set for Championship Sunday

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. (Feb. 24, 2024) – For most of his first three days on the water at the Suzuki Stage Two Presented by Fenwick at the Santee Cooper lakes, pro Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio , lurked just behind the leaders – safe from the cut line but never really threatening to overtake for the top spot on SCORETRACKER®. He qualified for Saturday’s Knockout Round by finishing ninth in Group A, then hovered in the middle of the Top 10 throughout Saturday’s action.

Until the final few hours, that is.

During an explosive Period 3 that saw Santee Cooper’s big bass start snapping for just about everyone in the field, Floyd boated eight bass weighing a combined 28 pounds, 6 ounces. That brought his total on the day to 46-9, vaulted him into the top spot on the leaderboard and sent a clear message to the rest of the field that he’s not to be overlooked during Sunday’s Championship Round.

Link to HD Video – Fish-Catch Highlights of Knockout Round on Santee Cooper
Link to Photo Gallery of Knockout Round Afternoon Highlights

Seeking his first win as a touring pro, Floyd will have his work cut out for him. Looming within the top five were pros Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, who stacked up an epic 42-6 on just six bass; Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, the six-time Bass Pro Tour champion; and pro James Watson of Lampe, Missouri, who caught a pair of 8-plus-pounders Saturday.

The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition resumes Sunday morning with the Championship Round. In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Floyd, who hasn’t had a camera in his boat all week, doesn’t mind operating outside the spotlight. He said he relishes the underdog role.

In fact, he wasn’t necessarily trying to finish the Knockout Round in first place. He spent much of Saturday running new water, and he just happened to hit a productive area in Lake Marion during the final couple hours. He added to his total as he sampled the bass population living there.

“Every time I got off pad with my boat, it seemed like I could get a bite,” Floyd said. “Everything was just kind of going my way.”

Like much of the field, Floyd has caught his fish winding a bladed jig – in his case, a Strike King Thunder Cricket – around cypress trees, “trying to cover as much water as [he] can.” He believes the key to his hot afternoon was the west wind, which picked up speed as the day progressed and pushed water into his section.

“The wind just seemed to blow in all that mud, that dirty water from the other side of the lake, and it just helped my area a lot more,” Floyd explained. “Stained it up and got it more active.”

Floyd is optimistic that the area he found has plenty of bass to carry him through the Championship Round. However, the forecast – sunny skies, cooler temperatures and a light breeze out of the north – has him concerned that he might have to switch up techniques.

“Obviously, I had a good day today,” he said. “I feel like I’m in a good area to possibly win it, but I feel like the weather is going to hurt me more than anything. I think it’s going to be calmer tomorrow, and it’ll just make the bite tougher.”

Floyd, who will compete in his second career BPT Championship Round, is no stranger to tournament success. He won multiple events at the college level, plus took home three straight Angler of the Year titles in the LBL Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League from 2017-2019.

A BPT victory, however, would represent a whole new frontier. Floyd called the prospect of landing his first national win “life-changing.”

“It would be a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve worked my ass off – I’m not super old – my whole life just to have this opportunity, so it would be something very special, that’s for sure.”

The top 10 pros from Saturday’s Knockout Round that now advance to the final day Championship Round on Santee Cooper Lakes are:

1st:        Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 14 bass, 46-9
2nd:       Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala, six bass, 42-6
3rd:       Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 39-14
4th:        Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 11 bass, 34-1
5th:        James Watson, Lampe, Mo., seven bass, 32-3
6th:        Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 12 bass, 30-8
7th:        Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., nine bass, 29-0
8th:        Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-4
9th:        Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 10 bass, 28-0
10th:     Jesse Wiggins, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 26-14

Eliminated from competition are:

11th:     David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., six bass, 25-8
12th:     Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, six bass, 25-1
13th:     Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., nine bass, 22-0
14th:     Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., six bass, 21-13
15th:     Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., three bass, 14-14
16th:     Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., four bass, 13-1
17th:     Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., three bass, 12-6
18th:     Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., five bass, 11-4
19th:     Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., four bass, 6-10
20th:     Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., zero bass, 0-0

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 145 bass weighing 490 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 19 pros Saturday. The catch included six 6-pounders, three 7-pounders, and five 8-pounders.

Pros Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama, and James Watson of Lampe, Missouri, tied for Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, as each weighed in a largemouth totaling 8 pounds, 15 ounces. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

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

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

The final 10 anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday from the John C. Land III Landing, located at 4404 Greenall Road in Summerton. Sunday’s General Tire Takeout and Championship Celebration will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .

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

The Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes Presented by Fenwick features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2025 championship.

Bass Pro Tour anglers also compete throughout the 2024 season for the prestigious Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) award and its $100,000 payday. Fishing Clash – an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s played by more than 80 million people worldwide – is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League.

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

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota and U.S. Air Force.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

Louisiana’s Colby Miller Wins MLF Toyota Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Brian Carter

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February 24, 2024

0

Louisiana’s Colby Miller Wins MLF Toyota Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir

BROOKELAND, Texas (Feb. 24, 2024) – Big up-and-down days are commonplace on Sam Rayburn, and consistency doesn’t win as much as it does other places. Of course, it can win if you just mash the pedal to the floor the whole time, which is what Colby Miller opted to do.

Hammering out 27 pounds, 4 ounces on Day 1, Miller followed it up with 24-15 and 25-4 on Days 2 and 3, respectively, to tally 77-7 for the win at the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southwestern Division opener. The 24-year-old pro took home $72,809, including the Phoenix MLF Bonus, for the win.

Winning with a 14-14 margin, Miller dominated the event, and he did it off several places and with a lot of good decisions, using all his considerable skills and Texas knowledge.

Each morning, he started on a one-cast grass spot.

“It’s a little depression in the grass; I think it’s only an early morning deal,” he said. “All three days I went back midday, and only yesterday I was able to get bit. It’s a one-cast deal. I could see them sitting in the little depression on LiveScope – it was just getting them to bite. Today, it was slick calm, and I pulled out a wacky rig and was able to get some to bite.”

Most mornings, he plucked them with a Strike King Hybrid Hunter or a vibrating jig, running the bait repeatedly though a key area that was half a foot deeper than the rest of the grass bed.

“It’s grass, but very dirty water – you really had to get it on their nose,” he said. “Making the same cast over and over was key. I spent at least an hour there every morning. If I got lucky, I caught a big one, but it would settle me down and get me a limit.”

On Day 1, Miller mixed things up and even plucked a big one he found suspended on a tree in practice. On the latter two days, he caught his big ones in fairly shallow staging areas, laying the wood with an umbrella rig and a 6^th Sense Crush 300DD. Fishing places with stumps and grass near spawning areas, Miller concentrated in 6 to 12 feet and “saw” most of his big ones on LiveScope.

On Day 3, after a lackluster start, his staging program got him right.

“My starting spot kind of went dry on me,” said Miller of the final day. “I caught four there – like three 3-pounders and a 1 1/2. Then, I ran a couple spots and went to where I’ve been waiting for them to pull in all week. They were there in practice. I caught a 6 and had an 8 at the side of the boat. In practice, I saw four or five great big ones swimming around. Since then, it’s just been buck bass. I knew with the full moon coming, the weather being 80, I knew they were coming. I just hoped that they made it before the tournament ended.

“Today, when I rolled in, I didn’t make it no piece,” he said. “I saw the first one, caught it, it was a 6 1/2. Then, I got to the little stretch they normally hang up at, and as soon as I got to it, I caught another right at 6, and then another.”

Fishing the Pro Circuit or the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals since 2020, Miller did well around the house in his teens, though it took him a while to see success nationally – his first two years on tour saw him bank triple-digit finishes. In 2023, things began to turn his way, and the Toledo Bend crappie guide has been on fire since the Toyota Series Championship on Table Rock.

Since a Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) win this winter, he’s fished to the peak of his talents.

“I’ve never been a winner, ever,” he said. “I’ve just been a so-so, middle-of-the-pack kind of guy. Ever since I won that BFL, it’s changed my game. It changed my mindset, ever since then, I don’t go looking for a check. I go looking for a win.”

Still, win No. 2 didn’t come easy, as Miller’s second staging spot of the day knocked him off his roll in a big way.

“When I pulled in there today, there were giants everywhere swimming around,” he said. “I hooked two big ones and lost them both, and I literally thought I lost my shot right there. The rest of the day, I couldn’t do anything right. I’d make a short cast at a big one, or land on top of it; I couldn’t do anything right.”

But, about halfway through weigh-in, an emotional Miller realized things might have actually turned his way.

“I really started doubting myself,” said Miller of his early national experience. “I just continuously put 110% of effort in, and tried my hardest every time. And now it’s paying off.”

The top 10 pros on Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

1st:         Colby Miller, Elmer, La., 15 bass, 77-7, $72,809 (includes $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
2nd:        Wyatt Fankens, Corrigan, Texas, 15 bass, 62-9, $14,651
3rd:        Chad Mrazek, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 60-8, $11,343
4th:         Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., 15 bass, 60-7, $9,452
5th:         Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colo., 15 bass, 57-8, $8,507
6th:         Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 57-0, $8,062
7th:         Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., 15 bass, 56-13, $6,617
8th:         Brett Clark, Center, Texas, 15 bass, 56-8, $5,671
9th:         Blake Schroeder, Whitehouse, Texas, 15 bass, 56-2, $4,726
10th:      Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 55-10, $3,781

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Pro Kaden Mueck of Livinsgston, Texas, won the $500 Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division Wednesday with a bass weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces. On Thursday, pro Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, earned the $500 Berkley Big Bass prize after bringing a 10-pound, 12-ounce bass to the scale.

Miller took home an extra $35,000 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Ben Faucheaux of Natchitoches, Louisiana, won the Strike King Co-angler Division Friday with a three-day total of 12 bass weighing 36 pounds, 2 ounces. Faucheaux took home the top prize package worth $33,500, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard motor.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers on Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

1st:          Ben Faucheaux, Natchitoches, La., 12 bass, 36-2, Phoenix 518 pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd:        Sakae Ushio, Tonawanda, N.Y., 14 bass, 35-6, $4,729
3rd:        James Allen Pruitt, Houston, Texas, 12 bass, 34-7, $3,783
4th:         Tyler Medica, Boyce, La., 13 bass, 31-0, $3,310
5th:         Robert Davis, Lufkin, Texas, 15 bass, 30-14, $2,837
6th:         James Nelson, Long Branch, Texas, 14 bass, 29-15, $2,364
7th:         Robert Massey, Calhoun, La., 14 bass, 29-6, $1,891
8th:         John Moon, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 28-15, $1,655
9th:         David Bozarth, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 28-6, $1,419
10th:      Michael Leach, Shenandoah, Texas, 13 bass, 26-13, $1,332

Kevin Maxwell of Laneville, Texas, was the Berkley Big Bass $150 award winner in the Strike King co-angler division, Wednesday, with an 8-pound, 11-ounce bass, while the Day 2 $150 award went to Alejandro Rodriguez of San Antonio, Texas, with a 6-pound, 15-ounce fish.

The Toyota Series at Sam Rayburn Presented by FX Custom Rods was hosted by the Jasper – Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce, and was the first of three regular-season events for the Toyota Series Southwestern Division. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will be the Toyota Series at Toledo Bend Reservoir, March 26-28, in Many, Louisiana. For a complete schedule of events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The 2024 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2025. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2024 Toyota Series Championship will be held Nov. 7-9 on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Huntsville Sports Commission.

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

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

Pat Schlapper captures kicker bass to take Day 2 lead in Bassmaster Elite Series event at Toledo Bend

Brian Carter

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February 23, 2024

0

Pat Schlapper captures kicker bass to take Day 2 lead in Bassmaster Elite Series event at Toledo Bend

Wisconsin’s Pat Schlapper has taken the lead on Day 2 of the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend with a total of 55 pounds, 9 ounces.

Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S.

February 23, 2024

Pat Schlapper captures kicker bass to take Day 2 lead in Bassmaster Elite Series event at Toledo Bend

MANY, La. — With the help of an 8-6 largemouth, Pat Schlapper caught 28 pounds, 5 ounces on Day 2 of the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend to jump into the lead with a two-day total of 55-9.

The pro from Eleva, Wis., holds a 3-ounce advantage over Day 1 leader Kyoya Fujita, who is second with a two-day mark of 55-6. Tennessee’s Robert Gee is third with 51-10.

“There were some really fun moments today,” Schlapper said. “It was tougher than yesterday, honestly. I didn’t get that many bites, and the bass are either leaving or getting picked off. I still had three really good bites.”

After finding a rhythm late in the day Thursday, the three-time Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors qualifier returned to one of his most productive areas and targeted roaming bass in 15 to 30 feet of water. He used the same bait he caught the majority of his bass on yesterday with the help of his Garmin LiveScope.

Despite the increase in boat pressure in the area, Schlapper immediately started catching bass and filled out his limit around 9:30 a.m. before landing his biggest bass of the day.

“I saw the bass on LiveScope, but it looked too big. I made a good cast and it came up on it, bit it and I missed it,” Schlapper said. “I cast up there again; the way it came up I thought it was a bass. Then, the way it fought, I knew it was a bass. I was lucky I (that) missed it the first time and then (it) ate it again. It was awesome.”

Late in the day, he returned to that same area and caught another kicker bass, a largemouth that weighed just under 8 pounds.

“I had a good bag fairly early, but then it was a long time before I caught anything else,” he said. “I came back at the end of the day when everyone was gone and caught another that was almost 8.”

Schlapper, however, is a bit concerned about how the rest of the tournament will play out in his primary area. With the weekend starting, boat pressure will likely only increase. He has also noticed the water temperature rising, which could mean the bass will move toward the bank and away from his area.

“There aren’t many bass left there. There were a lot of spectators and other competitors really messing with them,” he said. “If another wave kind of moves through, we might be alright. If not, it might be tough. There’s a chance I can throw (it) in front of five big ones tomorrow. I think there is less of a chance than there was today and the day before.

“But I’m sticking with it.”

After landing the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament on Day 1 at 31-3, Fujita landed 24-3 to drop into second place. The Japanese pro returned to his primary spot from Day 1 and, while he filled out a limit in the first three hours, he struggled to generate big bites until the afternoon. His biggest bass, logged as a 6-0 on BassTrakk, came after 1 p.m. He caught all of his bass on a Jackall Drift Fry around standing timber in 30 feet of water.

Boat pressure was the main reason for the tougher bite, he said.

“Yesterday in the morning, it was fish, fish, fish, and then in the afternoon, there was fishing pressure and no bites,” Fujita said with the help of a translator. “Today was tough.”

Despite the increased pressure, Fujita still saw plenty of bass on his LiveScope. He plans on returning to the same area in the morning and will evaluate how many other boats are around. If he isn’t liking what he sees, he will move to a different spot on the lake.

Gee added 22-10 to his 29-0 Day 1 bag to increase his two-day total to 51-10. While he lost a 4-pounder early in the day, the Knoxville, Tenn., rookie filled a limit quickly but struggled to find quality.

“I started where I could get a limit early,” he said. “It seemed like the bigger ones were leaving. I didn’t catch any really big ones, and everywhere I went it seemed like fish were leaving me. I feel like they are making a push up shallow with this full moon coming tomorrow night.”

Late in the day, Gee moved to his big-bass spot from yesterday and caught his two biggest of the day.

“I understood what I was doing wrong, so I went in closer to where the bass wanted to be going,” Gee said. “I was still in a basin, so I was in 35 feet of water instead of 50 feet.”

So far this week, Gee has caught the majority of his bass on a Crock-O-Gator Slide Shad and has changed the jighead size based on the depth he’s fishing and the wind speed. Forward-facing sonar has played a big role in his success.

With the bass leaving his areas, Gee feels like he will need to start making a move to the shallows. He didn’t have much success fishing shallow in practice, but he has an idea where his deep bass may move to in the coming days.

“I’m just going to have to adjust and fish new water,” he said.

Canadian pro Chris Johnston caught a 9-3 largemouth on Day 2 to claim the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day. South Carolina’s Bryan New currently holds the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament, a 9-8 largemouth he caught on Day 1.

The Top 50 anglers will launch from Cypress Bend Park beginning at 7 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The Top 10 will advance to Championship Sunday to compete for the blue trophy and $100,000 top prize. All anglers are earning points toward the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.

Bassmaster LIVE will be available on FS1 on Saturday morning beginning at 8 a.m. ET through 11:30 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com for the afternoon session.

Those wanting to attend will be able to enjoy the “B.A.S.S. on the ’Bend” festival on Saturday and Sunday at Cypress Bend Park before weigh-in. The festival will feature live music and many local vendors.

The event is being hosted by Toledo Bend Lake Country and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

2024 Elite #1 Toledo Bend Reservoir 2/22-2/25
Toledo Bend Reservoir, Many LA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2

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

1. Pat Schlapper Eleva, WI 10 55-09 103
Day 1: 5 27-04 Day 2: 5 28-05
2. Kyoya Fujita Yamanashi CA JAPAN 10 55-06 102
Day 1: 5 31-03 Day 2: 5 24-03
3. Robert Gee Knoxville, TN 10 51-10 101
Day 1: 5 29-00 Day 2: 5 22-10
4. Patrick Walters Eutawville, SC 10 50-00 100
Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 30-05
5. Jordan Lee Cullman, AL 10 46-10 99
Day 1: 5 22-12 Day 2: 5 23-14
6. Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA 10 45-07 98 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 26-08
7. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 10 45-03 97
Day 1: 5 25-01 Day 2: 5 20-02
8. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 10 43-07 96
Day 1: 5 24-00 Day 2: 5 19-07
9. Logan Parks Auburn, AL 10 42-04 95
Day 1: 5 21-10 Day 2: 5 20-10
10. Justin Hamner Northport, AL 10 41-13 94
Day 1: 5 20-05 Day 2: 5 21-08
11. Alex Wetherell Middletown, CT 10 41-11 93
Day 1: 5 21-14 Day 2: 5 19-13
12. Trey McKinney Carbondale, IL 10 41-00 92
Day 1: 5 20-14 Day 2: 5 20-02
13. Matt Arey Shelby, NC 10 40-14 91
Day 1: 5 18-02 Day 2: 5 22-12
14. Ben Milliken New Caney, TX 10 40-09 90
Day 1: 5 22-09 Day 2: 5 18-00
15. Bryan New Leesville, SC 10 40-07 89 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-01 Day 2: 5 18-06
16. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 10 40-06 88
Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 21-15
17. Hunter Shryock Ooltewah, TN 10 39-09 87
Day 1: 5 21-01 Day 2: 5 18-08
18. Kyle Patrick Cooperstown, NY 10 38-13 86
Day 1: 5 21-09 Day 2: 5 17-04
19. John Soukup Sapulpa, OK 10 38-03 85
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 23-12
20. Cory Johnston Otonabee CANADA 10 37-13 84
Day 1: 5 19-11 Day 2: 5 18-02
21. Tyler Williams Belgrade, ME 10 37-11 83
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 17-07
22. Jeff Gustafson Kenora, ON Ontario CANA 10 37-04 82
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 21-01
23. Wesley Gore Clanton, AL 10 36-15 81
Day 1: 5 22-08 Day 2: 5 14-07
24. Carl Jocumsen Queensland TN AUSTRALIA 10 36-10 80
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-06
25. Shane LeHew Catawba, NC 10 36-07 79
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 20-12
26. JT Thompkins Myrtle Beach, SC 10 36-05 78
Day 1: 5 19-15 Day 2: 5 16-06
27. Cooper Gallant Bowmanville Ontario CAN 10 36-05 77
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 19-01
28. Kyle Norsetter Cottage Grove, WI 10 36-04 76
Day 1: 5 21-08 Day 2: 5 14-12
29. Jonathan Kelley Old Forge, PA 10 36-03 75
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 18-10
30. Chris Zaldain Fort Worth, TX 10 36-01 74
Day 1: 5 19-00 Day 2: 5 17-01
31. Austin Felix Eden Prairie, MN 10 35-11 73
Day 1: 5 22-06 Day 2: 5 13-05
32. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 9 35-08 72
Day 1: 5 21-00 Day 2: 4 14-08
33. Cody Huff Ava, MO 10 35-07 71
Day 1: 5 23-09 Day 2: 5 11-14
34. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 10 35-00 70
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 19-03
35. Jay Przekurat Plover, WI 10 34-15 69
Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 15-13
36. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 10 34-09 68
Day 1: 5 21-02 Day 2: 5 13-07
37. Brandon Card Salisbury, NC 10 34-07 67
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 5 21-05
38. Jacob Foutz Charleston, TN 10 34-04 66
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 16-04
39. Kenta Kimura Osaka OK JAPAN 10 34-02 65
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 19-14
40. Taku Ito Dalton GA JAPAN 10 34-01 64
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 19-01
41. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 10 34-00 63
Day 1: 5 23-07 Day 2: 5 10-09
42. Lee Livesay Longview, TX 10 33-12 62
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 17-03
43. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 10 33-11 61
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 21-10
44. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 10 33-07 60
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 14-10
45. Joseph Webster Hamilton, AL 10 33-07 59
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 15-14
46. Jake Whitaker Hendersonville, NC 10 33-06 58
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 18-06
47. Matty Wong Honolulu, HI 10 33-04 57
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 13-10
48. Clark Wendlandt Leander, TX 10 33-03 56
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 16-12
49. Derek Hudnall Zachary, LA 10 32-11 55
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 20-06
50. Timothy Dube Nashua , NH 8 32-10 54
Day 1: 3 10-15 Day 2: 5 21-11
51. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 10 32-10 53 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-07 Day 2: 5 12-03
52. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 10 32-10 52 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 16-01
53. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 10 32-09 51 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 16-15
54. Bryan Schmitt Deale, MD 9 32-03 50 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 4 13-15
55. Tyler Rivet Raceland, LA 10 32-00 49 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 16-11
56. John Cox Debary, FL 10 31-10 48 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 11-06
57. Drew Cook Cairo, GA 10 31-10 47 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-11 Day 2: 5 13-15
58. Justin Atkins Florence, AL 10 31-07 46 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 15-15
59. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 10 31-05 45 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-14 Day 2: 5 15-07
60. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, ID 10 31-05 44 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 15-10
61. Matt Robertson Kuttawa, KY 10 31-01 43 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 17-00
62. Marc Frazier Newnan, GA 9 31-00 42 $2,500.00
Day 1: 4 10-01 Day 2: 5 20-15
63. John Garrett Union City, TN 10 31-00 41 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 13-02
64. Will Davis Jr Sylacauga, AL 10 30-04 40 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 16-14
65. Joey Cifuentes III Clinton, AR 10 30-02 39 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 14-08
66. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 10 30-00 38 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-08 Day 2: 5 12-08
67. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 10 29-13 37 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 15-03
68. Bob Downey Detroit Lakes, MN 10 29-12 36 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 14-01
69. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 10 29-11 35 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 17-12
70. Caleb Kuphall Mukwonago, WI 10 29-08 34 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 14-09
71. Seth Feider New Market, MN 10 29-05 33 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-12 Day 2: 5 15-09
72. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 10 29-00 32 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 13-07
73. Jason Christie Dry Creek, OK 10 28-10 31 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 13-06
74. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 10 28-05 30 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 12-11
75. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 10 28-02 29 $2,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 16-14
76. Todd Auten Clover, SC 10 27-13 28
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 11-13
77. Logan Latuso Gonzales, LA 10 27-10 27
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 12-15
78. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 10 27-10 26
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 13-15
79. Cole Sands Calhoun , TN 10 27-09 25
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 15-04
80. Alex Redwine Blue Ash, OH 10 27-06 24
Day 1: 5 13-10 Day 2: 5 13-12
81. Wes Logan Springville, AL 9 27-02 23
Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 4 08-11
82. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 10 27-00 22
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 11-12
83. Scott Martin Clewiston, FL 8 26-11 21
Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 3 08-14
84. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 10 26-03 20
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 10-02
85. David Gaston Sylacauga, AL 10 26-02 19
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 10-12
86. Chad Pipkens Dewitt, MI 7 25-15 18
Day 1: 5 21-02 Day 2: 2 04-13
87. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 8 25-15 17
Day 1: 3 10-06 Day 2: 5 15-09
88. Kyle Welcher Valley, AL 9 25-01 16
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 4 09-12
89. Brad Whatley Bivins, TX 7 24-09 15
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 2 07-14
90. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 10 24-09 14
Day 1: 5 10-14 Day 2: 5 13-11
91. Frank Talley Belton, TX 10 23-14 13
Day 1: 5 10-06 Day 2: 5 13-08
92. Ed Loughran III Richmond, VA 10 23-01 12
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 13-08
93. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 10 22-15 11
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 10-06
94. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 9 22-04 10
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 4 09-00
95. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 10 21-07 9
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 12-00
96. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 7 20-04 8
Day 1: 3 11-13 Day 2: 4 08-07
97. Mike Huff London, KY 10 20-02 7
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 5 09-10
98. Gregory DiPalma Millville, NJ 8 19-15 6
Day 1: 4 11-04 Day 2: 4 08-11
99. Bryant Smith Roseville, CA 8 19-10 5
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 3 07-13
100. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 15-09 4
Day 1: 2 09-05 Day 2: 3 06-04
101. Buddy Gross Chattanooga, TN 6 15-04 3
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 1 01-15
102. KJ Queen Catawba, NC 4 09-15 2
Day 1: 2 05-07 Day 2: 2 04-08
103. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 5 07-12 1
Day 1: 5 07-12 Day 2: 0 00-00
———————————————————————–

PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Day
1 Bryan New Leesville, SC 09-08 $1,000.00
2 Chris Johnston Otonabee Ontario CANADA09-03 $1,000.00

———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 96 501 1726-01
2 88 484 1602-02
———————————-
184 985 3328-03

Joseph Giampa & John Campbell Win CATT Cooper River, SC Feb 17, 2024

Brian Carter

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February 23, 2024

0

Joseph Giampa & John Campbell Win CATT Cooper River, SC Feb 17, 2024

Next CATT Cooper River Spring Qualifier is Mar 2 at Cypress Gardens!

John Campbell & Joseph Giampa win the Cooper River with 5 bass weighing 15.53 lbs with the BF at 8.39 lbs!

Team	BF	Weight	Winnings	Points
Joseph Giampa – John Campbell	8.39	15.53	$1,115.00	110
Randy Gibson Sr – Randy Gibson Jr	5.17	14.87	$230.00	109
David Kelly – Brad Mathews	5.68	13.07	$120.00	108
Brian Crosby – Elvis Black	4.66	13.06	$75.00	107
Brandon Hartmas – Ethan Williams	5.13	12.95		106
Greg Benton – Logan Benton	5.10	12.89		105
Scott Perrine – Greg Wlaker	3.13	11.41		104
Collin Newton – Legrand Newton	3.62	11.27		103
Bubba Dennis	4.27	10.95		102
Brian Surowiec – Walter Cumbee	3.83	10.29		101
Grant Powell – Travis Gatlin	3.25	8.84		100
Will Thompson	0.00	8.33		99
John Ford – Hayden Blanton	0.00	7.31		98
Kyle Welch – James Fender	0.00	6.92		97
Jimmy King – Todd Thompson	4.44	6.27		96
Scotty Mixon	0.00	6.16		95
Thomas Hepstall	0.00	4.45		94
Michael Dibelo – Edward Punchak	0.00	3.25		93
David Driggers – Lance Lambert	0.00	0.00		83
Joey Robertson – Eric Mariam	0.00	0.00		83
Scott McClellan – Vince Locklear	0.00	0.00		83
TJ Bancfroft – Kevin Brock	0.00	0.00		83
Timothy Tyson	0.00	0.00		83
Total Entrys			$1,150.00
BONUS $			$525.00
Total Paid At Ramp			$1,540.00
Cooper River 2024 Spring Final Fund			$110.00
2024 CATT Championship Fund			$25.00
Cooper River 2024 Spring Final Fund Total			$210.00

Dean Rojas Paces Field to Win Group B Qualifying Round at Major League Fishing Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

Brian Carter

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February 23, 2024

0

Dean Rojas Paces Field to Win Group B Qualifying Round at Major League Fishing Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes

Suzuki pro boats two-day total of 76-1 to win Group B Qualifying Round, field of 20 set for Saturday’s Knockout Round

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. (Feb. 23, 2024) – For the first two hours of Group B’s second day on the water Friday at Suzuki Stage Two Presented by Fenwick, pro Dean Rojas of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, struggled to recapture his Day 1 success. Rojas had stacked 16 bass weighing 48 pounds, 14 ounces on SCORETRACKER® during his first day on the Santee Cooper lakes, but he went more than two hours Friday morning without boating a scorable fish.

Link to HD Video – Fish-Catch Highlights of Group B Qualifying Round Day 2 on Santee Cooper
Link to Photo Gallery of Group B’s Day 2 Qualifying Round Highlights

Once Rojas relocated a population of fish, though, the action heated up in a hurry. He got on the board with a 5-pounder, then caught another 11 bass, bringing his two-day total to 76-1. He finished atop the leaderboard for Group B, a mere 10 ounces ahead of pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California.

Rojas’ day summed up the action across lakes Marion and Moultrie. A morning that started slow ended with two bass over 9 pounds, and 20 over 6 pounds hitting the scales. Despite many of the top anglers using the afternoon to scout new water, the field combined to catch 249 scorable bass for 824 pounds, 14 ounces – easily the biggest totals of any day so far.

The remaining 20 anglers – the top 10 from each group – now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round on Sunday. In Sunday’s final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Having put plenty of distance between himself and the cut line on Wednesday, Rojas, too, used his second day of competition to explore new water on the massive 170,000-acre playing field that is Santee Cooper. He never returned to the area where he caught his Day 1 bag, instead scouting a few other spots where he’d gotten bit during practice.

“The stuff I fished today was just secondary stuff that I had,” he explained. “It’s not my main stuff. I caught ‘em really good the first day, so there was no sense in working on those fish anymore.”

Rojas is doing something a bit different than the majority of anglers, not spending much time around the fishery’s many cypress trees. He didn’t want to reveal much about his tactics but said he’s focusing on areas where bass are moving up to stage.

“There’s probably a few that are up there (spawning), and there’s some that are coming,” Rojas said. “It’s still the very first beginnings of it.”

While he found plenty of fish, Rojas didn’t catch the same quality on Friday, boating just one bass bigger than 3 pounds. As a result, he still plans to return to his Day 1 area during what figures to be an explosive Knockout Round.

Still, he sees the day as a success, having eliminated some water and added more to his arsenal should he have to veer from Plan A.

“I have lots of options,” he said. “I feel very comfortable. The stuff that I fished today I can fish again tomorrow, and the stuff that I didn’t fish today, I can still go back again tomorrow.”

As for what it will take to make the Championship Round, Rojas speculated that the cut will fall around 45 pounds – although he admitted that could be way off. Santee Cooper has proven fickle this week, with lots of anglers putting together impressive bags but few doing so on consecutive days. The only safe bet seems to be that whoever does unlock the bite will have a chance to land some big ones.

“I have no idea,” Rojas said. “I’m going to try and catch every single bass I can tomorrow.”

The top 10 pros in Group B that now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round on Santee Cooper Lakes are:

1st:        Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 28 bass, 76-1
2nd:       Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 21 bass, 75-7
3rd:       Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 21 bass, 75-2
4th:        Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 21 bass, 74-2
5th:        Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala, 18 bass, 65-1
6th:        Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 60-12
7th:        Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 17 bass, 58-9
8th:        Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 13 bass, 55-11
9th:        David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 18 bass, 53-13
10th:     Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 14 bass, 51-2

Eliminated from competition are:

11th:     Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 10 bass, 49-2
12th:     Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 17 bass, 48-9
13th:     Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 14 bass, 48-4
14th:     Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 12 bass, 46-4
15th:     Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 19 bass, 45-5
16th:     Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 12 bass, 43-7
17th:     Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 14 bass, 43-2
18th:     Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 14 bass, 42-6
19th:     Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 14 bass, 38-10
20th:     Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 11 bass, 36-13
21st:      Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 12 bass, 36-4
22nd:    Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 10 bass, 36-3
23rd:     Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 14 bass, 36-2
24th:     Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 10 bass, 34-15
25th:     Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 32-9
26th:     Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 13 bass, 32-2
27th:     Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, nine bass, 30-4
28th:     Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., eight bass, 28-3
29th:     James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., six bass, 21-10
30th:     Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., seven bass, 19-7
31st:      Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., six bass, 19-4
32nd:    Boyd Duckett, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 18-11
33rd:     Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., six bass, 18-0
34th:     Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., six bass, 17-11
35th:     Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, six bass, 15-5
36th:     Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, six bass, 14-9
37th:     Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., five bass, 14-3
38th:     John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., four bass, 13-1
39th:     Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C, three bass, 12-13
40th:     Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., three bass, 7-13

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 249 bass weighing 824 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 39 pros Friday. The catch included 14 6-pounders, three 7-pounders, one 8-pounder and two 9-pounders.

Pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Friday with a fat 9-pound, 11-ounce largemouth that he caught on a Dudley’s Digger Blade from Treeshaker Tackle during Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

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

Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the John C. Land III Landing, located at 4404 Greenall Road in Summerton. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .

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

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

The Suzuki Stage Two at Santee Cooper Lakes Presented by Fenwick features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2025 championship.

Bass Pro Tour anglers also compete throughout the 2024 season for the prestigious Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) award and its $100,000 payday. Fishing Clash – an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s played by more than 80 million people worldwide – is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League.

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

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota and U.S. Air Force.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

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