Day: May 1, 2019, The National Angler

CULLMAN, Ala. (May 1, 2019) – From the moment it was announced that the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour would be making a stop at Lewis Smith Lake in northern Alabama, Jesse Wiggins was tabbed as a favorite. After his performance in the second Shotgun Round of the Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury, it’s hard not to tab the Alabama pro as THE favorite. Wiggins – who grew up in Cullman and has been fishing Smith Lake since “Before I can even remember” – obliterated the Bass Pro Tour’s single-round catch record with 49 fish, tallying 72 pounds, 4 ounces and finishing the day with a 16-4 cushion over second-place angler Todd Faircloth (56-0). “A good day on Smith Lake this time of year is 30, maybe 35 fish, so today was a heckuva day,” Wiggins admitted. “I basically fished two spots all day long, they just happened to be schooled up in both of those spots.”

Wiggins Hit High Gear in Period 2 At the rate that Wiggins caught fish in Period 2, it’s hard to imagine him wanting to stray outside his two Shotgun Round spots at all. Following a 12-fish first period, the St. Croix pro put 21 fish on SCORETRACKER™ in the second period for 32-9, almost all of it on a 3/16-ounce shaky head with a green pumpkin candy Jackall 5.8 Flick Shake Worm. “Jesse Wiggins did this on a lake in post-spawn that was supposed to be tough,” marveled MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone. “This performance today isn’t just about him being good on Smith Lake, it’s about Jesse Wiggins just being flat good. You put a really good fisherman on a lake he understands really well and this is what you get.” But despite a prolific day and a virtually fail-safe cushion above the Elimination Line, Wiggins plans to move out of his spots and spend the day (Elimination Round 2) deciphering how far out of the backs of their spawning pockets Smith Lake’s post-spawn fish have gotten. “These fish move a lot this time of year,” Wiggins said. “Once they’re done spawning, they head back out onto those points, and it can be a little hard to find them in good numbers. I definitely plan on spending a good amount of my time figuring out how far those fish have moved.”

Elimination Round 1: “Nothing is Certain” The 40 anglers from Group A return to Smith Lake Thursday for the first Elimination Round of Stage Five, bringing their weights from the first Shotgun Round with them. Based on the results of the first two days of competition, the projected range for the Elimination Line is 48 to 50 pounds – there are eight anglers in Group A whose doubled Shotgun Round weights would place them within a single scorable bass of the Elimination Line. “Because all these scorable bass are so close in weight and these guys are catching so many of them, this could be the wildest Elimination Round we’ve ever had,” said Stone. “You go more than 10 minutes without catching fish here and you drop two to five places quickly. When you’re dealing with shad-spawn fish, they’re very ‘here and now’ and these guys in Group A have to relocate their fish. Nothing is safe and nothing is certain.”

Shotgun Round 2 By the NumbersGroup B totaled 997 fish: 304 in Period 1, 464 in Period 2 and 229 in Period 3.

Looking Ahead The Top 20 anglers from each of the two Elimination Round groups will advance to the Knockout Round on Saturday, where weights will be zeroed. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Sunday.

How, Where & When to Watch Competition begins daily at 6:30 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 9 a.m. CT, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 2:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 4 p.m. daily.

The Day’s Results

Angler	Total Weight	Total # Fish	Largest Fish
1st	Jesse Wiggins	72 – 04	49	3 – 06
2nd	Todd Faircloth	54 – 12	33	3 – 06
3rd	Shin Fukae	53 – 13	33	2 – 15
4th	James Watson	50 – 01	25	4 – 04
5th	Dean Rojas	44 – 02	25	4 – 05
6th	Justin Lucas	41 – 11	28	2 – 08
7th	Zack Birge	40 – 14	25	2 – 07
8th	Dave Lefebre	36 – 05	26	2 – 08
9th	Jeff Sprague	35 – 03	26	2 – 01
10th	Fred Roumbanis	35 – 00	25	2 – 07
11th	Jeff Kriet	34 – 07	27	1 – 14
12th	Casey Ashley	34 – 04	22	2 – 08
13th	Timmy Horton	34 – 01	21	2 – 11
14th	Bradley Roy	31 – 05	20	2 – 06
15th	John Murray	30 – 12	23	2 – 05
16th	Skeet Reese	30 – 12	20	3 – 02
17th	Aaron Martens	29 – 07	20	3 – 03
18th	Mike Iaconelli	28 – 14	22	2 – 02
19th	Brent Chapman	27 – 12	19	2 – 10
20th	Mark Rose	26 – 09	18	2 – 14
21st	Anthony Gagliardi	25 – 09	18	2 – 04
22nd	Michael Neal	25 – 08	16	2 – 14
23rd	Roy Hawk	24 – 00	15	3 – 05
24th	Adrian Avena	23 – 09	16	2 – 01
25th	Mark Daniels, Jr.	22 – 08	14	2 – 09
26th	Britt Myers	22 – 05	14	3 – 12
27th	Greg Vinson	21 – 01	15	1 – 15
28th	Randy Howell	20 – 12	16	1 – 11
29th	Jared Lintner	20 – 02	14	1 – 15
30th	Jacob Powroznik	19 – 09	12	2 – 10
31st	Brett Hite	19 – 04	13	2 – 08
32nd	Randall Tharp	18 – 01	12	2 – 05
33rd	Fletcher Shryock	15 – 15	10	2 – 08
34th	Andy Montgomery	15 – 09	13	2 – 08
35th	Gary Klein	15 – 09	12	2 – 01
36th	Cliff Pace	15 – 08	12	1 – 13
37th	Jason Christie	14 – 13	12	1 – 10
38th	Ish Monroe	13 – 06	10	1 – 15
39th	Russ Lane	13 – 05	8	3 – 00
40th	Paul Elias	12 – 01	8	2 – 06

It’s not too often when a company and its owners come together and really impress me with their dedication and vision to produce a new product. Let’s face it, it’s getting really hard to come up with a new idea or improve an already existing product. This is a product that is well built and thought out and sure to be a sought-out product by anglers of all types. I recently found this product while attending the 2019 Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville TN

CATCH COMMANDER

The Catch Commander personal culling scale is just that product. You now have all the information that you need in the palm of your hands to make a quick decision on what fish to cull during a tournament. Time is critical to any angler and this scale takes so much of the guesswork out of culling that critical 5 fish limit. This scale also has a rugged build that’s waterproof. Several handle options available to anglers, making it versatile for those fishing from a boat, kayak, or shore to quickly weigh their catch and capture a great photo with their prized catch.

Finally, a truly waterproof fishing scale!

KEY FEATURES

The first set of features that caught my eye when I saw this unit was the large display and handle options. We all want to be able to catch a trophy fish and capture the weight in the same picture and show off the weight to our family, friends, and family. The Catch Commander has a great removable handle for some of those really big fish as well. The no puncture fish grip will safely hold a fish for a quick measure and release. Again, it’s durable and waterproof, I’m still looking for another scale that can match this.

CULLING OPTIONS

The Catch Commander keeps a real-time tally of your fish weights, including the lightest fish.

I watched first hand at the classic, the culling feature. It was 100% seamless in weighing a fish, and when it was time to cull a fish that you have caught, the process was seamless. This scale allows an angler to pre-set the “CULL” number for the event and display the weight of each fish in the live well (Up to 10 fish Cull Limit with 5 fish weights always displayed) Keeping a real-time tally of your fish weights, including the lightest fish that needs culling. The important part is making sure you use the appropriately marked cull tag. You can also adjust the cull number for the tournament from 1-10. This is really beneficial for those fishing in the southern U.S. when tournaments sometimes move to a 3 fish limit during the hot summer months.

THE CATCH COMMANDER’S BIGGEST FEATURE!!!

Ok, when I saw this feature of the scale I was immediately impressed and quickly thought of a ton of new ways to use the Catch Commander scale. Major League Fishing has obviously dominated the professional fishing news this year with its new format. The Catch Commander supports functions that can support MLF style fishing events and personal competitions. You can change the mode of the scale from cull (1-10 fish) mode to my favorite mode Aggregate Mode. This mode will keep a running total of fish eight and the number of fish caught (up to 99), which is perfect for events or anglers that promote live-release of fish, just like Major League Fishing.

The Aggregate Mode will add a new dimension for professional and weekend anglers alike!

Make sure you head over to the Catch Commander website and check it out for yourself, you won’t be disappointed at all. Click the link below the image below to head to their website so you can CATCH|CULL|WIN!

You can also check out @catchcommander on social media, click the links below for more information