Author: jcarrigan

LEESBURG, Fla. (May 25, 2021) – Toro pro Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kansas, caught 23 bass weighing 51 pounds, 12 ounces Tuesday to win the Knockout Round and advance to the final-day Championship Round at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Bass Cat Boats at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. The field has now been cut to the final 10 anglers, and competition will resume Wednesday morning with the anglers departing Leesburg’s Venetian Gardens Ski Beach at 6:30 a.m.

The six-day tournament, hosted by Lake County, featured 80 of the top professional anglers from around the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

The top eight pros from Tuesday’s Knockout Round that will compete in Wednesday’s Championship Round on the Harris Chain of Lakes are:

  1^st:        Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., 23 bass, 51-12
  2^nd:       Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 18 bass, 46-0
  3^rd:       Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 16 bass, 38-0
  4^th:       Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 14 bass, 36-14
  5^th:       Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 14 bass, 36-10
  6^th:       Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 16 bass, 35-7
  7^th:       Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 13 bass, 34-15
  8^th:       Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 14 bass, 29-2

They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round Winners:

  Group A: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz.
  Group B: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.

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

“I knew it was going to be a special day for me when we had our 30-minute morning ride-around before lines in at 7 (a.m.),” Chapman said in his post-day interview. “The area where I wanted to sit down and start was an area that I had finished my day in on Sunday. When I pulled in there, there were birds everywhere feeding along the shoreline. There was a shad spawn going on, and when you see that many birds along the shore there are probably just as many bass under the water that you can’t see. It killed me to sit there and have to wait 20 minutes for lines in.

“Once we got going, it got going pretty quick,” Chapman continued. “But, the thing that was really crazy is that the birds dissipated pretty quickly and within 30 minutes the fishing went from really, really good to quite a bit tougher. It was interesting. You can learn a lot from the birds and I’m definitely going to be looking for as many more as I can possibly find tomorrow.”

Chapman said that he caught his fish Tuesday on just two key baits.

“Just like I’ve been doing all season, I’m fishing my strengths and sticking with the simple stuff,” the Kansas pro said. “I’m fishing a bladed jig – nothing fancy – just a shad color with chartreuse and white. And I’m throwing a big jig – 1-ounce – with a big chunk. When a good one bites, I want the upper hand so there is no sense in using anything lighter.

“Tomorrow, for me, is basically going to be that 1-2 punch,” Chapman went on to say. “I’ll have a couple of different colors of bladed jigs tied on and I’ll be flipping that big jig, and we’re going to go out and swing for the fences and see if we can’t bring home that big red trophy. It’s been a fantastic week. I just need it all to come together for me just one more day.”

Rounding out the top 40 finishers were:

  11^th:     Paul Elias, Laurel, Miss., 11 bass, 26-12, $10,000
  12^th:     Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., nine bass, 25-3, $10,000
  13^th:     Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 11 bass, 24-12, $10,000
  14^th:     John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 12 bass, 24-4, $10,000
  15^th:     James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., eight bass, 24-4, $10,000
  16^th:     Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, nine bass, 24-1, $10,000
  17^th:     Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 10 bass, 23-11, $10,000
  18^th:     David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., eight bass, 23-5, $10,000
  19^th:     James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 10 bass, 21-15, $10,000
  20^th:     Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., nine bass, 21-7, $10,000
  21^st:     Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, nine bass, 21-6, $10,000
  22^nd:    Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., nine bass, 20-8, $10,000
  23^rd:    Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., nine bass, 20-6, $10,000
  24^th:     Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 11 bass, 19-12, $10,000
  25^th:     Kyle Hall, Granbury, Texas, 10 bass, 19-5, $10,000
  26^th:     Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., seven bass, 15-12, $10,000
  27^th:     Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., eight bass, 15-11, $10,000
  28^th:     Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., five bass, 14-0, $10,000
  29^th:     Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla., six bass, 13-9, $10,000
  30^th:     Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., six bass, 13-4, $10,000
  31^st:     Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., four bass, 12-12, $10,000
  32^nd:    Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., six bass, 12-4, $10,000
  33^rd:    Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala., six bass, 12-3, $10,000
  34^th:     John Cox, DeBary, Fla., four bass, 12-2, $10,000
  35^th:     Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 11-4, $10,000
  36^th:     Boyd Duckett, Guntersville, Ala., three bass, 10-9, $10,000
  37^th:     Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., four bass, 10-8, $10,000
  38^th:     Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., five bass, 8-13, $10,000
  39^th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., four bass, 8-4, $10,000
  40^th:     Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., three bass, 5-4, $10,000

There were 349 bass weighing 825 pounds, 14 ounces caught by the 38 pros on Tuesday.

Elam won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award on Tuesday, catching an 8-pound, 14-ounce largemouth on a squarebill crankbait in Period 3. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler who weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three at the Harris Chain Presented by Bass Cat Boats is hosted by Lake County.

The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. After the two-day Qualifying Round, the anglers that finished in 2^nd through 20^th place from both groups advanced to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner from each group advanced directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, the weights were zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers competed to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. Tomorrow, in the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins. Full breakdown of the format can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  

The final 10 anglers will take off from the Venetian Gardens Ski Beach Boat Ramp, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive, in Leesburg, at 6:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. The General Tire Takeout and Championship Moment will also be held at the Ski Beach at the Venetian Gardens, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend, but encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros that qualify from the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2022 championship.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action from the final day of competition on Wednesday from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Bass Cat Boats at the Harris Chain of Lakes will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Sept. 25 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

LEESBURG, Fla. (May 24, 2021) – Berkley pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, boated 14 bass weighing 34 pounds, 2 ounces to hold off a hard-charging Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, and win the two-day Qualifying Group B round at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Bass Cat Boats at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. After Lane started the day with a 24-pound lead, DeFoe’s massive rally had him within 8 pounds of Lane’s lead early in the second period, but Lane pulled away in the third and earned the victory with a two-day total of 39 bass weighing 102 pounds, 6 ounces.

The six-day tournament, hosted by Lake County, features 80 of the top professional anglers from around the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

DeFoe caught a two-day total of 35 bass weighing 78-2 to end the round in second place, while General Tire pro Skeet Rese of Auburn, California, finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 22 bass weighing 60 pounds even.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from Group A and 19 from Group B – will now compete Tuesday in the Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the top eight to advance to Championship Wednesday. Wednesday’s Championship Round will feature Group A winner Brett Hite, Group B winner Bobby Lane, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“I really didn’t plan on fishing that hard today, but Ott DeFoe scared the living fire out of me,” Lane said in his post-game interview. “I had been planning to start practicing in the second round, but Ott was catching them so fast I knew it was only a matter of time before I was his next victim. We’re all competitors out here, though, and it doesn’t get much better than that. That was an awesome round.”

Lane said his key bait Monday was a black and blue-colored Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General Worm, fished with a ½-ounce Flat Out Tungsten Screw In weight on a 7-foot, 6-inch heavy Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier rod with an Abu Garcia REVO IKE casting reel spooled with 50-pound Spiderwire Ultracast Braid line.

“That bait really got it done for me today,” Lane said. “I missed a lot of fish, but I think a lot of them were small. But none of that matters anymore because we’re moving on to the Championship Round. There will only be 10 of us left on Wednesday, and I’m so excited because I get to keep a flipping stick in my hand all day long. Let’s see if this Florida boy can get it done on one of his favorite lakes.”

DeFoe, meanwhile, overcame every negative fishing superstition that you can think of on his whirlwind day.

“I ate a banana in my boat this morning, and on my very first cast I missed one on a swimjig,” DeFoe said. “So, not only did I have a banana, but I had a bite on my first cast. I did miss it, but after that it was on, quick. I caught a couple of scorable bass, then I caught a really nice one, and then it just kept rolling after that.

“The morning was really unbelievable and set the tone for the day,” DeFoe continued. “On Saturday I went to Lake Griffin, but today I stayed close and was able to use the 30-minute ride-around period to actually look around. I graphed and idled and looked at some different stuff, and by the time the 30 minutes was close to being up, I had idled a stretch that had Kissimmee Grass, a few docks, and some baitfish flipping. I just figured that looked as good as anywhere to start. It ended up being pretty special.”

DeFoe said that he caught some fish on a swimjig and a topwater bait, but his key lure was a Rapala OG Slim Crankbait in a new color – bream – set to debut at ICAST in July.

“That bait has some chartreuse and green and blue and some brown, with a white belly – it’s just an excellent dirty-water color, and that’s what we’ve got out there right now with the algae bloom,” DeFoe said.

“There is definitely some fish left there that I didn’t catch, and I’m definitely going to start there tomorrow,” DeFoe went on to say. “But, what was interesting, the area I started in and I fished down through there… eventually I ran into Andy Montgomery, who was catching them this morning. Then a little bit later, (James) Watson runs by and he was catching them today. And Alton Jones came by, and he caught them today. That area of the lake, there was a lot of fish caught today. So I hope it can produce again tomorrow.”

The top 20 pros from Qualifying Group B that now advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round on the Harris Chain of Lakes are:

  1^st:        Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 39 bass, 102-6 – ADVANCES TO CHAMIONSHIP ROUND
  2^nd:       Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 35 bass, 78-2
  3^rd:       Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 22 bass, 60-0
  4^th:       David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., 21 bass, 59-10
  5^th:       Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 24 bass, 57-10
  6^th:       Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 25 bass, 57-4
  7^th:       Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 23 bass, 57-3
  8^th:       Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 21 bass, 54-8
  9^th:       Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 18 bass, 48-3
  10^th:     James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 19 bass, 47-10
  11^th:     John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 47-9
  12^th:     Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 19 bass, 47-0
  13^th:     Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 17 bass, 45-7
  14^th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 19 bass, 44-6
  15^th:     Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 18 bass, 44-3
  16^th:     Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 19 bass, 44-0
  17^th:     Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 17 bass, 42-15
  18^th:     Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 18 bass, 41-12
  19^th:     John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 17 bass, 40-6
  20^th:     Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala., 14 bass, 39-14

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

Overall, there were 358 bass weighing 870 pounds, 4 ounces caught by the 40 pros on Monday.

Pro Aaron Martens of Leeds, Alabama, caught a 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth on a creature craw in Period 2 to win Monday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The MLF Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three at the Harris Chain Presented by Bass Cat Boats is hosted by Lake County.

The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. With both groups two-day qualifying round now complete, the anglers that finish in 2^nd through 20^th place from both groups now advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the the winner of each group advances directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins. Full breakdown of the format can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.  

Anglers will take off from the Venetian Gardens Ski Beach Boat Ramp, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive, in Leesburg, at 6:30 a.m. ET each day of competition. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will also be held at the Gardens, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend, but encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros that qualify from the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2022 championship.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW!®  will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Bass Cat Boats at the Harris Chain of Lakes will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Sept. 25 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (May 11, 2021) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) 2021 Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is set to premiere with a two-hour episode this Saturday, May 15, at 2 p.m. ET on the Outdoor Channel. The event, shot over six days in early February at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, showcases 30 of the top pro anglers in the world competing in the final event of the 2021 MLF Cup season.

Lake Murray has played host to numerous major bass-fishing championship events, including the 2008, 2014 and 2017 FLW Cup Championships, and a 2018 MLF Challenge Select event – won by pro Keith Poche (competing in this event). The Wiley X Summit Cup presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will mark just the second time that MLF has visited the “Jewel of South Carolina.”

The first episode premiering Saturday will feature the anglers in Group 1 competing in their opening Elimination Round. Episode two will feature the anglers in Group 2; Episode three the anglers in Group 3. The top six finishers from each group’s Elimination Round advance to the two-day Sudden Death Round – episodes four and five – where nine anglers compete each day and try to finish in the top four. The sixth and final episode will feature the final eight anglers competing in the Championship Round to catch the most weight that they can to be crowned the 2021 Summit Cup Champion.

The anglers in Group 1 that compete this Saturday (May 15) on Day One of the 2021 Wiley X Summit Cup are:

• Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla.
• Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan.
• Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tenn.
• James Elam of Tulsa, Okla.
• Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn.
• Bradley Roy of Lancaster, Ky.
• Fletcher Shryock of Guntersville, Ala.
• Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.
• Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.

The anglers in Group 2 that compete next Saturday (May 22) on Day Two of the 2021 Wiley X Summit Cup are:

• Cliff Crochet of Pierre Part, La.
• Shinichi Fukae of Osaka, Japan
• Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla.
• Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala.
• Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn.
• Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va.
• Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif.
• Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales, La.
• Jeff Sprague of Point, Texas
• Greg Vinson of Wetumpka, Ala.

The anglers in Group 3 that compete in the final Elimination Round (May 29) on Day Three of the 2021 Wiley X Summit Cup are:

• Justin Atkins of Florence, Ala.
• Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash.
• Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala.
• Tim Horton of Muscle Shoals, Ala.
• Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas
• Ish Monroe of Oakdale, Calif.
• Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan
• Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala.
• Marty Robinson of Lyman, S.C.
• Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.

The 2021 Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches was hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country. The event will air on the Outdoor Channel as six, two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting May 15, 2021, and running through June 19, airing from 2 to 4 p.m. ET. Each episode will be available for viewing on the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) streaming app on the Monday morning following each episode’s Saturday premiere.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (May 10, 2021) – Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, caught 16 bass totaling 35 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the Championship Round of the 2021 MLF USAA Patriot Cup Presented by Berkley in Kissimmee, Florida, which premiered Saturday on the Outdoor Channel. The win was the second MLF Cup win in as many years for the Japanese pro, who also claimed the 2020 Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches Title at Lake of the Ozarks.

Omori said that he did the bulk of his damage on two baits – an unnamed 1.5 squarebill crankbait and a vibrating jig with a swimbait trailer. He fished boat docks, around the bank and in pockets in 3- to 5-feet of water.

“I love shallow-cranking, and I was thinking the conditions were perfect for me,” Omori said. “The 1.5 did it for me. It’s my most trusted bait right now.

“In the final period I come into the back of the creek where the wind was blowing, and I said if this doesn’t happen right here, I’m done. But, it did.”

With two Cup wins under his belt, the veteran Japanese angler now knows that he can excel at the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format.

“I wasn’t that good in the beginning. It took me seven years to really understand this format, but now that I do, I love it,” Omori went on to say.

The final eight anglers at the 2021 USAA Patriot Cup Presented by Berkley in Kissimmee, Florida, finished:

                1^st:          Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 16 bass, 35-11
                2^nd:         Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Calif., 15 bass, 33-8
                3^rd:         Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 26-9
                4^th:         Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 10 bass, 23-7
                5^th:         Terry Scroggins, Palatka, Fla., 12 bass, 22-1
                6^th:         John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., 11 bass, 19-8
                7^th:         Mike Iaconelli, Runnemede, N.J., nine bass, 16-14
                8^th:         Mark Rose, Wynne, Ala., nine bass, 15-1

Complete results along with photos from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Wiggins caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a nice 8-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that came on a finesse worm.

Overall, there were 97 bass weighing 192 pounds, 11 ounces caught by the final eight pros during the Championship Round of competition on Lake Bellalago.

The 2021 21 USAA Patriot Cup Presented by Berkley was hosted by Experience Kissimmee and premiered on the Outdoor Channel as six, two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon debuting on April 3, 2021, and running through May 8, 2021.

All six episodes of the event are available for viewing on the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) streaming app.

The event was shot over six days in November 2020, in Kissimmee and featured 28 MLF pro anglers competing on three different fisheries across the region, including John’s Lake, Lake Toho and Lake Bellalago. The fisheries are unknown to the anglers – they do not learn where they are competing until they arrive to the launch ramp each morning of competition.