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ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (Sept. 14, 2021) – Pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, boated 28 scorable largemouth bass Tuesday weighing 93 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Knockout Round and advance to the final day of competition at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition will resume Wednesday morning with the Championship Round. Weights are zeroed, and the angler that catches the most weight will win the top prize of $100,000.

Wheeler Ends Round in Fifth to Clinch First Career Angler of the Year Title and Earn $50k, Final 10 Anglers Set for Championship Wednesday and $100,000 Final-Day Shootout

The six-day tournament, hosted by Macomb County, St. Clair Shores and the Detroit Sports Commission, features 80 of the top pro bass-fishing 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 Lake St. Clair are:

1st: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 28 bass, 93-1
2nd: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 23 bass, 70-4
3rd: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 23 bass, 69-3
4th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 23 bass, 68-4
5th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 26 bass, 67-1
6th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, 20 bass, 62-0
7th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 23 bass, 60-7
8th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 20 bass, 58-1

They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round Winners:

Group A: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Group B: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn.

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

“To be totally honest I am just tickled to have a good tournament right here at the end of the year,” Morgan said in his post-game interview. “It’s been a grueling journey for me this year, for sure. The toughest year of bass fishing that I have had since the beginning of my career. But we struggled through it, caught a few here and there and now have a strong ending to the season.”

Morgan put a big flipping stick with a heavy weight and braided line in his hands and went to work, Tuesday. He targeted largemouth, flipping shallow mats and vegetation and never put the flipping stick down throughout the day.

“Whatever we can catch tomorrow, I’m pretty happy with it,” Morgan went on to say. “Of course we’re going to really try like hell to catch all we can catch, but no matter what we caught them today. I may not catch one tomorrow, but I caught them today.”

Academy Sports + Outdoors pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, ended the Knockout Round in 5th place and punched his ticket to the Championship Round, clinching the 2021 Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) and the $50,000 prize. Wheeler needed to finish 12 spots ahead of Blaine, Tennessee’s Ott DeFoe to clinch the title, and after DeFoe ended the event in 32nd place, Wheeler’s 5th place finish locked up the first career AOY title for the 31-year-old angler.

“Unbelievable. To win this award means so much to me,” Wheeler said when he learned that he had clinched the title. “There has been one title that has eluded me in my career – the Angler of the Year. I’ve had seconds, thirds, fourths. After Stage Three at the Harris Chain I thought there was no way I was going to be able to make up the deficit. This has just been an unbelievable season.

“I need to give a huge shout out to Ott (DeFoe),” Wheeler continued. “He is an insane fisherman, just an insane angler. We pushed each other to fish harder, and he pushed me so much this year. Winning a Championship event is awesome, but when you can win Angler of the Year that means you are the best for the entire year. And to do that against this group of anglers… I don’t know what to say. I am speechless.”

Rounding out the top 40 finishers were:

11th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 19 bass, 54-9, $10,000
12th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 18 bass, 54-2, $10,000
13th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 17 bass, 53-1, $10,000
14th: Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., 17 bass, 49-13, $10,000
15th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 16 bass, 45-13, $10,000
16th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 45-8, $10,000
17th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 14 bass, 45-0, $10,000
18th: Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala., 14 bass, 41-2, $10,000
19th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 14 bass, 39-12, $10,000
20th: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 39-2, $10,000
21st: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 11 bass, 37-2, $10,000
22nd: Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 13 bass, 34-10, $10,000
23rd: Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn., 13 bass, 34-5, $10,000
24th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 12 bass, 34-4, $10,000
25th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 11 bass, 32-11, $10,000
26th: Paul Elias, Laurel, Miss., 11 bass, 31-7, $10,000
27th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 12 bass, 31-1, $10,000
28th: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 12 bass, 30-12, $10,000
29th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 10 bass, 30-10, $10,000
30th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 10 bass, 29-14, $10,000
31st: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 11 bass, 28-8, $10,000
32nd: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 11 bass, 27-11, $10,000
33rd: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 10 bass, 25-8, $10,000
34th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., nine bass, 25-3, $10,000
35th: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., eight bass, 21-12, $10,000
36th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., nine bass, 21-7, $10,000
37th: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, nine bass, 21-2, $10,000
38th: Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., seven bass, 20-9, $10,000
39th: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., six bass, 19-5, $10,000
40th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., four bass, 11-7, $10,000

There were 542 bass weighing 1,565 pounds, 7 ounces caught by the 38 pros Tuesday, which included two 6-pounders and four 5-pounders.

Morgan also won Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing a 6-pound, 5-ounce largemouth bass that he caught flipping during Period 3 to earn the prize. 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 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Lake St. Clair 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 2nd through 20th place from both groups advanced to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advanced directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, 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 the top prize of $100,000.

The final 10 anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET Wednesday. The General Tire Takeout ceremony and trophy presentation will also be held at the Launch Ramp, beginning at 5 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the Championship Round takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters 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 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 each day of competition from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft will premiere at 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 13 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.

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

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network, the Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. In 2019 MLF acquired FLW and rebranded it as MLF BIG5, which expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh and immediate release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™

The post Morgan Rolls in Knockout Round, Wheeler Clinches AOY at MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair appeared first on Bass365.com.

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (Sept. 13, 2021) – Pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, caught 30 scorable bass totaling 73 pounds, 4 ounces to win the two-day Qualifying Group B round Monday at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.

Strader’s two-day total of 64 bass weighing 166 pounds, 8 ounces earned him the round win by a 36-pound, 1-ounce margin and advances him directly into Wednesday’s final-day Championship Round of competition. The six-day tournament, hosted by Macomb County, St. Clair Shores and the Detroit Sports Commission, showcases the 80 top pro bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

While Lake St. Clair is widely-known as a world-class smallmouth bass fishery, Strader has done his damage this week targeting solely largemouth.

“Finally! I’m so happy to win one. Golly bum, that is so hard to do,” Strader said in his post-game interview. “I tell you what’s even harder, though – I went against the grain and did it with the wrong species. What a great two days of fishing it has been.”

Like Day 1, Strader spent most of his day fishing shallow, alternating between a Z-Man Evergreen Jack Hammer ChatterBait paired with a Zoom Z-Swim and a Neko-rigged Zoom Zlinky.

“I don’t know what’s up with that spot – just more and more fish keep getting on it,” Strader continued. “I know it’s probably going to get played out, but I’m looking forward to getting back out there on Wednesday and seeing how this shakes out.”

Pro Fred “Boom Boom” Roumbanis of Russellville, Arkansas, caught a two-day total of 45 bass weighing 130-7 to end the round in second place. Favorite Fishing pro Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 41 bass weighing 122-6. Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas, weighed in 37 scorable bass over two days totaling 115-14 to end the round in fourth, while local favorite Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, who qualified for this event via the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit, rounded out the top five finishers with a two-day total of 39 bass weighing 107-2.

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 Michael Neal, Group B winner Wesley Strader, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

The top 20 pros in Qualifying Group B that now advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round on Lake St. Clair are:

1st: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 64 bass, 166-8 – ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
2nd: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 45 bass, 130-7
3rd: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 41 bass, 122-6
4th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 37 bass, 115-14
5th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 39 bass, 107-2
6th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 27 bass, 93-5
7th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 30 bass, 91-10
8th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 32 bass, 91-5
9th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 32 bass, 90-13
10th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 32 bass, 90-10
11th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 29 bass, 86-8
12th: Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn., 27 bass, 76-15
13th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 25 bass, 73-15
14th: Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala., 26 bass, 73-11
15th: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, 23 bass, 70-1
16th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 25 bass, 67-11
17th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 24 bass, 66-10
18th: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 25 bass, 66-9
19th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 22 bass, 61-5
20th: Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 16 bass, 58-3

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

Overall, there were 457 bass weighing 1,366 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 38 pros on Monday.

Birge won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Monday with a 5-pound, 10-ounce smallmouth bass that he caught on a crankbait during Period 2. 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 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Lake St. Clair on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. Now that each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In tomorrow’s Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In Wednesday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET each day of competition. With strong winds being forecast for Tuesday, Bass Pro Tour Tournament Director Aaron Beshears has decided to allow Knockout Round competitors to trailer their boats. Anglers must remain at the 9-Mile Boat Ramp until 8 a.m. and then will be allowed to depart to the desired launch ramp of their choosing.

The General Tire Takeout ceremonies will also be held at the Launch Ramp, beginning at 5 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters 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 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 each day of competition from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft will premiere at 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 13 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.

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

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network, the Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. In 2019 MLF acquired FLW and rebranded it as MLF BIG5, which expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh and immediate release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™

The post Strader Targets Largemouth for Qualifying Round Win at MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair appeared first on Bass365.com.

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (Sept. 12, 2021) – It was never close, Sunday. After jumping out to a big lead on Day 1 Friday, pro Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee, backed it up with another big day on Day 2 Sunday weighing in 33 smallmouth bass totaling 102 pounds, 3 ounces to coast to the win in the Group A Qualifying Round at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.

Dayton, Tennessee Pro Advances Straight into Wednesday’s Championship Round with Heaviest Two-Day Total in Bass Pro Tour History, 2^nd– through 20^th-place finishers Prep for Tuesday’s Knockout Round

Neal’s two-day Qualifying Round total of 69 bass weighing 223 pounds even broke numerous Bass Pro Tour records – Neal became the first angler to ever weigh back-to-back 100+ pounds of bass in both days of the Qualifying Round, and his final weight of 223 pounds was the heaviest two-day Qualifying Round total in Bass Pro Tour history. Neal’s Qualifying Round margin-of-victory of 76 pounds, 14 ounces also shattered the record as the largest margin-of-victory in the four-year history of the Bass Pro Tour.

“Without a doubt, the winning fish are right here in this area,” Neal said in his post-game interview. “I’ve had two fantastic days of fishing. It’s a ½- to ¾-mile stretch, and there are just tons and tons of fish here. And they’re good sized. I’ve been able to maintain a 3-pound average over two days and have caught 100 pounds there two days in a row.

“Wednesday is going to be a shootout, for sure, and I have a hard time believing that it won’t take over 100 pounds to win the Championship Round. So, we’re just going to have to come back out here Wednesday and see how it goes one more day,” Neal continued.

Neal caught his fish on a variety of baits, but credited his hooks as being the key so far for him this week.

“I’ve caught them on a variety of different things so far. I caught them on a drop-shot rig with a spinning rod. I’ve caught them on a vibrating jig, And I’ve caught them on a crankbait. A lot of my bigger fish have come on the crankbait.

“One of the keys this week has been swapping out my hooks,” Neal went on to say. “I’ve been putting on a number 2-sized Gamakatsu G Finesse treble hook . It’s super smooth but super strong. I’ve changed all of my jerkbaits and crankbaits to it. It’s the only hook I’ll throw on these smallmouth. And it’s special because Aaron Martens designed it. He couldn’t be here competing with us this week, but we want him to know that he is in all of our thoughts and prayers, and I hope he’s been able to watch and know that his hook has put a lot of fish in my boat this week.”

B&W Trailer Hitches pro Russ Lane of Prattville, Alabama, caught a two-day total of 48 bass weighing 146-2 to finish the round in second place. Academy Sports + Outdoors pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, boated a two-day total of 46 bass weighing 124-11 to end the round in third place. After starting the day in 8th place, pro Brett Hite of Phoenix, Arizona , weighed in the second-heaviest weight of the day totaling 68-10 to vault into fourth place with a two-day total of 36 bass for 117-3. Rounding out the top five is pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, who caught a two-day total of 34 bass weighing 115-5.

The top 20 anglers from Group A will now enjoy an off day, while the 40 anglers in Qualifying Group B will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition on Monday. The Knockout Round, featuring 38 anglers competing to finish in the top eight, will take place on Tuesday. Wednesday’s Championship Round will feature Neal, Monday’s Group B winner, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

The top 20 pros in Qualifying Group A that now advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round on Lake St. Clair are:

1st: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 69 bass, 223-0 – ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
2nd: Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., 48 bass, 146-2
3rd: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 48 bass, 131-13
4th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 40 bass, 118-4
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 36 bass, 117-3
6th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 34 bass, 115-5
7th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas., 34 bass, 95-15
8th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 31 bass, 95-5
9th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 28 bass, 85-2
10th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 30 bass, 84-12
11th: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 29 bass, 83-2
12th: Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., 29 bass, 81-3
13th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 25 bass, 76-2
14th: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., 22 bass, 72-9
15th: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 25 bass, 72-6
16th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 22 bass, 70-13
17th: Paul Elias, Laurel, Miss., 22 bass, 68-3
18th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 24 bass, 67-1
19th: Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 23 bass, 63-3
20th: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 20 bass, 62-12

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

Overall, there were 423 bass weighing 1,256 pounds, 15 ounces caught by the 40 pros on Sunday.

Wheeler won Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with 5-pound, 11-ounce smallmouth bass that he caught on a drop-shot rig during 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 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Lake St. Clair on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while 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 the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET each day of competition. The General Tire Takeout ceremonies will also be held at the Launch Ramp, beginning at 5 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters 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 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 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft will premiere at 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 13 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.

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

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network, the Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. In 2019 MLF expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh and immediate release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™

The post Neal Cruises to Record-Breaking Qualifying Round Win at MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair appeared first on Bass365.com.

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (Sept. 11, 2021) – It was very different conditions for the 40 pro anglers competing Saturday in Group B at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. However, after the anglers had battled through the strong winds and the final bass had been tallied the results were remarkably similar to Friday, with an East-Tennessee angler sitting atop the leaderboard.

Spring City, Tennessee Pro Catches 34 Bass Weighing 93 Pounds, 4 Ounces to Lead Group B’s Qualifying Round – Group A to Finish Qualifying Round Sunday

Pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, boated 34 bass weighing 93 pounds, 4 ounces, to grab the early lead in Group B after Day 1 of their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Strader will bring a 12-pound, 4-ounce lead into Group B’s Qualifying Round finale on Monday.

Right behind Strader in second place is Russellville, Arkansas pro Fred Roumbanis, who was near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day. Roumbanis boated 29 bass totaling 81 pounds even to finish the day. Rounding out the top three was Favorite Fishing pro Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, who caught 27 bass for 75-14 to end the day in third. Local pro Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, weighed 17 bass totaling 44-8 to rest in 5th place, while Kalamazoo’s Jonathon VanDam boated seven bass weighing 20 pounds even to sit in 23rd.

The 39 anglers in Group B will now have an off day on Sunday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Group B will conclude their Qualifying Round on Monday. The six-day event, hosted by Macomb County, St. Clair Shores and the Detroit Sports Commission, showcases the 80 top professional bass-fishing anglers on the planet competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

“Well, today has been a really, really good day,” Strader said in his post-game interview. “I really only needed about five of these Powell rods on my deck today and that was it.

“This morning I started out throwing a 3/8-ounce white (Z-Man) ChatterBait Jack Hammer with a Zoom Z-Swim behind it,” Strader said. “I threw that on a Powell Endurance 755 CB rod with a (Lew’s) Pro TI reel, spooled with 20-pound Sunline Sniper line. I also caught quite a few punching – I ran out of Zoom Z-Hogs. But I punched with a Powell Endurance 806 rod and a Lew’s Custom Pro reel, using 50-pound Sunline FX2 braided line, a 1½-ounce weight and a 5/0 TroKar TK130 hook.

“The thing that really got us going towards the end, though, was a Zoom Zlinky,” Strader continued. “I wacky-rigged it with a 2/0 Neko-style Trokar Hook and a 1/8-ounce Eagle Claw nail weight in the nose of it.

“All in all, I’ve got a couple of things figured out for Monday,” Strader went on to say. “I have a couple of areas that I couldn’t even get to today – it would have beat us to death with the wind. I also didn’t want to leave my fish biting. I’m excited to get back out there and see how it all shakes out.”

Second-place angler Fred Roumbanis also raved about the fun he had on the water Saturday, despite losing multiple key fish.

“I had an amazing day, despite the fish that I couldn’t get in the boat,” Roumbanis said. “I must have lost six 4- or 5-pounders today. But it was exciting – I almost gave up on the spot where I fished, but when I slowed down I really started catching them.

“I’ve got absolutely no complaints – I think I may have finally broken the curse that this place has had on me for all of these years,” Roumbanis went on to say. “I think I’m in great shape to make the Knockout Round – I’m just going to have to catch a couple of more fish. But man, it’d be so nice to win and automatically advance to the Championship Round. Wesley (Strader) and Zack (Birge) are crushing them, but I’m going to give those guys everything that I’ve got.”

The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on Lake St. Clair are:

1st: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 34 bass, 93-4
2nd: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 29 bass, 81-0
3rd: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 27 bass, 75-14
4th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 23 bass, 65-3
5th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 17 bass, 44-8
6th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 14 bass, 41-0
7th: Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala., 14 bass, 39-14
8th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 13 bass, 39-10
9th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 14 bass, 39-5
10th: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, 12 bass, 37-8
11th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 34-8
12th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 11 bass, 33-10
13th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 13 bass, 33-0
14th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 31-3
15th: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 31-1
16th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 11 bass, 30-0
17th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., eight bass, 29-7
18th: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 28-6
19th: Cody Pike, Powhatan, Va., nine bass, 27-10
20th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., eight bass, 22-13

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

Overall, there were 385 bass weighing 1,097 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 37 pros on Saturday.

Andy Morgan won Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass that he flipped up during 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 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Lake St. Clair on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while 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 the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET each day of competition. The General Tire Takeout ceremonies will also be held at the Launch Ramp, beginning at 5 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

As part of the event fans will also be treated to the Bass, Brews & BBQ Festival at Blossom Heath Park in St. Clair Shores, on Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. The festival is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite Bass Pro Tour anglers, enjoy food and beverages from local food truck and St. Clair Shores Micro Breweries, watch the on-the-water action at the MLF watch party, shop at numerous MLF sponsor and local vendor booths, and enjoy live concerts from local musicians each day. For more information on the Bass, Brews & BBQ Festival hosted by Macomb County, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters 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 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 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the CarParts.com Stage Seven at Lake St. Clair Presented by Covercraft will premiere at 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 13 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.

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

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network, the Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. In 2019 MLF acquired FLW and rebranded it as MLF BIG5, which expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh and immediate release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams, and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™

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