THE LATEST NEWS

Final 10 Anglers Set for Championship Wednesday and Final-Day Shootout for $100,000

AUSTIN, Texas (May 4, 2021) – Berkley pro “Big Fish” Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, caught 14 bass Tuesday totaling 28 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 Berkley Stage Two at Lake Travis Presented by Mercury event in Austin, Texas. 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.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Austin Sports Commission, 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 Lake Travis are:

1^st:        Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 14 bass, 28-1
2^nd:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., seven bass, 24-11
3^rd:       Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 11 bass, 24-2
4^th:       Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., nine bass, 18-11
5^th:       Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 10 bass, 18-2
6^th:       Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, eight bass, 17-7
7^th:       Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., six bass, 17-3
8^th:       John Cox, DeBary, Fla., nine bass, 16-10

They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round Winners:

Group A: Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.
Group B: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.

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

“Man, am I excited to be going to my second straight Championship Round in Texas,” said Lane, who finished in 10^th place at the season-opening Bass Pro Tour event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. “Last year it seemed like I finished in 11^th and 12^th place all year long, but this is a new year and Bobby Lane is heading to his second straight Championship Round.”

Lane said he caught his fish Tuesday fishing the outside of marinas, mainly targeting docks and rocks.

“The key to my success so far this week has been my equipment,” Lane said. “I’m using the new (Abu Garcia) Veritas, 7-foot, medium, and this rod has been absolutely phenomenal. I love it. I’m fishing a wacky-rigged Berkley PowerBait (MaxScent) General worm (green-pumpkin) with a size 1 hook and a nail weight right in the head.

“I’ve got 10-pound braided line and I’m using an 8-pound-test Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon leader,” Lane continued. “I’m using a very long leader – around 14-foot. Fishing here on Lake Travis you’re going to break off, you’re going to get hung on the cables and you’re going to have to re-tie quite often. The longer leader allows me to re-tie more quickly and efficiently.”

Second-place angler Academy pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, was much more optimistic after his day on the water, Tuesday, than he was after only boating two fish in Monday’s Qualifying Round.

“It was a good morning, and a really tough afternoon – just as it has been the last few days – but we got it done and I’m so thankful for those quality bites this morning,” Wheeler said. “If I can get at least 10 keeper bites tomorrow, I think I’ll have a shot at this thing. I’m going to have to generate some big bites, though, so we’ll see what happens. I’m looking forward to going to the Championship Round. This feels good after yesterday’s struggles, so I’m ready to get after it tomorrow.”

Third-place pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, also made the Championship Round in his second-straight event after a ninth-place showing at the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event last month.

“I left a fair amount of water today that I didn’t fish, so I’ve still got some stuff left to fish tomorrow,” Ehrler said. “I got kind of lucky today. I had a couple of key bites that really helped me get to where I’m at right now – over that 20-pound mark. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get those again tomorrow; they were kind of single fish. I found an area that had a few fish that had moved up – I’d already fished it earlier in the week – but a few more had moved up. I don’t think I can go back and catch those fish again. I’m going to have to bob and weave by the minute tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll have a chance at winning this thing.

”Rounding out the top 40 finishers were:

11^th:     Mike McClelland, Blue Eye, Mo., eight bass, 16-4, $10,000
12^th:     David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 16-2, $10,000
13^th:     Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., seven bass, 15-5, $10,000
14^th:     Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., seven bass, 14-10, $10,000
15^th:     Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Calif., seven bass, 14-10, $10,000
16^th:     Alton Jones, Woodway, Texas, three bass, 13-8, $10,000
17^th:     Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 13-4, $10,000
18^th:     Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 12-15, $10,000
19^th:     Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 12-12, $10,000
20^th:     Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 12-5, $10,000
21^st:     Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, six bass, 11-15, $10,000
22^nd:    Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., four bass, 11-10, $10,000
23^rd:    Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 9-14, $10,000
24^th:     Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, four bass, 9-6, $10,000
25^th:     Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 9-1, $10,000
26^th:     Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 8-14, $10,000
27^th:     Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., three bass, 8-9, $10,000
28^th:     David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., four bass, 8-7, $10,000
29^th:     Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., two bass, 8-5, $10,000
30^th:     Miles Burghoff, Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., five bass, 8-3, $10,000
31^st:     Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., four bass, 7-9, $10,000
32^nd:    Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., three bass, 5-10, $10,000
33^rd:    Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, three bass, 5-0, $10,000
34^th:     Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., two bass, 4-14, $10,000
35^th:     James Watson, Lampe, Mo., two bass, 4-2, $10,000
36^th:     Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., one bass, 4-2, $10,000
37^th:     Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., two bass, 4-0, $10,000
38^th:     Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La, two bass, 3-11, $10,000
39^th:     Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., two bass, 3-8, $10,000
40^th:     Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., zero bass, 0-0, $10,000

The post Bobby Lane Wins Knockout Round at Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour – Stage Two at Lake Travis appeared first on Bass365.com.

Oklahoma Pro Advance Directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round to Compete for $100,000 with Two-Day Total of 67 Pounds, 4 Ounce, Field of 38 Set for Tuesday’s Knockout Round

AUSTIN, Texas (May 3, 2021) – Favorite Fishing pro Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, boated 15 scorable bass Monday weighing 25 pounds, 2 ounces to win the two-day Qualifying Group B round at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Berkley Stage Two at Lake Travis Presented by Mercury event in Austin, Texas. Birge’s two-days total of 33 bass weighing 67 pounds, 4 ounces, was enough to earn the victory by more than 9 pounds and advance the Oklahoma angler directly into Wednesday’s final-day Championship Round of competition.

The six-day tournament, hosted by the Austin Sports Commission, 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.

Day 1 leader, Academy pro Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee, caught a two-day total of 18 bass weighing 58-3 to end the round in second place, and South Carolina angler Andy Montgomery finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 15 bass weighing 34-0.

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 Brent Chapman, Group B winner Birge, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“The goal coming into today was to win the Round,” Birge said. “I had a near 10-pound deficit to Wheeler, but fortunately we were able to make that up. I was a little worried throughout the first period, but I slowly caught up and we ended up pulling ahead in the third period. I made some good decisions and ended up catching a few more at the end of the day that gave us a little bit of a margin.”

On a tough day where the majority of the field struggled, Birge excelled using an Omega Custom Tackle finesse jig.

“Basically, all I’ve done the past two days is thrown a small finesse Omega Custom jig,” Birge said. “It’s a green-pumpkin and purple jig, and I’m throwing it with a small trailer, a Googan Krackin’ Craw Junior. I’m throwing the jig on my 7-foot, 3-inch Signature Series Favorite rod with 12-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon line . I’ve been downsizing my line to try to get more bites – this water is gin clear, and I definitely think that has helped me get more bites throughout the day. That little jig gets a lot of bites and catches a lot of fish.”

Despite finishing the round in second place, Wheeler was definitely one of the anglers that struggled, Monday. After catching 16 scorable bass for 52-11 Saturday on Day 1, the Tennessee pro only managed to add two scorable bass to his tally.

“Although I came up short of winning, at the end of the day I’m trying to look at this more as a positive because the key to winning this tournament is going to be finding groups of fish,” Wheeler said. “Things are changing here, constantly. My pattern completely died today. The water temperature is rising – it’s up to 80 degrees right now – and I really think that to do well I’m going to have to get on a current-based pattern. I’m looking forward to getting back out here tomorrow and trying to see if we can’t catch them again.”

The top 20 pros from Qualifying Group B that now advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round on Lake Travis are:

1^st:        Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 33 bass, 67-4
2^nd:       Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 18 bass, 58-3
3^rd:       Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 15 bass, 34-0
4^th:       Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 11 bass, 31-0
5^th:       Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., 14 bass, 30-2
6^th:       Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 15 bass, 29-14
7^th:       Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 12 bass, 29-11
8^th:       Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 14 bass, 28-3
9^th:       David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-0
10^th:     Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, 12 bass, 26-9
11^th:     Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 11 bass, 25-8
12^th:     Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 13 bass, 24-13
13^th:     Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 14 bass, 24-10
14^th:     Ott DeFoe, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 24-5
15^th:     Alton Jones, Woodway, Texas, 13 bass, 23-8
16^th:     Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Calif., 12 bass, 22-13
17^th:     Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., nine bass, 22-8
18^th:     Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 12 bass, 21-15
19^th:     Mike McClelland, Blue Eye, Mo., 12 bass, 21-13
20^th:     Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., seven bass, 21-6

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 immediately 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 Zack Birge Tops Qualifying Group B at Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour – Stage Two at Lake Travis appeared first on Bass365.com.

Cody Meyer catches a “Game Changer” at the Lake Travis, Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour. Stage 2. Watch as Cody makes a very difficult cast under a dock then hooks, fights and lands a key 5 pounder.

The post Game Changer! From Cast to Catch appeared first on Bass365.com.

Kevin VanDam was the man on the Toro Cut Line here at Lake Travis for Stage TWO of the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour after his first day on the water.

KVD came into the second day of his Qualifying Round on the bubble; holding down the 20^th place position after adding just under 10-lbs to the SCORETRACKER during a shortened day of fishing due to inclement weather.

The Team Toyota pro will be the first to tell you he isn’t exactly happy with his day one results. While most pros would be content with limping in and moving on to the Knockout Round by any means necessary, VanDam’s competitive fire burns too bright to allow that kind of thinking.

“After what I saw during our two days of practice I am really surprised I struggled as much as I did (on Saturday),” VanDam said. “I figured out two pretty strong patterns the second day of practice but couldn’t really get the momentum rolling with them yesterday. I caught a pile of fish but most were just under the 1-pound 8-ounce minimum. We’re going to change that on Monday.”

Make no mistake; VanDam has no intention of targeting just enough weight to survive today. You don’t win over $6.8 million dollars with a rod and reel by playing it safe.

No, KVD plans to put his foot to the gas on and catch as much weight as possible to get him as far away from the cut line as he can. Instead of making substantial changes or overthinking it, VanDam intends to employ the same two patterns that proved fruitful for him during practice, but with subtle tweaks.

“I’m going to try and catch a couple big finicky shallow water largemouth first thing in the morning and then spend the rest of the day on a deeper deal that I never could get going on Saturday,” VanDam explained. “I had several nice fish show themselves on day one, but couldn’t get them to eat. I’ll try to change up my timing a bit and see where that takes me.”

In a way VanDam’s brain is kind of like a high-speed bass fishing computer. He computes information he’s learned from previous experience, his Humminbird electronics, current lake and weather conditions, as well as recent knowledge gained from practice.

The product of all this data usually results in a game plan that finds KVD finishing near the top of the leaderboard. There is certainly a science to it all.

The second-prong of VanDam’s Lake Travis approach is an offshore pattern focusing on twenty to thirty feet of water. It’s a pretty “sneaky deal” as he called it, even for KVD. It never ceases to amaze me how one of the most followed, studied, and covered bass anglers of all time is able to keep anything a secret.

But VanDam always has a few tricks up his sleeve. If his approach works out the way he believes it could, KVD might put on a Texas-sized show today on Lake Travis. 

The post KVD’s Approach to Busting the Bubble appeared first on Bass365.com.