Powroznik Rallies for Win in Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude.

Wheeler 2nd, Omori 3rd. 

MLF PRESS RELEASE

Jacob's change from sight fishing to casting secured win!
(Photo: MLF)

When it all comes down to it, the Major League Fishing® (MLF) format has always been about identifying fishing conditions on the fly, and making the right adjustments as those conditions change.

MLF pro Jacob Powroznik learned enough from the first fish he saw on Championship Sunday to tell him all he needed to know. That fish, which rolled on a floating worm in the first pocket that the Virginia pro fished on Shearon Harris Reservoir, clued Powroznik in that the lake's largemouth were in extremely shallow water and spawning.

Powroznik didn't catch that fish, but it caused him to pick up a wacky-rigged 5-inch V&M Chopstick and start fishing for spawners. It was the right decision: Powroznik connected with 20 fish for 63 pounds, 4 ounces to earn a shiny new red-and-silver trophy and the $100,000 first-place check at the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude.

"I saw that fish swim over on that floating worm, and I knew right then fish were spawning," Powroznik said. "They were really shallow, and I picked that wacky-worm up right then and didn't take it out of my hand the rest of the day."

 

From sight fishing to casting

Powroznik, one of the most skilled sight-fishermen in the field, dedicated some time early in the day to bedding fish, but then pulled off the beds and started casting to shallow water when mid-day clouds spoiled the visibility. That, too, proved to be a key decision.

2019 FLW Tour Grand Lake Day 2: Bailey Boutries Grabs Lead with 35-04lbs!

Canadians Richardson 43^rd & Sim 137th

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Twenty year old weathers wicked storm to lead.
(Photo: FLW)

Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Ala., celebrated his 20th birthday less than 2 weeks ago. Grand Lake is providing him one heck of a birthday present thus far.

The FLW Tour rookie followed up his 14-14 day one with only the third 20-pound bag of the event (20 pounds, 6 ounces) on day two to take the lead at Tour stop No. 4 presented by Mercury. His total of 35-4 gives him a 4-ounce lead over former FLW Cup champion John Cox.

“I’m so excited,” says Boutries of being in the lead. “I love fishing. It’s incredible to be competing against guys like Scott Martin, David Dudley and Bryan Thrift.”

Ironically, one of those pros (Thrift) happens to be right on his heels in fifth. In fact, after Kyle Weisenburger held a sizable lead yesterday, the top of the leaderboard has tightened considerably, with less than 4 pounds separating Boutries from Terry Bolton in 10th. Oh, and the top 10 is loaded.

Along with the former Cup champ, Cox, and the former Angler of the Year, Thrift, you also have Bradford Beavers (coming off a top 10 at Seminole and in third), Seminole-winner Brian Latimer in sixth, tournament-favorite Bradley Hallman in ninth and current AOY-leader, Bolton.

That might intimidate most young rookies, especially one that has only caught one limit in his first three tournaments. Yet, Boutries is calm and confident thanks to his pattern. 

“My roomamates and I figured [the pattern] out in practice,” Boutries says. “It’s only in certain areas, but the lure and water clarity don’t seem to matter.”

That said, Boutries did do the majority of his damage today on a War Eagle spinnerbait thrown on a 7-2 medium-heavy Profishiency rod, with a 6.5:1 Ardent reel spooled with 17-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon.

He had to switch up his retrieve a little today, but he caught nine keepers, with the majority coming with some help from mother nature.

“That storm really helped,” says Boutries of the significant storm cell that hit the lake for little more than an hour late in the morning. “When it started raining and got really windy, they really bit that spinnerbait. The wind was a huge factor for me.”

Boutries was able to replicate his pattern on at least 10 different areas, and most of them were new water he’d never fished before. He’s simply able to run around and find exactly the right combination of rock to key his pattern.

2019 Bass Pro Tour Knockout Round Field Set as Group B's Top 20 Advance at Raleigh Stage Three

Palaniuk, Lane, Sprague Complete Flip-Flops on Falls, Advance to Knockout Round 

Lane's big bass spring him into weekend rounds.
(Photo: MLF)

When you take a quick look down the standings of Elimination Round 2 of the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude, three names should stand out: Brandon Palaniuk, Russ Lane and Jeff Sprague.

 

While only one of the three finished in the Top 5 - Palaniuk was fourth, Lane was sixth, Sprague was 10th - the numbers to pay the closest attention to are their SCORETRACKER™ catches for the day on Falls Lake: Palaniuk piled up 42 pounds, 5 ounces on 16 fish, Lane weighed in 36-15 and Sprague finished with 33-7.

 

Strong numbers, to be sure, but especially notable because those three anglers started the morning in the bottom 10 in the standings after their Shotgun Round and executed the kind of dramatic turnarounds that would lead a betting soul to believe that they've figured something special out on Falls.

 

2019 FLW Tour Grand Lake Day 1: Weisenburger Whacks 24-12lbs!

Canadians Richardson 66^th & Sim 128th

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Weisenburger big limit in contrast to poor fishing for most of the field.
(Photo: FLW)

Most everyone said their practice on Grand Lake was brutal; Kyle Weisenburger included. Yet, while many allowed that practice to carry over into the tournament, Weisenburger kicked it aside in a big way.

The Ohio pro was able turn one “good” bite in practice into 24 pounds, 12 ounces on day one of the FLW Tour event presented by Mercury. That put him almost 5 pounds ahead of second-place Todd Castledine and more than 8 pounds ahead of tenth-place Bradley Hallman.

“Sometimes, you have to go off the cuff and make decisions,” Weisenburger says. “I had to make a decision, and it turned out to be the right one.”

To be fair, after a miserable practice, Weisenburger admits it wasn’t too hard a decision to make a run to the only area that showed even a glimmer of promise for him in practice. Between falling water, falling water temperatures, muddy water and unstable weather, Grand Lake is hardly fishing like the historic fishery it’s known to be.

Thus, Weisenburger opted to hunker in his area and see if he could figure something out on the fly. Sure enough, he found a tiny pocket that allowed him to do that.

“I made a little move up shallower and caught one that kind of clued me in on something,” Weisenburger says. “After that one fish I started to play around and put together a pattern.”

Obviously, he’s tight-lipped about what that pattern is right now, but he says it’s a specific combination of location, lure and presentation.

He’s only using two lures, letting the conditions dictate which he throws at any given time. Though, one certainly outperformed the other today. Meanwhile, he has a main area he knows has more good fish in it – he left it after catching a pair of fish that wouldn’t help him, not wanting to burn them for tomorrow – but he was also able to run around his creek arm and replicate his pattern on a couple other spots.

2019 Bass Pro Tour Elimination Round Pool A: 20 Advance to Weekend.

20 Pros Survive Elimination at MLF Bass Pro Tour 

MLF PRESS RELEASE

MLF pro Randall Tharp was one of 20 anglers to advance out of Group A's Elimination
Round today at North Carolina's  Falls Lake. He will fish in Saturday's Knockout Round.

It has become one of the most interesting (and in some cases, gut-wrenching) focal points of the young Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour season: the battle around the 20th spot in the standings on Elimination Rounds.   

 

That 20th spot - which represents the final qualifier for the Knockout Round - is the definition of "make or break" and has created some of the highest moments of drama in the history of professional bass fishing.

 

If you're Jacob Powroznik, you love it today. The Virginia pro weighed in 12 pounds, 13 ounces of Falls Lake largemouth to finish with a two-day total of 32-14: good for 20th in Group A at the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude.   

 

If you're Michael Neal, not so much: the Tennessee pro put 17-4 on SCORETRACKER™ on the day, but fell 2 ounces short of Powroznik for the coveted final spot with 32-12.

 

"Well, what can you say: somebody has to be that guy, and today, that's me," Neal deadpanned as he waited for the start of the Berkley Postgame Show.   

 

"It was very stressful," Powroznik admitted. "At about 1 p.m., I was like 'What am I doing wrong?' The areas where those fish should be going, they're just not there yet. The biggest thing is just keeping your head in it. I'm just glad I made it."   

 

Moving on to Knockout

 

For the 20 anglers who finished just ahead of Neal in Group A Shotgun and Elimination Round competition, it's on to Saturday's Knockout Round, where they'll be joined by the Top 20 after tomorrow's second Elimination Round on Falls Lake, consisting of Group B anglers.

 

Notable performers on the day included:  

 

2019 Bass Pro Tour Jordon Lake Pool 2 Shot Gun Round 1: David Walker Top of Group with 82-04lbs!

David Walker Rides Jig, Spinnerbait to Top

By Joel Shangle

MLF PRESS RELEASE

David Walker's 8-6 caught an hour into the competition anchored
 his total day's weight of 47 pounds, 6 ounces
for 15 bass to finish on top of Group B Shotgun Round.

Heading into the second Shotgun Round of the Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude, Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour pro David Walker had a suspicion that the conditions on North Carolina's Jordan Lake were setting up for his wheelhouse.   

With dropping, dirty water and nighttime lows that dipped near the freezing level, the east Tennessee pro put his faith in two old-school techniques that he's built a healthy professional living on: flipping a jig and winding a spinnerbait.  

His faith in that 1-2 punch paid off as Walker flipped and wound his way to 47 pounds, 6 ounces on 15 fish to finish on top of the Group B Shotgun Round.  

"I didn't have much practice, so in that case, I'm going to fish the things that I have confidence in," Walker said. "So I was fishing (baits) that I have confidence in from all the years past, not from practice."

Walker did the majority of his damage early in the day, when the water was its coldest. Throwing a chartreuse-and-white spinnerbait and flipping a Moccasin Craw Z-Man CrossEyeZ jig with a BatwingZ trailer, the Evinrude pro stacked over 32 pounds on SCORETRACKER™ in the first period, weighing in 10 scorable largemouth.  

He highlighted his day with an 8-6 an hour into the competition, the Berkley Big Bass of the day, and put himself in strong position heading into his Elimination Round on Falls Lake.

"This is a best-case scenario, because out of the two practice days, Falls was by far my worst," Walker said. "I really struggled on Falls. So to have a good start going into that is very helpful, because if not I would have felt like I was behind trying to play catch-up on that lake. I'm not saying that I'm safe or that I've made it (out of Elimination), because in this format they just keep catching them. It's relentless."

Ott DeFoe finished second on the day with 44-1, followed by Casey Ashley (42-8), Brett Hite (42-0), Ish Monroe (40-1), Takahiro Omori (32-3) and Dustin Connell (30-15).

Change of Venue for Elimination Rounds

The field of 80 will carry their Group A and B Shotgun Round weights to Falls Lake tomorrow and Friday for the Elimination Rounds. That fishery - a 12,000-acre impoundment of the Neuse River located 30 minutes north of Raleigh - has hosted a handful of BLF events, and produced a handful of 8-plus-pounders in the first local/regional events of the year in early March.

Like Jordan, Falls is a river lake that holds an abundance of wood and rock, with fish in similar pre-spawn staging.  

2019 Bass Pro Tour Jordon Lake Shot Gun Round 1: Kelly Jordon Rocks the field with 82-04lbs!

KJ set new Bass Pro Tour single-day record

By Joel Shangle

MLF PRESS RELEASE

Kelly Jordon & Jackhammer Chatterbait have record day.
(Photo: MLF)

It took virtually no time for the chunky northern-strain largemouth of North Carolina to reveal themselves on Day 1 of the Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Evinrude: Jason Christie boated a 7-pound, 12-ouncer just four minutes into competition on Jordan Lake, the first fish of the day.

Christie’s opening shot was just the beginning: By the end of Shotgun Round 1, 11 7-pounders and 48 fish over 5 pounds made it onto SCORETRACKER, an astoundingly impressive showing for an unknown fishery that most of the field of 80 had never even seen before practice.

But not nearly as impressive as the fish-catching clinic put on by Kelly Jordon.

Fishing his way around a shallow creek arm on this impoundment of the Cape Fear River system north of Raleigh, the Texas pro piled up 82-4 on 26 fish, not only winning the round by over 18 pounds, but also establishing a new single-day Bass Pro Tour weight total.

“It was just an awesome, awesome day,” Jordon said. “This area had gotten a ton of rain, and then the water dropped so much, I thought ‘Maybe this isn’t going to happen’, but guess what? The fish are still here. There’s no telling how much I could’ve caught if it had stayed warm. But what a fishery.”

Jordon did the majority of his damage with an Evergreen Jack Hammer bladed jig with a Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad trailer, and he did it consistently for the first five hours of competition, pinging SCORETRACKER with four to five scorable largemouth per hour until he hit a brief lull late in the afternoon. He found some good ones, too, highlighting his day with seven 5-plus-pounders, including a 5-2 and 5-6 in the final five minutes of competition.

“Anytime you catch 82 pounds in a day of fishing is an awesome day, and I didn’t want to quit fishing,” Jordon admitted. “It was sad, I wanted to keep fishing because they were starting to fire off again. It was one of those days to remember.”

The rest of the field, while lagging a sizeable distance behind Jordon for most of the day, had some notable success as well:

-Todd Faircloth chipped away at Jordon’s lead all afternoon, finishing the round with 63-10 and connecting with the biggest fish of the day, a 9-4 giant that inhaled a jig early in the third period. Faircloth stacked up over 35 pounds of largemouth in the final period to trim Jordon’s lead to 10 pounds before K.J. caught his final two 5-pounders.

Streamside Predator Elite Rods with Jay Martin

If you're interested in some new rods then check out the Streamside Predator Elite rods. Ontario bass tournament sensation Jay Martin knows a good gear when he sees it and he's impressed with the Streamside Predator Elite rods for great craftsmanship, quality and a great price.

Humminbird and Minn Kota Pro, Ott DeFoe, Utilizes One-Boat Network Technology to Win 2019 Bassmaster Classic

When the Tennessee River was announced as the location for the 2019 Bassmaster Classic last year, Humminbird and Minn Kota pro angler Ott DeFoe was quickly named the odds-on favorite to win the tournament by prognosticators, media and competitors alike. After all, he grew up fishing these waters and a channel of the river now runs through the backyard of his home just outside of Knoxville, Tenn.

When it comes to the Bassmaster Classic, however, past history on a body of water doesn’t always translate to success. Find out how Ott looked to his Humminbird and Minn Kota products to find and unlock ideal locations on his way to being crowned the 2019 Bassmaster Classic Champion.

Z-Man's New Neko ShroomZ Nose Weight

Ask pro angler Mark Daniels Jr. to call out his all-time favorite finesse rig and the answer is easy: “Neko rig, man, no question.” Daniels, a rising star on the Major League Fishing Tour calls the Neko an “always-on-deck” technique.

Easing the process of weighting his favorite soft stickbaits, Daniels recently unveiled Z-Man’s Neko ShroomZ Nose Weight, an intelligent terminal tackle accessory that’s simple and effective to rig with all softbaits, including ElaZtech^®.

“The Neko ShroomZ employs the same head design as Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jighead, a shape that adds a sweet rocking, pivoting action to whatever bait you put on the hook,” said Daniels. “This cool little weight has a stainless centering wire and a double-barbed keeper. The wire easily penetrates the material and makes it way easier to rig perfectly straight. The keeper grabs hold and stays locked in place.” LINK HERE TO MAKE YOUR OWN Z-Man confidant Drew Reese, co-creator of the Neko ShroomZ, said the team worked through “at least nine different keeper configurations before implementing its final, bulletproof design. It grabs and holds ElaZtech just as well as other soft plastics; much easier to rig than traditional nail- and screw-style weights. If you’re dealing with extra aggressive bass that like to jump and thrash on the hook, a tiny drop of superglue on the shaft creates a permanent connection.” Timed to tap spring bass bites across America, Daniels offers advice for putting the Neko ShroomZ to work. “I’ve always got a medium action spinning rod on the casting deck, Neko-rigged with a Z-Man Hula StickZ—that’s my favorite finesse bait for sure. The Finesse WormZ is another fish catcher. And I’m super hyped about a brand new ElaZtech bait I’ve been throwing lately. Can’t talk about that yet,” he says with a playful grin. “But stay tuned.”

Neko Tackle Daniels casts his Neko rigs with 15-pound Seaguar Smackdown braid and a 6- to 10-pound Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon leader. “You need line that’s fine and supple enough to maximize the action of a Neko rigged bait. From there, I run a #2 Owner Sniper Finesse hook, impaling the worm about 1/8-inch up from the egg sack, toward the narrower end.” While traditional Neko- and wacky-rigging requires the angler to slide a rubber O-ring over the bait, under which the hook is planted, ElaZtech is actually tough and tear-resistant enough to eliminate this extra accessory. “You can definitely direct-hook ElaZtech baits for Neko rig fishing,” Daniels observes. “Sometimes, though, I’ll still use an O-ring, which helps prevent the hook from stabbing back into the bait on a hookset. The O-ring also helps the bait slide up the line, so you’re directly connected to the bass.

New Poison Adrena Bass Rods from Shimano

Available late March
from $349.99 to $359.99

Lightweight, responsiveness, and sensitivity will be what anglers experience in Shimano’s new Poison Adrena bass rods, being introduced this week at the Bassmaster Classic Outdoor Expo in Knoxville, Tenn., and soon to be available from select tackle dealers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Featuring Shimano’s proprietary Spiral X Core blank construction, the series includes four rods – three casting and one spinning – offered in the lengths, actions and powers for the primary techniques used most by avid, tournament-level bass anglers.

Through Shimano’s Spiral X Core construction process, internal and external layers of carbon tape are combined at opposing angles on a layer of NanoAlloy carbon material. “What this all means for bass anglers is a rod that won’t roll over during the cast for better distance and the exceptional accuracy,” explains Trey Epich with Shimano’s product development staff, “along with providing unsurpassed strength, rigidity and responsiveness.”

Further contributing to overall light rod weight, the Poison Adrena’s hollow structure ‘Full Carbon Monocoque’ grip end design uses super lightweight carbon construction “to greatly increase sensitivity – you’ll be able to feel the vibration of your lure going through the water from the tip of the rod to your hand,” Epich notes. “You’ll feel the smallest bites from that sensitivity, and then it’s up to you to set the hook – the power is there to drive it in.

Also keeping rod weight down while maintaining maximum strength is the use of Shimano’s CI4+ material in the reel seat.

Change the way you fish with Minn Kota's Steve Chiasson

Step on the Ultrex™ foot pedal and feel what Power Steering does to a trolling motor. Then tap the Spot-Lock button to stay on a fishing spot automatically. Only Ultrex combines the most responsive, intuitive steering ever with GPS-powered automatic boat control. The only thing we didn't do to it, is compromise. Select models now available with Built-In MEGA Down Imaging™.

Listen to Steve Chiasson as he explains how to better your fishing with the new Minn Kota UItrex. No more fighting the wind or waves and improve your fishing!

Ott DeFoe Wins 2019 Bassmaster Classic!

Hometown hero wins Classic. 

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Ott DeFoe wins Knoxville in style with 49-03lbs.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

For decades, it seemed almost impossible for an angler to win the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods in his home state.

Now it’s happened four times in six years.

Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe, who makes his home in Knoxville, caught five bass Sunday from the Tennessee River that weighed 18 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing and the $300,000 prize that goes with the iconic trophy.

His three-day total weight of 49-3 helped him slip past second-place angler Jacob Wheeler before a raucous home crowd at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena.

The world-championship bass tournament drew a record-total attendance of 153,809 to tournament venues, including daily weigh-ins in Thompson-Boling Arena, the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo consumer show presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods in the Knoxville Convention Center and World's Fair Exhibition Hall, and morning takeoffs at Volunteer Landing. Attendance counts, including as many as 6,500 at Saturday’s early-morning takeoff, were provided by officials at each of the venues. “This is a dream come true — a dream I’ve had since I was a 9-year-old kid,” said DeFoe, who now has six career victories with B.A.S.S. “When we came over here and did the walk-through the day before the tournament, I actually imagined hearing my name after the words ‘Bassmaster Classic champion.’

“For it to happen now … I just keep thinking I’m gonna wake up.”

For the first 36 years the event was held, no home-state angler claimed the Classic crown. But that streak was broken in 2007, and then home-state anglers won three straight times from 2014-16.

Since DeFoe lives in Knoxville — and since few others in the 52-angler field had much experience on the tournament waters of Fort Loudon and Tellico lakes — he was one of the obvious favorites coming into the event.

Ott DeFoe is the 2019 Bassmaster Classic Champion!

Local favourite Ott DeFoe does his hometown proud. More to come!

2019 Bassmaster Classic Tennessee River Day 2: Jacob Wheeler Take Lead with 32-06lbs

Zaldain, Ike, MDJ & Wheeler score big limits. 

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Wheeler's luck in Tennessee continues as he moves into the lead
with 17-11lb limit on Day 2.
(Photo: BASS)

During the early portions of practice for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Jacob Wheeler discovered a pattern that he knew would put bass in his livewell.

But since it seemed a little too obvious, he spent the latter portions of practice looking for something he thought no one else would find.

He ultimately went back to the obvious — and it has him in position to win the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing.

After landing 14 pounds, 11 ounces during Friday’s opening round, Wheeler caught five bass Saturday that weighed 17-11 and sprang into first place with a two-day total of 32-6. His five-bass limit Saturday was one of the few weighed in this week that featured all smallmouth.

“I know this crew,” Wheeler said. “I knew they would figure out the same thing I had figured out. Even though there are miles and miles and miles of water, they were going to figure it out.

“I tried to move around the lake, be smart about it and just fish what looked good to me — looking for that needle in the haystack. But I never found it, so I just had to fall back to what I knew I had.”

No angler on earth is more guarded with his techniques than the one who leads the Bassmaster Classic heading into the final round. So Wheeler only said that he was fishing a “reaction bite” with moving baits.

He said catching five smallmouth Saturday was a surprise.

“If you would have told me at the start of the tournament that eight of my 10 fish so far would be smallmouth, I would have said there’s no way,” Wheeler said. “It’s been so hard to catch a smallmouth — even a nonkeeper.”

“That is not something I thought I had dialed in at all.”

2019 Bassmaster Classic Tennessee River Day 1: Ott DeFoe Sack 20lbs and Lead!

Local hero DeFoe a crowd favourite

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Ott DeFoe grabs lead with help from daily big bass, a 6lber.
(Photo: BASS)

Ott DeFoe came into Friday’s opening round of the GECIO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods with two patterns in mind that he thought would work on the Tennessee River.

Only one of them did — and even then, just barely.

But it worked well enough to give him the lead at the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing.

DeFoe caught only eight keeper bass on the day, but his best five weighed 20 pounds and gave him an early cushion over Arizona pros Roy Hawk, who was second with 17-11, and Clifford Pirch, who was third with 16-11.

“I got five good bites all day, and I landed them,” said DeFoe, a Knoxville resident who was considered by many to be the odds-on favorite coming into the event. “Honestly, it felt like a very tough day.”

DeFoe’s two-pattern strategy included one tactic he believed would produce heavier bass and another he thought would be a good “limit filler.” The limit-filling pattern didn’t work at all.

Fortunately for the Tennessee pro, the big-fish strategy produced a 6-pound largemouth that anchored his catch.

“A 6-pounder here is a really big one,” said DeFoe, who also took the Day 1 lead in the Berkley Big Bass competition. “So to get that one and four other pretty good ones, I felt really blessed.”

This marks the first time that Fort Loudon and Tellico Lakes have hosted a major Bassmaster event — and since DeFoe lives in the area, he probably knows as much about the fisheries as anyone. But even he couldn’t say exactly what changed the fishing so dramatically from what he had come to expect in practice.

“Coming in, I felt like both of my patterns would hold up all week,” DeFoe said. “I don’t know if the fishing pressure got to the one that didn’t work for me today or if it was the fact that the water level came up some.

“If I had to guess, I would say the water level coming up probably caused the fish to scatter out in some places.” As the first-round leader, DeFoe receives the GEICO Everyday Leader Award of $2,500.

2019 Bassmaster Classic Starts Today

IBASSIN.com has you covered for all the news, photos and results all weekend long. 

Shimano's New Generation Antares 70HG Reel

Available: Late March 

MSRP: all sizes - $599.99

Bringing bass anglers versatility for easy pitching and flipping, along with the ability for long distance casting with a wide variety of lures, Shimano introduces the next generation Antares baitcasistng reel. The flagship series in Shimano low-profile design casting reel line-up, the Antares is offered in a 70HG size.

When casting the Antares 70HG, whether throwing a heavy jig or light jerkbait, anglers will quickly notice the low inertia start-up of new MGL III spool. “The reel requires so little effort to start rotating so it’s ideal to pitch lightweight lures,” said Trey Epich with Shimano’s product development team. “Plus when you need to make that long cast with heavier lures, the easy to control spool rotation and high level of brake control offered makes the Antares 70HG equally ideal for those situations.”

Streamside IM8 Predator Rods and Reels with Bill Nichols

Streamside's new Predator Series of rods and reels are the perfect match for your freshwater fishing. Available in 9 rod actions in both spinning and casting along with a series of spinning reels will have to on the water without breaking the bank.
Listen to Streamside Pro Bill Nichols, a Canadian tournament legend, as he explains the Predator Series of rods and reels from Streamside.

Brian Latimer Wins 2019 FLW Tour Lake Seminole with 80-15lbs!

B. LAT BECOMES A CHAMPION

by Kyle Wood

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Finesse and pitching key for B.Lat's first Tour win.
(Photo: FLW)

Brian Latimer has dreamed his entire life of being crowned an FLW Tour champion, and after years of hard work and dedication, it has finally paid off. The Belton, S.C., pro led coming into the final day of the FLW Tour event on Lake Seminole, presented by Costa, and though it wasn’t easy, he sacked up 21 pounds, 3 ounces to lock up the win with 80-15 overall. He edged out day-one leader Braxton Setzer by 2 pounds, 1 ounce in one of the most emotional victories seen on the FLW stage.

While his weights may reflect a somewhat easy week on the water, the truth is far from it. With just a handful of bites each day, “B. Lat” had to make them count, and despite losing some fish in the last few days, he stayed focused and determined, avoiding the dreaded spinout that many pros would experience.

“It happened,” Latimer says of his win. “It really happened.”

To make it happen, Latimer had to evolve over the week, adjusting to the fish as he went. While flipping shallow grass did much of the heavy lifting, without his cranking spot on day one to catch the majority of his 19-1 limit, who knows what would have happened?

“I caught my 19 pounds on day one cranking in the [Flint River],” he says. “On days two and three, I started in the river again hoping that would materialize again, because that’s easy, and I was hoping to catch a limit quick, but it never happened. So, today, I went straight down to my flat early so I could spend all my time where I’ve been catching my biggest fish.

“It was slow, just like it’s been every day, and the first bite I missed – just didn’t grab it good. But I think the heartbreaker was my first two good bites I hooked up with, I lost them. I was really down and out, and then I caught that big one that was probably 7 pounds. Then, a few minutes later, I caught another one that was pushing 4.”

After getting those good bites, he boxed another decent keeper and hit a dry spell. With three fish in the box around lunchtime, things were starting to look like the tournament may not swing his way.

“I didn’t get a bite for a very long time after that, so I decided to go do something else and mentally reset,” admits Latimer.  “I went sight-fishing, found one right away, immediately cast over there, hooked up on the fish and it comes off. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s a bed fish, it’ll swim back.’ The thing never came back.”

2019 FLW Tour Lake Seminole Day 2: Bradford Beavers Bolts to Lead with 43-14lbs.

Canadians Sim 46^th & Richardson 103rd.  

by Kyle Wood

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Rookie Beavers holding his own on pre-spawn bite.
(Photo: FLW)

While the weather may have been nicer on day two of the FLW Tour event on Lake Seminole presented by Costa, the fishing fell off to a degree. Overall, the weights were lower across the board, and getting off to a good start yesterday proved to be vital today.

Tour rookie Bradford Beavers of Summerville, S.C., hauled in 18 pounds, 12 ounces to go with his 25-2 from day one to take the lead with a total weight worth 43-14. Beavers will head into the weekend with a 3-pound lead over Sheldon Collings, who is also keeping the fire stoked.

Beavers got off to a quick start yesterday, catching all of his weight before noon. Today, things looked as though they were going to go the same way.

“I went to the same spot and same casting angle I caught them yesterday and couldn’t get them to bite,” Beavers says of his morning. “I switched up my casting angle and I caught four in about 30 minutes. The feeding window wasn’t as long this morning for some reason as it was yesterday, and I don’t really know why.”

After the flurry, things came to a screeching halt. He’d spend some more time hoping to get another bite from his primary area before running to another offshore spot. With no luck there, Beavers went shallow.

“I only got seven bites all day and caught five of them,” Beavers adds. “I went ‘till two minutes before I came back in before I caught my fifth fish.”

A vibrating jig has been the major player for Beavers so far, but he has a few other presentations that he’s keeping under wraps until later.

The South Carolina pro has plenty of experience on Seminole, though he’s finally dialed in on an offshore bite this week – something that has always eluded him on the fishery. With potentially $125,000 on the line, it’s hard to pull yourself away from a spot or pattern that has treated you good, but Beavers is fully aware that warming weather isn’t doing much to help his bite and anticipates having to make adjustments along the way.

“I just don’t have any other deep spots to run,” he says. “It takes too long to find them out deep, too. I don’t know if the fish on my spot are educated or if the weather is changing them. I’m going to go back there in the morning and see what I can get and then probably just run new water from there.”

2. Sheldon Collings – Grove, Okla. – 40-14 (10)

Moving from fourth on day one, Sheldon Collings pieced together a solid limit worth 17 pounds to slide into the passenger seat atop the leaderboard.

Things were noticeably slower for Collings today as he only caught five bass all day, but that still doesn’t deter his confidence. He has one spot that has produced all of his weight, and he is committed to milking it for every bass.

“From what I’ve seen on that spot, yesterday the fish were all grouped up,” Collings says. “Today, they were more spread out. It’s like with the cooler weather the first day they were bunched up and not moving around much, but it was warmer overnight and I think that has them moving a little more.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Seminole Day 1: Braxton Setzer Leads with 25-15lbs.

Canadians Sim 80^th & Richardson 121^st.  

by Kyle Wood

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Setzer big spawners grabs early lead.
(Photo: FLW)

After a cold front passed through the region during practice, day one of the FLW Tour event on Lake Seminole, which is presented by Costa, was better than most expected. A chilly start to the day gave way to sunny, mild conditions, and the bass responded. Braxton Setzer got off on the right foot with a 25-pound, 15-ounce limit to hold just a 6-ounce lead over Joseph Webster.

Setzer is fresh off a top-30 finish at the previous Tour stop on Toho, where he worked offshore hydrilla for some stout bags of fish. He kept that same mentality this week, and so far, it’s paying off.

“I committed myself to the offshore before practice even started,” says Setzer. “I just know [on Seminole] that when you find them offshore you can find where they are coming to and going back to, and you can get right in a hurry in one spot. It was fun today.”

Though he only caught eight or nine fish all day, the quality is there for the Montgomery, Ala., pro. And believe it or not, he didn’t even get to fish the main spot he wanted to.

“Things kind of started slow this morning,” he continues. “I started short of where I wanted to this morning since nobody was around and figured I’d work my way up to my waypoint. Well, I look up, and Webster pulled in right on the spot and started beating on them. I thought, ‘You dummy, you should have started on the waypoint.’

“I struggled a little after that, but started to pick apart the area I was in because it is a bigger area than where I wanted to go, so I had more water to cover. The spot I wound up catching them on is basically a ditch that leads to a flat with a clean spot on it. That clean spot is where I caught the majority of my fish.”

With a limit around 9:30 this morning, he kept picking apart water around the area until the bite dried up at 11 o’clock. From there, Setzer ran to another likely spot he had eyes on to see what it could offer.

Top 10 pros below

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