2017 BASS Elite Lake St. Clair Day 1: Bradley Roy Leads with 23--03lbs!

Palaniuk's 6.8 lber is big bass
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Roy's big bag crucial to Classic qualify.
(Photo: BASS)

On a day when all eyes were on the most experienced anglers in the sport, a 26-year-old pro from Kentucky stole the show.

Bradley Roy, who has never finished higher than third in a Bassmaster Elite Series event, caught five bass that weighed 23 pounds, 3 ounces, during Thursday's first round. It was good enough to take the lead in the Advance Auto Parts Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair.

Missouri angler Chad Morgenthaler is just 1 pound behind in second with 22-3, and Alabamian Matt Lee is third with 21-13.

"I had a good practice," said Roy, who finished seventh at this year's GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods. "I was seeing a lot of quality fish in a lot of different areas. But this morning, I don't know if they just didn't bite or if they moved out of some of those areas.

"I fished several places and just didn't get bit."

Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass have a reputation for roaming — and Roy decided to roam in search of them.

2016 BASSfest Lake Texoma Day 1: Casey Ashley Grabs 20 Pounds in Flood.

Ashley Surges Ahead!

By Thomas Allen

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Flooded shorelines and muddy water didn’t stop some Bassmaster Elite Series pros from finding big bass during the GEICO Bassmaster BASSfest presented by Choctaw Casino and Resort at Lake Texoma.
 


The day's big bass helps Ashley grad lead. (BASS)

After a very difficult and unproductive practice, Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., “just went fishing,” and put together the day’s heaviest five-fish limit of bass that weighed 20 pounds, 1 ounce. His lead eclipsed Chad Morgenthaler of Coulterville, Ill., who is in second place by only 11 ounces with a total of 19-6.
 


Ashley’s limit included the tournament’s current Phoenix Boats Big Bass that tipped the scales at 6-15. If the 2015 Classic champion can hold the big-fish lead for the duration of BASSfest, he’ll earn a $1,500 bonus.
 


“I had no idea I was going to catch them that good today,” Ashley said. “The first bite of the day was my big one, and when you start things out with that kind of momentum, it really helps you to settle in and make good decisions for the rest of the day.”
 


The South Carolinian is unsure if he can replicate today’s success on Thursday, but he’s sure going to try.
 


Chad Morgenthaler Wins the 2015 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on Lake Tohopekaliga!

Morgenthaler rallies from 9th to win at Toho.

By Louie Stout

BASS PRESS RELEASE

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Standard opinion among the anglers fishing the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open presented by Allstate was that the tournament couldn’t be won on Toho.

If you wanted big bass, Kissimmee was the place to fish.

Chad Morganthaler proved them wrong, spending all three days on the host lake and rallying from ninth place to win the season opener.

Chad didn't waste time locking into Kissimmee
and avoided the crowds to win and be the
first 2016 Classic qualifier.
(Photo: Shaye Baker BASS)

In a tournament laced with some of Florida’s top anglers, the Coulterville, Ill. veteran pro sneaked into the back door with a big sack on a day when the front runners struggled.

His last day catch of 22 pounds, 3 ounces was more than enough to carry him to the top and give him a 52-7 total.

Kissimmee expert Bobby Lane Jr., who had the second biggest bag of the day (14 pounds), finished second with 48-13 and Todd Auten of South Carolina was third with 48-1. Gerald Swindle of Alabama and second-day leader Brandon McMillian rounded out the top five.

Jacob Powroznik Wins the 2014 Bassmaster Elite Toledo Bend Tournament

Powroznik throws KO punch on Toledo Bend

By Deb Johnson

bass press release

MANY, La. — With a one-two, the rookie won.

Jacob Powroznik delivered that punch Sunday in the form of two good-sized bass in the last hours of competition of the four-day Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend.

Dave Mercer gets the good on how Jacob achieved his
first win on the Elites.
(Photo: BASS)

“I’m speechless. That doesn’t happen very often,” said Powroznik as he accepted his first Bassmaster Elite Series trophy after competing in only four events in his first year on the top-level tour — and on a fishery on which he had never before competed.

From Port Haywood, Va., Powroznik claimed the first-place prize of $100,000 and an instant-in for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic, his first world championship qualification.

“To get into the Classic feels like someone just gave me a million dollars,” said Powroznik after he stepped off the stage and got his voice back. “You don’t get many opportunities to win one of these events. It’s so hard to do. To do it my first year is a blessing.”

After leading on Friday, Powroznik was stumped in Saturday’s round by a disappearing shad spawn bite that had helped him considerably in the early morning hours of competition. Then he was smoked out of a promising spawning bass area by a controlled burn of Texas shoreline forest. Going into the Sunday finals, Powroznik had dropped more than 2 1/2 pounds behind the leader, two-time Bassmaster Toledo Bend champ Dean Rojas.

Sports Illustrated Magazine's Classic Article & Great Video

A great article in a recent Sports Illustrated. 

LINK

Chad Morgenthaler Wins Last Bassmaster Classic Spot!

Chad Comes from Behind to Win on Okeechobee

Okeechobee, Fla. — Chad Morgenthaler of Coulterville, Ill., is the 56th and last angler to qualify for the 2014 Bassmaster Classic on Alabama's Lake Guntersville, Feb. 21-23. He entered the final round of the Bassmaster Classic Wild Card presented by Star Tron trailing Alabama's Shaye Baker by almost six pounds. Baker led the tournament for each of the first two days, but faltered in the finals.

Chad off to the 2014 Classic!
(Photo: James OVerstreet BASS)

That's when Morgenthaler stepped up. His five bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 12 ounces gave him 63-13 for the tournament. It was enough to surpass Baker, who slipped to third with 59-8. Jesse Tacoronte was second with 59-11 and Russ Lane was fourth with 59-2.

For the victory, Morgenthaler earns a coveted berth in the 2014 Classic, the world championship of bass fishing. It also completes a season in which he achieved every professional goal he set for himself.

"I wanted to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series, so I signed up for all the Bassmaster Opens," Morgenthaler said. "I got an invitation through my seventh place finish in the Southern Opens, and I'm really looking forward to competing in 2014."

His other goal was to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic, a tournament he's fished before. Morgenthaler also fished the championship in 2003, 2005 and 2006. While he didn't make it by winning an Open this year, the Wild Card gave him one last chance.

For his winning catch, Morgenthaler relied on flippin', pitching and punching pennywort and hyacinth mats using a 2-ounce tungsten weight and a Missile Baits D Bomb or Baby D Bomb (Bruiser Flash and Love Bug) rigged on a 5/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover Flippin' Hook and 66-pound-test Toray Bawo Finesse Braid. His combo was an 8-foot Carrot Stix Wild Black XXH model with a Lew's Super Duty reel.

"The key for me was that most guys were abandoning the vegetation that had been sprayed and was dying," Morgenthaler said. "I stuck with it a little longer and found out that the fish I found in practice were still there. Catching them wasn't easy, but they were there."

With the win — his first on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail — Morgenthaler bested a field of 48 other anglers including 18 Elite Series pros, a former Classic champ (Boyd Duckett) and nine-time Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Roland Martin.

Tacoronte was working a similar pattern and method. Known as one of Florida's best at fishing heavy vegetation, he focused on any pennywort he found on matted hydrilla.

"Even if there were just five little pennywort plants on top, I'd pitch in there and often catch a good bass," Tacoronte said. The Florida pro used a Bitter's BMG (black and blue) behind a 2-ounce tungsten weight and rigged on a 4/0 or 5/0 Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Flipping Hook. He fished it on a 7-foot, 11-inch Halo Twilight Series Casting Rod and a Lew's Super Duty reel spooled with 65-pound-test PowerPro braid.

After leading for the first two days, Baker was naturally disappointed with the loss. Like the other leaders, he was pitching and punching heavy vegetation. He believes increasing fishing pressure ultimately hurt his primary area and caused his declining catches. On the first day he posted the biggest catch of the tournament at 29-8. On Day 2 he slipped to 19-6 and in the finals he had 12-10, but a culling penalty cost him two pounds, so that his official tally was 10-10.

While the penalty did not cost Baker the tournament, it did drop him into third place.

He was contemplative in defeat, noting that the biggest issue in his life this week was doing well in the tournament, "and if that's your biggest worry, then things aren't so bad." On stage, he thanked his parents and girlfriend for traveling from Alabama to watch the final weigh-in.

FLW Tour Potomac River Day 2: Lane On Top, Nixon Tumbles to Bottom

Bobby Lane Bolts to the Top

Bobby Lane ready to win again on the
Potomac River.
(Photo by Gary Mortenson FLW)

03.Jun.2011
FLW PRESS RELEASE

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to capture the lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on the Potomac River presented by the National Guard. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a 2-pound, 2-ounce lead heading into the third day of the tournament. There were 154 pros and 154 co-anglers from across the United States and Canada that started the tournament. The top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.

“This river has been good to me,” said Lane, who was in fifth place after day one. “The key factor in being successful on this river is learning the tides. For me there is an hour-and-a-half window when the high tide starts rolling in that gives me my opportunity. All my big fish came in that hour-and-a-half window.

“There is not one area that is going to produce consistently year after year,” Lane went on to say. “The traffic on the river is so heavy that it puts a lot of pressure on the fish and they tend to move to new areas. I have had a lot of success in many different areas on the river. This week I have been fishing some new water. The area I am fishing now seems to be where the brim are spawning and the bass are coming back to feed..