Major League Fishing reveals on-air talent for MLF NOW

 The Bass Pro Tour program will feature five hours of daily live stream coverage

Major League Fishing (MLF) today announced its five-person MLF NOW! talent lineup that will be calling the action during the program's five hours of live-streaming broadcast on each competition day of the new MLF Bass Pro Tour that kicks off Jan. 29 in Kissimmee, Fla.

Cast of MLF Live (left to right): Rob Newell, JT Kenney, Marty Stone, Natalie Dillon and Chad McKee

For the play-by-play coverage, MLF veteran announcer Marty Stone will team with former pro angler JT Kenney, outdoors communicator Rob Newell, college sports announcer Chad McKee and social media personality Natalie Dillon.

"I really like the dynamics of this group we've assembled," said Randy White, MLF vice president for broadcast production. "We wanted people who had different strengths and perspectives, and to that effect we have a great mix of personalities and knowledge with Marty, JT, Rob, Chad and Natalie. With each of them having their own style, it will no doubt add to the entire on-the-water viewing experience for our livestream audience."

Stone is a color analyst for General Tire Major League Fishing Cup events that air on the Outdoor Channel and CBS Sports, and has been since the television show's debut in 2011. During his previous pro angling career, he garnered two wins among 20 Top 10s in B.A.S.S. and FLW events.

Kenney is a former MLF Select pro who earned 45 Top 10 finishes and more than $1.5 million throughout a 17-year career along the FLW tournament trail. He elected to join the MLF NOW! team instead of competing in the Bass Pro Tour series.

Bradley Dortch Wins 2017 Walmart FLW Tour Harris Chain with 72-09lbs!

JT Kenney 2nd with mega limit
by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Rookie FLW Tour pro Bradley Dortch of Atmore, Ala., seems to have a knack for the postspawn time of year when bass are retreating off beds and headed “out” to their late spring haunts. Last May, Dortch won his first Costa FLW Series event on Lake Wheeler by putting himself in front of bass that were leaving beds due to rising temperatures and falling water.

Dortch surpasses Cox and Kenney with rattle bait.
(Photo: FLW)

Dortch used that same postspawn strategy during the FLW Tour event presented by Ranger on the Harris Chain to take home his first Tour win Sunday with a five-bass final day limit of 22 pounds, 2 ounces that pushed his four-day total to 73 pounds, 9 ounces, good for a 1-pound, 13-ounce margin of victory over runner-up JT Kenney.

“I don’t know what to say, this is crazy,” Dortch says. “This is something I’ve been dreaming and working toward for years. It’s a dream come true – I can’t even believe I won it.”

After an unseasonably warm winter where Harris Chain bass got a head start on the reproductive process, the FLW Tour arrived just in time to catch the tail end of the spawn. While others took the headlines early in the event by sight-fishing, Dortch bet that the postspawn train would be coming down the track if he just waited them out at stations located on the outsides.  

2016 Walmart FLW Beaver Lake Day 1: JT Kenney Grabs Lead with 18-05lbs!

Good fishing crams leaderboard.

FLW PRESS RELEASE

JT Kenney’s first bass of the morning to start the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Jack Link’s on Beaver Lake was a 6-pound, 10-ounce largemouth.

After landing it, he kneeled down in the boat and punched the water with his fist in an act of “punching Beaver Lake back.”

One big bass helps vault Kenney into lead. (Photo: BASS)

For most of his FLW Tour career, Beaver Lake has been JT Kenney’s nemesis. One year he zeroed in this event, failing to catch a single keeper in two days of competition.

“Yeah, that’s what the punch in the water was for,” Kenney laughs. “When I got that big one in the boat it was like years of misery delivered back with one punch. I’m sure it didn’t hurt the lake too bad, but it made me feel better.”

Kenney’s big bass claimed the big bass honors for the day and helped put him the lead on day one with 18 pounds, 5 ounces.

2015 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Toho Day 3: JT Kenney Continues to Dominate

Weird Weather Whip Water and Weights

by Rob Newell

FLW Press Release

For those who don’t believe that professional fishing is a game of offense and defense like any other sport, consider JT Kenney’s strategy for the last three days of the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Toho presented by Mercury. The first two days, Kenney ran pure “offensive plays” on key, precise bedding areas to run up the score. Today, he ran more “defensive plays” to protect his lead.

With 66-12lb for three days, Kenney remains king of Toho event. (Photo: FLW)

The reason for dialing up the defense today was based largely on the weather. The Sunshine State has been anything but sunny the last two days. Last night temperatures took a dip in central Florida, and a thick blanket of cloud cover blocked any sun from warming the waters back up today. Add to that a pesky northeast breeze, and the chances of big Florida bass moving up for amorous activity declined greatly. So Kenney called in a contingency plan to hold his ground.

2015 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Toho Day 1: JT Kenney Sacks 29 Pounds!

Kenny and King Take Control.
FLW PRESS RELEASE

There was fuel, and there was flame.
The fuel was in the form of a delayed largemouth bass spawn on Lake Toho that had been pushed back for several weeks due to low water temperatures and high water flows through the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. The biological clocks of Toho’s bass have been ticking, so to speak.

Kenny states he's on them big time. (Photo: FLW)

The flame was in the form of a fast warm-up over the last three days, a full moon occurring right now and water temperatures rising nearly 10 degrees in the last 72 hours.
At the day-one takeoff of the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Mercury this morning, everyone held his breath for the combustion that was about to occur.
And when fuel met flame there were a few fiery flare-ups, but not of the size that many expected.
In all, the 20-pound mark was reached by seven anglers on a warm, balmy day that had five-alarmer written all over it.
Exactly why the bite was not as good as expected is still in question. Many pros reported a vanishing act of bedding bass that had just started to show up during practice, but have now disappeared despite highly favorable conditions
At the top of the standings are Florida ace JT Kenney and Missouri veteran Stacey King, who checked in with 29-14 and 28-1, respectively.

Top Ten Standings Below