2022 Fox Rent A Car Stage Six Presented by Googan Baits: Neal Continues to Shine on Cayuga, Wins Automatic Berth in Championship Round

by Tyler Brinks

BASS PRO TOUR PRESS RELEASE

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. – We’re running out of superlatives to describe the excellent fishing at the Fox Rent A Car Stage Six Presented by Googan Baits. The sheer number of quality bass that Cayuga Lake is kicking out is staggering, and Wednesday’s Knockout Round has the potential to be one of the best ever as anglers from both competition groups appear to have the bite dialed in.

The top eight anglers in Wednesday’s Knockout Round will join Group A winner Justin Lucas and today’s victor Michael Neal, who won Tuesday’s Qualifying Round after tacking on 56 pounds, 8 ounces, bringing his two-day total to 139-11.

Neal and Lucas just finished another battle on the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit, with Neal taking home the Angler of the Year title and Lucas finishing second in the race when the season finished up on Lake Champlain. Now, they’ll go another round a few hours away from Champlain. 

This will be one of many intriguing storylines to watch as the event concludes on Thursday. But, there’s still plenty of fun left with the Knockout Round tomorrow set to host the top anglers from each group.

Neal Cruises into Championship Round

As he’s done with regularity lately, Neal will be fishing on the final day. While the results show that he comfortably beat the rest of the group, that wasn’t the whole story. Mark Davis and Alton Jones made big runs and made it close for Neal. But, in the end, Neal won the group by 11-12 over Davis in second.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Cayuga Lake Day 2: Jeff Gustafson Captures Lead with 49-01!

Cory Johnston 14th & Chris Johnston 31st.
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Gussy in his element out deep.
(Photo: BASS)

Canadian pro Jeff Gustafson came into the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake with modest expectations.

But his confidence has grown with each passing day — and on Friday, it grew by leaps and bounds as Gustafson caught five bass that weighed 25 pounds, 6 ounces and took the lead with a two-day total of 49-1.

His catch of 25-6 is the biggest of the tournament so far.

“It was a dream day — both of the last two days were,” said Gustafson, who lives in Keewatin, Canada. “I was expecting that to happen either day, but now the expectations are pretty high. I’ve seen what’s out there, and it’s pretty impressive.”

While much of the field has been concentrating on shallow grass, Gustafson has focused on small patches of hard bottom offshore. Since this is his first trip to Cayuga, he said he doesn’t know a lot of spots to try.

So, he’s been sticking mainly with one area.

“There’s just not a lot of rock here,” he said. “In practice, I idled for hours and every couple of hours I’d kind of find something.

“When I started the tournament, my plan was to get a limit of largemouth and then go fish for smallmouth. I thought the smallmouth would be my biggest fish, but they disappeared.”

Gustafson has been using an Aqua-Vu underwater camera — and on Friday, he saw a few smallmouth that gave him an extra tinge of hope for the final two days.

“Even though I caught 25 pounds today, it wasn’t as easy as it might have seemed,” he said. “I’m really just catching one here and one there, but they’re the right ones.

“If the smallmouth turn back on, that could really make a big difference for me.”

unnamed.jpgThursday’s leader Chris Zaldain of Fort Worth, Texas, caught another impressive bag of 21-11 and now rests in second place with 46-0.

He said his day could have been much better if it hadn’t been for some early miscues.

“With the way they’re biting, you’ve got to capitalize early,” Zaldain said. “I had some big bites early today and didn’t catch any of them. I missed a bite on a swimbait when the fish just crushed it, and then I broke one off.

“You have to put fish in the boat in that situation.”