2019 Bass Pro League Lake Chickamuga Pool B: Cliff Crochet Blasts 65-11lbs!

Crochet's First-Period Maelstrom Propels Him to Shotgun Round Win.

Major League Fishing Press Release

Fast and furious rockets Crochet to win.
(Photo: MLF)

In the five-decade history of organized bass-fishing competition, there have been very few 2 ½-hour displays of fish-catching proficiency the likes of which Major League Fishing® (MLF) pro Cliff Crochet put on this morning on Lake Chickamauga.

Fishing in the Group B Shotgun Round of the Bass Pro Tour Econo Lodge Stage Four Presented by Winn Grips, Crochet caught his first scorable bass - a 5-plus-pounder - 12 minutes into the competition, and then went on a spree that saw the Louisiana pro stack 65 pounds, 11 ounces of Tennessee River largemouth onto SCORETRACKER by the end of Period 1.

Crochet's 31-fish, 65-plus-pound maelstrom of hookups in Period 1 was more than the daily total weights of 18 of the 19 round winners so far in the 2019 Bass Pro Tour schedule.

"I didn't know that was going to happen," Crochet joked as he waited for the Berkley Postgame Show to start. "I caught four fish in the first little flurry, and I thought that was a good start to the day. Worst-case scenario, I could grind and have a decent day. I hit the second flurry and had enough sense to realize what was going on.

"I really tried to focus on good technique: from casting to hookset to fighting them to weighing them. I didn't know how long it was going to last, but I knew I needed to cover as much ground (on SCORETRACKER™) as I could."

Crochet finished the day with 34 fish for 69-6, at one time opening up a 30-pound lead before backing off and spending most of the second and third periods scouting for new water for his Elimination Round on Friday.

Another Heavy Day on Chickamauga

While Crochet's cushion on the rest of the field was virtually insurmountable after the first period, a large percentage of the other 39 Group B anglers competing had strong days as well: Edwin Evers finished second with 55-2, Zack Birge was third with 51-4. In all, 17 anglers put 37 pounds or more on SCORETRACKER during the day.

The field accounted for 1,312 pounds on the day, including six fish over 7 pounds.

On to Elimination Rounds

2019 Bass Pro League Lake Chickamuga Pool A: Dave Lefebre Wins Round with 59-14lbs!

Lefebre's Afternoon Flurry on Lake Chickamauga Powers Him to Shotgun Round Win 
Major League Fishing Press Release

A fast action afternoon give Dave Lefebre win.
(Photo: MLS)

The small town of Dayton, Tenn., has put a stamp on the game of tournament bass fishing with its hashtag "#BassTownUSA".  

As competition came to a close in Major League Fishing® (MLF) Shotgun Round 1 of the Bass Pro Tour Econo Lodge Stage Four Presented by Winn Grips - and Top 5 anglers Dave Lefebre, Aaron Martens, Jordan Lee, Brandon Palaniuk and Bark Rose breathed a sigh of relief - it became clear that that hashtag is not hype.

Emerging from a flurry of afternoon lead changes, 705 scorable bass caught, and several anglers jockeying up and down inside the SCORETRACKER™ Top 10, Lefebre racked up 34 fish for 59 pounds, 14 ounces to claim the top spot in Group A competition on Lake Chickamauga.

"My average weight would have been a lot higher if I could get them in the boat," Lefebre admitted. "I'm doing something that's a little bit different than what the others are doing in the area that I'm in and it's generating some big bites. I lost 4-5 of them, one was a 6 pounder and I tried to swing it. The opportunity to get a good sack is there."

Martens finished second on the day with 57-3, Lee was third with 55-8, Palaniuk was fourth with 54-12 and Rose rounded out the Top 5 with 53-8. 

Lefebre Pours it on Late

Martens entered the final period in the lead, thanks to a steady bite on a vibrating jig. That bite tailed off noticeably in Period 3: while Martens caught some quality fish (two 4s and a 3), he managed only four scorable bass in the final 2 ½ hours of competition.

Lefebre, meanwhile, poured it on, putting 16 of his 34 scorable fish on SCORETRACKER in Period 3 and leapfrogging Lee, Rose and Martens with 23-15 in the period.

"My option A was blown out and I couldn't go there, so it was all plan B today," Lefebre said. "I kind of panicked this morning when I saw my water I wanted to fish (was blown out), and just made a real quick decision to keep running when others were already fishing."

Another Heavyweight Shotgun Round 

The overall catch weight for the Group A field of 40 anglers was astounding: 1,396 pounds of bass. Six anglers recorded 50 pounds or more - one more than the first Shotgun Round slugfest at Stage Three Raleigh - and 14 caught 42-plus pounds.

Brandon Cobb Wins 2019 BASS Elite Lake Hartwell with 72-04lbs!

Sight fishing peaked as tournament progressed.
By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Wire to wire win for first year Elite angler.
(Photo: BASS)

Many anglers have led the first three rounds of a Bassmaster Elite Series event, only to have the title slip through their hands on the final day.

More times than not, pressure was the culprit.

But if South Carolina pro Brandon Cobb felt pressure a single time during this week’s Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell, he certainly hid it well.

Cobb, who lives in nearby Greenwood, S.C., took the lead on Day 1 of the event and never relinquished it, slamming the door on his first Elite Series victory with a final-day catch of 16 pounds, 14 ounces on Championship Sunday. His four-day winning weight of 72-4 earned him a $100,000 paycheck and the iconic blue trophy that goes to every Elite Series winner.

“Staying calm definitely made the difference for me,” said Cobb, who stayed at his own house and made the 50-minute drive to Lake Hartwell each day. “I don’t do well if I get flustered. I start running around a lot, and it just doesn’t go well for me.

“Being on my home lake helped, too. I literally never ran out of places where I felt like I was going to catch one.”

Cobb caught 19-9, 17-8, 18-5 and 16-14 in four days — and he did most of his damage with two baits. He used a green pumpkin Zoom Fluke Stick when he was moving through shallow areas where he thought spawning beds were present and a 1/8-ounce Greenfish Tackle shaky head with a green pumpkin Zoom Trick Worm when he was stopped, fishing for bass he could actually see on bed.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Lake Hartwell Day 3: Brandon Cobb Leads by 5 with 55-6 lbs!

Canadians Gustafson 13th & Cory Johnston 14th 

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Cobb might be uncatchable with 5 pound lead. (Photo: BASS)

For three days, the field has been waiting for Brandon Cobb to stumble.

It hasn’t happened yet — and now, they’re almost out of time.

Cobb caught five bass today that weighed 18 pounds, 5 ounces and held on to the lead for the third straight day in the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell. His three-day total of 55-6 gives him more than a 5-pound cushion over his closest competitors going into Championship Sunday and a chance at a rare wire-to-wire victory in an Elite Series event.

“I don’t know how many fish I went through today that weighed from about 2-4 to 2-11,” said Cobb, whose thumbs were red and raw from handling bass today. “I caught so many fish, but I just couldn’t find any big ones in the area I had been fishing.

“That’s why I finally decided to change areas.”

Cobb went to an area that he said was “new for this tournament, but certainly not new” to him as a bass angler on Lake Hartwell. He grew up fishing the lake and was actually a member of the bass fishing team for Clemson University, which is positioned on the banks of Hartwell.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Lake Hartwell Day 2: Brandon Cobb Continues to Lead with 31-01lbs

Canadians Gustafson 7th, Cory Johnston 13th & Chris Johnston 38th
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Wacky worm and spawning bass working for Cobb.
(Photo: BASS)

Brandon Cobb has been driving about an hour every morning this week to the takeoff site for the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell.

It’s a little farther than he’d normally want to drive for an Elite Series event, but he says it’s been worth it to get the full benefit of his home-field advantage.

The Greenwood, S.C., pro, who has been sleeping in his own bed and eating home-cooked meals with his wife, Amy, while other anglers in the field stay at hotels and campgrounds, caught five bass today that weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces and maintained the lead for the second straight day.Cobb’s two-day total of 37-1 puts him just ahead of second-place Georgia pro Micah Frazier (35-12) and Florida angler Drew Cook, who caught a tournament-best limit of 20-6 in today’s second round and rose from 25th place to third with a two-day mark of 34-10.

“Yesterday, I ran around a little bit more and fished some different areas, and I didn’t catch as many as I expected,” said Cobb, who took the opening-round lead Thursday with 19-9. “So, I (mostly) stayed in one area today.”

Heavy rains fell on Lake Hartwell during the first few hours of fishing today, and it seemed to change the way the bass bit for the former Clemson University bass angler. Cobb relied heavily on boat docks for his first-round catch, but only caught small fish off of docks today.

Fortunately for him, one of the final bass he caught today was a 5-7 spawning largemouth that made the difference between maintaining the lead and starting Saturday’s semifinal round playing catchup.

“I caught that fish off of the bed,” Cobb said. “It only took about four casts, so I was pretty fortunate. That was the last fish I culled with.”

As for sleeping in his own bed — and fishing a lake he grew up on while others in the 74-angler field have traveled from far-away locales like Oregon, Texas, and Australia — Cobb said it’s a rare treat.

“It’s so nice,” he said. “I go home, and my wife will either have dinner ready or we grill something. It’s been nice staying at home. You sleep better, too. “Now, I just need to keep finding that big bite every day.”

Frazier has stayed on Cobb’s heels by using bits and pieces of several patterns each day. Today, he benefited heavily from a pocket he discovered while competing in the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Lake Hartwell.

“I didn’t practice there, and I didn’t fish it yesterday either,” said Frazier, a three-time Classic qualifier. “Today, I ran back in there and caught a big one on a boat dock. Then on the other side of the pocket, I caught one that was about 3 1/2 pounds.

“I’ll definitely make a pass through there tomorrow.”

2019 Bass Pro League Lake Chickamuga Pool B: Martens Pours it On; Lucas, Wiggins, Elam Escape Elimination.

Aaron Martens almost reaches 100lbs!

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING PRESS RELEASE

Aaron Martens and Jordon Lee catch'em like crazy.
(Photo: MLF)

As has become the standard for the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Elimination Rounds, you didn't have to look far to find a multitude of storylines on Day 3 of the Econo Lodge Stage Four Presented by Evinrude.

Aaron Martens gave notice that he's onto a strong pattern on Lake Chickamauga, and is going to be a handful for the rest of the competition as he finished atop the 40 Group A anglers who competed in today's Elimination Round. And joining him in the 20 moving on to Saturday's Knockout Round are three anglers - Justin Lucas, Jesse Wiggins and James Elam - who had not previously advanced past an Elimination Round.

The way Chickamauga is producing scorable bass this week, all Group A and Group B Elimination Rounds' survivors are likely to find squeezing into the Top 20 at the end of Knockout may be harder than it ever has been.

Martens Makes the Most of His Day

Martens picked up where he left off in the Shotgun Round, weighing in 13-5 in the first hour of competition, and connecting with a 7-pound, 6-ouncer. That fish was the anchor of his 36-13 weight for the day, and helped Martens to 94-0 overall in the Shotgun and Elimination Rounds.

That weight surpassed the previous Elimination weight record of 93-4 set by Kelly Jordon at the Stage Three event in Raleigh, North Carolina, and gave the Alabama pro enough of a security blanket that he could mix up his patterns, and survey some of his best spots ahead of the Knockout Round.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Lake Hartwell Day 1: Brandon Cobb Score Lead with 19-02lbs

Canadians Gustafson 15th, Cory Johnston 17th & Chris Johnston 27th
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Local Cobb able to capitalize on spawning and post-spawn bite.
(Photo: BASS)

When Brandon Cobb realized the bass might be spawning for this week’s Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell, he grimaced just a little bit.
 
Cobb is a South Carolina native who grew up fishing Hartwell, and he knows things about the lake that others don’t. He was afraid the spring spawn would bring the bass into clear view for the entire field, neutralizing his home-field advantage.
 
Turns out, they are spawning.
 
But so far, his advantage seems to be intact.
 
Cobb brought five bass to the scales today that weighed 19 pounds, 9 ounces and took the Day 1 lead at the third Elite Series event of the season. He has a 2-pound advantage over North Carolina pro Hank Cherry and Georgia pro Micah Frazier, who each caught 17-9.
 
“There are a lot of fish on bed out here right now,” Cobb said. “But I know what this lake looks like when there’s an all-out spawn going on, and it’s just not happening.
 
“There have been some fish caught on beds, and there will be some more caught off the beds. But judging from today and from what I saw in practice, the spawn is not in full swing.”
 
Cobb said he caught a couple of bass on spawning nests himself today, but he also caught prespawn and postspawn fish.
 
His experience on the lake played a big role in his first-round success — just as he’d hoped it would.
 
“I didn’t really have a specific pattern today,” said Cobb, a former member of the Clemson University bass fishing team who holds a degree in wildlife and fisheries biology. “I basically just ran a lot of stuff where I’ve caught them in the past. Since practice was so bad, I just fished a lot of stuff I was familiar with.”
 
Just as Cobb wouldn’t offer specific details about how he caught his bass, Cherry was vague about how he ended up in second place. The seventh-year Elite Series pro weighed in four solid largemouth and one impressive shoal bass that weighed just over 3 pounds.
 

Old Town Paddle Topwater Fishing Kayaks with David Hadden

Newly released at ICAST 2018, the Old Town Topwater PDL boat will change the way you fish. Listen as David Hadden takes us through this fantastic fishing rig.

Old Town is proud to unveil its all-new Topwater™ Series, which offers great Old Town performance in a compact, nimble format. A marriage of stability and performance, the Topwater—with the all-new ultra-stable DoubleU™ hull—quietly glides through any water condition while providing a stable, comfortable stand-up fishing platform. Equipped with thoughtful onboard tackle and rod management and a revolutionary universal transducer mount, even the most discriminating anglers will be impressed by the overall fishability of the new Topwater Series: paddle versions Topwater 106 and Topwater 120; and a pedal-driven model, the Topwater PDL. “The growth and popularity of kayak fishing has brought many new companies into the marketplace but unfortunately we have seen a glut of poorly-made and engineered boats in the sub $1000 category,” says David Hadden, Brand Director, Johnson Outdoors Watercraft. “Our goal with the Topwater™ Series was to engineer a boat that gave a great on the water fishing experience, which would allow anglers to catch more fish and be more comfortable. We also wanted it to outperform other kayaks when not on the water and made it smaller in size and weight for easy transportation and storage. Too many of today’s stable fishing kayaks need a trailer to transport to your local boat launch. The small size and reduced weight of all models in the Topwater Series make car-topping realistic and negate the need for a kayak trailer.”

Jerry Lawyer Wins 2019 FLW Tour Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees!

Tie breaker needed to decide winner!

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Painted blades on spinnerbait key to win!
(Photo: FLW)

At around 10 a.m. today, Jeremy Lawyer caught a line-burner he figured he’d be embarrassed to weigh in. Turns out, that squeaker was one of the most important catches of his career.

You see, that little one allowed Lawyer to bring in a limit for 13 pounds, 14 ounces, which happens to be exactly what he needed to tie South Africa’s Michael Matthee at the final weigh-in at the FLW Tour event on Grand Lake presented by Mercury. The tiebreaker was the previous day’s standings, which Lawyer held the advantage thanks to being in second-place going into the final day, giving him his first Tour victory.

“This is unbelievable,” says Lawyer after his victory. “Years ago, Greg Bohannan told me of the power of five fish. Well, I sure am glad [that little fish] came along. That’s a fact [that’s the most important little fish I’ve ever caught].”

In what turned out to be a brutally tough event due to falling water and inconsistent weather, having decades of knowledge on Grand Lake was a distinct advantage for Lawyer. Not only has he fished the lake since he was 10 years old – he lives only an hour away in Sarcoxie, Mo. – but he’s fished nine previous FLW events there, having made the top 10 five times and finishing second in a T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) event back in 2015.

That knowledge allowed him to make the biggest decision of the tournament even before it began.

“Once I realized how tough a tournament it was going to be the first day of practice, I decided I wasn’t going to practice on anything I might fish come the tournament,” Lawyer says. “I didn’t want to catch a big fish I felt I could’ve used in the event, or not catch anything and get all messed up between the ears.

“So I made the tough decision to fish off the cuff. I think that was the biggest thing.”

So for the first two days, Lawyer fished entirely new water he’d never even driven by in practice. That said, he knew what’d he’d be doing, which was hitting the backs of docks with a spinnerbait.