Major League Fishing and FLW Unify as One Brand

MLF PRESS RELEASE

To further elevate the sport of tournament bass fishing and align multiple circuits as one company, Major League Fishing (MLF) announced today its unification with Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) as one brand, transitioning all FLW brand assets to MLF.  

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit, Toyota Series, Phoenix Bass Fishing League, Abu Garcia College Fishing and High School Fishing will all carry the MLF logo and continue the five-biggest-fish format. A new website that builds on the existing sites, streamlines tournament entry, provides cutting-edge gear and tactics advice, and better highlights participating anglers is set to be unveiled in early 2021.

“Merging the FLW brand under the Major League Fishing umbrella is the next logical step in our company’s evolution, which now includes a broader reach than any of us thought possible in our formative years,” MLF BIG5 Executive Vice President and General Manager Kathy Fennel said. “The key to our success lies not in a name, but in our unwavering focus on providing the best possible tournaments for anglers, fans, hosts and sponsors – our family. Uniting with MLF under a single brand makes the whole greater than the sum of the pieces. The letters may be different, but the people and the values will remain the same.”

The FLW organization now known as “Major League Fishing BIG5” began life as Operation Bass. Founded on the shores of Kentucky Lake in 1979 by Mike Whitaker, a teacher and football coach turned electronics salesman, Operation Bass grew from humble beginnings to become the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization with five circuits and more than 300 events in 11 countries offering $21 million in awards.

Operation Bass was purchased by Minneapolis businessman Irwin L. Jacobs in 1996 and renamed FLW Outdoors in 2001 to honor Forrest L. Wood and the principles he embodied. While those principles still guide the company, FLW became Fishing League Worldwide in 2014 to set the stage for international growth, which now includes bass tournaments in Canada, China, Italy, Mexico, Namibia, Korea, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.

Brandon Palaniuk Wins 2020 Bass Elite Santee Cooper with 72-02lbs!

Punching & chatterbait key to win!

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Array of baits fattens final day.
(Photo: BASS)

Championships come down to decisions and execution — two things that Brandon Palaniuk mastered en route to amassing a four-day total of 72 pounds, 2 ounces for a dominant win at the Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes brought to you by the United States Marine Corps.

 Notching his fifth Elite victory — his second in 2020 (the first at Lake Champlain) — Palaniuk earned a top prize of $100,000.

 After leading Day 2, Palaniuk entered Championship Sunday in third place, just 1-3 behind Carl Jocumsen. On Sunday, the pro from Rathdrum, Idaho, added a limit of 22-11 to his previous weights of 21-1, 18-13 and 9-9 to edge Jocumsen.

 “This one is so unexpected,” Palaniuk said. “Every single one I won before, I had a good practice and I knew that I would have a shot at the Top 10 and a shot at the win. This one came out of nowhere.”

 Spending his tournament in Lake Marion, Palaniuk attributed his final-round success to a prelaunch decision to start in the mouth of the Potato Creek area. Having started there on Day 1, he had a feeling the area was ready to reward him again.

 “I was sitting at the dock this morning and something told me to go try it,” Palaniuk said. “With the (warm) weather, the humidity, I felt like I could catch them on topwater, but when I got there, the water was dirty.

 “I couldn’t get them to eat it, so I just picked up a 1/2-ounce bladed jig with a 4-inch white X-Zone Swammer. I had not caught a fish on this all week and I caught a 4-pounder and a 3 1/4-pounder.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful day! 

Palaniuk Wins 2020 BASS Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes 72-02lbs! Johnston 3rd; Gustafson 9th

Brandon Palaniuk wins his 2nd Elite in 2020.
More to come! (Photo: BASS)

 

2020 BASS Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes Day 2: Brandon Palaniuk Jumps into Lead with 39-14lbs!

Canadians Gustafson 4th, Cory Johnston 11th & Chris Johnston 57th

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Punch key to big bass bite.
(Photo: BASS) 

Locating big-fish areas and remaining mobile enabled Brandon Palaniuk of Rathdrum, Idaho, to take the Day 2 lead of the Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes brought to you by the United States Marine Corps with 39 pounds, 14 ounces.

After placing second on Day 1 with 21-1, Palaniuk added 18-13 Friday.

Palaniuk, who claimed his fourth Elite Series win on Lake Champlain earlier this season, caught two of his keepers on a jerkbait, one on a 5-inch X-Zone Swammer rigged on a 1/2-ounce VMC swimbait head and two on a punch rig comprising an X-Zone Muscle Back Finesse Craw on a 3/0 VMC Heavy Duty Flippin’ Hook with a 1 1/4-ounce weight.

Rotating through 10 to 12 spots within a 2-mile area on the upper end of Lake Marion, Palaniuk anchored today’s limit with a 6-6 that he caught while punching shortly before 2 o’clock. Proximity, he said, confirmed he was in the right area.

“I caught the 7-9 I had yesterday maybe 5 feet from where I had a 4-pounder in practice, and then today, I caught a 6-5 maybe 30 feet from where I caught that big fish yesterday,” Palaniuk said. “It’s definitely an area that’s holding the right size fish; I just need to catch five of them.”

Palaniuk said the challenging conditions of the fall transition have required significant consideration, as the fish are in a completely different seasonal mode than they would have been during the event’s originally scheduled dates of April 16-19. When the pandemic required rescheduling, Palaniuk went to work studying for an autumn tournament.

“I came here and pre-practiced in January, which has nothing to do with now,” he said. “I was practicing for an April event, so where I’m actually catching them, I never looked at in pre-practice.

2020 BASS Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes Day 1: Carl Jocumsen Snatches Lead with 25-08lbs!

Canadians Cory Johnston 8th, Gustafson 34th & Chris Johnston 73rd

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Jocumsen's two giants secures lead.
(Photo: BASS) 

Carl Jocumsen is known for his aggressive fishing style, but it was actually a healthy dose of caution that led him to three of the five fish he needed to take the Day 1 lead of the Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes brought to you by the United States Marine Corps with 25 pounds, 8 ounces.

The veteran pro from Queensland, Australia, who captured his first Elite Series win last year on Oklahoma’s Lake Tenkiller, said he started his practice with a well-founded respect for Santee Cooper’s minefield of submerged stumps. Doing so compelled him to spend more time idling.

“When you roll up to a place like this, it is scary,” Jocumsen said. “When I first launched at the ramp (in practice), I didn’t even know if you could get up on pad going out of the ramp. To go from that to a bag like this is just a magical day.

“It actually helped me not knowing this place because I got to idle some areas, not knowing how to get back in. That’s how I found a couple of little magical spots.”

With a limit that included a 6-15 and a 6-3, Jocumsen started in the midsection of Lake Marion, which along with Lake Moultrie to the south, comprises the Santee Cooper Lakes (linked by a diversion canal). His main area was a grass-lined depression that dropped from 2 feet to 4 1/2.

“If you ran the area, you would never see it, but I idled it because I was worried about getting into the back,” Jocumsen said. “I saw the grass on my Humminbird, and I think that’s what’s holding them.”

In practice, this spot hosted intense afternoon schooling action and produced several big bites. Today, Jocumsen saw minimal surface activity but caught one of his bigger fish from the schoolers.

Whopper smallmouth on Lake St. Clair with Sparkus Fisher: POV hookset to net on light line

Wonder why guys love big smallmouth? Its the FIGHT! Check out this video, from hookset to net, as Sparkus Fisher lands a Lake St. Clair stud. If you want to see for yourself how a big smallmouth fights on light line, give Sparkus Fisher Fishing guideservice a call at 519-803-8666 or #sparkusfisherfishing

Sparkus Fisher runs a Ranger 522D, one of the biggest, battleships out there making any future trip so much easier. Give Sparkus a call and go battle some big water smallies.

Moblie Link: https://youtu.be/CDqtHag2vDc

Frank "The Tank" Talley Wins 2020 NOCO Bassmaster Elite on Lakes Guntersville with 64-3Lbs!

Final day rally key for 1st Elite win

By Bryan Brasher 

BASS PRESS RELEASE 

Frank Talley has dreamed of winning a top-level professional bass tournament his entire life.

But with three small children at home, he kept that dream in his back pocket for two decades in favor of coaching youth sports teams, fishing local tournaments and just being a good husband and dad. 

Saturday, at age 45, the second-year Elite Series pro affectionately known as “Frank the Tank” saw his dream come true, weighing in 18 pounds, 2 ounces of bass during the final round to win the NOCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville with a four-day total of 64-3. 

Talley earned $100,000 and the cheers and tears of his family, who drove 14 hours through the night Friday from their home in Temple, Texas, to be there for his big moment.

“I was perfectly fine with just raising my kids — that’s why we had kids,” Talley said. “Finally, when my youngest boy got into high school, my kids and my wife kind of had an intervention. That sat me down and said, ‘You’re gonna go do this.’

“That’s what helped me understand it was OK to finally go and chase this dream — and they’re the reason I’m standing here with this trophy now.”

Good fishing instincts also played a role in Talley’s success, especially with a key decision he made before his first cast Saturday morning. 

2020 NOCO Bassmaster Elite on Lakes Guntersville Day 3: Wes Logan Commands Leads with 49Lbs!

Cory Johnston 13th, Gustafson 28th & Chris Johnston 34th 

By Bryan Brasher 

BASS PRESS RELEASE 

Logan scratched his way to the top
hitting grass mats.
(Photo: BASS) 

The good news for Wes Logan is that he’s leading the NOCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville heading into Championship Saturday.

The bad news is he says he’s fresh out of ideas.

The rookie from Springville, Ala., caught five bass that weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces during Friday’s semifinal round, pushing his three-day total to 49-0 and giving him little more than a 1-pound lead.

As for what Saturday holds? He couldn’t say. 

“I think my area is shot,” Logan said after making his first career Elite Series Top 10. “I think the pressure finally got to it. There were a bunch of local boats on it today, and I think they beat it up pretty good.

“If I’m gonna win, I’m gonna have to find something else.”

As tough as Friday may have been for Logan, his catch of 16-2 was the second-largest of the day behind Texas pro Randy Sullivan, who caught 17-15 to move into second place. 

Logan has spent most of the tournament flipping grass mats with a 1 1/2-ounce Ark Tungsten weight, a 4/0 straight-shank hook and a rotation of soft plastics that includes a Zoom Z Craw, a Zoom Z Craw Jr. and a beaver-style bait — all in black and blue.

After exhausting the stretch of water that has been so good to him this week, he ran a new 300-yard stretch Thursday, landing a 4-pounder and losing a bass he estimated to be more than 5 pounds.

That will likely be his starting point Saturday.