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Florida’s Fitzgerald Jumps to Lead at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula
EUFAULA, Ala. (May 15, 2021) – Rookie Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Florida, jumped from third place into first on Day 3 of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundéns Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama, bringing a 20-pound, 12-ounce limit to the stage. Lake Eufaula has been anything but predictable during the four-day event, which features bass fishing professionals from around the world, competing for a top prize of up to $135,000; however, a handful of anglers have consistently stayed in the top 10 all three days to move on to Championship Sunday.
Fitzgerald’s three-day total of 53 pounds, 14 ounces moved him from third place into first giving him a 1 pound, 11-ounce advantage going into the final day, with pros Jason Abram of Piney Flats, Tennessee and David Walker of Sevierville, Tennessee within striking distance of the top spot. Abram maintained his second-place position for the third day in a row, bringing in an 18-pound, 11-ounce limit to put his three-day total at 52 pounds, 3 ounces, while Walker jumped from seventh place into third, with a limit weighing 20-12, to bring his total to 50 pounds, 15 ounces.
Fitzgerald, who brought in his biggest limit of the week on Day 3, has continued to improve his weights each day of the competition by focusing on little brush piles scattered across Lake Eufaula.
“I’m not fishing the big, beautiful piles set out on the obvious contour breaks,” said Fitzgerald. “Instead, I’m focusing on more isolated objects scattered out across vast flats. Some of it is brush, but smaller pieces of brush that have been there for a while – a single limb or laydown buried in the bottom.”
While other anglers are running bigger brush piles, Fitzgerald said he has 20 isolated pieces he has been rotating through and hasn’t had much traffic around those areas.
One pile, which Fitzgerald referred to as “magic brush”, has produced half of his total weight for the event.
“I don’t know what it is about this one brush top,” said Fitzgerald. “It doesn’t look like anything special – just a little top about half the size of my boat. There are a hundred others out there just like it, but for some reason I catch a good fish there every time I stop to fish it. I have not seen a single boat around it all week, but I had a couple spectators around me today, so I’m hoping they don’t fish it before tomorrow.
“I think the shad in the area are probably a factor because I can see balls of shad all around it on my LiveScope and when I catch a bass there, it’s belly is full of shad. I haven’t stopped there long enough to see how many I can catch off of it, but I may just go fish it all day tomorrow and see what it can produce.”
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Cold Weather Layers and Flip-Flops
It’s May in Alabama, but it hasn’t exactly been balmy the past two mornings at Smith Lake Park for the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series boat launch. We certainly won’t complain about the weather, as the afternoons have been absolutely gorgeous. But temperatures have dipped into the 40s each night here in Cullman making it feel more like the originally scheduled mid April date for this event.
Morning launch has seen lots of college anglers layered up with warm Carhartt outerwear, plenty of beanies, hoodies, and heavy rain gear even though the sun is shining. So you’ll understand my surprise when I’ve seen countless collegiate fishermen sporting flip-flops as their footwear of choice this week.
Cade Rudiger and Cooper Thor attend Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas and they are two such anglers who like to accentuate their Carhartt rain suits with sandals or flip-flops.
“It gets warm around 10:00a.m, so you gotta have some flops man,” Thor said with a smile. “We are making a long run first thing this morning which is why we’re all bundled up everywhere else. The layers keep us warm in the morning and the flip-flops are clutch when it gets hot this afternoon.”
The Lumberjacks are making their long run in Rudiger’s 2019 Skeeter boat powered by a 250HP Yamaha Outboard that they officially registered for the Yamaha Power Pay contingency program this week at tournament registration. The bass fishing rewards program offered by Yamaha is free to register for and pays out on select college tournaments just like professional and grassroots level events.
Thor and Rudiger didn’t have the day one they were hoping for, weighing in just one solid Smith Lake keeper, but the Texas natives were both still smiling and ready to greet the day with a good attitude.
“Our fishing tackle is about as all over the place as our clothes,” Rudiger joked. “Heavy jackets and sandals or topwaters and deep diving crankbaits… we’ve got all the bases covered. In all seriousness we’re just excited to go have some fun and see what happens. It’ll be a good day either way.”
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Old Boats Don’t Bother Clemson
Part of the spectacle of a Carhartt Bassmaster College Series tournament is the wide variety of boats, tow vehicles, and fishing equipment you see anglers using.
College fishing has elevated to a point that most teams fish out of relatively new, top of the line bass fishing vessels. But there are still plenty of smaller tin rigs and old boats that have a lot of character, with maybe a little JB Weld on the trailer or duct tape on the seats.
Enter GL Compton and Hunter Bond of Clemson University. Compton, who recently graduated with an Environmental Science degree and Bond, a senior studying Computer Science are here at Smith Lake this week competing out of a 1995 BassCat with the original 150hp Mariner outboard engine on the back.
Both Compton and Bond were born in 1997, which makes this bass fishing boat their elder. How many tournament anglers can say that nowadays?
“This boat is a legend,” laughed Bond. “We’ve been fishing out of this thing together for years and we really haven’t had many problems with it. It’s a bit of a beater but it’s treated us well.”
Compton’s family bought the boat about 12 years ago so he could use it in high school fishing tournaments. Instead of seeing the old boat as a disadvantage or a hindrance, Bond and Compton couldn’t be more proud of their tournament rig.
“Like Hunter said this boat has been good to us. We actually won the South Carolina High School State Championship out of this boat,” Compton beamed. “I don’t know that I’d trade it if I could.”
After working extra shifts last week to earn some gas money for the six-hour drive to Smith Lake from South Carolina, Bond and Compton were pleasantly surprised with what they found in practice. Day one of the tournament proved to be tougher than expected, but the duo from Clemson grinded out four keeper bass that weighed 6-lbs 13-ounces.
Not what they were hoping for, but they gave themselves a chance to catch a big bag on the final day of the event to shoot up the leaderboard and qualify for the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Championship later this summer.
“This is our last year fishing together in college so we’re just trying to make the most of it,” Compton said with a smile. “These past four years have been an absolute blast getting to meet new fishing buddies and travel around the country. I don’t want it to end.”
Compton and Bond embody many of the best aspects of college fishing as far as I’m concerned. A couple dudes who love fishing, aren’t afraid of hard work, and do their best to get the job done by any means necessary without much for excuses. Like many of their college fishing peers, they “get it”… and it has very little to do with fishing.
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Carhartt College Anglers Preview Smith Lake
Beautiful Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama serves as the stadium tomorrow for a full field of 250+ boats in the third stop of the 2021 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series trail. Around 500 college fishermen and women met at Smith Lake Park this evening for registration and are eager to get on the water in the morning.
This event was originally scheduled for one month ago in mid-April, but flooding conditions forced Bassmaster officials to postpone the tournament until this week. Instead of dangerous high water, anglers will experience stable water levels with the lake at full pool.
Smith Lake is absolutely full of spotted bass with a solid population of largemouth bass, too. Knowing which species to target and how to adapt based on the conditions and fishing pressure will be key for the eventual winners of this event.
Part of what makes college fishing so cool is the different stories each one of these anglers carries with them. They come from all corners of the country with vastly different backgrounds in bass fishing, but are all brought together for some fun and competition. We caught up with Hayden Gaddis, Jacob Schrimsher, and Riley Sells to learn a little more about them and pick their brains on what to expect from Smith the next two days.
- Q – What year in school are you and what is your major?
Schrimsher, Calhoun Community College – “I’m a junior getting my degree in Computer Science.”
Sells, Georgia Southern University – “I just finished my sophomore year and am studying Construction Management.”
Gaddis, Carson-Newman University – “I’m going to be a junior next fall and am majoring in Business with a Marketing minor.”
- Q – What’s your school mascot and would they be good at bass fishing?
Schrimsher, Calhoun Community College – “We’re the War Hawks (not to be confused with warthogs) and I’m thinking our mascot would have to be pretty good at fishing. I mean hawks are hunters, right?”
Sells, Georgia Southern University – “We’re the Eagles so you already know our mascot can fish. Eagles are natural predators.”
Gaddis, Carson-Newman University – “Hey, we’re the Eagles, too. Fishing comes natural to an eagle for sure. Heck, I’d bet our mascot can out fish me!”
- Q – Based on your practice, what percentage of the fish do you feel are postspawn on Smith Lake right now?
Schrimsher, Calhoun Community College – “Honestly I’d put that number somewhere around 90%. Most of the fish here are done.”
Sells, Georgia Southern University – “I’m going to say almost all of the fish are postspawn here on Smith Lake. Like upper 90’s in terms of percent.”
Gaddis, Carson-Newman University – “Probably something like 80% are done with their spawning deal. Definitely the majority.”
- Q – Will the eventual winners of this tournament weigh-in 10 largemouth, 10 spotted bass, or a mixture of the two?
Schrimsher, Calhoun Community College – “We go to school about 45 minutes from here, so we fish Smith often. This time of the year, I’m going to say a mixture. I could see mostly spots with one or two nice largemouth mixed in winning. Somewhere around the 30-lb. mark for two days of fishing.”
Sells, Georgia Southern University – “I think all largemouth will win it… Spotted bass are more of a safe bet here it seems, but I have a feeling with the water levels someone will figure out the largemouth.”
Gaddis, Carson-Newman University – “Spots seem to be in a biting mood, so I’ll say 10 spots will win this thing. They are more consistent it seems for sure.”
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Bobby Lane Leads Day 1 of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Stop 4 at Lake Eufaula
EUFAULA, Ala. (May 13, 2021) – Pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds, 8 ounces Thursday to grab the early lead after Day One of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundéns Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. at Lake Eufaula. Pro Jason Abram of Piney Flats, Tennessee, ended the day in second place, just 5 ounces behind Lane after bringing a 20-3 limit to the scale. The fourth stop on the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit features bass fishing professionals from around the world competing for a shot to win up to $135,000.
Lake Eufaula was a bit stingy on Day 1 of the event, with only 90 pros catching a limit and less than half the field bringing more than 10 pounds to the stage. However, that didn’t seem to affect Lane or the other anglers atop the leaderboard.
Although he finished the day leading the pack, Lane said the morning did not start as he had anticipated.
“My initial plan was to catch them on a swim jig up on the shad spawn, but with the high winds and lower water levels this morning, it was hard to even keep the bait in the grass,” said Lane. “I thought I’d catch 12 to 15 pounds there easily – that’s what happened every morning during practice – but today it was super muddy and tough.
“Once I realized I wasn’t having any luck, I decided to switch to my back-up plan and run up North. I caught a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass first, followed by a 5-pounder and before I knew it, I had a limit.”
Feeling a little more secure, Lane said he started running waypoints, and to his surprise was able to cull and upgrade fish at every single one.
“At the end of the day, I pulled up in the creek [close to the ramp] and caught a real nice 4-pounder that culled a 2-pound fish, to get me over 20 pounds,” said Lane.
When it comes to his game plan for tomorrow, Lane said he’ll just have to see what Lake Eufaula has to offer and where he needs to adjust.
“I have no idea what tomorrow brings – I went almost three hours today without even a bite, fishing stuff that I should have been getting bit on,” said Lane. “I think they are feeding early so I’m hoping they are moving in and out of the same areas and I can be there to catch them early each day.
“This is the time of year I love to be on the water and I’m doing what I love to do – throwing a swim jig, a frog and flipping. It’s Lake Eufaula, so the fish live shallow year-round. I’m just hoping I can fish clean tomorrow and go out there and have fun.
“If I catch them tomorrow, I catch them, and if not, I caught enough today to probably survive and get a decent finish no matter what.”
The top 10 pros after Day 1 on Lake Eufaula are:
1st: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 20-8
2nd: Jason Abram, Piney Flats, Tenn., five bass, 20-3
3rd: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., five bass, 19-2
4th: Evan Barnes, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 18-6
5th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-3
6th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., five bass, 17-4
7th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., five bass, 16-13
8th: Ryan Davidson, Branchland, W.Va., five bass, 16-6
9th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., five bass, 16-4
10th: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 16-0
Abram won the day’s $500 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a largemouth weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale.
Overall, there were 637 bass weighing 1,522 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 157 pros Thursday. The catch included 90 five-bass limits.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundens Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. at Lake Eufaula is hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.
In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition on Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE presented by Mercury, the Pro Circuit Championship, where they will compete for up to $235,000. The 2021 TITLE will be on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Aug. 17-22, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. CT each day from Lakepoint Resort State Park, located at 104 Lakepoint Drive in Eufaula. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park daily at 3 p.m. Fans are encouraged to follow the action online through the MLF NOW! live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundens Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. – Lake Eufaula event will feature live on-the-water coverage and a two-hour action-packed television show that will premiere on the Outdoor Channel on Sunday, August 22 from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and re-air on the Sportsman Channel this fall. Weigh-ins will be streamed daily and fans can catch live on-the-water action all day Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16 on MLF NOW! beginning at 7 a.m. CT at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the MLF BIG5’s social media outlets at Facebook , Twitter, Instagram and YouTube .
About MLF BIG5
MLF BIG5 is part of MLF, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization. It provides anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits featuring a five-biggest-fish format. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices in Benton, Kentucky, MLF and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.
MLF tournaments are broadcast on Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, MyOutdoorTV, Discovery and CBS Sports while MLF Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros to the world’s most avid bass anglers.
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