THE LATEST NEWS
Jack Link’s Major League Fishing Filming in Lake County, Florida
Lady Lake, Fla. – (October 15, 2015) – “Jack Link’s Major League Fishing” – the most-watched fishing show on television – is filming its Shell Rotella Challenge Cup this week in on the waters of Lake County in Central Florida. The Challenge Cup, which is the 13th Major League Fishing production, will showcase 30 of the world’s top competitive anglers as they tackle the unpredictable lakes of inland Florida.
“We’re tickled to be in Lake County, Florida. This is a region known around the country for great fishing. And everything about our experience here, from the community support to the quality of fishing, has been first-class,” said Major League Fishing Commissioner Don Rucks.
“In the past, we’ve mostly filmed at venues that have been new to our anglers. A time or two we’ve gone places the anglers know,” Rucks said. “As far as Lake County goes, it’s a mixture. Our anglers are familiar with the Harris Chain, which is nearby, but most have never spent any time on other lakes in the county – and, believe me, there are plenty of great fishing lakes here.”
The Lake County-based “Jack Link’s Major League Fishing” television episodes will initially air during the second quarter of 2016. The shows will receive almost 70 hours of airtime on Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV.
Major League Fishing is a partnership involving the world’s top anglers and Outdoor Channel. The league’s innovative made-for-television events utilize a format that allows anglers to weigh all the “scorable” bass that they catch. Bass are immediately weighed after they are caught, then are released back into the water. Anglers know where they rank in the standings at all times via real-time leader boards in their boats. The competitors are not allowed to practice or to solicit or receive information before events.
The 30 competing anglers include the following 23 from Major League Fishing’s Cup Series: Tommy Biffle, Denny Brauer, Mark Davis, Boyd Duckett, Brent Ehrler, Edwin Evers, Shaw Grigsby, Greg Hackney, Timmy Horton, Mike Iaconelli, Alton Jones, Kelly Jordon, Gary Klein, Bobby Lane, Jeff Kriet, Aaron Martens, Mike McClelland, Ish Monroe, Takahiro Omori, Jason Quinn, Dean Rojas, Skeet Reese and Kevin VanDam. Additionally, seven Major League Fishing Select anglers are competing in the Challenge Cup.
About Jack Link’s
About JACK LINK’S BEEF JERKY – Feed Your Wild SideTM Headquartered in Minong, Wis., Jack Link’s is the leader in the meat snack category and fastest-growing meat snack manufacturer worldwide. The Jack Link’s brand represents a heritage of quality and consumer trust. Well known for its iconic Messin’ With SasquatchTM advertising campaign, Jack Link’s offers more than 100 premium meat snack products at retail outlets in more than 40 countries. Check out JackLinks.com for more information on the brand.
About Shell Rotella
The Shell Rotella® brand is committed to making sure that hard working individuals can count on Shell Rotella® engine oils to help keep their trucks and equipment operating properly. The Shell Rotella® Energized Protection™ product portfolio is led by three premium heavy duty engine oils that are part of a tiered, easy to understand ladder of protection. They include Shell Rotella® T6 Full Synthetic, Shell Rotella® T5 Synthetic Blend Technology and Shell Rotella® T Triple Protection® engine oils. For more information about Shell Rotella® heavy duty engine oils visit www.Rotella.com or follow Shell Rotella® on Facebook or Twitter.
About Jack Link’s Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing is a partnership of some of the world’s most talented, influential professional bass anglers and Outdoor Channel. For more information, visit www.majorleaguefishing.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About Outdoor Channel
Outdoor Channel has been taking viewers across America and around the world on unparalleled adventures since 1993. Dedicated to the outdoor lifestyle and conservation, the independent cable network is a division of Outdoor Sportsman Group and provides a complete spectrum of riveting hunting, fishing, shooting and adventure entertainment. Outdoor Channel is received by nearly 40 million U.S. households – the largest outdoor TV footprint in the country – and is available in more than 50 countries internationally. Outdoor Channel can be viewed in HD and is accessible by broadband and mobile platforms. For program times and other information, visit www.outdoorchannel.com. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and download our iPhone and iPad app. #WhatGetsYouOutdoors
Bassmaster Open On Lake Seminole Will Be Challenging
The final Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Allstate heads to Lake Seminole out of Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 22-24, where anglers will compete for cash and prizes and also a berth in the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Photo by Larry Towell/B.A.S.S.
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — The final Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Allstate of the 2015 season will be a challenge for the anglers who compete in this bass tournament. The event takes place on Georgia’s Lake Seminole Oct. 22-24.
The problem is not a lack of bass. Seminole grows big bass and plenty of them. Brett Hite of Phoenix, Ariz., demonstrated this when he won a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament here in March of 2014. His four-day total of 20 bass weighed a whopping 97 pounds, 10 ounces.
The predicament for the anglers fishing in the upcoming Southern Open is timing, points out Bassmaster Elite Series pro Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla.
“For Seminole, October is the toughest time of year to possibly fish it,” Tharp said.
Tharp will be competing in the Southern Open on Seminole, and he has been on the lake prior to the tournament searching for bass. A favorite to win the tournament, he finished fifth in a Southern Open on Seminole in October 2010.
Tharp needs the victory, which provides a berth in the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro March 4-6 in Tulsa, Okla. After qualifying for the 2014 and 2015 world championships, he finished below the Top 40 Classic cut this year. Winning at Seminole is his only hope of qualifying for his fourth Classic.
The three five-bass limits Tharp brought to the scales during that tournament weighed a meager 37-4. The winning weight was only 44-2. Although Seminole is capable of yielding a huge five-bass limit on any given day, Tharp points out that the lake is even stingier now than it was during the 2010 Southern Open.
“The bass are scattered,” Tharp said. “You have to cover a lot of water and keep a positive attitude because you won’t get many bites during the day.”
Seminole is such a diverse environment that the field of more than 170 pro anglers and an equal number of co-anglers will ample room to spread out over its 37,500 acres. For those who like casting to shallow bass cover, Seminole has an abundance of stumps, standing timber and a wide variety of aquatic vegetation, with hydrilla being the dominant species.
“There is way more grass here now than there was in 2010,” Tharp said.
Hydrilla is especially prominent in the Spring Creek and Fish Pond Drain arms on Seminole’s northern shore. Because these areas are springfed, they tend to have the clearest water in the lake.
The Chattahoochee River arm flows south into Lake Seminole from Lake Eufaula, which lies along the state line between Georgia and Alabama. Major tournaments have been won on Seminole by fishing pockets and small creeks off the Chattahoochee.
Seminole’s main lake also has plenty of grass and standing timber. Anglers who prefer to fish deeper offshore structure will likely fare best in this section of the lake.
Largemouth bass will dominate the Seminole Bassmaster Open because they dwell throughout the lake. Although the fishing may be slow, some heavyweight bass are sure to be caught. Seminole lies in the southern range of the Northern largemouth and the northern range of the Florida largemouth. This overlap of species allows for naturally occurring hybrid “intergrade” bass that grow larger than the Northern largemouth.
Shoal bass live far up the Flint River from the Earle May Boat Basin in Bainbridge, Ga., where the weigh-in will take place on the first two days of the tournament. Shoal bass don’t grow as heavy as largemouth bass, but they can be more reliable. However, to reach them means navigating a bass boat over shallow rocks and riffles that can rip a lower unit off an outboard.
Most of the anglers will head south from Bainbridge in search of largemouth bass. That includes Tharp. “Largemouth will win this tournament, and I’m fishing to win,” Tharp said.
During the 2010 Southern Open on Lake Seminole, twitching weedless frogs over matted grass and punching through thick vegetation with a heavy sinker matched with a variety of Texas rigged soft plastic baits were productive tactics. These methods also should be players this time around, but there are other options.
“You can fish to your strengths here,” Tharp said. “Keeping a positive attitude and fishing to your strengths will be the keys to winning.”
Takeoffs will be from the Earle May Boat Basin at 7:30 a.m. ET each competition day. On Thursday and Friday, weigh-ins will be held at the same location at 3:30 p.m. The final weigh-in for the Top 12 anglers on Saturday will take place at 4:30 p.m. ET at Bass Pro Shops, 4059 Lagniappe Way, Tallahassee, FL 32317.
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: Allstate
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: A.R.E. Accessories, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, GoPro, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Huk Performance Fishing, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
FLW Announces Key Changes for 2016 FLW Tour
MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 15, 2015) – FLW announced Thursday its planned enhancements and key changes for the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour season. Among the major changes are the addition of two fall FLW Tour Invitational tournaments and changes to Rule No. 19 to now allow competitors to fish in their own wrapped boats on all four days of FLW Tour competition.
The two fall FLW Invitational tournaments will be held after the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup at locations yet to be announced. The tournaments will feature a three-day format and a 125-boat pro field (no co-anglers) with a $4,000 entry fee. The field will consist of the top 100 professionals and top five co-anglers from the 2016 FLW Tour Angler of the Year and Co-angler of the Year standings along with the top four pros from the Angler of the Year standings in each of the five 2015 Rayovac FLW Series divisions. Co-anglers accepting invitations to compete in the Invitational tournaments will compete as pros. The winner of each Invitational will receive a top prize of $100,000 cash along with automatic qualification into the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup.
Also new for 2016, pros will use their own boats on every day of competition. Sponsor exclusivity for boat wraps will no longer exist, and the list of FLW exclusive categories for logo display on jerseys during the final two days of competition has been reduced from nine to five.
“We are excited to announce some key changes for the 2016 season that allow anglers to better promote themselves and their personal sponsors,” said Kathy Fennel, FLW President of Operations. “Helping pros build their personal brands and sponsor portfolios is something that we’ve concentrated on in recent years. Allowing them to use their own boats on every day of competition and adding two events were the next logical steps. By adding two events we’ve also accommodated a long-standing request from some pros to fish without co-anglers while not sacrificing the great opportunities we still provide to this important segment of our fishing community.”
Instead of advancing to the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, top co-anglers will now receive a Co-angler of the Year payout through 10th place, with first place receiving a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and 10th place earning $4,000. The top five co-anglers will also have the opportunity to compete as pros in the new Invitationals to punch their ticket to the Forrest Wood Cup.
The top prize at the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be $300,000 with the rest of the payouts remaining the same as 2015. FLW Tour pro entry fees will increase $200 per event, for total entry fees of $27,000 for the six regular-season events. These changes allow FLW to continue offering professional bass fishing’s best overall payouts for the lowest overall investment while providing a much more open platform for anglers to promote themselves.
“We believe the changes for 2016 will help strike a better balance between the desires of most of our FLW Tour anglers along with our business needs as an organization,” said Bill Taylor, FLW Senior Director of Tournament Operations. “I believe that the overwhelming majority of our anglers will be very happy with these changes, and I am excited to get our season kicked off in just four months on Lake Okeechobee.”
Registration for the 2016 season opens Friday for the top 100 pros and co-anglers from the 2015 FLW Tour, top 10 pros and co-anglers from each 2015 Rayovac FLW Series division, 2015 TBF National Champions and the 2015 All-American champions. These anglers have until Nov. 30, 2015 to secure their priority entry. Ranger boat owners may register beginning Dec. 1, 2015 followed by TBF members Dec. 3, 2015. All other entries will be accepted beginning Dec. 4, 2015. Qualified anglers can register by calling 270.252.1000 or online at FLWFishing.com.
Complete rules for the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour will be posted soon.
2016 Payouts:
FLW Tour Qualifiers:
Place Pro Ranger Cup Co-angler Ranger Cup
1 $100,000 $25,000 $20,000 $5,000
2 30,000 7,500
3 25,000 5,000
4 20,000 4,000
5 19,000 3,000
6 18,000 2,500
7 17,000 2,000
8 16,000 1,800
9 15,000 1,700
10 14,000 1,600
11-20 12,000 1,500
21-50 10,000 1,000
Big Bass – Day 1 500 250
Big Bass – Day 2 500 250
Angler of the Year:
$100,000 + 2017 Forrest Wood Cup entry
Co-angler of the Year:
Place
1 Ranger Z518C with 200 HP outboard
2 $10,000
3 9,000
4 8,000
5 7,000
6 6,000
7 5,500
8 5,000
9 4,500
10 4,000
Forrest Wood Cup:
Place Pro
1 $300,000 + 2017 Forrest Wood Cup entry
2 60,000
3 50,000
4 37,500
5 30,000
6 24,000
7 23,000
8 22,000
9 21,000
10 20,000
11-20 15,000
21-50 10,000
NEW FLW Tour Invitationals:
Place Pro
1 $100,000 + 2017 Forrest Wood Cup Entry
2 30,000
3 25,000
4 20,000
5 15,000
6 13,000
7 12,500
8 12,000
9 11,500
10 11,000
11-20 10,000
21-25 8,000
26-30 7,500
31-35 7,000
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Reel Adjustment… the Correct Way
Daiwa pro Cody Meyer shares a helpful tip on how to correctly adjust your baitcaster.
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Follow Cody on his Facebook page.
See the full Daiwa lineup here.
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Howell, Velvick Reveal Pro Ripper, Dive Master 14 Tips for Fall
Have you ever wanted to take a peek into the tackle boxes of the Team Livingston pros to see what their “old reliable” baits are? With the fall transition now in full swing, we did exactly that: we zeroed in on Randy Howell and Byron Velvick and made them show us a couple of their tried-and-true Livingston Pro Series baits for fall:
Randy Howell’s Pro Ripper
-Of all the baits in the Pro Series, I think the PRO RIPPER fits the fall shallow-flats fishing the best. It’s a perfect “situational” type of bait in that it’s a very buoyant bait for a slow-sinking lipless crankbait. You can throw it in the shallow flats in 1 to 4 feet of water and fish it anywhere you need it to be in that depth range. You have to reel most lipless cranks really fast to keep them from digging in the mud, but the shape of the Pro Ripper’s nose and the pull point on the eyelet make it a really good shallow-flats bait.
-The Pro Ripper is just a good reaction bait in general. I’ll keep a Blue Back Chrome Shad right next to my HOWELLER DMC and WALKING BOSS most days in the fall, or switch to a Chartreuse Sunrise Shad or Melon Shad if it gets muddy.”
Byron Velvick’s Dive Master 14
-The DIVE MASTER 14 is a major confidence bait for me, and a really good choice for fishing pockets in the fall. I know I can throw that bait with the EBS Original™ sound technology and get fish where everybody else is struggling to get fish to bite because that’s exactly what I did at the Lake Seminole Elite Series tournament in 2014. I had other Elite anglers asking me for DM 14s, I was catching them so good.
-Lake Seminole was a spring tournament in a fishery with a lot of wood, but I’d apply the same basic principles with the DM 14 in the fall. Throw it in the back of pockets up to 10, 12, 14 feet deep and let the EBS technology work. The bait has a good, fish-catching action. You want that bait to ‘roll’ over wood or isolated structure if you can find it, but if there’s no structure, you’ll want to keep the DM 14 in occasional contact with the bottom. That little ‘shad deflection’ is a key.
-When I say “Fish the backs of pockets”, I mean it: don’t even start fishing until you’re halfway back into a creek or pocket.
-Shad patterns like Bluetreuse Shad and XXX Shad are the best choices to imitate shad, brighter colors like Copperhead and Sunrise Chartreuse Shad if the water is stained.