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Major League Fishing Championships to Air on CBS Sports

by ricky | Mar 31, 2014 | Industry News | 0 Comments

TULSA, Okla. – March 31, 2014 – Jack Link’s Major League Fishing, a unique competitive bass fishing television show, will make two special appearances in 2014 on CBS Sports.

CBS Sports will televise the Championship Round of the Shell Rotella Challenge Cup on Sunday, May 11, at 3 p.m. (EST). The Championship Round of the General Tire Summit Cup will air on Saturday, August 9, at 1 p.m. (EST).

Developed through a joint effort between Outdoor Channel and two dozen premier bass fishing anglers in 2011, Major League Fishing brings the high-intensity sport of competitive bass fishing into America’s living rooms in the form of riveting one-hour TV episodes. Twenty-four world-class anglers are filmed over the course of a six-day event. The show captures their efforts as they utilize a demanding format that allows them to weigh all the “scorable bass” they catch. Unlike other competitive fishing events, leader boards in the boats allow anglers to know their standings at all times.

Produced by Winnercomm – an award-winning independent sports production company and division of Outdoor Channel – Major League Fishing features such renowned anglers as Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese, Mike Iaconelli and Gary Klein. Ten Major League Fishing anglers have captured at least one Bassmaster Classic title. Major League Fishing anglers have also earned the Toyota Angler-of-the-Year crown in 19 of the past 22 years.

Entering its fifth season on Outdoor Channel, viewers have been enjoying Major League Fishing’s non-stop action since the series launched on the outdoor entertainment cable network in 2012. Outdoor Channel airs each competition in its entirety, including the championship rounds, followed by a tips and techniques episode featuring the finalists.

The amazing success on its home network, Outdoor Channel, has “set the stage for Major League Fishing to offer occasional, wider exposure on larger networks,” said Major League Fishing General Manager Jim Wilburn.

“There has never been a show like Major League Fishing, and because of the tremendous response we’ve gotten, we want to take this outstanding television series to as broad an audience as possible,” Wilburn said. “We are delighted to accomplish this through a partnership this year with CBS Sports, and we can’t wait to showcase our championships in front of Saturday and Sunday afternoon network audiences. The added exposure will be good for our product, and it will also be good for the entire fishing industry.”

The Summit Cup and Challenge Cup are the fourth and fifth Major League Fishing events. The Challenge Cup, the first of the two CBS Sports airings, was filmed on lakes around Denton, Texas. The Summit Cup, the focus of the latter of the two airings, was filmed on lakes in the Alpena, Michigan region.

“Owning and cultivating a signature event like Major League Fishing is part of our ongoing effort to attract more viewers and establish Outdoor Channel as a destination network for outdoor enthusiasts. Together with the world’s top pro anglers, we’ve created a sports organization that shines a spotlight on competitive bass fishing. We’ve turned the tournaments’ casting and reeling action into a thrilling TV series that we’ve watched mature and, now with this latest move to air the finals on CBS, reach a broader audience,” said Jim Liberatore, President and CEO, Outdoor Channel. “The show’s innovative format, along with the compelling and diverse personalities of the anglers, is sure to appeal to sports fans, not just fishing fans. And, we’re excited to air the fifth season of Jack Link’s Major League Fishing in early April on our network, where we have an ongoing commitment to showcase quality outdoor entertainment.”

Major League Fishing angler Skeet Reese said, “I think I can say on behalf of all Major League Fishing anglers that we are extremely pleased with our growth, and a mark of that growth is the exposure we will be getting on CBS. It is a show of good faith that Outdoor Channel believes in our product enough to seek Saturday and Sunday afternoon network sports audiences.”

About Jack Link’s Major League Fishing

Jack Link’s Major League Fishing is a partnership of 24 of the world’s most talented, influential professional bass anglers and Outdoor Channel. Jack Link’s is the organization’s title sponsor. For more information about the new game, with new rules and no limits, visit www.majorleaguefishing.com. Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

About CBS

CBS Sports, a year-round leader in television sports, broadcasts a portfolio of events on the CBS Television Network, including the only television network with two football packages: the NFL’s American Football Conference and “Thursday Night Football” games; THE NFL TODAY; college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; golf, including The Masters® and PGA Championship; college football, including the SEC ON CBS; the U.S. Open Tennis Championships and CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR. In addition, the division includes CBS Sports Network, a 24-hour national cable network; produces INSIDE THE NFL for SHOWTIME; and partners with CBSSports.com in creating a recognized leader among sports Internet destinations.

About Outdoor Channel

Taking viewers across America and around the world on unparalleled adventures since 1993, Outdoor Channel is America’s Leader In Outdoor TV. Dedicated to the outdoor lifestyle and conservation, the independent cable network is a division of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, LLC 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 and Facebook, and download our iPhone and iPad app. #WhatGetsYouOutdoors

Choosing the Right Blade

by ricky | Mar 31, 2014 | Fishing Tips, Mike Iaconelli | 0 Comments

Choosing the correct spinnerbait blades can mean the difference in a heavy weigh in bag and wondering what the heck happened.
Molix pro Mike Iaconelli shares a few tips that will make blade selection a bit less confusing.

Follow Mike on Facebook and his web site.

Get your Molix fix here.

Hands Down the “Toughest”

by ricky | Mar 31, 2014 | Product Review | 0 Comments

You have invested a lot of your hard earned money on fishing tackle, why not protect it with the best? The Bass Mafia Bait Coffin is hands down the toughest box money can buy.

Join the family.

Thrift Wins at Rayburn

by ricky | Mar 30, 2014 | Tournament News | 0 Comments

Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 17 pounds even to overtake Walmart pro Mark Rose and win the Walmart FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Chevy. Thrift’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 73 pounds, 3 ounces earned him the top cash award of $125,000 in the event that featured 176 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing in the four-day competition. The tournament will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network in June.

Rose, the tournament leader after days two and three, brought five bass to the scale weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce. His four-day total of 70 pounds, 2 ounces earned him a 2nd-place finish, worth $30,500.

“The first morning of the tournament I decided that I needed to fish slow and steady,” said Thrift, who earned the third Walmart FLW Tour victory of his career. “I had been catching a lot of fish on moving baits – crankbaits and ChatterBaits. I got up to my area on the morning of day one and two hours in I hadn’t had a bite. I knew something had changed. I started to slow down and pick everything apart.”

Thrift said that he fished an area that was about five miles long up the Angelina River. He estimated that he covered new water for about 3 hours each day of the tournament, targeting cypress trees and grass patches.

“Today I really focused on 10 particular trees,” Thrift said. “I would put my Power-Poles down on those trees and flip very slowly, every two inches, all the way around that tree. I was spending 15 to 20 minutes on each tree.”

Thrift said that his key bait this week was a Texas-rigged Damiki Knock Out with a 5/16-ounce weight and 20-pound-test P-Line fluorocarbon line. He flipped the Knock Out in both green-pumpkin and junebug colors. Thrift also said that he caught two or three key fish Sunday morning on a Z-Man Original ChatterBait.

“I hadn’t caught any fish on a ChatterBait until today,” Thrift said. “I caught two 3-pounders on it this morning and it calmed me enough that I could pick that Knock Out up and fish slow like I needed to.

“Finishing in 107th at Lake Hartwell left a bad taste in my mouth,” Thrift went on to say. “I never figured anything out and it seemed like every decision that I made was the exact opposite of what I should have been doing. After finishing 3rd at the Rayovac Series event two weeks ago at Santee Cooper and now winning here, I hope I’ve righted my ship and can get back on a streak of good finishes.”

The top 10 pros finished the tournament in:

1st:    Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 73-3, $125,000
2nd:   Walmart pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 20 bass, 70-2, $30,500
3rd:    Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 20 bass, 67-13, $25,000
4th:    Jason Meninger, Gainesville, Ga., 20 bass, 66-13, $20,000
5th:    John Cox, Debary, Fla., 18 bass, 61-2, $19,000
6th:    Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., 18 bass, 60-11, $18,000
7th:    Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 19 bass, 59-13, $17,000
8th:    Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 20 bass, 57-2, $16,000
9th:    Tony Davis, Williston, Fla., 16 bass, 56-15, $15,000
10th: Rick Cotten, Guntersville, Ala., 20 bass, 56-11, $14,000

A complete list of results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 42 bass weighing 109 pounds even caught by pros Sunday. Six of the final 10 pros caught five-bass limits.

Rose Adds to Lead

by ricky | Mar 29, 2014 | Tournament News | 0 Comments

LUFKIN, Texas (March 29, 2014) – Despite a nasty storm on Friday evening that muddied the water and changed the lake conditions, the best bass-fishing anglers in the world still managed to catch them at the Walmart FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Chevy. Veteran angler Walmart pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Ark., brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce to increase his lead heading into the final day of competition. The tournament, hosted by the Lufkin Convention and Visitors Bureau, features 176 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing in the four-day event for a top cash award of up to $125,000.

Rose’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 59 pounds, 1 ounce gives him a 2-pound, 14-ounce lead over second-place Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., who has weighed in 15 bass for 56-3.

“I’m just riding what I’ve got, and riding it hard,” said Rose, who has two career victories in FLW Tour competition. “I’ve been so blessed in the mornings to have enough wind and clouds to produce one or two big fish for me. But it’s very hard to win a tournament basing it on one spot where you’re only getting one big fish each day. If I don’t get those wind and clouds, you’re going to see me coming in here tomorrow with a bunch of little spotted bass.”

Rose said that he will remain committed to his grass lines in the mid-lake area, no matter what happens with the weather tomorrow. He has weighed in fish this week throwing soft plastics, crankbaits and a Strike King Red Eye Shad. Today, he said that he mixed in a drop-shot rig as well.

“I’m going to do the same thing tomorrow,” Rose said. “I have spent most of my time the last few years trying to work on my off-shore game and I feel like I’d be shooting myself in the foot by trying to fish shallow against the best shallow-water fisherman in the business. I need to just keep doing what I know best.

“I’m not even thinking about winning right now,” Rose went on to say. “I’m thinking about going out tomorrow and producing to the best of my ability. I fish hard, honor God, and leave the results up to Him and that’s what I want to do tomorrow. If it’s my time to win, I’ll win.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:

1^st: Walmart pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 59-1

2^nd: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 56-3

3^rd: Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., 15 bass, 55-8

4^th: Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 15 bass, 53-4

5^th: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 53-1

6^th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 15 bass, 50-11

7^th: Jason Meninger, Gainesville, Ga., 15 bass, 49-10

8^th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 15 bass, 49-7

9^th: Tony Davis, Williston, Fla., 14 bass, 47-10

10^th: Rick Cotten, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 46-14

Finishing in 11th through 20th are:

11^th: Rob Kilby, Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 46-4, $12,000

12^th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 15 bass, 45-3, $12,000

13^th: Jonathan Newton, Rogersville, Ala., 12 bass, 44-10, $12,000

14^th: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 15 bass, 44-4, $12,000

15^th: Austin Terry, San Angelo, Texas, 15 bass, 42-13, $12,000

16^th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 15 bass, 42-7, $12,000

17^th: Castrol pro Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 13 bass, 40-12, $12,000

18^th: Gary Yamamoto, Palestine, Texas, 14 bass, 40-5, $12,000

19^th: Brad Knight, Wartburg, Tenn., 14 bass, 37-2, $12,000

20^th: Cheez-It pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 11 bass, 35-8, $12,000

Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 90 bass weighing 246 pounds, 11 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 15 five-bass limits.

Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top 35 anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify. The 2014 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country. Anglers could win as much as $500,000 – professional bass-fishing’s richest prize.

Eric Self of Lawndale, N.C., won the co-angler division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 33 pounds, 11 ounces, followed by Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark., in second place with 11 bass weighing 33 pounds, 8 ounces worth $7,500.

“I can’t believe that I won this thing,” said Self, a former FLW College Fishing standout who had seven top-10 finishes competing for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte bass club. “I had all of my weight today by 10 o’clock, but I couldn’t catch a big one. I never thought that I was going to win.

Self said that he caught his fish this week throwing a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and Z-Man Original ChatterBait on Thursday and Friday, then switching to an E.R. Lures football jig and a shaky-head rig.

“I would not be here today if it were not for College Fishing,” Self said. “The FLW College Fishing program is a real good deal. I fished them every year that I was in college. This year I decided to take it to the next step and fish the FLW Tour as a co-angler.”

Self’s rookie season as a co-angler has been very successful thus far. After finishing in 6th-place at the FLW Tour event earlier this month at Lake Hartwell, Self now finds himself looking forward to the Forrest Wood Cup.

“I’ve been thinking about that Forrest Wood Cup all year. I’ve fished on Lake Murray quite a bit and I feel like I can do pretty good if I can get in there.”

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

1^st: Eric Self, Lawndale, N.C., 13 bass, 33-11, $20,000

2^nd: Kerry Barnett, Waldron, Ark., 11 bass, 33-8, $7,500

3^rd: Stephen Crawley, Bush, La., 14 bass, 33-5, $5,000

4^th: Billy Billeaud, Lafayette, La., 10 bass, 32-10, $4,000

5^th: Chuck Kavros, Grass Valley, Calif., 14 bass, 30-15, $3,000

6^th: Spiro Agouros, Ontario, Canada, 13 bass, 30-12, $2,500

7^th: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 11 bass, 30-2, $2,000

8^th: Dennis Cameron, Travelers Rest, S.C., 13 bass, 29-9, $1,800

9^th: Rob Hicks, Lula, Ga., 10 bass, 29-5, $1,700

10^th: Bryan Partak, Marseilles, Ill., eight bass, 28-2, $1,600

For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 50 bass weighing 121 pounds, 4 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. Only two co-anglers were able to boat a five-bass limit.

In addition to the top award of $25,000, co-anglers were also fishing this week for valuable points that would help them qualify for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart. The top 35 co-anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify.

The final 10 anglers will take off from Cassels-Boykin County Park located at FM Road 3123 (off State Highway 147) in Zavalla, Texas, at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 2500 Daniel McCall Drive in Lufkin beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo at Walmart on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public. Also on Sunday, country music star Michael Ray will perform a free live concert on the Walmart weigh-in stage at 3 p.m.

Coverage of the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs June 7 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show is hosted by Jason Harper 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 complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.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 2014 over the course of 229 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. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

THE LATEST NEWS

Major League Fishing Championships to Air on CBS Sports

Choosing the Right Blade

Hands Down the “Toughest”

Thrift Wins at Rayburn

Rose Adds to Lead

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