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Zaldain: Working with Extreme Weather

by jay | Feb 24, 2021 | bass | 0 Comments

Since leaving the St. Johns River just under two weeks ago, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Chris Zaldain has been through quite the roller coaster of challenges. After missing the cut in Florida, Zaldain jumped in his Tundra and drove 17 hours home to Fort Worth, Texas in hopes of beating the winter weather forecasted for the weekend.

Zaldain made it home to his wife Trait and their “puppy children” Saturday night; the winter storm settled in Sunday evening. The once-in-a-hundred year storm ended up wreaking havoc on Texas, along with much of the rest of the country.

“The weather hit Sunday and had us in complete lockdown for six days straight,” Zaldain explained. “We got more snow, ice, and cold temperatures than I’ve ever seen during my time in Texas. It was wild. Our house was one of the hundreds of thousands of homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that lost power and heat. Constantly burning firewood allowed us to keep it about 43-degrees in our house for the two days we were without power.”

Instead of shorts and flip-flops like Zaldain was wearing in Florida, he and Trait had to break out the warmest Carhartt layers they owned while they hunkered down and waited for conditions to improve. Thankfully power came back on in their neighborhood and the weather got warmer, albeit slowly.

After a few anxious days of worrying if they’d even be able to make it to Tennessee, Zaldain and his cameraman Johnny allowed two-days of travel for what would normally be an easy one day drive due to the slick, hazardous roads.

The Yamaha Outboards pro had visions of big bass eating a Megabass MagDraft swimbait in current eddies occupying his mind throughout the entire drive to Knoxville, thanks to his experience in the 2019 Bassmaster Classic on this fishery. But the Tennessee River is offering a completely different puzzle for Elite Series anglers this time around. He may have made it through the snowpocalypse in Texas, but Zaldain realized he had a whole new set of challenges in front of him.

“I loved how this place set up back in 2019 but as soon as I rolled into town I could tell it was a very different river,” Zaldain admitted. “The water is colder and much lower than the last time we were here. There is a substantial shad die-off and this system is fishing extremely tough right now, but we still gotta get the job done.”

3 Keys to Success this week

Zaldain had three layers of warm-weather Carhartt gear on as he launched his Skeeter-Yamaha on the final morning of official practice, hinting that spring has not yet sprung in east Tennessee.

The always dangerous Elite Series pro offered his three keys to success this week on the Tennessee River: Dealing with the weather, targeting 18-inch smallmouth, and bringing five keeper bass to the scales each day.

“As hard as it is to believe, this part of the country is dealing with the same cold-weather system that just wreaked Texas,” Zaldain said with disbelief. “Good, bad, or ugly dealing with what Mother Nature throws at you is always important during springtime. My second and third keys to success are related, because I am playing with fire this week and targeting smallmouth. Which means I need to focus on catching five keepers a day.

“Smallmouth bass have to be 18-inches to be considered a keeper on this stretch of the Tennessee River, and they are not easy to come by. We always want to bring five fish to the scales each day, but the guy who can catch five keeper smallmouth a day will have a great chance to win this derby.”

Zaldain’s ability to remain optimistic and roll with the punches has been on full display the past week. The eventual winner of this tournament will need to exhibit many of the same qualities. Don’t be surprised if the Zaldaingerous one channels some of his magic from the 2019 Bassmaster Classic on this fishery and finds himself near the top of the leaderboard by the time the weekend rolls around.

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Cherry Cashes in with Toyota Bonus Bucks

by jay | Feb 24, 2021 | mlf | 0 Comments

Hank Cherry started the 2021 Bassmaster Elite Series season with a strong 6^th place finish on the St. Johns River just over a week ago and earned an extra $3,000 for being the highest finishing Toyota Bonus Bucks participant in the process.

I caught up with Cherry just as he pulled his Basscat boat from the Tennessee River Tuesday night to talk about his St. Johns finish and contrast that Florida fishery to this week’s playing field.

Cherry relied on The General from Berkley PowerBait’s MaxScent line of soft plastics and mixed in a Brian’s Bee Series Propbait to catch his fish in Florida, but promised it is a “whole different world” this week in Knoxville for Elite Series competitors.

“I am trading The General and a topwater for winter presentations like a Megabass Jerkbait and a jig,” Cherry laughed. “I was looking for water temperatures ranging from 61 to 65 degrees on the St. Johns. Here on the Tennessee River this week I am happy to see 41 to 43 degrees. These fish are coming out of the deep freeze this week, but I won’t complain. The Tennessee River has been good to me.”

The reigning Bassmaster Classic Champ credited slowing way down for one of the best finishes of his career in Florida, but admitted the decision to stay put in certain areas wasn’t natural or easy for him to do. Cherry typically opts to cover water relatively quickly with a jerkbait, even in Florida.

One decision that was easy for Cherry was buying a brand new 2021 Toyota Tundra before the start of the season, the 6^th Tundra he has owned in his professional fishing career. The loyal Bonus Bucks participant offered a myriad of reasons he continues to support Toyota.

“The Bonus Bucks program and Toyota’s reliability should be enough to convince any angler who tows a boat to trust this brand,” Cherry said. “But my local dealer, Scott Clark Toyota in North Carolina, and their staff are the best in the world when it comes to working with bass fishermen. Whether I’m needing routine maintenance, something fixed in a hurry, or buying a new truck they make everything a breeze.”

Fortunately, you don’t have to be one of the best anglers in the world like Hank Cherry to reap the rewards of the Bonus Bucks program. As long as you tow your boat with a 2017 or newer Toyota tow vehicle and fish in one of the hundreds of supported tournaments you are eligible for extra earnings from the popular contingency program.

Whether you fish in college, walleye tournaments, or compete in countless bass fishing derbies from weekend events to the Bassmaster Elite Series you should head to https://www.toyotatrucksbonusbucks.com/ to get signed up and learn more. Toyota Bonus Bucks is absolutely free to register for and is the only vehicle rewards program that pays you to fish.

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KVD Betting on the Moon at REDCREST

by jay | Feb 24, 2021 | mlf | 0 Comments

Kevin VanDam sat working on tackle Tuesday evening amid a perfect 65-degree late winter sunset over Lake Eufaula, but most of his thoughts were focused on the moon.

Tuesday at REDCREST was tougher than expected on Kevin VanDam. He managed just three scoreable Lake Eufaula largemouth for a total of 8 pounds, but still good enough for 10^th place after two days of competition and the chance to move on to Wednesday’s Knockout Round.

And he’s still betting on all the goodness an approaching full moon is about to deliver.

“See that moon?” questioned VanDam to his avid angler buddy Joe who owns the lake home where he’s staying. “That moon is 90% full, and with water temps now 55-60, that means spring’s magic is about to happen,” he stated in confident VanDam style.

He knows the majority of Southeast Alabama’s largemouth will likely spawn around March 28^th next month, but the “early bloomers” will show up this week during MLF’s REDCREST to kick off the annual reproductive ritual.

He’ll continue to throw a Strike King Thunder Cricket, and mix-in a swim jig too in less than 4-feet of water. It’s the pattern that’s worked well enough this week that VanDam sees no reason to change. In fact, he thinks it will actually get stronger.

The “pork pattern” continues to bode well too. He’s eaten pulled pork sandwiches every day in the boat for lunch. Smoked pork tenderloin for dinner Monday night. And was grilling pork chops for dinner Tuesday night.

“I’m just trying to fish areas where I know they’re coming to spawn, because I know when that first wave of fresh spawners come shallow, things can get really good in a hurry,” he warned prior to Wednesday’s Knockout Round.

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Thrift Wins Qualifying Round at REDCREST 2021 on Lake Eufaula

by jay | Feb 24, 2021 | mlf | 0 Comments

Top 20 Pros Advance – 10 Fish Wednesday, 10 Fish Thursday, Top 5 from Each Group Compete on Championship Friday

EUFAULA, Ala. (Feb. 23, 2021) – Pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, weighed in 15 bass totaling 50 pounds, 4 ounces over the first two days of competition to win the two-day Qualifying Round at REDCREST 2021, the Bass Pro Tour championship at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. The five-day competition features a field of 40 of the best anglers in the world from the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour competing for a top cash prize of $300,000.

The field is now cut to 20, and weights are zeroed as competition moves into the Knockout Round. A field of 10 anglers (Group A) will compete on Wednesday and the remaining 10 anglers (Group B) will compete Thursday. The top five anglers from each day advance to the fifth and final day of competition, Championship Friday.

Lake Eufaula was a bit tougher for anglers on Tuesday, however quite a few anglers, including Thrift, spent most of the day practicing and searching for new areas to fish during the upcoming Knockout Round.

“I didn’t catch a lot of fish today – only two scorable bass – but it was a fun day because I eliminated a lot of water,” Thrift said. “That’s pretty much all we got accomplished today, but that’s just a part of it. Sometimes that’s almost as good as finding the winning hole, because now I’ve got a great idea of what not to do when I get back out there, and that’s definitely a plus.

“It feels great to be leading in my very first REDCREST, but I’ve still got some work left to do,” Thrift said. “You can’t win if you don’t make it to the Championship Round. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what we can do.”

Reigning REDCREST champion, Oklahoma’s Edwin Evers, had a great day Tuesday, catching eight bass weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces – the largest weight of the day – to vault from 25^th place to inside the Toro Top 20 Cut and end the day in 8^th place.

“I caught the largest weight of the day, and I know that doesn’t mean a lot to some of the guys that laid off their fish, but it gives me a lot of confidence going into the Knockout Round,” Evers said. “The majority of my fish today came on a Berkley PowerBait Power Hog. I’m learning more and putting more pieces of the puzzle together each day and I can’t wait to get back out there and compete in the Knockout Round.”

The top 20 pros that made the cut and will advance in competition at Lake Eufaula are:

1^st:           Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 50-4
2^nd:          Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., 12 bass, 39-7
3^rd:          Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 36-3
4^th:           Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-8
5^th:           Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, 10 bass, 33-2
6^th:           Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., 11 bass, 31-1
7^th:           Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., nine bass, 31-1
8^th:           Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., 11 bass, 30-0
9^th:           Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 29-7
10^th:        Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., nine bass, 28-12
11^th:        David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., eight bass, 28-7
12^th:        Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 27-4
13^th:        Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., eight bass, 27-0
14^th:        Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., seven bass, 26-8
15^th:        Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., eight bass, 26-4
16^th:        Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan., nine bass, 26-3
17^th:        Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala., six bass, 23-5
18^th:        Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark., nine bass, 23-3
19^th:        Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., seven bass, 22-15
20^th:        Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 20-10

Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 105 bass weighing 101 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 35 pros on Tuesday, which included eight 5-pounders and eight 4-pounders caught.

Fletcher Shryock of Guntersville, Alabama, won Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 5-pound, 14-ounce largemouth during Period 1. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $7,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group A Knockout Round on Wednesday are:

Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla.
Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark.
Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala.
Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark.
David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va.
Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C.
Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn.
Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark.
Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn.
Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.

The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group B Knockout Round on Thursday are:

Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan.
Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn.
Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla.
Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C.
Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas
Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala.
Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn.
Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan
Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla.
Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.

REDCREST 2021 Presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage, the Bass Pro Tour championship at Lake Eufaula, is hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.

All 40 Anglers competed on Day 1 (Monday) and 2 (Tuesday) of the event. Now, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 compete on Day 3 (Wednesday) and 10 compete on Day 4 (Thursday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the fifth and final day of competition (Friday), where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2021 champion.

Attendance is limited to competing anglers, essential staff and media covering the event only. Fans are encouraged to follow the event online through the MLF NOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com

The 2020 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing in a COVID-shortened five regular-season tournaments around the country. The top 40 anglers in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings after the five events qualified to compete in Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage.

The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com. and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of REDCREST 2021 presented by Old Wisconsin Sausage, the Bass Pro Tour championship, will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, July 3 on the Discovery Channel. A one-hour special episode of MLF Inside the REDCREST will premiere at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 18 on CBS. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

For complete details and updated information on REDCREST 2021, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Founded in 2011, Major League Fishing (MLF) brings the high-intensity sport of competitive bass fishing into America’s living rooms on Outdoor Channel, Discovery, CBS, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, Sportsman Channel, and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). According to Nielsen ratings, Major League Fishing remains the number one series on Outdoor Channel for five years and MLF premiered as the number one outdoor show in their time slot on Discovery in 2019.In 2019 MLF acquired FLW, which expands their portfolio to include the world’s largest grassroots-fishing organization, including the strongest five-biggest-fish format professional bass fishing tour, the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, as well as the MLF Toyota Series, MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine, MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing presented by YETI, and MLF U.S. Army High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing.

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