This weekend's episode of Major League Fishing features Sudden Death Round 1 of the 2018 Summit Select from Hot Springs, Ark. For this day of competition, the anglers (Randy Howell, Fletcher Shryock, Wesley Strader, Gary Clouse, Ott DeFoe and Michael Neal) moved to Lake Hamilton after starting the week on Lake Ouachita.
On Sudden Death days, the anglers fish for a pre-determined cut weight rather than cumulative weight – this day’s target number is 16 pounds – and only the top 3 anglers advance to the Championship.
The shows, filmed in May 2017, featured flooded bodies of water across the region after historic rains in the month prior to filming. The first fish of the day, a 3-pounder, got all the anglers on edge and gave them hope that the day might bring some bigger catches.
The theme of the day? “No fish left behind,” according to Shryock. Capitalizing on the shad spawn, anglers were able to get off to a strong early start. No particular bait was dominant – frogs, bladed jigs and soft plastics were in play.
Broadcast times on Outdoor Channel are 2 to 4 p.m. ET Saturday (premiere), 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday and 9 to 11 a.m. next Friday.
