By MLF Communications Staff

For Major League Fishing (MLF) fans following the MLF Now! livestream, it looked as if Mark Davis was having a very tough day on the water. Midway through the second period, the Mount Ida, Arkansas, veteran had yet to register a single fish and he remained at the bottom of the standings. Then, all of a sudden, Davis returned to an area that had cellular service and the ScoreTracker leaderboard lit up.

In actuality, Davis had a fantastic morning, boating 10 bass in the first period and jumping out to a big lead on day 1 of Qualifying Group B at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Bass Pro Tour. It just happened to be in an area that did not have cellular coverage, and therefore his ScoreTracker updates were unable to send. When all was said and done, Davis caught a total of 12 bass weighing 28-02 to gain the early lead after Group B’s day 1, midway through their two-day Qualifying Round.

Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales, Louisiana, sits comfortably in 2nd place, just two pounds back of Davis with seven bass totaling 26-02. Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, finished the day in 3rd place with seven bass for 22-02 – 6 six pounds behind the leader.

The six-day event awards a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now enjoy an off day on Tuesday, while the 40 anglers in Qualifying Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Group B will resume competition on Wednesday.

“I caught my fish this morning on a Strike King Red Eye Shad,” Davis said. “I had found this area in practice and I knew that the fish were there. I went in there this morning and started fishing shallow and there wasn’t much going on, then I saw a couple of them come up and bust, way out off of the bank.

“The trick was that I had to cast it out and let the bait sink, then kind of pump it,” Davis said. “It took a cadence with that lure to get them to bite. They wouldn’t just bite it on my cast and retrieve. You had to pump it, you had to work it out and kind of feel it around in the grass.”

Davis said that he threw the Red Eye Shad on a Lew’s KVD Composite Cranking rod paired with a Lew’s Hyper Mag reel, spooled with 15-pound line.

“The fish were really biting it good – just swallowing it,” Davis said. “But when it was over, it was done. I mean, it was done. I went to a Carolina rig and was able to catch a few more, but they were small. The shad were there and when the fish were ready to feed, they’ll feed. They’ll probably feed again later this afternoon.”

Spohrer did not have as fast of a start to the morning as Davis did, but his bite managed to be a bit more consistent throughout the entire day.

“The way my morning started, it wasn’t looking good,” the Louisiana pro said. “I had an area that I thought I was going to be my best spot where I’d get the most bites, and I didn’t get anything. I just kept my head down and kept fishing, swimming a jig all day and covering water. I figured out a little deal around the cypress trees and it proved to be a good method for me.

“The fish are moving around, but I think I have a good feel for what they are doing and it should keep getting better and better for me. Hopefully I can get back out here on Wednesday and try to win the round to advance to Championship Friday."

Ehrler said he struggled for much of the day.

“It ended up being a brutal day for me,” he said. “It started off really well – I felt like I was getting in a groove – then I went the entire second period without catching anything. Then with just an hour left in the third period I finally caught one more 3-pounder.

"So really, after the first period, I sucked pretty much all day. I’ve got some decisions to make here before Wednesday because I’m just really not comfortable. Hopefully I can change some things up and advance.”

Overall, there were 167 bass weighing 457-11 caught by 39 pros on Monday, which included two 7-pounders and six 5-pounders.

Terry Scroggins won Monday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 7-09 largemouth that bit a bladed swimjig right at the end of Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler that weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.



Group B Qualifying Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish of the round)

1. Mark Davis -- 28-02 (12) -- 2-15

2. Gerald Spohrer -- 26-02 (7) -- 7-00

3. Brent Ehrler -- 22-02 (7) -- 5-01

4. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 21-11 (8) -- 4-11

5. Brandon Coulter -- 21-04 (7) -- 4-12

6. Skeet Reese -- 18-10 (6) -- 5-04

7. Stephen Browning -- 17-11 (6) -- 5-04

8. Matt Becker -- 17-01 (5) -- 5-07

9. Brent Chapman -- 16-10 (7) -- 2-14

10. Randall Tharp -- 16-03 (6) -- 4-01

11. Tommy Biffle -- 15-08 (5) -- 4-12

12. Jeff Sprague -- 15-05 (6) -- 3-08

13. Terry Scroggins -- 13-15 (3) -- 7-09

14. Cody Meyer -- 13-08 (5) -- 3-15

15. David Dudley -- 12-11 (5) -- 3-00

16. Chris Lane -- 12-03 (4) -- 4-01

17. Randy Howell -- 11-10 (5) -- 2-14

18. Casey Ashley -- 11-09 (4) -- 3-08

19. Bobby Lane -- 11-08 (5) -- 2-10

20. Jeff Kriet -- 10-13 (5) -- 2-06

21. Russ Lane -- 10-05 (4) -- 2-12

22. Shin Fukae -- 10-00 (4) -- 3-01

23. Alton Jones Jr. -- 9-13 (3) -- 5-01

24. James Elam -- 9-11 (4) -- 2-11

25. Takahiro Omori -- 9-09 (4) -- 2-11

26. Timmy Horton -- 9-08 (4) -- 2-12

27. Mark Rose -- 9-02 (4) -- 2-14

28. Boyd Duckett -- 8-09 (4) -- 2-07

29. James Watson -- 7-04 (3) -- 2-08

30. Greg Vinson -- 6-09 (3) -- 2-07

31. Justin Lucas -- 4-15 (2) -- 2-13

32. Todd Faircloth -- 4-11 (2) -- 2-11

33. Jordan Lee -- 4-11 (2) -- 2-06

34. Josh Bertrand -- 4-05 (2) -- 2-04

35. John Murray -- 3-13 (1) -- 3-13

36. Ron Nelson -- 3-06 (1) -- 3-06

37. John Cox -- 3-01 (1) -- 3-01

38. Keith Poche -- 2-04 (1) -- 2-04

39. Britt Myers -- 2-01 (1) -- 2-01

40. Matt Lee -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00