By MLF Communications Staff

Ott DeFoe caught 14 bass totaling 34-04 today to vault to the top of the leaderboard and win the two-day Group A Qualifying Round at the Sam Rayburn Reservoir Bass Pro Tour. DeFoe’s two-day total of 25 bass weighing 59-11 earned him the win by a 9 1/2-pound margin and now advances him directly into the Championship Round of competition, set for Friday.

Dustin Connell, the reigning REDCREST champion, caught a two-day total of 16 bass weighing 50-03 to finish the round in 2nd place, while day-1 leader Spencer Shuffield boated a two-day total of 13 bass weighing 41-10 to end the round in 3rd place.

The Top 20 anglers from Group A will now enjoy an off day while the 40 anglers in Group B will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition on Wednesday. The Knockout Round, featuring 38 anglers competing to finish in the Top 8, will take place on Thursday. Friday’s Championship Round will feature DeFoe, Wednesday’s Group B winner, and the Top 8 anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“It’s such a huge relief to win and not have to come back out here to compete in the Knockout Round,” DeFoe said. “And now, I don’t have to beat my fish up again and the way I’ve been fishing that is a huge, huge plus. I can let those fish rest and don’t have to try to catch them two days in a row. I only have to come back out when it really matters, so I’m very excited about that.”

DeFoe got off to a fast start, catching eight scorable bass in Period 1, but his day slowed immensely in the final two periods with just two scorable bass in Period 2 and a three-fish flurry right around 3:30 p.m. in the final period. He said that he caught his fish on five different moving baits.

“What worked for me on Sunday morning worked again for me this morning, and that got me off to a really solid start,” DeFoe said. “The midday deal was a lot harder for me today. I spent a lot of the final period looking and I finally hit a place that was good and caught the three scorable fish really quick in the final period. I might have figured a little something out, and that could be a difference-maker for me in the end.”

DeFoe plans to return to the same areas during Friday’s Championship Round and said he hopes it will have enough to earn him his second Texas victory on the Bass Pro Tour in two seasons.

“I’m all in on where I’m at,” DeFoe went on to say. “I’m incredibly excited to get back out there – equally as excited as I was last year for the final day on Lake Athens.”

Other than DeFoe’s 34-pound day, Wesley Strader had the second-highest weight on the day, catching six bass totaling 28-15 – including an 8-09 and a 6-01. Strader’s two-day total of 10 bass for 39-05 landed him in 5th place.

“We had a really fun day today,” Strader said. “Hopefully things keep improving and we can expand a little bit on what we had going this morning. I’m looking forward to spending tomorrow regrouping and getting retied and everything ready to go for the Knockout Round.”

Although DeFoe’s 9 1/2-ound margin of victory didn’t really lend much dramatics at the top of the leaderboard, the race to finish above the 20th place cut line proved very intense. Brett Hite boated a 3-03 with less than 10 minutes remaining in Period 3 to move inside the cut and knock out Texan Alton Jones, who finished in 21st place.

“Wow, that was intense. That, right there, is what Major League Fishing is all about – fish hard right to the end and never give up,” Hite said. “I had a rough day and I worked my butt off. I had a real tough morning, but made the decision to make a long run at the end of the second period into the third period and it ended up being the right call. That’s one of the biggest things out here – you have to go with your gut and trust that you are making the right decision. Today it paid off and I’m really looking forward to getting back out here on Thursday.”

Overall, there were 149 bass weighing 434-13 caught by 38 pros Tuesday, which included two 8-pounders, two 7-pounders, two 6-pounders and six 5-pounders caught from Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Cliff Pace won Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in an 8-11 largemouth that bit a jerkbait in Period 1. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler who weighs the biggest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.



Group A Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Ott DeFoe -- 25-07 (11) -- 34-04 (14) -- 59-11 (25) -- 3-08

2. Dustin Connell -- 29-11 (10) -- 20-08 (6) -- 50-03 (16) -- 9-05

3. Spencer Shuffield -- 29-12 (9) -- 11-14 (4) -- 41-10 (13) -- 5-08

4. Wesley Strader -- 10-06 (4) -- 28-15 (6) -- 39-05 (10) -- 8-09

5. Kevin VanDam -- 27-12 (10) -- 6-06 (2) -- 34-02 (12) -- 6-02

6. Zack Birge -- 14-02 (6) -- 17-10 (4) -- 31-12 (10) -- 7-10

7. Bryan Thrift -- 17-01 (7) -- 13-14 (6) -- 30-15 (13) -- 3-03

8. Jacob Wheeler -- 18-03 (5) -- 12-06 (4) -- 30-09 (9) -- 7-15

9. Ish Monroe -- 2-07 (1) -- 28-00 (8) -- 30-07 (9) -- 5-08

10. Cliff Crochet -- 4-15 (2) -- 25-02 (8) -- 30-01 (10) -- 6-04

11. Anthony Gagliardi -- 17-01 (7) -- 12-03 (5) -- 29-04 (12) -- 3-06

12. Cliff Pace -- 5-02 (2) -- 22-14 (4) -- 28-00 (6) -- 8-11

13. Dean Rojas -- 13-13 (5) -- 13-12 (6) -- 27-09 (11) -- 4-02

14. Marty Robinson -- 14-05 (4) -- 12-05 (6) -- 26-10 (10) -- 6-14

15. Luke Clausen -- 16-08 (6) -- 9-10 (3) -- 26-02 (9) -- 3-14

16. Fletcher Shryock -- 13-09 (5) -- 12-06 (5) -- 25-15 (10) -- 3-11

17. Edwin Evers -- 23-09 (5) -- 2-01 (1) -- 25-10 (6) -- 8-07

18. Jason Lambert -- 20-10 (6) -- 4-07 (2) -- 25-01 (8) -- 4-09

19. Brett Hite -- 12-00 (4) -- 11-00 (4) -- 23-00 (8) -- 3-10

20. Fred Roumbanis -- 4-04 (2) -- 17-12 (6) -- 22-00 (8) -- 4-00

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round.

21. Alton Jones -- 9-01 (4) -- 11-01 (4) -- 20-02 (8) -- 3-13

22. Scott Suggs -- 13-06 (5) -- 4-09 (2) -- 17-15 (7) -- 4-09

23. David Walker -- 12-04 (5) -- 5-02 (2) -- 17-06 (7) -- 3-06

24. Gary Klein -- 6-10 (3) -- 10-09 (4) -- 17-03 (7) -- 3-08

25. Bradley Roy -- 12-15 (4) -- 4-00 (1) -- 16-15 (5) -- 6-09

26. Adrian Avena -- 12-11 (5) -- 4-02 (2) -- 16-13 (7) -- 2-14

27. Andy Morgan -- 4-05 (2) -- 10-11 (4) -- 15-00 (6) -- 2-14

28. Jonathon VanDam -- 6-02 (2) -- 8-13 (4) -- 14-15 (6) -- 3-09

29. Jared Lintner -- 0-00 (0) -- 14-04 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 5-00

30. Michael Neal -- 7-10 (3) -- 5-14 (2) -- 13-08 (5) -- 3-10

31. Mike McClelland -- 4-14 (2) -- 5-04 (2) -- 10-02 (4) -- 2-13

32. Kelly Jordon -- 9-00 (3) -- 0-00 (0) -- 9-00 (3) -- 3-14

33. Aaron Martens -- 6-13 (1) -- 2-03 (1) -- 9-00 (2) -- 6-13

34. Andy Montgomery -- 2-00 (1) -- 5-15 (2) -- 7-15 (3) -- 3-15

35. Dave Lefebre -- 0-00 (0) -- 7-11 (3) -- 7-11 (3) -- 3-08

36. Grae Buck -- 2-02 (1) -- 5-07 (2) -- 7-09 (3) -- 3-01

37. Paul Elias -- 2-08 (1) -- 4-03 (2) -- 6-11 (3) -- 2-08

38. Jesse Wiggins -- 6-02 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 6-02 (2) -- 3-08

39. Roy Hawk -- 0-00 (0) -- 5-02 (2) -- 5-02 (2) -- 2-13

40. Shaw Grigsby -- 0-00 (0) -- 2-10 (1) -- 2-10 (1) -- 2-10