Clear-Water Tactics Likely To Prevail At Travis

By MLF Communications Staff

The second event in the MLF Bass Pro Tour's 2021 regular season takes place beginning today at Lake Travis near Austin, Texas. The 6-day event will feature 80 anglers competing for a top payout of $100,000.

For the first time since March 2020, fans are encouraged to attend all of the happenings surrounding the event. Anglers will take off from the Mansfield Dam Park, located at 4370 Mansfield Dam Park Road in Austin, at 6:30 a.m. CT each morning. Each day’s takeout will also be held at the park beginning at 3:30 p.m. Fans are also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Although Lake Travis has played host to MLF BIG5 (previously FLW) tournaments over the years, 2021 will mark the first time that the BPT has visited the central Texas reservoir. One angler who has had success there in the past and is excited to get back is Bryan Thrift of Shelby, who finished runner-up on Travis when the Pro Circuit (previously FLW Tour) visited in 2017.

“I’ve only been to Lake Travis twice and both times were in February, so I expect the fishing to be a little different this time around,” said Thrift, who has career earnings of more than $3.1 million. “I’d imagine that the fish have got to be post-spawn by this point, so that’s how I’m going to approach this tournament. It’s a fun fishery and I’m excited to return and try to get some redemption.”

Thrift said that with water levels down, he is expecting the water clarity to be high.

“Travis tends to generally be clearer than a lot of lakes we visit, and the water is down 25 to 30 feet since I was last there. They haven’t had not a lot of rain, lately, so I’d imagine we’re going to see a lot of clear-water tactics,” Thrift said. “We’re going to see a lot of finesse fishing and lots of topwater baits.

“The whole deal with Lake Travis is that it’s got a lot of fish in it, but it’s hard to catch multiple big fish,” Thrift continued. “It has a ton of fish under 2 pounds and some fish that are 5 (pounds) or more. The key will be figuring out what those bigger than average fish are doing and putting yourself into the best situation to catch the 2-plus-pounders. I hope it’s a strong topwater bite.”

The tournament will feature anglers competing with a 1 1/2-pound minimum weight requirement. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the BPT visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world joined at each event by four pros who qualify from the Pro Circuit. For this tournament, that quartet will consist of Jim Neece Jr., Dicky Newberry, Bill McDonald and Miles Burghoff, who qualified via their finishes in the Pro Circuit season opener at Lake Okeechobee.

The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Friday and Sunday and the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. After each qualifying round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from each group advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. On the final day, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be live-streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Notable

> As part of the event, fans will also be treated to the Hill Country Hangout at Bass Pro Shops in Round Rock, Texas, today from 4 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free event includes the opportunity to interact with Bass Pro Tour anglers, enjoy activities and special fan-only giveaways provided by MLF sponsors and learn more about the sport during fishing seminars. All activities are free and open to the public.