By MLF Communications Staff

Brent Chapman caught 21 bass totaling 46-02 to grab the early lead in Qualifying Group A on day 1 of the Lake Travis MLF Bass Pro Tour event in Texas. The six-day event, hosted by the Austin Sports Commission, features 80 of the top professional anglers from around the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.

Chapman will take a 5-06 lead into Sunday’s second day of competition for Group A. In 2nd place on the ScoreTracker leaderboard is Mark Rose, who has eight career victories – including a Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit (then FLW Tour) win on Lake Travis in 2017 – with 16 bass for 40-12. Texan Alton Jones Jr. sits in third place, 19 1/2 pounds back of Chapman with 16 bass weighing 26-10.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now enjoy a day off Saturday, while the 40 anglers in Group B will begin their first day of competition.

Chapman had a huge third-period rally Thursday, catching 18 pounds over the final 2 1/2 hours to overtake Rose and never relinquish the lead. He did most of his damage with a vibrating jig, but he also added a few keepers with a squarebill crankbait.

“What a day. If someone had told me I’d be leading after day 1 of this event, I’d have told them they were crazy,” Chapman said. “It just goes to show you what hard work in practice does. I had an absolute blast on the water today doing what I love to do.”

Chapman caught most of his fish from stained water in the back of a creek, an area that he said he found on a prior trip to Lake Travis.

“The last time I was here, I went way up the river and flipped a big worm and a jig and caught fish in the dirtier water,” Chapman said. “I went up there again, but the lake is nearly 12 feet lower than the last time, so I think I’m a little too early for that deal. I got into this little creek that I remembered – it has a little bit of an off-color to it – and caught several fish there during practice.

“The thing that is most intriguing to me about that spot is that I caught a 4 (pounder) and several 2 1/2s, so it seems like the average fish in this creek is a little better than everywhere else. It just seems like it has all of the perfect ingredients. I’m really looking forward to getting back out here Sunday, it should be a fun one.”

Russ Lane won Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 7-12 largemouth caught on a swimbait during Period 1.

Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

After each two-day 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. Weights will again be zeroed for the Championship Round and the highest one-day total wins.

Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. CT each day of competition from Mansfield Dam Park, located at 4370 Mansfield Dam Park Road in Austin. The take-out will also be held at the park daily beginning at 3 p.m.

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.



Group A Qualifying – Day 1

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

1. Brent Chapman -- 46-08 (21) -- 3-07

2. Mark Rose -- 40-12 (16) -- 4-06

3. Alton Jones Jr. -- 26-10 (9) -- 6-14

4. Casey Ashley -- 23-10 (13) -- 3-01

5. Brent Ehrler -- 22-08 (11) -- 4-06

6. Takahiro Omori -- 22-00 (9) -- 4-13

7. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 21-14 (13) -- 2-02

8. Chris Lane -- 21-11 (11) -- 3-04

9. Gerald Spohrer -- 21-06 (9) -- 4-01

10. John Cox -- 20-10 (10) -- 3-02

11. Justin Lucas -- 19-09 (9) -- 4-00

12. Todd Faircloth -- 15-15 (7) -- 3-06

13. David Dudley -- 15-11 (8) -- 3-15

14. James Watson -- 15-01 (7) -- 4-06

15. Russ Lane -- 14-06 (5) -- 7-12

16. Tommy Biffle -- 14-05 (4) -- 4-11

17. Keith Poche -- 13-13 (8) -- 2-03

18. Bobby Lane -- 12-01 (7) -- 2-01

19. Skeet Reese -- 11-15 (5) -- 3-15

20. Brandon Coulter -- 11-07 (5) -- 3-10

21. Cody Meyer -- 9-12 (5) -- 2-15

22. Shin Fukae -- 9-01 (4) -- 2-15

23. Greg Vinson -- 8-08 (3) -- 3-06

24. James Elam -- 7-15 (3) -- 4-15

25. Jim Neece Jr -- 7-09 (4) -- 2-02

26. Terry Scroggins -- 7-02 (4) -- 2-01

27. Randall Tharp -- 6-15 (4) -- 2-02

28. Josh Bertrand -- 6-05 (3) -- 2-10

29. Jeff Kriet -- 6-02 (3) -- 2-02

30. Stephen Browning -- 6-00 (3) -- 2-02

31. Miles Burghoff -- 5-11 (3) -- 2-00

32. Boyd Duckett -- 5-07 (2) -- 3-14

33. Timmy Horton -- 5-00 (2) -- 3-01

34. Jordan Lee -- 4-13 (3) -- 1-12

35. Randy Howell -- 4-09 (3) -- 1-09

36. John Murray -- 3-15 (2) -- 2-03

37. Britt Myers -- 3-02 (2) -- 1-10

38. Jeff Sprague -- 3-02 (2) -- 1-10

39. Matt Lee -- 2-09 (1) -- 2-09

40. Mark Davis -- 1-09 (1) -- 1-09