By MLF Communications Staff
Josh Butler of Hayden, Alabama , weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19-15 Thursday to grab the early lead after Day 1 of the MLF Pro Circuit season opener at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Brookeland, Texas. Jeff Bridges of Prosper, Texas and Keith Carson of DeBary, Florida ended the day tied for 2nd place, just 5 ounces behind Butler, after bringing 19-10 limits to the scale.
“Today started out great,” said Butler. “I went to my first spot this morning and had a school fire up right off the bat and caught a quick limit of 11-12 pounds within the first hour. After that I just went out deep looking for some bigger fish, anywhere from 15 to 25 feet, and just bounced around. I probably hit 30 places throughout the day, got lucky and caught a few big ones.”
A great start indeed for the second-year pro who is fishing his first tournament on the venue.
“I came over here the first of January and fished three days of pre-practice, and obviously the two days of practice this week, but this was my first day to compete on Rayburn.”
Butler said getting off to a really good start on the first day of the first event was his primary focus going into the 2022 season.
“The worst thing you can do is put yourself behind on the first day of the year,” said Butler. “I won’t say I was just wanting to survive this tournament; I mean, I felt like I could go catch 12 to 13 pounds but getting off to a really strong start on the first day means a lot. Now I just need to try to keep the momentum going and see if I can put it together for tomorrow as well.
“I feel very blessed,” continued Butler. “I got lucky today and caught two big ones. I think I can go catch 10-12 more tomorrow, but we’ll see. It’s Rayburn, so the big ones definitely live here.”
Bridges won the day's $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after bringing a bass weighing 10-06 to the scale.
Overall, there were 702 bass weighing 1,664 pounds caught by 156 pros Thursday. The catch included 120 five-bass limits.
In Pro Circuit competition, the full field of anglers competes in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The Top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advance to Saturday. Only the Top 10 pros continue competition on Sunday, where weights are zeroed, and the winner is determined by the heaviest weight from the final day of competition.
Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CT each day from the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 RR 255 in Brookeland. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park daily at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the live on-the-water action all four days of competition online on MLF NOW! beginning at 7:30 a.m. CT at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Guaranteed Rate Stop 1 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Presented by Ark Fishing will feature live on-the-water coverage and a two-hour action-packed television show that will premiere on the CBS Sports Network on Saturday, July 2 from 7 to 9 a.m. ET.
Day 1 Standings
1. Josh Butler -- 19-15 (5)
2. Keith Carson -- 19-10 (5)
2. Jeff Bridges -- 19-10 (5)
4. Matt Becker -- 18-08 (5)
5. Michael Neal -- 18-07 (5)
6. Barron Adams -- 17-12 (5)
7. Dakota Ebare -- 17-10 (5)
8. Laramy Strickland -- 16-10 (5)
9. Jacob Wall -- 16-05 (5)
10. Dylan Hays -- 16-02 (5)
11. John Voyles -- 16-00 (5)
12. Dicky Newberry -- 15-12 (5)
13. Joshua Weaver -- 15-11 (5)
13. Evan Barnes -- 15-11 (5)
15. Mitch Crane -- 15-05 (5)
16. Tyler Woolcott -- 15-04 (5)
17. John Hunter -- 15-03 (5)
18. J Todd Tucker -- 15-01 (5)
19. Pete Ponds -- 15-00 (5)
20. David Walker -- 14-14 (5)
21. Joe Wieberg -- 14-12 (5)
22. Nick Lebrun -- 14-09 (5)
23. James Niggemeyer -- 14-02 (5)
24. Casey Scanlon -- 14-01 (5)
25. Grae Buck -- 14-00 (5)
26. Mike Surman -- 13-14 (5)
26. Jacopo Gallelli -- 13-14 (5)
28. Jared McMillan -- 13-13 (5)
29. Jason Vance -- 13-11 (5)
29. Jimmy Washam -- 13-11 (5)
29. Spencer Shuffield -- 13-11 (5)
32. Nick Hatfield -- 13-05 (5)
32. Cal Lane -- 13-05 (5)
34. Blake Hall -- 13-04 (5)
35. Bobby Lane -- 13-03 (5)
35. Cole Floyd -- 13-03 (5)
37. Josh Bragg -- 13-00 (5)
38. Matthew Stefan -- 12-14 (5)
39. Mike McClelland -- 12-13 (5)
39. Andy Newcomb -- 12-13 (5)
41. Chad Warren -- 12-11 (5)
42. Justin Cooper -- 12-09 (5)
43. Chad Grigsby -- 12-07 (5)
44. Brett Hite -- 12-06 (5)
45. Chris Lane -- 12-05 (5)
46. Ron Nelson -- 12-03 (5)
46. Mark Fisher -- 12-03 (5)
46. Darrell Davis -- 12-03 (5)
49. Randy Despino -- 12-01 (5)
49. Joey Cifuentes -- 12-01 (5)
51. Kurt Mitchell -- 12-00 (5)
52. Rusty Salewske -- 11-13 (5)
52. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 11-13 (5)
54. Martin Villa -- 11-12 (5)
55. Cody Pike -- 11-11 (5)
56. Tom Redington -- 11-09 (5)
56. Brandon McMillan -- 11-09 (5)
56. Christian Greico -- 11-09 (5)
59. Clayton Batts -- 11-07 (5)
59. Alex Davis -- 11-07 (5)
59. Blake Smith -- 11-07 (5)
59. Jon Canada -- 11-07 (5)
63. Colby Miller -- 11-06 (5)
64. Mark Rose -- 11-05 (5)
64. Bill McDonald -- 11-05 (5)
64. Tai Au -- 11-05 (5)
64. Andrew Loberg -- 11-05 (5)
64. Mickey Beck -- 11-05 (5)
69. Tommy Dickerson -- 11-03 (5)
70. Jason Reyes -- 11-02 (5)
71. Todd Walters -- 11-00 (5)
71. John Cox -- 11-00 (5)
71. Chase Serafin -- 11-00 (5)
74. Aaron Britt -- 10-12 (5)
75. Derrick Snavely -- 10-11 (5)
76. Miles Burghoff -- 10-10 (5)
77. Matt Reed -- 10-09 (5)
78. Kerry Milner -- 10-08 (4)
78. Kyle Hall -- 10-08 (5)
80. Ron Farrow -- 10-06 (5)
80. Corey Neece -- 10-06 (5)
80. Jason Lieblong -- 10-06 (5)
80. Steve Lopez -- 10-06 (5)
84. Darrel Robertson -- 10-05 (5)
84. Jim Tutt -- 10-05 (5)
84. Skeet Reese -- 10-05 (5)
84. Brian Latimer -- 10-05 (5)
84. Kyle Weisenburger -- 10-05 (5)
89. Greg Bohannan -- 10-04 (5)
90. Jim Moynagh -- 10-03 (5)
90. Justin Lucas -- 10-03 (5)
90. Lance Crawford -- 10-03 (5)
90. River Lee -- 10-03 (5)
94. Cole Hewett -- 10-02 (5)
94. Takayuki Koike -- 10-02 (5)
96. Wesley Strader -- 10-01 (5)
96. Jeff Reynolds -- 10-01 (5)
96. Shannon Abbott -- 10-01 (5)
96. Kyle Cortiana -- 10-01 (5)
100. Shonn Goodwin -- 10-00 (5)
100. Richard Lowitzki -- 10-00 (4)
100. Jimmy Reese -- 10-00 (5)
103. Mitchell Webb -- 9-15 (5)
104. Scott Wiley -- 9-14 (5)
105. Phillip Dutra -- 9-10 (5)
106. Tom Monsoor -- 9-09 (5)
106. Clark Reehm -- 9-09 (5)
106. Jeff McLain -- 9-09 (5)
109. Miles Howe -- 9-08 (5)
110. Braxton Setzer -- 9-03 (5)
111. Charlie Ingram -- 9-01 (5)
111. Lance Oligschlaeger -- 9-01 (5)
113. Troy Stokes -- 8-15 (5)
114. Jimmy Neece Jr -- 8-13 (4)
114. Eric Olliverson -- 8-13 (5)
116. Tyler Stewart -- 8-12 (5)
116. Lane Olson -- 8-12 (5)
118. Lendell Martin Jr -- 8-11 (4)
119. Rusty Trancygier -- 8-10 (5)
120. Jordan Osborne -- 8-09 (4)
121. Jamie Horton -- 8-08 (3)
121. Steve York -- 8-08 (5)
121. Cameron Mattison -- 8-08 (5)
124. Chris Groh -- 8-07 (3)
125. Terry Bolton -- 8-05 (4)
126. Kyle Gelles -- 8-04 (5)
127. Randy Howell -- 8-01 (4)
128. Shane Lineberger -- 7-14 (4)
129. Charlie Evans -- 7-12 (4)
130. Clabion Johns -- 7-11 (4)
131. Ricky Robinson -- 7-09 (3)
132. Terry Luedtke -- 7-06 (5)
132. Brad Knight -- 7-06 (3)
134. Ramie Colson Jr -- 7-04 (4)
135. Michael Matthee -- 7-03 (3)
136. Scott Dobson -- 6-09 (5)
137. Jason Meninger -- 6-05 (3)
138. Robert Nakatomi -- 6-04 (3)
139. Randall Tharp -- 6-01 (2)
140. Stephen Albertson -- 5-14 (2)
141. Bruce Parsons -- 5-09 (3)
142. Jason Blair -- 5-07 (3)
143. Brandon Mosley -- 5-02 (3)
144. Scott Towry -- 4-09 (2)
145. Billy Hines -- 4-07 (3)
146. Larry Nixon -- 4-05 (2)
147. Cole Harris -- 4-00 (2)
147. Robby Lefere -- 4-00 (2)
149. Jason Abram -- 3-09 (2)
149. Colby Schrumpf -- 3-09 (2)
151. Matt Greenblatt -- 3-06 (2)
152. Dave Parsons -- 3-02 (2)
153. Tim Frederick -- 2-13 (2)
154. Stuart Arthur -- 2-06 (1)
155. Ricardo Gonzalez -- 1-08 (1)
156. Grant Galloway -- 1-07 (1)
Nick Gainey -- 0-00 (0)
Gary Yamamoto -- 0-00 (0)
