By MLF Communications Staff

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Randy Howell caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 2 ounces Thursday to win the Group B Qualifying Round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on the Kissimmee Chain.

Howell held the lead for most of the day before briefly losing it late in the third period to Brent Ehrler. Howell caught a 2-14 largemouth as time expired to reclaim the lead. After starting the day in 20th place, Ehrler weighed in five bass totaling 23-01 to vault up the leaderboard and end the Qualifying Round in second place with 35-10. Casey Ashley rounds out the Top 3 with 10 bass weighing 34-03.

The remaining 40 anglers – the top 20 from each group – now advance to Friday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round on Saturday. Weights will carry over from the Knockout Round into the Championship Round, which will feature the final 10 anglers competing for the heaviest two-day cumulative total and the top prize of $100,000.

“Thankfully, we had another decent day,” Howell said in his post-game interview. “I had a good start to the morning and caught a limit pretty early and that really took the pressure off. I spent the rest of the day practicing around and covering a lot of water. I didn’t find a lot of new stuff, but I did figure out that the area I’m in has quite a bit of fish in it, so I feel pretty good about tomorrow.”

Howell spent the morning targeting fish keying on the shad spawn, rotating through Livingston topwater baits and jerkbaits. He flipped mats later in the day and caught a key fish as time expired – not only to reclaim first place atop the leaderboard, but it also provided him a clue for the Knockout Round.

“Right at the end I caught that one and found another stretch of flipping water that might be good tomorrow,” Howell said. “We got a lot accomplished today and held on for the win, just for the fun of it.

“Tomorrow, we want to be in The top 10 to get to the final day,” Howell went on to say. “It’s been going really good so far, but I want to be here on Saturday fishing for $100,000.

Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to Takahiro Omori, who weighed in a 9-08 largemouth that bit a bladed swimjig in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The six-day event, hosted by the Kissimmee Sports Commission, showcases 80 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of more than $805,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters All-Star event and REDCREST, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Each day’s takeout is held at the marina beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 6-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group B Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Randy Howell -- 23-14 (5) -- 12-04 (5) -- 36-02 (10) -- 2-14

2. Brent Ehrler -- 12-08 (5) -- 23-02 (5) -- 35-10 (10) -- 6-08

3. Casey Ashley -- 11-02 (5) -- 23-01 (5) -- 34-03 (10) -- 7-01

4. Dakota Ebare -- 18-01 (5) -- 16-00 (5) -- 34-01 (10) -- 4-02

5. Adrian Avena -- 26-05 (5) -- 7-00 (3) -- 33-05 (8) -- 3-00

6. Alton Jones Jr. -- 16-04 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 32-15 (10) -- 4-08

7. Takahiro Omori -- 11-02 (5) -- 21-03 (5) -- 32-05 (10) -- 9-08

8. Chris Lane -- 14-10 (5) -- 16-15 (5) -- 31-09 (10) -- 6-11

9. Jacob Wheeler -- 19-02 (5) -- 12-03 (5) -- 31-05 (10) -- 3-05

10. Dylan Hays -- 6-09 (3) -- 24-09 (5) -- 31-02 (8) -- 6-06

11. Keith Poche -- 15-04 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 30-03 (10) -- 5-10

12. Nick Lebrun -- 13-12 (5) -- 15-14 (5) -- 29-10 (10) -- 4-00

13. Edwin Evers -- 9-02 (5) -- 20-04 (5) -- 29-06 (10) -- 7-02

14. Andy Montgomery -- 13-03 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 28-15 (10) -- 5-01

15. Bradley Roy -- 17-05 (5) -- 11-09 (5) -- 28-14 (10) -- 3-14

16. Mark Davis -- 12-11 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 28-03 (10) -- 6-05

17. Cliff Pace -- 10-10 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 27-11 (10) -- 7-13

18. Russ Lane -- 16-11 (5) -- 11-00 (5) -- 27-11 (10) -- 4-08

19. Stephen Browning -- 11-03 (5) -- 15-13 (5) -- 27-00 (10) -- 4-10

20. Justin Lucas -- 14-10 (5) -- 11-10 (5) -- 26-04 (10) -- 3-10

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

21. Cole Floyd -- 16-00 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 26-02 (10) -- 3-00

22. Brandon Coulter -- 12-01 (4) -- 13-10 (5) -- 25-11 (9) -- 3-02

23. Kevin VanDam -- 5-02 (3) -- 20-08 (5) -- 25-10 (8) -- 7-09

24. Matt Becker -- 15-15 (5) -- 9-07 (5) -- 25-06 (10) -- 2-08

25. Roy Hawk -- 13-15 (5) -- 11-01 (5) -- 25-00 (10) -- 2-08

26. Cliff Crochet -- 12-06 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 24-11 (10) -- 3-07

27. Wesley Strader -- 8-00 (5) -- 15-09 (5) -- 23-09 (10) -- 5-06

28. Jared Lintner -- 11-13 (5) -- 10-12 (5) -- 22-09 (10) -- 2-13

29. Dustin Connell -- 10-07 (5) -- 11-05 (5) -- 21-12 (10) -- 4-01

30. Tommy Biffle -- 1-07 (1) -- 20-01 (5) -- 21-08 (6) -- 5-14

31. Terry Scroggins -- 8-13 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 20-14 (10) -- 4-03

32. Matt Lee -- 13-01 (5) -- 7-13 (4) -- 20-14 (9) -- 2-07

33. Timmy Horton -- 13-00 (5) -- 7-02 (3) -- 20-02 (8) -- 2-10

34. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 10-11 (5) -- 9-06 (4) -- 20-01 (9) -- 3-03

35. Jacob Wall -- 9-13 (5) -- 9-11 (5) -- 19-08 (10) -- 2-13

36. Brent Chapman -- 10-01 (5) -- 9-06 (5) -- 19-07 (10) -- 2-11

37. Boyd Duckett -- 9-14 (5) -- 9-07 (5) -- 19-05 (10) -- 2-10

38. Jeff Kriet -- 9-11 (4) -- 8-08 (5) -- 18-03 (9) -- 1-14

39. Fred Roumbanis -- 15-00 (5) -- 2-00 (1) -- 17-00 (6) -- 2-00

40. Anthony Gagliardi -- 9-09 (5) -- 4-09 (3) -- 14-02 (8) -- 1-14